Chapter 159: Alarming News

As the drums of attack sounded intermittently, people frantically dispersed into the town's alleys. With both city gates under siege, escape was futile. Panicked and directionless, their instinct was to return to their makeshift shelters to find loved ones.

Finally able to breathe, Li Shi's hair disheveled, surrounded by cries and wails that seemed distant and irrelevant. Her mind fixated on the stolen meat. Turning to search for it, where could it be?

She cried out loud, slapping her own face repeatedly, her pain and tears unceasing in her despair.

As the crowd thinned, she collapsed to her knees, weeping. Through her tears, she thought she saw a lone soybean rolling near her feet.

Soybeans!

She reached out desperately; it wasn't an illusion.

Indeed, they were soybeans.

Li Shi stopped crying, crawling on the ground, scavenging for the scattered beans.

Amidst the chaos of the food theft, many beans had fallen. Now, as the crowd dispersed, they became visible. Those picking them up, like Li Shi, were mostly victims of the theft, too distraught to flee.

Those who lost their food were the first to start collecting; others joined upon realizing there was food to be gathered, turning the ground into a new battleground.

"This is mine, from my home!"

"It's mine, don't pick it up! That's stealing, you're stealing!"

They were all food-deprived villagers, desperate to the point of frenzy. Li Shi found a larger patch, grabbed two handfuls mixed with dirt, tucking them under her lifted skirt. When she reached for more, someone shoved her aside.

She almost lost the beans she had gathered.

Clutching them tightly, she lunged back into the fray until the scattered grains dwindled. As she and a man both reached for the same beans, she saw his greedy, malicious gaze on her clutching hand. Frightened, she hurriedly stood and fled with her meager collection.

Inside their shelter, the Shen children heard the distant drumming and commotion. Peering outside, they saw people rushing back in panic, yelling about bandits.

After an anxious wait, Li Shi finally returned, disheveled, with swollen eyes and face.

The children rushed to her: "Mother?"

Seeing her four