When the sun was setting, Liu Ce followed Guo Tao and others into the manor. From various peoples mouths, he learned that this manor was called Wan Jia Zhuang, a property of local wealthy families. Due to bandits causing trouble, the wealthy families took their family members and slaves, packed up several carts of gold, silver, and valuables, and fled to Cai State to escape disaster. This manor was thus left empty. Because the walls of the manor were made of a mixture of bricks, wood, glutinous rice, and egg whites, they were extremely hard and became a temporary refuge for refugees fleeing war.

  Liu Ce passed by the houses where the refugees lived, almost everyone was in tattered clothes, and due to long-term fleeing and malnutrition, these people looked like skeletons with no blood on their faces. Due to lack of management, there was a foul smell everywhere in the village.

  "Mother, Im hungry..." In a corner, a three or four-year-old child clung to a womans side, crying out in hunger. Seeing the childs distress, the mother was at a loss, and when she saw Liu Ze approaching, she made an alluring gesture, trying to exchange something for food for her child.

  Liu Ce avoided the womans gaze and continued walking forward. As he passed by a room, he heard the rough breathing of a man and woman coming from inside. Through the slightly ajar window, he saw a thin woman leaning on a table with a piece of coarse bread in her mouth, her lower body exposed, while a man in his 40s, also somewhat emaciated, was pressed tightly against her back, continuously moving his body. Seeing Liu Ce looking over, they didnt avoid him, but instead seemed to ignore him. The woman stuffed the bread into her mouth with a numb expression, panting heavily.

  Liu Ces throat moved slightly, and he stopped looking over there. He followed Guo Tao and the others as they walked forward. Ahead of them, several women were busily pouring some wild vegetables and mixed flour into a large pot. Two other women were carrying buckets of water to pour into the pot. After taking a look, one of them shook her head and picked up another bucket of water to pour in. At the bottom of the pot, a man was constantly adding firewood...

  "This world, alas..." At this time, a young man in gray clothes walked out from the door, looked at the scene in front of him, shook his head repeatedly, saw Liu Ce and others, still shaking his head, and walked over to say to the young man in green clothes: "Brother Qin, I really didnt expect it to be so miserable. I thought that except for the Far East, there shouldnt be such a miserable thing again. Who would have thought that all along the way, everywhere is a human hell."

  "Liu brothers, I almost forgot to introduce you. This is Ye Bin and this is Qin Mo, they met on the escape route and have been following us all the way here, helping out a lot..."

  After a conversation with Guo Tao, Liu Ce learned that the guest in the green shirt was named Qin Mo, and the young man in white was Ye Bin. They were both descendants of the Far East aristocracy. Due to the annual invasion of the Hu people, the provinces of the Far East suffered from war every year. Seeing the imperial courts army doing nothing, the people suffered every year. In a fit of anger, Qin Mo took out all his savings to support the righteous army in resisting the Hu peoples southern invasion. However, under the double pressure of the Hu people and the local aristocratic families, the righteous army was quickly eliminated. He himself was accused of plotting against the government because of his support for the righteous army, which implicated his family. It took a lot of silver to save his life, but he was expelled from his family and had to sell all his property in anger. Qin Mo left home to travel the world in search of peace. Along the way, he met Ye Bin, who was also disillusioned with the world. After a conversation, they appreciated each others company and traveled together. They witnessed the officials and aristocrats oppressing the people, the refugees fleeing, and the people suffering. They also experienced the bandits all over the place in Heyuan and Jingyuan, while the government army was inactive. The two of them had been practicing martial arts since childhood and made heroic moves. After the fall of Gongyang, they rescued many refugees from the bandits and local bullies, but they could only watch as more people suffered and were powerless to help. During an encounter with dozens of bandits, they coincidentally met Xu Hui and his party, and together they repelled the bandits. Xu Hui suggested traveling together, and after some thought, they agreed. After more than half a month, they temporarily settled in Wanjiazhuang.

  Liu Ce listened to the introduction and respectfully clasped his fists in admiration towards Qin Mo Ye Bin, who also returned the gesture with a clasped fist.

  "Yang, bring out all our grain and distribute it to them." Liu Ce turned his head to say to Yang Kai Shan, thinking that Yang would refuse, but unexpectedly the three of them agreed without hesitation, beckoning several sturdy-looking men to help unload the grain from the carts. Qin Mo nodded in approval at Liu Ces actions...

  As night fell, the refugees had their first thick rice porridge and sweet potato stew in a long time. Although it didnt taste great, who cared about that in these chaotic times? Even Qin Mo and Ye Bin, descendants of aristocratic families, looked somewhat disheveled as they ate.

  After dinner, Liu Ce, Yang Kaisan, Yang Youhuai, Sun Cheng, Yang Fan, Guo Tao, Chen Qing, Feng Xiu Nian, Qin Mo, Ye Bin, Feng Ying, Xu Hui and Han Feng, several people with some weight in the village, sat around the bonfire discussing what to do next.

  "Nowadays, there is a shortage of food in the village, and refugees are still pouring in. Whats good about this?" Ye Bin said, throwing a piece of firewood into the bonfire.

  "In another four or five days, well run out of food. Now, even having one and a half meals a day is unsustainable. The rice porridge has become so thin that it can be used to raise fish." Chen Qing said worriedly, he was also delighted that Liu Ce was alive, and at this moment, he looked at Liu Ce, hoping that he could come up with a solution like he did in the Thick Earth Fortress.

  Liu Ce gazed at the bonfire, a dagger in his hand carving a thin piece of wood, not uttering a word as he listened to others speak. He was unfamiliar with this generation and needed more intelligence and information to determine his next move.

  Qin Mo took a sip of water and said slowly, "Its not just a food problem. Ten miles away, bandits are gathering. Im afraid that when the time comes, they will target this village. Once the bandits break in, the more than 1,000 refugees in our village will die without a place to bury their bodies!"

  Liu Ces hand, which was whittling a piece of wood, suddenly stopped, and he asked, "The gathering place of the bandits?"

  "Its true." Qin Mo said, "We may be fine, at worst we can just continue to flee, but how are the villagers in the village going to escape the pursuit of the bandits?"

  "Wait a minute." Liu Ce didnt directly answer Qin Mos words, "Are you saying the bandits are ten miles away? How long ago was that?"

  "Let me think for a moment, its been about eight or nine days, whats going on?" Qin Mo raised his head and looked at Liu Ce with a puzzled expression.

  Liu Ce thought for a moment and continued to ask: "About how many people."

  "It wont be less than eight hundred." Ye Bin chimed in, "Earlier, I and Chen Qing brothers went to investigate and estimated that there are at least eight hundred. They have eighty pots per meal, with each pot serving at least ten people, so its definitely not less than eight hundred."

  "Why are they hesitating to attack the Zhuangzi? Inside, there are only old, weak, women and children, right under their noses. How can they just watch without taking action?" Liu Ce expressed his puzzlement.

  "Maybe they think were not a threat for the time being?" Ye Bin replied uncertainly, while Qin Mo beside him began to ponder, suddenly he stood up and took out a sheepskin map from his body, unfolded it, and everyone looked at it, couldnt help but take a cold breath, the sheepskin map showed the various paths of the river source densely packed on it, in Liu Ces eyes it was still quite rough, just an outline, but enough to determine their current location.

  Qin Mo slapped his thigh: "So thats it, after Gao Yang fell, the bandits have taken control of the financial and grain roads of various states and counties in this area. The group of bandits ten miles away should be a branch guarding the grain road."

  "Huh, the bandits have taken down Gaoyang and are now starting to stockpile grain? It seems this isnt a good thing for Zhao Yuanji." Sun Cheng muttered casually.

  "Zhao Yuanyi has nothing to do with us, the key is..." Liu Ces eyes turned cold, "Rob him."

  As soon as this was said, everyones eyes lit up in front of them. The version of "Yi Jie Feng Huo Lu" you are reading now is only half a chapter, to read the full version please search Baidu: () and then search again: Yi Jie Feng Huo Lu