water buckets. Some men even brought their entire household water tanks, just to carry back as much water as possible.The village head, seeing this, laughed and scolded these people angrily."I bet you...Zong Yu suddenly opened his eyes, he abruptly stood up, grabbed the person closest to Li Fang Jinshui's door by the collar and threw them out.

Zhao Yi and Zhao Er heard him make a move, they immediately stopped pretending, rolled over and got up, quickly blocking the door.

"No! They didn't plant any smoke bombs, run!"

Unfortunately, by the time they reacted, it was too late. The front door was blocked by Zhao Yi and Zhao Er, the two gate gods, who kicked anyone who came close.

In just a short while, before they even really started fighting, these people were finished. They huddled together, their faces all etched with fear and anxiety.

Zhao Yi let out a sneer, “Now you’re afraid”

"Say! Why did you knock us out!"

Zong Yu stood always before the gate of Fang Jinshu, he was one of the tallest and most robust men there. The scar on his brow, due to his stern expression, brought out his fierce and intimidating aura.

The lower half of his face, too, had grown out because he hadn't shaved in the ten days he’d spent in the mountains. The area below his nose was almost completely covered by it.

They looked just like bandits who robbed houses.

The village chief, knowing the tide had turned, paled and knelt before them with a thud.

Seeing the village chief kneel, others followed suit and knelt down as well.

Is this, surrendering without a fight

This night was Fang Jinshi's best sleep in the past ten days.

She woke up feeling refreshed and noticed Zongyu wasn't there. But the charcoal from the stove, which had burned out last night, had already been dealt with.

She stretched and walked out of her room to find someone, but when she looked up, she saw that the yard of this family was suddenly filled with many people. Upon closer inspection, they were all tied up with their hands and feet.

When Zong Yu saw his new wife had woken up, he walked over with a pot of hot water.

"It's so cold outside, why not sleep in a bit more"

Fang Jinshu pointed at the people in the courtyard, her head full of question marks.

Who are these people

She glanced at everyone's attire, then saw the family who had sheltered them last night among the crowd. Her mind began to piece together what had happened.

Therefore, when people go out and about, they really shouldn't casually squander money.

They gave them food out of kindness, but unexpectedly it caused them trouble.

Upon hearing what Zong Yu had to say, Fang Jinxiu was not surprised at all.

"At least this village head has some conscience, he only wants food and grain, and doesn't want to harm our lives."

What are you going to do with them

Zhao Yi suddenly walked over with a complicated expression, stammering as if he had something to say.

Fang Jinshu turned her head and looked at him, "What's wrong Just say it."

Zhao Yi really did come to confess his feelings.

"Madam Zong, Zhao Ergang and I just took a stroll around the village."

He hesitated again, his tongue tied and unable to find the right words. In the end, he could only helplessly rub the back of his head.

"Why don't you come and have a look yourself"

"Once you see it, you'll understand."

Fang Jinshu and Zong Yi glanced at each other, then rose to their feet and followed Zhao Yi out.

"While we were checking the village for other victims, we found this place," Zhao Yiy said as she led the way.

He pointed to a dilapidated house at the back of the village, which looked somewhat like a ancestral hall.

This is the ancestral hall of their village.

Zhao pushed open the wooden door of the ancestral hall. A rustling sound, along with cries from children, filled the air within, but then abruptly ceased.

Fang Jinshu frowned, as if she had guessed something.

But when she really saw those dozens of elderly men, women and children huddled together in the ancestral hall, she was still shocked by the scene before her.

No wonder the household I stayed with last night only had a father and three sons; I didn't see any female family members.

At the time, she still found it strange, but the drowsiness had come on too fiercely. When she woke up in the morning, she ignored this small detail.

Here, the elderly and children are mostly emaciated. Their eyes are vacant and fearful, even the youngest seem to be holding back tears out of fear.

Immediately following was a wave of overpowering stench. Fang Jinshu didn't need to look closely to know that there were corpses here, and more than one.

Otherwise, how could there be such a foul smell on such a cold day.

"The village head of this village was driven to his wits' end by the drought and heavy snow. He hid all the elderly, weak, women and children from the village here."

They were doing whatever they could to get food outside, resorting to any means necessary. If they ever stumbled into trouble and got caught, at least the people here wouldn't die before them.

"So all the men in the village got together to steal and rob, all for them."

Zhao nodded slightly.

Fang Jinxiu sighed helplessly.sed herself and Zong Yu in a very low-key manner. She put away all her new clothes and wore the old patched ones she used to wear.I'm so poor, I might as well have the words "very poor" tattooed on my...