Chapter 60 There Was Long Ago No Way Back

Old Master Gu sighed and tried to dissuade him, but Zhang Xiang had already collapsed and fallen straight asleep.

"You don't understand. Sometimes these people are not easy to deal with," Old Master Gu said helplessly.

Li Mumu completely agreed with her grandfather. However, since Zhang Xiang refused to get people moving, they couldn't leave either, as they would be treated as escaping criminals.

Besides, it was already too late.

Countless points of torchlight suddenly flickered in the woods, multiplying several or even dozens of times over the ones that had been chasing them earlier.

"Chief! Chief!" The bailiffs also realized that the situation was turning critical and hurriedly rushed to wake Zhang Xiang.

Zhang Xiang snapped impatiently, "Stop shouting! Can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"Stop sleeping! There are too many people out there!"

"We are men of the imperial court..." Zhang Xiang opened his eyes with annoyance, but upon seeing the crowd surrounding them with torches, he swallowed the rest of his unfinished words in sheer terror.

The torchlight illuminated the faces of the newcomers. They stared at the group as if eyeing prey, their gazes terrifyingly cruel.

"Audacious... We... We are officials of the imperial court, tasked with escorting state criminals. Withdraw at once!" Zhang Xiang shouted, though his voice lacked conviction.

Yet, those people remained indifferent, continuing to stare at them with dead, unblinking eyes.

A cold gust of wind swept past, carrying an unbearable, putrid stench of sweat and decay from their bodies.

"What... What on earth do you want?" Zhang Xiang demanded again. "Do you have a death wish, daring to surround government bailiffs?"

With that, he drew his saber. The disaster victims were indeed startled and stepped back slightly, but hunger and the looming threat of death made them fearless.

"We want food," someone shouted from within the crowd.

"W-We don't have any! Their... Their family has plenty of good food!" Lady Zhao screamed, acting exactly like a villain in a novel.

"That's right, their family has everything!" Old Madam Li chimed in.

Looking at this pack of ungrateful ingrates, Li Mumu genuinely wished the refugees would just roast and eat them up.

"Sir, you only want food, right?"

The man leading the group looked at Li Mumu. Under the flickering firelight, her delicate little face was brimming with innocence. The man paused slightly before nodding. "Hand over the provisions. We only want food and will not harm anyone."

"Very well!" Gu Jian nodded. "My dear, go quickly and bring the food out for these brave men."

Old Madam Gu did not refuse either; she called her daughter-in-law and turned around to retrieve the food. If trading a little food could secure everyone's safety, it would be well worth it.

After all, they still had silver and money on hand.

However, the Li family simply couldn't bear to see anyone else doing well.

Especially Li Rong—every bit of retribution she was facing now was nothing less than what she deserved.

"They... They also have bank notes! Good men, take them all!"

"Rongrong!" Li Yuan shouted in warning.

The eyes of the refugees lit up, and they began talking over one another in a chaotic clamor.

Finally, the leader spoke up again. "Everyone, we have no desire to make things difficult for you. It's just that our hometown was struck by disaster, and we fled all the way here. We haven't eaten in a long time. Bring out the bank notes as well. As for the food... you may keep some for yourselves."

Li Mumu caught a fleeting flash of embarrassment on his face. He must have been a man with an extremely strong sense of pride.

Zhang Xiang calmed down a bit as well. Realizing they were merely refugees rather than mountain bandits, things became much easier to handle.

He was well aware of the martial prowess possessed by the Gu family members; dealing with a bunch of ordinary commoners would not require much effort at all.

"Old Master Gu, why waste your breath on them? Daring to harbor malicious intentions against the agents of the imperial court—you must be tired of living."

"Quickly untie Old Master Gu and let them slaughter this whole bunch of wretches!"

If they were truly mountain bandits, Old Master Gu might have considered eliminating them for the public good. But these were ordinary people, common folk; he simply couldn't bring himself to strike.

Even if plundering was wrong, mortals were not saints, and human nature could not withstand such harsh tests.

"There are more of us; we aren't afraid of them!" some among the refugees muttered, eager to try their luck.

Nevertheless, the young man from earlier raised his voice and shouted, "Hold on! Big Head, if we actually shed blood and kill people, there will be no turning back. We agreed we'd only take some provisions! Old master, if... if our lives improve in the future, we will return this. It's a loan—consider it a loan!"

"Turning back? How the hell are we supposed to turn back? My wife is gone, and all three of my children are gone! My youngest daughter was just born—she didn't even get a single sip of milk! Brother Dongqing, tell me, why should I bother turning back now?"

"Enough of that! Dongqing's daughter passed away just yesterday. Which family hasn't lost someone? It's not just your family that suffered deaths."

Li Mumu glanced in the direction of Dongqing. No wonder his gaze towards her earlier had seemed so intriguing.

"But out of a family of seven or eight, I'm the only one left!" the one called Big Head cried out.

The man named Dongqing raised his head. "Old master, to be completely honest, some of us have fallen ill and need to be taken to a doctor, otherwise... we won't touch the silver."

Li Mumu knew that it was the plague, and she knew even better the ultimate fate of these people.

They intended to flee all the way to the capital, but before they could get far, they would be surrounded by a detachment of imperial soldiers sent by the aged emperor, slaughtered entirely, and their corpses burned.

"Sir, I know how to practice medicine!" Remembering his promise to take only food and cause no harm, Li Mumu decided to give them a chance.

"You? Are you kidding me?"

Dongqing looked into Li Mumu's serious eyes and raised a hand to stop the man's skepticism. "Can you really practice medicine?"

Li Mumu nodded. "Do some of you have persistently high fevers, accompanied by severe vomiting and diarrhea?"

"That's miraculous! How did she know?" someone exclaimed.

"My younger sister really knows how to heal the sick," Li Yunju affirmed.

Dongqing's eyes lit up. "Little girl, you... you know our symptoms. Does that mean... you can cure us too?"

Li Mumu gave a slight nod. "It should be possible."

When reading the book, Li Mumu had already figured out that this illness wasn't difficult to cure at all. Had the aged emperor been willing to send medical aid, it could certainly have been treated, but he had chosen to act with such ruthless cruelty.

She had already formulated a prescription in her mind back then. After transmigrating into this world, to prevent her family from being infected, she had continued researching and constantly refining the medicinal formula. For her, treating it was a breeze.

"Then... can you also treat external injuries?" Dongqing asked expectantly.

"What kind of injury?"

"A knife wound—no, an arrow wound? I'm not sure. The wound is quite deep. It's a child about her age whom we just found along the way. It looks like he won't make it."

"Uncle, you wouldn't be planning to eat him, would you?"

Dongqing was amused and laughed. "How could that be? That's a human being. We don't eat people."

"This little girl is quite interesting."

Li Mumu also wanted to lighten the mood. "Then bring that person over, and let me take a look."

"We... we didn't dare move him. The blood was just gushing out."

Li Mumu nodded. "Then I'll go with you to check on him. However... you must not harm my family. Of course, you couldn't beat them anyway; my grandfather and uncles are all great generals!"

Knowing they were driven by desperation, Li Mumu wished to avoid any direct conflict between the two sides.

"Generals? May I ask the old master's honorable surname?"

Old Master Gu sighed. "Alas, I am ashamed. My surname is Gu..."

"You are Old General Gu?!" Dongqing cried out in agitation.

Upon receiving an affirmative reply, he suddenly dropped to his knees. Following his lead, everyone present knelt down along with him.