Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space-Chapter 208. Is it true?

Several older villagers couldn’t help but step forward anxiously, asking, "Officer, what you said... is it true?"

The clerk was already tired of looking at the person asking. Almost every village had someone like this, but would he be dripping wet in the rain if it wasn’t true?

Touching the copper coin in his hand and seeing the village chief’s sensible approach, he still spoke, "This is the order from above, whether you believe it or not is up to you."

"Heavens, is there really going to be a flood? How are we supposed to live?" A woman who couldn’t bear it started wailing directly.

"Yeah, what are we going to do, just when life was getting a bit better..."

"... My house was only built two years ago."

"How are people supposed to live like this..."

"..."

"Everybody, shut up," noticing the impatience on the officer’s face, Old Hua shouted.

"Alright, I’ve delivered the message, whether you believe it or not is up to you." Having said that, he turned to leave for the donkey cart, and Old Hua quickly stepped forward to help, then stuffed a handful of copper coins into his hand and quietly asked, "Officer, our village is very remote, do you know what’s happening in the town?"

The clerk weighed the copper coins in his hand and finally wore a slight smile, "The village chief is a nice person, I’ll say a bit more; it’s best for you to plan ahead. I’ve heard that many wealthy families in town are already preparing to leave."

"Thank you, officer," said Old Hua as the clerk headed back into the rain.

Once the clerk left, the young and old in the village gathered around Old Hua, anxiously speaking one after another.

"Village chief, will there really be a flood?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Life was just getting better, it better not be true, right?"

"Surely not..."

"..."

If it floods for a day or two, everyone might not be too worried, but they fear the water won’t recede. By then, not only will homes be gone, but the crops won’t be saved either, and even replanting would be too late, meaning they might have nothing to harvest next year, meaning hunger, can people not be anxious?

Panicking from the shocking news, everyone instinctively turned to the village chief for help.

The rain was too heavy; initially, Old Hua wanted to calm the crowd but seeing no one reacting, he had to shout over the noise to indicate everyone shouldn’t be so emotional.

"Stop, listen to me; the weather has been abnormal these past two years, everyone knows this. Besides, have you noticed anything?"

Old Hua wiped away the rain from his face and glanced at everyone.

"Notice what, old man? Just say it quickly," shouted Hua Dexin from under his son’s umbrella.

"Didn’t you notice that it’s about to be October but it’s not cold at all? In previous years, we’d already be wearing thick clothes by now."

This loud shout quieted the noisy rain-filled background, making everyone suddenly realize.

These days have been so busy, preoccupied with harvesting, drying, and storing grain, that they haven’t had time to notice.

Standing in the rain at this moment, their clothes were nearly soaked, but only a slight chill was felt, certainly not cold.

Unusual, very unusual.

Looking at the unrelenting heavy rain, combined with yesterday’s terrifying thunderstorms, almost everyone present simultaneously felt an ominous feeling, a bad premonition.

Seeing everyone listening, Old Hua continued, "Moreover, it’s been raining almost a whole day and night, and the rain hasn’t lessened much. At this rate, such torrential rain might really lead to flooding. The authorities kindly warned us all, we must not be careless; it’s better to prepare early. If it continues raining heavily in the next day or so, we need to consider evacuation."

"Village chief, there’s no need to evacuate, right? With our village’s high terrain, we should be fine, and we’ve faced floods before without problems," Liu the lazy old man among the crowd shouted carelessly.

"Yeah..."

This reminded everyone. They were so anxious, forgetting about the village’s high ground; others immediately echoed.

The homes, though poor, were built bit by bit; who would want to leave their belongings behind? Of course, if they can avoid evacuating, they would. Besides, Hua Village does indeed have high terrain.

Old Hua had long anticipated such thoughts, and spoke up, "True, in the past, we’ve indeed faced floods, and Hua Village has always been lucky, but before any flood, were we ever officially notified by the authorities?"

This question stunned everyone; indeed, they hadn’t.

"Right, we hadn’t. So why is there a warning this time? What does it indicate?"

"It indicates this isn’t a simple flood," spoke Hua Huai, one of the clan elders, who had been standing silently in the rain.

"Uncle is right, I think the same," said Old Hua, nodding toward Elder Huai and continuing, "It might be much more severe than we imagined, so taking chances is dangerous; if we find something amiss, we must evacuate."

"But... village chief, our location is already high. If it floods here, where can we evacuate to?"

Old Hua didn’t reply immediately, but gazed through the rain towards Qinggu Mountain behind the village.

"Qinggu Mountain..." someone gave the answer.

"But... the mountain is dangerous!" a timid villager couldn’t help but say.

Qinggu Mountain stretches for who knows how many miles, with countless wild beasts inside; it might be high, but certainly dangerous!

"If there’s really no choice, we have to go to the mountains. At least on the mountain, we can save our lives temporarily; if we don’t go, we’ll only be swallowed by the flood." This wasn’t spoken by Old Hua, but by Hua Yong, another elder of Hua Village.

"Let’s not forget, we have a whole village of people; even the beasts might be afraid of us, wouldn’t dare to approach," said another clan elder.

"Right... so many strong men in our village, scared of wild mountain beasts, are they? If they come, they’re giving us meat..." Hua Qiang waved his strong arm.

The younger ones, bold, all nodded in agreement immediately.

Others thought the same; Hua Village had always been united, and going to the mountain meant they’d all be together. With so many people, their sheer presence was formidable, making dangerous encounters less likely.

"Alright, since everyone’s aware, in the next couple of days, prepare early; above all, ensure grains are waterproof as they are vital. If you trust me as the village chief, don’t fear the rain. Make a trip to town and stock up more on salt, seasoning, grains, and other necessities as well as oilcloth and medicines. We cannot afford to heedlessly face the disaster, which might last years, not just one.

We must make thorough preparations. I have vehicles, if anyone needs one, see my two grandsons. Of course, if the rain stops, it’d be better, though it’s more laborious. Whatever extra can be sold later anyway. If not, I’ll collect them. Also, I’ll have Hua Chengtian scout the mountain for caves and choose a safer mountain."

"Village chief, we’ll go too," hearing this, several men friendly with Hua Chengtian, including Hua Meng, stepped forward as well as a few younger ones.

They couldn’t let Hua Chengtian go alone; finding a cave wasn’t just for him, it was for the whole village, and even the thick-skinned among them couldn’t just stand by.

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