In the middle of the night, more than five refugees that knocked on their door requesting for food but was chased away. Luckily, nothing happened and the night passed quickly. The next morning everyone woke up and ate the remaining pancakes before bathing and dressing up.
Aa everyone assembled in the main hall to leave, they were met with an obstruction. Outside the locked door was a crowd of refugees with red eyes. They were carrying sticks as if ready for a fight and they exiles step back and locked the door. Lu Dan quickly asked the ballif who was on patrol last night what happened. He immediately explained what he heard.
It turned out that after being rejected they had come up with a plan. Their leader who was a scarred man had asked them to gather sticks and any other objects to surround the Temple and force them out. They had planned to let them come out themselves by starving them after their food was finished. Lu Dan's expression was bad as he thought of what to do.
They were not fit to confront those hungry guys head on but if they stayed in here and their food finished then their flesh would be eaten. What to do? He subconsciously looked at Su Xiao as if expecting a solution from her but she just raised her brows at him. He immediately looked away and mentally chastised himself for being delusional.
The exiles were already panicking at the thought of being eaten alive. Those guys outside were obviously man eaters and would definitely not spare them. Lu Dan lead the group back to the abbot quarters and used some objects to hold the door to avoid being easily pushed open. Some ballifs were stationed at the door to monitor any movement from the hungry refugees.
Su Xiao took the kids and her group back to the monks quarters and everyone went back to their room with a heavy heart. Su Xiao placed the frightened kids on the bed but they cling to her and she let them be. The situation outside was dangerous indeed. Those bunch of desperados would stop at nothing to kill them. She has seen a lot of such people in the apocalypse who had completely lost their humanity and were nothing short of beasts.
If she was alone then she could completely escape unscathed. She was not afraid of a fight but with the kids here and other people it was inconvenient. Apart from her and Mu Wei, no body has learnt martial arts putting them at a more disadvantage. She turned to Mu Wei to ask his thoughts.
"What do you think we should do?"
"In this situation, we're at a more disadvantage both in strength and numbers. We have to wait and think thoroughly about the next plan"
"That's also my thoughts. Stay with the kids while I go prepare something to lighten everyone's mood"
"Hm. Be careful"
"Don't worry. The person who can harm me hasn't been born yet!"
Arrogant.
But she was right. Mu Wei felt his lips curl up at her declaration. She was feisty and arrogant but he loved her nonetheless. He carried the children in both legs and consoled them.
"Don't be afraid, mother and father will protect you!"
"Okay"
They relaxed but still stayed in his embrace showing no signs of coming out any soon. Su Xiao walked the kitchen and prepared to make steamed rabbit with ginger and scallions. She didn't call Bai Ling because she wanted to take out some things from her space for cooking. She killed the two rabbits and skinned them, then she kept the skin intact where it would dry. She washed the meat thoroughly and removed the innards. She got a bowl and took out the rice wine, soy sauce and garlic and began marinating the rabbit meat for 30 minutes.
After that, she took out the bamboo steamer and boiled water then placed the rabbit meat which had already been chopped on a heatproof plate. She chopped the scallions and ginger and arranged it on top of the meat and left to steam for 20-25 minutes.
She took out another pot and began cooking the rice as side dish. After some minutes, the food was done and she took it off the fire. Taking advantage of everyone's absence she filled the rice bag and other things that was about to finish.
Just as she finished, Bai Ling walked in. She saw that she was done and hastily explained to avoid being misunderstood
"Xiao'er I didn't know you were about to cook that's why I didn't come. Don't misunderstand me!"
"I understand your situation sister Bai. I deliberately didn't call you over because I understood how everyone must have been feeling now"
"Thank you Xiao'er"
"You're welcome. Help me carry the food to the room at the end of the monk quarter. It's spacious and everyone can eat together"
"Yes miss"
She immediately went to call everyone while Su Xiao carried the food to the quarters. Everyone walked out looking embarrassed. They had immediately shut themselves out after hearing the news not caring how their madam was doing. They apologized and she waved it off. Everyone gathered around the table and dug in. Su Xiao had already prepared the kids own separately so they were eating in their own plates while the adults swept through the food and finished it once.
After two rounds of eating, they leaned on the chair with a full belly and showered compliments on the boss. Bai Ling cleared the plates and brought water from the barrel for everyone to drink. Everyone sat in silence not thinking about the situation outside for then, just enjoying the comfortable silence. After eating, Mu Wei called the men out for a brief meeting.
"As you can see, we're outmatched both in strength and numbers. From today, you all will gather here early in the morning to train till the day we fight. Understood?"
"Understood!"
They simultaneously saluted. This was a plan he had come up with after thinking. Since they were here, then why not use it to learn some skills to save themselves. After he gave his speech, everyone was instructed to start running around the courtyard until till he decided it was enough. And so, they began training by a military commander general.
Su Xiao looked at the situation outside and nodded in satisfaction with his thoughts. She thought for a minute and asked Bai Ling.
"Sister Bai, do you want to learn how to fight?
"Yes miss!"
She eagerly nodded. She could defend herself and protect her husband. The children also expressed their eagerness and she included them. So, as they men trained outside so did they women inside. Just like that, they spent the whole day before preparing to have dinner and sleeping off.