Their family had not left with Xu Yuan that day.
This was because the post station stored a large amount of grain, and Li Shui Jing’s mother was not in good health, so the family did not wish to undertake such a long journey.
Xu Yuan remembered that before they left, they had gathered all the usable items they could not take with them and brought them to the courtyard of the post station. This was to help refugees who chose to stay in Ping An County or who would later arrive in Ping An County to alleviate their urgent needs.
But the courtyard was now empty, indicating that the items had certainly been looted.
Shui Jing had held on alone in this place for so long, and now that he finally saw Xu Yuan, he seemed unable to hold back any longer and burst into tears, crying out, "Waaah!"
Ping Jiang put him down, and he threw himself into Xu Yuan's arms: "They first captured my sister, and then Daddy used grain to trade for her, but they captured him too! Later, Mother and I hid here, and their men smashed open the back door and took all the things. If Mother hadn't hidden me in the stove, I probably would have been taken too! Teacher Xu, what should we do? What are we going to do?"
"It's okay, it's okay."
Xu Yuan held Shui Jing in his arms and gently stroked his head: "Everything will get better. Shui Jing, you must know that everything will get better. Aren't we back now? We will help you, and we will help everyone here. Don't cry, look how much thinner you've gotten. Have you not eaten for a long time?"
Shui Jing nodded: "Everything here was searched, and I didn't dare to go out during the day. Only at night did I go into the woods to find something to eat. Besides me, no one else escaped from the county. They were all locked up at the dock, and the women were sent to the school. Those people... they ate and drank well in the school, but they didn't share anything with others! They are devils! They took my sister!"
At this, Shui Jing, who had been doing better, once again had red eyes.
It was likely that his sister was beyond saving.
A child of only ten years did not understand so much; Shui Jing only knew that his sister had been taken.
—
The situation in Ping An County that Shui Jing described was similar to what He Si had said.
Those who carried weapons were mostly deserters from the army and low-ranking officials like He Si who wielded their authority like a weapon.
Because they had weapons, occupied the school, and had grain and supplies, they naturally became the "gods" of Ping An County.
Shui Jing said that during these days, it wasn't that no one had thought of resisting.
But the refugees outside who fished and worked for the school were always in a state of hunger and lacked the strength to resist.
Most people still had family members in the school, and being threatened like this, they could do almost nothing.
Originally, there were over three hundred refugees here, but now twenty to thirty had starved to death. Another twenty to thirty had died from resisting or from illness, so there were now less than two hundred people.
The women and children captured and taken into the school accounted for half of them. What else could the men outside do?
Shui Jing had personally witnessed a man who wanted to resist, and as a result, his entire family of five, old and young, were all beaten to death at the school's entrance!
Those five corpses were still there, rotting and stinking at the school's entrance, serving as a warning to everyone outside.
It was truly a horrific scene!
Although Shui Jing was a child, he had a clear understanding of the current situation in Ping An County.
When the men were locked up at the dock, he would also bring them a lot of food under the cover of night. Therefore, the people of Ping An County were now protecting Shui Jing, and he was still able to move around freely.
Xu Yuan also asked Shui Jing why he hadn't gone out for help.
Shui Jing said that he had heard from the people who came to Ping An County about the situation outside.
Furthermore, the entrances and exits here were guarded by He Si and his group every day. He had grown up in Ping An County and had no understanding of the outside situation, nor did he know if there was food along the way, so he didn't dare to go out.
It was just that the situation in Ping An County had become increasingly dire in recent days, which had made Shui Jing consider going out for help. If it weren't for the arrival of Song Chao Yu and the others, Shui Jing had already planned to find a way to leave in the next couple of days.
Shui Jing said that, for now, since the post station had been searched many times, those people had not come here for many days, and it was considered safe.
However, for the first two days after arriving in Ping An County, they still decided to hide.
If the people inside knew that He Si and the others outside had "disappeared," they would definitely search for them. Song Chao Yu and her group were too conspicuous, and a small post station might not be able to accommodate them.
Therefore, they decided that for the first night, they would stay in the woods outside.
Fortunately, nothing happened overnight, and Shui Jing came the next morning.
He said that those people had indeed discovered that He Si and the others were missing and were now searching all over Ping An County.
At this moment, Mu Chang Xi made a surprising decision: he wanted to disguise himself as a refugee and have Shui Jing take him to the place where people were being held at the dock! He and Ping Jiang would bring food inside.
Only by letting those people eat their fill and then persuading them to rise up and resist could they possibly win over so many people in the school.
Since he was going, Song Chao Yu also looked at him: "We don't know the situation inside the school right now. How about this, I'll go into the school and relay the situation to you?"
"No!"
Mu Chang Xi was naturally the first to object: "Don't you know what the situation is like in there? It's dangerous."
Song Chao Yu knew this, but she trusted Mu Chang Xi: "Aren't you guys there? As long as you set the time for action, we'll go in a day in advance. I'll bring Qiu Qing, and we won't be bullied. I trust you to come and save us on time."
It was necessary to cooperate from the inside and outside to achieve remarkable results.
Even Tiao Hong stepped forward: "I'll go too! I will never let Madam be harmed!"
Mu Chang Xi actually knew that this was the best method.
But how could he let Song Chao Yu take such a risk? "No!"
Qiu Qing also said: "I'll go in alone."
Song Chao Yu sighed and looked at Mu Chang Xi: "I really want to help, trust me this once, okay? Qiu Qing and Tiao Hong will go with me, three people inside, so there will always be someone to look out for each other. Moreover, we are all women, and they probably won't be too wary of us. You know Qiu Qing's skills better than anyone. The three of us will each occupy a door, and there will be mutual support when transmitting information outwards, won't there?"
In fact, Song Chao Yu also genuinely wanted to see what the school had become.
She also wanted to help Shui Jing find out if his sister was still safe.
Mu Chang Xi understood Song Chao Yu's personality.
He knew that he could not stop Song Chao Yu.