Chapter 41: Meeting Refugees

“I didn’t!” Da Ya argued, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Mom, she dared to talk back to you for paying me. I even saw her secretly drinking water,”

Dazhuang insisted, his tone unwavering, determined to see his goal through.

The big strong woman stepped forward and kicked Da Ya away, ignoring her daughter’s pleas. She started to attack without any explanation. “You still dare to drink water secretly?

Who gave you the courage? If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you might think you can get away with it in the future! What trouble did it cause?”

She turned around to grab a stick, and Dazhuang pointed to a thick one, as thick as an arm, not far away. “Mom, there, there.”

Da Ya watched in horror as her mother approached with such a thick stick. Her face turned pale with fear, and she kept backing away, crying, “Mom, I really didn’t.

The water I drank was the dew I collected myself. I really didn’t drink the water secretly.”

Aunt Wang, unable to bear the sight, spoke up. “Dazhuang, I can testify that Da Ya didn’t drink water secretly. She drank the dew she collected herself.”

Several other women nearby also joined in, speaking up for Da Ya.

Dazhuang Niang knew there was a misunderstanding, but she couldn’t allow herself to lose face. She said bluntly, “The dew she collected should be given to the family. If she drank it privately, she stole it.”

Aunt Wang and the others were shocked by Dazhuang’s absurd reasoning. They were furious; it was clear that Da Ya would not escape punishment.

Da Ya was her child, and they, as outsiders, couldn’t control her actions. They could only sigh and lament that Da Ya was unlucky to be born into such a family and have such a mother.

“Mom, beat that bitch quickly! Make her pay for drinking water secretly! Beat her to death!” Dazhuang urged desperately.

Da Ya, tears streaming down her face, looked at the stick in her mother’s hand with terror.

“No! Mom, I will never dare again!” she pleaded.

Just as the thick stick was about to fall, a commanding voice rang out, scolding the strong woman.

“Stop!”

Yang Lizheng stepped forward, followed by Su Yin.

“Uncle Li Zheng, what’s going on? I was just teaching my child a lesson; I didn’t do anything else,” the strong woman retorted, her tone implying she was beyond reproach.

“You can’t control me,” she added, her words laced with defiance.

Yang Lizheng snorted coldly. “Are you using such a thick stick to beat your child to death? Are you even a mother?”

“Just because we don’t tell you doesn’t mean we don’t know. Give your child a sip of water.

This kid doesn’t know how to collect dew by himself. If you don’t give him anything to eat or drink, are you planning to let him die of thirst?”

Li Zheng’s words warmed Da Ya’s heart, and her eyes welled up with emotion.

Yang Lizheng then turned to Dazhuang’s father, Yang Laoliu. “Yang Laoliu, is your spine weak? Are you too old to see and hear?”

Called out by Yang Lizheng, Yang Laoliu had to take a stand. He directed his words at the strong woman. “Fourth daughter-in-law, calm down.

Get some bread and water for the child. Don’t let outsiders think we are treating our daughter harshly.”

“If you continue to ruin our family’s reputation, I will have the fourth son divorce you later.”

The strong woman was furious and anxious at his words, her eyes reddening with anger.

Didn’t they hate Da Ya? They constantly belittled her and criticized her. Every time she received a bite of food, they looked down on her and scolded her.

Now, they were unfairly blaming everything on her.

Those two old men would get what they deserved sooner or later.

Thanks to Yang Lizheng’s intervention, Da Ya was finally spared. No one knew how long the Dazhuang family would last, but everyone knew that it wouldn’t be long before they returned to their old ways.

Since they weren’t on the road during the day, the elderly, weak, women, and children who stayed in the camp didn’t eat.

Therefore, the morning meal was skipped. Only the men who went out to search for water were allowed to eat.

Su’s mother was about to follow suit, but Su Yin stopped her.

She now had money and could buy supplies when they reached Yongqing County. There was no need to be so frugal.

In the morning, the men went out to look for water, while the women who stayed in the camp were busy with other tasks.

Many of them were knitting straw shoes, and some were mending the torn shoes and clothes of their family members. Everyone was occupied.

At noon, the men who had gone out to search for water returned one after another.

“Did you find any water?” someone asked.

“How’s it going?” Yang Lizheng asked, his voice tinged with hope.

When asked by everyone, each group that returned shook their heads, their expressions somber.

When the last group came back, they also had no good news to share.

Yang Lizheng sighed. “It seems the mountain spring has dried up. Let’s go around the mountain over there and return to the official road.”

Su Yin, having studied the map, naturally took the lead.

Su’s mother and the others moved from their position in the middle of the group to the front row, beside Li Zheng’s family.

The eldest, second, and youngest uncles also moved forward to be closer, making it easier to protect them.

Following the route marked on the map, Su Yin guided the group through a section of rugged mountain terrain a treacherous, roadless path.

After walking for about a stick of incense, a small trail appeared before them.

The presence of footprints indicated they had reached a relatively safe area.

After traversing the winding path for about an hour, they emerged from the forest and into the scorching sunlight.

“Official Road! Ahead is the official road!” someone exclaimed.

“Finally, we see the official road!” another chimed in.

Someone spotted a tower in the distance and cried out in surprise. “Yongqing Tower!”

In the Yong Dynasty, a tower stood on the outskirts of every county to alert travelers that they were about to enter the county.

Yongqing County was near, and joy filled everyone’s faces. Many people pointed toward Yongqing County, eager to replenish their water and other necessities.

Seeing the Yongqing Tower, everyone walked with renewed energy.

While everyone’s attention was focused on the Yongqing Tower and the distant county, Su Yin noticed many more stumbling refugees on the official road.

These people were in small groups of two or three, their clothes tattered, their faces stained with blood, and their bodies weary.

“Third Grandma, I see something is wrong with the people below.”

After she reminded them, Yang Lizheng and the others turned their attention to the crowd walking on the official road. At this sight, their hearts twitched.

“Go first.”

The team emerged from the woods. The appearance of such a large group immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd.

People who were originally cautious immediately gave up their worries after seeing a steady stream of people coming out of the woods. Practical thoughts took over.

Su Yin and Yang Lizheng targeted a family of four. Compared with the others, those four people were in much better spirits, and there was no greed in their eyes when they looked at them.

“This young man, I would like to ask, where are you from?” Yang Lizheng asked with a smile.

The other party glanced at their team, and the young man said, “We are all villagers from the surrounding villages.”

“What are you…”

The man looked sad, “Today, a group of people suddenly came to the village. They rushed directly into the village, burned, killed and looted.

Our family lived far away. Even if we escaped, we came out in a hurry and didn’t take any belongings with us.”

“It’s good that we escaped, but those who didn’t have time to escape… all died under the butcher’s knife of those people.”