Not far from them, another family was also discussing this matter.
"Grandma, did you say they have a handcart, and there are baskets on the handcart?" a boy of about fourteen or fifteen asked.
The boy's name was Du Shi. He was thin and had a dark complexion.
The old woman in the room was about sixty years old. She nodded, "Yes, I saw that those people looked quite sturdy. I guess they just fled here as refugees."
"Sigh, why did they have to come to our Gefeng of all places? Even if they have some savings, it will soon be gone once they arrive in Gefeng. How can anyone survive here?"
"It's pitiful. There are also two or three women, all young, and one looks even younger than you. Alas, I'm afraid..."
"Cough, cough, cough..." A violent coughing sound came from the bed.
The old woman hurried forward to help rub his chest, asking anxiously, "How are you?"
Du Shi hurried over to help, "Grandpa, Grandpa, how are you?"
It took a while for the coughing to stop. The old man panted heavily, "I'm... I'm fine, don't worry."
Du Shi waited for the old man's breathing to steady, then scooped a bowl of water, helped the old man up, and let him drink it slowly.
After the old man drank the water and lay back down, Du Shi picked up a handful of coarse grains he had received today and started making dinner.
He helped the Quzhao people tend to and feed their horses, earning a little grain every day so they wouldn't starve to death.
Grandma went out every day to dig for wild vegetables and tree bark. The family barely survived, but he was completely helpless regarding his Grandpa's illness. He could only watch his Grandpa struggle in pain.
Whether the Quzhao soldiers in the county town had doctors or medicine, he didn't know.
But they Han people had neither doctors nor medicine. If they got sick, they could only endure it. If they made it through, they lived; if not, they died.
He knew Grandpa wouldn't live much longer. He wanted to make something nice for him to eat, but he couldn't; there was only coarse grain and wild vegetables.
And since yesterday, Grandpa refused to eat even the coarse grain and wild vegetables, saying it shouldn't be wasted. Eating was useless, and it would be better to let him pass away quickly and painlessly.
He couldn't help but think of what Grandma had said about strangers entering the city today, secretly wondering, do these people have grain?
If only he could buy some grain from them, preferably refined grain, so Grandpa could have one good meal before he passed away.
Back when the Quzhao people searched every household, the hundred or so copper coins buried in his family's field hadn't been found.
However, there were no shops in Gefeng now. Even with money, you couldn't buy anything.
At this time, the old woman came over to help tend the fire. The firelight shone on her deeply wrinkled face, making her look even more sorrowful. "Old Li is gone. He went deep into the mountains and was eaten by wild beasts."
The boy's movements paused. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
After a long time, he finally spoke, "Grandma, you must never go deep into the mountains. Just stay on the outskirts. If there are no wild vegetables or tree bark, just gather some firewood and come back."
The old woman seemed not to hear him, muttering softly, "What will happen to the women and children left in his family? Just like us, the old are too old, the young are too young. What can they do?"
Night fell, and the moonlight was dim.
Jiang Jin and her group ate some of the white flour flatbreads they had brought and lit a campfire in the ruined house where they were temporarily staying.
Ever since she got a cook, the quality of her meals had skyrocketed. The white flour flatbreads were delicious.
Jiang Jin pulled out her pocket watch to check the time; it was already 8:50 PM.
Yun Chengxuan was very curious and leaned his big head over. "Auntie, what is this?"
Zhou Sui and the others also looked at her. To be honest, they were quite curious too.
Recently, they noticed Jiang Jin often looking at this thing she wore. At first, they thought it was just an ordinary ornament.
Now it seemed that this object was far from simple.
Jiang Jin smiled mysteriously. "This is a good item. If you can kill 10 Quzhao soldiers tonight, I'll give one to you."
Yun Chengxuan was delighted and quickly held out his pinky finger. "Okay, Auntie, keep your word. Let's pinky swear!"
Jiang Jin: "...Alright." She hooked her pinky finger with his, completing the childish ritual.
Although childish, this was a game the original owner of her body and he used to play often.
Zhou Sui hesitated to speak. Honestly, he really wanted one too, and wondered if he would get a reward for killing 10 Quzhao soldiers.
At that moment, a strange cat meow sounded from outside the alley. This was Qiu Wu's signal.
The expressions of Jiang Jin and the others turned serious. They were here!
She looked at Luo A'man, deciding to test her jinxed constitution again tonight.
Zhou Sui, Yun Yu, and Yun Chengxuan each grabbed their weapons and quickly melted into the darkness of the alley.
Luo A'man was the first to walk out of the house. She looked a little nervously at the Quzhao soldiers approaching from the darkness.
The light from the fire inside the house shone through the dilapidated doors and windows. As the footsteps of the Quzhao soldiers drew closer, their figures gradually emerged.
There were five people in total, two of whom were the gate guards from earlier.
Under the dim yellow light, Luo A'man's thin figure appeared rather graceful.
The soldiers' breathing grew heavy. The tall soldier leading them chuckled and said, "Little lady, are you waiting for me?"
Luo A'man forced a stiff smile and took two steps forward, getting closer and closer to the Quzhao soldiers until she was within a meter of them.
With a soft thud, the tall soldier was suddenly hit on the head by something.
The hoo-hoo-hoo cry of an owl gradually faded away in the distance.
The tall man blankly picked a thumb-sized stone off his head and threw it fiercely onto the ground. "Damn it, what bad luck!"
The other Quzhao soldiers were also baffled. Wait, since when did Gefeng County have owls?
It felt as if it had deliberately grabbed a stone, dropped it on them, and then left. It felt very eerie.
Luo A'man gathered her courage, took a small step forward, gently poked the tall man's arm with one finger, and quickly retreated, explaining, "You have dust on you."
The tall man felt baffled. If I have dust on me, shouldn't you help me brush it off? Can poking it remove the dust?
Then his expression turned joyful. This woman must have taken a fancy to him and was deliberately showing favor, using a lame excuse.
He felt secretly smug, yet full of disdain. Han women were indeed cheap, offering themselves right up to his door, heh.
A burly soldier standing behind him laughed out loud. "Can't wait, little lady?"
The tall soldier also grinned broadly. He took a step forward, intending to touch Luo A'man's face, but somehow tripped and stumbled forward.
The burly soldier hurried to pull him back, but perhaps he moved too fiercely, as he ended up lunging forward as well.
Bang.
The tall soldier fell to the ground, face first, and a tooth flew out mixed with blood.
Before he could even scream, the burly soldier also fell face first, only his face happened to smash right into the tall soldier's buttocks.
"Ah..." A shrill scream echoed through the night sky of Gefeng County.
The burly soldier propped himself up and spat out the beads of blood in his mouth. He felt his numb mouth and realized his two upper front teeth had been knocked out.
An ominous feeling welled up in his heart. Sure enough, he just gently wiggled them, and with a clack, his front teeth fell out!
He stared at the bloody teeth in his hand, his face full of bewilderment. After a while, he shouted with air leaking through his teeth: "Why the heww ish your ash sho hard? It knocked my teef out!"
