The village head sighed again and again. "What do we do? What do we do? We can't even go back now—"
Gu Zhang thought for a moment and asked Uncle Ma in a low voice, "Do you have any ideas?"
Uncle Ma pondered for a long moment. "It's hard to say. I've never run into something like this before."
"How about this," he said. "Everyone, let's go ask around first. Maybe there's another way."
Su Chen, sitting in his carriage, heard everything clearly. His expression soured. He quietly called Zhang Ze over, whispered a few words, and Zhang Ze nodded and left.
Uncle Ma, the village head, Gu Zhang, and Gu Qing all went off to make inquiries.
The rest of the people, seeing no other option, unhitched their carts, huddled together, and ate their dry rations.
There were many refugees around, so no one dared to cook a hot meal.
Those who had gone to ask around were gone for the better part of an hour before they started to trickle back.
