I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

The village head pondered for a moment, then sighed as he looked at the crackling fire. "Let's turn the tables on them. Since they want to investigate, let's give them a show of force."

"Tomorrow, leave half of the people to hide in the cave entrance, and the rest of you can go about your business as usual," the village head said. "Those who go out to fish should bring farm tools for self-defense. In case anything goes wrong, survival is the priority."

The villagers who were nearby nodded in agreement.

After explaining the arrangements, the village head sent them back to sleep.

The next morning, the Wangli Village team, as usual, took their farm tools and straw nets to the pond to fetch water.

They deliberately released water from the pool, and the people on guard stood far away. As soon as someone approached from the other side, they closely monitored their movements.

"Hey, look at them! They're all so fleshy. Did they eat all the fish in the pond?"

"How could that be!"

Hammer: "They only have one mouth each, didn't you see how they could catch ten or more fish at once with their nets!"

Compared to the days before when the nets were full as soon as they were cast, these days, even after a whole morning of fishing, they can only catch about ten fish, which the people of Wangli Village find too few.

Even if it's not enough, it's better than nothing. They come over diligently to catch fish, and when they rest, they lend a hand to process all the fish, put them in a basin, and then drag them back together when the basin is full.

The basin was piled high with fish, and Sanzhu's eyes turned red with envy.

Their group ate either grass roots or human flesh every day... To be honest, Sanzhu couldn't bring himself to eat it at first, but he had to eat it to survive.

If there's fish to eat, who would want to eat that stuff!

Sanzhu counted and found there were fifteen men fishing on the shore.

About ten people came to help yesterday.

We need to know if there are any other strong men in their team. If not, these twenty or so people combined are really not as many as the men in our own team!

Who knows, we might actually win! I should have brought more people with me yesterday!

Sanzhu waited and waited until the villagers across the river caught a few more fish in the pond and filled a basin with them before they sent a few people to drag the basin back.

—The opportunity has arrived!

Sanzhu and Hammer followed quietly behind.

Following the mountain path, the two of them saw the men dragging the basin to a cave!

They actually have a cave!

Sanzhu's eyes were so red they were almost bleeding. If there were a cave, he wouldn't have to worry about leaks at night!

These people are so lucky! They found a pool of water and a cave!

—We must take it down!

Sanzhu made a silent vow in his heart.

After the people at the cave entrance took the fish away, the group of men dragged the empty basin back.

Sanzhu was scratching his head in frustration outside the cave entrance.

Since he couldn't get in, he naturally had no way of knowing how many people were inside.

Hammer is still the smartest.

"Don't rush, listen to me. Everyone needs to pee sometimes. Let's just squat here and count the number of people who come out to pee!"

"They can't possibly pee in the cave! The smell would be unbearable!"

Sanzhu slapped his forehead, "That's right!! It just takes a little time."

They patiently kept watch, and inside, as instructed by the village head, one or two people would go out every now and then to "go to the toilet".

Sanzhu counted, and there were fewer than forty people in total!

This also includes the ten men who went to help at the pool yesterday.

The entire team only has fifty men; how could they possibly be a match for our own team!

Sanzhu waited patiently for a while, and when he saw that the people coming out started to repeat themselves, he took the hammer and returned to his own team's slope.

Upon reaching the hillside, he eagerly sought out the leader, exclaiming, "Boss! They only have about fifty men in total! And there are fewer than thirty real men!"

"This team can be defeated!"

"When are we going?"

Sanzhu couldn't wait to sleep in the dry cave! He couldn't imagine how comfortable it would be inside! He could even eat grilled fish and drink fish soup at the same time!

"we……"

Ning's father, who was lying on the top of the slope, was anxious. He couldn't hear the group of people talking in hushed tones.

Ning's mother comforted her softly, "Don't worry, if they're going to take action, we can just run back quickly and inform them."

Ning's father nodded, and the group of people, after discussing the matter for half a day, ate dinner and then fell into a deep sleep.

At the top, Ning's parents took turns keeping an eye on what was happening at the bottom of the slope.

Even when the shift changed late at night, everyone was still sleeping peacefully. Before leaving, Ning Ma gave the man who came to take over the shift a special reminder: "They might launch a sneak attack in the middle of the night, so be careful."

With the team's safety at stake, the two men looked serious and said in unison, "Okay!"

Back in the cave, the village head was still awake. When he saw Ning's parents return, he asked about the commotion across the way and then sent people to keep watch outside the cave before going back to sleep.

I slept soundly for two hours, but halfway through my sleep, I heard some noise at the entrance of the cave.

Ning's mother woke up first and checked the time; it was only 3:30.

It looks like the other side is about to make a move!

She got up and nudged Ning's father next to her. The two of them hadn't taken off their clothes before going to bed; they had just put on their shoes and walked to the entrance of the cave. Sure enough! The two men on duty had returned early!

Village head: "Call everyone in the ranks to get up! But don't light any torches!"

Fearing that the gong would make too much noise and that those who were awake would hear the village head's instructions and scatter to notify each household.

Ning's parents called out as they went, and everyone in the village was on tenterhooks. They woke up as soon as they were called, knowing that they shouldn't light torches, and that the children in the family should watch their belongings while they took their weapons and lay in ambush at the cave entrance.

After catching so many fish, the village head distributes them to the villagers every day. They need to protect their families and their hard-earned food supplies!

opposite.

Leading the way, the three pillars led a group of forty-five men, each carrying about twenty torches, as they marched menacingly along the mountain path toward the cave.

Upon reaching the cave, the leader ordered the group to stop, extinguish all their torches, and stand still to observe.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and until the guards at the cave entrance were drowsy, the leader finally ordered the group to proceed quietly.

As the night deepened and the forty-five men entered the cave, the man in front suddenly lost his footing and, before he could even cry out, was pierced through the body by something below.

In just a moment! At least seven or eight men were gone!

"A trap! Damn it! These people must know something!"

The eldest brother clenched his fist. "Sanzhu! You go ahead and scout ahead!"

Sanzhu gripped the hoe and carefully extended it forward. There were only a few traps; there were none behind it.

This caused a delay of 15 minutes!

The eldest brother looked at the cave with a gloomy face. Fortunately, the guards inside the cave had already fallen asleep and did not notice the commotion outside.

So what if there are eight fewer people? They still have more men than the other side! As for women and the elderly, they'd better not be foolish enough to go forward, or he won't hold back!

Upon reaching the cave entrance, the leader raised his broadsword and slashed forward.

Unexpectedly, the man who had been dozing on the ground rolled away and dodged to the side. No one knew when he had gotten his big knife, but the moment he raised it, torches lit up inside the cave!

The entire cave was brightly lit! And there were over a hundred people crowded around the entrance!

"Oh no! We've been tricked!"

The leader understood perfectly well that the reason their team was able to track down the person so easily was because the other side was deliberately letting them win!

Even the number of people in the three pillars was a deliberate misrepresentation by the other side. There were more than thirty men in this group! Their entire group had at least a hundred people! More than sixty of them!

The leader turned to leave, but inside the cave, the villagers of Wangli Village, holding the weapons they had previously seized, shouted, "Charge!"

Men and women went out together and stopped the people on the other side at the cave entrance!

An hour later, the last person outside the cave collapsed.

As dawn broke, Wang Xiufeng returned to the cave entrance, panting, and said to the village head, "Father, everything is settled."

"Good boy, you've worked hard." The village head looked at Wang Xiufeng with concern and relief in his eyes. "Throw their bodies into the pit, and you should wash up and come back to rest as soon as possible."

In this fight, two men and one woman from Wangli Village died, five people were seriously injured, and the remaining dozen or so had some wounds on their bodies.

Fighting in the rain meant no torches could be lit, and even with the utmost care, Ning's father still suffered a ten-centimeter-long cut.

Without even bothering to wash him outside, Ning's mother took him directly back to their cart, pulled back the curtain, and made him take off his wet clothes.

After wiping himself with a towel dampened with warm water, Ning's father changed into dry clothes.

When he put on his shirt, he made a point of showing off his injured arm.

Ning's mother took out iodine and saline solution from her spatial storage and used them to rinse the wound on Ning's father's arm.

After rinsing, carefully disinfect the area around the wound with iodine. Fortunately, although the wound was a bit long, it wasn't deep.

After disinfecting, Ning's mother bandaged his wound with gauze and gave Ning's father an anti-inflammatory pill.

"Luckily, Ningning always had a medicine box ready every day," Ning's father said with a sigh as he sat on a small stool after taking his medicine.

Halfway through his sigh, noticing that Ning's mother's eyes were red, Ning's father quickly interrupted, "Didn't you say you were going to take some anti-inflammatory medicine out? Hurry up and go!"

Ning's mother turned around, squeezed out the anti-inflammatory pills one by one and put them into the porcelain bottle that had previously contained digestive pills, and took it to the village head.

After she walked out, Ning's father's eyes also reddened.

He sniffed, sighed, and said, "Sigh..."

—I wonder how Ningning and Xiaoqi are doing.

Ning Ma took out about sixty pills, and after instructing the village head on how to take them, she went back without waiting for the village head to distribute them.

Standing outside the curtain, Ning's mother composed herself before going in.

Lifting the curtain, Ning's mother came face to face with Ning's father, who was crying his eyes out.

Ning's mother: ...

Ning's father: "Waaah... I'm worried about the two kids..."

"Don't cry," Ning's mother said. "Worrying won't help. Didn't we make a lot of markings along the way?"

"I'm afraid they can't see it." Ning's father sniffed the snot running from his nostrils, and Ning's mother threw him a piece of paper in disgust.

Wiping his nose, Ning's father continued, "What if they take the wrong path!"

"Didn't we agree that if we got lost, we could meet up in town?" Ning's mother sighed. "It's been raining every day, so we can't walk very fast. I don't know when we'll reach Luchuan County."

The two of them worried for a while longer, while people outside were urging everyone to rest.

The villagers rested for half a day, leaving the injured in the cave while the rest went out to fish.

The world is vast, but survival is the most important thing.

Some curious men even went to check the bottom of the pit where the group of refugees had settled. They found that the group hadn't seen their leader return by midnight, so they dismantled their valuables and ran away in the night, leaving only a few branches forming a makeshift shelter.

After two more days of fishing, there were fewer and fewer fish in the pond, and often half a day would pass without seeing a single one.

The mushrooms outside were growing well, so the village headman didn't care about the villagers and told them to go fishing if they wanted to, and to go mushroom picking if they wanted to.

Everything they got their hands on was their own.

After picking all the mushrooms near the cave entrance, we went to pick mushrooms in more distant areas.

Once the first batch of mushrooms is picked, another batch will grow.

If you can only see hope, you can always find a way to survive.

Unfortunately, this peaceful life was disrupted by waves of new refugees pouring into the mountains.

The first group of refugees found the sheds left behind by someone and immediately occupied them without saying a word.

The people who went to catch fish also ran into them. They stopped catching fish, took their tools, and went straight back to the cave to inform the people inside.

Fortunately, they were in teams of ten or twenty people, so they didn't pose much of a threat to Wang Li Village's team.

The village headman instructed people to keep a close eye on what was happening outside and told the villagers to go out together to pick mushrooms and not to be alone.

The atmosphere became tense again.

Ning's mother estimated that the team would set off again in a few days.

The number of displaced people continued to grow.

One day, a group of people riding horses and carrying machetes came from the back of the procession.

As soon as they arrived, they occupied all of the dozen or so sheds. When some refugees resisted, the other side killed them without saying a word.

Some people mustered up the courage to strike up a conversation, but the other side killed them on the spot.

They killed more than a dozen refugees as a deterrent, and took in all the remaining refugees who dared not speak, making them their subordinates.

The person keeping watch quietly returned to the cave to report.

Li Zheng paced back and forth inside the cave. Halfway there, he said through gritted teeth, "Let's go!"

"Anyway, we can't catch any fish in the pond anymore, and we've picked most of the mushrooms nearby, so we can go pick mushrooms in other places as we walk."

They left without hesitation. It was noon, and the villagers who were picking mushrooms outside hadn't returned yet. The village chief led a group to look for them, while the villagers inside the cave hurriedly packed up their belongings.

The fish and mushrooms that were drying outside were packed up, and all the pots and jars were put away.

During this break, some skillful villagers made a wheelbarrow by hand.

The wheels were made of solid wood, and although they were a bit heavy to push, it was still better than carrying things on your shoulders.

Some people followed his example and made a cart bed. They hadn't had time to make the wheels yet, so they could only tie it to the cart with ropes and drag things along.

The things were almost packed up, and the village chief also brought back the people who were picking mushrooms outside.

After placing the bags of mushrooms neatly on the vehicle, the village head gave the order: "Let's go!"

He led his team out of the cave, and as soon as they stepped out, they were met with a series of unfriendly stares.

It was that group of fierce bandits on horseback!

The village head's heart pounded like a drum. "Quick, Xiu Feng, take the villagers and leave quickly!"

"Father!" Wang Xiufeng shouted.

The village chief pulled him, shouting, "Run!"