In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 54: Sailing on Land

To be honest, although Chen Dao disliked the corrupt feudal imperial ruling class, he still did not want the world to descend into chaos, because in times of chaos, the people at the bottom of society would always suffer the most.

Unfortunately, this situation won't change because of his thoughts; all he can do is look after himself.

Chen Dao pulled his wandering thoughts back and looked at Ding Xiaohua, asking, "What are you planning to do next?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Xiaohua thought for a moment and said, "I don't know either! I heard them say that I could survive if I came to Taiping County, so I followed them. Who would have thought that the county was so far away? My husband and I ate all the food we brought on the way. If it weren't for meeting you, my benefactor, I'm afraid even my daughter wouldn't have survived."

Tears blurred Ding Xiaohua's vision, mixing with the mud on her face to form a murky liquid.

Only she herself knows how difficult the journey was. With only a small amount of dry food, she, her husband, and daughter embarked on their escape, traveling by boat from the dry land of Liangzhou and relying on their own two feet to reach the territory of Qingzhou. The distance of hundreds of miles is nothing more than an hour's high-speed train journey to people on Earth.

But for Ding Xiaohua, who traversed hundreds of miles on foot, it was a journey longer than the past twenty years of her life. Along the way, she, her husband, and daughter ate dew and drank the wind when thirsty, and subsisted on meager rations when hungry, and even...

Because of food shortages, her husband starved to death on the road...

Ding Xiaohua was extremely grateful that she had met the kind-hearted Chen Dao and his group; otherwise... even her daughter would probably have starved to death here.

"Ugh!"

Chen Dao sighed softly, looked at Ding Xiaohua's tear-blurred face, took out a steamed bun from his bundle and handed it to Ding Xiaohua.

When Chen Dao was feeding Ding Xiaohua's daughter earlier, he noticed the longing in Ding Xiaohua's eyes. Clearly, Ding Xiaohua herself had probably not eaten for a long time and was burning with hunger.

"Thank you, sir."

Ding Xiaohua was clearly starving. After thanking him, she grabbed the steamed bun and wolfed it down.

"If you're willing, you can come with me. If you're not, that's fine too. We can just continue on to the county town."

"I'm willing to go with you, my benefactor! I'm willing to go with you."

Ding Xiaohua nodded hastily. She wasn't stupid; she knew that going to the county town wouldn't guarantee her survival, but following Chen Dao offered a chance to live.

As for whether it's appropriate for a widow with a daughter to be with a group of grown men...

Ding Xiaohua couldn't even be bothered to consider such a thing.

Poverty may not make people sell their dignity, but hunger can!

When people can't even survive, who cares about the strict separation of men and women?

"Then let's go!"

The donkey cart started moving again, and the heavy load on it pressed deep ruts into the dirt road. Chen Da, Chen Cheng and others stood guard on both sides of the donkey cart, their eyes constantly watching for any movement in the nearby woods.

Ding Xiaohua followed behind the crowd with her daughter on her back, her eyes shining as if she saw a glimmer of hope for survival.

"Ying ying."

After walking for a while, Xiao Yuan on Chen Dao's shoulder suddenly made a sound.

Chen Dao, who was with Xiao Yuan day and night, noticed that Xiao Yuan's cries were different this time and immediately signaled everyone to stop.

Meanwhile, figures appeared one after another in the woods to the right of the official road.

"It's a thief hiding in the woods!"

Chen Da stared sharply to his right, his heart heavy.

When traveling on official roads, the most dangerous thing is these forest bandits hiding in the woods. These forest bandits may not be very strong, but they are excellent at robbing goods. They regard those caravans transporting goods as prey and specifically target caravans with more valuable goods to rob.

The band of forest bandits who appeared at this moment were clearly eyeing the grain on their donkey cart.

Chen Cheng and the others also looked nervous and were somewhat uneasy, as this was the first time they had encountered these bandits known as the Forest Bandits on the official road.

As they watched, more and more figures emerged from the woods, soon exceeding double digits.

These bandits used a variety of weapons. Some carried wooden sticks with iron or stone spearheads at the ends, while others carried knives. Of course, some carried the simplest weapons such as stones and wooden sticks.

"Those few men!"

A bearded man stepped out from the crowd, beaming, and said, "Give us half of the grain in the cart, and leave that woman behind, and I can decide whether to let you leave!"

"That's right! Leave half the food and the women, and you can leave safely!"

"Hand over half of the grain in the cart, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

"Leave half the goods behind!"

"..."

The other henchmen loudly echoed the bearded man's words.

Unless absolutely necessary, they would rather not fight Chen Dao and his group, after all, Chen Cheng's head was really intimidating. In addition, Chen Da had already gripped his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it at their group.

Chen Dao calmly surveyed the thief opposite him, his face expressionless.

These thieves didn't look much better than the refugees outside the county town; they were all ragged and emaciated, except for the bearded man in the lead who was somewhat robust.

Of course, although these bandits looked thin and weak, their weapons were still somewhat threatening. In addition, they were numerous and powerful, so most freight caravans were unwilling to provoke them and would choose to pay to avoid trouble.

Can……

These thieves were asking for way too much; they wanted half the grain on the cart, and they even planned to kidnap Ding Xiaohua...

This is something that even Chen Da, let alone Chen Dao, cannot accept!

General Chen aimed his bow and arrow at the leading bearded man and said in a conciliatory tone, "Heroes, half the grain is too much. Can we discuss it?"

"No!"

The bearded man said without room for argument, "My brothers went through all that trouble to come out here, and they can't even bring back half a cartload of grain. I'm afraid I won't be able to explain this to them!"

"That's right! Half of the grain must be handed over!"

"Boss, let's just kill them all. That way, all the grain will be ours."

"That's right! Kill them! Anyway, the authorities can't interfere here!"

"Kill them!"

"..."

The bearded man's henchmen, not wanting to miss out on trouble, cheered and jeered. Most of the lower-ranking henchmen didn't think much of it; they just subconsciously believed that since they outnumbered the enemy, as long as they relied on their superior numbers to kill everyone on the other side, the food and women on the cart would be theirs, and there would be no need to bargain with Chen Dao and his men.

Hearing his men's jeers, the bearded man made no move. He simply stared intently at Chen Da and Chen Cheng, who posed the greatest threat, and said in a threatening tone, "You have fifteen minutes to consider. Hand over half the grain and that woman, or die!"