Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 52 - 052: Team Up?

Chapter 52: Chapter 052: Team Up?

A group of people supported each other as they walked dozens of meters away from the ruined temple, and only when they saw the officials did not come to pursue them and make trouble did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The surrounding disaster victims were cursing, "A bunch of scoundrels, they only know how to bully us. They drove us out in the middle of the afternoon, where are we supposed to settle down?"

It had been hard enough to find peace for a few days, and they were evicted again, and it left them feeling very uncomfortable.

After the cursing, the disaster victims became lost, looking at the flat horizons of the suburbs, unsure where they could go in this vast world.

Elder Qin had already become familiar with the surrounding terrain after he and Qin Er Lang and Qin San Lang surveyed the area when everyone came to the ruined temple. Standing still for a moment, he pointed to a small path on the right and said, "Go this way, follow this path through four villages, climb over a mountain, and you’ll reach the official road, and after a few hours more on that road, you’ll reach the border of Yuchang Prefecture."

The few families present had no objection to Elder Qin’s words and nodded, "We’ll listen to you, Elder."

The surrounding disaster victims also heard Elder Qin’s words, and seeing how familiar he was with the routes, some victims gathered around. Qin Er Lang immediately drew a machete and looked at them coldly, saying, "If you don’t want to die, stay away!"

Having witnessed the ferocity of this group, the disaster victims stopped in their tracks upon hearing Qin Er Lang’s words and seeing his cold face, daring not to come any closer.

Among the disaster victims, two elderly men dressed in worn jackets and with gray hair dared to step forward and bowed to Elder Qin, saying, "Elder brother, we mean no harm, we just want to ask where you are planning to go next? If it is possible, may we join you?"

Pointing to a group of disaster victims behind them, they said, "We have around fifty people, surnamed Lin and Zhou, all decent family men, we won’t harm you, nor will we cause you trouble."

They had seen everything Gu Jinli’s group had done and felt that even though this group had both old and young, they were fierce, had the ability to defend themselves, and did not bully others using their strength; it was quite rare. If they could join them to escape the disaster, the days would be much better for the Lin and Zhou families.

Elder Qin glanced at them and shook his head in refusal, "There’s no need to join up. As for where we’re heading? Naturally, we’re heading south. There’s only that one road to the south. If you want to follow, we can’t stop you."

After saying that, he no longer paid them any attention and led the few families away, towards the small path to the right.

The Lin and Zhou elders were delighted and hurriedly called to their families, "Hurry, follow them."

Although Elder Qin refused to let them join, he hadn’t forbidden them from following; this was a good thing.

The disaster victims from the Lin and Zhou families quickly gathered their families to follow, but Elder Lin and Elder Zhou were very measured, not following too closely, keeping a distance of over ten meters from Elder Qin’s group to avoid causing annoyance.

The rest of the disaster victims coming out of the ruined temple also followed suit.

Mrs. Chen saw the many disaster victims following them and complained dissatisfiedly, "Elder Qin, why did you let them follow? What if they come to rob us?"

She held tight to her silver coins and water, fearing that the disaster victims would snatch them away.

Elder Qin said, "With Wu Da’s example before them, they don’t dare to rob us; they will only respect us."

People are like this: if you show weakness, they will bully you mercilessly; if you are fierce, they will fear you and even respect you.

"Respect us?" Mrs. Chen was skeptical, "Is Elder speaking nonsense? How could they possibly respect us?"

Elder Qin replied, "You’ll understand in time."

Mrs. Chen was such a person; no amount of talking to her would be useful unless she experienced a disaster herself or benefited in some way before she would believe you.

An hour later, they reached the end of the path and saw a village, but the villagers were afraid of the refugees and had able-bodied men block the entrance to prevent the refugees from entering.

However, there were several water jars placed at the entrance of the village to sell water to the refugees.

The water was very expensive, two taels of silver for a jar, almost like daylight robbery. Gu Jinli and the other families hesitated for a while but still paid for three jars of water.

Although it was painful for the other refugees, they knew the value of water and chipped in to buy some.

After buying the water, they went around the village and continued on their journey. As evening approached, they finally reached the foot of the mountain.

Third Grandpa and Elder Qin, seeing that it was getting late, said, "Let’s stop here. We will spend the night here and continue our journey early in the morning, cross this mountain, and get onto the official road."

Mrs. Chen was terrified at the thought of the constable squad leader’s words and hurriedly exclaimed, "The government troops will be here tomorrow morning, if we continue then, won’t we be killed by the soldiers?!"

Elder Qin said, "Even if the soldiers come, they will search nearby the outskirts and won’t catch up with us so soon. We’ll just leave earlier tomorrow morning and won’t be chased down by the soldiers."

Those soldiers aren’t so idle; as long as the refugees don’t linger outside Yuchang Prefecture, they don’t actually care.

"Really? Elder Qin, you better not be deceiving us," Mrs. Chen barely finished her words when Gu Dagui shouted, "What really? Hurry up and help Third Aunt cook."

All day she doesn’t tend to proper matters, only asking questions here and there. Doesn’t she know everyone is annoyed by her talking? Her behavior almost embarrasses me to death.

The few families pooled money together to buy grains, contributing according to the number of people, and during meal times, the food was distributed per person as well. These grains were managed by Third Grandpa, and when it was time to cook, Third Grandpa would hand out the grains to Third Grandma, who would lead the women from several families to cook together.

Afraid that someone would steal the food, Mrs. Chen was always eager to cook. Hearing Gu Dagui’s words, she hurried to find Third Grandma, asking for grains to cook.

In addition to pooling money with the others to buy grains, Gu Jinli’s house, Luo Family, and Qin family also spent money to buy some extra grains for their own families, keeping them for emergencies.

The other refugees also stopped, and seeing the few families cooking, they salivated with hunger, but dared not harbor any ill intentions. These families had a fierce reputation – even a ten-year-old girl dared to wield a dagger and cut the tendons of adults – they were not to be trifled with.

After watching for a while, the refugees scattered in search of food.

Gu Jinli did not idle either, taking Luo Huiniang and Tian Xiaohua into the mountains to search for edible plants and medicinal herbs.

"Xiao Yu, wait for me, I’ll come with you," Gu Jin’an tied a small hemp bag around his waist, grabbed a firewood knife, and caught up with them.

Gu Jinli knew that Gu Jin’an was scared by her actions in the ruined temple and wanted to stay by her side, ready to protect her at critical moments to prevent her from getting blood on her hands again.

She wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but knowing that Gu Jin’an was somewhat stubborn, she could only nod and smile, "Alright." The four of them entered the mountain.

Gu Jinxiu really wanted to join them, but she had to look after Brother Cheng and was afraid she was too weak to hold Gu Jinli back, so she stayed obediently with Mrs. Cui and the others.

Gu Damu and Gu Dalin’s family had two little girls who were too young; Gu Jinli did not bring them, fearing that if something happened, she couldn’t protect too many people.

As for Gu Yumei, the girl from the village chief’s house did not get along with her and did not play with them, so Gu Jinli did not call her either, avoiding the awkwardness.

The disaster in Yuchang Prefecture was not as severe as in the Seven Prefectures of the Northwest; there was quite a lot of food to be found. The four of them wandered around the mountain and found a bunch of tender green wild vegetables.