During my escape from famine, I survived by eavesdropping on the whispers of food.

Before Qin Shuangshuang could even speak, the person behind her brandished a knife at her neck twice and shouted with a foul mouth, "Quickly, tell me, where are your accomplices!"

Qin Shuangshuang was startled by the sudden sound and her palms became sweaty.

The ruthless bandit looked around and realized that the grain was gone. He gripped the knife and pressed it tightly against her neck again. "Good, good! You've taken all our grain. Where did you take it? Tell me now, or I'll skin you alive right in front of you."

A cold glint flashed in Qin Shuang's eyes. Fortunately, the bandit hadn't noticed that she had used the system to collect the grain from the warehouse.

She calmed herself down and spoke to him in a negotiating tone, "How about we make a deal? My men will be here soon. Even if you detain me, they'll only be thinking about taking the food from me; they won't care if I live or die, much less if you do."

So, why don't you let me go, give me some food, and hurry down the mountain to live a carefree life? Wouldn't that be better?

Upon hearing this, the ruthless bandit chuckled and said to Qin Shuangshuang, "Do you think I'd believe a little wench like you?"

At this moment, the man looked Qin Shuangshuang up and down, his malicious gaze never leaving her. He licked his lips and said, "Look at you, young lady, your skin is so delicate and tender. Although you're as thin as a grasshopper, you still seem to have some meat on your bones."

"Perfect timing! I haven't had meat in ages, old man! I'm really looking for something to eat! With this meat and these bones, I can definitely trade them for some grain if I take them down the mountain!"

As he spoke, the man's eyes lit up, and he was about to slide the knife up her neck.

Seeing that the other person's knife was about to touch her artery, Qin Shuangshuang instantly slammed her elbow into his chest from behind.

The original owner's body wasn't very good, and he wasn't very strong to begin with. Plus, he had been malnourished recently, so he almost managed to hurt the ruthless bandits behind him.

However, at that moment, a sharp blade flew over and pinned the man firmly to the wood behind him.

When Qin Shuangshuang turned around again, she saw Lu Jun and Uncle Li barging in.

Uncle Li, looking anxious, immediately said to Qin Shuangshuang as soon as he came in, "We didn't find the item. Are you alright, Shuangshuang? I had a bad feeling about it, but thankfully I came back as soon as I realized what was going on."

Lu Jun glanced at the man nailed to the stake, then said to Qin Shuangshuang, "I've lured the others away. Let's leave quickly. Where's the food? Have you found it? How much?"

Qin Shuangshuang thought that since everything was currently in her own space, it wouldn't be appropriate to take it out to show him. But then she noticed the cloth bag in the corner and quickly said, "It's all there!"

Fortunately, Lu Jun suddenly remembered that he still had a few bags of grain that he hadn't packed up. At that moment, Lu Jun squatted down and picked up the grain.

He carried the food in his hand and said to Qin Shuangshuang, "How come there's so little? No wonder some of them wanted to go down there instead of becoming bandits. So many people and this is all the food they have? Who are they feeding?"

Uncle Li's brow twitched slightly, and his tone tightened, "Let's hurry and leave before they come back."

Qin Shuangshuang and Lu Jun nodded and followed Uncle Li down the mountain.

When they arrived at the grassy area where everyone was gathered, Qin Hao, who had been leaning against his mother, saw Qin Shuangshuang and Lu Jun returning and hurriedly pointed to them, saying, "They're back! They're back! Big sister, they're back!"

Everyone focused their attention, stood up, and cheered as they looked at La Cuo. Seeing that Qin Shuangshuang and Uncle Li were carrying things, they all went over to help and cheer.

"Looks like we'll have plenty to eat for a while now, and we won't have to worry about food anymore."

"That's right! Ever since we started following Qin Shuangshuang, we haven't gone hungry anymore, and we've been eating and drinking well all the time."

Qin Shuangshuang smiled faintly, not taking their flattery to heart. Her gaze was fixed on her mother and her brother.

After Qin Shuangshuang walked over, Zhou Shi grasped her hand and said anxiously, "Are you hurt? You went up the mountain and made your mother very worried."

Seeing her mother's worried eyes redden, Qin Shuangshuang quickly comforted her and wiped away Zhou Shi's tears, "Mother, it's nothing, don't worry about me. We brought back the grain, so we won't have to worry about food for the next few days."

However, I reckon those thugs inside will realize what's happening soon; we need to get out of here quickly.

After she finished speaking, she looked up at the two people behind her.

Uncle Li chimed in, "Yes, we need to hurry."

Lu Jun looked around and saw some firelight approaching. He then said to them, "If we stay here for another fifteen minutes, we'll probably be surrounded. Let's hurry up and leave, everyone."

After everyone packed up, Qin Shuangshuang led them away overnight.

……

Upon reaching the woods, one finds the area around the large, stubble-covered man's eyes densely packed with crisscrossing, withered branches.

No one was found.

Just then, one of his underlings stepped forward and said to him, "Boss, our men saw our signal flare here, but we haven't found them yet. Let's keep looking."

The bearded man immediately raised his head, his brows furrowed, and said to them, "In short, we must find that girl for me today!"

Suddenly, something wriggled in the bushes and among the weeds and leaves. The bandits were startled and curiously peered at the spot.

The man with the stubble raised his hand and gestured, "Go take a look."

The underlings behind him nodded and hurriedly went forward. Sure enough, they saw a person's cloth shoes lying on the side in the pile of grass. The bearded man quickly gestured to the underlings behind him and went forward to clear away all the weeds.

Seeing his two brothers lying inside, the bearded man suddenly realized what was going on and quickly sent someone to remove the dry leaves that had been stuffed into their mouths.

The bearded man, his face cold and unfriendly, asked, "What exactly happened? What are you doing here? And who fired that signal flare?"

The two thugs didn't dare to say anything more. They knelt down on the side, trembling, and quickly kowtowed to apologize. They said to their leader, "Boss, everyone says that girl thought we were too bold and deliberately lured you here!"

"Yes, yes, it's not our fault, it's not our fault. Boss, please don't kill us!"

The bearded man suddenly realized what was going on, and couldn't help but get angry. He stomped his foot and said, "Damn it, so this little wench was up to something! A diversionary tactic! Find her for me! I don't believe my men can't catch that little girl!"

Once I catch her, I'll tear her apart and skin her alive! Go! Get the neighboring villages together and find a way to bring that woman back to me!

"Yes!" The henchman next to him quickly led a group of people away.

Emerging from a completely dark forest, a burly bandit wearing a straw hat kowtowed to their two leaders, saying, "Bosses, we've found the girl's trail. They've headed east. What do you think we should do?"

The bearded man hurriedly said, "Chase her! Tell everyone, whoever catches her, skins her alive, and throws her in front of me, I'll reward him with a hundred taels of silver!"