Chapter 52 - 53: Dilemma

Chapter 52: Chapter 53: Dilemma

Another family of elderly and children was waiting just like them. No one made distinctions between families anymore; everyone huddled together as tightly as possible, terrified of a repeat of yesterday’s beast attack.

"Look, someone’s coming!" someone cried out, and all eyes fixed on the approaching figures.

It wasn’t one or two people, but a large group, leaning on each other for support as they slowly made their way over.

Li Cuicui squinted, but she couldn’t make out their faces. "You children have better eyes. Help your grandmother see—who are those people?"

"They’re too far. I can’t see clearly yet," Gu Le Shun said, anxiously scanning the crowd, hoping to spot his parents.

"I can’t see either, but there are so many of them," Gu Lehua added, licking her chapped lips. ’She had lied to her grandmother earlier. Their family actually had some water left, but since she’d already said they didn’t, she couldn’t very well take it out now. They would just have to endure.’

Her brother beside her had even tried to get some water to drink a few times, but she had stopped him.

Gu Sanbu watched them with concern, his heart filled with a prayer. ’I hope some of our own are among those returning. If not, we’ll be lambs to the slaughter.’

But to their disappointment, the faces were all unfamiliar. As the group passed by, they kept looking back over their shoulders.

Finally, one of the elders couldn’t hold back any longer. "Excuse me, are the city gates up ahead open? Did the people who went before get in?"

Without turning his head, Fang Daniu waved a dismissive hand at them. "Get in? That’ll depend on their luck. We got in, same as them, but we still ended up getting thrown back out."

"I’d advise you not to just wait here. If you can slip inside, at least you’ll have a chance to live. Otherwise, you’ll just end up back out here waiting to die, same as us."

"What are you telling them all that for? Maybe they’ll have better luck than us and find the main road to escape."

Fang Daniu fell silent. No matter how much the people around him asked, his group refused to say another word.

"My boys would never abandon me here," Gu Sanbu declared, rapping his knuckles on his family’s ox-cart. "Even if they were that unfilial, they wouldn’t dare. Don’t forget, all our belongings are here. They can’t survive without this stuff."

"So all of you just settle down and wait patiently. For all we know, those boys are working on a plan as we speak."

"But we’re in a strange place where we don’t know a soul. They don’t have any relatives or friends here; no one would take them in." Gu Daping clutched the household registration papers against his chest. "They don’t have any documents to prove their identity on them. What if they get arrested as runaway slaves?"

"That couldn’t happen, could it?" The thought of that law made everyone’s heart tighten. They had all guarded their own household registrations so carefully throughout their journey for this very reason!

"We can’t just wait here. Let’s go wait by the city gate. If they can’t get out, at least we can throw their papers in to them. Whatever happens, we can’t let the children be branded with a lowly status." Many of the elders could no longer sit still and began hoisting their most important belongings onto their backs.

"Uncle Sanbu, let’s go over and take a look!" Li Cuicui pleaded, looking to Gu Sanbu. Every moment spent waiting here was torture.

Gu Sanbu knew this was no place to linger. Their group of elderly and children wouldn’t be able to withstand much. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Everyone help each other. Bring what you can carry. Pick out the unimportant things and leave them in a corner."

Given the go-ahead, everyone sprang into action.

Li Cuicui, however, looked at the huge pile of belongings with a headache. The possessions of seven families were all there; it wouldn’t be fair to leave any one of them behind.

She turned to the other children. "Each of you, carry what you think is most important. Your grandparents won’t be able to look after you, so make sure you stay close."

’She didn’t expect these young children to be able to carry much, though.’

Gu Dashishi struggled to drag a bag they had brought along, but Li Cuicui quickly stopped him. "Don’t you go tearing open that wound. We won’t be able to find a doctor to treat it now."

"But what do we do with all our things?" Gu Dashishi asked, unable to bear the thought of leaving anything behind. "I don’t know what’s going on with those damn kids. They’re still not back."

***

As for the Gu brothers being grumbled about, they were currently scattered and hiding in various corners of the city. They had regretted their decision the moment they’d entered. If only they had retreated to a corner instead of being swept into the city with the crowd.

Now, the city gates were shut tight, and armed Government Officials were everywhere. They were truly trapped, unable to advance or retreat.

"Eldest Brother, what do we do now? My Le Shun and our parents are still outside. They must be frantic by now." Gu Yuantu’s brow was deeply furrowed. He was at a complete loss and could only turn to Gu Yuanjin for help.

"I don’t have a plan either. We still haven’t found our Le Tian or the rest of the Le Family. I don’t know if they never made it into the city or if they ran off somewhere else." To get more water, their whole family had queued up. In the chaos, he had only managed to hold onto Xie Ruyi, and all the children had been scattered.

Luckily, Gu Le Di had been squeezed in with Gu Yuantu’s group, or they would be even more frantic.

Xie Ruyi wiped away her tears. "I don’t know where our oldest and our third child have run off to. This city is so big and chaotic... I hope nothing happens to them."

"Don’t say such things. The children probably just got separated. If it comes to it, we’ll go wait at the city gate. They might have already headed back there," Gu Yuanjin said, turning to walk toward the mouth of the alley.

Worried about Gu Le Shun on the outside, Hong Daya also stood up to follow. "Right. Maybe the gates are open by now. Let’s hurry and get out."

"Are you all idiots?" Gu Yuanlei spoke up, Lan Ying at his side. "If you run out now, we’ll be back to living outside the walls with no food and no water. Think about the beasts in the mountains! How many more attacks can we survive?"

"Youngest Brother, don’t you forget that our parents are still out there," Gu Yuanjin said, turning back to glare at him. "And don’t forget that you haven’t formally separated from the family yet. Are you trying to be an unfilial son?"

Gu Yuanlei panicked inwardly but kept his composure. "What does this have to do with being filial? It’s not that I won’t support them. We just need to find a safer plan, one that allows us to keep moving forward and also bring them inside."

Hong Daya, whose mind was solely on her child, retorted, "By the time you come up with a plan, it’ll be too late! Our parents and the children are out there without food or water. They’re just a group of elders and kids. If there’s another beast attack, or if some villains decide to target them, do you really think they can defend themselves?"

As she finished, she shot a pointed look at Lan Ying, who stood beside him. ’Everyone knew perfectly well that the last group of bandits was connected to Lan Ying’s family. How can they be so thick-skinned,’ she thought, ’acting as if they have nothing to do with it?’