The sight of starving corpses scattered all over the outside of the carriage was horrifying even to Liu, a woman who had lived most of her life.

The situation is more serious than it was a few days ago.

When Liu came out of Wangjia Village, she saw a family whose child was so hungry that he was about to faint. His mother quickly broke off a piece of steamed bread and stuffed it into his mouth. Instantly, a group of starving refugees rushed up and snatched all the grain bags from the family. Afterwards, the woman wailed and cried, and the man pounded the ground with his fists, but it was no use.

Throughout the journey, Liu's secret was to never reveal her food in front of others, and even when eating, she had to do it discreetly.

Recalling those days, Liu still feels a sense of fear.

"Third Sister, we won't be making hot food starting today. We still have some steamed buns, dried roe deer meat, and fried rice, enough to last everyone for a few days."

These past few days, whenever she had free time, she would start making steamed cakes and fried rice, because she didn't know when she might encounter bandits, so the more food she had, the better.

The steamed cakes made by the Liu family were made from a mixture of white and black flour, and contained wild vegetables. They tasted much better than the cakes made from a mixture of rice bran.

These steamed cakes have the aroma of grains, and she wouldn't get tired of eating them at every meal.

The children nodded understandingly, indicating that they would be happy to eat steamed buns.

Although Qin San Niang felt that the steamed cake did have a wheat fragrance, it would be difficult to swallow if she ate it every meal. However, she also knew that preserving her life was the most important thing.

Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. Having lived for so many years, Liu has a keen understanding of human nature! This is something that a modern young woman like her does not possess.

"Auntie, Third Sister, we need to conserve water. It hasn't rained for months," Wu Chunhua said, looking up at the sky with worry.

The weather is dry, and water is becoming increasingly scarce. In recent days, Gu Qingshan has been spending more and more time fetching water.

It's like when it rains, it pours!

Qin San Niang really wanted the heavens to send rain. But today the sky was clear and cloudless, let alone rainy; the Dragon King must have gone on vacation.

At noon, Da Wa went to inform the Gu family father and daughter about Grandma's plans.

Gu Qingshan understood what Liu meant. Anyway, he was a rough man who could eat anything, and as for his daughter, she was sensible and didn't need him to tell her anything.

Azhi patted her father's shoulder with her little hand to show that she was fine and much better now, and could even do light exercise.

The refugees slowly passed by them one after another. Many people had already seen the steamed buns in Azhi and Fatty's hands. Although the buns were made of dark flour and vegetables, they still had the taste of grain!

Those with wicked intentions narrowed their eyes, but when they saw the scarred man sitting next to them, they could only reluctantly walk away.

Qin San Niang also witnessed this situation, so much so that she didn't dare let her own children out at all, as it was much more serious than she had imagined.

Many refugees' families had run out of food. From a distance, she even saw people exchanging children and women, and she didn't know if they were planning to cook and eat them.

Looking into the distance, the trees along the roadside had been stripped of their bark, appearing as a bare, white expanse. The grass on the ground had also been turned over, with all the edible roots dug up.

Those who were too exhausted to walk could only lie by the roadside and wait to die, or wait for their strength to return before moving forward like zombies...

Having never experienced a true famine, Qin San Niang was truly shocked. Could this be what people meant by "thousands of corpses starving across the land"?

As a modern person carrying supplies, she really wanted to help them, but firstly, the supplies were limited; the rice and flour inside couldn't be recycled, and there wasn't much food. Secondly, there were just too many disaster victims. Who should be saved? How many should be saved?

As darkness fell, everyone stopped cooking and boiling water. Before the water even boiled, they heard shouts in the distance: "The bandits are coming! Run!"

This wasn't the first time Liu and her men had encountered such a situation. They quickly woke the drowsy child and told him to get on the cart. Fatty hurriedly drove the mule cart forward.

Gu Qingshan's footwork was extremely fast; even pushing a cart could not slow him down in the slightest.

"Fatty, let's go up the mountain!"

"Listen to your Uncle Qingshan, let's go up the mountain!" came Qin Sanniang's voice. She was already sitting on the cart with Pangya. "Mother, sister-in-law, watch the child, hold on tight!"

The refugees scattered, most of them fleeing south along the official road, while a small number, like Qin San Niang and her group, fled into the mountains along the mountain paths.

Most of the bandits were refugees, and faced with a scattering of refugees, they would inevitably target those heading south first. If they encountered wild animals in the mountains, things would be dire.

This mountain is full of starving wild animals; you could easily become their meal if you're not careful.

The bandit leader saw a group of people heading up the mountain, with mule carts and such, which seemed like a lucrative business, and he could probably plunder a lot of grain. But then he thought that his life was more important and he didn't want to risk his life.

Wu Chunhua and Liu Shi sat in the carriage with several children in their arms. Although the carriage was bumpy, no one dared to make a sound.

The cart wasn't even guaranteed to be stable on flat ground, let alone on the rugged mountain roads. If possible, Qin San Niang was prepared to abandon the cart and run away; what could be more important than life?

At that moment, she didn't have time to check if there were any bandits following behind. Thinking of her three little children, she resigned herself to running with the big gray dog, even though it was bumpy, it was better than having to carry the children on her back.

The jungle was pitch black, with only the clattering of the large gray cat and the creaking of wheels rolling.

Fortunately, Gu Qingshan was leading the way, otherwise I was really worried that we might fall into a deep ditch. Azhi had already been placed on the mule cart, and at this moment she was sitting in the cart with the Wang family’s children with worried expressions.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Big Grey gradually slowed down.

Only then did Qin San Niang have time to look around. The trees were no longer bare, but lush and verdant forests, indicating that they had entered the deep mountains.

At midnight, the deep white moonlight poured down, casting its light through layers of leaves.

A pushcart and a mule cart traveled one after the other along an unnamed path. Under normal circumstances, it would have been quite picturesque, but not now...

Qin Sanniang even felt a bit weary. This world! It's truly a dog-eat-dog world! Ever since she transmigrated, although she had been constantly exhausted, she had thankfully been in a rather cheerful mood, having recovered from the anger and sorrow caused by the scumbag boyfriend. However, this bandit attack truly instilled fear in her. So many ragged refugees, their eyes filled with a ferocity she could feel even in the darkness, and these honest and law-abiding refugees were like lambs to the slaughter.

Why are you so eager to destroy yourselves?