Sangsang's curls were of unrecognizable length, all lifeless like their owner, sticking limply to her scalp. Ningxia smoothed her hair with a wet handkerchief and gently fanned it a few times, which helped Sangsang relax a little.

Lin Yi knelt beside him, picked up a spoon and placed spoonfuls of warm porridge towards Sangsang's mouth. Sangsang swallowed like a swallowing machine, swallowing half the bowl without refusing.

"Don't go add more." Ningxia called out to Lin Yi who was about to get up and go to the kitchen to scoop porridge.

Lin Yi's eyes were full of confusion.

"Take your time."

Ningxia said it perfunctorily, but her worry was even greater. She carefully fanned Sangsang. The little girl lay on the carpet with her eyes half closed. Ningxia looked at her thin chest rising and falling, and her heart felt like it was being gripped by an iron hand with sharp spikes, the pain was so severe that it made her breathless.

Even after Sangsang fell asleep, Ningxia continued to flutter the cardboard in her hands. The solemn expression on her face was not a pretty sight. Lin Yi's red eyes were fixed on the thin figure on the ground, afraid that Sangsang would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, Sangsang didn't live up to their expectations. Less than half an hour after drinking the porridge, she vomited it all out, leaving a mess on the floor. The unpleasant odor permeated the stuffy, hot room. The siblings, unconcerned with the dirt, sweat dripping from their bodies as they busied themselves scrubbing and feeding her water.

Fortunately, after vomiting, Sangsang regained consciousness and felt much better. Obediently drinking the half cup of salt water Ningxia handed her, Sangsang lay back down again, letting Lin Yi sit beside her and fan her as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

Ningxia sat there for a while, her face blurred in the candlelight. After a while, she looked up, as if she had made a decision: "You keep an eye on my sister. If she feels unwell, call me."

Lin Yi didn't understand why, but he nodded in agreement.

Ningxia extravagantly lit another candle. She couldn't wait any longer. This damned Sun Moon was already drawing to a close, and Sangsang had been like this for five or six days straight. She couldn't put it off any longer. As soon as the Sun Moon ended, she would take Sangsang to the trading point.

Ningxia ignored the attic, which was like a steaming basket, and went up to the room. She swiftly carried down the thirty pounds of lavender and less than ten pounds of patchouli that had been drying in the corner. She found a bag on the stairs and carefully packed it up.

He turned around and counted the dried bamboo shoots in the stairwell. There were only about 80 kilograms left out of the 100 kilograms. Ningxia only left a small handful, less than 5 kilograms, and the rest were all packed.

There were also about 40 pounds of wild mushrooms. Ningxia had never touched them, except for a meal long ago when she made them with bacon buns. They were expensive, and she couldn't bear to part with them. Thinking of Sangsang's lively and quirky look as he ate the buns with big mouthfuls, Ningxia gritted her teeth and saved three pounds, then packed the rest up and put it with the dried bamboo shoots.

The big bag of scented candles at home was also packed into the luggage bag. Ningxia raised her hand to wipe the sweat off her face, waiting for this damn weather to pass before she could take Sangsang with her.

Medical supplies are scarce right now, and I don't know if what I have at home is enough...

Ningxia calmed down, the most important thing right now was Sangsang.

"How much water is left?"

"Probably enough for five or six days." The family had plenty of water storage facilities, but they couldn't withstand the heat. The water Ningxia had taken Maomao on a grueling ten days was almost gone.

Ningxia stood up and handed a bowl of rice porridge to Lin Yi.

"No need, Sister Xia Xia, I'll just eat mixed grain rice."

Ningxia looked at Lin Yi, who was also in a bad state. A strong sour feeling rushed up her throat, burning her eyes and making them red. She handed the porridge to him and said, "Be good, drink it."

Lin Yi pursed his lips, sat down, picked up the bowl and swallowed it whole. Beads of sweat the size of beans ran from the ends of his hair along his face into his mouth. The porridge was sweet, but also extremely bitter.

"Sister Xia Xia, are we going to the trading point?"

Ningxia dodged the fan Lin Yi held out to take the cardboard and continued fanning Sangsang: "Yes. Sangsang, we can't delay this any longer."

"But..." Lin Yi hesitated, "The scorching sun month has just passed, and the road must be very dangerous. It will take several days to get there..."

As soon as the weather turns cold, the animals hiding in the mountains will definitely come out in droves. Lin Yi's worries are not unreasonable.

"Didn't your Uncle Li Gang say there was a sentry post ten miles along the river? Let's go to the sentry post and ask the coalition forces for help." Ningxia had no other choice. She dared to take a chance if she went on the road alone, but if she took her brother and sister and Maomao with her, if anything unexpected happened, they would die without a burial place. She didn't dare to take the risk, so she could only shamelessly ask the coalition forces for help as a tax-paying citizen.

"Do we have enough at home?" Lin Yi knew all too well how expensive medical care was these days. Back at Dawn Base, his mother and grandfather both died of illness, unable to afford doctors or medicine. Chocobo had so many policies to benefit the people, but what if healthcare wasn't the only thing it lacked? What would happen to him and Sister Xia Xia? What about Sang Sang?

Ningxia's eyes flashed with despair, and it took a while for him to find his voice: "If it doesn't work, then sell Maomao..."

The house fell silent. Maomao had long been like half a family member to the three siblings. Living alone in this small world, they all struggled to keep themselves fed. Maomao was a constant presence in their lives, obedient, sensible, and good-tempered. Whenever Ningxia took Maomao out to graze, gazing into his large eyes, she felt a brief moment of relief from her fatigue. She wouldn't have sold him unless it was absolutely necessary...

Ningxia, for once, found herself doing nothing that night. She sat side by side with Lin Yi. The heat of the last few days and everything that had happened at home had left them both feeling a bit exhausted. The siblings sat there in silence, quietly healing themselves from their fatigue.

To make matters worse, at dawn, before the brother and sister had time to lie down and rest, Sangsang had a fever!

What Ningxia had been worried about for several days finally happened. Fever in high temperatures is fatal!

Noticing something was wrong with Sangsang, Ningxia quickly stood up and told Lin Yi to fetch some water. She then hurriedly searched her bag for some fever-reducing medicine and quickly gave it to Sangsang.

Sangsang's short shirt was also taken off, leaving only a pair of loose underwear on her body. Lin Yi knelt beside her and wiped Sangsang's body with trembling hands. It took a while for him to calm down.

Ningxia picked up a cardboard and fanned Sangsang vigorously. The moisture on Sangsang's body was instantly evaporated by the hot air and disappeared.

Ningxia wet the handkerchief directly and clamped it on Sangsang's popliteal fossa and groin. She also asked Lin Yi to keep changing the handkerchief on her forehead. She held the cardboard and kept fanning Sangsang's body, avoiding her head.

In just a short while, Ningxia and Lin Yi's clothes began to drip water. After Sangsang drank a lot of salt water, his body temperature gradually began to drop.