The ox cart convoy, in a grand procession, finally arrived at the edge of the large mountain cave by the foot of Kanzi Mountain, a little past five in the morning.
The villagers, bewildered, entered the semi-enclosed cavern. They couldn't understand why the village chief was making them retrace their steps.
"Creak... creak..." With a grating sound, a massive boulder on the cave wall slowly tilted inwards.
Only then did everyone realize that compared to the inner cavern, the outside was merely an opening.
"Uncle!" Su Muqing, upon hearing that the villagers from Houxi Village had arrived, hurried down to greet them.
They parked the ox carts opposite the horse pen, and then slowly pulled the stone door shut. The stone walls of the cave returned to their original appearance, showing no sign of a door.
Su Muqing led the villagers in examining all sides of the cave, both inside and out. She explained her intentions and plans, and analyzed all the pros and cons for them to consider. She told them that the final decision would be made by a show of hands, with the majority ruling. If they agreed to settle there temporarily, they could each choose their own living quarters. If not, they would continue their journey.
After a basic inspection of the cave, everyone agreed that it was cool, secluded, and had a water source. Coupled with Su Muqing's analysis,
The villagers unanimously agreed to follow her plan. Regardless of whether they would eventually settle in Songlin County, they decided to shelter from the heat in Kanzi Mountain for the time being.
Su Minghui was also pleased that the villagers agreed to stay. However, he still had a concern. "Qing Yatou, your intention is that two more groups of bandits haven't returned from their raids. If we occupy their stronghold, then later..."
Su Muqing exchanged a glance with Lu Yuzhi. Then, she said to Su Minghui, "Village Chief Su, rest assured! I only fear they *won't* return! As soon as they do, we will eliminate them all at once!"
Su Minghui patted Lu Yuzhi's shoulder with satisfaction. "With you and Qing Yatou here, how could we have any worries!"
Since they had decided to stay, the next step was to allocate living spaces for each family, then move their belongings and tidy up the stone rooms they would occupy.
The women who had been captured by the bandits earlier had been violated. Su Muqing asked them about their future plans. They all expressed uncertainty about how to proceed.
Now that they were ruined, they couldn't return home. Even if they went elsewhere and lived under assumed names, it wasn't guaranteed they would have a good life. In the end, the women pleaded with Su Muqing, hoping the villagers would temporarily take them in.
They had already discussed among themselves and declared that they had little left to live for in this world. After the drought passed, they planned to find a nunnery, or even build one themselves, and spend the rest of their lives in quiet contemplation.
Upon hearing about their plight, Su Minghui and Madam Wang were filled with sympathy. The oldest among those women was only in her early twenties, while the youngest was almost the same age as Lin Rongrong.
Seeing a teenage girl with sores and whip marks on her body, Madam Wang's heart ached, and tears streamed down her face. Those damned bandits deserved to die a hundred times over; it wouldn't be enough to atone for their sins!
After settling the women, Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi went to see Xu Fu to discuss their next course of action.
First, they would dispatch people to gather information. Once those bandits returned, they would be ambushed and captured on the road. This was to avoid the villagers feeling disturbed by their deaths within the cave, and also because cleaning up would require too much water.
Next, after dealing with the bandits, they would decide who would accompany them to the Land of Dawn to find the antidote and who would stay to protect the people of Houxi Village.
Upon hearing about the journey to the Land of Dawn, all ten guards vied to accompany Lu Yuzhi and the others in their search for the medicine. Former comrades now refused to yield to each other, and ultimately, they proposed a martial arts competition to determine the selection.
Su Muqing also wanted them to go together, but she was somewhat concerned about the people of Houxi Village. They were farmers, women, children, and the elderly, with very little ability to protect themselves.
Seeing the ten men arguing, Xu Fu finally made a decision. He instructed the third brother to make a trip to Yongping Prefecture to have their personnel there divided into groups and brought over in advance.
Then, Leng Ren and the other ten men would all accompany them to the Land of Dawn to ensure the safety of Lu Yuzhi and Su Muqing.
This news delighted Leng Ren and the others, and they eagerly went out to gather intelligence on the other two bandit groups. The third brother was also cheerful, disregarding his lack of sleep, and rushed to Yongping Prefecture to arrange for personnel.
Su Cuiping saw Su Muqing emerging from Xu Fu's place and mysteriously pulled her aside. "Muqing, I heard my mother say that after things are settled here, you'll be heading to the Land of Dawn?"
"Yes! Didn't we agree earlier that we'd go help Brother Lu find medicine? What's wrong?" Su Muqing looked at Su Cuiping in confusion. Didn't she already know about this? Why was she asking again?
Su Cuiping tugged at her sleeve and said in a fawning tone, "I want to go with you too. Can you help me talk to my parents? Please?"
"We're not going on a trip, and we might encounter a lot of danger!" Su Muqing hesitated slightly. It wasn't that she didn't want to bring her, but she was afraid that if they encountered danger, she wouldn't be able to protect Su Cuiping properly.
"I'm not afraid of danger. I have the hidden weapons you gave me! You know how powerful your hidden weapons are, don't you? Can you take me with you to see? I'm already grown up. If it weren't for this disaster, I might never have had the chance to leave Luoning Prefecture and see the outside world. Now that I have such a good opportunity, I really want to go with you. I'm begging you, please?" Su Cuiping swayed Su Muqing's arm back and forth, pleading and acting coquettishly, making it impossible for her to refuse.
Su Muqing, unable to resist her persistence, finally agreed to try and speak to them. "Alright, alright! I'm really afraid of you. I'll go talk to Uncle and Auntie later. If they don't agree, then I can't do anything."
"Muqing, thank you! I knew you were the best! Don't worry, you are the lucky star of our village now. Whatever you say, my parents will agree." Su Cuiping, having received Su Muqing's agreement, happily spun around her.
"Mu Mu Jie!" Just as the two of them were laughing together, Lin Rongrong, holding the little baby, stood in the distance, looking at them with a mixture of envy and disappointment.
"Rongrong, what's wrong?" Su Muqing pulled Su Cuiping over to her. Seeing her unhappy expression, she quickly asked.
"I... I..." Lin Rongrong wanted to say that she also wanted to go, but she was afraid Su Muqing would think she was being unreasonable. After much hesitation, she shook her head.