Chapter 106: Searching for a Village in the Snow
Seeing this, her daughter-in-law quickly pulled her back, but Zhang Yuan’s cold, piercing gaze had already left a deep shadow in Tao Fanghua’s heart.
“Lord An, we have no objections to your allocation. However, could we at least have one tent? It’s freezing outside—we can’t possibly sleep in the ice and snow!”
“Impossible! Do you think those tents are war spoils? One of them was already ours before, and the other two were gifts from the officers escorting us. They only gave them to us because of the Yu family! If you have the guts to go off on your own, don’t be afraid of freezing to death!”
This time, before Old Madam Chen could even respond, Ye Jiamai directly shouted out.
Her kindness had its limits—she would not let it be trampled upon. As far as she was concerned, the Zhang family could freeze out there for all she cared. It would at least prevent them from becoming a future problem!
“That’s right! Ye Jiamai is correct. We all saw it—where do you get the nerve to ask for one?”
As soon as Ye Jiamai finished speaking, Old Madam Chen immediately backed her up. Then, the Bai and Liu families also chimed in.
The Zhang family only had about thirty people, yet they expected to take an entire tent? Meanwhile, the rest of them, over a hundred in total, would have to squeeze into just two?
Even if they didn’t mind squeezing, why should they give anything to Zhang Yuan?
“That’s right! My sister-in-law and my mother are absolutely correct. Those tents belong to us. Since you’ve already decided to go your own way, you should be prepared to face some hardships.”
After saying this, Yu Zhengqing no longer looked at Zhang Yuan and instead called for the men of the three families to move the supplies aside. It was time to divide everything up.
After the goods were split, the Zhang family quietly settled into a corner, preparing their dinner while the men went out to gather firewood. Tao Fanghua, however, was still fuming.
“Father, why did we have to separate from them? Look at us now—we got so little! We don’t even have a tent! How are we supposed to survive?”
Zhang Yuan’s daughter, Zhang Qianxue, complained as she looked at her father. He sat silently against a rock, polishing his large blade with a grim expression.
“Enough, Qianxue. What’s done is done. There’s no turning back, so don’t make things harder for Father.”
Zhang Yuan’s younger son, Zhang Wenxing, quickly stepped in, trying to stop his sister from adding to their father’s frustration.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhengqing continued organizing the women to prepare rations and dinner for the night. The men went out to gather firewood for cooking and warmth.
Despite their hardships, everyone was in high spirits—after all, they had made it out of the Jiuzhong Mountains alive.
For the first time in a long while, they could breathe a little easier. There were no immediate threats, no officers hunting them down. It was a rare moment of relief.
To celebrate, the women split into two groups—one prepared rations while the other made a hearty dinner.
Though their supplies were limited to rice, flour, and meat, the skilled cooks managed to prepare a large pot of thick meat-and-dough soup, satisfying everyone’s cravings.
When it was time to sleep, Yu Zhengqing paid no mind to the Zhang family. He didn’t even assign them to night watch duty. The men from the three families took shifts guarding the cave entrance instead.
The next morning, Yu Luo woke up to find that the Zhang family had already left, and the others were preparing to depart.
She glanced to the side—her mother was still fast asleep, her habit of sleeping in unchanged. In fact, she was sleeping even more soundly than Yu Luo herself.
After a quick meal, the three families packed up their belongings onto the horses and continued their journey.
As they traveled, Yu Zhengqing and his two sons used their light-footed skills to scout the road ahead. They hoped to find a village or town where they could buy carts and additional supplies.
A cart would make travel easier, and additional livestock would mean less hardship for the group.
However, despite traveling until nightfall, they found no sign of a village or town—nor did they see any trace of the Zhang family.
Did the Zhang family take the wrong path? Or had they run into danger? No one knew.
The next day, the journey continued, and by the third day, they had still not encountered the Zhang family.
But finally, luck was on their side—they spotted a small village with about ten households!
A village meant supplies. It also meant they could gather information about the surrounding area.
Yu Zhengqing and Yu Xiaoxuan immediately used their light-footed skills to reach the village ahead of the group.
Upon arrival, they found that the village was built entirely of stone houses. The population consisted mostly of men, with only a few women and around twenty children.
“What are you doing here?”
A burly, bearded man stepped out of a stone house, dressed in thick fur clothing, a fur hat, and knee-high boots.
Seeing the man, father and son quickly cupped their hands in greeting.
“We are travelers passing through, seeking shelter for the night. Would it be possible to stay here?”
“Just the two of you?”
The man sized them up skeptically. Both Yu Zhengqing and Yu Xiaoxuan were clad in thick fur coats, similar to those worn by the mountain bandits.
But when the man’s gaze landed on the large blades hanging from their waists, his expression grew more guarded.
“No, we are traveling with a large group—over a hundred people. We are heading toward the wilderness and are unfamiliar with this region. We had hoped to find a town, but after three days of travel, we have yet to come across one.”
“Over a hundred people?”
The man’s eyes widened in shock. He swallowed hard before furrowing his brows.
“We don’t have space for so many people. You’d better look for another place to stay.”
“No problem. We won’t stay in anyone’s home. We have tents and can set up camp outside the village for the night. We only want to ask—do you have any carts for sale? If so, we’d like to buy one.”
“Carts? The snow is too thick in the wilderness. In some places, the snowdrifts reach waist-high—carts won’t get through. If you need transportation, we can build you something more suitable.”
Hearing this, father and son’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“That would be perfect! I will go inform our group right away.”
“Alright. I’ll speak to our village chief.”
When the two returned with the news, the entire group erupted in cheers!
“Father, Mother… something feels off. A village appearing here, in the middle of nowhere, seems strange to me.”
Yu Luo watched everyone celebrating, but a nagging sense of unease crept into her heart.
“What are you going on about? Did your system warn you again?”
