Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

Occasionally, a muffled shout or two could be heard from outside, startling everyone inside the cave into perking up their ears.

In the midst of this deathly silence, a rustling sound suddenly came from the direction of the cave entrance.

The thorny branches scraped against something heavy, making a screeching sound, followed by the dull thud of a tractor being dragged across the gravel. Shen Dehou grabbed a wooden stick and squatted down next to the narrow crevice at the entrance of the cave, his muscles tense and his eyes fixed on the outside.

Then he saw Jiang Xing's figure slowly emerge from the darkness. She was holding a simple trolley made of rattan, and a person was lying on the trolley.

"It's Jiang girl! Make way, make way!" Shen Dehou quickly pushed aside the young men blocking the entrance to the hole, clearing the narrow gap for them.

Jiang Xing dragged Ma Dadan into the cave, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on her.

Dr. Gu was the first to smell the blood. He quickly walked over with an oil lamp, looked down at the person on the stretcher, his face changed, and without saying a word, he squatted down to examine the wound.

"A cut to the thigh, a cut to the rib, and a blunt force injury to the back... Fortunately, none of the internal organs were damaged." As Dr. Gu spoke, he opened his medicine box, took out a paste of crushed *Clematis chinensis* and clean strips of cloth, and his movements were quick and steady. "Luckily, the wounds were bandaged in time, otherwise the bleeding alone could have killed him."

Jiang Xing didn't reply, but leaned against the stone wall to catch his breath.

Zhang had already let go of Xiao Niu and walked over. She took Xiao Niu's arm and looked her over from side to side to make sure there were no new injuries. Then, with trembling fingers, she patted Xiao Niu's shoulder. Her eyes were red, and she didn't say anything. She went back and hugged Xiao Niu in her arms.

Shen Dehou couldn't wait to ask, "Jiang girl, what's going on outside? Who are those refugees at the city gate?"

Jiang Xing took a sip of water from the bamboo tube handed to him by his third uncle. He didn't make a sound, but everyone in the cave could hear him.

"Those bandits raped, looted, burned, killed, and robbed. The camp was basically ransacked, and most people scattered and fled. Those who didn't escape died there." She returned the bamboo tube to her third uncle. "Judging from their shouts, they were bandits from Black Wind Village. They disguised themselves as refugees to lull us into a false sense of security."

Shen Dehou's expression changed: "Refugees?"

"Well, the man who spoke to us during the day spoke fluent Southwestern Mandarin, with a strong voice. He didn't seem like someone who had been wandering all this way. This is the Southwest, the farthest place from war. Where would we find local refugees?" Jiang Xing paused. "What he said about refugees causing trouble in the city might not be false. It's just that the refugees causing trouble were from the previous batch. Our batch was targeted by bandits and defeated soldiers as the next easy prey."

Shen Dehou's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

Jiang Xing continued, "Nanping County is located on the very edge of the southwest, far from the reach of the emperor. The number of county soldiers is probably less than the number of refugees. After the last batch of refugees entered the city, they looted shops and caused internal strife. It took the county soldiers a lot of effort to drive them out of the city, but their strength must have been greatly reduced, and they dared not open the city gates again."

"The group of refugees who were driven out, or at least some of them, took the opportunity to make contact with the bandits of Black Wind Stronghold. The two groups joined forces and, knowing that the city gates were closed and they couldn't break in, they stood guard at the city gates pretending to be refugees, specifically targeting newcomers like us."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the terrified faces of the people in the cave: "Even if most of the refugees have run out of food, as long as they occasionally stumble upon a wealthy household like Master Qian, their trip won't be a loss. At the same time, by guarding the city gates and preventing supplies from entering or leaving, they are essentially testing the waters with the city's magistrate to see who can hold out longer. The bandits know that the city's forces are insufficient and pose no direct threat to them, so they act with impunity."

After listening, Shen Dehou remained silent for a moment, then sighed: "A county government office, trapped in the city by bandits, what about the magistrate's reputation? When will we ever have any peace?"

Someone nearby muttered quietly, "This magistrate is a useless piece of trash."

Jiang Xing lowered her eyes and didn't speak. She was thinking about something else. Judging from the way these bandits acted, their level of organization far exceeded that of ordinary robbers.

The mixed group of defeated soldiers and thugs, without a core commander, was prone to infighting. However, last night they launched simultaneous attacks from all directions with a clear division of labor: some looted supplies, some arrested people, some surrounded and killed yamen runners, and some cut off escape routes. This was not something a hastily assembled rabble could accomplish.

The person in charge probably wanted more than just food; he wanted the life of Nanping County.

But she didn't say the rest. The people in the cave were already terrified enough. Saying something like bandits were going to massacre the city would only make these already shaken refugees even more distraught.