Across the four villages, there were more than forty households and over five hundred people. Eight households, totaling more than ninety people, chose to relocate immediately.
Whether they understood the gravity of the situation or simply thought it was worthwhile, they left quite decisively.
Five of those households chose the area designated by Hua Xiezhi as their relocation destination, while the remaining three chose to leave this place entirely.
The five households could not finish moving in a single day, so they requested three days to relocate. Hua Xiezhi approved it.
The three other households took everything they could carry and left directly, though they also requested the right to return for another trip to move the rest.
Hua Xiezhi approved that as well. As long as they were willing to move immediately, everything else was negotiable.
Besides, the things they could not take with them were only ladders, dustpans, and the like—nothing valuable.
The important thing was that she had truly handed out more than four hundred spirit stones, making a point of setting an example.
By that afternoon, another three households had changed their minds at the last minute and decided to relocate that very day.
They really could not wait any longer. If they waited until tomorrow, each person would lose out on one spirit stone—one whole spirit stone!
By evening, another two households said they wanted to move as well. Otherwise, the cost of sleeping through the night was simply too high.
Both families traveled light, bringing few jars and pots. No matter how valuable the things they could not carry were, could they be worth more than a spirit stone? One of the families was surnamed Su. Its head, Su Ye, had eleven people in his family and received fifty-five spirit stones.
Su Ye had