CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 25 SAVING PEOPLE

Dachen Village was now thoroughly chaotic, a complete mess.

Clearly, this was a premeditated plunder, starting with landlords like Guo Xiangshen, then radiating out to encompass the entire village—looting as much as possible.

The whole village was full of refugees, indistinguishable from ghosts, wailing, accompanied by screams of agony and the villagers’ cries of pain as they fought back.

In less than an hour, seven or eight people had already died, including villagers and refugees.

When Chen Ku quietly returned to the dilapidated cave, he found his mother and sister-in-law holding Hu Zi, still safe within. He didn’t disturb them.

After feeling relieved, he headed back to his own house.

He found that it had indeed been broken into by the refugees. The outcome of the night’s events was already clear. His home, being dirt poor and having no grain stored, didn’t have many valuables to lose; it was just thoroughly ransacked.

Even so, after Chen Ku checked the kitchen and the rooms, two quilts were still stolen, and even the half jar of salt in the kitchen was taken, jar and all.

These locust-like devils! Chen Ku cursed inwardly.

From what he saw, even his house, which had little grain stored, was picked clean like a goose plucked in flight. He could only imagine what the families in the village who actually had grain stored were currently enduring.

He couldn’t worry about everyone else, but he still had to look after Jiyang, Master Li, and Big Brother Zhao’s families. After all, grain being stolen was one thing, but if people were killed in the chaos, that would be a true disaster.

As Chen Ku was heading towards Master Li’s house, someone suddenly burst out onto the road. Chen Ku instinctively prepared to strike, but then he recognized the voice of Heiwa, the Long-term Worker from Guo Xiangshen’s home, who said excitedly, "Brother Chen, I’ve been looking for you! Guo Xiangshen is asking for your help. Those damned refugees, not satisfied with just eating their fill, are looting every home! Guo Xiangshen sent me to ask for your help, promising an additional ten acres of land as a thank you if you can ensure his family’s safety."

Ten acres of land! Chen Ku was moved. Guo Xiangshen is certainly generous.

Each acre was worth at least five or six Silver; ten acres would be fifty to sixty Silver. In the countryside, the importance of land sometimes exceeded that of Silver. Having a certain amount of land would naturally make one a landlord. Guo Xiangshen had over a hundred acres in the village and could afford to eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat every meal even without doing a stroke of work, being a wealthy man worth Over a Thousand Taels of Silver.

If I accept these ten acres, adding to my own seven acres, totaling seventeen acres, it would be too much for Mother and Sister-in-law to farm alone, Chen Ku thought. They would have to hire sharecroppers and laborers. In a sense... I, Chen Ku, would transform, stepping into the landlord class myself.

Moved by this thought, Chen Ku said, "All right, go back and give him my reply. I’ll be there soon."

Heiwa nodded excitedly. They had all witnessed Brother Chen’s feat of overturning that old yellow ox in the field.

Chen Ku watched Heiwa leave.

He considered, I received Guo Xiangshen’s goodwill and hospitality a few days ago, a favor I was already obliged to repay. Now he’s offering an additional ten acres. There’s no reason not to go. However, priorities matter, and some relationships are closer than others.

Chen Ku still decided to first check on his close friends in the village.

When he arrived at Big Brother Zhao’s house, he was slightly alarmed to see blood all over the ground outside. He hurriedly called inside, "Big Brother Zhao, is everything alright in there?"

Hearing this, Zhao Liangcai’s voice came from the window, also sounding relieved, "It’s the Chen Brothers! My family is alright, don’t worry. The blood outside is from those damned looters I shot with my arrows. I hit two of them in the arms, and then no one dared to come in. Don’t worry about my place; go check on Master Li’s house."

Chen Ku’s heart relaxed, and he replied, "Then you be careful."

Soon, he arrived at Jiyang’s house to find Li Jiyang’s home already turned inside out. He was slightly shaken and hastily went inside to look for people.

After a while, Chen Ku walked out, lost in thought. The granary is spotlessly clean, showing no signs of being robbed.

It didn’t take him long to understand. Master Li truly lived up to his name. An Old Head who specialized in navigating the mountains, he had even guided his own elder brother. The title ’Old Head’ itself often signified meticulousness, caution, and intelligence—qualities essential for someone leading herb-gathering expeditions. Seeing no one at home and the granary completely empty, he quickly guessed what had happened.

I was able to think of moving my family, so a shrewd Old Head like Master Li must have thought of it too. Not only that, he probably heard the news and secretly hid the harvested grain somewhere. Now that the refugees have arrived, all they had to do was hide their families, just like I did, and let the refugees ransack the house. As long as the grain and the people are safe, losing a few household items isn’t a significant loss.

This guess is most likely correct, he thought.

Chen Ku was relieved.

This method... probably occurred to quite a few villagers. But it would only work for smaller households with three or four acres of land and not much harvested grain, making it easy to move. Guo Xiangshen’s family, on the other hand, is a prime example: a large household with a granary overflowing with grain. They couldn’t possibly move it all in such a short time...

Chen Ku knew he couldn’t delay any longer and had to hurry over. Hopefully, the refugees haven’t actually beaten Guo Xiangshen to death.

「...」

In Guo Xiangshen’s house, it was all chaos, with refugees looting and smashing. The granary had been completely overrun. The local able-bodied men gathered from the village and the Long-term Workers from his estate had long since been overwhelmed and scattered.

Guo Xiangshen’s family was driven into the stable, secretly hiding in the haystack.

Seven members of the family—his mother, wife, son, daughter-in-law, and a daughter about fifteen or sixteen years old—all had their faces smudged black, pretending to be refugees.

"Father, all our grain has been plundered by these bastards!" Guo Wen, although hiding, was seething with anger, itching to rush out of the stable and fight those people.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake, child, be quiet!" Old Lady Guo anxiously grabbed her grandson by the sleeve, saying, "All those are material possessions; staying alive is what’s most important."

"But-but, those were our things!" Guo Wen felt a burning urgency inside.

Guo Xiangshen, grinding his teeth, scolded his son in a low voice, "You good-for-nothing! What do you know? It’s just some grain. What could be more precious than life?"

His mother said softly to her son, "Foolish boy, your father is right. Moreover, during the banquet for those damned scoundrels, your father had already secretly hidden our money, valuables, and account books. Now, it’s only some grain that’s left. It’s not a big deal if we lose it; preserving our lives is most important."

Guo Xiangshen, looking at his dumbfounded son, gritted his teeth and said, "Even if we take ten thousand steps back and our family ends up with nothing, we still must live on. Your father, I, know how to rise from poverty to wealth again. Remember, staying alive is the foremost thing."

While the family was hiding and talking in the stable, suddenly, a torch lit up the stable.

Behind the torch was none other than Grey Snake, who had called on their house earlier.

He grinned and said, "I knew it. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find Master Guo’s family. Turns out you were hiding with the animals."

Grey Snake held a torch in one hand and a pointed fork in the other.

The sight made Guo Xiangshen’s family of seven feel utterly devastated.

Guo Xiangshen’s eyes darkened, his lips trembling as he said, "Brother Grey Snake, you’ve opened the granary. Take as much grain as you want. Why must you trouble my family like this?"

"Want grain?" Grey Snake flashed a dangerous smile. "The starving ghosts outside want the grain. Who said I wanted grain?" Then he focused on Guo Xiangshen’s daughter, saying, "Your daughter is quite beautiful. Even with a blackened face, she’s delicate and has an oval face... Master Guo, how much would it take for me not to touch her?"

As he spoke, he planted the torch beside the stable.

With the fork, he pointed it at Guo Xiangshen’s neck, then reached out his freed hand towards Guo Xiu’s collar.

"Father! Brother! Save me!" Guo Xiu shrieked in terror.

However, her brother, whom she regarded as her greatest savior, lost all his earlier bravado at the sight of the pointed fork and actually shrank back, terrified.

Guo Xiu felt utterly hopeless.

Just when she thought she was going to be violated—

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

A fierce gust of wind whipped through the air, stirring Guo Xiu’s bangs and causing her clothes to flutter.

Suddenly, a figure stood to her left.

BANG!!

The man holding the pointed fork, Grey Snake, was thrown backward, crashing heavily inside the stable, killed instantly.