Finally, one of the girls slowly raised her head. Her face was as pale as paper, and her lips trembled slightly. She said in a voice filled with endless sorrow, "My family all died at the hands of these bandits.
That day…that day they charged into our group, burning, killing, and looting. My parents…my parents were brutally murdered by them…by them in order to protect me. My brother also lost his life in the resistance. Now I’m the only one left at home. I…I really have nothing left…”
As she spoke, tears as big as beans rolled down from her eyes, wetting her dirty cheeks.
"We too..." After hearing this, the others also raised their heads and echoed in hoarse voices.
Their faces were equally pale and bloodless, their eyes filled with deep despair. Their eyes were empty and helpless, as if they had lost all hope of life, leaving only endless lamentations for this cruel fate.
Hearing such a heartbreaking answer, the village chief's wife was suddenly at a loss.
She frowned and thought to herself: These girls have no relatives, but we still have to hurry on our journey. Our future is uncertain, and the situation in the village is not good either. It is really difficult to settle these girls.
What should I do?
If we just leave them behind, they will be alone and may encounter danger. But if we take them with us, how will we deal with the difficulties and dangers along the way?
The more the village head's wife thought about it, the more confused she became. She felt that this matter was really tricky, and she was so worried that her brows were almost twisted into a knot.
She was really at a loss, so she had to hurry out of the house and tell her husband everything about the difficult situation.
After listening to his daughter-in-law's story, the village chief frowned slightly, with a hint of confusion and embarrassment in his eyes.
I thought to myself, these girls are so pitiful. Their families were killed by those bandits, and now they are all alone and helpless. If I just abandon them like this, I will never be able to live with my conscience.
But then I thought again, the current situation in the village is not optimistic, and supplies are not sufficient. If I take these girls who have no relatives with me, there will be many inconveniences on the road. This is indeed a headache.
The village chief stood there for a long time, weighing the pros and cons over and over again. Finally, he sighed and decided to talk to these girls face to face and ask them what they thought.
So, he walked with slightly heavy steps and came to the thatched hut where the girls were.
Gently pushing open the door, the village chief walked into the house and looked at the girls sitting in the corner.
There were still traces of tears on their faces, and their eyes were full of confusion and helplessness.
The village chief slowly walked up to them, trying to make his tone gentler, and asked about their plans: "Girls, now that those thieves have been killed, you have been saved, which is a good thing. But I also have to ask you, what are you going to do next?"
After hearing what the village chief said, the girls were stunned at first, and then the confusion on their faces became even more intense.
Yes, I had been imprisoned by bandits before, living in fear every day, and all I wanted was to escape.
But now that I was really saved, I suddenly found that I seemed to have lost my direction.
Now that my family members are gone, how am I going to live my life from now on?
They looked at each other, and besides confusion, there was more deep fear and helplessness about the future.
The village chief looked at the girls in front of him and saw that they all had empty eyes and confused faces. It was obvious that they had no goals or ideas about the future.
The village chief couldn't help but feel sad, and secretly thought that he had to show them a way forward.
So the village chief cleared his throat and said to them, "Girls, how about this? You have nowhere to go now and are all alone. Why don't you just follow us and stay when we get to the next county town?"
You girls should help each other, find a place to live, and then find some work to do. Although it may be hard, you will be able to survive at least."
After hearing what the village chief said, the girls were stunned at first, as if they were thinking about whether the method the village chief said was feasible.
After a moment, there was a glimmer of light in their eyes, as if they saw a glimmer of hope in the darkness.
The few of them looked at each other and nodded repeatedly. One of the girls said with gratitude, "Okay, we'll listen to you. Thank you so much for saving us. Without you, we really don't know what we would do. Now that we have a place to go, even if it's a bit hard, we're content."
The other girls also echoed, their eyes full of gratitude towards the village chief and everyone in Sujia Village.
Seeing that the girls accepted his proposal, the problem finally had a preliminary solution, and the village chief slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
He raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat that had appeared on his forehead at some point, and a huge weight in his heart finally fell to the ground.
Then, the village chief turned to the villagers standing outside and said, "Come, everyone, help bury this poor woman on the ground. She had a miserable life, and now she's finally freed. We can't let her body lie exposed in the wilderness."
After hearing what the village chief said, several villagers immediately responded, carefully lifted up the woman who had stopped breathing on the ground, and walked towards an open space not far away, preparing to find a resting place for her so that her soul could be comforted.
The village chief came out of the house with a heavy heart. As soon as he stepped out of the door, a burst of wailing sounds came straight into his ears.
Those were the painful cries of the injured people in the village. Each cry was like a sharp awl, piercing the village chief's heart, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Recalling the thrilling battle just now, although the villagers of Sujia Village finally succeeded in defeating the vicious bandits with their tenacious will and united strength, this victory came at a considerable price.
Many people in the village were injured in this fierce battle.
Some villagers were luckier and only injured their arms.
But the injuries on the arms should not be underestimated. Some of them were deep cuts made by the bandits' swords and knives. Blood was constantly oozing out of the wounds, and soon the sleeves were dyed red, like a blooming blood flower; others were hit hard by sticks, and their arms swelled up instantly, with purple bruises one after another. If they moved a little, the piercing pain would make the injured person gasp for air and frown tightly in pain.
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