The village head’s tone carried urgency, indicating that danger was truly approaching.

Shen Qingwan frowned, planning to make some dried meat overnight so they could have something tasty to eat on the journey.

“Village head, are we really leaving? Our ancestors have lived in Dahe Village for generations. Once we leave, who knows when we’ll be able to return?”

The thought of leaving their homeland filled the villagers with sorrow.

Some of the elderly had already begun wiping their tears.

For the elderly and young children, fleeing a disaster was like passing through the gates of hell.

Only a few would survive to the end—trekking thousands of miles was no small matter.

The village head’s eyes turned red, and his lips trembled. “If we don’t leave, we are just waiting to die. Those people have gone mad; they kill without hesitation. If they reach our village, we will have no means to fight back. Leaving at least gives us a chance at survival—staying means certain death.”

Even without the threat of bandits, the village wouldn’t last much longer.

The well was nearly dry, the riverbed was parched, and the crops had completely failed.

They had no choice but to leave.

“If you want to leave, go ahead. My old bones can’t endure such a journey. If I must die, I will die in Dahe Village.”

Seventy-year-old Third Uncle stood trembling with a cane.

The village head opened his mouth but said nothing—he understood that at his age, even if Third Uncle left with them, he would likely die on the road.

Such a long journey was beyond his body’s limits.

“I’m not leaving either. I’ve lived long enough. Third Uncle is right—if I must die, I will die here in Dahe Village.”

Sixty-eight-year-old Old Zhang sighed.

Upon hearing his father’s decision, Hunter Zhang panicked and grabbed his father’s sleeve.

“Father, don’t say such nonsense! We have a donkey cart—I would never leave you behind!”

Most of the elderly over sixty had thoughts of staying behind.

Filial children would carry their parents on their backs if needed, while those who saw the elderly as burdens would leave them behind.

Some elders simply refused to go at all.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

The village head announced the meeting was over and told everyone to go home and think it over.

He wouldn’t force anyone to leave.

Back home, families worked to convince their elders while also preparing food.

With only one day to get ready, the women worked overnight.

The staple food for a journey like this was dry rations—roasted coarse rice, grain cakes, or cornbread.

Since cooking fires were unsafe on the road, they prepared enough to last several days.

The roasted rice could be eaten by the handful in times of hunger.

Every household was busy, and Shen Qingwan was no exception.

She wanted to prepare extra dried meat as well.

Besides the dried meat, she also planned to make some grain cakes and boiled eggs.

White bread and steamed buns would be too eye-catching on the road, so she opted for mixed-grain cakes instead.

Some of these would be shared with her extended family, so she left them out to cool instead of storing them in her space—otherwise, if she took them out still warm, it would be hard to explain.

That night, smoke rose from nearly every home in Dahe Village.

The men slept early to prepare for the journey.

Those without carts rushed to town to buy handcarts—no matter how poor they were, they had to get at least a wheelbarrow to carry their belongings.

Carrying everything on their backs over a thousand miles was impossible.

Early the next morning, Shen Qingwan woke up.

She had only slept for two hours but didn’t feel tired.

After waking her two children, she took them to the yard for self-defense training.

They were too young to learn martial arts properly, but she could at least teach them how to use concealed weapons for protection.

For breakfast, she gave each of them two buns before taking out two wrist-mounted dart launchers.

The boxes were palm-sized and could be strapped to their wrists. In case of danger, they just had to pull the safety latch and press the button to fire.

Originally, these devices were meant to fire deadly poison needles, but to prevent accidents, Shen Qingwan replaced them with anesthetic needles—one shot could instantly knock out a grown man.

The needles were as thin as embroidery needles, and each launcher held a hundred of them.

She had crafted these in her past life when firearms were unavailable.

Due to limited materials, she had only made two.

Now, she was letting her children train with them.

She replaced the needles with regular ones that hadn’t been soaked in strong anesthetics.

“Mother, what is this? Such a strange little box!” Xiaoyu asked curiously.

Shen Qingwan fastened the launchers to their wrists. “Watch closely—I’ll show you how to use them.”

She shut the main door, then lifted Xiaoyu’s hand, guiding her to point the wrist down.

She pulled the safety latch and pressed the circular button.

With a swish, a silver needle shot out and embedded itself into the wooden door.

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

The children didn’t fully understand what the device was for, only that it was very cool.

“This is called a concealed weapon—it’s for stopping bad people. We’re leaving tomorrow, and we may run into danger on the road. I’m giving you these so you can protect yourselves if needed.

“If I’m not around, you must keep yourselves safe. Remember—this is the safety latch. If it’s on, pressing the button won’t fire the needle. You must pull the latch before pressing the button to shoot. When you’re not using it, always keep the safety on so you don’t accidentally hurt yourself. Understood?”

The children nodded. “Yes, we understand!”

“Also, when firing, always keep your wrist down so you don’t hit your own hand. This morning, your task is to practice hitting the target from two meters away. If you can hit the circle ten times in a row, you’ll earn a chicken drumstick as a reward!”

She drew a circle on the door with charcoal.

The children’s eyes lit up at the mention of a chicken drumstick.

“Really? I’ll definitely do it!”

Xiaochen declared confidently.

Xiaoyu, already eager, began trying to fire her needles.

Xiaochen was still struggling a bit, so Shen Qingwan patiently guided him. Though they were young, they had good memories and learned quickly.

After warning them never to fire at people casually, she returned to pack their belongings.

There wasn’t much worth bringing—there were no valuables in the house.

The most valuable item was the large iron pot, but since it was too big, she stored it in her space and took out a small, delicate iron pot to hang on the mule cart instead.

To make the ride comfortable for the children, she lined the cart bed with soft padding and thick blankets so they wouldn’t feel the bumps on the road.

She also strung ropes around the cart to tie up bundles, mainly those containing food.

That way, the children could sit or lie down comfortably without the bundles taking up space.

The bottom layer of the cart was used for water storage and supplies for the extended family. As for clothes, she packed only a single bundle to avoid suspicion.