Compared to wild beasts, Jing Da also felt that living people were more frightening.
More than once, he had seen those vile people sneak around in the middle of the night, secretly killing others and then stealing their belongings.
Not to mention that they were now under the protection of the Fox Immortal and had more supplies on them. It was inevitable that others would set their sights on them.
After deciding not to travel with the main group, Grandpa Jing pointed toward two general directions, unable to make up his mind.
Ningtian Prefecture had first suffered a locust plague and then a severe drought, which had already lasted for nearly a year. There was simply no way to survive there anymore.
If they wanted to stay alive, they could only head toward Kaitai Prefecture or Yanghua Prefecture, where they might still find a way to survive.
“Little Silver, where do you think we should go?”
Grandma Jing tentatively asked Jing Yin, and Jing Da also turned his gaze toward her.
Ever since the matter with the Fox Immortal, it seemed that the entire family had begun relying on Jing Yin as their main decision-maker.
Jing Yin stroked Tangyuan in her arms. After hesitating for a while, she said,
“Tangyuan says Yanghua Prefecture would be better.”
Kaitai Prefecture was closer to Ningtian Prefecture, so many refugees had already flooded there. There were also countless refugees still on the road, and Kaitai Prefecture was their destination.
It was likely that Kaitai Prefecture would soon be overwhelmed and might stop accepting refugees altogether.
With the refugees having no food or water, their resentment would only grow stronger as time passed. Once unrest broke out, they would definitely be the first to suffer.
The authorities would certainly send troops to suppress the rebellion, and the casualties would undoubtedly be high.
Even though these were only her guesses, it was still better to avoid such risks if possible.
Although Yanghua Prefecture was farther away, it was considerably wealthier than Kaitai Prefecture. There would also be fewer refugees there, making it less dangerous.
The only thing they needed to worry about was food.
As for bandits and wild beasts, the chances of encountering them should not be too high.
And if they really did encounter them, she had ways to kill them.
“Good. We’ll listen to Silver. We’re going to Yanghua Prefecture!”
After determining their general direction, the family immediately set off.
Jing Yin looked over all of the family’s supplies. They only had three large bamboo baskets.
Aside from pots, bowls, utensils, clothes, quilts, and other necessities, there wasn’t a single bit of food.
And along the journey to escape the famine, they had already abandoned quite a few belongings for various reasons.
The only food they had was what Jing Yin had taken out, and their water supply was also running low.
Grandma Jing carefully hid the remaining dried meat and elm leaves, terrified that anyone might see them.
Although they weren’t traveling with the main group, they occasionally encountered other refugees along roughly the same route.
However, the Jing family had quite a few people, and they hadn’t revealed anything particularly conspicuous, so no one paid much attention to them.
…
The weather was unbearably hot. On top of that, the original owner’s body had always been weak.
Jing Yin had walked for less than an hour before her mouth became dry and parched, and her legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
“Little Silver, have some water and rest for a while.”
The entire family collapsed behind a small slope where there was at least a little shade.
Grandma Jing handed the remaining half-bag of water to Jing Yin. She herself merely licked her cracked lips and didn’t touch the water.
Water was extremely scarce. So far, Jing Yin hadn’t seen a single source of water.
Looking at the others, their lips were similarly dry and pale. Clearly, they were all terribly thirsty.
Jing Yin first took a gulp of water, then handed the water bag to Grandma Jing.
“Grandma, you all drink some.”
“Grandma isn’t thirsty…”
Grandma Jing was about to refuse when Jing Yin stared straight at her.
“Grandma, if you won’t drink while there’s water, are you planning to drink urine when there’s no water?”
Grandma Jing: “…”
(／＿＼)
Her little Silver didn’t love her anymore…
“A young lady like you, always talking about poop and urine like—”
Grandma Jing began nagging, but when she glanced at the Fox Immortal in Jing Yin’s arms, she suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
She hurriedly took a gulp of water to soothe her wounded heart.
Everyone took turns drinking some water.
When it was Erdan’s turn, Grandma Jing glared fiercely at him.
Under that glare, Erdan’s face instantly turned pale. He didn’t even dare drink the water and froze in place, afraid to move.
“Grandma, do you hate Erdan because you think he’s a jinx?”
Jing Yin took the water bag and brought it to Erdan’s mouth.
But Erdan still didn’t dare move. He looked fearfully at Grandma Jing.
Grandma Jing snorted.
“Isn’t he a jinx? Ever since he was born, our whole family hasn’t had a single peaceful day!”
“Grandma, I don’t think Erdan is a jinx. Look, he’s already six years old, and not a single person in our family has died.”
Grandma Jing: “…”!!!
Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ
Her obedient granddaughter might not be as foolish as she used to be, but she was somehow even worse now!
Just listen to what she was saying!
When she glanced over and saw that Erdan was still frozen in place, Grandma Jing immediately became angry again.
“Do you need your mother to personally pour it into your mouth? If you won’t drink, then get lost!”
Only after Grandma Jing said this did Erdan finally dare to move.
“Grandma, Tangyuan and I are going to look around nearby.”
Jing Yin mainly wanted to test her cheat abilities again.
Aside from the check-in function, her other cheat abilities seemed to be randomly triggered missions.
“Have your older brother go with you.”
Grandma Jing wasn’t comfortable letting Jing Yin go alone. The world was extremely chaotic now.
“No need, Grandma. I’ll just look around nearby. I’ll be back soon.”
“All right. If anything happens, remember to shout loudly.”
Grandma Jing was certain that the Fox Immortal must be guiding her little Silver again.
By now, Grandma Jing was completely devoted to the Fox Immortal and trusted Jing Yin without question.
…
The once lush and vibrant farmland was now completely desolate. Even weeds, which had extremely strong vitality, were difficult to find.
Jing Yin walked around, touching this and then that, but the system’s voice never sounded.
She didn’t continue searching. Instead, she secretly took two bamboo tubes of water out of her storage space.
Just as she was about to head back, her foot suddenly stepped on something.
[Ding! A pearl has been discovered. Quickly turn it into a beautiful piece of jewelry! Host, would you like to accept the crafting mission?]
Jing Yin: “…”
Forgive her for misunderstanding earlier.
This wasn’t some carpenter-training system.
It was definitely a master craftsman training system…
Jing Yin nudged the soil with her foot and discovered a freshwater mussel.
This place had originally been a small irrigation channel for the farmland, so finding a mussel here wasn’t strange.
The mussel had long since died. Only a single pearl remained inside its shell.
It was about the size of her pinky finger and wasn’t particularly good-looking.
Jing Yin silently accepted the mission.
[Ding! Crafting mission issued. Successfully completing the mission will reward you with 2 points.]
Jing Yin: “…”?
What about the penalty for failing?
Why didn’t it say anything?
Jing Yin dug the pearl out of the ground and casually picked up two stones nearby.
Smack! Smack!
Two blows later, the perfectly intact pearl had been reduced to fragments.
Points?
She wanted food more.
She needed to stay alive before she could worry about anything else.
System: “…” @#6%&￥*—BEEP—
After a burst of electrical static, the system’s voice became unusually cold.
[Ding! Host has failed the mission. You will not receive the points reward.]
[Ding! Host has received a consolation reward: 2 pounds of pearl rice. Please keep trying.]
For some reason, Jing Yin could actually hear a gritted-teeth tone in those final four words.
??
What had she done wrong?
But she had crushed a pearl. Why had the reward turned into pearl rice?
What did pearls and pearl rice have to do with each other?