Reincarnation and Rebirth

That night, the south of Qingzhou and Meizhou was filled with the smoke of war.

Xiao Yun Shen returned to Qingzhou alone, only to find himself in another trap. The Thunder Army soldiers, seeing their general return, were greatly encouraged, but ultimately outnumbered and besieged in the city for several days. The wounded received no medical care, and the army suffered repeated defeats. Finally, the remaining soldiers, working together, broke through the encirclement and, with their severely wounded general, fled into Bayi Mountain.

Seeing the Thunder Army's defeat, the Purple Flame Army marched north overnight, joining forces with the Black Tiger Stronghold to burn, kill, and loot in the vicinity of Suhe Village, causing many villages to disappear overnight.

When Old Man Su heard the sounds of fighting and screams, he knew something was wrong. He put on his mask and prepared to communicate with the people from Black Tiger Stronghold. However, he was surprised to find that the people with the Black Tiger Stronghold were actually from the Purple Flame Army. He immediately collapsed to the ground.

The third leader looked at Old Man Su and said, "Considering you were our old friend, we can let you leave as long as you hand over the grain and women."

"No, Third Master, you can't do this! Even if you don't remember our past kindness, you have to spare my family for the sake of me providing information to Black Tiger Stronghold. Or how about this, I'll go back to Black Tiger Stronghold, I'll continue my journey..."

The fourth leader kicked Old Man Su in the chest. "Pah, Old Man Su, don't think we don't know who you are. You've raised a good granddaughter. If it weren't for her, we would have lost so many brothers. Our leader has already spoken. You are no longer one of our Black Tiger Stronghold. If you know what's good for you, hand over your things and we'll spare your life."

"No, that's not it. I really didn't know what that bitch did."

"So you think we didn't know anything? Then why didn't we know that you stole so much silver from my third brother when you went to the mountain stronghold last time?"

"No, no, no, I didn't, I didn't."

"Old Su, stop acting, don't waste time."

Seeing this, the members of the Purple Flame Army couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with this person?"

"He still thinks he's one of the Black Tiger Stronghold's men. Look, almost everyone from his village has run away. He thinks we won't dare touch him. The two groups of brothers we had before didn't come back because they were killed by his granddaughter."

"His granddaughter is that amazing?" a general from the Purple Flame Army asked.

“If one of our brothers hadn’t miraculously survived and come to report, we wouldn’t have known. That old man, knowing they were from Black Tiger Stronghold, just stood by and watched his granddaughter kill all his brothers.”

"Oh, since he's such a traitor, why waste words with him? Just kill him. As for the things in this village, they can't possibly escape."

"No, no, no, please, please, please don't!" Only then did Old Man Su begin to feel afraid.

The people in the Su family courtyard were still waiting for Old Man Su to return, but after waiting and waiting, he didn't appear. Su Youfu panicked, "Mother, what should we do? Where did Father go?"

Grandma Su was completely at a loss. "Wait and see, wait and see."

At this moment, Old Man Su had become a corpse, his eyes wide open, unable to close them in death.

Su Youcai sensed something was wrong and said to Xiang Shi, "Pack your things, take the child, and let's leave through the back mountain."

“You’re rich, whatever you want to do, you can’t just ignore your father.”

“Mother, what time is it? Father might already be in trouble. Listen, they’re coming soon. If we don’t leave now, we’ll all die together.”

Su Hehua burst into tears, crying, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die."

Su Youfu also looked helpless, but Su Ping calmly said, "If we go out now, we might run into the Black Tiger Stronghold. We might as well listen to Father and continue to hide here."

"Is it safe here?"

"Stop making noise, I hear footsteps."

The Su family dared not utter a sound, and Xiang Shi tightly covered Su Jie's mouth, afraid that the child would make a noise.

Old Su, as expected of someone who had been a bandit, knew how to find a hiding place.

When he was building the house, he left a space between the two earthen beds connected by the main house. Unless the entire wall was broken down, it would be impossible to find them.

The commotion outside grew louder and louder, accompanied by curses and swearing.

"Wasn't this supposed to be the old man's house? Where are his family members?"

"Damn it, that old man lied to us, deliberately stalling for time so his family could escape. Look at this house, there's not a single thing of value left."

"Damn it, burn it down! Everyone else, chase them! I refuse to believe they can escape Sunset City!"

The Su family members all wore expressions of terror. Soon, they heard crackling sounds outside, and wisps of smoke seeped into their hiding place through the cracks. Su Youcai whispered, "If we don't get out soon, we'll be roasted alive."

"But there are people outside, and going out means certain death."

Su Ping remained calm. "Wait a little longer. They'll definitely leave when they see no one is coming out. Just be patient."

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, until everyone could no longer bear it, Su Jie's little face also turned red because Xiang Shi had covered it with his finger.

Su Ping peeked through the crack and listened carefully before saying, "I'll go out and take a look. You all stay here. Don't come out unless I call you."

Grandma Su adored her eldest grandson the most, and hurriedly pulled him aside, saying, "Ping'er, let your uncle go. You are the eldest grandson of our Su family, you can't let anything happen to you."

Without Su Youlu, Su Youcai truly understood his parents' favoritism. His eyes were red as he stared at Old Madam Su and said, "Mother, am I not your son anymore? Is Xiaojie not your grandson? Xiaojie is still so young. What will happen to them if something happens to me?"

"What do you mean, 'what should we do'? You're the elder, shouldn't you go?"

"Why didn't you let your eldest brother go? He's the eldest son."

"Pah, your elder brother is a scholar, he'll be a high-ranking official someday."

Seeing that they were still arguing even at this point, Su Ping said impatiently, "What time is it? Why are you still arguing? Fine, I'm small and thin, I'll go take a look." With that, he moved the stone wall aside and crawled out.

Fortunately, he was right. After waiting for a while, no one came out, so they went directly to a village.

Su Ping dared not let his guard down. He waited outside for a while, and only after confirming that no one had returned did he go to the secret room and call out all the members of the Su family.

"Grandma, Daddy, we have to get out of here right away."

Grandma Su, not seeing Grandpa Su, asked in a panic, "Where's your grandpa? Where are we going?"

“I didn’t see Grandpa, but the few families left in the village all died, and all the houses in the village were burned down. Grandpa… I didn’t see him.”

Su Youcai said coldly, "We can't worry about that now, escaping is the priority."

Su Youfu gritted his teeth and said, "Mother, let's hurry up and go after the village chief and the others."

Even without Old Man Su, Old Lady Su still listened to her eldest son, so the family began to leave the village under cover of night.