Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!

Chapter 262 - 256: An Unexpected City (Double-Length)

"Benefactor, you’re right. We will do our utmost to repay you."

Du Third Lady looked sincere. She and her daughter were saved by the young lady before her, and for the rest of her life, she would do everything possible to repay the benefactor.

At this moment, a group of women and children crowded over. They had witnessed the entire drama just now and were well aware of Du Third Lady and Yuanyuan’s situation.

They chatted and laughed with concern, trying to console the mother and daughter. Du Third Lady felt a warm sense of comfort, realizing that these were passionate and kind people.

As she sipped the steaming sweet potato porridge, tears welled up in her eyes. She and her daughter hadn’t had hot food for a long time.

Yuanyuan finished a bowl of porridge in a few gulps and happily said to her mother, "Mom, this porridge is so delicious, sweet and sticky. I’ve never had such tasty porridge before."

Seeing her daughter content and beaming with happiness, Du Third Lady felt a poignant heartache.

At home, all the good things went to the eldest brother and third brother. Their own family was always the one that suffered, eating the least of coarse buns, drinking the thinnest porridge, and doing the most and heaviest work.

Thinking of this, Du Third Lady found it so ironic. Because she couldn’t give birth to a son, she felt guilty and always tolerated her mother-in-law’s actions.

It was only today that she realized that outsiders could treat them equally, yet her own relatives would draw lines of closeness. This was an immense injustice in itself.

She had gone along with it, always wronging her daughter, and just thinking about it, she regretted it deeply.

Cheng Xiaoxiao ate the bread until she was about eighty percent full.

Watching the children laughing and playing, she felt a great sense of relief.

The sweet potato porridge was specially made for the children in the group, using a small pot for an extra stove. Previously, she hadn’t had dinner because she was handling Du Third Lady’s affairs. Now she ate with the children, adding Du Third Lady and Yuanyuan.

The light gradually sank below the horizon, and the night came with the promised snow and wind.

Biting cold winds swept through the treetops, howling across the land.

The various tents flapped intensely in the wind, and the entire campsite, more than a thousand meters long, had many large bonfires lit.

Everyone arranged the carts and mule carts into a circle to block the wind and snow as much as possible, setting up huge bonfires. People then placed wooden planks and hay between the fires and carts, raising covers.

The people, trying every possible way to stay warm, racked their brains, constructing all sorts of bizarre shelters. Everyone contributed ideas energetically, as a small mistake might lead to freezing to death on this snowy night.

A dozen or so ill-intentioned men had planned to steal from Cheng Xiaoxiao’s group after nightfall. But they didn’t expect that, while waiting all night and even falling asleep, the guards remained vigilant throughout, with ten people per shift for a full hour each, all looking sharp without a wink of drowsiness. The opportunists were left out in the cold all night, nearly freezing into ice sculptures, without a chance to strike.

The system snorted, "Those few halfwits wanted to rob us?"

Cheng Xiaoxiao lamented, "What a pity they didn’t freeze to death. They’re quite enduring."

If only those people had dared to make a move, it would ensure they wouldn’t return, but this chance for a good deterrence got wasted.

At the break of dawn, the middle-aged man who had talked to Cheng Yong the day before eagerly came to find them.

The system overheard quite a bit during the night. This middle-aged man was originally the Secretary of the county government.

He now supervises several villages and refugees from the county, a total of 277 people, though obviously a county town holds more than these.

However, the town was ransacked by King Yu’s cavalry, with countless deaths and injuries. The County Magistrate and deputy were beheaded on the spot. Those with power and influence fled first, while most surviving townsfolk opted to stay hidden in the mountains, unwilling to abandon their homes.

Once the tension eased or King Yu’s army withdrew, they would return to the towns and villages to carry on their lives.

Yet, some believed that King Yu would not relent easily, making a return seem impossible for now. Hiding in the mountains, eventually, the supplies would run out, leading them to seek another path.

Thus, they fled, and the leading figure with this notion was Lin Yiqiu, the Secretary. He led a group of townsfolk away from their homes, embarking on a rough and uncertain journey.

Along the way, some people lost their lives; those who made it here were either in good health or highly resistant to the cold.

Of course, most of the village elders stayed behind and were not among the group. Few were the age of that old man from yesterday.