As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers panicked.

However, before they could say anything, the village chief had already paid the fee and proceeded forward.

Seeing this, the rest quickly followed suit.

Those traveling with mule carts, ox carts, donkey carts, or horse carts had to pay an additional ten wen for the vehicle toll.

Shen Qingwan didn’t say much and considered it a small loss to avoid a bigger disaster.

After all, they were on someone else’s territory.

With the chaotic times, even local governments were openly extorting money, which was enough to indicate national instability and widespread unease.

Officials everywhere were becoming restless.

Seeing the village chief had already passed through without consulting them, the villagers grew even more anxious.

Especially as the queue to cross grew longer, they feared falling behind if they delayed any further.

After paying the toll and passing through, the village chief praised Shen Qingwan, saying, “This was a good idea. Now, everyone is obediently paying up.”

“These toll checkpoints are set up by local officials. We can’t go against the government, so paying was inevitable. Instead of wasting time here, we should hurry on and reach the next town as soon as possible,” Shen Qingwan replied.

It wasn’t that she had too much money to spare, but rather that an individual’s power was always limited against absolute authority.

She wasn’t planning a rebellion, so naturally, she couldn’t fight her way to Suzhou.

She could only comply.

Besides, ten wen wasn’t much in her eyes, and the villagers could afford it, so there was no point wasting time arguing.

After paying the toll, the village chief led everyone to rest outside Pingsha Town, allowing those who needed to buy supplies to visit the market.

They would continue their journey in half an hour.

Although they had only traveled for just over a day, many people had nearly run out of water.

They thought of refilling their supplies, but to their shock, all three wells in Pingsha Town had been monopolized by local merchants, who charged five wen per bucket of water.

Upon hearing that even water was being sold at such a price, the villagers were furious.

They grumbled that their own supplies were still sufficient and refused to buy water.

Shen Qingwan also didn’t buy any, as her family’s water supply was still adequate.

However, she had a feeling that water prices would only rise further down the road.

Some villagers went to inquire about food prices, only to find that coarse rice had soared to forty wen per jin.

The outrageous cost scared them, and they clutched their grain bags tightly, fearing they would be stolen.

If their food was taken, they wouldn’t be able to afford more.

Shen Qingwan bought a few steamed buns in town and asked for the price—twenty wen each.

Previously, meat buns had been five wen, but now they had quadrupled in cost. It was absurd.

Fortunately, she had stored plenty of buns in her space.

This time, she bought a dozen buns and distributed them, with each person getting one.

They were quickly devoured.

“Daughter-in-law, how much did these buns cost? You mustn’t buy them again in the future—such an extravagant thing is too costly for us,” said the elderly Mrs. Lu, distressed at the thought of spending so much money on just one bite.

If she knew a single bun cost twenty wen, she would likely jump in frustration.

“Uh… it wasn’t much, Mother. Just eat it quickly—so many people are watching,” Shen Qingwan hastily changed the topic.

Seeing the hungry eyes of the nearby refugees staring at her bun, the old lady quickly understood and stuffed the rest into her mouth in just a few bites.

After finishing her food, Shen Qingwan went to find the village chief.

The weapons and money left behind by the bandits after they were killed were mostly in her possession, and she wanted to discuss how to distribute them.

The village chief hadn’t thought much about the weapons and money.

In his view, the knives were dangerous items, stained with blood.

The villagers wouldn’t dare take them.

As for the money, Shen Qingwan had personally collected it from the bandits’ bodies.

Most of those criminals had been killed by her, so he naturally assumed the money belonged to her.

When she had taken the items earlier, the village chief said nothing.

The villagers had been too preoccupied with their fear, and with so many people dead, no one had thought about the knives and money at the time.

However, as they gradually recovered from the shock, they started to feel that the money shouldn’t belong to Shen Qingwan alone.

They just hadn’t found the right opportunity to speak up yet.

“Uncle, I want to talk to you about how to distribute the knives and money.”

The village chief was surprised that she brought it up herself and looked at her curiously. “Daughter-in-law, do you have any thoughts on this?”

From what he had observed of Shen Qingwan recently, his impression of her had changed, so he was willing to listen to her suggestion.

Shen Qingwan crouched down opposite him and said, “I found a total of thirty-two taels and eight qian of silver, along with forty wen in loose change, and forty-two large knives. Uncle, please distribute these knives to those who stand guard at night. As for the silver, you should keep it for now. If the villagers need it in the future, they can use it.”

Although Shen Qingwan didn’t like meddling in others’ affairs, she still wanted to provide some assistance to the villagers.

The village chief nodded, surprised by her generosity.

He hadn’t expected her to willingly share the money.

Thirty taels of silver was a huge sum for the villagers.

“Daughter-in-law, on behalf of Dahe Village, I thank you,” he said sincerely.

Shen Qingwan waved it off without saying more.

The village chief then organized the distribution of the knives.

The men who received them were thrilled—though a bit nervous, no man could resist the allure of a weapon.

Half an hour later, the village chief urged everyone to continue their journey.

The large group set off again.

They hadn’t gone far when the sound of galloping hooves thundered toward them.

Before the village chief could give instructions, the villagers instinctively moved to the sides of the road.

Some slower-moving refugees didn’t manage to get out of the way in time and were knocked down by a group of heavily armored riders.

These iron-clad warriors, about a dozen in number, had bloodstains on their armor, as if they had just been through battle.

Before the injured refugees could even crawl away, another wave of hoofbeats came from behind.

This time, the crowd reacted quickly, and the wounded scrambled to the side.

A group of more than thirty riders in black, wearing menacing iron masks, charged past them.

Shen Qingwan immediately realized that these masked warriors were pursuing the armored soldiers.

Their aura was filled with killing intent.

The villagers, watching the distant figures, felt a chill of fear.

They thought this was just a passing incident, and that they would have no further involvement with those people.

However, after traveling for the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Shen Qingwan suddenly heard the sounds of battle up ahead.

The surrounding terrain was mountainous, and the road curved, so she could hear the commotion but couldn’t see what was happening.

“Uncle, we should stop for now. There’s fighting up ahead,” Shen Qingwan warned.

The village chief, listening carefully, realized she was right. The sound of clashing weapons was unmistakable.

“Could it be those people from before fighting?” he asked, his voice trembling with anxiety.

Those men had looked formidable. If the villagers walked into the middle of their battle, they might be dragged into the conflict.

The refugees who had been trampled earlier were proof of how little those warriors cared for bystanders.