For her own good?
Jiang Li found it laughable.
The pain wasn’t on his body, and the one who had died wasn’t him. Of course he could brush it off so lightly.
A man pulled Xu Genshen aside and lowered his voice.
“Old Gen, why did she agree to go back so easily this time? Do you think she’s changed her tactics? Maybe she’s pretending to be obedient so your family will lower their guard. You’d better keep a close eye on her. Don’t let your guard down. We’ve already left Biyao County. If Jiang runs out of sight, she’ll be impossible to find.”
Xu Genshen thought the same. He believed Jiang Li was deliberately cooperating to make everyone relax their vigilance. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’ll have to trouble everyone to keep an eye on her during the journey. But she’s badly hurt today, so she probably won’t try to run away again for the next few days.”
Jiang Li turned and walked toward the area where the refugees had gathered to rest.
She was an evolved human from the apocalypse. Her hearing and eyesight were several times sharper than those of an ordinary person, allowing her to hear every word of the conversation behind her.
She hadn’t expected this enhanced physique to come with her after transmigrating.
There was still one more thing she wanted to confirm, but with so many people around, now wasn’t the right time.
As she walked, she carefully observed the world around her.
Compared to the perpetually gray skies of the apocalypse, the brilliant blue sky above was something she had never seen since birth. She had heard that before the apocalypse, her own world had once possessed skies just as pure and clear.
The air here was indeed much cleaner, but the land suffered from severe drought. It was already late autumn, and there was almost no vegetation left. Everywhere she looked was barren, scarred earth.
When she reached the refugee camp, many of the able-bodied people were still out searching for the original Jiang Li. Only the elderly, women, and children remained behind, resting in small groups across the open ground. They were dressed in tattered rags, their faces haggard with exhaustion.
The moment they saw her return, every one of them looked at her with contempt, as though she were something filthy.
Ignoring them completely, Jiang Li walked to where her family’s belongings were piled.
There sat a man and four children.
The man was seated on a handcart, dressed in a coarse gray cotton robe. Though painfully thin, his broad frame suggested he would have been tall and powerfully built if he had any flesh on his bones. He had a square face covered with stubble, giving him a worn, dejected appearance. His tiger-like eyes were dull and lifeless.
He was Xu Dali, the original owner’s husband, twenty-four years old.
He had once been a hunter. Three years ago, while hunting in the mountains, a torrential rain triggered a landslide. In the critical moment, he shoved aside his younger half-brother, Xu Yong, but ended up trapped beneath the falling rocks himself. Both of his legs were crushed, leaving him permanently crippled.
Unable to see any hope for the future, Xu Dali’s first wife abandoned him and their two children, eloping with a young man from the village.
The four children before Jiang Li consisted of two boys and two girls.
Xu Dali’s son was seven-year-old Xu Changming, and his daughter was five-year-old Xu Xiaowan.
The other two belonged to Xu Yong: his five-year-old son, Xu Changan, and his three-year-old daughter, Xu Xiaocao.
All four children were little more than skin and bones. Their hair was dry, yellow, and brittle like straw—a clear sign of severe malnutrition.
When they saw Jiang Li return with blood covering her face, the children were frightened. They hurried behind the handcart, seeking Xu Dali’s protection.
The original owner had truly gone too far.
Resentful that her parents had married her off to a cripple, she constantly stirred up trouble in her husband’s family. She couldn’t bully the adults, so she took it out on the children instead. Whenever she was displeased, she’d slap them without hesitation.
Even worse, whenever the children managed to get a little food, she would snatch it away. As long as she herself had enough to eat, she couldn’t care less whether the rest of the family went hungry.
Jiang Li rummaged through the luggage, hoping to find a handkerchief or cloth to wipe the blood from her face.
Suddenly, Xu Dali asked, “Who did this to you?”
Putting aside his dispirited appearance, his voice was deep and rich, like a fine aged wine that lingered pleasantly in the ears.
Without looking back, Jiang Li continued searching through the luggage.
“Madam Cao.”
Seeing the blood covering her face, Xu Dali couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.
Although this woman had indeed been unfaithful in her conduct, she wasn’t Madam Cao’s daughter-in-law. How could Madam Cao strike her so viciously?
Unfortunately, with both legs crippled, he couldn’t seek justice from Madam Cao. Besides, the affection between husband and wife had always been thin. He simply couldn’t bring himself to say words of concern.
“What are you looking for?”
“A cloth. To wipe my face.”
The luggage had been packed by his mother and younger brother’s wife. Jiang Li had never concerned herself with such matters before. Even if she turned every bundle upside down, she still might not find what she wanted.
Xu Dali instructed his son.
“Changming, go get your mother the face towel.”
Xu Changming remained rooted to the spot.
Just looking at Jiang Li’s blood-covered face frightened him.
Xu Dali frowned.
“Didn’t you hear what I said?”
Xu Changming both feared and hated Jiang Li, sincerely unwilling to help her. Only after seeing his father become displeased did he reluctantly step forward. He took a face towel from a basket containing their washing supplies and handed it to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li noticed a leather water pouch inside the basket and took it out, intending to pour some water and clean her face and wound.
Xu Changming hesitated before finally speaking.
“If you use it now… and we can’t find another water source over the next few days… we’ll all die of thirst on the road.”
To conserve water, none of them had washed for many days. This single waterskin contained the family’s last remaining supply.
Jiang Li froze with the waterskin in her hand.
From the original owner’s memories, she knew exactly how scarce water was in this place.
But even if she didn’t wash the blood from her face, the wound on her forehead still needed to be cleaned.
Xu Dali said quietly, “A wound can’t be left exposed to the wind. Clean it first, then bandage it as soon as possible.”
Jiang Li only dampened one corner of the towel. Folding it over, she gently dabbed at the wound on the right side of her forehead.
The pain immediately brought beads of cold sweat to her brow.
Xu Dali stared at her in surprise.
This woman had always been terrified of pain. Even scraping a bit of skin would send her stomping around and smashing things in a tantrum. Now there was a bloody hole in her forehead, deep enough that pale flesh could be seen beneath the torn skin.
Yet she merely bit down on her lower lip without making a sound.
Ever since returning, she hadn’t glared at him with the usual hatred and disgust. She hadn’t called him a useless cripple or collapsed onto the ground weeping about her miserable fate.
Today’s Jiang Li was simply… indifferent.
The hatred she once felt toward him seemed to have become unfamiliarity—as though they had never known each other at all.
Before long, the family members who had gone searching for Jiang Li returned.
Before they even reached them, her mother-in-law, Cheng Hongyue’s shrill, spiteful voice rang out.
“I heard they’ve found the eldest son’s wife! Why didn’t they just beat that shameless, wanton slut to death?”
Jiang Li acted as though she hadn’t heard a thing.
After finishing the treatment of her wound, she found a clean-looking piece of clothing—she had no idea whose it was—and tore off a large strip to use as a bandage for her forehead.
Her sister-in-law, Xu Qing, spotted her from a distance.
Seeing Jiang Li tear up her only clean set of clothes, Xu Qing flew into a rage. She rushed over, snatched the garment away, and demanded, “I only have one change of clothes! Why did you tear it up, Sister-in-law? Pay me back for my clothes!”
Xu Dali explained, “She injured her forehead. There wasn’t any cloth for a bandage, so she had no choice but to tear a piece from the clothing.”