Keep in mind the context there is more than the peasants saw them as a respite, but often within literal days of showing up they would act like they ran the place, insert themselves into family feuds, kill beloved members of the community, so much so that in mere weeks or months peasants would legit seek out the people who previously had been raping and murdering them in order to get Shining Path out of their villages. Lucanamarca is particularly a good example of this, they took a serious risk and nearly got lynched by government goons while trying to get their help. That's how bad the situation was.