The next day
The three Shen brothers returned from the county town with news.
The village chief sounded the gong to gather everyone at the village entrance and began to announce what they had learned.
It turned out that when the Shen brothers had escorted the bandits to the county yamen, they found the officials already packing up their belongings. They pulled aside a constable and slipped him some silver to get information. According to the constable, the water sources in several nearby cities were gradually drying up, and large numbers of refugees had been pouring in from outside the city walls. The county magistrate had sent a report up to the prefect, who replied that the drought was nationwide and the imperial court likely couldn’t spare any thought for such a remote place as theirs. Everyone was left to fend for themselves.
At this, panic spread across every face, and the crowd burst into anxious chatter.
“What are we supposed to do? Everything was fine just a few days ago, how did it suddenly come to fleeing famine?”
“That’s right. When grain prices rose a few days ago, I thought it was normal. After all, prices always go up when there’s a disaster.”
“Now even the imperial court has abandoned us. Where are we supposed to flee to?”
“Quiet, all of you!” the village chief shouted.
A long silence followed, lasting the time it takes an incense stick to burn a quarter of the way, before the chief spoke again. “We head south. The Huai River is to the south. With the drought covering the whole country, if even the Huai River dries up in the end, then no other river will have water either.”
“But we’re up here in the northwest. Isn’t the Huai River three thousand li away?” The speaker was Shen Kui, who had spent several years working as an armed escort on the roads, but after marrying, he hadn’t wanted to be separated from his wife and had settled down to farm in the village.
Shen Kui lived up to his name. In his mid-twenties, he was tall and powerfully built, standing one meter nine, with a body of lean muscle that looked capable of explosive strength.
Shen Yanqing looked at him. “Big Kui, with the drought covering the whole country, there’s no telling how long it will last. Water is scarce everywhere, and the other rivers will probably dry up before long too. Better to head for the biggest river that way we won’t waste our strength on a wrong path.”
“All right, the Huai River it is. There are a lot of mountains and forests along the way. Yanqing, you and your father have years of hunting experience, so you two will lead everyone through the mountains.” The village chief then turned to Shen Kui.
“Big Kui, you’ve spent years on the roads as an escort and know the routes well. We’ll be counting on you to guide the way.”
Shen Yanqing and Shen Kui answered in unison.
“Then everyone hurry home and pack your things. We meet at the village entrance tomorrow morning!”
The crowd dispersed.
Qi Yanxuan’s group of three returned home and began packing. He himself had little to pack after all, everything was in his spatial storage. He just stuffed a few things into his bag for show; no one had ever seen inside it anyway, so it served as convenient cover.
Shen Yanqing and his father, on the other hand, bustled about busily, tying everything they could carry onto the pushcart. Once they left, they probably wouldn’t be coming back after all, it was over three thousand li away.
Early the next morning
Households appeared one after another at the village entrance some carrying bundles on their backs, some pushing carts, some driving ox-carts…
A long procession, numbering over three hundred people.
Shen Kui pulled the lead cart at the very front. On his left was his father, Shen Dafu, a bundle strapped to his back; on his right were his wife and their five-year-old son.
The village chief stood at the head of the line and called out, “Is everyone here?”
Once it was confirmed that all were present, the group set off toward the county town.
Qi County’s county seat.
The group stood inside the city walls. As far as the eye could see, everything was in disarray. The townsfolk had already departed the day before, and the streets held only small clusters of refugees in tattered rags.
The refugees searched from house to house for whatever the owners hadn’t been able to take with them, occasionally turning up some clothes, quilts, or pickled vegetables…
The luckier ones might find some food in the homes of wealthy families or in the back kitchens of restaurants, though never very much.
Everyone passed through the county town and out beyond the city walls. On the left outside the city stood a crowd of ragged refugees most likely from elsewhere, for after their long trek and with so little water, the clothes on their backs had faded beyond recognition of any color. On the right were the merchant caravans and the processions of wealthy households, knife-wielding guards flanking them on both sides. Behind the rich families’ processions followed maidservants, old nannies, and servant boys, while behind the caravans came crowd after crowd of people, presumably from other villages. A rough estimate put the total at no fewer than a thousand.
The group from Kaoshan Village fell in close behind, and the long journey began…
After about two shichen roughly four hours of walking, a stretch of woodland appeared ahead. Every leaf in the forest had been stripped bare, leaving the trees stark and oddly eerie.
“We’ve been walking a long while now. Let’s rest in those woods up ahead, get something to eat, then move on,” the village chief called out to everyone from the front.
Inside the woods, the crowd gathered together a sea of heads in every direction.
“Here, eat up quickly.” Shen Yanshan pulled flatbreads from his bundle and handed them to Qi Yanxuan and Shen Yanqing.
Chewing on his bread, Qi Yanxuan glanced around. Most people were eating dry rations; only the burly guards traveling with the merchant caravan had strips of dried meat. Everyone else gnawed at their flatbreads while casting envious glances their way. Qi Yanxuan would have liked to pull food out of his space, but that was out of the question far too conspicuous.
Seeing Qi Yanxuan staring in that direction, Shen Yanqing assumed he was craving the dried meat and offered his awkward consolation: “When we reach the next city, I’ll buy you some jerky.”
It took Qi Yanxuan a moment to process this; he could only murmur an absent “Mm.”
Once an incense stick had burned down, the crowd set out again.
Beyond the woods stretched a plain with no end in sight. The yellow, sandy soil was so parched that not a trace of green remained. Beneath the blazing sun overhead, everyone pressed onward.
Along the way, the sighs of the elderly and the wailing of children never ceased.
It was June, and the weather remained stiflingly hot. With no telling where they might refill their water ahead, everyone rationed what they had, daring only tiny sips even when parched.
After an entire afternoon of walking, dusk began to fall, and the crowd halted to rest where they stood.
The villagers of Kaoshan Village gathered together to decide who would stand watch during the night. They were exhausted from a full day’s travel, but there was no helping it all around them were people from the other groups, and no one could say whether any of them harbored ill intent.
It was settled: watches of six would take turns while the rest slept.
The night passed without incident. At first light, the village chief sounded the bronze gong to rouse everyone.
Qi Yanxuan opened his eyes and looked around. The other groups, too, were straggling to their feet, gathering their things, and setting off.
Shouldering their bundles and taking up their carts, everyone began the next leg of the journey.
Three days later.
The group finally made it out of that plain. Before them lay what had once been a mighty river, its bed laid bare with only a thin stream trickling through.
Everyone licked their cracked lips, wild with joy.
The village chief turned and organized the village’s able-bodied young men to go draw water together.
Qi Yanxuan turned to Shen Yanqing, who was pushing a cart beside him. “Give me your and Uncle’s water skins. I’ll go fetch the water.”
“I’ll come with you. My dad can just watch the stuff.” With that, Shen Yanqing set down the cart, took the axe from his waist, gripped it in his hand, and followed Qi Yanxuan toward the riverbed.
Everyone took up their chopping knives and axes and headed for the river together.
By the river, the banks were packed with a dense crowd of people, shoving and pushing each other as they fought over the water source. Many had been knocked down and trampled, unable to get back up.
Shen Yanqing shielded Qi Yanxuan as they approached the crowd. Seeing that the group carried weapons, the people scattered to both sides in fear.
After filling their water containers, everyone returned to the camp, and the group continued on their journey.
“One more afternoon of walking and we’ll reach Yuncheng,” Shen Kui said to the village chief.
“Then let’s pick up the pace. We’ll rest in Yuncheng for the night before moving on, and restock on dry rations tomorrow,” the village chief said, his face beaming as he addressed the crowd.
Everyone was overjoyed at the news. The journey had been exhausting their shoes were worn through. The elderly and children had it a bit easier, able to rest on the carts when they grew tired.
But the young people had been walking the entire way on foot, their soles covered in blisters. Now that they were about to reach the next city, they could at least buy some ointment. Otherwise, the burning pain in their feet would be unbearable.
In the distance, the group spotted a city standing ahead, with soldiers guarding the walls.
At the open city gates, soldiers stood on either side, checking household registration documents.
The group lined up to enter the city.