Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

“This place is quite large, Uncle Yuan, let’s rest here tonight.”

Zhao Yan threw a few stones into the cave, waited a while to make sure no wild animals came out, and then spoke to Yuan Yutang.

Yuan Yutang stroked his beard and nodded, "Alright."

Finally, I don't have to sleep in the carriage anymore.

His old bones are practically falling apart from sitting in the carriage every day.

"Auntie, I'll take Yunjie and the others to gather some firewood nearby."

Zhao Yunchen said something to Zhao Yan, then grabbed Zhao Yunjie and his brother and scurried into the nearby woods.

That brat Yun Jie, he looks like he's about to sneak off to the stream.

Zhao Yunchen wasn't going to let him run around.

It's getting dark soon, and it's not safe anywhere in the mountains. The important thing is to quickly gather the firewood and return to the cave.

Zhao Yunjie was dragged away by his older brother in a dejected manner. Yuan Tianbao, seeing that no one would accompany him to the stream to catch fish, reluctantly followed his grandfather into the cave.

Zhao Yan left her daughter with Chen Qingjiao in the cave while she went to fetch water from the stream.

They all need to wash up in a bit, and while they're at it, heat up some water and fill their water bags.

That's right. Now, at Zhao Yan's insistence, everyone has accepted that they should drink boiled water instead of raw water.

This is partly out of habit, and partly to prevent drinking anything disturbing.

The carriage was placed in the open space in front of the cave. Yuan Gang helped build a stone stove. When Zhao Yunchen and the others returned with firewood, Tian Xiu'e set up an iron pot and began to add firewood to cook porridge.

For dinner, we had a simple meal of wild vegetable and fried pork crackling pancakes with rice porridge.

After finishing their meal and chatting for a while, everyone went to bed separately.

Yuan Yutang and Yuan Gang led a few boys to the left side of the cave, while Tian Xiu'e and Zhao Yan each took their daughters and huddled in the inner part of the cave.

Before going to sleep, Zhao Yan led her people to clean the cave and laid a layer of straw mats on the ground, and then a thick quilt on top of the straw mats.

Everyone was busy traveling during the day, and soon fell asleep after lying down.

After Zhao Yan closed her eyes and waited for her daughter to fall asleep, she suddenly opened her eyes.

She tucked her daughter in before tiptoeing to the cave entrance.

This was arranged in advance; she would keep watch for the first half of the night, while Yuan Gang would keep watch for the second half.

Of their group, only she and Yuan Gang possessed martial arts skills; she wouldn't feel comfortable having any of the others on night watch.

The mountain forest was not quiet at night; crickets were chirping loudly in the grass.

Zhao Yan sat by the burning fire, looking out of the cave and seeing only one twinkling star after another in the sky.

If it weren't for those unknown factors, this place might not be such a bad place to go.

They've been gone for so many days, I wonder how those people in Chenjiagou are doing?

Did Chen Youjin, as the village head, organize the villagers to flee?

What's happening in Baima Town?

What is the situation in Yong'an County?

Lost in these random thoughts, Zhao Yan listlessly tossed a branch into the fire.

Who cares about the situation? Her own future is uncertain, why think so much?

Taking care of what's in front of us is the most important thing.

Her thoughts were racing. Then she thought about how she had suddenly met with misfortune in modern times, and she wondered what would become of the large apartment she had just scraped together for a down payment.

Hey.

You work hard your whole life, but in the end, you die without enjoying a single day of happiness.

She's really unlucky.

Suddenly, a series of clanging and clattering sounds came from above.

Zhao Yan's eyes narrowed sharply, and she quickly extinguished the fire.

The cave where they took refuge was halfway up the mountain, beyond which was a flat mountain area.

I don't know what's going on up there?

Judging from the sounds of fighting, it sounds like there are several people involved.

Yuan Gang was startled awake by the noise. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness for a while, he leaned closer to the cave entrance and whispered, "Miss, what's going on outside? It sounds like a fight."

Zhao Yan gently shook her head at him, pointed to the cave, then pointed to the ceiling, and said, "I'll be right back."

In the blink of an eye, my body melted into the darkness.

Yuan Gang looked anxious, but there were still a few people in the cave who had no fighting skills, so he had no choice but to stay and guard them.

The mountaintop was covered in lush trees, and behind a paulownia tree as thick as an adult's waist, leaned a man in black covered in blood.

Not far behind him stood two tall, strange-looking men wielding large knives.

One of the men gestured to his companion, who nodded. The next second, the two men crouched low and moved stealthily, flanking the other two from both sides.

Zhao Yan climbed up the slope to the top of the mountain. Just as she caught her breath, she saw the two strangely-looking, tall men raise their broadswords and slash at the injured man in black on the ground.

"careful!"

Zhao Yan only had time to exclaim in surprise before she frantically groped around on the ground, grabbed a hard stone, and threw it at the other side.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"what--"

"Uh--"

With a scream, the man's large knife clattered to the ground.

One of them, clutching his mangled head, lay on the ground, thrashing about.

hiss--

His eyes... he can't see!

The other man collapsed to the ground with a thud and never got up again.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that a large rock had smashed a hole in his forehead, from which blood was gushing out. His eyes were wide open, and he died with his eyes still open.

At this moment, Zhao Yan had already approached the man who was wailing in pain.

The dark clouds dispersed, and moonlight streamed down.

By the moonlight, Zhao Yan could clearly see the man's face at a glance—

Barbarians!!

Barbarians have appeared in the mountains of Yulin!

Zhao Yan grabbed the large knife from the ground and, without saying a word, stabbed it into the man's chest.

"Uh--"

The barbarian let out a painful groan before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

How could there be barbarians here?

Have they already entered the territory of the barbarians?

Zhao Yan was horrified and walked behind the big tree with her broadsword.

Her sharp eyes swept over the man in black on the ground, and she gently patted his shoulder with the back of her knife.

"Hey? Are you alright? You're not dead, are you?"

The man in black leaning against the tree had his eyes closed and his beard was unkempt, making it impossible to discern his original appearance. However, judging from his clothing, he did not resemble a barbarian but rather someone from the Great Qing Kingdom.

Seeing that the man had no reaction at all, Zhao Yan squatted down beside him and cautiously extended two fingers to probe under his nose.

There's still air.

But his breathing is weak, and it is still unknown whether he will survive.

Zhao Yan frowned, then suddenly stood up, picked up another large knife, and hurriedly descended the mountain.

A moment later, rustling sounds came from below the cliff.

“Uncle Yuan, it’s him. I checked him, and he’s still breathing.”

Zhao Yan pointed to the man in black behind the big tree and said to Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang reached under the man's nose again and checked. Seeing that he was still breathing, he turned to Zhao Yan and said, "We shouldn't delay. Let's move him downstairs and let Elder Yuan take a look. If he can be cured, it will be a blessing for him."

Zhao Yan had no objection, "Okay."

The two men, one supporting his head and the other lifting his feet, finally managed to move the man into the cave after a long struggle.