Chapter 197

The houses in the village were washed away by the flood, and the wood and bricks used to build them were washed away to nowhere. Everywhere you look, it is desolate. There is almost no trace of the past, and there is no trace of the villagers who did not have time to go up the mountain and insisted on staying at the foot of the mountain.

The vehicle did not stop for a moment after going down the mountain. The chief driving the ox cart knew that the longer he stayed in the village, the more painful he would feel, and he would not even want to leave in the end.

The villagers who wanted to go back and take a look gritted their teeth and stopped looking back.

When the chief discussed the route with the tribesmen who left the prefecture, they did not dare to choose the small road, fearing that it would be blocked by the mountain torrent and they would have to turn around, so they chose the relatively spacious and safe main road.

When I just left the village, I did not meet any strangers on the road, but I saw a body blocked by a fallen tree. The heavy rain for several days and the sun for nearly two days made the body look like a human being, and it also exuded an unbearable smell.

The young children were so scared that they cried softly, and the adults did not dare to look at them. Daqing's mother took a few steps in that direction, but was stopped by the villagers around her. She cried and returned to the team, sobbing softly: "This can't be my Daqing...can't be..."

The clothes and even the face of the corpse were rotten beyond recognition. Although people felt pity for them, they would not risk their own lives to help clean up. Even when they walked, they had to walk along the other side of the road and stay away from them.

They continued to walk forward without stopping. The scorching sun rose in the sky. Sweat broke out on everyone's forehead and back, and their feet began to hurt, but no one stopped. This little bit of hard work was not much more painful than farming under the scorching sun. They had long been accustomed to dealing with pain.

The bamboo tubes placed on the car contained rainwater that had been boiled and cooled during this period, but even though a lot of water was stored, no one dared to drink it freely. They only drank a sip when they were really thirsty.

Turning from the road we were on to another wider road, we walked until the hottest time of the noon sun, and then we found a shaded hillside, parked the car below, and let everyone stop to rest for a while.

The temperature at noon was too hot, and no one wanted to make a fire to cook. There was some dried meat in my arms, but I couldn't bear to eat it myself, and only gave the child half a finger when he asked for it.

The adults ate prepared multi-grain cakes mixed with wild vegetables, which were only half the size of a palm, and they took a small bite each time, chewed it carefully in their mouths, and then swallowed it into their stomachs. Although the taste was not good, it really filled the stomach. After a while, the hunger would subside, and the days of having food to eat would be satisfying.

Wen Zheng did not secretly take out the food in the space, but ate the cakes like the other villagers, without oil, and even a few grains of salt. It was suitable for grinding teeth when chewed, and it was a torture to the throat when swallowed. In the end, water was needed to send the food down.

In the past, in modern times, no matter what kind of disaster we faced, we had never encountered the situation of eating this kind of food. Modern materials are very abundant. Even if a disaster strikes, it will not be difficult to find delicious food. But in ancient times, they only wanted to have food to eat, and they would not care about the taste.

Wen Zheng silently finished the cake in his hand.

After resting for an hour at the foot of the hillside, avoiding the hottest time, he set out on the road again.

From time to time, the corpses of people and animals can be seen on the road. It was not until the evening that we met living people who were also fleeing from famine.

After noticing each other, both sides couldn't help but look at each other. After finding no familiar faces, no one wasted the effort to say hello, and each went their own way. To be able to avoid those floods, survive until now and flee to other places, not only must you be lucky, but you must also be smart. Basically, you can see at a glance that this group of people is not easy to mess with.

When the patriarch led the way in front, he avoided Jinfeng County, fearing that the county would be occupied by rebellious refugees before the flood came. The subsequent road also avoided the main roads leading to several nearby county towns.

Even so, there were more people on the road. Some people stopped to rest because they were tired, and new people appeared on the road. No matter what they were thinking, they looked at their large team and then looked away.

Their team stopped to rest when they were about to give up. The team surrounded the most important cars in the middle, and the rest of the people sat around to block the eyes of strangers.

In ancient times, people ate two meals and did not eat after noon. In fact, the biggest reason for Wen Zheng was to reduce food consumption, especially for ordinary people.

But it was possible before. If you were really hungry, you could rest, but it was not possible on the road of fleeing famine. After walking for a day, you didn’t eat anything at night. Wen Zheng was worried that someone would not wake up on the first morning.

Wen Zheng persuaded the clan leader and the third master. The two persuaded everyone, but they ate but did not dare to eat the precious dry food. So when they rested at night, they made two fires, poured clean drinking water into the pottery pot, added dried vegetables after the water boiled, and put in a pinch of coarse salt, and distributed it to everyone after it boiled again.

After eating the wild vegetables, he drank up all the soup, and added some water to the bamboo tube and continued to drink it, so as not to waste any salt. He also fed a few livestock, unloaded the vehicle, and let them have a good rest.

"It would be great if I could sleep with a full stomach every day." Hunter Yang sighed while touching his stomach, and pulled Wen Zheng to the area he had chosen to rest.

Wen Zheng was awakened by hunger in the middle of the night. He stuffed a few pieces of dried meat into his mouth and swallowed a steamed bun hidden in the space. The hunger subsided, but he still couldn't sleep.

Even though there were many places in this world that were not quite right, he still couldn't bear to see these scenes on the road, but he still couldn't take too many risks and needed to continue observing.

Every day he woke up before dawn. Perhaps because of the night food in his stomach, everyone had a good sleep and was very energetic.

In the morning, he ate two bites of dry food and packed up and set off. The teams he met in the next two days had no vehicles and were a little slow, so he was left behind.

Every day when he walked on the road and looked at the land that had become barren after being irrigated by the flood, even if he saw a corpse again, it was difficult for his heart to have any fluctuations. He didn't even need to think in his head. He just needed to command his feet to continue to follow people forward. If he kept walking, time would pass faster.

Sometimes the choices of the clan leader and the elders are not always correct. When they encounter a road blocked by fallen rocks, they can only choose to turn around and spend two incense sticks of time to return to the fork in the road and take another road.

This is a highway leading to a county town. There are more refugees on this road. Most of them are thin and dragging heavy steps. Only a few glimmers of hope in their eyes make them look like people, not zombies.

There are other vehicles on the road. In addition to the mules and donkeys that farmers have accumulated for many years and gritted their teeth to buy, there are not only ox carts but also horse carts. There are guards carrying bows and arrows on the two side-by-side horse carts. They are not ordinary people at first glance. They dare not provoke them and can only stay away from them.

The villagers looked back a few times after hearing the noise, but they did not delay their pace. However, most of them walked on foot, and the vehicles also matched the speed of people and soon caught up with them.

Warm reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause the reading progress to be lost. Please save the "Bookshelf" and "Reading Record" in time (it is recommended to take a screenshot to save). We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you!

Two carriages side by side occupied the entire road. Seeing that they were about to rush over, the villagers hurriedly avoided them. The patriarch quickly asked people to drive the vehicles to avoid them. The carriages did not slow down at all and passed by them dangerously. Without casting a glance, they quickly surpassed them and disappeared.

Wen Zheng frowned, but saw that the villagers were accustomed to this.

At the last fork in the road leading to the county town ahead, the patriarch stopped and asked everyone whether they would continue to rush to the capital or settle in the county town ahead. Most people wanted to go to the county town first to inquire about the news. The remaining people who did not speak did not object, but acquiesced.

It was approaching noon again, and the sun was too strong, even the birds flying in the sky seemed a little tired and weak.

The team quietly quickened their pace, hoping to find a cool place to rest as soon as possible. The sweat on their foreheads kept flowing down. They couldn't help but take out the bamboo tube filled with water and drink a sip. Then, a black shadow seemed to appear in front of their eyes.

With a snap.

Everyone's consciousness returned to their bodies. The sun was still so hot, but the black shadow they had just caught didn't seem to be an illusion. It was a bird that fell from the sky, lying on the road as if it had died of the sun.

"It's too hot, even birds can't stand it."

"Everyone, walk a little longer, we'll be there soon."

"No, this bird doesn't look like it fell because it was sunburned." Wen Zheng said at this time. He raised Tuan Tuan from the time he hatched. For this, he read all kinds of knowledge about birds and had the experience of raising birds in many worlds with Tuan Tuan.

As soon as Wen Zheng saw the fallen bird, he felt something was wrong. When he heard the villagers talking, he immediately rejected the option of being fainted by heat. Judging from the feathers, eyes and other body details, the bird was more likely to be infected.

It is not terrible to be infected. What is terrible is that the flood has just receded, and it is very likely to be infected with a contagious plague.

This place is not far from the county town. If it is true, what will the situation in the county town be like now.

Wen Zheng told his findings and ideas, looked around, and tried to find a high ground where he could observe the county town. He didn't find the high ground, but he heard the sound of water.

After looking at the condition of the bird and what Wen Zheng said, the villagers asked Wen Zheng for a definite answer, but saw Wen Zheng leave the team and run forward. They stopped in place for a few seconds in a daze before following him.

Wen Zheng ran to a place where he could see the water flow. The river that had just suffered a flood had plenty of water, and even after days of exposure, the water level did not drop too much.

"Looking at the flow of this river, it's probably leading to the nearby county town. Even if it doesn't flow into the town, it's probably connected to various wells." Wen Zheng said to the villagers who caught up with him, and then pointed to a location in the distance without waiting for anyone to ask.

Those with poor eyesight couldn't see what Wen Zheng was pointing at, but Yang, the hunter who had trained his eyesight through hunting every day, exclaimed: "There's a corpse soaking in the water!"

Those who were still trying to distinguish it could see it as soon as they were reminded. Although the ancient people didn't know where the plague came from, after this period of time, the Third Master and Wen Zheng reminded them many times that they knew not to drink water soaked by corpses.

First, a flying bird landed, and then a corpse was seen in the river. Even if there was no plague in the county ahead, these two things did not seem to be a good omen, so it was better to leave as soon as possible.

They left as soon as they said they would. Out of unknown worries and a sense of urgency, the people who were already tired ignored the gazes of the other refugees and left faster than when they came under the more intense sun.

They quickly returned to the fork in the road and walked towards another road. It felt similar to the feeling when they went up the mountain that day. Everyone persisted for a while inexplicably before stopping panting, but they could not find a cool place.

Wen Zheng pulled a few people to help dismantle the bamboo raft on the vehicle. It was originally made of bamboo rafts to make a tight carriage so that people would not see what they were carrying. Now they covered the vehicle with clothes first, and put down the unloaded bamboo raft in an open space. They used sharpened bamboo poles as pillars and tied stones with ropes to fix them. Several shade sheds were built.

"The mountain is really smart. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Now you won't be afraid of the sun wherever you go."

"Oh, come here quickly to avoid the sun. Mom, I'll help you in first."

Several villagers who were obviously in poor condition were helped to rest in the bamboo shed. Wen Zheng looked at their condition, took out salt from the package he carried with him, sprinkled salt grains into the bamboo tube in front of everyone, shook it well and handed it to them.

"If you feel your heartbeat is too fast and your limbs are weak, drink some salt water, you will feel much better."

"How can I let you take out the salt? Take it back and drink it yourself." Every family saves salt, and this thing will not be given to others easily.

"The salt is all in there, and I can't finish it by myself. Just think of it as something you owe me first, and you can return it to me later. If you don't drink it soon, it will be dried up by the sun."

"Don't talk nonsense, how can it be dried up so quickly? Let me make it clear that I'm borrowing it from you, and I will definitely return it to you later."

After muttering a few words, he took the bamboo tube handed by Wen Zheng with his trembling hands, and was supported by his son sitting next to him, and drank it down a little bit.

The taste of coarse salt is not good, unlike modern refined salt, which only tastes salty, because too many impurities are mixed with other flavors, the most obvious of which is bitterness. But those who drank it knew the preciousness of salt, and didn't dare to waste even a drop.

After drinking it, he lay down to rest for a while, and his originally fast heartbeat slowly returned to normal speed, and his strength was restored a lot. Those who were originally unwell expressed that they had improved, and the clan leader was still a little worried and extended the rest time for a while.

The villagers took the initiative to reinstall the bamboo raft on the car. The movements were still a little unfamiliar. It would probably take less time after becoming proficient. They also adjusted their breathing rhythm according to Wen Zheng's words, and they didn't feel tired so quickly.

As they left the increasingly distant county town, the walls blocked the impact of the flood. The houses inside were not damaged too much. Only the food that was flooded and the refugees who entered the city every day kept the county town in chaos. The county magistrate, who should have taken measures, was still receiving guests in the county government office at this time, but he didn't know that several special patients came to the county clinic.

Warm reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause the loss of reading progress. Please save the "bookshelf" and "reading record" in time (it is recommended to take screenshots to save). We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you!