It seemed that family was also preparing to flee the drought and seek refuge elsewhere. As Ziling walked through the town, she realized that more than half the residents had already left.
She approached an older middle-aged man and asked politely,
“Big Brother, are you all preparing to leave?”
The man glanced at her briefly. Seeing only a stranger, he answered casually,
“Yes. Water is becoming harder and harder to find. If we don’t leave soon, the children will die here.”
“We’re only passing through,” Ziling explained. “Someone in my family injured his leg and can’t walk properly. I noticed you covered up that wheelbarrow just now, so I thought perhaps you weren’t planning to take it. Would you be willing to sell it to me?”
The middle-aged man hesitated.
Originally, they had never wanted to leave their hometown. But if they stayed, the entire family would eventually die of thirst. They had no other choice. Deep down, they still hoped that after surviving this disaster, they might one day return home.
Seeing his hesitation, Ziling quickly pulled out a tael of silver from her bundle.
“Big Brother, I truly need this cart. I can give you one tael of silver—and if you agree, I’ll also give you a jar of water.”
The moment the word water was mentioned, the family’s expressions changed instantly.
“Father, sell it,” a young man urged anxiously. “The children won’t survive much longer without water.”
“Yes, Father,” a young woman added hurriedly, likely the young man’s wife. “We adults can endure a little longer, but the children can’t. Little Bao’s lips are already cracked.”
The older man looked at the two children and finally seemed to make up his mind.
“You truly have water?” he asked seriously. “Right now, water is more precious than anything. Even with silver, you can’t buy it.”
Ziling naturally had plenty of water inside her space, but she couldn’t openly produce it.
So she said carefully,
“Give me a container. My family is up ahead, and I’ll go retrieve the water. But please don’t tell anyone else. We don’t have much ourselves. If we didn’t urgently need this cart for an injured family member, we absolutely wouldn’t be able to spare any.”
Taking the jar, Ziling walked around a corner. After checking that nobody was nearby, she filled the jar from her space.
Then, thinking about how kind and ordinary this family seemed, she realized a single jar likely wouldn’t sustain even the adults for long.
After a moment’s thought, she found another container inside the space and added even more water.
When she returned to the family’s house, she handed the containers over.
“I thought about it,” she said softly. “One jar alone probably won’t be enough for your whole family. We’ll share a little more with you. Everyone’s struggling these days. Consider it thanks for selling us the cart.”
“Ah… thank you, truly thank you!” the middle-aged man exclaimed gratefully. “If we ration it carefully, it should be enough to reach somewhere with water. Please, take the cart.”
Meanwhile, back at the meeting point, the guards had already waited quite a while past the agreed time.
One guard frowned anxiously.
“If that woman ran away, we’ll never be able to explain it when we return.”
Another guard remained silent, but he too kept staring into the distance, clearly worried.
At that moment, Ziling emerged at last.
Before returning, she had secretly taken roast chicken and steamed buns from her space, then piled the quilts and other purchased goods onto the wheelbarrow.
Pushing the cart, she arrived at the gathering point with an apologetic smile.
“I’m terribly sorry, Officers. Buying all these things delayed me.”
“You bought this cart?” one guard asked in surprise.
“Yes,” Ziling replied naturally. “You know my family member’s injuries are severe. When I saw someone selling it, I purchased it immediately. You officers have been out here for so long—you must be hungry too. I specially bought some food for you both. Please have some.”
As she spoke, she pulled out a roast chicken and several buns.
The two guards—who had originally intended to give her trouble—instantly lit up at the sight of the roast chicken. Their expressions softened into eager smiles.
“Haha, then many thanks,” one said cheerfully. “At least our waiting wasn’t for nothing. We thought you’d run off.”
The two guards happily sat atop the cart, eating roast chicken while leisurely making their way back.
At the resting place, every family had sent people out searching for water.
Since Ziling had told her own family not to bother looking, Gong Hao instead took seven-year-old Ying’er nearby to gather dry grass, spreading it out so their mother and elder brother could sit more comfortably.
One after another, the people searching for water returned empty-handed.
Unable to bear the thirst, some prisoners picked wild vegetables to chew on. But after such a long drought, even the wild plants had mostly withered dry, containing barely any moisture at all.
Gong Mohan repeatedly looked toward the direction of town.
The sun was gradually sinking westward, yet there was still no sign of Ziling.
Worry filled his face.
Even he himself didn’t know whether he feared she had escaped… or feared something bad had happened to her.
Finally, as the sun began setting, the guards’ cart slowly appeared in the distance.
Ying’er immediately ran forward excitedly to greet her sister-in-law.
But when she looked carefully, only the two guards were sitting on the cart.
Ying’er froze in shock.
Where was Sister-in-law?
Gong Mohan’s gaze also fixed tightly on the approaching cart.
When he saw no one else aboard, his heart instantly turned cold.
Could it be… she truly left on her own?