Chapter 38: Getting Hands-On

The Shen family and their group walked alone and left the other people from Shen Village far behind before noon.

However, they also encountered some trouble.

Nowadays, most of the people who escaped came out in groups, and there were not many individuals who came out alone.

And sure enough, the Shen family of twenty people was targeted in the afternoon.

After having lunch, they continued on their journey, but after walking for less than half an hour, they encountered another group.

This other group seemed to have only sixty or seventy people, but most of them were young and middle-aged men.

On the other hand, the Shen family only had twenty people, including four elderly, a pregnant woman, and several children.

They were few in number and weak in strength, and they were even carrying three carts and a flatbed carriage, all of which were piled high and clearly carrying a lot of valuable belongings.

Originally, when they saw the group ahead, the Shen family had intended to give way and avoid them.

Although the Shen family and a few people from the Zhang family had trained with Shen Yu’an for some time, they had never used real weapons or fought with real people. The fights in the village could only be considered minor fights.

However, before they could stop their footsteps, the people ahead noticed them.

Then the Shen family saw that the group of people had stopped and turned back to look at them.

Grandma Shen comforted everyone by saying, “They are also carrying food, so they shouldn’t have any ill intentions towards us.”

Shen Yu’an’s expression darkened as he looked at the people ahead and said, “That’s not necessarily true. Everyone should stay alert.”

Although they glanced at the group ahead, they still continued walking forward.

However, the greedy looks of the people ahead were extremely different from the group they had encountered outside the city gate the day before.

Their eyes were more ferocious, as if they were looking at a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Moreover, they had slowed down their pace, and the distance between them and the Shen family was gradually getting closer.

It seemed impossible to walk behind them, so they decided to try to overtake them and walk ahead of them.

Shen Yu’an did not dare to relax her guard and whispered, “Since they are not moving, let’s go ahead of them.”

“Everyone be careful, and keep your self-defense items ready.”

After saying that, he had Shen Xingwang, the old man, and Xiao Zhang, as well as WuLang and LiuLang, sit in the carriage.

After leaving the village, Shen Yu’an distributed knives that she had made in town to everyone in the group, just in case of situations like this.

“Let’s go,” she said.

The others responded before picking up their pace. A few people who weren’t riding in the carts walked on the left side of the group, keeping an eye on the people ahead of them.

Getting closer and closer!

Even closer!

The Shen family and their group walked up to the side of that group of people. Shen Yu’an walked with the group, looking at them with vigilance.

However, those people did not make a move as the Shen family walked past them.

But they didn’t dare to stop, and after passing that group of people, they even quickened their pace. Shen Yu’an and Dalang had to take big steps to catch up.

After finally being several hundred meters away from the people behind them, they breathed a long sigh of relief, realizing that their backs were soaked with cold sweat.

Even though they were so far away, no one dared to speak loudly. Ding Hehua whispered, “It seems we worried for nothing. They don’t seem to have any ill intentions.”

Although Ding Hehua said so, not a single person believed it.

Even though they didn’t make a move when they passed by, their greedy eyes couldn’t deceive anyone.

Not only did they look at the grain in their car, but the way they looked at Shen Yu’an also made people feel uneasy for no reason.

“Don’t let your guard down. They probably won’t just let it go like this,” Shen Yu’an warned before continuing to walk.

Meanwhile, the group of people behind them were also discussing.

“Brother Da Niu, why didn’t you let us make a move just now?” a man with small green eyes looked at a middle-aged man covered in muscles and asked.

The middle-aged man called Da Niu said, “They all have knives on them. They might have some skills.”

The man with small green eyes said fiercely, “So what? They’re just a bunch of old, weak, women and children. We have so many people, why should we be afraid of them?”

“Yeah, Da Niu, a few days ago we met some people from a village and we still took everything from them. These few people are not worth fearing at all.”

The village that this man talked about being robbed was actually the same one that Shen Yu’an and his group met outside the city gate.

Their food was already scarce, but fortunately, they received the grain and water that Shen Yu’an gave them.

Da Niu, turned his head and gave the questioning people a glare, and they didn’t dare to speak anymore.

He continued, “Let’s follow them first. When they rest at night, we’ll catch them off guard.

That girl and those few women look good. We’ll take the food and those women, and kill the rest of them!”

Crazed and excited expressions appeared on their faces, licking their dry lips, they couldn’t wait anymore.

The people walking ahead were still unaware that the group behind had planned something against them so blatantly.

They kept walking without letting their guard down, but the slow-moving group they had passed earlier had suddenly picked up their pace.

They were now keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far, making it impossible for the travelers to shake them off. The tension in the air began to rise again.

“Why are they so fast? They’re following so closely, could it be that they have bad intentions!”

“The sky gradually darkened, and even if they didn’t want to stop, they had to find a place to rest.”

Sure enough, when they stopped, the group behind them also stopped and started a fire to cook.

“What can we do? It’s not a good thing for us being followed,” muttered Grandma Shen softly while cooking, feeling extremely worried.

Others had the same thoughts, but what was supposed to come could not be avoided.

Shen Yu’an said in a low voice, “Grandma and Second Aunt Zhang should rest in the carriage at night.”

She frowned and thought for a moment. She decided to let Grandpa and the others go into the carriage too and continued, “Grandpa, Grandpa Xingwang, Wulang and Liulang, all of you should also go inside.”

Grandpa Shen and the others refused without even thinking. “No, when we were training at home, we trained together. How can we hide now and let you few women handle everything outside?”

Grandma Shen and the others quickly echoed their sentiments, clearly disagreeing.

After discussing for a while, they only allowed Xiaozhang to take Liulang and Grandpa Shen Xingwang to temporarily hide in the carriage.

They did not object any further. One was a pregnant woman, one had difficulty moving around, and the other was only ten years old. Even if something happened outside, they would only be a hindrance.

Shen Yu’an had even prepared them mentally in advance.

“You have to remember, if you don’t kill them, they will kill us and take away our food. Who knows what fate awaits the women and children,” Shen Yu’an warned sternly.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat, and they all expressed that they would not be a burden.

Shen Yu’an didn’t say anything more. She knew she had to pay extra attention and be careful to prevent any unexpected accidents from happening.

Two people, Shen Ming and Shen Yun, were still assigned to keep watch tonight.

However, the others couldn’t sleep soundly either. When there was a slight movement in the middle of the night, they were awakened.