The blazing sun hung over the sky like a furnace. Even the wind carried scorching waves of heat, whipping yellow sand into people’s faces until it stung to the bone.
“Sisi, look ahead!” Lin Zheng’s voice was hoarse as he pointed toward the distant mountain range. “Once we cross that ridge, another ten days and we should reach Anzhou’s borders, right?”
Lin Sisi lifted her eyes. The mountains in the distance blurred and twisted in the heat, like a faded ink painting.
She nodded gently, her voice dry. “It should be. But this road… it’s getting harder and harder.”
The elderly, the weak, women, and children were protected in the middle of the group. The strong young men pulled grain carts and carried bundles along both sides.
Everyone’s lips were cracked and peeling. No one even had the strength to talk anymore. Only heavy breathing and the creaking of cart wheels grinding over the earth could be heard.
Food was running low.
But what truly brought despair was water—
The small rivers along the way had long since dried up. Not even a trace of damp soil could be found.
“Mother… I’m thirsty… I want water…”
The little girl with twin braids—Youngest Daughter of Auntie Yang—spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
Auntie Yang quickly supported her and carefully pulled out a shriveled water flask from her bosom, tilting it cautiously, not daring to pour too much.
“Be good. Endure a little longer. Once we find water, you can drink your fill.”
Her own throat was so dry it felt like smoke would rise from it, yet she could not bear to drink more than a sip herself.
Lin Sisi had not been idle these days. Besides planting and harvesting in her space, she had learned from her brother how to drive the donkey cart.
Leading the cart behind Auntie Yang’s family, her coarse cotton clothes were already soaked through with sweat.
Seeing this scene, her heart tightened.
After Auntie Yang fed her daughter, she turned and smiled at Lin Sisi as if nothing were wrong. “I thought as long as we brought enough grain, we’d find water anywhere along the road. Who knew this wretched heaven wouldn’t leave us a way to live!”
Lin Sisi felt a pang in her chest.
She had spiritual spring water—she would always be fine.
But what about ordinary people like Auntie Yang?
Lin Sisi could not selflessly distribute her spring water to everyone. It wasn’t realistic. It wasn’t safe.
Ever since she had been abandoned at a young age, she had only known how to do one thing:
Survive.
But after coming here, after gaining family—people she wanted to protect—she found herself wanting to do more.
At the very least, she wanted to give those who treated her well a little more hope of survival.
She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Just a little more effort, Auntie. Once we cross that slope ahead, we can rest in the hollow.”
Walking beside her, Lin Zheng frowned deeply as he watched more and more people grow exhausted.
“This won’t work. We still have some grain left, but the water is almost gone. If we don’t find a water source soon, someone won’t make it.”
Lin Sisi nodded silently, her eyes scanning the surroundings.
In a drought, water was life.
And with their daily physical exertion, they needed it even more desperately.
If she didn’t find water soon, the group might collapse before reaching Anzhou.
The caravan slowly climbed over the earthen slope. In the hollow beyond, there was finally a faint patch of shade.
Villagers collapsed onto the ground. Some lay directly on the scorching soil. Even through their clothes, the heat burned—but they no longer had the strength to move.
Lin Sisi did not rest. She walked to the edge of the hollow and observed carefully.
For the past two days, she had been paying attention to possible water sources. Though the streams had dried up, she noticed that withered grass along the roadside had grown increasingly dense.
This meant that before the drought, this area must have had abundant water. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have supported such growth.
Just then, she caught sight of a faint hint of green in the left side of the hollow, hidden among yellowed grass.
Her heart skipped.
“Brother, watch Niannian for me. I’ll check over there.”
Without waiting for his reply, she grabbed a sickle and hurried toward the hollow.
Sharp stones bit painfully into her soles, but she paid no mind. The closer she got, the clearer the green became—
A stubborn clump of green foxtail grass, its leaves slightly wilted but undeniably alive.
Her eyes widened.
“Brother!”
She hurried back to the center of the group, unable to hide her excitement. “Go find Village Chief Li! We might have found a water source!”
The two villages’ chiefs stood beneath the thickest old pagoda tree, surrounded by trusted clan members. Their expressions were as dark as charcoal soaked in water.
Village Chief Li clutched a cracked clay bowl and spoke first, his voice rough as sandpaper.
“Brother Wang, if we don’t find water soon, the people of both our villages may fall on this road.”
The chief of Dahe Village, surnamed Wang, was a few years older. Even his beard had been bleached gray by the sun.
He sighed heavily and pounded his leg. “At this rate, forget reaching Anzhou. Whether we survive the next two days is already uncertain.”
“Exactly!”
Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao had lost their usual vigor. Wiping sweat from his face, Zhao Bao complained, “Every river ditch along the way has dried up. We can’t even dig up damp mud. Is heaven cutting off our path entirely?”
Lin Zheng and Lin Sisi arrived just then.
Lin Zheng stepped forward first. “Village Chiefs, uncles—complaining won’t help. We need a solution.”
“My sister Sisi and I have been observing along the way. Just now, she said there may be a water source in the hollow ahead.”
Before he finished speaking, someone from Dahe Village clicked his tongue in disdain.
“Lin Zheng, not to be rude, but what would your little sister know about finding water? We’re in barren wilderness. What could she possibly see?”
“Exactly,” Zhao Bao chimed in. “Back in the village, she only learned a bit of herbal medicine from her mother. That’s nothing. Finding water is men’s work.”
Zhao Hu smacked his brother to silence him.
Lin Sisi stood behind Lin Zheng. Her brows furrowed slightly, but she did not argue immediately.
She understood—
At times like this, words were useless.
Only results mattered.