The aftershocks were smaller than the last one, but rocks and trees still rolled down the mountain one after another!
Bai Chengye and Lin Ru didn't bother to wait for the villagers who had chased after the donkeys and horses. They took turns leading the remaining villagers to leave in an orderly manner.
Hearing the rumbling sound behind them, no one dared to stop for a moment!
Looking at the silent crowd in front of her, who were only sobbing quietly, Lin Ru sighed in her heart, "The people already didn't have much food, and now this earthquake has claimed so many lives! These people can all fight and become heroes, but it's the lowest-class people who suffer! I wonder when a wise ruler will come!"
They gazed at the endless, seemingly limitless mountain range in the darkness, wondering when they would find its end!
The aftershocks had long since ended, but they still dared not stop for a moment. After walking for about half an hour, they actually saw villagers who had fled just like them, but unlike them, they were all dead!
Some were killed by falling rocks, some were buried by mudslides, and some were crushed in the back by falling trees!
Lin Ru looked at the villagers of Shili Village and saw that there was hardly any food left!
So they stopped the main force and told them to search the ruins for any food left behind by the villagers!
Unexpectedly, someone voiced their opposition, and that person was none other than Mr. Tao's father! Mr. Tao!
He injured his leg while fleeing and was being helped along by his two grandsons. When he saw Lin Ru, he told her to dig up some food from the dead! She immediately cursed him, saying it was an insult to civility!
Lin Ru frowned as she looked at Bai Chengye, as if to say, "What kind of in-laws have you chosen?!"
Bai Chengye touched his nose a little embarrassed when his granddaughter looked at him!
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Mr. Tao listened to Lin Ru and went to rummage through the ruins to find some food and supplies!
Then Mr. Tao, his body trembling, angrily cursed!
"Respect the dead! You people who don't respect the dead will be punished! Heaven is watching what people do! Can't you leave some good karma for your descendants?"
Lin Ru frowned and retorted, "What's it to you! Why do you meddle so much every day? Do you live by the sea?! Why are you so nosy! If the dead are to be respected, then the living should just starve to death. Why were you running when the landslide happened? You might as well have just died! Anyway, you'd be the boss if you were dead!"
"If you don't like it, then leave! We didn't ask you to stay, nor did we ask you to rummage through their grain!"
"Then what nonsense are you spouting here?"
"Didn't the books teach you not to meddle in other people's business?"
Lin Ru's words made Mr. Tao so angry that he almost fell backwards!
Although the villagers generally respect scholars, at this critical juncture, if they could get a full meal by saying a few pedantic words, they would side with Mr. Tao!
Tao also angrily retorted, "Lin Ru! How dare you speak to your elders like that?"
Lin Ru crossed her arms: "That's exactly what I said. Didn't you see it? Or didn't you hear it? Are you blind or deaf?"
"Would you like me to repeat it to you again?"
"By the way, didn't you say that women should walk with graceful steps and speak softly? Well, when you ran away just now, you lifted your skirt and ran like crazy! You were faster than a rabbit!"
"And you weren't speaking to me gently at all! It's ridiculous! What kind of sage books have you been reading? You have a bunch of theories to demand of others, but you don't demand anything of yourself!"
Tao blushed with embarrassment and couldn't think of a rebuttal for a moment!
At this moment, a woman appeared beside her and quickly helped Tao up!
While helping her catch her breath, he said gently, "Miss Lin! You're being a bit unreasonable! What happened just now was so sudden! We were all terrified!"
"Prioritize urgent matters; deliberate actions will yield better results!"
"Miss Lin has never been to school, so I don't know if you've ever heard this saying before!"
"The gist of it is that when faced with such an emergency, there's no need to stick to the rules!"
Tao echoed, "Yes! Xiang Ya is right!"
"Ru'er! You really should study harder! If you keep acting like this, you'll suffer in the outside world! You should learn from Xiang Ya! Learn her gentleness and thoughtfulness! That's what a woman should be like!"
"Instead of being like you, jumping around all day!"
"Even though we're currently fleeing famine, you still need to be mindful of your status. After all, once things stabilize, look around at these families—which ones would want a daughter-in-law like you?"
"I'm doing this for your own good!"
Lin Ru scoffed, "For my own good!? I feel perfectly fine as I am now. I'm happy, and that's enough. Besides, I completely agree with what Miss Tao just said about acting swiftly when necessary!"
"Otherwise, do you think I would normally let people dig up other people's graves?"
"What kind of people do you think the villagers of Shili Village are?"
"Willing to do anything for money!? Or are they just a bunch of low-class farmers!?"
"We're starving to death now, we can't even survive, what's the point of adhering to those etiquettes?"
"Let me say it again, I didn't force you to search for grain, nor did I force you to come with us. Either leave, or shut up!"
Lin Ru left after she finished speaking!
Suddenly, the system's voice rang out in my mind!
"Ding! Tao Xiangya's hatred value has increased by 500 points!"
Lin Ru froze on the spot. The reason she was stunned was not because she had just said a few words, but because Tao Xiangya, who seemed like a lady, hated her!
Instead, it's because she just confronted the Tao family and Mr. Tao for so long, yet neither of them harbored any hatred towards her!
This prompted Lin Ru to turn around and glance at Tao Shi and that old Mr. Tao!
They both glared at her angrily!
On the contrary, Tao Xiangya actually smiled at her!
Lin Ru even began to wonder if there was something wrong with her system.
This reminded her of that Xu woman; she had not only hit her, but also her father and brother! But the system's report didn't show any hatred points for her!
That's really strange!
Don't we have any hatred among our own people? But what's the deal with that Mr. Tao?
It really baffled her.
Mr. Tao was really uncomfortable with the look in her eyes!
He kept pointing at her and cursing, "She's utterly hopeless!"
"Women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with!"
Lin Ru immediately retorted, "Your mother! Your wife! Your daughter! Your precious granddaughter are all girls! You start cursing your mother right away! You've wasted your time studying the classics!"
Mr. Tao suddenly fell backward! He bent over!
Tao angrily said many things to Lin Ru!
What disrespect for elders! What bad manners! I'll have my mother teach me a lesson from now on!
But after talking for so long, the hatred level didn't increase at all!
Lin Ru simply looked Tao Xiangya up and down!
The hatred level has increased by another fifty points!
In the end, she could only conclude that the Tao father and daughter were simply too well-read, giving off a meddlesome and know-it-all vibe. They couldn't accept anything that didn't conform to what they read in books! But in reality, they didn't seem to have any bad intentions!
But Tao Xiangya is different! She's obviously a two-faced green tea bitch!
Lin Ru didn't care about anything else, because she wanted to listen up close to see if there were any survivors under the ruins!
She stood in the center of the ruins and listened carefully to everything around her!
There was absolutely no sound below, which made Lin Ru even more awe of the power of nature!
Suddenly, a faint golden light flashed in her eyes!
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