At that time, the water from the village well could only provide basic water. The village chief arranged for everyone to take turns guarding the well and drawing water, limiting each household to two buckets of water per day. After deducting the water used for cooking, there wasn't much left. If the water was used for washing, laundry, and cooking, there would be food but no water, and everyone would be unable to eat.

By this time, most villagers were running low on food, so they dug up tree bark, grass roots, and wild vegetables from the hills behind them. In these drought years, the landscape was a parched landscape, with dead trees scattered across the hills, many stripped of their bark. Wild vegetables and grass roots were even scarcer. Wild animals had all migrated deeper into the mountains. There were no more living creatures to be seen outside.

A few days ago, Li Xiucai went to the town to buy grain and returned to tell everyone that grain prices had risen. Many wealthy families in the town had already moved to other states with their families. His teacher was also preparing to leave. Li Xiucai also brought good news: the government was distributing 20 kilograms of grain per person to encourage people to flee the famine and move to other states. Due to years of war and drought, the government had run out of grain.

The village chief called a meeting to discuss whether to flee the famine or to hold out. Most of the villagers were born here and the farthest they had been was to the town. When they heard about fleeing the famine, they panicked and started discussing.

Finally, it was Li Xiucai who stood up and said that his teacher had suggested that everyone flee the famine. If they left now, they could still receive relief food from the government. If they left too late, not only would they not receive relief food, but the government would also come to conscript soldiers. The villagers thought about the people who had been conscripted before, who had either died in battle or become disabled, and the results were not good. In this era, conscription took away the pillars of the family. If the pillars of the family were gone, how would the remaining wives, children, and parents survive?

In the end, everyone voted to flee the famine. But, in such a vast world, where could anyone find a place to settle down? The two nearest states were also experiencing drought. However, those states were near a large river, so the impact of the drought was less severe. Since everyone was fleeing the famine, everyone wanted to find a suitable place to settle down. But in such a vast world, where could they find a place that was both safe and secure, away from the chaos of war?