Chapter 61 How could this be?

Not to mention the others, even Elder Gu Jian was utterly bewildered. "What is... going on here?"

"Old General, we are from Xiaoping Village. Over a decade ago, when mountain bandits ran amok, you led troops to suppress them, and the ones you saved back then were my mother."

"And my elder sister."

"And my wife."

Hearing everyone speak up, Elder Gu remembered. More than ten years ago, on his triumphant return after winning a battle, he had encountered people seeking help along the way and lent a hand out of mere convenience. He never expected they would still remember.

"This humble servant Chen Dongqing. I don't know why the Old General... has come to this?"

Old Madam Li had originally intended to shift the trouble onto others, never expecting it to turn into such a scene. "What else could it be? He committed a grave offense, of course."

"Shut your mouth! Old General Gu is a good man who has won countless battles and shared the court's burdens. He does not deserve this fate."

Elder Gu smiled faintly. "Who among men is a sage, capable of making no mistakes?"

"Old General, you are our benefactor. We cannot take these provisions. Even if we starve to death, we will not plunder our benefactor's belongings. It is our fault for being blind and failing to recognize you. I, Datou, kowtow to you in deep repentance."

"No need, no need." Elder Gu, frail in movement, failed to stop him in time as Datou repeatedly struck his forehead against the ground.

The others hurriedly set the supplies down as well. They were not bad people; times were simply harsh, yet no matter how desperate things got, they could never rob their benefactor.

To do so would make them no better than beasts.

"Old General, you are a good man and must have been wronged. Let us rescue you and break you out. We have many people, and even if it costs us our lives, I, Datou, will not hesitate."

As soon as he said this, everyone grew tense.

Zhang Xiang said with a stern face, though his voice trembled, "What do you think you are doing? Rescuing prisoners is a capital crime! Do you have a death wish?"

"Without Old General Gu, we would have been dead long ago."

"That's right! Back then, the bandits went on a rampage of burning, killing, and looting, and it was Old General Gu who saved us and even gave us food. Without him, we would have long since turned into ghosts."

"Audacious!" Zhang Xiang roared, but the crowd was riled up, and his words could not intimidate them at all.

If Elder Gu had truly wanted to escape, he would not have needed anyone to save him, and opportunities had been plentiful. "Everyone, hear me out."

"Listen, listen, the Old General is going to speak. Stop making a fuss."

Chen Dongqing also frowned deeply as he looked at Datou. While these people might not care about shouting such words since their lives were already worthless, it would only bring disaster upon the Old General.

This was not repaying kindness; it was returning favor with enmity.

"The good intentions of you all, this old man accepts. However, faults must be met with punishment, and I have nothing more to say. Everyone, please take these provisions with you."

"We won't take them! We can't! If my late mother in heaven knew I took your things, she would surely come in a dream and split me open."

Elder Gu looked at Chen Dongqing, knowing this young man possessed both common sense and a righteous, kind heart. "Dongqing, do not refuse further. We can always procure more; we certainly won't starve. But all of you urgently need food."

"Old General, we... are ashamed."

"There is no need for shame, but you ought to know what can be done and what cannot. Today's incident—I hope it never happens again. How would it differ otherwise from the bandits of the past?"

Chen Dongqing lowered his head in shame, not daring to meet the Old General's eyes.

"This is bad, Dongqing! That child... that child has stopped breathing!"

A woman's voice rang out from the mountain forest. From the refugees, Li Mumu recognized her as Chen Dongqing's wife.

Chen Dongqing immediately looked at Li Mumu. "Miss..."

"Go quickly, Uncle." Li Mumu glanced back at Elder Gu, seeing her grandfather nod at her, before she strode away briskly.

"Chief, will that little girl be able to come back?"

Zhang Xiang was still shaken. If those people had truly killed them earlier to rescue the Gu family, it would not have been beyond their ability; a single nod from Elder Gu would have cost them their lives.

"Shut your trap," Zhang Xiang snapped irritably.

"Brother Wang, Mumu will come back. She is a loyal and righteous child," said Liu Zi.

The young girl had saved his life, and he would not allow anyone to cast such suspicion on her.

The yamen runner surnamed Wang wanted to retort, but looking at the torch-bearing refugees, he wisely shut his mouth.

Only a portion of the people followed Chen Dongqing and Li Mumu, while the majority stayed behind, leaving the yamen runners too intimidated to act rashly.

Li Mumu followed them deep into the woods, surprised to find a pool of water with a cave nearby.

Inside were not just Dongqing's wife, but several other women, old and young alike. All of them were emaciated and skin-and-bones, clearly having gone without food for many days.

"Why did you bring a girl back with you?" someone asked in confusion.

"Don't ask foolish questions. This is the young miss of our benefactor's family," the man barked at his wife.

The woman froze in surprise. "What benefactor...?"

Chen Dongqing looked at Li Mumu and led her into the cave. The space was not very large, but it could easily accommodate a few people, and torches were lit around the perimeter.

By the flickering firelight, Li Mumu spotted a youth of about eight or nine years old. His eyes were tightly shut, and his face was deathly pale and devoid of color, yet strikingly handsome. However, she had no time to study him, as the air was heavy with the pungent stench of blood.

Li Mumu's gaze shifted downward and she saw that his chest was soaked through. She didn't need to guess to know it was blood, not water.

She examined his injuries. Fortunately, the arrowhead had not yet been extracted; had it been pulled out improperly, the boy's life would have been forfeit.

"Gu Miss, can he still be saved?"

Li Mumu had just checked his pulse and found that he was not completely breathless, though it was terrifyingly faint. The boy was truly lucky; any deviation, and he would have died on the spot.

"Yes. Uncle Dongqing, you can call me Mumu. Old General Gu is my maternal grandfather."

Chen Dongqing's face flushed. "Ah, right. Forgive my rudeness."

Li Mumu took a deep breath. "Uncle, I am going to save him now. Please guard the entrance and don't let anyone in to disturb me."

"Alright, alright, no problem." With that, Chen Dongqing led several men outside, standing guard at the cave entrance. He not only barred anyone from entering but also forbade even loud talking, fearing it might disrupt Li Mumu's medical treatment.

Li Mumu first retrieved anesthesia from her spatial storage, prepared her surgical tools, and disinfected them in advance, along with hemostatic medicine and the needle and thread for stitching later.

This was the exact reason she had sent everyone outside. If they had witnessed her conjuring items out of thin air, it would undoubtedly cause endless trouble down the line.

And she couldn't very well kill them all.

It was thanks to her immense physical strength that she hadn't struggled too much with the arrow. The boy possessed extraordinary luck; had it been even slightly off, he would have perished immediately.

During the apocalypse, she had suffered all sorts of injuries and treated them herself, mostly inflicted by her own kind—after all, if a zombie scratched her, she would become one too.

Li Mumu swiftly stitched the wound, stopped the bleeding, fed him some anti-inflammatory medicine, and then checked his pulse once more.

"Hiss... How can this be?" Li Mumu drew a sharp breath, her delicate and pretty face twisting into a tight knot.