In the wilderness’s Giant Stone Pile, the refugee group had quieted down; they were exhausted after a day of anxiety and an afternoon of hurried travel.
After making a fire and eating a hot bowl of barley porridge among the Giant Stone Pile, everyone huddled by the bonfire and gradually fell asleep.
With Lawrence’s help, Ron Brothers arranged the night watchmen, then sat alone on a large rock, gazing north.
“So much time has passed, and the Master still hasn’t arrived at the Giant Stone Pile to rendezvous; could something have happened?” Ron Brothers murmured to himself.
The refugee group grew increasingly agitated after learning they had nearly been ambushed by bandits; that afternoon, two individuals had already argued about leaving the group to save themselves.
Ron Brothers, accompanied by Lawrence and several armed men, tried his best to maintain order, but apart from Lawrence, the other temporary refugee guards were also wavering.
Ron Brothers had never managed so many people before, and facing such a chaotic situation, his thoughts were somewhat muddled.
As he pondered aimlessly, night was almost over, and a faint dark gray light appeared in the eastern sky; Ron Brothers could no longer stay awake and fell asleep on a large rock.
Just as he dreamt of returning to the wooden cabin in the valley and drinking fragrant meat soup with his parents and sister, Ron Brothers was awakened by an urgent voice.
“Ron Brothers, wake up, wake up! Someone’s stealing grain.”
Lawrence was responsible for guarding the grain cart last night.
At dawn, he jumped off the grain cart to relieve himself a little further away, but as soon as he pulled up his pants and returned, he saw the same fellow who had been clamoring to escape yesterday carrying a sack of barley from the grain cart, preparing to run away.
Lawrence apprehended him on the spot.
The grain thief was squatting on the ground, guarded by several refugee guards, while his wife was loudly arguing with one of them: “What are you, some kind of dog for someone else? What right do you have to arrest my husband! Release him now!”
Ron Brothers pushed through the onlookers and approached the grain cart, glancing at the grain thief on the ground, clutching his head, and the fallen grain bag.
Already in a state of turmoil, Ron Brothers felt anger surge within him and drew his sword, ready to charge forward.
“Ron Brothers, Ron Brothers, calm down, you can’t just kill him like that.” Seeing Ron Brothers about to draw his sword and hack the fellow, Lawrence quickly intervened.
“Everyone is already panicking; if you just kill him like this, things will fall apart.
Let’s wait for the Master to return before deciding.” Lawrence had witnessed Ron Brothers delivering the finishing blow to the bandit yesterday and knew this hothead would certainly dare to chop off the fellow’s head with a single swing.
However, this would cause even greater panic and potentially lead to uncontrollable chaos.
Ron Brothers listened to Lawrence’s words, glanced at the refugees around him, who were holding their breath and staring at him, and then returned his half-drawn sword to its sheath.
Ron Brothers walked over to the grain-stealing couple and sternly rebuked them: “You two greedy, shameless scoundrels, why did you steal the grain?”
The man squatted on the ground, silent, but his woman pointed at Ron Brothers’s nose and cursed: “You liar, you’re all liars!
You tricked us by saying the place we were going would be safe from bandits and brigands, but who was following us yesterday? Who was planning to ambush us in the forest yesterday?
Don’t tell me your Patrol Officer went to chase the bandits; he’s been gone so long, who knows if he’s been killed by them?
Since the master is gone, why bother reclaiming land and planting crops? Everyone might as well just split the grain now and run for their lives, it’s better than following you liars to your deaths.”
Hearing the shrew’s words, the refugees grew even more uneasy, and there was some commotion in the crowd.
The venomous woman intended to incite everyone; Lawrence, sensing the situation was dire, quickly jumped onto the grain cart and shouted: “Everyone listen to me!
Indeed, there were bandits planning to ambush us yesterday, but the Patrol Officer saw through their plan and led us in a surprise attack, killing two bandits on the spot.
Then, the Master took a few brave men and pursued the bandits into the forest.
If you don’t believe me, ask them; they saw two bandit corpses in the forest with their own eyes.” Lawrence pointed to the refugee guards who had witnessed Ron Brothers delivering the finishing blow yesterday.
One refugee guard stepped forward and said, “Yes, I saw two bandit corpses in the forest with my own eyes.
Ron Brothers even gave them another sword strike.” The other refugee guards also nodded in agreement.
The venomous woman saw the crowd beginning to side with Ron Brothers and shouted again: “Perhaps they really did go after the bandits, but they haven’t returned all night, who knows if they were— ”
Ron Brothers drew his sword, stepped forward, and pointed it at the venomous woman, interrupting her: “Everyone listen to me!
The Patrol Officer was originally a religious guard; it was God’s will that sent him to this chaotic hell to drive out demons and save the common people.
He is the Shield of God, not only brave and skilled in battle but also blessed by the Lord God, so he will surely return safely.
And this malicious woman, for her own greed, wants everyone to die with them.
Think carefully, in these past few days following my Master, have your wives and children ever gone hungry?
Have you ever been attacked by a bandit or brigand up close?
Besides my Master, who else can guarantee your sustenance and protect your safety?
If you leave this group, how long will you survive in this man-eating chaotic world outside?
These two scoundrels stole a bag of grain from us, which means everyone loses a few bowls of life-saving barley porridge.
They didn’t steal grain; they stole all our lives.” Ron Brothers’s words struck everyone’s hearts, and the crowd fell silent.
Lawrence stood on the grain cart and winked at his wife, who was squeezed in the crowd.
Lawrence’s wife grabbed a piece of hard dirt from the ground and threw it at the venomous woman.
“Bandits!”
“Bad people!”
“Witch!”
“Kill them!” Curses against the grain-stealing couple erupted from the crowd, followed by the dull thud of fists hitting flesh.
After the crowd had vented, Lawrence led people to tie the grain-stealing couple, covered in mud and spit, with faces full of scratches and bruises, to the grain cart and stuffed the venomous woman’s mouth with a rag.
The refugees originally came from various places, all united for survival.
After Ron Brothers exposed the venomous woman’s malice, everyone vented their anger on the couple, and the agitation in their hearts largely subsided.
However, the Patrol Officer who went to suppress the bandits had not returned, and the worry in everyone’s hearts remained indelible.
“Ron Brothers, they’re tied up, and everyone’s quieted down now,” Lawrence said, walking over to Ron Brothers.
Ron Brothers greatly admired this lean man who had performed remarkably well throughout their journey.
He sincerely said, “Brother Lawrence, thank you.
If you hadn’t helped me all this way, I wouldn’t have been able to control the situation.”
“Ron Brothers, you’re already very capable.
When I was your age, I couldn’t even kill a chicken without closing my eyes,” Lawrence replied with a smile.
Lawrence glanced at the idle refugees sitting on the ground, then turned to Ron Brothers and suggested, “Ron Brothers, can we let everyone start fires and cook first?
As long as they have something to eat and something to do with their hands, they’ll settle down.”
Ron Brothers thought about it; stabilizing the refugees was most important right now, and eating earlier was not critical, so he nodded in agreement.
Upon learning they could eat earlier, the refugees immediately became busy.
Some collected snow to melt for water, others picked up dry branches to start fires, and some came to the grain cart to get barley from Ron Brothers.
Soon, thick smoke began to rise from the Giant Stone Pile…