Ye Qing looked around the cave. Unless something unexpected happened, she would be staying here for at least ten days to half a month.
She planned to sort through all her supplies and steam, roast, boil, and stew them into all kinds of prepared foods.
If she was going to stay here, then the place had to be both safe and comfortable.
She decided to start with the outer cave. The entrance was too obvious. To keep wild animals or ill-intentioned people from barging in, she needed to find a large boulder to block it.
She tried three different rocks in succession, but none of them worked. Either they were still attached to the mountain and couldn’t be moved, or they were too brittle and crumbled apart with a single tug.
At last, she spotted a fallen boulder. Its size and weight were just right. Delighted, she stored it in her space.
As soon as the rock disappeared, however, a clump of soil and several tubers were pulled out with it.
“Huh? What’s this?”
They looked unfamiliar to her, but fortunately the original owner’s memories held the answer.
They were yams!
The vines had long since withered away, but according to the original owner’s memories, there was a huge patch of them here.
Digging them up one by one would take far too long, and suddenly Ye Qing had an idea.
“If moving that rock pulled out some yams, maybe I can just store this whole patch of earth in my space?”
The result was a slap in the face.
It wouldn’t budge at all.
But these were ready-made food supplies. Throwing them away would be like taking her life.
She absolutely couldn’t do that!
With no other choice, she sat down, ate a palm-sized piece of naan to fill her stomach, then took out a hoe and pickaxe and began digging up the yams.
Perhaps because no one had ever harvested them before, the yams here were all thick and robust. In no time at all, she’d dug up a huge pile. The largest one was thicker than her arm.
After taking a short rest, Ye Qing continued working. She dug until the sky was completely dark and had only managed to finish half of the patch.
Fortunately, her physical strength had improved considerably. If it had been back when she’d first transmigrated here, she would’ve exhausted herself to death before even getting a bite to eat.
“If I dig up this whole patch, it’ll be enough to feed me for months. Besides, I can keep some fresh ones in my space and use them to trade with people when I go out and gather information later. They’re ordinary enough not to attract attention.”
No one knew how long this disaster would last. Right now, the only thing she could do was hoard as much food as possible.
The more supplies she accumulated, the better her chances of surviving in the future.
Ye Qing remained cautious.
Ever since she’d awakened in this world, apart from the few people she’d killed, she hadn’t encountered any ordinary refugees.
She had no idea what the outside world looked like now.
…
Seventy miles away from the cave where Ye Qing had made her nest, a group of people trudged along together.
Every one of them was sallow and emaciated, their eyes filled with numbness and despair.
When the villagers of Willow Leaf Village had first left their homes, there had been more than one hundred and eighty people, pulling over a dozen handcarts loaded with grain, bedding, and pots and pans.
Who could have imagined that in just one month, after being attacked by refugees and bandits time and time again, most of the carts would be lost and more than half of the villagers would be gone?
Now only ninety-four people remained.
Some had died, some had fallen ill, and others, unable to endure the hardships, had slipped away in the night without even saying goodbye.
“Village Chief! Let’s rest for a while!”
“Yeah! Let’s take a break before we keep going!”
Old Granny Ye Seven leaned on a dead branch and collapsed onto a dirt slope by the roadside. In a hoarse voice, she shouted,
“My legs are about to break! If we keep walking, I won’t die of hunger or thirst—I’ll die of exhaustion first!”
The soles of her cloth shoes had long since worn through, exposing her dark, rough feet, covered in blisters and calluses.
The village chief sighed and looked at the endless stretch of dead forest before them.
“Fine! We’ll rest for half an hour! Stay alert and keep an eye on your belongings. Don’t let them get stolen or snatched again!”
As soon as he said that, the entire group erupted.
Complaints, crying, and curses mixed together into complete chaos.
“Stolen? Snatched? In times like these, we’re lucky just to stay alive! Half a bag of my cornmeal was stolen last night! My wife and children are starving to death!”
“Heaven has no eyes! This drought’s been going on for nearly half a year! Not a single grain has grown in the fields, and now we’ve run into this damned weather while fleeing famine. It’s trying to wipe us all out!”
“My bedding! My cotton coat! They’re all gone! If the weather turns cold later, I’ll die from sickness!”
…
The more they talked, the more worked up they became, blaming and cursing one another endlessly.
Ye Dashan, who was leading the group, found himself surrounded by several people who shoved and pushed him around. His honest face was full of embarrassment and anger.
“Ye Dashan! Explain yourself!”
“You were the one who pounded your chest and said you knew a shortcut that would lead us to a place with water and food sooner. And what happened?”
“We’ve walked for three days and three nights! Forget water and food—we haven’t even seen a decent tree! Did you do this on purpose? Are you trying to get the whole village killed?”
The speaker was Ye Laosan, Old Madam Ye’s third son. He was tall and burly, with a violent temper. Starving and red-eyed, he was angry at everyone and vented all his fury on Ye Dashan.
Ye Dashan was a clansman of Ye Er and had only acted out of kindness. Since he often hunted in the mountains and was familiar with the terrain—and because he was the only one who had ever been to Anning Prefecture—it had naturally fallen to him to lead the group.
He had discussed it with the village chief and decided to take the mountain route. That way, the villagers could avoid some of the dangers on the main roads—the refugees fighting over supplies, the corpses lying by the roadside, and the occasional bands of soldiers.
It would also save them some effort and, if they were lucky, perhaps they might even find water and food.
Who could have known that times had changed, the roads had become unrecognizable, and the drought would be this severe?
Now, facing these accusations, he couldn’t defend himself.
All he could do was flush red and explain:
“When I came this way before, it really wasn’t like this! The past few years have been so dry that the roads have changed completely. I never expected things to turn out this way!”
“Didn’t expect it? Is that supposed to make everything okay?” another villager shouted.
“My wife fainted from thirst two days ago and still hasn’t woken up! Give me back my wife!”
As he spoke, he reached out to hit Ye Dashan.
“Stop!”
Ye Er hurried forward and blocked the blow, standing protectively in front of Ye Dashan.
Though he wasn’t particularly imposing, he still shielded him.
“Everyone, calm down. Brother Dashan didn’t do it on purpose. Fighting won’t solve anything. We should think of a way to find water and food.”
Ye Dashan rolled his eyes inwardly and cursed:
Who needs you pretending to be a good guy and peacemaker? Your third brother was the one cursing me the loudest just now, nearly spitting in my face. And now you’re acting all kind and reasonable.
A bunch of ungrateful wolves! If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve taken only my own family when fleeing the famine. Why did I burden myself with all these people, only to get nothing but resentment in return?
Sure enough, as soon as Ye Er finished speaking, the crowd exploded once more.
“Quit pretending!”
“If Ye Dashan had cared more, would we be starving now?”
Laosan shouted in his duck-like voice, saliva flying everywhere.
“I think he did it on purpose! This is all his fault!”
Others immediately chimed in, cursing nonstop. Someone even shoved Ye Dashan.
“Hurry up and hand over the food and water you’ve hidden! Otherwise, we’re not letting this go today!”