But the scene looked quite miserable. The villagers were either lying or sprawled on the ground, lifeless, like a group of poor abandoned people.
In addition to the people from Sujia Village, there were about a hundred other refugees in the room.
At this moment, faint voices came from outside the house, breaking the panicking silence.
"How is it? Have all the people for today been delivered?" A voice asked slowly and with some dignity.
"Don't worry, Steward Li, the people have been delivered." Another voice responded hurriedly, its tone full of flattery and fawning.
"That's good." Butler Li's voice rang out again, still in that calm yet intimidating tone. "Remember not to say anything you shouldn't say when you get back. This matter is of great importance. If even a little bit of it leaks out, you'll be in big trouble!"
"Yes, Butler Li, don't worry!" Upon hearing this, those people nodded repeatedly and responded incessantly, their voices louder than the other, as if they wanted to use this to prove their loyalty.
Hearing the footsteps of those people gradually moving away until they disappeared from his ears, Yao Qingshuang breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to move his arms quietly to relieve the numbness caused by maintaining the same posture for a long time.
But at this moment, another burst of voices came without warning, and it seemed particularly clear in this empty room which was so quiet that it was a little creepy.
"Miss, everyone for today has been delivered." Butler Li reported respectfully, his words revealing a sense of relief after completing the task.
"Well, there are a lot of people here today." Then, a gentle voice sounded. The voice was as pleasant to the ears as a clear spring flowing through the mountains, but when it fell into Yao Qingshuang's ears, it made her heart suddenly tighten.
Yao Qingshuang was startled. This voice was very familiar to her. It was the voice of the county magistrate's eldest daughter whom she saw at the city gate today!
She never imagined that the person she originally thought was as kind as an angel would be involved with these evil people. What kind of conspiracy was hidden behind this?
"Yes, Miss, the number of people today is almost double that of the past two days," the hoarse voice continued. "Do you think we can stop distributing porridge? After all, distributing porridge every day is a considerable expense, and we've already caught most of the people."
"No." The eldest lady's gentle voice came again, but this time it sounded a little more decisive and unquestionable. "Let's give out the porridge for two more days. More people means faster digging. We have to finish digging it out as soon as possible before others find out. If we stop giving out the porridge now, it will arouse others' suspicion, which will be troublesome. Then all our efforts will be wasted."
"Young lady is really thoughtful. Let's continue providing porridge for two more days." Butler Li responded quickly, his words full of flattery.
Yao Qingshuang heard it clearly in the corner, and her heart was in turmoil.
I originally had some good feelings and hope for Ping'an County, but now I find that all this is actually an elaborate scam.
She secretly clenched her fists, thinking that she must find a way to escape.
After the voices completely disappeared and the surroundings returned to dead silence, Yao Qingshuang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She carefully moved her stiff body.
After her body had adjusted a little, Yao Qingshuang crouched down and moved silently towards the door like a vigilant cat.
She took every step very cautiously, fearing that even the slightest noise would alert the bad guys outside.
Finally, she reached the door. She pressed her ear against the worn door panel, holding her breath and listening intently for a long time. After confirming that there was no movement outside, she slowly stood up.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and carefully observed the situation outside through the gap in the door panel.
There was only a dim corridor outside. The torches on the wall emitted a faint light, barely illuminating a small area around.
The corridor was empty, with no one else in sight. Yao Qingshuang speculated that perhaps those people felt they had been drugged and passed out, and now, like lambs to be slaughtered, no longer posed any threat, so they left with such confidence.
Thinking of this, Yao Qingshuang couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Alas, I originally thought that Ping'an County was a good place with simple folk customs, but I didn't know that all this was an illusion. Ping'an County is not safe at all."
Yao Qingshuang looked at the people lying unconscious in the room and felt a sharp pain in her head.
What should I do?
Everyone was lying there unconscious, and no one knew how many dangers were waiting outside.
She thought about it, found a spray bottle in the supermarket, filled it with water, and walked to Su Wenjun.
At this moment, Su Wenjun was lying on the ground with his eyes closed and a slightly pale face. Like everyone else, he was completely unconscious.
She used a watering can to spray water on Su Wenjun's face. As soon as the cool water touched Su Wenjun's skin, it flowed down his cheeks, but Su Wenjun still did not react.
Seeing this, Yao Qingshuang felt a tightness in her heart. She gritted her teeth and reached out to pinch his philtrum hard.
She pressed hard with her fingers, once, twice, three times... each time with full force, hoping that such stimulation would make Su Wenjun wake up as soon as possible.
Finally, after pinching three times, Su Wenjun's eyebrows moved slightly and a faint hum came from his throat.
Then he slowly opened his eyes, his eyes full of confusion and doubt, as if he didn't know where he was or what had happened.
Yao Qingshuang was delighted to see that he had woken up, but she was also afraid that the noise he made would alert the people outside, so she quickly reached out to cover his mouth, and at the same time put the index finger of her other hand to her lips, making a silencing gesture, signaling him not to speak.
Although Su Wenjun was full of confusion and didn't understand what was going on, seeing his mother looking so nervous, he could only nod slightly to show that he understood what she meant.
Seeing this, Yao Qingshuang slowly put down the hand that was covering his mouth.
Yao Qingshuang leaned close to Su Wenjun's ear and told him everything she had just heard in a very low voice, almost in a whisper.
As Su Wenjun listened, his eyes widened and his face was filled with uncontrollable shock.
He never imagined that the porridge he thought was kindly donated by Ping'an County was actually an elaborate scam, and there was actually drugs in it!
This caught these already poor refugees off guard, and they all fell into a coma at once, and were then moved to this hellish place like cargo.
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