Fleeing the Famine

In the fifth year of Anle under Great Qian, Qing Province suffered a severe drought. Famine gripped the land, and people ate one another.

Bleached bones lay exposed in the wilderness, and for a thousand miles, not a single rooster crowed.

Across the vast stretch of heaven and earth, only withered yellow remained. All things had long since fallen silent.

Not to mention birds and beasts—even snakes, insects, rats, and ants had vanished without a trace.

Yet amid this desolate scene, one gaunt figure after another trudged forward with numb expressions and staggering steps.

They were people—people fleeing the famine.

From time to time, someone collapsed onto the ground, never to rise again.

Chen Mo's face was dull and numb, his body withered as though a gust of wind could blow him over.

To ward off the cold, he wore layer upon layer of clothing stripped from who knew whose body.

He could no longer remember how many days ago he had arrived in this world. Only one thought remained in his mind: hunger. He had to eat.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing edible anywhere in heaven or earth. Even the bark on dead trees had been stripped clean.

He had no strength to spare for thought and merely trudged forward in a daze.

He did not know whether there was truly a path to survival ahead, but stopping meant certain death.

After walking for who knew how long, a low thatched hut appeared before him.

Chen Mo stopped and turned to look behind him.

Behind him was another emaciated figure not much different from himself, equally caked in mud and equally wrapped in layer upon layer of tattered clothing.

Compared with him, however, the other person was shorter and thinner.

Chen Mo did not know the other person's name, age, or sex. In fact, the two of them had barely spoken more than a few words.

But over these days of fleeing the disaster, they had formed a de facto alliance.

Fleeing the famine alone was too dangerous. One might be captured and made into human meat.

By watching each other's backs, they were somewhat safer.

There were plenty of refugees traveling alone. Why risk attacking two people?

Not to mention, if one of them accidentally collapsed, having someone to help might give him a chance to stand again. Relying on himself alone meant waiting for death.

If one failed to wake in the morning, someone calling out might still give him a chance to awaken. If no one called, he would slowly die in his sleep.

This was not Chen Mo's first companion. He had had many companions before. Some had attacked him over a scrap of food and been killed by him.

More often, though, they had lain down to sleep and could never be roused again.

The companion behind him remained numb and expressionless. They were too hungry; they had no strength left for any unnecessary thought or expression.

Seeing that the other person was still following, Chen Mo relaxed and continued toward the thatched hut.

His steps were very slow. Calling it walking was too generous—it was more like inching forward bit by bit.

As he gradually neared the hut, Chen Mo spotted a gray-black figure noticeably sturdier than himself. When that person saw him, he did not avoid him. Instead, he took the initiative and walked over.

Chen Mo immediately became alert. After fleeing for so long, most of the time when refugees encountered one another, both sides would first keep their distance.

Because neither could be sure whether the other would treat them as food.

And this time, they had two people. The other man actually dared to approach first!

"What are you trying to do?" As the man drew closer, Chen Mo gathered his strength and demanded in a low voice.

The man stopped and looked Chen Mo up and down, then glanced at the companion behind him.

It seemed he was comparing the two men's height, build, and strength.

Yet as he looked at them, an unmistakable hunger for food unconsciously surfaced in his eyes.

"Brother, look at you—you've been hungry for so long. I see you've got some food behind you. Why don't we eat a little together?"

He forced a smile onto his face and unconsciously swallowed, turning his gaze toward Chen Mo's shorter companion.

His meaning was abundantly clear. He had already taken Chen Mo's companion for food.

"Sure!" Chen Mo smiled, making no immediate move to refuse.

"All right, then. Come with me." Hearing Chen Mo agree, delight surfaced in the man's eyes.

The man hurriedly turned to leave. Chen Mo gritted his teeth, summoned his strength, and took two large strides before reaching out and locking his arm tightly around the man's neck.

Chen Mo did have a dagger, but the other man, like him, wore layer upon layer of clothing. There was no way to stab through it.

The man trapped in his chokehold fought back with all his strength. Chen Mo's feet gave way, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

He still clung fiercely to the man's neck, refusing to let go no matter what.

In this world, everyone feared others stealing their food. Who would willingly share food with someone else?

The man clearly had ulterior motives. Most likely, he had taken Chen Mo and his companion for provisions!

Though the companion did not know what had happened, he still staggered over, drew the piece of iron he carried, aimed at the man's eye, and drove it in with a vicious thrust.

"Ah!" The man cried out in pain, but he had little strength and could not shout. He could only whimper weakly.

The companion wanted to stab deeper, but where would he find the strength? With no other choice, he pressed his entire body weight onto the piece of iron and slowly pushed it in bit by bit.

When Chen Mo saw his companion arrive, his heart loosened.

Fortunately, his companion had helped. Otherwise, with the strength he had left, he truly could not have strangled the man to death.

As the dagger sank completely into the man's skull, he stopped struggling.

Leaning on his walking stick, the companion struggled to stand. He then slowly dragged the man's corpse aside and helped Chen Mo to his feet.

Things that were normally effortless now felt, to the two men who were utterly spent, as though they had cost them half their lives.

Stepping over the corpse, the two supported each other and shuffled onward.

They were very hungry, but they had not yet crossed the bottom line of what it meant to be human.

It was precisely this shared limit that allowed the two of them to form an alliance.

When they reached the thatched hut, Chen Mo's eyes went wide. He saw a pot of blackish porridge.

He hurried over and stirred the pot with the ladle.

There was all sorts of things in the broth: roots of unknown origin, some wheat and wild greens, and even two rat heads and rat meat.

Seeing the rat heads, Chen Mo felt relieved. It meant the meat in the pot was definitely rat meat. As for whether there was meat from anything else, he refused to think about it.

Without another thought, Chen Mo scooped up a ladleful and brought it to his mouth.

Sweet—an utterly soul-soothing sweetness!

He could not describe the flavor. This porridge was more delicious than any delicacy he had ever eaten!

He picked up the chipped porcelain bowl beside the pot, quickly filled it, and handed it to his companion.

The porridge was important, but he did not want to come to blows with his companion. There was still no telling how far they had to go, and the two of them needed to travel together.

A pot of cooked-meat and wheat porridge was devoured by the two of them in a whirlwind. Even the pot and bowl were licked clean until they gleamed.

After eating some food, Chen Mo finally had enough strength to think through the problem.

Should they leave now, or stay in the hut for the night?

The hut was crude, but at least it had plenty of thatch to keep out the cold.

If they went on, they might not find another shelter before dark.

And if they spent the night outside, whether the two of them could wake up tomorrow was still unknown.

Yet if they stayed, whether they would have the strength to continue tomorrow was equally uncertain.

Chen Mo did not want to think for too long. He made his decision at once, using a stick he had found to support himself as he walked outside.

His companion said nothing and silently followed.

The two traveled together. Every time, Chen Mo made the decisions, and the other had long since grown accustomed to following him.

Moving a little faster than before, Chen Mo kept inching toward the distant horizon.

As the two gradually moved away, the figure outside the hut suddenly sat up. The dagger in his eye had vanished, and not the slightest injury remained.

He stood and walked into the hut. Seeing the pot's gleaming clean bottom, boundless hunger for food showed in his eyes.

He searched everything before him, wanting to find even the smallest scrap of something edible.

In the end, his gaze fell upon his own fingers. Wasn't this a piece of meat?