At that moment, the village chief saw Lin Jinyue and her family coming out and approached Lin Shucheng to ask, "Would you like to travel together? We don’t know how long we can hold out, but with more people, we can at least look out for one another. Personal grudges can be set aside for now."
Lin Shucheng knew the village chief meant well and politely declined, "We won’t be heading north. That place will inevitably fall into chaos sooner or later, so we won’t be joining you."
Lin Youcai was taken aback. "Not going north? Then where are you going?"
Lin Shucheng replied, "Our family has discussed it, and we plan to go to Lingnan."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd exclaimed, "To Lingnan? That place is full of miasma and poisonous insects. One careless move could cost you your life!"
Seeing everyone urging him not to go, Lin Shucheng explained, "But aside from Lingnan, there’s nowhere else to go. Tiezhu said the current situation is dire, and even going to Jingcheng would make it hard to survive."
Lin Xueqing twitched at the mention of the original body’s down-to-earth name, "Tiezhu."
What a name…
Tiezhu was the only educated person in their village, and the villagers all respected those who could read. Hearing Lin Shucheng’s words, the chattering villagers fell silent.
Worried they might go north to their deaths, Lin Xueqing recited the words her sister had taught her: "Prince Jing and Prince Ning have each seized territory and are eyeing Jingcheng covetously. Sooner or later, they will attack the capital. If the current emperor were capable, fleeing to Jingcheng might offer stability, but the emperor is incompetent, and corrupt officials dominate the court, exploiting the people. Prince Ning and Prince Jing will inevitably attack.
Prince Ning and Prince Jing are no saints. Wherever they go, they leave devastation in their wake, burning, killing, and looting… If we want safety, Lingnan is the safest option. It’s difficult to attack, has miasma, and is near the sea. If an attack comes, our family can take our money and grain and flee by boat to nearby islands."
These words made some people consider it: "Listening to this, Lingnan does sound like a good option."
But they still had doubts: "But the miasma and those poisonous insects and snakes…"
Having said their piece, the Lin family didn’t press further.
Lin Jinyue was about to leave but added one more thing: "Grandpa Village Chief, no matter where you go, take the uncles and brothers and leave as soon as possible. Nan’an County is already empty."
They had done their utmost, laying out the pros and cons. Where to go from here was up to them.
Before the village chief could respond, the original body’s grandfather, Lin Youliang, grew displeased. "Since when does a little girl like you have a say? What nonsense are you spouting? Wanting us to go to Lingnan—are you trying to get us all killed? Youcai, we can’t listen to them. We must head north quickly!"
Lin Jinyue rolled her eyes. "No one’s begging you to go. The village chief asked, and we answered."
Lin Youliang had never been spoken to like this before.
None of the younger ones in the family, not even the boys, dared to talk back to him like this. Enraged, he raised his cane to strike.
Lin Xueqing and Lin Shucheng immediately shielded Lin Jinyue.
Lin Shucheng even pulled a machete from their luggage, standing protectively in front of Lin Jinyue, his eyes fierce. "Let’s see who dares to bully my daughter!"
These past few days, they had lived comfortably in the System Space, eating their fill with every meal. They were not like these people, who could faint from hunger at any moment.
Lin Lao Da pointed at him and scolded, "You unfilial son! How dare you disrespect your elders? I’ll break your legs!"
For a moment, the scene descended into chaos.
Village Chief Lin Youcai quickly stepped forward to mediate: "Alright, alright, let's not argue at a critical time like this. If we anger the city's noble guests, they might just drive us away."
Lin Jinyue couldn't be bothered to argue with the Lin family members either. She asked her brother to set down the basket, which turned out to be filled with a large pile of mixed-grain flatbreads!
Everyone stared at the flatbreads with greedy eyes, and Lin Youliang nearly lunged forward to snatch them!
However, Lin Shucheng stood there holding a large machete, ready to chop off his hand at any moment, so Lin Youliang's family didn't dare act recklessly.
Seeing her father so fierce, Lin Jinyue felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
After a moment, she turned to the village chief and the others: "My mother found some medicinal herbs in the mountains and traded them for food. Thank you, Village Chief Grandpa and everyone, for the food you gave us earlier. These flatbreads are for you."
Each mixed-grain flatbread was quite large; if rationed carefully, it could last one person for two days.
Lin Jinyue distributed them one by one, giving each person one.
These flatbreads weren't expensive—they cost only one copper coin each in the System Mall. Lin Jinyue had some loose silver on hand and could have given them more, but that would have been too conspicuous.
She didn’t want to attract unwanted attention.
After distributing them to the fifty people from Lin Village, the basket was empty.
When Lin Youliang’s family stared eagerly at Lin Jinyue, only to find out there were no flatbreads left, they were furious.
Lin Youliang asked in disbelief, "What about ours? You won’t even give any to your own grandfather?"
Lin Jinyue spat, "The grandfather who wanted to sell me off? Now that there’s food to share, you remember you’re my grandfather? If I recall correctly, you’ve already cut ties with my father. Why are you so eager to claim kinship now?"
Her words left no room for saving face.
If any other child had spoken with such sarcasm, they would have been whipped with bamboo strips long ago.
It was truly rebellious.
But Lin Shucheng and the others indulged Lin Jinyue, making it clear that if anyone dared bully her, he would confront them with his machete.
Lin Youliang and his family were seething with anger but didn’t dare speak up, genuinely afraid that Lin Shucheng might attack them with the knife.
No one dared to step forward.
Seeing that his daughter was about to be angered by these people, Lin Shucheng didn’t want to stay any longer. He said to the village chief, "We’ll take our leave now."
They had food with them and noticed many people at the city gate.
After they left, the Lin Village folks at the city gate began discussing among themselves.
Village Chief Lin Youcai hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "Tiezhu’s words do make some sense. If we risk our lives to reach Jingcheng, only to be forcibly conscripted or caught in the crossfire if Prince Ning or Prince Jing attack, wouldn’t all our efforts be in vain?"
"Not to mention the chaos of war—can we even survive the journey to Jingcheng? In just three days, many of our fellow villagers have already died from snakebites…"
"Things will likely only get more chaotic from here. As Tiezhu said, although the south is a barren land with Miasma, neither Prince Jing nor Prince Ning would bother with it, let alone waste effort attacking it. Perhaps there’s still a glimmer of hope there."
As they talked, most of them began to feel swayed.
They had been away from home for a month, enduring immense suffering. Out of a village of over a hundred people, only sixty remained.
And that was only because Lin Lao San’s wife had helped gather medicinal herbs to save people; otherwise, the death toll would have been even higher.
They deeply understood the importance of a doctor. Combined with Tiezhu’s words—if even Jingcheng was about to descend into chaos—then perhaps Lingnan was the only place left to go.
Someone in the crowd suggested, "Tiezhu's mother knows some medicine. Why don't we beg their family to take us along?"
Lin Youliang had just been publicly criticized by a younger villager and felt humiliated.
Seeing the villagers now praising their family, he felt even more displeased. His tone turned sour: "Do you really think they’d be kind enough to take you? Besides, what skills could the daughter of a barefoot doctor have? Didn’t she kill someone before?"
Lin Youcai’s expression instantly darkened.
If they hadn’t relentlessly accused Lady Jiang, making her afraid to treat anyone, how could so many have died later?
What was even more absurd was Lin Youliang’s family. His eldest grandson, Tiezhu, had only a slight fever and dizziness, but they prevented Lady Jiang from treating him, dragging it out until both were unconscious.
Shortly after they left, Tiezhu and his mother were cured. Many in the village regretted it deeply—if only their relatives bitten by venomous snakes had been treated by Tiezhu’s mother, there might have been a chance for survival.
Now, with Lin Youliang’s family stirring up trouble again, how could the village chief feel at ease?