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

"Uncle Wangcai, if you are confident that you can take down the other party in one fell swoop, I am willing to follow your orders."

He Wenchang walked out of the darkness with a smile on his lips, followed by his brothers He Wu and He Liu.

He was smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Having witnessed He Wenchang's cold-bloodedness in killing, He Wangcai now looked away, avoiding his gaze.

"Hehe, no, no need for that."

But deep down, he harbored resentment.

Bastard!

They haven't even grown their hair yet, and they already want to bully and oppress these uncles and elders?

Why doesn't he take a piss and look in the mirror to see his own worth?

Indeed, several villagers from Hejia Village looked displeased and scrutinized He Wenchang from head to toe.

Among them, the eldest, He Dehong, frowned and questioned, "Wenchang, you were clearly close enough to capture them with just a little effort, but I saw you only talking and missing a great opportunity. Did you discover something?"

The other villagers from Hejia Village all gathered around, chattering, "Yes, Wenchang, if you had just whistled, we would have rushed up and captured them alive. With so many able-bodied men like us, we could have easily routed them."

"Yeah, I saw her from afar, and that girl you were talking to was really pretty. Hehehe, Wenchang, you're not just having a crush on her but you're too shy to make a move, are you?"

He Dehong looked at He Wenchang disapprovingly, his tone becoming noticeably harsher.

"Wenchang, everyone elected you as the leader because you are literate and your knowledge is superior to everyone else's. You can't disregard everyone's lives for the sake of a woman."

That's a rather shameless thing to say.

They wanted him to help them come up with ideas to survive, but at the same time, they questioned his abilities.

He Wenchang was all too familiar with this tendency to want both.

He said coldly, "Uncle Hong, you know I'm not that kind of person. It's not that I don't want to respond, it's just that we really can't touch the other side."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that most of the people on the other side are old, weak, women and children. When I got to know the man, I found that he was not like the other refugees we had encountered before, who could be easily manipulated."

Not only the man, but even the woman holding the machete gave him a cold and hard feeling.

Moreover, there was a middle-aged man wielding a sharp sword who also looked formidable.

Despite the fact that the other party had a bunch of kids, He Wenchang had a gut feeling that they were definitely not to be trifled with.

"Wenchang, the other side consists of just a few children and two or three men. Are we really not going to touch them?"

"Yes, what if they're just trying to scare us and then let the fish get away? Wouldn't that be a shame?"

Clearly, He Wenchang's words failed to convince some of the villagers in Hejia Village.

They hadn't had a proper meal in days.

Even through the grove of trees and a small path, they could still clearly smell a sweet fragrance on the opposite hillside.

That's the unique aroma of white rice.

The fact that they can still eat white rice at this time shows that the other party is really wealthy.

However, the big fish was about to escape.

He Wenchang snorted inwardly, but his attitude remained lukewarm. He said politely but distantly, "If you uncles want to go to your deaths, I will not stop you."

He wanted to leave, but in this world, he would surely die alone.

Only by relying on the villagers of Hejia Village can he survive safely until he finds a way out.

We cannot afford to fall out with the villagers of Hejia Village right now.

But he still needs to make his stance clear.

He wasn't a fool who was used and then discarded.

"Well...we'll listen to what you have to say..."

"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you..."

Many villagers in Hejia Village harbored grievances, but when they met He Wenchang's cold and stern eyes, they dared not utter a single word.

There was no other way; they relied entirely on He Wenchang's ideas to get them all the way from Qingzhou to Yizhou with just over twenty people.

If it weren't for his wicked ideas, they might not be alive today.

Seeing that everyone was angry but dared not speak out, He Wangcai cursed inwardly, "A bunch of cowards! Humph!"

"You want to go?"

He Dehong leaned closer, his brows furrowed, his eyes slightly downcast.

He Wangcai was startled, but seeing that it was one of his own, he immediately laughed and said, "Hehe, Brother Hong, I was just worried about everyone. You know, we've been stuck in Weixian for almost half a month, and every day we're either digging for wild vegetables or gnawing on tree bark. Occasionally, someone passes by and we can have a treat, but that's not a good thing every day. Look at me, my waist is almost as thin as a woman's."

He complained with a tearful face, "What's wrong with that kid He Wenchang? He insists on staying in this wretched mountain. We finally got here, can't we just storm into the nearby villages and rob them? Why do we have to hide in these mountains like cowards?"

They even stormed into the village and robbed his mother?

I knew this guy wasn't very bright.

He Dehong said irritably, "If you want to rob, go ahead. As long as you don't get wiped out, you'll still be a hero next year."

"Didn't we try to storm the village before? What happened? They outnumbered us; our group of twenty-odd people was no match for them."

"Heh, I think Wenchang is right. Perhaps the people we've encountered this time are no ordinary people."

Before leaving, he warned He Wangcai: "If you want to rob someone, go ahead and do it yourself. Don't drag others down with you. There aren't many people left in Hejia Village."

With a sigh, he left the hillside with his hands behind his back.

They set up tents in the mountains further in.

He Wenchang overheard their conversation from a few steps away, and his impression of He Dehong changed considerably.

I previously thought he would hate me because I took his position as village head, but now it seems that He Dehong is not without merit.

At least, he won't be like some brainless idiots who want both things but are cowardly enough to only hide behind others and pick up scraps.

"It's dark and the road is difficult to travel, everyone should go back quickly."

He Wenchang gave some instructions to the villagers, then glanced at Zhao Yan and the others in the grove across the way for a long time before leaving with the others.

If you want both, you have to be alive to have them.

……

Zhao Yan did not sleep well that night.

Worried about a sneak attack in the middle of the night, she stood guard on the carriage shaft until dawn before finally dozing off for a while on her back basket.

Yang Sanlang, however, did not sleep all night and passed the night without any major incidents.

While eating breakfast, Zhao Yan noticed that he seemed to be in better spirits than she was, and couldn't help but feel envious: "He's in such good physical condition."

Looking at herself, the original owner had never eaten anything good since birth. Even though she hadn't skimped on food in the past two months, the nutritional deficiencies couldn't be made up for in just one or two months.

She needs to take extra supplements, secretly.

After breakfast, everyone packed their luggage and continued their journey towards Weixian County.

On the way, Zhao Yan grabbed a handful of black ash from the ground and smeared it on her and Zhao Yunchen's faces one by one.

Many times, she would forget that the original owner and her daughter were not bad-looking, in fact, quite good-looking.

Her skin is fair and delicate; she's definitely a beauty.

However, this is also very dangerous and can easily bring unnecessary trouble upon oneself.

After wiping her face, Zhao Yan touched her daughter's dirty little face and said to Zhao Yunchen and the others, "Don't rush to wipe it. Wait until we're in a safe place to clean it."