Jing Da was worried about the members of the Li family, so early that morning, he used looking for food as an excuse to check whether that family was up to anything.
Unexpectedly, after searching around, he found the bodies of the entire family in a depression beside a dried-up water channel.
He had still seen them the previous night. He never expected them to be gone by morning.
The bodies were in a horrifying state. Their stomachs had been torn open, their intestines spilled out, and their internal organs had been dragged all over the place by wild dogs.
There were also quite a few pieces of flesh missing from their bodies.
It didn’t look like the wild dogs had eaten them.
As for what had actually happened, Jing Da really didn’t dare think about it anymore.
After asking around, he learned that the members of the Li family had stolen several flatbreads and some silver from a group of people the previous day, only to be discovered.
Those people were not kind-hearted to begin with.
The Li family had thought that once they ate the flatbreads, there would be no evidence left.
But they had never considered that at a time like this, who needed evidence to kill someone?
Jing Da didn’t dare describe the condition of the bodies. He simply summarized it in one sentence.
“Hmph, good riddance. At least they won’t come back to harm Little Silver anymore.”
Grandma Jing showed not the slightest bit of sympathy.
Instead, she spat twice to the side while continuing to make the flatbreads in her hands.
If her Little Silver hadn’t been lucky enough to receive the Fox Immortal’s protection, she would have been killed by that family long ago!
And no one had better mention anything about being from the same village.
They had already tried to harm her family.
Why shouldn’t they be allowed to retaliate?
Bah!
Along the way, her Little Silver had given that family so much food.
Even a stray dog would have grown attached after being fed that much.
And what had they done?
They had turned around and sold Little Silver!
They were a bunch of heartless, ungrateful ingrates who could go to hell—
Grandma Jing cursed angrily as she finished making the flatbreads.
Two pounds of flour made more than thirty flatbreads, and each one was quite substantial.
Jing Da had originally still felt somewhat saddened by the deaths of the Li family.
But after hearing his mother curse so viciously, he immediately shrank back like a quail and didn’t dare say another word.
The freshly made flatbreads were soft yet chewy.
Grandma Jing gave one each to Jing Erdan, Zhao Xiao’e, and herself.
Then she gave two each to Jing Da, Jing Zhao, Grandpa Jing, and Jing Yin.
Jing Yin took the two flatbreads and stuffed them into her mouth.
Although there was nothing added to them, after chewing a few times, the unique sweet fragrance of wheat burst across her palate, leaving her satisfied and wanting more.
The deaths of the Li family members, however, had been somewhat unexpected.
She had originally thought it would take two or three days to deal with the entire family.
She never expected that all she had to do was have Tangyuan give them a little temptation, and they would actually go and steal someone else’s belongings.
They hadn’t even bothered to find out what kind of people they were stealing from.
They had thought that making a scene and throwing tantrums would help them escape.
In the end, the entire family had been wiped out.
…
By the time they set off, the refugee procession had already moved quite a distance ahead.
The Old Jing family walked at an unhurried pace.
Whenever they stopped to rest, Jing Yin didn’t waste the opportunity and continued cultivating.
After all, the effects of the Rapid Cultivation Pill only lasted ten days.
Once the ten days were over, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy such an amazing cultivation speed anymore.
Around noon, the Old Jing family couldn’t find a suitable shady place to rest.
So they picked up a few sticks and used some old clothes to put together a simple shelter from the sun.
There were very few people like the Old Jing family who still had enough energy to build a sunshade.
By now, everyone was already so hungry and exhausted that they had almost no strength left, relying entirely on sheer willpower to keep moving.
Jing Yin didn’t rest.
After telling Grandma Jing to cook some porridge, she walked toward an empty area in the distance.
(System, I want to convert this…)
A palm-sized porcelain bottle suddenly appeared in Jing Yin’s hand.
It was filled with Spirit Spring Water.
Previously, she had obtained two bottles of Spirit Spring Water.
She had already used a little more than half of one bottle, while the other was still full.
She had suddenly remembered something today, so as soon as they stopped, she came over to test it.
【Ding! One bottle of Spirit Spring Water detected. Host, would you like to spend 2 points to convert it into ???】
(Convert it into… what?)
Why were there a whole string of question marks afterward?
Jing Yin was just as confused.
【The system doesn’t know either. Anything is possible~】
It had never seen anyone take something produced by the system and put it back into the system for refinement.
Who knew what it would turn into?
(Oh. Then convert it.)
Jing Yin was extremely curious at this moment.
Curiosity could kill not only a cat, but also her points.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained one bottle of ‘Red Potion’?】
Jing Yin: (…Red Potion?)
Did that mean drinking one bottle would completely restore her health?
【Host, the Red Potion has healing effects. The amount required depends on the severity of the illness~】
Hearing this, Jing Yin raised an eyebrow.
The palm-sized bottle itself hadn’t changed at all.
But when she opened it, she saw that the Spirit Spring Water inside had turned into a pale red “Red Potion.”
Spirit Spring Water also had a slight healing effect, but it had to be used over a long period of time.
The Red Potion, on the other hand, provided a direct healing effect.
It was basically like the health potion in a game.
…
When Jing Yin returned to the Old Jing family’s resting place, Grandma Jing took out the remaining half-bowl of pearl rice.
She also chopped half a piece of dried meat into tiny pieces and threw them into the pot to cook together.
At this point, some people still had food hidden away.
Things hadn’t yet become as terrifying as they would later.
Quite a few people were envious when they saw the food, but all three men of the Jing family were holding knives and glaring fiercely at them.
For a moment, no one dared approach.
“Wild vegetables! Wild vegetables—!”
A sudden cry erupted from the crowd.
Quite a few people immediately rushed toward one direction.
It was along both sides of the river embankment.
The riverbed had long since dried up, and occasionally, a few wild vegetables could be found hiding behind rocks.
The person who discovered them had originally intended to quietly pick them.
But someone else spotted them and shouted.
Immediately, everyone swarmed over.
Jing Yin didn’t let anyone from the Jing family go over.
There were too many people.
If anyone got hurt, it wouldn’t be worth it.
“Grandma, Mom, keep cooking. I’ll go look around.”
【…】
“Little Silver, be careful.”
Grandma Jing reminded her.
Jing Yin then headed in the direction she had been observing earlier, with Tangyuan following closely behind her.
It wasn’t as if no one had tried to target Tangyuan along the way.
However, no one had succeeded.
At best, they lost a chunk of flesh to its bite.
At worst, they lost an even larger chunk of flesh that became infected and rotten…
“Master, please, I beg you, think of something quickly! Bao’er really isn’t going to make it.”
Under the shade of several withered trees, a disheveled woman held a five- or six-year-old boy in her arms, crying her heart out.
The little boy’s face was gray and lifeless, looking as though he barely had any breath left.
Beside her, a man dressed in a long robe stared blankly at the child.
Suddenly, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face twice.
If he hadn’t been so greedy, how could he have missed the opportunity to escape?
He had been forced to hurriedly follow the fleeing refugees instead.
Along the way, countless people had coveted their belongings.
Their food had been robbed several times.
If they hadn’t had several servants protecting them, they probably wouldn’t even have survived.
The adults were all fine.
But his only son, the child he had finally had in middle age, couldn’t hold on anymore.
This was his only child.
For so many years, he had built up an enormous fortune, yet he had never had a child.
It had taken him until his later years to finally have a son.
But now that his child was about to die, who would all that money be for?
They were in the middle of nowhere.
There wasn’t a village ahead or behind them.
How could he possibly save his son?
“Master…”
Seeing this, the woman cried even more desperately.
This was the child she had nearly died giving birth to.
Hearing the woman’s cries, Jing Yin slowly approached.
She had already been observing this group for half a day.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have thought of converting the Spirit Spring Water.
She simply didn’t have anything that could treat illnesses.
But now she did.
And her target was the donkey cart belonging to their family…