Chapter 593

The dark-skinned man, who had been feeling somewhat depressed, stood up immediately upon hearing his wife's words.

He spoke with a somewhat heavy tone.

When he was young, his family still had some surplus money, which allowed him to be exempted from military service.

Although he did not have to fight those Xiongnu on the battlefield, he admired those men from the bottom of his heart.

Even though they were not quite full here, at least they could still survive.

If those men at the border were not getting enough to eat, they would likely lose their lives there.

Although he did not know many characters, he still understood this principle.

The woman, scolded by the dark-skinned man, wiped away her tears in grievance.

His thinking this way—wasn't it also because he wanted his children to be able to pass through this winter safely?

The dark-skinned man also knew his wife's thoughts; after scolding her a few times, he stopped speaking, and the atmosphere between the two fell into silence once again.

In the main room, three dark-skinned children opened their round, wide eyes, watching the situation outside the house.

None of them were very old.

The eldest one, when standing up, only reached the height of the rice jar.

They were in this area, located at the border between the Great Qin and the Xiongnu.

Although there were troops guarding the surroundings, life was still not easy.

The dark-skinned man took a look at his children, and sighed heavily in his heart once again.

The smoke rising from the kitchen drifted toward the horizon.

Helian Bobo had long since brought a team of men, hiding in the shadows.

It was not yet dark, and he could just see the situation of every household in the village cooking their meals.

Smelling the faint fragrance of rice wafting through the air.

"Wait until it is dark to strike immediately; quick battle, quick resolution, do not delay."

"Eliminate everyone present to prevent news from leaking out."

Helian Bobo's eyes were like those of an eagle, carrying a hint of coldness.

Looking at the small village below, his eyes were filled with indifference.

The several burly men beside him, hearing their leader's words, all responded excitedly.

They were also smelling the faint fragrance of rice wafting through the air.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of night.

At the village head's house in the village.

The village head was puffing on his dry tobacco pipe while calculating the grain and fodder to be handed over tomorrow morning.

After calculating the specific numbers, he sighed heavily.

"After this batch of grain is handed over, how many more people in the whole village will starve to death."

His voice sounded somewhat muffled.

The village head's wife, hearing the village head's words, could only sigh heavily as well.

Their family, in the entire village.

Was still considered to be in relatively good condition.

For those families in worse conditions, I am afraid that after this batch of grain is handed over, they will only be able to last two or three days.

Afterward, they would have to feed on tree bark and mud all day long.

But given their family's condition, even if they wanted to help, they could not.

Their family's condition was barely enough to keep everyone fed.

"It's alright, this year's winter is just a bit harder to endure."

"When the time comes, I will organize the villagers to go to the mountain to see if there is anything to eat."

The old village head was silent for a long time, and finally came up with a method.

Fortunately, there was a small hill behind their village.

It was called a small hill, but it was also a large forest, just not comparable to those deep, old mountains.

"Sleep, sleep, it's not early anymore."

"You still have to go hand in the public grain tomorrow morning, rest early now."

The village head's wife sighed, then blew out the candle beside them.

As the lights in several houses went out, the entire village slowly fell into silence.

Except for the sound of birds coming from the deep mountains in the distance...

There were no other sounds.

Helian Bobo looked up at the sky.

The entire sky was pitch black.

Clouds hid the moon's radiance in the shadows.

Revealing a tiny bit of light, illuminating the entire earth.

Sensing that it was time.

Helian Bobo waved his hand at the brothers behind him, and everyone stood up excitedly.

They knew it was time to launch the attack.

The sound of horse hooves rang out.

The vibrating ground began to tremble.

Some people in the village who had not yet fallen asleep naturally felt the vibration coming from the ground.

"It's bad, stop sleeping."

"It might be that the mountain bandits have come."

Some experienced people immediately realized something was wrong.

Although they were not young, these people had also experienced turbulent times.

From time to time, bandits would return to the village to rob grain.

Feeling this movement once again, everyone knew the mountain bandits had come.

The dark-skinned man immediately pushed his wife awake.

Then he took a look at his three children.

The three children were all blinking their eyes, looking at their father, their eyes filled with fear and panic.

"Shitou, Dad will hide you in a moment, remember not to make a sound."

The dark-skinned man looked at his eldest son and said seriously.

He had to prepare for the worst.

The best-case scenario was just that the mountain bandits would leave after robbing the grain.

The worst-case scenario might be the slaughter of the village.

The eldest child, hearing his father's words, shook his head in a panic.

He looked at his father with some fear.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

"After this group of people leaves, Mom and Dad will bring you back."

"You must watch your two younger brothers and make sure they don't speak."

The dark-skinned man's fan-like palms slowly landed on the tops of his three children's heads.

Gently stroking them, it seemed to alleviate the fear in the three children's hearts.

When he saw that the three children were no longer panicking, the dark-skinned man and his wife began to pull at their bed kang.

There was a hole under their bed kang.

This was where every family hid their things.

The hole was not large, but the three children could barely hide inside.