"Dad, would you like some water?"
In a dense mountain forest, a young man opened a kettle and carefully brought it to the chapped lips of a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man slightly opened his eyes, picked up the other person's water bottle, and used it to stave off the bitterness in his already bitter face. He forced back his craving, licked his chapped lips, and said with difficulty, "Take this, give some to your mother and sister. Remember to leave half for them; don't let them drink too much. You know how rare water is these days."
The young man glanced at the mother and daughter who were already asleep not far away, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Dad, you have to have some too, otherwise, how can your body handle it?"
Crossing mountains and valleys, water is now the most scarce resource. Dry food can last a long time if you eat it sparingly, especially the dried food made from cured meatworms in Jiangnan, one bite can last a day. But water is different. When hiking, when can you not survive without water?
In the past, when people fled famine, food was scarce and the land was barren, with not a single blade of grass to be found. But three months ago, after the start of the major famine in the southeast, the number of refugees reached hundreds of millions, a number far greater than during any previous natural disaster. Yet, along the way, even in the dead of winter, one could see endless greenery and vibrant life!
Take, for example, the mountain range they're currently on. It's lush and verdant, with crystal-clear streams everywhere, teeming with plump fish.
But the more this is the case, the more dangerous it is!
You want to eat the fish in the water, and they want to eat you too. When you get close to the water, you never know what kind of monster might suddenly appear and tear you to pieces in an instant.
Several experiences have taught these survivors that the closer they get to a water source, the more careful they must be, and it is best to avoid water sources unless absolutely necessary.
Even if they risked everything to fetch some clean water, it wasn't necessarily safe to drink. They saw too many people drinking directly from the clear mountain springs, but ninety-nine percent of them had their internal organs eaten by insects in the water within a day.
The man was so terrified by the scene that he couldn't sleep before the New Year. When he woke up, the bandits who had drunk the water had their flesh eaten away by insects, leaving only a human skin stuck to the bones. Countless fist-sized maggots burst out of their stomachs. He was traumatized by the sight.
After that, they would boil any water they wanted to drink for at least fifteen minutes before daring to try it.
In today's jungle, starting a fire and boiling water is extremely dangerous. People usually only dare to start a fire during the day and only choose a place that looks relatively safe. They certainly wouldn't dare to do it in the dense jungle.
If you don't dare to light a fire, you don't dare to boil water, and naturally, there will be less and less water to drink.
" Little Yanzi, come quick, your brother brought you water, drink some." A woman who looked thin and pale, but whose beauty was still evident, had her eyes light up, took the water bottle, and coaxed the little girl in her arms who looked to be only three or four years old.
But no matter how much the girl called, there was no response.
Both the woman and the young man who brought the water felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.
" Yanzi? Little Yanzi?"
Without a sound, the young man cautiously reached his hand to the little girl's nose, then withdrew it as if he had been electrocuted, the precious water bottle in his hand falling to the ground with a thud.
The woman's eyes reddened upon hearing this.
Just then, the old man who had been lying on the ground struggled to his feet, walked over in a few steps, grabbed the little girl, and carefully tested her nose with his hand.
"Old man, what are you doing?" the woman cried as she struggled.
"I told you we couldn't get here, we couldn't get here, but you insisted on dragging the whole family along with you. Er Ya died on the way, Sanwa died, and now Si Ya is gone too. What reason do I have to live?"
"Shut up!" the old man weakly roared, "Are we just going to stay home and wait to die if we don't try?"
"Didn't you see how those Southern Barbarians treat us Han people? Would you rather your children be captured, skinned, and soaked in alcohol at Ghost Temple, or would you rather they be devoured alive by those monsters?"
The woman choked up and couldn't speak for a moment, finally managing to stammer, "It's not like it's necessarily our turn."
"That's just a woman's view!" The old man glared at the other man. "Children are being arrested in the capital. Now that the imperial soldiers have left, the Southern Barbarians barbarians are arresting children even more brazenly. What makes you think your child can escape? Besides, the chickens in the yard could turn into man-eating monsters the Heavenly Capital. Can we still stay in our old home?"
"Then can we stay in Jiangnan?" the woman roared. "Are you sure Jiangnan hasn't become like this?"
" Jiangnan can't possibly become like this!" the old man roared back, his eyes filled with a mixture of seriousness and anticipation. "You haven't been there, you don't know. No Magic City can get close to that place. Even if something happens, the people above won't be like the imperial court, becoming accomplices instead!"
He then panted, exhausted, "I should have sent you and your children here before the New Year. Even if we couldn't get registered, even if we were refugees, it would be better than this."
The old man truly regretted it. He was originally a peddler in the Southeast Commandery. On a friend's advice, he went to Jiangnan to trade. He only bought goods once, but it earned him several years' worth of wealth.
After witnessing the prosperity of Jiangnan, he conceived the idea of bringing his wife and daughters to live Jiangnan.
But this woman, with her old-fashioned peasant mentality, couldn't bear to part with the fields she owned. Besides, the scholar Er Ya was betrothed to was said to have passed the imperial examination and would soon become the mother-in-law of an official. How could she possibly be willing to move to Jiangnan?
She was afraid that if she moved out, her partner would use it as an excuse to call off the wedding.
Now look what's happened; the scholar's fate in the capital is unknown, Er Ya died such a tragic death.
The old man didn't argue further. Instead, he handed the little girl to his strongest son, Liangzi: "Liangzi, take Yanzi and run that way. If I remember correctly, it's only a few miles from here to the border between Jiangnan and Yunzhou. You have to get Yanzi to the border, no matter what. Yanzi must die there!"
"Why, Father?" the young man asked, looking puzzled.
Even if my younger sister is still breathing, judging from her condition, she won't make it to Jiangnan for treatment. Shouldn't she be kept by my side to see me one last time and be given a proper burial?
Now, he's being forced to run desperately to the Jiangnan region, all he needs to do is cross the border? What's the point of crossing the border then?
Is Dad possessed?
"Go when I tell you to!!!" the old man roared, his eyes bloodshot. "If you don't deliver Yanzi there, don't come back!!"
The young man had never seen his father so frightening at home before, so he didn't dare to talk back. He quickly carried his little sister on his back and ran in the direction his father pointed.
"What are you doing, old man?" The woman sobbed uncontrollably. Her daughter was gone, and now he wouldn't even let her be with him one last time. He was still thinking about his Jiangnan. All he thought about Jiangnan. Did he think they would accept him if he sent his daughter's body there?
thump.
As if all his strength had been exhausted, the old man sat on the ground, watching his son's retreating figure with anticipation.
He knew his son wouldn't understand his actions, but he would once he reached Jiangnan.
As the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly. Perhaps the old man never imagined that the son he had gone to such lengths to send away would encounter a giant mountain insect on the way.
The centipede, resembling a python, charged at the two upon seeing them, its foul-smelling venom sending chills down their spines even from a distance.
The young man was terrified and ran away as fast as he could with the girl on his back. But after several days of exhausting hiking and trekking, and having been frugal with his food and drink, he had hardly any strength left.
After running for only fifteen minutes, my legs were already shaking and I was seeing stars.
He was on the verge of collapse, with only one breath left in his heart.
His father had asked him to deliver Yanzi to the border of Jiangnan. He didn't know why the old man insisted, but he was now in utter despair and had almost no other thoughts. He only wanted to complete his father's instructions before he died.
Although he knew it was useless—the border between the southeast and Yunzhou had always been unclear, and after the Great Jin unified the country, there wasn't even a post station on the border, let alone government troops—what difference would it make if he and his younger sister ran into Yunzhou?
Does that mean the giant centipede behind us will stop chasing us once we get inside?
For some unknown reason, perhaps as a last straw after drowning, the man, clinging to his last hope, mustered all his strength and jumped from the cliff directly towards the stone tablet he remembered!
A foul stench swept from behind them; clearly, the giant centipede hadn't let them go despite their fearless actions, and it flew down.
Looking back carefully, they discovered that the centipede could actually fly. Its enormous mouth was right in front of them, and it bit off the Little Yanzi behind them along with the flesh on its own back!
The intense pain tore at his heart, affecting not only his body but also his mind. His family had traveled a long and arduous journey, only to end up with him not even a complete corpse.
That's all.
The burly man gave up struggling and closed his eyes.