"That's fine, but we need to conceal our true appearances so they can't find us afterwards," Hu Lanfang considered thoughtfully.
"That's simple."
Gu Qingcheng casually produced three cotton windproof masks. After all three of them put them on, only their eyes were visible. This way, even if someone saw them head-on, they wouldn't be recognized later.
"If there's trouble, run for it," Gu Chaobei instructed his wife and daughter.
"Okay."
In this kind of snowy weather, movement was already slow and clumsy. Those people weren't like them, who had been active in the ice and snow recently and adapted to the conditions. Moreover, they were wearing anti-slip spiked shoes. When running, their strength, speed, and agility were much faster than before, allowing them to easily shake off pursuers.
After a thorough analysis, they decided to take the risk and continue collecting.
Otherwise, as the weather warmed up, and with these people cooped up underground for too long and occasionally venturing out, their opportunities for such large-scale hoarding would be limited.
With their plan settled, the three continued their actions.
However, they were much more cautious when entering people's homes now, quietly collecting items while scanning their surroundings for any signs of human presence.
After consuming the potent pills, their senses were much sharper. Any abnormal sounds would be detected quickly.
Gu Qingcheng, even flirting with danger, found it quite thrilling, much more exciting than the numb hoarding of the previous day.
While the Gu family trio was busy in the South City Street, soldiers of King Xia were conducting house-to-house searches in West City Street.
Any discovered corpses were dragged out and buried collectively.
King Xia believed that the extreme cold wouldn't last forever, and when spring arrived, leaving these bodies untreated would lead to plagues in the city due to decomposition.
The soldiers searched every house, but they had a strange feeling that many homes seemed to lack nothing, yet also lacked something.
During lunch, a few soldiers were chatting.
"Strange, we've visited over a dozen households this morning, and it seems like none of them cook. Their homes don't have any pots."
"Ah, now that you mention it, I remember too. We've also visited over a dozen households, and none of them have pots either," another soldier added.
"Oh, what's going on? I didn't see anything missing from their homes, and there were no signs of wild animals gnawing on the bodies. Yet, the pots from the kitchens are gone? What's happening?"
The soldiers exchanged bewildered glances as they discussed this.
This matter couldn't be taken lightly. If only one household was missing a pot, it would be normal, as they might not be cooking. But if dozens of households were missing pots and knives, it was truly peculiar.
This anomaly was reported to King Xia.
King Xia also found it strange. Influenced by the incident with Elder Gu's Seven Stars Town Evil Pagoda previously, he now felt that unusual occurrences often signified something sinister. Fearing some form of malevolent activity, he ordered the soldiers to patrol the city in three shifts at night.
Gu Chaobei's family felt that collecting supplies in the future would become significantly more difficult. By evening, they heard the sound of synchronized footsteps approaching.
From the sound, it seemed to be disciplined military personnel.
They quickly hid in the woodshed, daring not to breathe.
The "swish-swish" of footsteps grew louder, and they heard several soldiers discussing as they walked.
"If you see any doors ajar, go in and check. Perhaps it's the same as in West City, where every household is missing iron pots and knives."
"It's truly strange. Why target iron pots and knives specifically? A rough estimate shows hundreds of households are missing pots, knives, and other ironware."
"Sigh, who's responsible for this? King Xia has us out on rotating shifts at night. If I catch them, I'll give them a good beating!"
"Stop talking. Let me tell you, everyone is worried it's some kind of 'yansheng' ritual, spirits and ghosts. Otherwise, why would King Xia be so nervous?"
Hiding in the woodshed, Gu Qingcheng's family exchanged glances. They hadn't expected their "unusual" actions to attract King Xia's attention so quickly.
The ancients were truly exasperating. Anything inexplicable, they immediately attributed to 'yansheng' rituals, causing everyone to become tense. What was the point?
"Let's go back for now. It seems collecting iron will be much harder from now on. We'll need to think of another way," Gu Chaobei said.
Gu Qingcheng nodded.
While collecting iron was important, nothing was more important than the safety of their family. They needed to leave the scene quickly while King Xia hadn't yet realized it was them.
Otherwise, if they were caught red-handed, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves, no matter how many mouths they had. They couldn't possibly explain why they were collecting so much ironware.
The three of them carefully avoided patrols and guards along the way.
Fortunately, having lived there for a while, they were quite familiar with the city's street layout.
They stuck to the side streets and alleys, managing to avoid the patrolling soldiers.
However, the journey was still nerve-wracking. Several times they almost ran directly into soldiers, but thanks to their good hearing, they detected them in advance and evaded them in time.
But this also indicated that King Xia's control was gradually returning.
If they hadn't made the decisive move to collect from the gold and coal mines the day after the extreme cold, they probably wouldn't have had the chance today.
Could King Xia not send people to investigate the vast treasure trove of Jinsha Mountain?
It was undoubtedly heavily guarded now, and they might even be investigating the theft.
The three of them finally tiptoed their way to the foot of Ya Mountain safely. Gu Qingcheng blew two sharp whistles, and soon, Mi Guo threw down the rope ladder.
The three of them climbed up the rope ladder. Midway, Gu Chaobei cautiously looked back.
Night had fallen, and the accumulated snow reflected the moonlight, making the surroundings still clearly visible. Seeing that there were no tails behind them, he quickly continued climbing.
Upon reaching the top of the slope, the three of them collapsed onto the ground, completely exhausted and not wanting to move.
"Dad, Mom, Sis, what's wrong?"
Mi Guo was startled and quickly asked.
"It's nothing, we just need to lie down and rest for a bit. We're too tired," Gu Chaobei said with a smile.
Kele climbed up from behind Gu Qingcheng to her shoulder, then bared its teeth at Wangcai, who had arrived, looking smug about monopolizing Gu Qingcheng.
Wangcai immediately tried to push Kele off, but Kele swatted it with a paw.
This big dog was surprisingly cowardly. After being swatted on the face, it merely grumbled indignantly before dejectedly turning to wag its tail at Gu Chaobei.
Gu Chaobei patted the dog's head and laughed,
"You coward of a dog, you can't even beat a little cat and you come to complain to me. This won't do. If you can't protect yourself, how can I protect you?"
Wangcai whined and went to find Hu Lanfang.
Hu Lanfang hugged it and said, "Alright, we all dote on you, so stop complaining everywhere. Honestly, you really are a coward."