The fleeing people were also very excited at this moment. Water! They had a way to collect water, so they didn't have to fight with other refugees for water. Fighting for water would mean risking their lives.
They wanted to survive and wanted their whole family to reach the Northern Wilderness alive, so they simply couldn't afford to fight for water. If they collected dew like this, everyone would be able to collect it and would not fight for water.
Upon seeing this, the head of Wangjia Village burst into tears and knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Thank you very much, Major General."
The villagers looked at the old village chief and said happily, "Village chief, let's get some wooden buckets and collect all the water so that everyone in the village can have water to drink."
"Okay, okay, everyone hurry up and follow the officers. This way, we can be safer on the road. If we fall behind, we might run into bandits."
"Yes, don't worry, Village Chief."
The major general and his men traveled during the day and not at night. Although they walked a little slowly, they could still catch up if they traveled at night.
Many victims who came later came up to ask out of curiosity, and everyone told the truth, saying that saving a life is a life.
The team had been walking for more than ten days. When they were about to reach the town, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They could finally enter the city, stay in an inn, and wash up properly.
There has been a severe water shortage in recent days. There is not enough water to drink, let alone wash.
Qingfeng Town
A large number of people gathered in front of the city gate. They were dressed in rags, their lips were terribly cracked, and they stared at the city gate with dull eyes, crying out weakly, "Water, please give us some water, sir."
The inspector stood at the city gate, looking at the indifferent people below with cold eyes. After a long while, he said, "Someone, sound the gong to warn them if they still block the city gate."
"Just shoot them and kill them to clear the way. If they have the plague, it will harm the people in the town."
How can those worthless lives be compared with his life?
The prefect was standing by and was shocked when he heard this: "No, sir, you can't do this. Those are innocent people who just asked for a drink of water. How can you just shoot them?"
"Besides, there's water in this town. It wouldn't be a problem to send some water down there, as long as we don't open the city gates."
Upon hearing this, Supervisor Liu Heng curled up a strange smile and raised his hand to slap the man hard. He looked at the man whose face was hit and shook his hand away. He said slowly, "Sir Wang, my official position is higher than yours."
"I am an official appointed by the imperial court, and you cannot order me around. You are so naive! Once the flood is released, those untouchables will definitely not leave."
"If the plague spreads, Lord Wang, you'll have to come to me with your head on your shoulders. You must clearly distinguish between the more serious and the less serious."
Wang Yong lowered his head and dared not say a word.
Liu Heng clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Go, ring the gong to tell the people below that if they don't leave today, they will start shooting arrows to kill them tomorrow!"
"Yes, sir."
When the people heard the sound of the gong, they looked up blankly. After hearing the loud shouting, they looked at the people on the city wall with despair in their eyes and disbelief. They were people from the imperial court.
Why did you just watch them die? They just wanted a sip of water. How could you treat them like this? You wanted to shoot them. Haha, it's really ridiculous.
A man stood up, laughing crazily, his lips cracked and bleeding. He looked at them madly, as if he didn't notice anything. "Okay, if you don't give us a way to live, no one will live."
"Everyone, listen to me. Since the imperial court won't provide disaster relief and won't even give us a drop of water, we should find a way to get into the city. We'll die if we wait any longer."
Everyone was a little scared when they heard this. If they were discovered and arrested, their future generations would be implicated.
The man lowered his voice and said, "The moat has dried up. We can go around into the city from that side. That's our only way to survive. Once we've eaten and drunk enough, we'll head north."
"The emperor is far away and no one can do anything to us. Besides, the emperor doesn't have the time to bother with us."
When everyone heard this, they were a little moved. If they waited any longer, they really would not have the strength left. It would be better to fight for survival while they still had the strength.
The people on the city wall looked at the people gathering below and shouted, "Leave the city gate, leave quickly!"
The man Zhao Gao narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Come on, folks, follow me. It won't be too late for us to act at night."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
The refugees gathered at the city gate and those fleeing famine followed one by one and walked towards the woods one after another, their expressions as numb as puppets.
Seeing them leave tactfully, Liu Heng smiled with satisfaction, "Master Wang, let's go back and continue drinking. These people have already left, and I will continue on my journey tomorrow."
"Yes, sir."
The two returned to the city, singing and dancing happily.
As the sky gradually darkened, Zhao Gao waited until the time was almost right, and led his men down the moat, heading towards the city from the edge, and groping their way into the forest inside the city.
After passing through the woods, they saw the clear water in the stream. Everyone ran over with their eyes shining, and lay down by the river and started drinking water frantically. Some of them were so full that they almost vomited.
After recovering from the shock, some people couldn't help but want to cry.
There is so much water in the city, why are you unwilling to give them a sip of water and just watch them die of thirst? These people... damn it, damn it!
Zhao Gao shouted, "Alright, everyone, don't forget why we came into the city. Let's go to the government office, arrest those people, and steal some food and drink. Then we can go to the Northern Wilderness."
"...If you do this, you really won't get beheaded."
"Yes, but we will die if we are penniless. When we have no choice, we can only give it a try. If we cannot defeat the people from the government, then death will also await us."
Everyone's eyes dimmed, and as they looked at the clear water in the stream, they hesitated. "But there's water here. We don't want to flee to the Northern Wasteland. The journey is too difficult."
"If we encounter bandits or wild beasts, we won't be able to survive. We can hide in the woods and come here to drink water at night. That way we can survive..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gao slapped him and said, "Are you crazy? You know we will be discovered if you do this, and you will die anyway."
"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. We have no way out. Either we continue to take over the government office, or wait to be discovered and die."
"Everyone follow me to the government office!"
Everyone followed him into the alley, crawled in through the dog hole in the corner of the wall, and felt their way to the backyard. From afar, they heard the sound of stringed instruments.
"This is... the sound of musical instruments. We were nearly dying of thirst outside the city, and yet they were living happily and carefree inside. Haha, the grain we worked so hard to farm is being wasted by them just like that."
"Look, how they live is how we live."
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