Chapter 25
Invaders
Shanyang Village was to the south of Hu Family Village. There were two large mountains between the two villages, and there was a path leading to the town between the two mountains. Usually, one would walk through the two mountains for an hour to reach the village.
Now that it was snow was melting and the mountain path was slippery, the group of people spent almost two hours to traverse the path.
The village chief of Shanyang Village did not want to follow. If the village chief came, the situation would be different.
However, the people from Shanyang Village said, “The last time we went over, the village head of Hu Family Village didn’t give us any face at all and embarrassed us in front of outsiders. He even snatched Doctor Hu away. Our village suffered so many casualties, but they didn’t let anyone come over to save us. Aren’t they clearly bullying us for not having anyone to support us!”
“That’s right, Village Chief. You have to go. The Hu Family Village is nothing. They’re just a group of people in dilapidated houses!” Someone spat on the ground.
The village chief of Shanyang Village thought about it. The Hu Family Village was extremely poor after the avalanche, and the entire village was almost completely buried, but they could still give 50 catties of food. Perhaps they had hidden even more.
Seeing that they were so hungry that they could only eat their own children, they still refused to extend a helping hand.
Such a heartless group of people was probably not easy to deal with. It was better that he followed.
This time, because they were extremely hungry, Shanyang Village directly mobilized more than a hundred young men, especially the three families that were next in line to sacrifice their children. The men were especially indignant.
As long as they could snatch over the child from the Hu Family Village, their child would be able to live!
If they could hold on for a few more days, they would be able to go to town to buy food. At that time, they would not have to bear the pain of eating their children.
Not everyone had participated in the cannibalism, but the people who had eaten the flesh of the children were especially excited.
The taste of children, compared to chickens, ducks, fish, and pigs… Tsk tsk.
Those people’s eyes were almost green as they followed in the middle of the team. They even thought that as long as they could snatch one child, they could snatch two, three… more!
Hehe, if they forced the people of Hu Family Village to have a taste of it, they would definitely not be able to resist it anymore.
When they rounded the second mountain, they saw from afar that the people from Hu Family Village were busy building houses. They were transporting stones, cutting wood, and gathering mud.
On the largest mud dam, a few women were burning a fire. There was a huge pot on it, and they were boiling something.
From afar, they could only see the dense smoke.
The people from Shanyang Village drooled as they watched.
“Chief, they’re not cooking—children right?”
They could not let them eat the child first!
The village head of Shanyang Village raised his hand. “Wait, the young men are all outside. Don’t go directly. The sickles, firewood, and other things that are easy to hide should be hidden in your clothes first. The hoes, shovels, and other things that are not easy to hide need to be hidden here first. Leave a few people here. We’ll go and meet them first.”
The people of Hu Family Village would definitely be on guard if they walked over with their weapons.
Someone with better wits hurriedly said, “I heard before that the child was picked up by the Wang Family! Let’s go directly to the Wang Family. Their house is located in a remote area. If we go around the bamboo forest over there, the people here shouldn’t be able to see us.”
“Old Wang’s family escaped from the wilderness and only lived here for more than ten years. How can they compare to the close relationship we’ve had with the village for generations?” Someone added, “Even if they see us, they’ll only turn a blind eye.”
The heavens were really helping them! An outsider had picked up an outsider child. Wasn’t that prepared for them?
The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. They took an extra hour to walk around the bamboo forest on the mountain and headed straight for Old man Wang’s house.
Hu Erpang was nine years old this year and was the younger brother of Widow Zhou’s husband. Widow Zhou and Madam Ma of the Wang Family were close friends. Hu Erpang also liked to play with the children of the Wang Family.
Today, he realized that there was a pile of spring flowers growing on the hill in front of the bamboo forest. They were especially beautiful. He wanted to make a wreath for the Blessed Child.
The blessed child was naturally Ah Yu. Everyone had been calling her Ah Yu and Blessed Child recently, and the children followed suit.
Hu Erpang had just picked a bag when he suddenly heard a group of people talking. He was afraid that the adults would scold him, so he hid behind a rock.
At this moment, he heard someone say, “Everyone in their village has gone to build houses. The men from Old man Wang’s family are probably there too, right?”
“I’m sure they are. With the men out of the house, there’s only a bunch of women left. They’re easy to deal with.”
“It’s best if there’s no fights. We’re from the same hometown. There’s no need to make things so tense.”
“Ah, which child is it… Why don’t we ask the children in their village? If we find out, we can just trick the child over and take it away. In any case, the child doesn’t belong to them. They probably won’t come to us for it.”
“Hehehe, there’s no use even if they come for the child, we’ll definitely be able to eat the—”
“Shut up!”
There were more than a hundred people in the group. Even if the village chief of Shanyang Village reminded them repeatedly, someone still had to open their mouths.
At first, Hu Erpang did not understand what he saw, but when he heard the words “eat” and the child that was just picked up, he recalled his sister-in-law’s words a few days ago.
He immediately trembled and almost rolled out from behind the rock.
When these people were a little further away, he turned around and ran in the other direction. That was the path that the children often used, so he could return to the village faster.
Hu Erpang had long lost the flowers in his hand. Although his name was Erpang, he was actually not fat. He was like a thin monkey.
He ran very quickly and even fell a few times on the way. His entire body was covered in mud.
On the way, they met Third Aunt Hu’s two children. When they saw Hu Erpang, they did not have the chance to laugh at him.
He heard Hu Erpang say breathlessly, “Quick… quick… find the adults! There’s someone outside… who wants…”
Hu Erpang hammered his chest hard, took a deep breath, and said quickly, “Someone wants to snatch the Blessed Child!”
When the two children heard this, they didn’t care about anything else and ran.
One of them ran back to his house while the other ran to Old man Wang’s house.
On the way, they encountered a few more children.
“Quickly tell the adults that the Blessed Child has been snatched away!”
“Quickly tell Grandma and the others that the Blessed Child has been captured!”
Hence, the children spread the news. The fastest one had already reached Old man Wang’s house.
The child shouted at the top of his lungs, “Not good, not good! The Blessed Child has been eaten!”
Clang!
The wooden basin in Liu Shi’s hand fell to the ground, and all the clothes inside fell out.
Old Madam Wang immediately walked out of the house and held her chest in disbelief. “What did you say?!”
The child was also stunned and only hurriedly shouted, “They… they all said that the Blessed Child had been captured and eaten—so many people came!”
The children spread the news in a hurry and even re-imagined it on the way.
By a freak combination of factors, it was actually very similar to the truth.
Before Old Madam Wang could speak, Liu Shi had already bent down and picked up the club from the ground.
“Where are they?! Where are they!!!”
“This woman will fight it out with them!!!”
On the other hill, Ah Yu, who was playing with the little lamb and picking flowers with Wang Wulang, suddenly heard someone call her.
“Eh, Ah Yu, weren’t you eaten?”
Little Ah Yu blinked.