Shen Qingwan was experiencing firsthand what it truly meant for a life to be as insignificant as a blade of grass, what it meant to have no control over one’s fate, and to be utterly powerless.

Under the scorching sun, she watched the increasingly thin backs of Old Man Lu and Old Lady Lu.

In a moment of impulse, she considered taking the entire family and leaving with Bai Yong’an instead of continuing their journey to Suzhou as refugees.

With Bai Yong’an’s status, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to arrange a new identity for them and find a town with good security where they could settle down.

However, when Shen Qingwan looked at Village Chief Lu again, she hesitated.

If it weren’t for her providing water and food along the way, their journey to Suzhou would have been fraught with dangers, and many of them might not have survived.

She had no deep emotional attachment to the people of Dahe Village, but after traveling together, their trust, unity, and mutual assistance made it impossible for her to abandon them without guilt.

So, the thought of leaving flickered for just a moment before she firmly suppressed it.

Forget it. The conditions in her past life had been far harsher, and she had survived those.

This was merely a journey to escape famine—nothing she couldn’t handle.

Since she had already come this far, she might as well see it through to the end and ensure the villagers reached Suzhou safely.

Only then would she have peace of mind.

They had been walking for most of the day without rest, hoping to reach Jixiang Town as soon as possible.

The longer they traveled, the slower the group became. But fortunately, Licheng was not far from Jixiang Town.

As they neared the outskirts of Jixiang Town, they could see from a distance a large group of refugees gathered outside.

Upon approaching, they discovered that several human traffickers were there, collecting people.

The refugees were frantically pushing their daughters forward, desperate for the traffickers to take them.

The traffickers stood on their carriages, appraising the girls, selecting only the best as if they were choosing livestock rather than dealing with living, breathing humans.

They only wanted young children, especially pretty girls under fourteen—clearly intended for the brothels.

Shen Qingwan could only watch helplessly as families sold their children.

She was no savior and couldn’t help those children.

Compared to starving to death, perhaps following those traffickers at least offered a chance at survival.

The imperial court was corrupt and indifferent to the suffering of the refugees.

They had been told to head north to beg for food, but in reality, it was just the government shirking its responsibility, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Upon entering the town, Shen Qingwan noticed that all the shops were closed.

Some had even been looted, their interiors in shambles—clear evidence that Jixiang Town had already been raided by refugees.

Village Chief Lu sent Dajiang and a few others to search for a water source, while Shen Qingwan followed Bai Yong’an to the Bai family’s business.

They left the mule cart outside, allowing Old Man Lu and the others to watch over it.

Bai Yong’an first headed to the Bai family’s Wantong Bank, only to find its doors wide open.

The place was deserted, with nothing left but broken furniture and scattered debris.

Unwilling to give up, Bai Yong’an then went to the family’s grain store, only to find it in even worse condition.

After surveying the damage, he headed to the backyard, where he spotted a carriage parked inside.

“Li Defu?” Bai Yong’an called out as he approached the house.

Just as he reached the entrance of the main hall, a middle-aged man with a small mustache walked out.

“Second Master?”

Seeing Bai Yong’an, the man was both shocked and overjoyed, though he also seemed somewhat doubtful.

Bai Yong’an had changed so much—before, they had similar builds, both overweight with protruding bellies.

But now, Bai Yong’an had slimmed down to barely 140 pounds.

He looked much healthier, more robust, though significantly darker from sun exposure.

“Is it really you? Why have you come to Jixiang Town at this time?”

After his initial excitement, Li Defu’s face turned anxious.

He quickly urged, “Second Master, we must leave at once.”

As he spoke, he ordered two assistants to load wooden crates onto the carriage.

Bai Yong’an frowned in confusion. “What happened? Where’s Old Yu? What exactly happened at the bank?”

Old Yu—Yu Youjin—was the manager of the bank in Jixiang Town.

“Old Yu is at his small courtyard. We agreed to finish packing and meet outside the town,” Li Defu explained urgently. “Second Master, we cannot stay here. Jixiang Town was raided by bandits.”

“They arrived yesterday, and they’re likely to return today. That’s why we planned to leave as soon as possible. The bank has already been looted.”

“But fortunately, Old Yu sensed something was wrong ten days ago and moved the bank’s treasury in advance. All the money was transferred to other banks, so the bandits didn’t gain much from the raid.”

“However, they took more than half of the grain from our warehouse. There’s still a small portion left, but they won’t give up easily. They will definitely return, so we need to leave immediately.”

The bandits hadn’t been able to take all the grain in one trip due to their limited numbers, but they would certainly come back for the rest.

Hearing about the bandits, Bai Yong’an broke into a cold sweat.

The terrifying events in Qing’an Prefecture had been bad enough—if he encountered another attack, he might not survive.

“How many people do you have with you?”

Shen Qingwan noticed that they had loaded a lot of valuables onto their carriage and couldn’t help but ask.

Li Defu, seeing that she was with the Second Master, respectfully answered, “We have about twenty people—trusted servants and staff. But Old Yu also hired escort guards, bringing our total to around seventy. Safety shouldn’t be an issue.”

Their families had been relocated to a safe place earlier.

Only these twenty or so remained in Jixiang Town to oversee the property.

Old Yu, anticipating trouble, had hired professional guards to protect their valuables.

Hearing that guards were involved, Bai Yong’an finally relaxed. “If you have an escort, then I’ll leave with you.”

Turning to Shen Qingwan, he pulled out 30,000 taels of silver notes from his robe and handed them to her. “This is the 30,000 taels we agreed upon. It will be more convenient for you to carry silver notes instead of silver. As for the grain—take as much from the warehouse as you can. Better for you to have it than for the bandits.”

“There’s a well in the courtyard. If your people can’t find water, they can fetch it from here. But leave as soon as possible. If the bandits return, you might not make it out in time.”

Shen Qingwan nodded, accepting the silver notes without hesitation.

Since it was what they had agreed on, there was no need for unnecessary politeness.

Besides, this amount of money was just a drop in the ocean for Bai Yong’an.

“Alright, Second Master, we will leave as soon as possible. Also, take this.”

She pulled out a prescription and handed it to Bai Yong’an. “This is a remedy for the plague. If possible, I hope you can spread this information and help contain the disease.”

Bai Yong’an glanced at the prescription, then looked at Shen Qingwan in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to still be concerned about the plague, let alone possess a cure for it.

“This… does it really work?”