Since there was no time to discuss it, Xue Laohu had no choice but to lead them deeper into the mountains.
Based on what they learned about Youzhou yesterday, and the scene of their fight with the people of Zhoujia Village, the only option was to go deep into the mountains.
First, let's leave here quickly and find a place to stay for the time being before discussing our next move.
Li Lanzhen thought the same way; they absolutely couldn't stay here any longer!
According to her observation, these human traffickers who ate human flesh were not the only ones; they could even join forces with the people of Zhoujia Village to harm us! Then other members of this group would also harm others in other refugee groups.
If the problems here are discovered, or if the people of Zhoujia Village go out and join forces with them, it will bring even bigger trouble.
Another factor is that, according to the situation in Youzhou that Xue Laohu and Han Mingjiang explained upon their return, it is not advisable for them to stay here for long.
Once the soldiers of Youzhou City and those who stirred up trouble among the refugees started fighting.
This was the first place to be found, and also the first place to be affected and harmed.
Although Xue Laohu and his companions were unfamiliar with this area, they knew the mountain paths well, and Xue Laohu had also checked this area using a map.
As long as you don't cross this mountain, just keep walking east along the foot of the mountain. To the east, there are mountains upon mountains, and you can see that the mountains are lush and verdant.
However, seeing greenery doesn't mean you can get there immediately. As the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death," so how long will it take to get there and find a home?
Xue Bao, along with Han Mingjiang and Han Zhaoxiong, scouted ahead, while the guards and the Red Tassel Squad continued to protect the main force.
Those who brought up the rear were the people from Liujia Village who had just joined their group of refugees today.
Five members of the guard team stayed behind to cover the rear and clean up the mess.
The village chief of Liujia Village had his second son join the guard team to participate in the work of clearing away their traces.
They traveled swiftly, and as darkness fell, they arrived at a valley.
This place is far from Youzhou City and the mountain where they once stayed.
Of course, this also means that they are far from conflict and danger.
By this time, both adults and children were exhausted.
Liujia Village consciously distanced itself from Hanjia Village.
Everyone is severely lacking drinking water.
Han Shunde then called on each family to send one person, carrying a water bag or a wooden bucket, to find a water source nearby.
After a day of rapid walking, Li Lanzhen didn't feel tired at all, although she was covered in sweat.
She was secretly pleased. It seemed that this miracle pill really lived up to its name. She just didn't know if it was permanent or if there was only a temporary time limit.
Thinking this, he called out to the system, "System, do you know that after I take this super strength pill, it's permanent, granting me superhuman strength, or is there a time limit?"
The system said, "Host, I don't know either. You should try it out first."
Li Lanzhen thought about giving some to everyone in her family, but she didn't know how to explain it.
Set up a pot and boil water to make a pot of porridge. Then throw the strength pills in, give a little to everyone, and let them gain as much strength as they can!
Thinking of this, she brought out a large iron pot and started building a stove to boil water.
Although Xue Nizi and the others were tired, seeing that Li Lanzhen was preparing to burn the food, they quickly got up, some gathering firewood and others starting a fire.
Han Yinan and Gou Dan also started getting busy, preparing to follow the adults to find a water source.
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Lanzhen called out to him, "Gou Dan'er, you guys don't need to go anymore, and Yinan should come back too."
Come help Grandma with the fire, and Grandma will cook you some wild vegetable porridge.
Gou Dan was in a dilemma. There were only two people in his family, him and his grandmother. If one person from each family had to go, his family would not have water.
Han Minghai walked over, patted his head, and took the small wooden bucket from his hand.
"If I find water, I'll fetch it for you, and you can stay at home with Yinan."
Dog Egg nodded gratefully, "Thank you, Uncle."
Tonghua took the black basin from Li Lanzhen and said to her, "Sister, let me do it. You rest for a while."
Li Lanzhen said, "I'm not tired either. Go scoop half a basin of dried wild vegetables and cook them with black flour into a wild vegetable paste."
Xue Nizi came over and asked, "Mom, we don't have many wild vegetable pancakes left. At most, there will be one for each adult and child by noon tomorrow."
Without hesitation, Li Lanzhen said, "After you drink the porridge, you can start making wild vegetable and black flour pancakes."
Once the wild vegetable porridge was ready, a bowl was served to the children, who then sat down in a circle and slurped it down in small sips.
The people who went out to find water returned happily.
Seeing their happy expressions, Li Lanzhen knew they must have found water.
Sure enough, Han Minghai was carrying a wooden bucket in each hand, and Gou Dan immediately pounced on him.
"Uncle, you've found water! That's wonderful! Thank you so much, Uncle and Uncle!"
Han Mingjiang chuckled and showed Li Lanzhen a bucket of water.
"Mother, we found water. It's a small stream with a very low flow, so we waited a little longer than usual. Everyone filled a bucket with water before we came back."
My father-in-law said this stream must have flowed down from deep in the mountains, and the water volume decreases as it flows further down.
Li Lanzhen was very happy to hear this. As long as there is water, there should be plants and wild vegetables, and people can survive.
This good news brought hope to all the refugees. Every household gathered firewood to cook a pot of porridge, even if it was a little thin.
After Han Shunde and the old village chief finished their meal, they came to find Xue Bao, the village chief of Liujia Village, and the village chief of Lujia Village. They sat together by the campfire, looking at the map.
The old captain called Li Lanzhen to sit next to him.
"Lanzhen, we came from Hanjiacun with the goal of entering Youzhou City, but as things stand, we probably won't be able to get in."
"We can't be accommodated at the Youzhou city government office. Could you tell us how we should get there?"
Ever since Li Lanzhen saved them, the old village chief felt that Li Lanzhen was a lucky star for Hanjia Village.
They will be rescued if they encounter danger, and they can also find food in underground caves.
In the morning, Li Lanzhen wielded the axe with both hands, her movements fluid and graceful.
The old village chief always felt that Li Lanzhen had acquired great fortune.
Li Nanzheng thought for a moment, glanced at the map, and looked up at the dark, towering mountains.
Jin Fulai's words kept echoing in his mind: "If you're fleeing famine, go to the east, and it's best to hide in the mountains for two or three years before coming out."
He said, "Old village chief, I think we should go deep into the mountains and follow the stream they found today. We'll definitely find a place suitable for us to settle down. At least there will be water and land to grow crops, and it will be suitable for living. This way, we'll be far away from Youzhou City and far away from danger. We can hide in the mountains, grow crops and vegetables, live off the land and water, and we'll be able to survive."
"Next year, we'll send people out again to gather information about Youzhou City."
Xue Laohu nodded and said, "That should be the case. There are mountains after mountains here, and the mountains are rich in resources. As long as we can find a suitable place to live, we can settle down."
Han Shunde frowned. "Yes, it's almost the end of September and the beginning of October now, and the weather is quite cool in the mornings and evenings."
We need to find a place to live and food to store for the winter as it approaches.
Everything will be fine by next spring!
The more they talked, the happier they became, each one looking forward to next spring, when the flowers would bloom and wonderful days would come.
Li Lanzhen was not so optimistic. There was indeed plenty of food in the mountains, but there were also dangers.
How can you build a house without tools? You also have to consider safety issues and build a courtyard wall. All of these things take time, but she didn't say it out loud.
She didn't want to say anything discouraging when people were happy, so she'd deal with it as it came!
(Thanks for following along, my darlings! There's a surprise in tomorrow's chapter. Give me a like to urge for more updates and write a review!)
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