Meanwhile, the old Xiao family was still busy fighting over the cart, while Song Jin had already led the one injured adult and four children into a desperate flight for their lives.
The first team, at the very front of Xiao Village’s migration group, was naturally the first to spot the rat swarm in the distance—an overwhelming, army-like tide devouring the refugees.
“Run! It’s a rat swarm! Go left!”
Song Jin was the first to realize that the approaching black mass was actually rats. The sight nearly shattered her nerves as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Turning her head, she saw that the left side was an open plain, and she immediately grabbed the one injured adult and four children, sprinting forward and taking the lead.
The other four households in the first team were equally terrified by the endless sea of black rats. All of them turned and ran for their lives.
“Leave the ox cart! Abandon it and run! Follow the Song family!”
The village head also shouted urgently, ordering his eldest son to abandon their ox cart immediately. They ran with all their strength after Song Jin.
The other two households followed closely behind.
The Third Uncle’s family directly abandoned all their baggage and fled, keeping only their household registration documents and a red flag.
Because the first team suddenly veered off the official road and ran into the plains on the left, the nine teams behind immediately saw the sky-darkening rat swarm and were nearly scared out of their wits.
Fortunately, Song Jin had reacted early and led the way. With the red flags prepared by the Third Uncle, and the capable team leaders he had carefully selected, the villagers of Xiao Village quickly regained their senses after initial panic. They abandoned their belongings and ran toward their respective team flags.
Thus, when the rat swarm surged forward, only one person—who had been cruelly abandoned by her own mother during the chaos—failed to escape. The rest of Xiao Village successfully left the main road and fled five li away, narrowly surviving. Behind them, refugees from other villages who reacted in time followed Xiao Village’s path and also survived. Those who failed to react in time were instantly overwhelmed, leaving only white bones behind.
Song Jin had no time to look back as she ran for her life with the one injured adult and four children.
The children, due to Xiao Yanzhi’s restraint, had been lying flat on the cart and luckily did not see the horrific scene. But Xiao Yanzhi, sitting on the cart, as well as the villagers and other survivors, saw everything clearly.
As they watched tens of thousands of lives being swallowed in an instant, turning into piles of flesh, blood, and bones, everyone felt their stomachs churn. They forced themselves to keep running, suppressing the urge to vomit.
Only after they had traveled twenty li away—once the danger was fully behind them—did the village head call for a stop. At that moment, everyone finally collapsed and vomited violently.
No one knew how long they vomited for. When they finally regained composure, they suddenly remembered the baggage they had abandoned. Whether from Xiao Village or other villages, everyone burst into heartbroken cries.
“Oh heavens! Are you trying to kill us all?!”
“We have nothing left! Not a single thing!”
“We survived by luck, but now we have nothing left—might as well be dead!”
“Why, heavens… why force us to this point!”
The village head, hearing everyone curse the heavens, also had tears in his eyes. Wiping them away, he stepped forward to persuade them:
“Why are you crying? We survived a great earthquake and a rat swarm—this means we are blessed with fortune! Instead of crying here, we should count the people, gather ourselves, and go find food so we can survive!”
Some of the refugees from other villages only cried louder after hearing this.
“Our village is gone! Almost everyone is dead except a few of us!”
“Same here! Half died in the earthquake, and now almost all are gone!”
Seeing that they would not listen, the village head stopped trying. He instructed his eldest son, Xiao Changchun, to gather the villagers.
Since the copper gong had been lost, Xiao Changchun could only shout:
“Xiao Village, gather up! Team leaders, count your people! Report anyone missing!”
Following his order, the nine team leaders began counting.
The first team was led by the village head and Third Uncle.
Since they had stayed behind Song Jin throughout the escape, they were very clear about their own group’s situation. The second household led by Xiao Erlang had suffered no losses, and their cart had not lost a single item.
Still, they proceeded with the routine count.
Just as the village head was about to announce that the first team was complete, the second team leader suddenly shouted:
“Village head! Third Uncle! Something’s wrong! Old Xiao family’s ‘Dapang’ is missing!”
“Before we fled, I clearly saw Qian Shi holding him, but she said she had placed Dapang on Xiao Dalang’s cart!”
“But Xiao Dalang’s family and the Ruiyi, Jixiang sisters all said that before fleeing, the cart was seized by Madam Yang!”
At those words, before the village head and Third Uncle could react, Qian Shi suddenly collapsed to the ground, wailing:
“My poor son! I shouldn’t have let you sit on the cart—you died such a horrible death!”
Madam Yang immediately pointed at Xiao Dalang’s couple and shouted:
“You ungrateful wretches! You only cared about saving yourselves and left my grandson behind! Give me back my grandson!”
Xiao Yongtai roared at Xiao Dalang’s couple:
“You killed my son! Give him back!”
Xiao Fugui, Xiao Yongkang, and Xiao Jinlian stood nearby, looking somewhat stunned.
They all knew how Dapang had actually gone missing—because the whole family had done it together.
The old Xiao family did not want an “idiot son.” Dapang clearly seemed abnormal.
They had forced Qian Shi to throw him away during the escape, but with the team leaders watching closely, she never found the chance.
Only during the chaos of the rat swarm did she finally manage to abandon him.
However, Xiao Fugui, Xiao Yongkang, and Xiao Jinlian did not expect that Madam Yang, Qian Shi, and Xiao Yongtai would be so ruthless as to frame Xiao Dalang’s couple.
Xiao Dalang’s couple also did not expect the old Xiao family to constantly scheme against them.
Suddenly, Xiao Dalang remembered what Song Jin had once said. He finally learned to resist and shouted in fury:
“You’re lying! Before the rat swarm arrived, you already seized our cart! Why do you keep forcing us?! We’ve worked like oxen and horses for the Xiao family for so many years—why won’t you let us go?!”
Xu Shi had also reached her breaking point. Seeing Xiao Dalang stand up to them, she burst into tears and cried to the village head:
“Village head, everyone in the village knows what kind of people we are! We did not abandon Dapang—it was the old Xiao family! They didn’t want their ‘foolish son’!”
“I’m certain of it—this is all Madam Yang’s scheme to take revenge on us for helping the Second Master’s family!”