Chapter 75 Burning the cottage and going down the mountain

The refugees who had just been robbed up the mountain and who had not yet helped others were put down.

The bandits who had injured but not killed anyone had one arm or leg broken and were driven down the mountain.

After putting all the people in the village down on the mountain, the old village chief ordered the villagers to pile up the dead branches they picked up around the houses in the village, as well as at the entrance of the cave.

Prepare to set fire to the cottage, burn the bandit cottage, and erase all traces of their stay here.

No one knew that Qiao Ran sneaked into the cave two days ago while everyone was not paying attention and put the six boxes of weapons into the underground warehouse in the small courtyard of his space.

Everyone packed their bags and headed down the mountain.

After leaving a few men to cut them off, they set these dead branches on fire.

Suddenly, smoke billowed and flames filled the sky. The bandit village that had caused the disaster was finally burned to the ground in a fire and ceased to exist.

The villagers of Qingshui Village stayed on the mountain for a few days, which not only strengthened their spirits but also strengthened their bodies.

They even harvested food items and distributed some money.

It didn't look like he was exhausted after a long journey like a few days ago, but like he had just set out to escape, when he was still mentally and materially rich.

When they went down the mountain and onto the official road, they found that there were many more refugees on the road than a few days ago.

Moreover, all of these people were in ragged clothes, their eyes were desperate and numb, and their skinny bodies seemed to be moving forward mechanically. A gust of wind could blow them down at any time.

Some people suddenly fell to the ground with a "bang" while they were walking. Their family members rushed forward and found out that they were dead when they checked their breathing.

There weren't many tears or cries, because they couldn't squeeze out any tears and they were almost numb.

They dug a hole casually on the roadside and buried the person hastily, while the living people continued to move forward numbly.

Seeing such a tragic situation, the people of Qingshui Village were surprised and lamented.

However, their seemingly out-of-place team made the other refugees, who were already numb, stare at the weighty-looking items carried in their cars or on their shoulders like wolves that had seen their prey. bag.

In fact, before going down the mountain, the old village chief had asked everyone to put most of the food on the two captured carriages.

However, the two carriages could not carry much, and the food was too heavy, so they did not dare to tire the horses.

But at least it contains most of the food in the village except for the Qiao family.

There were actually not many grain bags carried by everyone.

However, just this amount of food made the hungry and skinny refugees feel hot in their eyes.

"What's going on? Why do these people look so miserable?"

Some villagers were discussing quietly.

The eyes of those refugees were really terrifying, staring straight at people, making people feel like they were being stared at by hungry venomous snakes and beasts.

Someone recognized the ragged refugees.

"Hey, weren't these people lying on the ground outside Yunzhou City, waiting for government relief? Aren't they unwilling to leave? Why are they all here now?"

Everyone suddenly realized that these were refugees who had been waiting outside Yunzhou City for many days. They didn't know what happened. They all left Yunzhou City and came on this road.

Seeing some refugees who looked relatively normal, the villagers went over and asked, "Auntie, are you coming from outside Yunzhou City? What's the situation over there? Why don't you wait for the city gate to open?"

The aunt looked enviously at the way the people in Qingshui Village had food and supplies. Thinking of the miserable situation outside Yunzhou City, she wiped away her tears and said:

"It's impossible not to leave! More and more refugees gathered at the city gate, but the government refused to open the door. In the end, more and more people starved to death, and some refugees rioted, trying to capture the city gate and break into the city. Go rob."

"The governor of Yunzhou was angry. The officers and soldiers set up bows and arrows on the city tower and shot many refugees to death. There were corpses at the gate of the city! No one collected the corpses. It looked terrible!"

"Looking at this situation, we also know that we can't stay in Yunzhou City. We have to get up and keep moving forward! We don't know which state capital can take in poor refugees like us."

"Hey, why can't the government officials sympathize with us and instead kill us poor people?"

The aunt wiped away tears and left with a sigh. After hearing this, the villagers in Qingshui Village only felt cold in their hearts.

How miserable! How many people must have died?

Fortunately, they left the gate of Yunzhou City early on Qiao Ran's suggestion, and they also built a bandit den, seized so many supplies, rested for so many days, and got so much food.

If it hadn't been for Qiao Ran, maybe they would have been one of these poor refugees.

Not to mention, it would be one of those corpses exposed at the gate of Yunzhou City.

At this moment, everyone felt more grateful and convinced of Qiao Ran.

"Everyone, please be vigilant. As we agreed, the old, weak, women and children will be walking in the middle. Men, please protect us from all sides and keep an eye on our families and property!"

The old village chief raised his voice and asked the villagers in Qingshui Village to be careful not to be robbed by the eager refugees.

The men and young men all agreed, holding the knives, hoes and sticks tightly in their hands, and glanced sharply at the refugees who were looking over.

The weapons and momentum in the hands of the villagers scared away many refugees.

Seeing this group of people, some people stopped on the roadside to let them pass first, and some people walked around without daring to look this way again, for fear that the knives and sticks in the hands of the villagers would fall on them.

After walking for a while, everything was fine.

The refugees on the road were so weak from hunger that they walked very slowly.

However, the team from Qingshui Village moved briskly and passed many people.

That evening, when they were about to find their resting place for the night, they unexpectedly ran into an old acquaintance again.

It was Chen Lizheng and the others who were leading the way with people from the other three villages.

Sharp-eyed villagers discovered that the fleeing team in front of them, which was larger than theirs, turned out to be people from the other three villages separated at the gate of Yunzhou City.

The man excitedly ran to ask the old village chief: "Village chief, what should we do? Do you want to go with them?"

There were girls from Chenjiacun that he liked, and he hoped to go with them so that he could find a chance to express his feelings to the person he liked, and when he settled down in the place, he would come to ask for her hand in marriage.

The old village chief was already deeply disappointed with Chen Lizheng and the others.

He said to the villager with a cold face: "We will not go with them. Whoever wants to follow, be careful not to let them take away your property and food!"

When the villager heard this, he thought of the ten taels of silver that Chen Lizheng and the others had extorted at the gate of Yunzhou City, and thought of the greedy and shameless faces of Chen Lizheng and the others. He shuddered and hurriedly went back.

He also quietly told other villagers not to have contact with people from those three villages, lest they steal their property and food.