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

This rule directly prevents the possibility of similar incidents happening again.

The adults all nodded emphatically. What happened to Cao'er today served as a wake-up call for all of them.

"Alright, the rules have been explained. Everyone keep them in mind." She waved her hand. "It's late. Those who need to keep watch, keep watch; those who need to sleep, sleep. We have a long journey ahead tomorrow, so make sure you're all well-rested."

The crowd dispersed and returned to their own bedding.

Almost no one slept well that night. The bloody scene from the daytime kept replaying in their minds.

The confusion and unease of leaving home were completely overwhelmed at this moment by the instinct for survival and the fear of the future.

They finally realized that this was no longer the life they had lived in the village; this was a perilous escape route where they could lose their lives at any moment.

Chen Xinghua barely slept all night. She stayed by Cao'er's side, changing the handkerchief on her forehead from time to time.

In the middle of the night, she touched Cao'er's forehead again.

The fever seems to have gone down a bit.

Wang Jinzhu breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as the fever subsided, the child would be fine.

Looking at Cao'er's pale face, she felt a wave of fear wash over her.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the team got up.

Chen Xinghua stayed up all night, her eyes bloodshot, but a hint of joy appeared on her face.

"Jinzhu, Jinzhu, look! Cao'er is awake! Her fever has gone down!"

Wang Jinzhu went over and saw that Cao'er had indeed opened her eyes. Although she was still very weak, her eyes were much clearer.

"Mother..." Cao'er's voice was terribly hoarse when she spoke.

"Oh, Mother's here, Mother's here!" Chen Xinghua hugged her daughter, tears welling up again, but this time they were tears of joy.

Cao'er's gaze swept across the crowd before finally settling on Wang Jinzhu. She seemed to recall what had happened yesterday; her small body trembled, and her eyes were filled with fear.

Wang Jinzhu walked over, patted her head, and said in a rare gentle tone, "It's alright, it's all in the past. Remember, from now on, we can't just give our things to others, understand?"

Cao'er nodded as if she understood, then buried her head in Chen Xinghua's arms and refused to come out.

Wang Jinzhu knew that this incident had likely left a deep psychological scar on the child, but this was the price of growing up. In the current situation, naivety and kindness come at a cost.

The group ate some dry rations quickly and then hurriedly set off.

After yesterday's events, everyone became quiet and reserved, and their pace quickened considerably. The children were kept under close watch by the adults, and they were all unusually well-behaved.

Over the next few days, the atmosphere on the road grew increasingly tense. The closer they got to the prefectural city, the more refugees they encountered. Large groups of refugees gathered along both sides of the official road, forming temporary shack areas.

People could be seen dying of hunger or disease everywhere, their bodies left lying on the roadside, unclaimed.

The people in the group went from initial shock and dismay to eventual numbness. They kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, their minds filled with only one thought: get to the prefectural city as quickly as possible, and leave this hell on earth as soon as possible.

After traveling for two more days, they finally saw the outline of a huge city in the distance that evening.

"The prefectural city! It's the prefectural city!"

Someone shouted, and the whole group stopped.

Everyone looked up, staring blankly at the distant city walls. After such a long and arduous journey, they had finally arrived!

An indescribable excitement and joy welled up in everyone's hearts.

"We're here! We've finally arrived!" Wang Shun's wife cried tears of joy.

"Great! Once we're in the city, we'll be safe!"

Even the usually taciturn Wang Dali had tears in his eyes and his voice was hoarse: "It's good that we've arrived, it's good that we've arrived..."

"Hurry, let's go! We can get into the city before dark!" Chen Wangda urged, his face beaming with undisguised excitement.

"Once we get to the city, let's find an inn, rest well, and take a hot bath!" Wang Xiaobao grinned, feeling like he was about to fall apart after being on edge the whole way.

"Yes, yes, let's find another place to have a hot meal with meat!" Tiger poked his head out of the carriage and, hearing the adults' conversation, clapped and cheered along.

Seeing everyone's hopeful expressions, Wang Jinzhu remained silent, but the unease in her heart grew stronger.

The group quickened their pace, heading towards the prefectural city. The closer they got, the more Wang Jinzhu's unease was confirmed.

The official road leading to the city gate was packed with people.

Large numbers of refugees, like a tidal wave, were blocked outside the city gates. They brought their families and built all sorts of makeshift shacks at the foot of the city walls, stretching for miles and forming a huge refugee camp that reeked of stench and despair.

At the city gate, rows of soldiers, each armed with a spear, stood in a line, expressionless, blocking anyone who wanted to enter the city.

"Go back! The city is full and won't take in any more refugees! Go back!"

A man dressed as a junior officer stood on the stone steps in front of the city gate, looking down at the dark mass of people below and shouting at them.

"Sir, please have mercy and let us in! We are not refugees, we came from Yongning County to visit relatives!" A man knelt on the ground, pleading desperately.

"Visiting relatives? Where are your relatives? Tell them to come out and meet you! If no one is in the city to meet you, you are not allowed to enter!" The junior officer waved his hand impatiently.

"Sir, please, give me some food! My child is starving!" A woman knelt on the ground, kowtowing to a child who was so thin he was unrecognizable, her forehead bleeding from the kowtow.

But those soldiers were all heartless, not even glancing at her. Two soldiers even thought she was in their way, so they went up to her and roughly pushed her aside with the end of their spears.

Wang Jinzhu's troops were stuck more than a mile from the city gate. The crowd in front of them was completely blocked.

The smiles on the faces of the people who were just excited instantly froze when they saw what was happening before them.

"What...what's going on? Why can't we enter the city?" Wang Shun's wife's voice changed.

"It's over, it's over... What are we going to do if we can't get into the city?" Wang Gui's wife plopped down on the ground, wiping away tears. "We've sold our house, and we can't go back. This... isn't this driving us to our deaths?"

Panic, like a plague, quickly spread through the ranks.

Their greatest hope was to enter the city and find a place to settle down. But now, these high city walls were like an insurmountable chasm, blocking all their hopes from entering.