I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

Meanwhile, in Wangli Village, people were still busily preparing bamboo tubes and lime!

The villagers knew that the earthen kiln was used to burn stones, which turned to ash as soon as they came out. After burning these two kilns in a row, someone asked the village headman out of curiosity: What are you doing with this stuff? You can't eat it.

The village head told them not to worry about it, and that he would speak up when the time came.

While making the villagers burn stones, she also made them whittle bamboo tubes. Granny Qian complained bitterly, saying that the village committee was delaying their trip to find food.

Upon hearing this, the village head sneered and told Miao Chunfang to inform those who did not want to whittle bamboo tubes that they could leave and do whatever they wanted.

Upon hearing this, Granny Qian immediately pulled her daughter-in-law and granddaughter away.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Xi family didn't want to do it either, but if she didn't, she would have to listen to her father-in-law's nagging when she got home. After thinking about it, she continued peeling.

The Thunder Dragon Gang members waited and waited, but no team came.

Zhu Dalong came straight over, grabbed Zhou Fugui by the collar and lifted him up, asking Zhou Fugui, "Are you sure that group is coming this way?!"

Zhou Fugui bowed and begged for mercy, "Boss! I swear they came this way. With the successive disasters in the south, people are all running north!"

"Not to mention, the south was flooded on the way here, and if it weren't for this ring of mountains blocking the floodwaters, the north would have been even more severely flooded!"

After saying that, Zhou Fugui added, "Maybe they were just tired from fleeing the famine and wanted to rest for a couple of days in that village?"

Zhu Dalong released his grip, glanced at Zhou Fugui suspiciously, and then turned and left.

Zhou Fugui breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his neck, which was sore from the collar.

—No, we have to run!

Otherwise, I'll be doomed in this team sooner or later!

Zhou Fugui made up his mind and started thinking about how to slip away.

Zhu Dalong returned and ordered two of his men to investigate what was going on with that group, and why they hadn't come for so long.

The two men obeyed the order and went to the village where Wang Li Village was located, where they secretly observed from the side.

The village head of Wangli Village said today that he would be leaving tomorrow, and the village is quiet. Some people want to take this opportunity to collect more firewood from the surrounding area, otherwise they may not have time when they leave.

The two of them squatted there for a whole day, counting the number of people coming and going, and it was pretty much the same as what Zhou Fugui had said.

Back at the hotel, the two men recounted the information they had gathered that day.

"I heard someone shout, 'If he had told me he was leaving tomorrow, he would have gone to collect firewood yesterday.'"

Hearing this, Zhu Dalong felt relieved and instructed everyone to keep a close watch so that the group wouldn't slip away under the cover of darkness.

Wang Licun would certainly not slip away under cover of darkness.

They only launch surprise attacks under cover of darkness.

The materials for the lime bombs were almost ready. The village head and chief went with Jiang Song to call the two people in charge of the Wen family, as well as the young master of the Shang family. Finally, they went to Zhao Ningning's house, where everyone discussed how to proceed with the attack.

Zhao Ningning is the quickest-witted. After spending these few days together making lime bombs, the village head's heart has been unknowingly weighed down by Zhao Ningning's influence.

Jiang Song was the first to stand up and say, "Let's throw lime bombs first, and then rush in and attack while they're in disarray!"

Since we're going to launch a full-scale attack anyway, Zhao Ningning thought for a moment and said, "We've been ambushed so many times, so we can launch an ambush ourselves."

"Ningning is right!" Ning's father chimed in, offering timely support to his child.

Wen Zichuan glanced at Zhao Ningning and said, "Although the slope on the mountain is gentle, it's advantageous for us to drop lime bombs down."

The group discussed their plan, and finally decided to take action that afternoon, selecting some sharpshooters and strong men to go up the mountain to prepare to throw lime bombs.

After dropping a round of lime bombs on the mountain, they immediately retreated downhill, and the people lying in ambush downhill rushed over and started throwing more bombs as they went.

Jiang Song and the village head knew the situation of their team members very well. They made careful arrangements on which people to leave behind to watch the luggage and which to select to stay down the mountain.

After making the arrangements, the group split up to inform the people in the team that those going up the mountain needed to climb up tonight and transport their belongings up as well.

In addition, the village head will teach them how to use lime bombs later.

After hiding it for so many days, the village head was overjoyed to finally be able to take it out.

At the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), two groups of people gathered on the main road of this small village.

At least one person from each household came out. The village head looked around and, not missing anyone, slowly said, "Our team sets off tomorrow. Now let's talk about how we should fight tomorrow."

To guard against Old Man Xi, the village head didn't mention the bombs. He only said they would split into two groups: one group with good aim would throw things to distract the thieves, and the other group with some killing moves would focus on finishing them off.

There are two more cities, and the village head has made arrangements for those who can manage both.

The village headman called out that he wanted to go to the top of the mountain, so we hurried up the mountain before it got completely dark.

Most of the Wen family members lived at the foot of the mountain, but Wen Zichuan wanted to go up the mountain. Wen Zike was worried about him, so he asked someone to accompany him.

Wen Zike stayed down the mountain to command the Wen family.

At Zhao Ningning's home, both Zhao Qi and Zhao Ningning were arranged to go up the mountain.

Especially Zhao Ningning, she has such good aim, it would be a shame if she didn't go up the mountain.

The children and elderly were left to watch the luggage, while the remaining women and men had to fight their way out with knives.

After assigning the tasks, the village head first taught the group going up the mountain how to fill the lime bombs with water and how to throw them.

These people had never seen anything like this before, and they were startled by the noise of the lime bomb.

Then, the village headman told them to take the toss themselves, add water as he instructed, put the lid on, and toss it in.

Within a few breaths, lime water flowers bloomed everywhere on the ground.

After becoming somewhat familiar with this thing, the people going up the mountain dared not waste it, after all, the village head had said that this thing was related to whether they could pass through the checkpoint smoothly tomorrow!

The group that went up the mountain was led by Li Si, the village chief's son, and Jiang Yue, whom Jiang Song had chosen. They quietly went up the mountain while there was still daylight.

It got dark halfway up the mountain. Li Si led the way for the second half. He had come here to dig limestone a few days ago and was very familiar with the area.

After successfully reaching the top of the mountain, Zhao Ningning carefully stood on the summit and looked down.

Beside the woods at the foot of the mountain, piles of firewood were burning, and shadowy figures moved about. Zhao Ningning squinted.

—I feel like there are a lot of them, almost two hundred people.

Fortunately, they have prepared plenty of lime. They can throw enough lime and blast enough lime tomorrow before launching a full-scale attack, which should be much more effective.

After Zhao Ningning finished reading, she returned to her lodgings, which were a depression slightly below the mountaintop, dug out by digging stones over the past few days. The terrain here was flatter, and Zhao Qi had already laid out oilcloth and bedding.

It was the first time Zhao Ningning had ever slept outdoors on a mountaintop like this. Lying on a thin blanket, she looked at the twinkling stars in the sky.

—The Milky Way is so beautiful.

—Hope everything goes well tomorrow.

Down the mountain, nearly half of the able-bodied people in Wangli Village had left. For safety reasons and to keep an eye on each other, the village head arranged for the remaining people to squeeze in and live together.

The courtyard that Ning's parents chose had intact doors and windows, and as soon as Zhao Ningning and Zhao Qi left, two rooms were immediately vacant.

Xi Ershun's family and He Shi were arranged to come over.

Xi Ershun was still alive. His wife was taken away to throw stones on the mountain, and his two daughters were called by He Shi to sleep with her. Xi Ershun had a room to himself.

The village head arranged for Xi Dashun's family to stay in the house closest to him, and arranged for Wang Dacheng and Ma Laosi from the village to live there together.

Next door to Xi Dashun's house was Old Zhao's large family.

Several key individuals to watch out for live next door, and the village head was still worried. He instructed the men on night duty to keep a close eye on the village and make sure no one sneaked away.

The village head had already decided that once this hurdle was overcome, he would expel Old Man Xi from the group.

He didn't want to betray his team again!

After everything was arranged, Wang Licun's team and Jiang Song's team fell into a deep sleep.

Before dawn the next day, the village head taught the remaining men how to throw lime bombs, just before the group set off.

Only then did the villagers realize why the village head had made them dig and burn stones, and why he had made them whittle bamboo tubes!

So it was all for this purpose!

It's all for the team!

At the beginning of the Yin hour, it was still dark.

The team at the foot of the mountain quietly set off.

The people on the mountain also woke up.

Li Si looked down the mountain, and Zhao Ningning stood beside him, watching.

Down the mountain, almost all the fires from last night had gone out, leaving only a few embers burning. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow them, causing sparks to flicker.

Li Si looked at me again and asked, "Zhao Ningning, can you see the people down the mountain?"

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure." Zhao Ningning wished she had a telescope; even with her eyes wide open, it was no use.

"I'll do it." Wen Zichuan stepped forward and explained, "I practiced these things specifically when I was practicing archery."

The two men gave up their spot, and Wen Zichuan looked closely and said, "There are people on guard in the woods by the roadside. I saw the embers of their torches."

"They've been keeping watch on the main road day and night?" Zhao Ningning exclaimed. "What dedicated thieves!"

They were afraid of not being able to rob a single team.

At the third quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), Wen Zichuan spotted several small lights heading towards the pass at the foot of the mountain.

Zhao Ningning and Li Si also saw it, and Jiang Yue, standing to the side, felt a pang of anxiety: "They probably won't just go over there with torches, will they?!"

Those thieves have guards on duty; if they see torches, they'll definitely notice something amiss.

"No, it won't happen." As soon as Li Si finished speaking, the small light that was moving down the mountain went out, and everything returned to darkness.

Jiang Song had previously considered leading his team to sneak over at night when the thieves were resting. When he went to scout the area in advance, he happened to encounter the thieves changing shifts in the woods.

Therefore, with Jiang Song following them down the mountain, their whereabouts would never be exposed.

Fifteen minutes after the fire was extinguished, Li Si, estimating that the time was about right, turned to the people on the mountain and said, "Make your move!"

Eight people stood at the front, eight more stood behind them to add water, and three others were responsible for helping out by opening the lids of the bamboo tubes.

The lime and broken porcelain pieces were filled into the bamboo tubes at the foot of the mountain. Water was measured using specially prepared bamboo tubes of the same size, and poured in directly, with the proportions just right!

After the water was poured in, it was handed to the person in front, who then sealed the lid tightly, aimed it at the foot of the mountain, and threw it with all their might!

The bamboo tube plummeted rapidly in the dim light of the day.

"boom--"

The sound exploded down the mountain!

Immediately afterwards, four more explosions rang out.

People on the mountain threw down one after another. When the first five people got tired, the next person took over, and so on, in an orderly manner, throwing down lime bombs.

The people at the foot of the mountain were startled by the commotion.

The village head taught them to try only two things, and they only tried throwing bamboo tubes filled with water.

I never expected that this thing would explode so spectacularly!

Even though they weren't very close, they could still hear screams coming from ahead.

Thunder Dragon Gang.

The first few loud booming sounds woke up the entire team.

At first they thought it was an earthquake, but when they came out, they were met with a stream of hot soup-like liquid poured over their faces.

After the initial shock, those hit by the lime water bomb realized something was wrong—it hurt so much! It hurts so much!

Zhu Dalong was also caught in the crossfire. He stood up, furious, wiped the slurry off his face, and roared, "Run to either side!"

If it's just splashing this weird stuff, they can hide under the tarpaulin shed.

But that thing can explode!

One of the sheds was blown up by that thing!

If Zhao Ningning knew that Zhu Dalong was thinking this way, she would cry foul, because it was clearly smashed!

When the leader of the Thunder Dragon Gang gave the order, his men scattered and fled in all directions.

As darkness fell, they couldn't see clearly, and some fell directly into the ditch, followed by others who fell in one after another.

The ditch reeked of decay. Anyone who fell in would vomit as soon as they thought about what the place was used for, whether from disgust or from the stench.

On the other side, Zhou Fugui thought to himself: The opportunity has arrived!

He pulled his brothers along and quietly ran away into the woods.

He ran as far as he could while it was still dark.

Things were still falling from the sky.

Using the dim light of day, Zhao Ningning chased after them, throwing lime bombs, until the group fled into the woods and were out of their range.

Li Si gave the timely command: "Down the mountain!"

The group carried the remaining lime bombs and luggage, hurrying down the mountain.

Down the mountain, escaping into the woods wasn't enough; Zhu Dalong led his men straight onto the main road.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the middle of the road and was no longer being chased by that strange thing.

When he came to his senses, his face was burning with pain.

The people under my command had the same reaction; their faces and the hands that had touched their faces hurt so much!

This doesn't seem like an injury that could be caused by splashing hot water. Besides, hot water splashed down the mountain turns into cold water before it reaches the bottom. It must be something else.

Zhu Dalong carefully touched his face, finding a trace of white residue. He rubbed his fingertips together, a gloomy feeling settling over him.

I don't know what this white powder is, but it makes my face feel hot.

"My eyes! My eyes hurt so much!"

A cry of pain caught Zhu Dalong's attention. He quickly walked over and saw a person lying on the ground.

His entire face was covered in that strange stuff, and the areas on his face that he had wiped off with his hands were now red and swollen, even showing signs of rotting!

The man cried out in pain, and the people around him couldn't help him. They could only watch helplessly as he covered his eyes and rolled on the ground. After a while, he fainted from the pain!

Zhu Dalong was terrified and ordered his men, "Be careful, don't get this thing in your eyes."

"Boss..." Chen Tusheng asked cautiously, "Are we going to stay here?"

"Nonsense!" Zhu Dalong said, clearly displeased. "If we don't stay here, where will we feed these brothers!"

Chen Tusheng said in a low voice, "Our food is still over there in the woods."

"Once it's light, kill these ambush thugs, then we'll go back and get it!" Zhu Dalong spat and ordered, "Keep an eye on this road! Don't let them get past!"

At dawn, the sky gradually brightens.