The blazing sun scorched the endless yellow-earth road, bleaching its surface white and sending distorted waves of heat shimmering upward.
The sparse weeds by the roadside drooped lifelessly. Farther away lay rolling barren hills, and as far as the eye could see, everything was a parched, earthy yellow.
The family of four—Ning Chuan and his family—looked small and lonely upon this seemingly endless official road.
They had left the earthen slope where they had taken temporary shelter last night two hours ago.
After the initial panic and shock faded, the harsh reality lay before them—no water, no food, and an unknown road ahead.
Ning Chuan walked at the front, his steps steady as his eyes swept over the wilderness ahead and on both sides, alert to any possible danger.
Overnight, the burden on his shoulders seemed to have grown far heavier, yet his straight back revealed a toughness beyond his years.
At his waist now hung a dark yellow gourd tied with hemp rope, swaying lightly with every step.
He also carried a gray cloth crossbody pack on his back, bulging with supplies.
Walking in the middle were his father, Ning Dazhuang, and his mother, Liu Lan.
Sweat covered Ning Dazhuang's dark face, and his back was already soaked through, the cloth clinging tightly to his sturdy frame.
A brand-new mulberrywood hunting bow hung across his body, finely crafted with a taut bowstring. A quiver rested on his back, holding twenty arrows with neat fletching and sharp arrowheads.
The equipment looked somewhat out of place on a carpenter, but after Ning Chuan's simple instructions that morning, the way he held the bow had begun to show a trace of steadiness.
Liu Lan held her daughter Ning Xiaohe's hand. Her face bore the fatigue of a long journey, but her eyes