Five days after the Yang brothers had left their clan, an internal conflict arose in the Village Head's family.
Yang Chunhe, the elder sister of Yang Poxiao, complained to her third brother, "Couldn't you have just endured a little bit? Is it really such a big deal to eat less meat? Look now, we have to pull the cart ourselves."
Yang Zhengxiao also regretted his impulsiveness. Why did he have to argue with those two bullies? Life would have been so much easier if they were still around. They wouldn't have to do anything, just follow them. But now they had to pull this heavy cart themselves. It was utterly exhausting.
Not only was it tiring, but he also had to listen to his sister's complaints, which rubbed him the wrong way.
He snapped back at her, "If you don't want to push the cart, then go follow those two."
The siblings bickered endlessly while the Fourth Yang and Younger Sister Yang silently trudged on, carrying a large bundle on their backs.
They too resented Yang Shuxiao. If it weren't for him, their family wouldn't have lost two able-bodied workers.
Their father, the Village Head, was also displeased. The fish that their elder and second brothers had brought home were meant for the family to eat, but he had foolishly given it all away.
The Village Head roared, "Quiet, all of you!"
Then, with cold indifference, he said, "Elder daughter, why are you arguing with your third brother? As a scholar, how can he argue with you? Give him some leeway. When pushing the cart, put in some effort so your third brother can pull it."
It was a blatant show of favoritism, completely unreasonable. Ever since they had fled the drought, the Village Head had acted as if possessed, straying entirely from his character.
Chang'an, who was far behind, wanted to take a nap in the afternoon but the sweltering heat made her restless. Hugging a basin filled with ice, she wished she could bury her head in it.
At their current pace of fleeing the drought, it would take them over a year and a half to reach their destination.
Look, just look, it's already getting dark again.
"Father, why don't we just flee on our own? At this snail's pace, we might as well spend the entire three years of drought on the road."
Old Gu Six considered it seriously and said, "Daughter, although I have some martial arts skills, I'm nowhere near being invincible. Traveling in a large group has its advantages, as it can deter bad people."
"Father, you're overthinking it. That motley crew? Even if there were six hundred of them, it wouldn't make a difference."
"Let me think about where we can find a travel permit."
"We're all refugees fleeing the drought, what do we need that for? Look around, how many people have one? Everything's in chaos. Don't think about being able to enter a city with a travel permit. With so many refugees, which city would dare let disaster victims in for fear of causing unrest? The only way refugees could get into a city is by breaking down the gates. We don't need a travel permit."
Old Gu Six: "It seems you make a lot of sense. I can't refute you."
Chang'an took a sip of watermelon juice and continued, "We need to find a place to take shelter before winter arrives. Look at the pace of this group, we might freeze to death on the road.
Don't worry about not being able to fight off bad people. Isn't there still me? If you can't beat them, I'll just strike them with lightning."
They shouldn't have waited to flee together in the first place. They should have packed up and left quickly.
Who could have imagined Old Gu Six would stubbornly insist on getting a travel permit from Zhang?
Old Gu Six found it feasible. He too was fed up with this group's snail's pace. They didn't look like refugees at all.
Someone even yelled, "Village Head, slow down, we can't keep up. It's getting late, let's stop and rest."
Even people going for a stroll wouldn't be so indolent. Look at this location, is it suitable for stopping and resting?
This was a ravine. If there were bandits, they could simply roll a few large rocks down from above and wipe them all out.
The Village Head was well aware of the danger and refused to listen to the villagers' calls.
He led the group onward, but the villagers seemed to have lost their motivation, slowing down more and more until they eventually stopped in the ravine altogether.
The Village Head turned back to see that over half the villagers had stopped in the ravine, unwilling to proceed further. They had already set up pots and started cooking fires.
Chang'an and the others were at the end of the line, not yet in the ravine. They too refused to enter.
Originally, they had planned to pass through the ravine and continue for another ten li before resting.
Seeing the situation ahead, Old Gu Six promptly turned the donkey cart around and headed back.
They stopped at the entrance of the ravine, as they could easily be caught up in any potential incident there.
Yang Mingxiao and his brother also followed suit. Little Ya's Dad, seeing them turn back, looked bewildered.
Old Gu Six waved at them, signaling them to turn around too.
Although they didn't know what had happened, it was safer to follow instructions. The whole group obediently turned around and retreated.
The other refugee groups behind them saw this and their leaders also led them back, thinking something must have happened ahead.
Old Gu Six led them back ten li before stopping to rest and regroup.
One of the group leaders approached him and said, "Excuse me, sir. I am the Village Head of Miao Village, Miao Changqing. May I ask what happened ahead?"
Old Gu Six gave his donkey some water and hay, then glanced indifferently at the old man.
He simply said, "We can't pass through. There's a group resting in the ravine."
Village Head Miao didn't mind his attitude, only feeling a vague sense of pressure from this young man that made him somewhat afraid.
He said, "Thank you," and as he left, he added, "Apologies for the disturbance, please forgive me, sir." Then he scurried away without looking back, as if a dog were chasing him, his old legs moving surprisingly fast.
Chang'an was roasting a wild chicken, with rice porridge boiling in a pot beside her. The aroma of the roasting chicken wafted through the air, drawing envious glances from others.
Little Ya's mother had cooked fish soup and roasted potatoes. On Yang Poxiao's side, his wife had cooked half a wild rabbit.
Most of the surrounding refugees had only recently fled their homes and still had food supplies, so they were merely envious, not intending any harm.
As for those who had no food and were eating wild vegetables, they didn't dare approach Old Gu Six and the others, realizing from their physiques and demeanor that they would only be offering themselves up as food.
The refugee group closest to them had about a hundred people from Miao Village. A chubby little boy was hitting his mother, demanding meat.
"Cheapskate, hurry and get me some meat. I want to eat meat!"
The five or six-year-old boy, round as a ball, pounded his fists on the woman, while the others in their group seemed to take it as normal, acting as if they didn't notice.
Village Head Miao only glanced over and sighed, saying nothing.
They had intervened before, but the other party thought they were meddling, and their goodwill had backfired.
The boy's grandmother pushed the wooden-headed woman, "Didn't you hear my precious grandson say he wants meat? Why aren't you going to beg for some?"
The bitter and caustic expression on her face made one feel sick just looking at her. There really were insufferable people wherever you went, but they couldn't just not eat just because there were insufferable people around, could they?
Chang'an's hands kept moving, turning and scooping the ingredients. Every now and then, she would glance at her father, Old Gu Six.
"Dad, take it easy with your movements. This is a small pot, not a big one. Don't knock it over," she said.
She suspected that the hole on that big iron pot was made by Old Gu Six's banging.
Old Gu Six listened obediently and slowed down his stirring of the porridge, not forgetting to ask Chang'an for confirmation, "Daughter, is this okay?"
Chang'an took a look and replied, "Okay."
A woman slowly approached Chang'an, her eyes fixed greedily on the roasted chicken.
When Old Gu Six saw a stranger approaching his daughter, he grabbed a wooden stick from the ground and swung it towards her, planting it three inches deep into the ground next to the woman's feet, scaring her so much that she fell to the ground.
"Ah!!"
Chang'an looked up coldly at the woman, who was sallow and emaciated, her clothes patched upon patched, with a coarse cloth wrapped around her head. She looked at them with terror in her eyes.
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