She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

Looking closer, the woman also had several knife wounds on her body, all indiscriminately slashed by Wu.

When Wu regained consciousness, the spot on her shoulder where she had been hit throbbed with pain. Then, whether from the pain or from fright, she dropped the kitchen knife in her hand with a clatter, and her legs went weak, causing her to fall to the ground.

She killed someone! She killed someone!

"Mother, Mother, are you alright? Don't scare me." Seeing Wu Shi like this, Qi Yun rushed over and hugged his mother, crying in fear.

"Qiu Niang, Qiu Niang, don't be afraid. It's all that woman's fault. If you don't kill her, she'll kill you." Qi Lei shoved his youngest son next to his father and crawled toward his wife, shouting loudly.

The man's dark face was full of heartache. How could he forget that Qiu Niang had always been protected by him and had never done such a thing before?

Qi Lei felt a pang of guilt. How could he have let Qiu Niang protect Ban Xia? Qiu Niang was so frail; she couldn't even protect herself properly.

As husband and wife, Qi Lei knew that Wu was frightened by the fact that he had killed someone.

In Qi Lei's view, in this dog-eat-dog world, if you don't take drastic measures, others will take your life. He didn't think Wu had done anything wrong; he just felt sorry for her being frightened.

The woman lying on the ground, her eyes wide open in death—did she just deserve to die?

"Qiu Niang, don't be afraid, I'm here, I'm here." Qi Lei finally crawled to the side of Wu Shi and her son, and tried his best to support himself and hug the two of them.

In just a few breaths, Wu seemed to suddenly remember something. She abruptly pushed her husband and child aside, picked up the kitchen knife from the ground, and stood up.

"Father, you watch over me and the children. I'm going to help Banxia." After saying that, Madam Wu didn't turn her head and chased after the direction in which the men had disappeared.

"Qiu Niang, be careful." Qi Lei felt like he had a wad of cotton stuck in his throat, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Watching his wife's figure disappear into the woods, Qi Lei pounded his leg hard, making the already bleeding wound even redder.

"Second son, calm down. Do you want to cripple these legs?" Qi Sanshui was so frightened that he quickly picked up his grandson and went over to scold his son.

"Father, don't hit yourself. It's all my fault. I failed to protect Mother." Qi Yun cried out in fear.

His crying startled his younger brother, who had been holding it in, and he burst into tears as well.

"Ah, Yun'er, Father, it's my fault. I can't protect you and I'm just a burden to you. I might as well die." Qi Lei was so sad that tears streamed down his face as if they were free.

Who says men don't easily shed tears?

That's just because the heartbreak hasn't reached its peak yet.

At this moment, Qi Lei finally couldn't hold back anymore and cried out in anguish. He hated the world for not giving his family a way to survive.

Those fierce men—if Banxia and his wife went there, they were bound to meet a terrible end.

Seeing his son in such pain, Qi Sanshui silently shed tears as well. He tightened his grip on his grandson, but in the end, he still shoved the child into his son's arms.

"I'm going to fight them! Don't worry, Second Brother, I'll definitely bring Qiu Niang and Ban Xia back." Qi Sanshui limped after them.

Qi Lei paused in his grief, looking at his father's retreating figure with a sense of helplessness. He wanted to crawl after him, but the son in his arms was still crying, and his eldest son beside him was also crying. He was momentarily stunned.

Many people around witnessed what had just happened, but no one offered a helping hand. They didn't even care what had happened; they just indifferently cooked the food they had found.

Most of the people here are from Hedong Prefecture. After so many natural disasters, their relatives and clansmen have either died in war or starved to death, or been killed while trying to steal food.

These days, how many people don't die on the road of fleeing famine?

Many people here have even killed others to protect themselves, so it's nothing unusual, and no one sympathizes with Qi Lei and his two sons.

When Ms. Wu, who had chased after him with a kitchen knife, saw the scene before her, she was dumbfounded.

She was prepared to die together with the other party, and only wanted to rescue Banxia. But could someone explain to her what was going on?

"Sixth Aunt, are you alright?" Banxia had just finished dealing with those men when she turned around and saw Wu Shi, who was covered in blood and holding a kitchen knife. She quickly went over to help her.

"I, I'm fine. Banxia, ​​how are you? Are you alright? Did those people hurt you?" Seeing that there was no danger, Wu Shi quickly dropped the kitchen knife in her hand and grabbed Banxia, ​​feeling her up and down.

"......" Banxia, ​​are the elders' worries always this heavy?

Despite feeling uncomfortable being touched, Banxia quickly changed the subject.

"Sixth Aunt, I'm fine. Look, I've beaten them all to a pulp." Banxia grabbed Wu's hands and pointed to the five men lying on the ground.

"You did all of this?" Mrs. Wu was stunned.

She knew that her cousin Banxia seemed to have extraordinary strength, but she couldn't possibly fight so many people.

"Hehe, of course it's not just me, Sixth Aunt. Let me introduce you. This is Lian Chengmo, whom we met on our way out of the famine."

"And these others, Yao Dahe, Yao Dazhuang, Yao Daniu... they're all from Yao Li Village. My brother and uncles are all very good people."

"That day, our village was being conscripted. Grandpa led us in a panic, and in the rush, my uncle was arrested... Later, Dad and Mom also..."

"If my brothers and I hadn't met them, you probably wouldn't be seeing me now." Banxia introduced Wu Shi to her, but as she spoke, her mood became low.

In fact, if she hadn't transmigrated, the original owner and her two younger brothers would definitely not have survived. They would have been eaten by those people after they died, and their bodies would have been torn to pieces.

There were also Grandpa and Lian Chengmo's relatives. If they hadn't refused to let go even at the cost of their lives, giving Banxia a chance to escape, she wouldn't be here now.

Banxia didn't think that her strength and her wood-type superpower, which had no offensive capabilities, would allow her to survive against so many thieves.

"Heavens above, this is leaving no way for people to live!" Wu was heartbroken after hearing this, and she hugged Banxia and cried loudly.

At that time, an army suddenly appeared to conscript men, and many people from their village were taken away.

The village chief's family had three sons. The eldest and third sons were captured, leaving only the middle son, Qi Lei, who, along with the eldest son's two fifteen-year-old and seventeen-year-old sons, protected the youngest and fled.

But after finally reaching Qingyang County, a riot broke out just as they arrived at the county gate, and the two children of the eldest son's family were beaten to death while trying to protect their mother and grandfather.

The eldest son's wife was heartbroken. In order to protect Wu Shi and rescue Qi Lei, who had broken his leg, she died in the riot along with her two sons.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the family managed to find a wheelbarrow and push Qi Lei away, but they had only been on the road for a short time when they were spotted by those beasts again.