Chapter 41 Acting

Hearing the accusations from several refugees, Wang Wu, Wen Zhi, and the others all felt deeply uncomfortable inside.

The tone of these refugees was not that of beggars, but rather of judges.

Wen Zhi, in particular, felt this acutely. He had once risked his position to let refugees into the city in search of a way to survive, only to be stripped of his official post and even forced into a separation from his wife.

Yet these people were now speaking to him in such a tone, making him feel as though he had fed meat buns to a pack of ungrateful dogs.

Seeing their expressions, the refugees suddenly perked up.

There must be something fishy about the handcart in front of them; otherwise, why would they be stammering and unable to speak clearly?

What was rolled up inside that tattered mat was likely not a corpse at all, but grain!

At a time when everyone was struggling just to stay alive, these people actually dared to hoard food in secret!

Their consciences had truly been eaten by dogs!

"Hand over the grain right now! Why won't you share it when you clearly have food?"

"Don't you know we are all starving to death?"

Several refugees raised their voices and began to interrogate them loudly.

It was as if Wang Wu, Wen Zhi, and the others had committed some unforgivable crime.

And as if Wang Wu and Wen Zhi were the true masterminds behind the miserable plight the refugees had fallen into!

Even the natural disasters and the heartless deeds of the local magistrates seemed as though they had been instigated and abetted by Wang Wu and Wen Zhi.

The nearby refugees who had just walked away immediately turned back upon hearing the word "grain," fixing burning gazes on Wang Wu and his companions.

At that moment, the leading refugees had already reached out, attempting to untie the tattered mat.

Wen Zhi instantly flew into a rage. Although he had a kind heart, he also had a fiery temper.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Wen Zhi pushed the refugees away, preparing to brawl with them.

Yet far from frightening the refugees, his reaction only made them feel they had found a glimmer of hope.

They had been suffering from irregular meals and severe hunger for a long time. Since Wen Zhi was so desperate to prevent a search, he must be hiding food!

Even more refugees swarmed around them. Although they were not entirely certain whether Wen Zhi and the others were actually concealing grain, they were willing to try anything as long as there was the slightest hope.

Even if each person only ended up with a single handful in the end, it would mean one more chance at survival.

Realizing the situation was turning perilous, Wang Wu hurried to join Wen Zhi in blocking the crowd.

While their martial arts skills meant these refugees posed no physical threat, they were reluctant to resort to lethal force and injure people. Moreover, the number of refugees was simply too large; even if they killed without hesitation, they could never hold back wave after wave of desperate people.

That would only serve to intensify the conflict.

Yet if they held back from using lethal force, the refugees would only grow bolder and more reckless.

Since none of them expected to survive anyway, who cared about dignity or saving face anymore?

Seven or eight refugees directly lunged forward to pin down Wen Zhi and Wang Wu, while the others moved to forcibly tear away the tattered mat.

Wang Hu could no longer stand by idly; he rushed forward to desperately block the crowd.

Wang Wu’s wife was burning with anxiety, completely at a loss as to what to do.

Huang Wan’s eyes rolled as an idea struck her. She whispered to Xiao Xing'er, "Quickly, start crying! And shout 'Father' while you do it!"

Xiao Xing'er was momentarily startled, but she immediately followed Huang Wan's instructions and burst into tears.

"Father! Father, wake up, please, Father!"

"Wuu wuu! Father, do you not want Xiao Xing'er anymore?"

"Father, wake up! Xing'er is so hungry! Xing'er wants to eat!"

Xiao Xing'er wailed at the top of her lungs, producing a performance so convincing that even Zhao Mu and Huang Wan were taken aback.

Her cries instantly drew everyone's attention. Wang Wu instinctively turned his head back to look at Xiao Xing'er, intending to play along, only to see her staring intently at the tattered mat on the handcart.

Wang Wu understood immediately: Xiao Xing'er was not calling out to him, but acting her part.

Beside Xiao Xing'er, Huang Wan and Wang Wu’s wife also wore deeply solemn expressions, tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces.

Looking at the refugees, Huang Wan suddenly leaped onto the handcart, peeled back a corner of the tattered mat, and shouted, "Don't you want to see? Then I'll let you look your fill!"

A moment later, Zhao Mu’s pale face was exposed to view.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his complexion was as ashen as that of a truly dead man.

Upon seeing Zhao Mu's "corpse," the refugees who had been about to tear into the cart instantly hesitated.

At that, Huang Wan threw herself across the tattered mat and broke into loud, mournful sobs.

When she finished crying, she glared coldly at the crowd of refugees.

"Are you satisfied now?"

"My husband is already dead, yet you still refuse to let him rest! You want to leave him exposed to the scorching sun, scattering his soul so he can never enter the cycle of reincarnation!"

"If my husband cannot enter reincarnation, he will come for every single one of you day and night! He will haunt you and ensure you never find peace for all eternity!"

"Wuu wuu! My husband caught the pestilence, and the heartless officials in the city were afraid of contagion, so they drove our entire family out into the wilderness! And now you people treat us like this too!"

"No wonder you are all starving and impoverished! You aren't human at all—you're mere beasts!"

Every single word Huang Wan uttered was laced with bitter tears and biting grief, striking the refugees like sharp daggers.

For a moment, even the leading refugees lowered their heads in shame.

Despite the harshness of the times, where corpses left by the roadside were a common sight and often exposed to the wilderness, deep-seated superstitions remained deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

When a person died, they naturally deserved to be buried in peace!

If a corpse was exposed to the sunlight, the soul would scatter, rendering reincarnation impossible.

Even when relocating ancestral graves, people would always hold up large umbrellas to prevent the sunlight from touching the coffins.

Although a few individuals still harbored lingering doubts, the majority of the crowd prepared to disperse.

If they continued with this, retribution would surely find them!

"So what if he's dead? I don't believe you didn't manage to bring out a single scrap of food!"

Among the refugees, one man refused to give up and demanded that Huang Wan completely uncover the tattered mat.

Huang Wan raised her head, staring viciously at the man.

"If you want to touch my husband's corpse, you'll have to walk over my dead body first!"

She sprawled across the tattered mat, looking entirely ready to fight to the death.

Though somewhat shaken, the man was not intimidated by Huang Wan.

However, when he turned his head and caught sight of Wang Wu, his son, and Wen Zhi, he finally shrank back in cowardice.

At that moment, Xiao Xing'er also crawled onto the cart, hugging Zhao Mu's head and weeping bitterly.

"Father! Father, wake up!"

"Xing'er will never say she's hungry again!"

"If Father is hungry, you can eat Xing'er instead!"

Hearing those words, the defiant refugee finally backed down entirely.

The things Xiao Xing'er cried out were simply too heartbreaking.

Besides, a child of that age could not possibly be acting.

"Hmph! What bad luck!"

The man muttered curses under his breath before turning around and walking away.

Wen Zhi, Wang Wu, and the others breathed sighs of relief, cast admiring glances at Huang Wan, and quickly pulled the cart forward to leave the city gates.

After traveling four or five miles away from the gates, the surrounding refugees finally dwindled significantly.

They hurriedly stopped the cart and lifted the tattered mat.

"Brother Mu, how are you holding up?"

They anxiously patted Zhao Mu, who still looked deathly pale.

Zhao Mu pushed his upper body up, drawing in deep breaths of fresh air.

Though the tattered mat had numerous gaps that allowed him to breathe marginally, that meager airflow had hardly been enough to let him breathe freely.