A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Wang Tianfang and Wang Xiaobao exchanged a glance, both gripping their newly sharpened wooden sticks tightly, and moved step by step toward the dark forest.

Everyone in the group held their breath. Even the children sensed something was wrong and were too scared to make a sound, burying their heads in their parents' arms.

"Who's there? Come out!" Wang Tianfang growled in a low voice.

The rustling sounds in the woods stopped.

After a while, a thin, weak female voice, trembling with sobs, rang out: "Don't hit us, we're not bad people."

His voice sounded weak, and it didn't sound like he was faking it.

Wang Jinzhu breathed a slight sigh of relief. Judging from the commotion, it didn't seem like a group of bandits or thugs. She gave Wang Tianfang a wink.

Wang Tianfang understood and called out again, "Come out and talk!"

A moment later, three figures slowly emerged from the woods. One was an old man with gray hair, and the other was a woman in her thirties with messy hair, her face covered in soot, wearing tattered clothes patched all over, and tightly holding a four or five-year-old boy in her arms.

The three walked into the area illuminated by the campfire and saw so many people with Wang Jinzhu and several burly men carrying weapons. They were so frightened that their legs went weak, and the woman knelt down with a thud.

"Gentlemen and ladies, please have mercy on us! We're refugees from the north, and we haven't eaten for days. We only came here because we smelled food. We really won't do anything!"

As the woman spoke, she kowtowed repeatedly, and the baby in her arms cried out as she jostled it.

The old man also tried to kneel down, trembling, but was stopped by Wang Dali next to him.

"Alright, alright, stop kneeling. How old are you?" Wang Dali frowned, looking at the three generations of the family, feeling uneasy.

The women in the group felt their hearts soften when they saw the thin, small child. Chen Yuxiang sighed and glanced at Wang Jinzhu.

To save or not to save?

Bringing them along is out of the question. Our team is already conspicuous enough; adding three more would only make us a bigger target. Besides, who knows what their background is?

But what if she just ignored them and watched them starve to death? She couldn't do that. Especially when she saw that child, so thin he looked like a chick, it reminded her of her own nephew.

She glanced at the pot. There was still a little more than half a pot of the vegetable porridge she had just cooked.

She didn't speak, but simply nodded to Zhao Xiulan.

Zhao Xiulan was a quick-witted person and immediately understood what Wang Jinzhu meant. She picked up three empty bowls, went over, scooped out three bowls of still-warm vegetable porridge, and brought them over.

"Get up, eat something." Zhao Xiulan handed the bowl to the woman.

The woman froze, hardly believing her eyes. She looked up at the thin porridge in the bowl, still with bits of meat floating on top, and tears streamed down her face. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she took the bowl.

"Thank you so much, kind sir! Thank you!" she stammered, quickly picking up a spoon and carefully feeding the child in her arms a spoonful.

The child seemed to have been starving for a long time; as soon as he touched the food, he wolfed it down, crying as he ate.

The old man took the bowl, his cloudy eyes filled with tears, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word, only bowing repeatedly to everyone.

Wang Jinzhu looked at them, her heart filled with mixed emotions. This was just the beginning; who knew how many more people like them she would encounter on the road ahead? She could be kind today, but what about tomorrow? The day after? She wasn't a savior; she didn't even know if she could protect the people around her.

She hardened her heart and waited until they finished eating before saying, "We're also fleeing, and we can't bring anyone with us. Eat this porridge, and tomorrow morning, head south as soon as possible. Don't stay here."

Upon hearing this, the woman quickly wiped away her tears and returned the bowl to Zhao Xiulan with profuse thanks. "Thank you, sister. We understand. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning so as not to cause you any trouble."

After eating the porridge and with someone watching over them, the three generations of the family finally relaxed and quickly fell asleep.

The people who were initially saddened by leaving their hometown, compared to that family of three, at least had an oxcart, food, thick bedding, and a group of people they could rely on.

"Sigh, this world..." Wang Dali sighed and threw the wooden stick in his hand on the ground.

"Alright, stop thinking about it so much." Wang Jinzhu stood up, clapped her hands, and drew everyone's attention. "This incident has also served as a reminder to us. From today onwards, when we camp at night, we can't just light one fire. We need to light several fires to enclose our entire camp. It will be brighter, which will scare away wild animals and keep outsiders from easily approaching."

"Also, we must hide our food well and not leave it out in the open. When cooking, try to find a sheltered spot so that the smell doesn't drift too far."

As time goes on, there will be more and more refugees like the one we just saw. When hunger and despair overwhelm everything, the evil in human nature will be amplified infinitely.

To those who were starving, their caravan, laden with food and belongings, was nothing more than a walking piece of fat meat.

"Go to sleep," Wang Jinzhu said to everyone. "My dad and Wanda will keep watch for the rest of the night. Everyone should sleep soundly, as we need to get up early to continue our journey tomorrow."

The next day, before dawn, Chen Yuxiang got up to make pancakes. She made three extra pancakes and gave them to the three people, the grandfather and grandson.

"Keep any leftovers close to your body, don't let anyone steal them," Wang Jinzhu said to the three people who were about to leave after expressing their gratitude.

After a quick breakfast, the group hurriedly set off.

After what happened last night, everyone was silent, and their pace quickened. The children also seemed much more sensible, no longer crying or making a fuss, obediently being led by the adults or sitting on the oxcart.

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

After walking for about an hour, a man named Wang Shun from the two families who had followed them from Wangjia Village finally couldn't hold back any longer. He sidled up to Wang Dali and complained in a low voice, "Brother Dali, are we... are we just going to keep walking like this? When will this ever end? I'm feeling really uneasy, like I'm on tenterhooks."

Wang Shun's wife also wiped away her tears: "Yes, husband, we've sold the land and the house. What if we get to the prefectural city and they won't let us in? We'll be helpless then."

Another man surnamed Wang, Wang Gui, also looked worried and said, "Jinzhu, it's not that we don't believe you. It's just that no one is sure of what to do when they're far from home. Look at this old woman of mine, I haven't smiled since I came out yesterday, and the two children are quite frightened."

Wang Jinzhu understood their concerns. Even if she had her spatial ability as a trump card, she would still panic.

She stopped, causing the entire group to come to a halt.