Reincarnation and Rebirth

Finally, under Old Man Su's stern words, Old Lady Su reluctantly took out the money, and her daughters-in-law went out to buy grain.

After two days of effort, I finally managed to buy fifty jin of rice and sixty jin of flour.

In the past two days, Su Wan'er has not gone to town. She has been preparing at home. Old Man Su has said something to Old Lady Su, and the old lady has not caused any trouble these past few days. Instead, she has been keeping her room closed all day, and no one knows what she is doing.

One evening, villagers who worked in town suddenly rushed home. Soon after, they learned of a terrible piece of news: General Xiao had been defeated at the front and wounded by the Ziyan army. His whereabouts were unknown. The Ziyan army had advanced rapidly, completely occupied Qingzhou, and was heading towards Meizhou.

Upon learning of this devastating news, the village chief convened a meeting of the villagers that very night.

"Village chief, could the Purple Flame Army really be attacking?"

"Yes, isn't the Xiao family known as the family of war gods?"

"That's right, the imperial court shouldn't abandon us, right?"

“The city has been quite unsettled lately. People from Black Tiger Stronghold have been frequently coming down the mountain to rob and plunder. How are we ordinary people supposed to survive?”

As everyone chattered, the village chief raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. "Fellow villagers, these are turbulent times. Please try not to leave the village recently. Just in case, each family should send one strong laborer to take turns guarding the only road leading to the village entrance."

"Village chief, is that... possible?"

The old village chief took a puff of his pipe and said, "Let's leave it at that for now. We're all peasants. Where else can we go if we leave here? Unless absolutely necessary... Sigh, but everyone should still prepare for the worst. Pack up all your valuables and food so that we can evacuate quickly if that happens."

The crowd fell silent, and everyone's face was filled with worry.

However, there are always a few troublemakers who like to disagree. "Village chief, our family doesn't want to leave. We just bought an acre of farmland at the beginning of the year. If we leave our hometown, will we get our money back for the land?"

“Yes, village chief, we just built a new house. If we move away, how will we calculate the losses?”

Su Wan'er was utterly shocked; what kind of shameless person could say such a thing?

Zhang Dazhuang stood up and said, "Whether you leave or not, it's up to you. If you can't bear to part with your belongings, you don't have to leave."

“Zhang Dazhuang, what right do you, an outsider, have to meddle in the affairs of our Suhe Village? Besides, the village chief hasn’t said anything yet.”

“Enough,” Su Dewang interrupted. “Pay back money? What? You want me to pay? No way. I’m just giving you guys a suggestion. Things haven’t come to that point yet. Even if they have, if you don’t want to leave, no one will force you.”

"Village chief, what do you mean? Are you just going to abandon us? Then our family will not participate in the village patrol team."

"Yes, so are we."

Su Wan'er looked at the group of people. They were the village's notorious scoundrels: Su Baokun, Su Tiansheng, and Su Wending. Despite their respectable names, they were completely different people in real life.

The village chief glanced at the three families and said, "It's fine if you don't want to participate, but don't expect the villagers to help you if anything happens in the future."

"Bah, I don't count on that. I can kill those ants all by myself."

"Exactly, I'm not participating either."

Seeing the three families turn away, the village chief said coldly, "Is there anyone else who wants to leave?"

Seeing that no one objected, the village chief immediately took out a piece of paper, crossed out the names of the three families, and then arranged the list of personnel to be on duty starting today.

The Su family naturally fell to Su Youlu.

The town school was also closed for the holidays. There were quite a few people from the Su family, but Old Man Su specifically asked his second son to go, and Su Youlu did not object.

Fortunately, the village chief had foresight. The next night, the villagers of Suhe Village were awakened by the distant firelight and cries, and they all put on their clothes and ran out.

"Oh, isn't that the direction of Dingjia Village?"

"It seems so, but what happened?"

"Could it be that Black Tiger Stronghold has invaded the village?"

Su Wan'er was now certain that there must be people from Zi Yan in Black Tiger Stronghold, otherwise why would they only become so arrogant after Thunder Army's crushing defeat?

Wait, the Thunder Army has been defeated. Does that mean all our grain will benefit the Purple Flame Kingdom? That won't do!

“Village chief, while we were on duty just now, there were a few people lurking around on the village road.”

The village chief, with a grim face, looked in the direction of Dingjia Village. "Starting tomorrow, we will strengthen our defenses. I will rearrange the duty roster. I'll have to trouble everyone during this time."

"Village chief, we will listen to you."

Su Wan'er felt that Black Tiger Stronghold must not have expected that there would be someone guarding the village entrance today. They were unprepared, which is why they went to Dingjia Village, which is even further away. She wondered how Brother Ding was doing and whether something had happened to him.

That evening, Su Wan'er went to Dingjia Village to check, only to find the village full of ruins.

Su Wan'er felt a pang of sorrow and quickly searched the village for Brother Ding. Finally, she found him unconscious beside a house that hadn't completely collapsed.

She rushed forward to check and found that Ding Chouqin had many wounds, but he was still alive, so she quickly fed him a pill.

A short while later, Ding Chouqin slowly woke up. He saw Su Wan'er dressed in black with a black veil on her face and was about to call out when Su Wan'er covered his mouth. "Brother Ding, it's me."

"Miss Su?" Ding Chouqin asked uncertainly.

"Ah."

"Miss Su, you must leave quickly! The people from Black Tiger Stronghold have brought the Purple Flame People down the mountain. They have robbed the villagers of their grain and kidnapped the village girls. You must leave quickly, it's too dangerous here." Ding Chouqin was deeply grateful. At such a time, Miss Su had actually come to his rescue all by herself. He would never forget this kindness for the rest of his life.

"I checked when I came here; the people from Black Tiger Stronghold had all left. You said they brought the Purple Flame People with them. How do you know that?"

“I’ve traveled all over the country, and I can understand some of the Ziyan people’s language. I overheard their conversation.”

Su Wan'er's eyes turned cold. Damn it, in this life, she still has to go back to the old path.

"Where is your family?"

Ding Chouqin pointed to the house next door, his face filled with sorrow, "I ran out of the house with my life on the line, hid my parents and sister in the cellar, and smothered them with a water vat, but I don't know..."

"Can you still walk? If you can, follow me."

Ding Chouqin moved his hands and feet. Although his wounds were still painful, he felt that his body was regaining its vitality.

"Miss Su, thank you." Ding Chouqin was certain that Miss Su had treated him.

The two returned to the courtyard, went into the kitchen, and moved the water vat, but there was not a sound from underneath.

Ding Chouqin panicked, "Father, Mother, Little Sister?"

"Big brother, it's big brother."

"Yes, it's your elder brother, Qin'er. Mother is here."

A short while later, three people climbed up.