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

By daybreak, Jiang Xing had already left the cave.

She walked along the ditch towards the city gate, surveying the situation after the soldiers had cleared out the area.

Outside the city gate, the battlefield was being cleared. The bodies of the bandits were dragged to a pile, and the prisoners were kneeling at the foot of the city wall with their hands tied behind their backs, guarded by soldiers with knives.

The thatched hut that burned down last night was still smoldering. Scattered bundles and broken pots and pans were gathered together, and several clerks were registering them.

When they returned to the cave, Ma Dadan had already woken up.

His injury was treated again by Dr. Gu, who re-bandaged it with clean strips of cloth, and the swelling subsided somewhat.

He was leaning against the stone wall, struggling to drink water, when he saw Jiang Xing come in from the cave entrance. He put down the bamboo tube and tried to stand up, but the pain aggravated the wound under his ribs, causing him to wince in pain and sit back down.

"Captain Ma is awake?" Shen Dehou squatted down. "Is he feeling better?"

Ma Dadan nodded, feeling a pulling pain all over his body with every movement.

Jiang Xing shared the most important information he had gathered that morning with everyone.

Dr. Gu listened from the side, his hands paused for a moment, his brows furrowed, but he did not interrupt.

"All the bandits in Nanping County who are still alive have been captured and imprisoned. The bodies outside the city gate are intact and awaiting identification by their families." Her voice was not loud, but everyone in the cave heard it. "Last night, the magistrate and county lieutenant of Chuancheng County led troops to provide support and wiped out the bandits in one fell swoop."

The cave was quiet for a moment, then a series of sighs of relief filled the air.

"The city gates are open now," Jiang Xing continued. "But the situation inside the city is not good either. Last night, not only was the area outside the city attacked, but the city itself was also breached by bandits. The streets are littered with the dead of civilians, the county magistrate's mansion has been burned to the ground, and the entire family of the former magistrate of Nanping County has been dismembered."

Upon hearing this, the sighs of relief in the cave turned into a buzzing of discussion and sighs.

"The magistrate's entire family is dead?" Aunt Wang gasped, nearly dropping the bowl in her hand.

"What kind of world is this? Even the county magistrate can't save his own life..." Granny Zhao slapped her thigh, her eyes reddening, whether genuinely or habitually, it was hard to tell.

"So what do we do now? Where do we go?" someone asked.

Jiang Xing stood up and patted the dirt off his knees: "Pack your things, let's meet in Nanping County first. We left in a hurry last night and lost quite a few things. We can see if we can find anything when we get back. Every little thing we can find is a blessing."

Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, so they packed their luggage, helped the wounded, and led the few remaining animals that hadn't been taken away, and headed back along the same route.

The journey from the cave to the city gate wasn't long, but when they reached the open space, everyone's steps suddenly became heavy.

Outside the city gate, a white cloth tent was erected. Under the tent, rows of corpses were neatly arranged and covered with straw mats. Some of them only had their faces covered, with their legs still sticking out.

The soldiers strung up a rope to cordon off the area, and outside stood a crowd of refugee families claiming the bodies.

A young woman squatted on the ground, holding a man's corpse in a daze. The man's clothes were soaked in blood, and the blood on his face had been hastily wiped away, but his features were still recognizable. The woman did not cry, but just held his head and combed his messy hair with her fingers, muttering something in a voice so soft that no one could hear her.

This scene is not unique; it is the same in many places.

An immense sorrow hung over everyone like an invisible curtain.

Some people in the group watched for a while and then shed tears. Aunt Wang turned her head away with red eyes, not daring to look anymore. Granny Zhao wiped the corner of her eyes with her sleeve and, unusually, remained silent.

Zhang pursed her lips, trying not to cry out loud.

She had witnessed her son's death firsthand; she knew what it felt like—to have a piece of one's heart ripped out while still alive.

Jiang Xing stood at the very front of the crowd, watching everything before him with a blank expression.

Her face was expressionless, devoid of sadness, pity, or any other emotional fluctuation.

She was so calm, as if she were looking at something that had nothing to do with her, that people around her unconsciously kept their distance.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen dead people; she had seen far too many corpses in the apocalypse, so many that she had lost count of how many teammates she had buried with her own hands. Survival was the most important thing.

The little calf stood beside his grandmother and watched for a while. Then he let go of her hand, took a step forward, and grabbed his sister's hand that was hanging by her side.

Jiang Xing glanced down at him, then squeezed her brother's hand gently.

(If we get 40 requests for updates a day, we'll give you an extra chapter; if we get 60, we'll give you two extra chapters!)