Those Rebel Soldiers, dressed in tattered rags and brandishing axes and wood-cutting knives, chased after Qin Sang's group. Anyone along the way who failed to retreat into their homes in time was either struck in the back by an axe or had half their head sliced off by a wood-cutting knife.
"After them! That's the wealthy Steward Huang from the Town; they're trying to escape!"
Qin Sang found the voice familiar—it was Butcher Hu.
Just as she identified him, she saw the man chasing them from the end of the long street, brandishing a pig-slaughtering knife.
Dammit, she had to find a way to stall for time, otherwise their group would likely be overtaken. She certainly didn't expect Steward Huang to send guards to save her and Da Zhuang.
With a thought, Qin Sang threw a floor's worth of soybeans onto the ground, and tossed out quite a few copper coins along with them.
The carriage continued to race away. When she saw Butcher Hu leading a group of people onto the stretch of road covered in soybeans, Qin Sang looked back to see the effect. Sure enough, many of them tripped. Once they fell, some spotted the copper coins on the ground and scrambled to pick them up, instantly widening the distance of the pursuit.
"It's beans! Quick, pick them up!"
"There are copper coins! Hurry and grab them..."
"Whoever picks it up keeps it!"
Butcher Hu watched the familiar silhouette on the receding flatbed cart, gritting his teeth as he kicked aside the person next to him.
"Do you have any idea that you're letting a big fish go for the sake of a few copper coins?"
Qin Sang didn't look back again. She wasn't sure if Butcher Hu had recognized her, but she worried that if a killing machine like him gained power within the Rebel Soldiers, he certainly wouldn't let matters rest.
She had to return to the village as quickly as possible to confirm that the villagers had all entered the mountains.
After leaving the Town and running for another hour, Steward Huang's group finally stopped.
"Doctor Qin, you can't follow us any further. If you take this small path over that mountain, you can bypass the Town. Then follow the river downstream; it should take about four hours. Be careful on your way."
Qin Sang cupped her hands in a salute.
"Steward Huang, until we meet again."
"Until we meet again."
After seeing off Steward Huang, Qin Sang and Da Zhuang set off on the small path.
"Mother, this path is too narrow. The cart won't fit."
Qin Sang felt no reluctance to part with it.
"Then unhitch it. We won't be able to use the cart once we enter the mountains anyway."
"Okay."
Da Zhuang moved quickly. Once the cart was unhitched, the two of them moved much faster. Both were worried about the villagers, so neither felt like talking.
As they ascended the mountain, they could see black smoke rising from the Town in the distance. It was coming from many places; there was no telling how many people would die in the Town today.
Deeper in the mountains, they discovered many refugees hiding. Seeing the two of them leading a mule and a horse, some showed fear, while others showed greed.
However, seeing that the knives and axes they used to casually clear branches were unusually sharp, no one dared to make a move.
These were villagers who had heard rumors and hidden in the mountains, not desperate refugees who had fled their homelands, so they managed to cross the mountain safely. Even so, it took them five hours.
Descending the mountain, they found the riverbed. The river had long since dried up, so the two of them walked directly along the riverbed. This way, they wouldn't attract attention, and the path was smoother.
Da Zhuang was clearly more familiar with the riverbed.
"Mother, Steward Huang was right. This is indeed our river. Look at that stone bridge—it's the one we crossed when we came. Mother, we've found the main road."
Qin Sang gave a hum of affirmation. Sensing that Da Zhuang wanted to get onto the main road, Qin Sang disagreed.
"When we came, we threw a lot of food to those refugees. They might be waiting for us on the road for our return trip. Da Zhuang, let's keep following the riverbed. The path might be longer, but it's safer."
Leading two large animals on the open road would be far too conspicuous.
Furthermore, they no longer had the cart, and Qin Sang didn't know how to ride a horse. If they truly started galloping on the main road, she might fall off.
Tian Da Zhuang had no objections; whatever his Mother said, went.
By the time Tianjia Village came into view, the sky had already darkened. No fires had broken out in the village, and there were only one or two trails of cooking smoke.
"Mother, San Gui and the others must have listened to you and entered the mountains."
Tian Da Zhuang also realized that since it was time for the evening meal, the lack of cooking smoke meant there weren't many families left in the village.
Just as they were about to speak, they heard a chorus of shouting coming from the main road.
"That widow's house in Tianjia Village has rice and grain! I guarantee if everyone goes there, you'll definitely be able to eat and drink your fill!"
Qin Sang narrowed her eyes. That was Tian Yuanshan's voice.
She quietly peeked out from the riverbed and saw at least one or two hundred people carrying torches, rushing toward Tianjia Village.
The person leading the way looked familiar no matter how she viewed him.
Tian Da Zhuang heard it too and was incredibly shocked.
"Mother, Tian Yuanshan is actually leading the way for the Rebel Soldiers? Tian Jinshui is there too. They... they are people of Tianjia Village!"
Qin Sang pressed down the incredulous Da Zhuang.
"They were kicked out of the village and hate me to the core. Now that they have a chance for revenge, they'll certainly seize it immediately."
Tian Da Zhuang's face was full of indignation; he wished he could hack those two brothers into a thousand pieces.
"Mother, what do we do now?"
Qin Sang already had a plan.
"We definitely can't go back to the village now. Come, let's go to the back mountain."
Qin Sang knew where to ascend the back mountain. That day, Hunter Xu had mentioned a place called Sanchagou, which connected to both Tianjia Village and Carpenter Zhao's neighboring village.
Knowing the soldier uprising had arrived, Qin Sang couldn't just ignore it. She had Da Zhuang quietly notify the people of the neighboring village, telling those willing to hide in the mountains to flee quickly.
Currently, Tian Yuanshan's target was her, so he likely wouldn't come this way until tomorrow at the earliest. If the people of the neighboring village didn't believe it, they could go to the village entrance in the middle of the night to see for themselves.
They found a torch in the neighboring village and lit it with a fire starter. The two of them entered the mountains again. This part of the mountain had been dug full of holes over the past month, so they didn't have to worry about wild beasts.
Carrying the torch, they quickly reached Sanchagou. Qin Sang saw that the red string marker on the tree had not yet been removed.
The two of them tied the mule and horse to the trunk beneath the red string and crept toward Tianjia Village.
From a distance, they saw torches lit in their own courtyard. Seeing no sign of San Gui and the others, Qin Sang finally felt relieved.
However, she spotted Tian Hongmei. A woman standing among a group of refugee men was very conspicuous.
Those refugees, holding torches, kicked open doors and searched around but found nothing. She could vaguely see Tian Hongmei pointing toward the back mountain for the refugees.
"Mother, is she planning to tell those refugees that we went into the mountains?"
Qin Sang's gaze was cold and sharp.
"If it were just Tian Hongmei, I wouldn't be so worried. She didn't follow us to scout the path. But Zhou Lin didn't go up the mountain either. I'm afraid that..."
Tian Da Zhuang was terrified.
"If Zhou Lin is forced by them to lead the way, then it won't matter if we hide in the mountains!"
That was the worst-case scenario. Qin Sang looked carefully once more but didn't see any sign of Zhou Lin among the refugees who had broken into her home.
Whether someone led them or not, they would definitely come into the mountains to search. She had to find a way to delay them—or better yet, deal with this group of people.
Qin Sang thought for a moment, then turned and vanished into the woods.
"Don't be afraid. Da Zhuang, come, let's get to work."
Tian Da Zhuang didn't question her for a second. Whatever his Mother told him to do, he did.