As the sun gradually set, the people of Sujia Village, after a whole day of running around, finally found a relatively flat place. They stopped and began to rest and cook.
After a simple meal, Yao Qingshuang still felt uneasy. From time to time, she glanced at the refugees sitting or lying around her, and the more she looked, the more uneasy she felt.
After pondering for a while, she stood up and found the village chief. She said with a worried look on her face, "Village chief, do you think we should have someone on guard at night? There are people everywhere around here, it's a mess. What if someone with bad intentions comes to steal things in the middle of the night? What should we do then?"
After hearing this, the village chief looked up at the refugees scattered around their gathering place, and his expression suddenly became solemn.
He nodded slightly and replied, "Mother Wencheng, you're right. We can't be careless about this. I'll arrange for someone right away. Not just tonight, but every night from now on, we'll have to have someone on guard. We have to be on guard against those with bad intentions."
After that, the village chief took swift and decisive action. He quickly gathered all the young and middle-aged men in the village together, arranged them into shifts in an orderly manner, and assigned eight people to be on duty at night every day to ensure that if any unexpected situation occurred, everyone would be able to respond and sleep well.
At night, everything is pitch black, with only the faint moonlight shining on the earth, allowing people to barely see some vague outlines.
Yao Qingshuang lay on a makeshift bed, her heart always on edge, not daring to sleep too deeply.
She knew very well that the road to escape famine was full of dangers, and she was surrounded by strangers, most of whom were hungry refugees, and she could never be sure what kind of trouble would happen at any time.
Half asleep and half awake, Yao Qingshuang heard a loud shouting sound that broke the silence of the night.
The voice was filled with fear and anger, and it was particularly harsh in the quiet night.
Yao Qingshuang suddenly shuddered and immediately climbed up from the bed. There was still some sleepiness in her eyes, but more of it was alertness and worry.
She looked around in panic, and first made sure that there was nothing unusual in Sujia Village where she lived. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, and her heart was slightly relieved.
The noise also woke up everyone else. Many people were startled out of their sleep, rubbing their sleepy eyes, their faces filled with confusion and panic.
But soon, everyone reacted and ran in the direction of the sound, wanting to find out what was going on.
When they got closer, they could see the scene clearly in the dim moonlight.
It turned out that the belongings of a family of more than ten people were stolen. Someone in the family got up in the middle of the night and happened to run into the thieves. When the thieves saw that their crime was exposed, they became so cruel that they started to steal.
Several people were brutally murdered in this dark night, with blood spreading on the ground. The scene was extremely tragic.
When those who were trying to steal things saw that the situation had gotten out of hand, they scattered and disappeared into the night in an instant.
At this moment, the family was surrounding the victim, crying and shouting in grief. The cries echoed in the silent night, making people feel sad and scared.
Yao Qingshuang stood aside and witnessed this scene. She raised her hand and touched her chest with lingering fear, as if this could calm her pounding heart.
At this moment, she accidentally met the eyes of the village chief. She saw a hint of relief in the village chief's eyes, relief that such a tragedy did not happen to the people in Sujia Village.
Yao Qingshuang understood and nodded silently, then turned around and walked slowly back to continue sleeping.
But even though she lay down, she couldn't fall asleep. The tragic scene just now kept appearing in her mind, and she prayed silently in her heart that nothing else would happen on this journey.
Although they did not sleep well last night because of the noise and their sleep quality was very poor, when the familiar time of Mao arrived, everyone in Sujia Village understood that they had to continue on their journey and could not afford to slack off at all.
Everyone reached out and patted their still sleepy faces, trying to wake themselves up and cheer themselves up, and then dragged their tired bodies and continued to move forward towards the south.
After walking for a few more days, the people of Sujia Village finally arrived at a place only 5 miles away from Pingning County.
From afar, the outline of the county town was clearly visible. When everyone saw the county town not far away, they couldn't help but smile on their faces, and a glimmer of hope flashed in their eyes.
After all, the little food they brought from home was almost gone after being consumed along the way, and they really needed to go into the city to buy some food and water to sustain the rest of the journey.
However, when Yao Qingshuang looked at the scene in front of her, she felt that the situation was not optimistic.
As she walked along, she found that Pingning County was in the same situation as Da'an County she had passed before. There were withered yellow weeds everywhere, and there was not a trace of vibrant green.
The fields that should have been full of crops at harvest time are now withered and yellow, looking extremely desolate.
She thought to herself that in this situation, even if there was food in the city, the villagers probably couldn't afford it given their financial situation.
But she also knew very well that along the way, many families were almost out of food, and everyone was hoping to buy life-saving food in Pingning County.
Although she had space in the supermarket, she couldn't expose it in front of everyone. She also had no way to stop people from going into the city to buy food. She could only worry silently in her heart and hope for a good result.
Suddenly, there was a commotion ahead. I saw a group of people running back quickly in panic. Their footsteps were so hurried as if there was a ferocious beast chasing them from behind.
Yao Qingshuang's eyes suddenly widened, her face full of astonishment. She stood there blankly, looking at those who were running back in complete bewilderment. Her heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came over her.
The village chief reacted extremely quickly. He rushed forward, reached out and grabbed one of the breathless runners, and asked anxiously, "What's going on? Are we not allowed to enter the city?"
The tone was full of anxiety and worry. After all, everyone was hoping to go into the city to find a way to make a living.
The man being held back was exhausted from running, his chest heaving violently. He took several deep breaths before finally catching his breath. With a look of terror on his face, he said, "Run! Pingning County is conscripting men to fight in the battlefield! If we don't run now, it will be too late!"
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