In the same direction, within the same grove, the Xu and Wang families warily watched as four people emerged.
Qiu Shi with her son, and Wang Dahai with his son Wang Youliang.
Both parties froze momentarily, then exchanged excited greetings.
This time, however, Xu Dake had no food to give, but for the sake of harmony, he still shared half a bowl of water with them.
It wasn’t because he was soft-hearted, but because Wang Shi couldn’t bear to see the children suffer.
This woman always had these inexplicable moments of tenderness, yet she never showed any sympathy for him, a pitiable man.
Xu Da was quite displeased. Their small territory was now crowded with so many people, and he had to give away two bran cakes and half a bowl of water. It was frustrating.
But little did he know, even greater frustration was coming.
From the same direction, from that same grove, there came another rustling sound.
By now, everyone had grown accustomed to it, thinking it might be fellow villagers who had escaped.
However, this time they were disappointed. The person emerging from the grove was not from Dawang Village, nor from any other village.
It was Du Long, missing an ear!
When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred—but not this time. The disparity in strength was too great.
Du Long fell to his knees with a thud in front of Xu Yue!
“Good child, your uncle was wrong before. Please don’t hold a grudge against me, spare me this time. In my next life, I’ll serve you as an ox or a horse…”
“No! I can serve you right now, as long as you give me some leftovers…”
Xu Yue looked at Du Long, who was kneeling before her, weeping and begging. Before she could speak, Xu Da strode over with his sickle, lifting his chin toward Du Long.
“A word in private.”
Xu Da’s calm tone left Du Long momentarily bewildered. He instinctively stood up and followed.
The two walked to a spot beyond the firelight. Without warning, Xu Da suddenly darted behind Du Long!
The Scythe of the God of Death wrapped around Du Long’s neck. With a gentle pull, blood sprayed, and Du Long’s eyes widened in disbelief as he collapsed.
Xu Da gave a fierce kick, sending Du Long tumbling down the mountain, disappearing into the dense forest.
“My own family doesn’t have enough to eat, and I’m supposed to share with you? Dream on!”
Xu Da snorted coldly, casually grabbed a handful of dry leaves to wipe his sickle clean, and emerged from the grove alone, smiling.
The fire crackled and sparked, and the campsite fell into an eerie silence.
Only the innocent child, still unaware, looked curiously toward the grove and asked, “Father, where did that one-eared man go?”
Wang Dahai’s heart trembled violently at his son’s question.
He hurriedly covered his son’s mouth, plucked a root from the grass beside him, and coaxed him into tasting it, claiming it was sweet. Successfully diverting his attention.
Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning Du Long again, though Wang Dayou’s gaze toward his good brother held a new complexity.
Xu Da deliberately glanced at Wang Shi, noticing she was unfazed, instructing the children in her so-called Body Technique. His heart immediately felt at ease.
He liked partners who knew when to be ruthless!
But without the pond, the days ahead would be difficult…
Early the next morning, as dawn broke, the Xu family packed up simply and began their descent.
The other three families silently followed. From early morning until noon, the group finally made their way down the mountain.
Before them stretched a dirt road wide enough for an oxcart to pass. Lifting their eyes, they saw only withered yellow hues everywhere. The dry air mingled with swirling dust, and Xu Yue accidentally inhaled a mouthful, choking and coughing uncontrollably.
Xu Dalang patted her back worriedly, then scooped her up again after she had taken only a few steps on the ground, unable to bear the flying dust.
He was already carrying the family’s bedding on his back, and Xu Yue didn’t want her brother to strain himself further. She struggled to get down.
In the mountains, she had refrained from walking on her own to avoid slowing everyone down, but now that they were on level ground, she felt too embarrassed to let her brother carry her any longer.
Wang Shi noticed the situation and signaled the family to tear strips of cloth from their hems to cover their noses and mouths.
It was a good idea. Xu Da used his sickle to cut a piece for each person, rendering their already tattered clothes utterly unsightly.
But at least breathing became much easier.
Xu Dalang finally agreed to let Xu Yue walk, though he still insisted on holding her hand.
Seeing this, Wang Dayou and the other three families initially thought the Xu family was being overly delicate, but they couldn’t help but follow suit, covering their children’s noses and mouths with cloth.
Everyone assumed Wang Shi’s measure was to block the flying dust—even Xu Yue and her siblings thought so.
It wasn’t until they had walked less than a hundred meters and came across a pile of rotting corpses by the roadside, reeking under the scorching sun, that they realized: this wasn’t about blocking dust at all.
It was clearly about blocking germs!
At the sight of the unattended rotting corpses, Wang Dayou’s heart sank. The word “plague” suddenly flashed in his mind. Having initially spared cloth only for the children, he immediately tore off his own sleeve, split it in two, and urged his wife to cover up quickly.
Though this method was far inferior to the masks of later eras, it was still better than being fully exposed to the air.
The further they went, the more horrifying the scene became. The sheer number of dead bodies made Xu Yue break out in goosebumps. Despite the blazing sun overhead, her hands and feet turned icy cold.
Xu Erniang no longer spoke of wanting to become a Necromancer. The sight of these rotting corpses was so hideous it made her scalp crawl!
Wang Shi’s expression grew increasingly grim. They had walked for nearly two hours without encountering a single living soul, surrounded only by an overwhelming sense of despair.
Moreover, she had no idea where they were now. She could only roughly determine from the general direction that they were heading north.
The blazing sun beat down overhead. Without the shelter of forest trees, beads of sweat the size of peas dripped steadily.
Xu Dalang watched Xu Yue, panting heavily, with concern, wanting very much to carry her again.
Xu Yue waved him off. She could endure it—her sister hadn’t complained of exhaustion yet.
After walking for another two hours without a drop of water, Qiu Shi suddenly collapsed face-forward with a thud.
Tong Shi, walking ahead of her, turned at the sound and saw Qiu Shi lying on the ground, clutching her child. She cried out hoarsely:
“Madam Qiu!”
Hearing the raspy shout, the Xu family at the front hurried back. Wang Shi and Tong Shi helped Qiu Shi to the roadside, while Xu Erniang picked up the child who had fallen to the ground.
“Is she alright?” Xu Yue frowned, standing on tiptoe to peer at the child in her sister’s arms. Seeing the baby’s closed eyes, her heart trembled.
Had it been killed by the fall?
Xu Erniang shot her sister an exasperated glance. “He’s asleep.”
Noticing the child’s unconscious lip movements, she added, “Probably fainted from hunger.”
“Then I’ll give him some water.” Xu Yue sighed in relief.
Xu Erniang nodded, holding the child as she sat beneath a withered tree.
Xu Yue took the waterskin from her waist, pulled out the stopper, and stared at the child’s tiny mouth, unsure how to proceed.
Xu Erniang took it over helplessly, thinking to herself that her younger sister was still a child herself—how could she know how to care for another, even smaller child?
Unlike her, who had once looked after a group of little ones in the palace and had ample experience.
She propped up the child’s upper body and let water drip, drop by drop, onto his lips. He instinctively began to drink.