The refugees fled instantly, a group of people who hadn’t had enough to eat couldn’t run far, in their panic rushing into the forests on either side, but the piercing screams instantly shattered the dead silence.

Several dozens of figures suddenly sprang from the yellowing roadside grass and charred broken trees, like hungry wolves leaping into a flock of sheep.

Blades gleamed abruptly in the murky air, cutting down mercilessly with a rush of wind, bringing with them sprays of dark red and torn cloth fragments, followed by heavy clubs smashing down, the dull thuds of cracking bones mixing with abruptly halted cries of agony, echoing like blows to decayed meat.

In a mere instant, the crowd that had originally been scattering backward hit an invisible wall of blood, forcibly blocked, dispersed, and sliced.

The bandits were fierce and silent, their movements as swift as harvesting crops; in their eyes, there was no pity, only naked greed and hunger.

The refugees had been hungry for a long time, and the bandits had been hungry for a long time.

The refugees often ate tree bark, the bandits ate human flesh.

The more they ate tree bark, the hungrier they got; eating human flesh made them strong enough to plunder more flesh.

The chaos reached its peak. Someone was pushed and fell to the ground, and before they could get up, they were trampled over by their panic-stricken companions, letting out an incoherent whimper. Two Han men tried to resist, tightly gripping the dead branches they used as canes, but before they could raise them, clubs hit their heads, making them collapse limply like rag bags, stirring up the dust beneath them.

A woman with a child was knocked down, the swaddling slipping from her grasp; a cry hadn’t even sounded before, in the next moment, it was about to be swallowed by countless mud-stained feet...

A hand reached out from the dense crowd, gathering the baby into its grasp.

The woman looked up, it was a man with a sword and knife, emerging from behind the crowd, people jostling against him fell like stalks of wheat.

A dazzling cold light clanged from the sheath.

Not far away, the bandit leader steadied the front line, touching the knife, eyes like a vulture watching this scene,

Ropes slipped over necks, dragging those attempting to flee to the roadside slopes back, the tightened throats emitting strange choking sounds.

Crude bundles were seized and torn open, the few hard crumbs and worn clothes inside scattered everywhere, immediately being trampled into the mud.

Desperate cries, dying groans, the bandits’ coarse rebukes and smug laughter, and the ubiquitous, sickening stench of blood instantly replaced the previous heavy silence, turning this section of official road into a boiling slaughterhouse...

Until,

With a splash, scalding fresh blood sprayed mid-air.

Exceptionally abrupt, taking everyone by surprise, those present didn’t respond, the fleeing continued fleeing, the plundering continued plundering, when a few bandits were splashed, they still thought it was the refugees’ blood...

Until someone inadvertently glanced back, consequently stopping subconsciously, and with a few screams resounding, in a moment, another few spurts of blood sprayed into the sky.

In an instant, countless people fell, and even the most dull finally reacted, the bandits scattered in panic to the forests on either side, like the vagabonds they plundered, fleeing blindly...

In a flash, the boiling slaughterhouse extinguished its flames.

The clamor and screams severed abruptly as if by an invisible giant hand, leaving only a heavy silence that deafeningly fell, refilling this heaven and earth.

On the official road, bodies lay sprawling, collapsed in the muddy ground. Blood flowed into the mud, slowly mixing into dark red sludge, silently seeping into the thirsty earth.

Only the wind carrying the stench of blood, the dust yet unsettled, scattered cloth fragments, trampled rations, broken clubs, and scattered bundles soaked within.

The survivors seemed anchored in place.

They collapsed, curled up, or stood straight and dumbfounded. At this moment no one cried, no one shouted, only rustling sounds remained. Eyes were like covered in dust, staring fixedly at the miserable scene before them, or bewilderedly gazing at the distant forest where the bandits vanished. The intense shock had drained their souls, leaving only empty shells, even devoid of pain.

A half-grown child lay on top of a fallen woman, his hands fiercely clenched on her tattered clothes, unmoving. An old man with a broken leg leaned against an overturned handcart, mouth open, only breath hissing from his throat. Those who survived became clay statues, standing in this dead land.

A silence like death, pressing so heavily that breathing becomes difficult.

After a long while,

A sharp baby’s cry pierced the air.

The cry was thin and bright, carrying a primal desire for life, stabbing into the ears of every living person.

.........

The carriage at the forefront, about ten yards ahead of the refugees, Donggong Ruoshu climbed to the top, looking down from above, seeing the long queue trailing behind.

The refugees dared neither to draw too close nor lag too far behind, the sudden upheaval left many still not recovered.

Donggong Ruoshu climbed to the front of the carriage, lowered her head to look at Chen Yi driving the horses, saying, "Let them keep following us?"

"Let them follow, anyway we’re going the same way." Chen Yi said indifferently.

Donggong Ruoshu had no objections, at present she was like a spirit, any disagreement was futile, she pondered momentarily and asked, "Earlier, how much effort did you exert?"

Chen Yi furrowed his brow slightly, asking, "Weren’t you staying inside the carriage, how did you know?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Now his meridians were yet to be fully restored, with even a slight exertion, the energy circulation across his body caused intense pain, and even if he could endure this, it was hopeless as he could never return to his former Martial Arts Realm even if it killed him with pain.