Chapter 123: Snatching Water

“Dad, there are so many people blocking you.”

“The water at home is gone. If we can’t get water again, the whole family will die. Your two sons will die too.

You don’t do it for yourself, but also for your son. Think about it.”

Su Xiaozhong looked at the crowd of people in front of him, and then at his two sons whose lips were extremely chapped.

He subconsciously looked at his second brother, “Dad, I want to go with…”

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Old Man Su, “There are many children in the family. We two old men and two women must I can’t help it, if someone has any bad intentions, I’m afraid we can’t resist it. What happened yesterday is still fresh in our minds, and you don’t want to see it again, right?”

This sentence directly blocked the second brother’s plan to go with him.

Mrs. Su didn’t give him a chance to refuse at all, and put everything in the house that could hold water on him.

“You must get water no matter what.”

The commotion in front became more and more intense, and the conflicts became bigger and bigger.

Some people had already broken through the obstruction of those people and ran towards the mountain.

When the others saw someone succeeding, they became even more crazy and rushed forward.

Mrs. Su saw it and kept urging Su Xiaozhong, “Why are you still standing there? Go quickly.”

Su Xiaozhong was worried about his two sons, “Father, mother, Xinyang and Xinguang…”

“Oh, we will take care of them. They will never let them be taken away.”

After receiving the assurance, Su Xiaozhong walked forward.

Su Xinguang subconsciously grabbed his father’s sleeve, with worry in his eyes, “Dad.”

“Follow your grandpa and grandma, and take good care of your brother. Daddy will be back soon.”

“Okay.”

“Third brother, hurry up. Stop inking.” Su Xiaoyong urged, wishing he could reach the top of the mountain immediately.

At the urging of the Su family, Su Xiaozhong took a water container and rushed forward with the crowd.

There is strength in numbers, and under the impact of so many people, the dozen or so people who were blocking him could not stop him at all.

Those people were knocked to the ground, some were stabbed with knives, some were beaten to death by several people with sticks, and some were trampled to death by the crowd.

Those who were lucky enough to escape had already fled in panic, and did not dare to fight with this group of people. Crazy people confront each other.

The people at the bottom of the mountain kept rushing forward. After hearing the news, the people on the official road behind them rushed to follow them one by one, for fear that they would be late and the water would be taken away by others.

Su Xiaozhong was neither at the front nor at the back, just in the middle and a little ahead.

Suddenly, there was a shrill scream from the person in front, accompanied by a “whoosh, whoosh” sound that broke through the air.

Before the others could realize what it was, he understood.

That was the sound of arrows piercing the sky. He subconsciously hid behind a tree. Before the man beside him could react, his chest was pierced and he fell down.

“Killing, killing.”

“Ah ah, help!”

Several men not far away who were hit by arrows looked at Su Xiaozhong who was hiding behind the tree trunk.

Su Xiaozhong did not dare to step forward or look directly into their eyes asking for help.

The arrow rain finally stopped, and few people rushed forward. Many people were hiding behind trees or rocks, and no one dared to show their heads at this time.

Most people don’t want to give up just like that, but the people who guard the water source are so powerful that they are too scared to move forward.

Someone shouted, “They have a lot of arrows, but they must not have many in their hands now. Everyone rush out together and kill them.”

“Whoever takes the lead will die.” Someone retorted.

Someone soon came up with an idea, “Just find something to block in front of you.”

“What’s there?” someone asked.

After two seconds of silence, a cold voice sounded.

“Dead people.”

In an instant, everyone’s eyes were focused on those who had been shot or were half-dead.

The people guarding the water source naturally heard the discussion of the people below.

The leading man asked the subordinates behind him, “Are you all ready?”

As the man said, the arrows in their hands were limited. If it hadn’t been an emergency just now, they wouldn’t have been willing to waste these arrows on these refugees.

“Head, okay.”

“Let’s go.”

They didn’t stop, took the water, and left towards the other side of the mountain.

Someone noticed that the group guarding the water source left, and immediately rushed out, trying to get the water before everyone could react.

Su Xiaozhong also rushed out immediately. There were quite a few people like him, about four or five of them.

After they rushed out, someone noticed that these people were not in a hurry but instead waited and watched, hoping to let them test the waters.

Su Xiaozhong was the second to reach the water source, which was a small puddle with sand, gravel, and mud underneath.

Because they came early, each of them occupied a position and quickly poured the water from the puddle into their own water bags or bamboo tubes.

Those who were still watching saw that there was no movement above, so they cautiously poked their heads out one by one.

When they saw that the men were already filling water at the source, they all became anxious.

The people hiding at the front rushed forward desperately, trying to get ahead of everyone.

The people behind realized it later but were unwilling to lag behind, gritting their teeth and rushing forward.

While Su Xiaozhong was filling the water, he kept an eye on the movements around him.

When he saw people rushing up from behind, his hands tightened around the bamboo tube.

He kept praying in his heart that these people would be slower and that he could fill the water faster.

When the first group of people rushed over, Su Xiaozhong resisted the urge to fill the bamboo tube, gritted his teeth, took it back, and made room for those who came after him.

He retreated to one side, taking advantage of everyone’s attention on the water source, waiting for the right moment to run down the mountain quickly.

Two people from the same group of water collectors decided to follow him down the mountain, not greedily trying to fill all the water bags on their bodies.

What would happen to the two people left behind was uncertain, but it likely wouldn’t be much better.

The three of them were silent all the way, not disturbing anyone.

Someone among the refugees running up the mountain noticed the three of them and focused their eyes on them.

The three people urged the others, “You hurry up, there is still a lot of water on the mountain. If you go slower, there will be nothing left.”

Those people looked at the refugees running beside them, then at the three going down.

They slowed their pace and finally gave up on confronting the three, continuing their ascent up the mountain.

As soon as Su Xiaozhong returned to the main road, the Su family members gathered around him when they saw he had returned safely.

“Did you get the water?” Mrs. Su asked impatiently.

Her question successfully attracted the attention of the refugees who were preparing to go up the mountain.

Old Man Su noticed something was off and kept giving Su Xiaozhong warning glances. Even if Su Xiaozhong didn’t catch on, he still knew what to do.

With a bitter expression, he said, “No, it was too scary up there. Many people died, and I didn’t want to die, so I came down.”

Mrs. Su believed him and was so angry that she picked up a wooden stick and hit him.

“Why did I give birth to such an unworthy person like you?”

Su Xiaozhong, from the sidelines, thought, “I admit that I am filial, but I don’t know what foolish filial piety is.”

Su Xiaozhong: “I am already growing and awakening. Please don’t scold me.

Master Mo: “It’s not logical to wake up all at once and stop being foolish and filial. A person has been foolish and filial for dozens of times.

It’s difficult to change overnight. It’s more reasonable to gradually wake up after experiencing a few things. Maybe you’ll suddenly encounter a major event and have an epiphany. So don’t worry, it will come. Be patient and wait a bit.”

Mr. Mo: “I see you’re very angry, hahaha, don’t make yourself angry.”