They hurried along, turning from the main road onto smaller paths, and then onto village trails. Five hours later, they finally arrived at Da Feng Village.
It was now deep into the night, and the villagers of Da Feng Village were asleep, shrouded in darkness.
Village Chief He didnāt walk but rode in an ox cart. However, he was old and couldnāt bear the bumpy ride, so he spoke to his eldest son in a hoarse voice, "Eldest, you arrange things for them. Iāll be heading back first."
"Alright, Dad, you go back first. Iāll take care of things here, you can rest assured," He Dacang responded, then said to the villager driving the ox cart, "He Wa, take my father home."
"Got it, Brother Dacang," He Wazi replied, carrying a torch and leading the ox by the rope towards Village Chief Heās house.
After Village Chief He left, He Dacang and nine other able-bodied men from Da Feng Village led a few families to the front of an abandoned old house.
He Dacang pointed to the mud brick house and said, "Youāll have to make do here for the night. Tomorrow, when it gets light, weāll have a discussion in the village and then you can move."
The Mo Family People felt his words were off, so Elder Mo hastily asked, "Nephew He, why does the village need to discuss? What is there to discuss?"
After being busy all day, He Dacang was exhausted. Hearing this question, he frowned and said with displeasure, "What the village discusses is the villageās business, you just need to stay put."
"Donāt go wandering around the village. If the villagers mistake you for thieves and beat you up, our family canāt help you!" He Dacang warned them, then left with the other nine villagers.
The Mo Family People saw He Dacangās attitude wasnāt good, and they muttered under their breath, "Whatās his problem? Just asking a question..."
Qin San Lang took the opportunity while there was still light from the torch to swiftly take out his fire stick and light the torches for each of their families.
Knowing the importance of the torches, the families kept hold of them all along the way and didnāt lose them.
Two Mo Family households had no torches. Elder Mo saw a small child, Gu Jinli, holding a torch and felt it wasteful. He personally asked Gu Jinli, "Little girl, you have extra torches here, could you hand over the one youāre holding..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Jinli turned and ran to the left side of the house, calling out to Gu Dashan, "Dad, quickly move our stuff inside."
The courtyard had only three main rooms and an annex kitchen that had half collapsed, so they needed to quickly claim a room.
Qin Er Lang reacted quickly. After seeing Gu Jinli claim the room on the left, he immediately rushed into the main hall, stood with a cleaver, and coldly looked at the two Mo Family households: "This is Qin familyās."
The Mo Family People had started moving only to hear Qin Er Langās words. They were furious, but since Qin Er Lang had a chilling and bloody aura about him, they didnāt dare to provoke him and could only turn towards the room on the right and took over the half-collapsed kitchen.
The Qin family was only three people and could not occupy the large main hall. Elder Qin decided to let the men and boys sleep in the main hall while the women and girls stayed in the left mud room.
Now that they were in the village, it was different from fleeing on the road; they needed to observe the propriety of gender segregation. Even if they were a family, men and women couldnāt squeeze into one room for the night, as it would attract gossip.
After deciding on the rooms, the men gathered some firewood with their torches and lit two fires, one in the main hall and one in the mud room on the left.
It was the middle of the night, so it was not appropriate to cook. The women from the families boiled a pot of water, added some salt, and each drank half a bowl before starting to rest.
This was their first night in the village, and since they were staying with the Mo Family People, Elder Qin and Third Grandpa didnāt feel entirely at ease, so they left Qin Er Lang and Qin San Lang on night watch.
The Mo Family People were not as quick with their actions, causing a commotion for over an hour before they could rest.
The next day, as soon as it was light, villagers from Da Feng Village came running in front of the mud house, craning their necks to watch them.
A woman carrying a basket sighed as she looked at their few families, "Itās so pitiable, look at them, as thin as ghosts. The Northwest is so far away, I wonder how they managed to flee all the way to Tianfu County."
A woman carrying water commented, "It doesnāt matter how they managed to escape here, the point is theyāre now part of our Da Feng Village."
"Hmph, whether they are part of our village is not yet certain. Thereās going to be a meeting in the village today, and if the villagers donāt want them to stay, they might just chase them out!" The speaker was a man in his early twenties, with hair as messy as a birdās nest and clothes so filthy they were greasy.
The woman carrying water asked in surprise, "What? Can we actually chase them out? I heard they had already changed their household registration, no?"
"That guy quipped, "Donāt ask me where I heard it from, in any case, for them to want to stay in our village is not going to be so easy."
After saying this, he spit on the ground and glanced over at a few families in the earthen house before getting up and walking away.
Gu Jinli found that man disgusting because that last lingering gaze of his had been fixed on one of the Mo Family girls who was fair and pretty, and less skinny than the others.
His intentions were clear.
She felt relieved that Gu Jinxiu was timid and didnāt leave the house after noticing someone watching, for if such a man had set eyes on her, it would indeed be sickening enough to make her vomit.
"Hey, San Lai, why are you leaving? We havenāt finished talking yet!" the water-carrying woman called after the man.
"Forget about him." A middle-aged man who had risen early to gather firewood in the mountains disliked San Lai, speaking angrily, "San Laiās little schemes, as if others donāt know about them? Such a disgusting thing, he should be driven out of the village."
Upon hearing this, the adults from the few families felt a jolt of alarm in their hearts. They had just arrived in the village and were already being targeted.
Elder Qin and Third Grandpa hurriedly called everyone together, urging them all to go inside and not to stand outside.
Third Grandpa specifically instructed the few families: "Itās inevitable to find some bad folk in these countryside villages. Weāre newcomers and donāt know the ins and outs of the village folks here. Sister Mei and Sister Xiu are both young ladies; they should not go out without an adult accompanying them. The same goes for the women of the families; try to stay inside if you can; if thereās anything to do, let the men in the family handle it."
Uncle Tian, thinking of San Laiās words, asked anxiously, "What did that man mean just now? Weāve already changed our household registration, the village wonāt reject us, right?"
If the people of Da Feng Village were to drive them out, what would they do?
Elder Qin shook his head and said, "No, we have changed to a new household registration, we are recognized by the government as people of Da Feng Village, the villagers wonāt dare to drive us out. However, they might make things difficult for us over small matters."
Elder Qin, with his rich experience, had hit upon the mindset of the villagers in Da Feng Village.
In the afternoon, He Dacang came to find them, asking them to go to Village Chief Heās house, saying there was something the village needed to discuss with them.
The men from the various families, including the heads of the two Mo Family households, hurriedly followed him to Village Chief Heās house.
Village Chief Heās house was one of the few green brick and tile houses in the village, and the courtyard was already full of people sitting down. Seated alongside Village Chief He was an elder with the surname Lu, dressed in new cotton-padded clothes that looked rather nice.
Old Master Lu simply gave the few families a sweeping glance and then withdrew his gaze, resting his palms on the dragon head of his cane, sitting there with an air of nonchalance.
Seeing that they had arrived, Village Chief He got straight to the point, "Even though youāve changed your household registration and have become people of Da Feng Village, you arenāt natives born and raised here. Our village has limited land available for building houses, and we canāt simply divide it for you for free. If you want to build houses, you have to pay to buy the land."
The men from the families knew that every village in Great Chu had some unused lands that werenāt fit for farming. As long as the government office didnāt interfere and the village chief agreed, villagers could use these lands to build houses.
However, they were also aware that if they went to the government office to get the title deeds, they would still have to pay for the land.
Therefore, the men from the families felt that paying to buy the land was not an unreasonable demand.
Elder Qin, shrewd as he was, knew that Village Chief He had specifically called them here for more than just this minor matter, so he asked, "Village Chief, how much do you estimate the land will cost?"