Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Later, some yamen runners or hungry refugees who were looking for food accidentally entered the territory of Hexi Village. They were frightened by the horrific scene of corpses everywhere, mosquitoes and flies running around, and the stench in the village. They pissed their pants and cried for their parents, and ran away in great fear.

One pass ten, ten pass a hundred.

From then on, no one dared to set foot in Hexi Village, which was once rich and beautiful.

------------------

After nightfall, Lin Xiaoyue and his group, along with Lin Dashan and Liu Laogen who were looking for someone in the town, arrived at the agreed meeting place almost at the same time.

In front of the fire, the three groups of people saw their relatives and couldn't help but cry bitterly.

When Uncle Dashan and Aunt Dashan saw their sister Chunhua, who was disfigured and injured but at least still alive, they couldn't help but burst into tears.

After Sister Chunhua woke up halfway through the journey, she heard Lin Zhaodi chattering all the way. She told her about the current situation of Linjia Village and the incident of three families leaving the team and returning to look for someone.

Sister Chunhua, who had survived a disaster, was already as nervous as a frightened bird. When she learned that her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law had risked their lives to find her, she felt guilty and uneasy, but she was also grateful for her family's loyalty. Therefore, after seeing Uncle Dashan and Aunt Dashan, the family hugged each other and cried heartbreakingly, unable to restrain themselves.

Uncle Niu went to the town, but the situation was not optimistic. It was not that they didn't find the person, but everyone in the town was in danger. The doors of every household were closed, and ragged and mentally exhausted refugees could be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.

The patrolling yamen runners had already hidden away somewhere. I heard that the garrison commander heard that something was not right a few days ago, so he packed up his belongings and fled with his family at night.

Without the pressure from their superiors, the salaried officials naturally focused on saving their lives and quickly went their separate ways.

As for the issue of conscription and labor service, which worried them the most.

Oh! It's totally superfluous.

All those who eat public grain have run away, so who has time to sit around and worry about nothing? They run to the mountains to look for someone.

Besides, a large number of refugees poured into the city. Some of them were starving, and there was no government to suppress them. There were no legal shackles, and the earthquake last night had caused panic among the people. The refugees had completely lost hope of survival, so they had to go crazy and start smashing, looting, and so on.

Fortunately, Uncle Niu and Uncle Dashan had not slept all night, their hair was messy, and there were dark circles under their eyes. They suppressed their fear and packed up all night. At dawn, they followed the team to escape quickly, and then ran back to the town to look for people. After all the hasty and urgent work, they were almost as miserable as the refugees.

Because of this, the two of them were not treated as locals and were not bullied by the refugees.

Uncle Dashan and Uncle Niu took advantage of the situation, sneaking along the way and taking small, remote paths with few people.

After much difficulty, I finally found the house where Niu Tietou worked. I quietly tiptoed in from the backyard and finally found him.

It was a close call. When the two parties met, Niu Tietou did not regard the two men who looked ferocious and behaved furtively as thieves who broke into the house and beat them away with a fire poker.

It almost caused a huge mistake.

However, Uncle Niu, who originally only intended to find his son and reunite his family, brought back not only his old son, but also the family of four of the shopkeeper who had kindly taken Niu Tietou in and hid in the store for a while, both old and young.

Seeing Niu Tietou carefully protecting the old man and the beautiful young girl he brought back, Uncle Niu seemed to understand something. He apologized to the two families who were traveling with him, saying that the people Tietou brought back would be the responsibility of their own family and would not bring trouble to Lin Laosan's family and Lin Dashan's family.

The two Lin families are both honest and genuine farmers. In addition, the three families have lived close to each other over the years and have helped each other with everything. Naturally, they would not have any conflicts over such a small matter.

At that moment, the two families waved their hands again and again, indicating that it was no problem and that if more people traveled together, there would be an extra layer of protection.

All the people that Lin Dashan's and Niu Laogen's families were looking for were found, but the whereabouts of Lin Xiaoyue's sister Dahua was still unknown. Old Man Lin and others were extremely worried and wanted to search the world for her with drums and gongs.

But... I can't do that.

Lin Laosan's family was in a state of heavy loss, everyone was sad and depressed, Lin Dashan's family and Niu Laogen's family wanted to say a few words of comfort, but they didn't know where to start. The rest of the people who were rescued were not familiar with Lin Laosan's family, and they didn't know what to do. They just wanted to say something but hesitated and found a corner to spend the night.

Perhaps it was because there were too many people around and there was a fire that was crackling, like a spark of hope burning in the dark night, making the exhausted and worried people forget their anxiety for a short while.

Aunt Dashan and Aunt Niu took out some dry food and distributed it to everyone. After everyone had a quick meal, they all went to sleep.

Although the conditions were poor, who would care about the situation when fleeing from famine? It was good enough to be able to keep their lives.

Everyone wrapped themselves tightly in old clothes, and covered themselves with the quilts distributed from three families in groups of three or two. Some lay on the cart, some curled up in the shopping cart, or just found a clean place, closed their eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Except for the two little rascals, the distraught Lin family members had not slept for two days and two nights. They sat in front of the fire all night until dawn. When the women set up a pot and cooked porridge not far away, the Lin family members gradually regained their minds that had been wandering around.

The four of them looked at each other, their eyes had turned into rabbit eyes after working without sleep. But compared to yesterday when they had no clue and were at a loss, at least after a night of discussion, they had picked out a very thin clue from the mess.

According to Lin Xiaoyue, it would be better to stay where she is and wait for two more days rather than having trouble sleeping and eating. During this time, she and her second sister Lin Zhaodi took the time to search for all the places where her eldest sister might appear.

Of course, it was only their own family who stayed behind to look for someone, and there was no need for Uncle Dashan and Uncle Niu to be dragged down by them. Besides, it was not suitable to stay here for a long time. Staying for a quarter of an hour longer would increase the risk. The two families had no relatives or friends with their family, they were just neighbors, so there was really no need to take such a big risk and stay with them.

Besides, if the two families were implicated, it would undoubtedly be adding insult to injury for the Lin family, and would place them under even greater psychological pressure.

Lin Xiaoyue patiently analyzed the pros and cons thoroughly with her parents and second sister. In short, they must not let the two families stay for them, and it would be best to send them away as soon as possible, the sooner the better.

As for those who were rescued along the way.

One is the family of the owner of the shop where Niu Tietou worked, who was rescued by Niu Laogen's family. Uncle Niu made his attitude clear early on that they were the ones who brought the person back, so naturally they were responsible for it. In this way, it had nothing to do with the other two families.