In a year of natural disasters, the young woman had billions of resources to build a paradise.

Jiang Jiman gripped the door lock and poked at it forcefully.

no response.

He pulled on the door lock again, but it still didn't respond.

"what happened?"

He pulled the key out and then put it back in.

Pull it out, insert it back in, poke it a few more times, if that doesn't work, pull it out again.

Jiang Jiman examined the key carefully, his heart sinking lower and lower.

That brat, is she playing a trick on him?

The thought had barely crossed my mind.

"boom!"

A loud bang came from afar.

His legs went weak, and he gripped the key tightly, barely managing to keep from shouting.

What happened this time? Did the earth shake?

The neighbors were startled by the commotion and rushed out to see what was happening.

"Did the earth shake again?"

"Why did the earthquake make such a loud noise? The folk song says that huge rocks destroyed fields. Could it be a landslide?"

"Never mind, I need to pack my things and get out of the city quickly!"

"Go away my ass! The city gates have been closed all day! The magistrate won't let us leave!"

"What can we do? We can't just sit here and wait to die, can we? I haven't even gotten married yet!"

The more they talked, the more panicked they became, and many of them immediately went back into their houses, carrying their bags.

Some went to the East Gate, while others went to the county government office to check for the latest news.

Jiang Jiman quietly shrank back to minimize his presence, still pondering how to get inside to check on the supplies, when he heard someone shout.

"Isn't that Mianmian's third brother? Why is he acting so suspiciously?"

"I saw you two this morning, but didn't you say you were bringing something? I see you didn't bring anything!"

"Wow, he's wearing black again and asking for keys. He's really shrewd."

"Pah! You call yourself a scholar? Shameless!"

"The mother sells her daughter, the brother steals things, there's not a single good person in this family!"

Since entering Qing Teng Academy, Jiang Jiman has never been spoken to like this before.

Even with all her cunning, her face flushed red with embarrassment, and she opened and closed her mouth, unsure how to refute him.

He slowly straightened up and said with difficulty, "Of course I bought the things, but how could a weak scholar like me carry them? That's why I came to ask Mianmian to help me move them. Since she's not here, I'll come again tomorrow."

A chorus of boos erupted, and he turned and left.

He stood up straight, as if that would prove his innocence.

"boom!"

Another sound.

Jiang Ji's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, scrambling away as fast as he could.

The crowd burst into laughter and ignored him, instead going back into their houses to get their bags.

Near the East Gate, Jiang Mianmian hid in the darkness.

She threw the used rocket launcher into the warehouse and quickly grabbed a new one to carry on her shoulder.

Adjust the position, open the front cover, extend the grip, load the gun...

"boom!"

The bullets flew out, creating a gust of wind that lifted her long hair.

A flash of fire, and in the drizzling rain, the hem of a skirt fluttered past.

Jiang Mianmian pulled Twenty-Five along and quickly ran to a new hiding spot. "Squat down."

"Uh-huh!"

Twenty-five nodded repeatedly, obediently squatting to one side, her eyes filled with admiration.

Jiang Mianmian took out a new rocket launcher and aimed it again.

The city wall of Fengshui County is not thick, but it is still nearly three meters high. A single shot is definitely not enough; we must choose the weakest point and fire repeatedly.

Moreover, the firelight would reveal her location, and the noise would attract the attention of the city's defenders and other civilians.

If they rush to investigate, they will inevitably be affected by the rocket fire!

Once you start, you must be fast, accurate, and steady!

So she selected six hiding spots in advance, firing one shot and then moving to a different location. She has already successfully fired three shots!

But the commotion was so great that everyone who was waiting at the city gate, wanting to leave the city, all crowded around the breakthrough point.

The city's defenders were sweating profusely. "Get away quickly! An army might be attacking!"

"Don't touch the city wall! If it collapses and hits you, the county government won't compensate you!"

At that moment, two men in the crowd shouted, "It's good that the wall collapsed, now we can get out!"

Another person shouted, "Let's all charge together, push down the city wall and break out! Run east, maybe we can survive!"

At this point, the breach point had been blasted into a dent about half a person's height.

It hadn't penetrated the wall yet, but many bricks and stones were scattered on the ground, so the man's idea seemed feasible.

The crowd surged forward in a frenzy, pushing aside the city guards.

The two men were still shouting at the top of their lungs, "Brothers, keep going! We can't just drown in the county town like this!!"

"Our lives are worthless; if we die, we die, but our parents, brothers, wife, and children cannot die!"

Everyone's eyes turned red, and they worked even harder.

Jiang Mianmian didn't take out any more rocket launchers, and tightened her grip on Twenty-Five's hand slightly.

In the face of natural disasters, ordinary people are more like ants, but even ants want to survive, and they will do everything they can as long as there is a glimmer of hope.

"Sister Mianmian, shall we stop bombing?"

The count is 25, only three more to go!

Jiang Mianmian shook her head, "No need, they can manage."

Finding a secluded corner, Jiang Mianmian threw the grappling hook onto the city wall, where it was firmly secured.

Twenty-five jumped up as she instructed, hooked his legs around her waist, and crossed his arms around her neck.

"You must hold on to me tightly."

Jiang Mianmian gave her some instructions, then grabbed the rope and began to slowly climb up.

This body hadn't undergone any training. After taking the Spirit Essence Pill, her stamina improved slightly, but it was still nothing compared to the powerful body she used before. She relied entirely on technique to fight.

But climbing the city wall is purely physical work, unlike rock climbing where you can always find a foothold, not to mention she was carrying a child.

After climbing about two-thirds of the way, her hands began to shake.

"Come on, sister."

Twenty-five gently kissed her, secretly regretting that he had eaten too much that night.

Jiang Mianmian was too weak to speak, so she smiled at her and gritted her teeth to persevere.

Fortunately, I made it safely to the top in the end.

Sliding down is much faster.

After landing, the two headed straight for the mountains to the east.

"Boom—whoosh—"

A loud bang came from behind, and the merit points in my mind started to flood the screen.

[Merit +2, Total Merit 42.]

[Merit +2, Total Merit 44.]

[Merit +5, Merit +2, +5, +10...]

[Merit +20, Merit +2, +5... Total Merit 88.]

Jiang Mianmian was delighted, guessing that the difference in merit points was because everyone's original fate was different.

This is just the beginning; I imagine even more people will leave the city by tomorrow morning!

The city guards couldn't stop the enemy at the east gate.

They could only watch helplessly as the crowd disappeared from sight.

"What should we do? The magistrate will definitely reprimand us, and might even punish us."

"But don't you want to escape? Why don't we just leave too?"

The group was discussing their plan when they completely failed to notice that the two people who had been making the most noise earlier had not come out of the cave.

Instead, he turned around and wandered around the city in a big circle before finally slipping in through the side gate of the Ye family's residence.

Soon, Madam Ye received the news and rewarded each person with two bags of rice and two taels of silver.

Her eyes sharpened. "The city walls are breached. Let's see what excuse that old man will use to fob me off tomorrow. He dares to prevent me from leaving the city, humph!"

Granny Zhao hurriedly brought her water, saying, "Madam, please don't get angry with him."

What if it relapses again!

"It's alright. Since the old doctor refuses to come with us, let's leave two people to protect him. Once the anti-epilepsy pills are ready, we'll send them to the estate."

Madam Ye understood what she was thinking and offered words of comfort.

But he kept thinking about the two men's reply and what that sudden loud noise was.