When the team left, the sun had already risen.
The temperature was noticeably warmer than at midnight, but without the campfire, everyone felt colder instead.
The children were all wrapped in blankets and placed on the wooden cart.
The bottom layer of the wooden cart was covered with burlap sacks, all filled with chestnuts.
Other luggage or chestnuts were placed around, forming a nest in the middle where the children sat to keep warm and prevent them from dozing off and falling.
The adults were all walking, even the elderly.
The wives helped push the cart, while the men pulled it.
Qi Dalang was still pulling the cart for Qi Quanjin's family, while Qi Quanjin walked at the forefront, holding a stick in one hand and an axe in the other, continuously tapping the withered grass ahead.
First, to test if the ground was even, and second, to scare away any snakes or insects possibly hiding under the grass.
