Before long, under pressure from the cavalry and villagers, the others had no choice but to follow Wen Sheng and flee.
These pitiful fugitives had been forced to retreat just as a chance at survival appeared.
That night.
At the foot of a desolate mountain.
There was a little water here.
Everyone settled down there.
Only around thirty people remained under Wen Sheng's command.
Every one of them was desperate.
Now, they could only place their hopes on Wen Sheng and the other three. There was no one else left for them to rely on.
And that was precisely the most important thing when starting from nothing.
Where did core members come from? With a dozen or so sufficiently loyal people, growth could become exponential.
Ten people brought in ten more each, making a hundred. A hundred brought in ten more each, making a thousand...
That was why, in chaotic times, capable people could gather armies of tens of thousands within just two or three years.
Number One swept his gaze across the crowd and said, "It looks like we have no choice but to start robbing people."
"What? Robbing people?" someone asked in shock.
But more people remained silent.
Having just been driven away, slaughtered, and nearly eaten, they understood that if they did not rob others, they would not survive.
They wanted to live honestly too, but the cavalry and local villagers did not want refugees like them passing through.
Why were they doing this? Naturally, they did not know.
But Wen Sheng understood perfectly.
It was because refugees would destroy the fragile balance of society.
The edges of drought-stricken lands were precisely the most fragile places.
They had already been affected by the disaster. Food reserves and social order were both on the verge of collapse.
Once