"Brother, should we observe a little longer?" Mo Jiuye saw that Peng Wang was determined, so he could only remind helplessly.
"I hope Brother Peng can make a decision before it gets dark, otherwise, it will be even harder for us to go up the mountain."
Peng Wang nodded: "Well, in half a hour, if it is still raining, then I'll listen to you and we'll go up the mountain."
Mo Jiuye went back and told He Zhiran about Peng Wang's decision, then returned to the wing room where the yamen runners were.
Not only was it convenient here to observe the rain, but most importantly, he could continue to persuade Peng Wang to lead everyone up the mountain.
The half hour Peng Wang mentioned passed quickly, and not only did the rain show no signs of weakening, but it was falling even harder.
The rainwater had completely flooded into the wing room.
Mo Jiuye took the opportunity to say, "Brother Peng, for everyone's safety, we must go up the mountain immediately."
Peng Wang gritted his teeth: "Fine, I'll listen to you, brother."
After saying that, he ordered the yamen runners to tell the people in the other wing room to pack up and set off immediately.
He Zhiran had already deeply realized the seriousness of the problem. She ran to Peng Wang and said,
"Brother Peng, you'd better advise Li Zheng to notify all the villagers to go up the mountain, or find other high ground, they must not continue to stay here."
He Zhiran's words still carried some weight to Peng Wang. As everyone was packing up in puzzlement, he knocked on Liu Li Zheng's door again.
He Zhiran didn't know exactly how Peng Wang persuaded them, but when he came out of Li Zheng's house, his face showed some helplessness.
He had done what he should, Peng Wang didn't feel guilty. He ordered the prisoners who had bewildered looks on their faces to go up the mountain again.
Seeing the sisters-in-law coming out of the wing rooms, still hugging their luggage tightly.
He Zhiran advised: "Sisters, these have all been soaked by the rain, it's better not to bring them along."
"Sister-in-law He, these beddings were hard to obtain, they can still be used after drying, Second Sister-in-law is not afraid of hardship and can bring them along."
"Yes, Sister-in-law He, Fifth Sister-in-law can too, she's not afraid of hardship either."
"Seventh Sister-in-law also can."
"... "
He Zhiran knew that the sisters-in-law could be said to have almost all been nobles in the capital city before. Their awareness of natural disasters was not very high.
Helplessly, she could only patiently reason with them.
"Sisters, you felt it just now when rushing here, how difficult it was to move forward carrying weight on this muddy road. The mountain road is even more so. With one careless step, your whole person could slide down.
It is really not wise to bring such heavy baggage that is useless now."
Although the sisters-in-law knew He Zhiran was right, they were still reluctant to leave their belongings behind.
Seeing their tangled expressions, Old Lady Mo said heavily, "You should all listen to the He family girl."
Since the mother-in-law had spoken, the sisters-in-law could only resentfully put their luggage in the wing rooms.
The Fang and Xie families were sensible. Although they didn't know why He Zhiran asked everyone to abandon their luggage, they just habitually imitated her actions.
Everyone put their luggage in the wing rooms completely. Listening to He Zhiran, they only brought out the tents.
Seeing everyone was ready, Peng Wang gave the order and they set off in the rain.
They walked with difficulty on the muddy village road. No one could understand Peng Wang's approach, but they didn't dare to complain and could only follow resentfully behind him with stomachs full of grievances.
When no one was paying attention to her, He Zhiran purchased two bags of charcoal from Taobao mall, wrapped them tightly in oilcloth, and took them out of her space.
Of the entire team, apart from He Zhiran carrying an oilcloth package on her back, the rest only held up a tent to shelter from the rain.
Mo Jiuye was attentive. With one glance, he noticed He Zhiran's big package. He hurriedly took it over and put it on his own back.
Soon, everyone arrived at the foot of the mountain and found a small path up the mountain. Mo Jiuye took the lead in front to open up the path for everyone.
The others supported each other as they followed behind.
It was most difficult for the He family, who had to take the paralyzed He Ming with them up the mountain. The difficulty was too great.
In order not to let the He family affect the pace, He Zhiran took the initiative to give them a suggestion.
That was to remove the boards from the wooden cart and tie He Ming to it, then pull it along with ropes.
Even the yamen runners couldn't ignore the greater good now and took the initiative to provide hemp ropes.
Even so, the He family still fell far behind the team.
Fortunately, when everyone reached halfway up the mountain, they discovered there was a mountain depression not far ahead.
In He Zhiran's understanding of danger, that place was most suitable for everyone to take temporary shelter.
Although there was no place for shelter from the wind and rain, the advantage was that there were no trees there. Even if there was lightning, there would not be accidents.
In addition, she also considered the possibility of landslides in this kind of weather.
So sheltering from the floodwaters in the mountain depression was the best position.
So she took the initiative to suggest going there to Peng Wang.
Peng Wang was unwilling at first. He intended to find a cave that could at least shelter them from the rainwater.
He Zhiran could only explain her reasoning to him.
Although Peng Wang felt He Zhiran was being alarmist, in the end he compromised, thinking of her capabilities.
Beyond their expectations, after everyone arrived at the mountain depression, they discovered joyfully that there were actually three caves of varying sizes there.
Peng Wang was overjoyed. After checking them, he allocated the caves for temporary shelter according to the number of people.
He still favored the Mo family somewhat, letting them have the smallest one to themselves.
Although the cave was smaller, the Mo family was very satisfied since it was only their own family together.
He allocated the largest cave to the people of the other three families.
The yamen chose the medium-sized one.
Everyone now had a place to shelter from the rain, but thorny problems followed.
Their clothes were soaked through. If they couldn't change or dry them in time, it would easily lead to illnesses like colds.
Also, now they had no food or water sources. Going hungry for a night would surely be another torment for them.
He Zhiran had prepared in advance for these issues.
She publicly unwrapped the oilcloth package, revealing the charcoal inside.
The moment the Mo women saw the charcoal, their eyes widened.
"Sister-in-law He, what's this?"
He Zhiran had already thought up an explanation.
"Seeing the charcoal at the Liu family's place, I considered we might need it on the mountain. So I kept aside a couple silvers to bring these along."
Mo Hanyue looked at her admiringly. "Sister-in-law He, you are truly amazing. Even things like this you can think of."
"That's right, Sister-in-law He. Second Sister-in-law now most admires you."
He Zhiran smiled at everyone. She took out an oilcloth wrapped match from her clothes and lit the charcoal together with Mo Jiuye.
At the same time, Mo Jiuye also gave He Zhiran a thumbs up for her thoughtfulness.
The firewood on the mountain was soaked by the rainwater. Even if they found some, it would probably be unable to ignite. But it was different with this charcoal. Not only was it easy to ignite, but it burned for a long time.
He Zhiran had bought fast burning charcoal. With little effort, she lit it easily.
