CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49 GENDER CRIMES 49

Lord County Magistrate personally arrived, and after conveying the order for relocation to the border, he tirelessly reiterated the various preferential policies provided by the court. But it was in vain, as all the common people couldn’t hear a word of it once they learned they were being sent to the border city!

Their minds were filled with panic and resistance! They thought that the court intended to abandon them, the common people, and send them to their deaths at the border! To these inland commoners, the border city was as terrifying as Yama Hall, an unimaginable horror!

The county magistrate spoke until his mouth was dry, yet no one responded. Even when he mentioned that without agreeing to leave, the court wouldn’t open the granaries to provide food, and only those willing to leave would receive food supplies and travel expenses, along with many other preferential policies.

However, the common people’s hearts harbored the hope that as long as they refused to leave, the court wouldn’t let them starve to death! But if they went to the border city, they would truly be doomed!

The county magistrate finally left in great frustration. The court had issued a strict order not to release the grain, leaving him helpless. As their appointed official, he naturally did not want to see the number of people under his governance dwindle, but alas, he was merely a humble county magistrate, and could not change the court’s decision.

By now, not only had no disaster relief grain arrived, but there came a relocation order like a death knell. The mood among the villagers was extremely depressed; there was even a brawl between men from different villages who bumped into each other accidentally while walking, both becoming uncontrollably aggressive!

The two men gritted their teeth, eyes bloodshot, frantically swinging their fists at each other as if they had a deep-seated hatred, fighting relentlessly!

But in reality, they were just venting the fear and panic they couldn’t dispel from their hearts, as well as a despair they were unwilling to admit but was becoming increasingly clear!

Qin Shuangshuang frowned, glancing around at the villagers who were expressionless, ignoring the fight, and merely going about their own business, with no intention of watching the spectacle. She sighed, stepped forward, and pulled the two men apart with one hand each!

The two men, separated by Qin Shuangshuang, still wouldn’t stop, pushing back together, one punching, the other kicking, unwilling to settle down.

Qin Shuangshuang had to exert her strength, forcing the two men to sit down on the ground, and when they found they couldn’t break free from her hold, they gradually fell silent.

Seeing the two men cease moving, Qin Shuangshuang released them. The two men got up, but instead of continuing to fight, they returned to their respective families.

From start to finish, the two men remained silent during their fight, and though it was intense, leaving them bruised and bloody-nosed, the atmosphere was deathly still, pervaded by a sense of lifelessness. The two families, who had watched, showed the same expressionless demeanor, and when the fight ended, they silently dispersed. Not a word was spoken from start to finish.

Qin Shuangshuang sighed, exchanging a glance with Mrs. Bai and Qin Miaomiao. Although their family wasn’t lacking food, the oppressive atmosphere affected their mood all the same.

Qin Shuangshuang was additionally worried. The villagers hadn’t reached a point of desperation yet; people were lifeless, but no one had broken moral boundaries!

But when starvation drives people mad, humanity disappears, turning humans into demons, becoming the nightmares of their kind, and humans, when terrifying, are far more frightening than any demon. That was something Qin Shuangshuang had experienced firsthand... Purgatory in the Mortal World!

Qin Shuangshuang wanted to persuade everyone to move to the border city, but at this time, everyone still believed the court wouldn’t let them starve and would eventually help them. Anything Qin Shuangshuang said would be futile; the fear of the border city and the attachment to their homeland were deeply ingrained in their bones!

When Qin Shuangshuang returned home, her master Fang Zhongyi and Fang Yaoyao came over to deliver many dried wild vegetables. Although eating meat was the wish of many poor people, eating only meat every day was unbearable for anyone, especially now that Qin Shuangshuang and Qin Miaomiao, along with Mrs. Bai, had developed a fondness for vegetables.

Given that there was a single woman, Mrs. Bai, in the household, Fang Zhongyi would avoid coming to Qin Shuangshuang’s home to prevent gossip. Qin Shuangshuang always went to Fang Zhongyi’s home to practice martial arts.

Fang Zhongyi came over this time due to special circumstances, but he just quickly left the dried wild vegetables and hurried away.

Of the dried wild vegetables Fang Zhongyi brought, two bags contained various kinds of mushrooms and fungus. Seeing these, Qin Shuangshuang suddenly remembered something!

Every year, when there was a lot of rain, she collected plenty of mushrooms and fungus, which she dried and stored instead of selling, saving them for times like this.

In the yard were two rooms, with large spaces. Qin Shuangshuang, Qin Miaomiao, and Mrs. Bai shared one room while the other was used for storing odds and ends, food, and other items. Qin Shuangshuang stored the mushrooms and fungus in this room.

Because of last year’s drought, Qin Shuangshuang hadn’t collected any mushrooms or fungus, and since they could grow some vegetables with well water, she had forgotten about these supplies. It was only while searching that she found several large bags of various kinds of mushrooms and fungus!

Though mushrooms and fungus are a bit monotonous, they are certainly better than only eating meat.

Over the past few days, Qin Shuangshuang frequently went into the mountains, mainly to haul dry firewood home. If she encountered prey, she wouldn’t let it slip by, but she wouldn’t waste time searching if there was none.

The atmosphere in the village remained very low. Qin Shuangshuang wasn’t too worried about the people of Qin Family Village. Maybe because the village had several educated folks, in her previous life, the Qin Family Village had never resorted to cannibalism, even though people starved to death.

After all, no matter how ethical a clan is, once the population increases, there will always be a few troublemakers!

Qin Shuangshuang wasn’t concerned about the people from Qin Family Village. She worried about Mr. Qin’s family and the nearby village folks. In her previous life, although Fang Zhongyi didn’t speak much about it, it seemed Fang Yaoyao was likely tricked by someone she knew from a village.

Fang Zhongyi was capable and wouldn’t have let his daughter go hungry even during times of famine, and Yaoyao also learned martial arts from Fang Zhongyi; three or four men weren’t a match for her. If it weren’t for being completely unsuspecting, it would’ve been impossible to harm Yaoyao.

Previously, Qin Shuangshuang was busy storing food but had forgotten to stockpile firewood. Recently, she had gone a bit overboard, chopping firewood for seven or eight consecutive days. She piled enough firewood into two small mountains, which would last her family a year.

Qin Shuangshuang initially thought about chopping for another two days, as she noticed the village chief and Aunt Hao’s families didn’t have much firewood, so she planned to chop more to give some to them later.

Before Qin Shuangshuang could head to the mountains, several outsiders entered the village!