Old Man Lu was originally driving his mule cart along the main road, but when they reached a fork in the road, a group of bandits suddenly caught up with them. In their panic, they veered off onto a small path. A few other families followed them, also forced onto the same route. Fortunately, this small road also led to Yongfeng Town, though it was a longer way around.

“Father, I can’t walk anymore. Please let me ride in the cart,” Lu Wenzhi gasped as he struggled to keep up, his feet covered in blisters.

Old Man Lu had once thought his third son had great potential—he was the only one in the family who had received an education. But now, at this critical moment, he found him to be the most useless. Even in a life-or-death situation, the boy still dared to complain.

“There are bandits chasing us from behind! How can we afford to stop? Besides, the cart is already full of children. Your mother and I are sitting in the front—there’s no room for you,” Old Man Lu scolded.

The cart was packed with five children, and with two adults in the front, adding another person would only slow them down. There was no way he would agree.

Suddenly, a terrified scream erupted from behind them, making everyone at the front run even faster. However, no matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t outrun the young and unburdened bandits.

“Father, save me!”

“Husband, help me!”

“Please! Don’t kill me!”

The screams behind them grew louder, but the people at the front dared not turn back.

“Father, wait for me!” Lu Wenzhi’s desperate voice called from behind again.

“Run, husband, run!” Li Qiuju was on the verge of tears, urging her husband to keep moving. But Wenzhi, a frail scholar, simply couldn’t keep up. He was quickly falling behind.

“Third son, run faster!”

Old Madam Lu was equally anxious, but they couldn’t afford to stop.

Seeing that his younger brother was about to be overtaken, Lu Wenguang slowed down and shouted, “Old Third, climb onto the handcart!”

Lu Wenzhi, seeing his elder brother waiting for him, forced himself to sprint forward and threw himself onto the cart. Lu Wenguang immediately pulled the cart and ran as fast as he could. But the uneven road, combined with the extra weight, made it impossible for him to move quickly.

“Stop right there!”

Several bandits had somehow gotten ahead of them and blocked the road, surrounding their mule cart. Four or five other families were caught with them—it was clear that the bandits were after the cart.

Encircled, Lu Wenguang gripped the cart tightly, unable to move. One of the bandits strode forward, yanking Old Man Lu and Old Madam Lu down from the cart before peering inside.

“Father! Mother!”

Lu Wenguang rushed to help his fallen parents.

Just as the bandit lifted the cart’s curtain, two silver needles shot out, piercing his neck. Before he could react, he collapsed to the ground.

The other bandits, startled, rushed forward to see what had happened.

Lu Wenguang immediately tried to shield the children. Inside the cart, Xiao Chen and Xiao Yu peeked out and, seeing more enemies approach, quickly fired more silver needles.

“There’s no way out! We’re dead either way! They only have about a dozen men—grab your weapons and fight!” Lu Wenguang suddenly shouted.

A few men from Dahe Village, who carried knives, immediately drew their weapons, prepared to fight to the death.

At the sight of the blades, the bandits recognized them at once. “It’s you! So, you’re from Dahe Village! We’ve finally caught you. You dare to harm our men? Today, you’ll learn the consequences!”

With that, the bandits charged.

The men from Dahe Village fought back, and some of the refugees joined in to help.

Xiao Yu and Xiao Chen continued firing their needles at the enemies, though their accuracy weakened due to the distance.

Unfortunately, they accidentally hit two refugees, but since the needles were only laced with a sedative, they weren’t too worried.

Lu Wenguang knew the needles only had a numbing effect, so whenever an enemy was hit, he followed up with a knife to finish them off.

By the time Shen Qingwan and Lu Jiaojiao arrived, the fight was already over.

The dozen or so bandits had been taken care of. Still shaken, no one had yet thought to search their bodies.

The other refugees had already moved on, leaving only the people from Dahe Village behind. Shen Qingwan walked over, collecting the bandits’ pouches and weapons before heading toward the mule cart.

“Mother, you’re finally back!”

Xiao Yu’s eyes were red as she looked at Shen Qingwan, while Xiao Chen suddenly burst into tears. Just moments ago, they had been brave, but now fear was settling in.

“These two were amazing! They took down quite a few of them!” Lu Wenguang praised the children.

Li Qiuju and Zhou Huiniang helped Old Man Lu and Old Madam Lu to their feet before coming over.

“Daughter-in-law, Jiaojiao, are you alright?”

Old Madam Lu looked at her youngest daughter with deep concern.

Jiaojiao shook her head. “It’s all thanks to Sister-in-law. If it weren’t for her protecting me, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

Her voice trembled with emotion, and Shen Qingwan glanced around before urging, “We can’t stay here. The smell of blood might attract wild beasts from the mountains. We need to leave now.”

At her words, everyone became tense. Old Man Lu and Old Madam Lu quickly got back onto the cart, and the group resumed their journey.

They had been separated from the rest of their village. The village chief might be waiting for them in Yongfeng Town, but no one knew how the others had fared.

Still, they had already killed over fifty bandits earlier, and with these additional deaths, there couldn’t be many left attacking the village chief’s group.

The villagers should have been able to hold their ground.

From the depths of the forest, the eerie howls of wolves echoed in the darkness, sending chills down their spines.

Shen Qingwan lit two torches—one for herself at the front and one for Lu Wenguang in the middle. Meanwhile, Lu Wenzhi lay weakly on the cart, groaning as if he were on the brink of death.

The night road was treacherous. They walked for nearly two hours before finally making it back to the main road. Along the way, they saw scattered corpses, evidence that the bandits were still hunting refugees ahead.

Further along, Shen Qingwan spotted another set of corpses. These were clearly bandits, identifiable by the red cloth strips tied around their arms—a precaution they had taken to avoid mistakenly killing their own men.

Among them lay the bodies of several Dahe villagers. They must have died resisting the bandits. But with time pressing, no one had been able to bury them.

“Father, that’s Uncle Li Rong! And Uncle Genwang! And Li Tao!”

Lu Wenguang recognized them all.

Old Man Lu’s eyes reddened. “Quick, bring the shovel! Help me bury them before we move on.”

He couldn’t bear to leave their fellow villagers’ bodies exposed to the wild. Shen Qingwan sighed but didn’t stop him.

It wouldn’t take long.

With a dozen men working together, they dug several graves in the woods and buried their fallen friends. Old Man Lu memorized the location so he could later inform their families.

If they ever passed by again, they could come and pay their respects.

After this delay, it was already deep into the night. But they couldn’t afford to rest here, so they continued forward.

Along the way, they saw more refugees traveling under the night sky—some moving on, others huddling by the roadside for rest.