The next morning, the village chief gathered all the men and recounted the situation discovered the previous night.
"That mountain is very steep, so we won't be able to bring our belongings up. At most, we can carry grain and water. As for other items, whether they can be saved is uncertain. Do you have any objections?"
The men exchanged glances and then shook their heads.
At this point, survival was paramount. Any material possessions could be considered later, once they were alive.
The village chief nodded, "Then let's act quickly. From now on, we have a tough battle ahead of us."
Everyone hurried back to their homes to pack.
Jiang Lao Er sauntered over to Jiang Pan's carriage with schadenfreude. "Tsk, three carriages. It's such a shame to abandon them like this. If I were you, I'd kill the horses and distribute the meat to the villagers. That way, you'd at least be benefiting your neighbors."
Jiang Wan detested this kind of person. She picked up a stone from the ground and threatened him, "Get lost. Even if my horses ran away, I wouldn't let you benefit from them even a little!"
Jiang Lao Er glared at her, "You little brat, dare to hit me and see!"
Jiang Wan sneered, "Let's see, let's see. Don't you cry out in pain!"
With that, Jiang Wan threw the stone in her hand.
Jiang Lao Er, startled, turned and fled.
Jiang Wan rolled her eyes and turned to help with the packing.
Soon, everyone's belongings were packed. They pushed their carts forward as if on a normal journey, but after a while, the procession turned into the forest.
No one wanted to leave their carts by the roadside, so they pushed them as far into the forest as possible, hoping to at least reduce the chance of them being looted.
Only when it was no longer possible to push the carts forward did they reluctantly set them down and begin unloading the grain and water.
For those fleeing famine, the carts held their entire worldly possessions.
The thought of abandoning these items brought immense sadness, and some women couldn't help but cry.
The men, however, sternly rebuked them, "What are you crying about? At a time like this, you're still concerned about these things. Being alive is more important than anything else. We can always acquire them again later!"
After Chen Yuezhi and Su Shi had packed their family's grain and water, they couldn't help but shed tears as they looked at the three horses and the carriage.
This represented a considerable sum of money!
Moreover, they had grown somewhat attached to the horses after spending so much time with them. Who could bear to part with them?
Even the older brothers, Da Lang and his siblings, couldn't help but have red eyes.
Jiang Pan also felt a pang of sorrow, but he unhesitatingly unhitched the horses and then whipped them heavily.
Feeling the pain, the horses bolted and ran.
Watching the horses disappear into the distance, the entire family couldn't help but weep.
Jiang Wan also cried, but she was faking it. As a person with abilities, it would be easy for her to save the horses. She just didn't want to reveal it now, lest her family break down and give themselves away.
Jiang Lao Er and Jiang Lao Tai watched Jiang Pan's family cry so miserably, and they felt an immense sense of satisfaction, their smiles practically blinding.
However, their smiles soon vanished.
The mountain was simply too steep, and climbing it was no easy feat, especially with the elderly and young in their family, and Jiang Lao San still injured.
"Are they crazy! How can we climb such a mountain? Can't we find another place?"
Jiang Lao Er grumbled, clearly unwilling.
Other villagers harbored similar thoughts, but none dared to voice them.
The village chief said coldly, "If you don't want to climb, you don't have to. No one is forcing you."
With that, the village chief took the lead and started walking up the mountain.
Jiang Pan's family also began to climb with their belongings, and even Jiang Wan carried something. Only Su Shi, who was pregnant, was not burdened.
Originally, her family didn't want Jiang Wan to carry anything, but the amount of supplies was too much. Over three hundred catties of food alone, plus the water, was no light task.
To reassure her family, Jiang Wan said, "I'll carry the things and walk slowly. You go ahead, and then come back to pick up me and sister-in-law."
Everyone had to agree, thinking only of quickly getting the supplies up the mountain and then returning to help her.
Who knew that this little chubby girl, carrying a bag of grain, climbed the mountain with the speed and agility of a monkey, leaving them far behind in a short while?
After placing the supplies, she turned back and snatched the load from Da Lang's shoulders. "Big brother, you go and protect sister-in-law. She is the most important person in our family!"
Su Shi was deeply touched. This sister-in-law was even closer to her than her own sisters.
Jiang Wan then used her speed to deliver the supplies up the mountain and then went to pick up Chen Yuezhi.
By the time she had made three trips, her entire family had reached the mountain peak.
Seeing that many villagers were still struggling behind due to age or too many belongings, Jiang Pan called on other men to go down and help.
Once everyone had reached the summit, the village chief asked Jiang Pan to organize the subsequent tasks.
Gathering stones, cutting trees, sharpening wooden stakes, making catapults – everyone was busy, even the elderly were not idle.
Jiang Lao San, despite his injury, felt ashamed to sit idly and helped pick up stones.
Jiang Lao Er and Zhou Shi, accustomed to laziness, finally reached the top and wanted to find a place to rest. However, they knew that if they dared to sit down and rest at this moment, they would surely be attacked by everyone. Thus, they mingled with the crowd, pretending to be busy.
The villagers' actions of entering the forest, abandoning their carts, and heading up the mountain did not escape the notice of the few men who had been watching them.
"Why are these people abandoning their belongings and running up the mountain? That mountain is so steep, could there be some treasure up there?"
"No, why did they let the horses go?"
"Could they have discovered something?"
The more they thought about it, the more suspicious they became, and they quickly followed to investigate.
At the foot of the mountain, they discovered the villagers' carts and eagerly rushed to search for grain and valuables.
However, after searching several carts, they found them all filled with clothes and bedding. There were no valuables, not even a single grain of food.
"Bad news, they must know we intend to deal with them, so they've fled to the mountain in advance!"
"Hurry back and report!"
The few men left in a hurry, completely unaware that directly above them, a small bird was sharpening its claws.
The villagers of the small mountain village worked until dusk before finally stopping.
All the movable stones had been gathered. All the trees that could be cut had been felled and sharpened into sharp stakes.
Er Lang, with a group of young men, made over ten catapults.
The village chief's wife, with a group of women, cleared all the dry grass within tens of meters of the mountaintop.
This was to prevent the bandits from setting the mountain on fire!
On the mountaintop in the late autumn night, the temperature was very low, and the wind was strong.
They lit bonfires, ate dry rations, and drank cold water around the fire, waiting silently and tensely for the bandits' arrival.
Xiao Mazai suddenly flew up from the foot of the mountain and landed on Jiang Wan's shoulder, chirping a few times to alert her that the bad guys were heading towards the foot of the mountain.
Soon, the villagers saw many torches approaching the mountain where they were located.