From the experience gained while fleeing the famine and from what I had seen of Ah Si and his companions before, I could tell from their eyes which ones had eaten human flesh and which ones had not.

Some who have eaten human flesh have eyes like rabbits, which are not only red but also seem to be unable to see the light. As long as the sunlight is a little stronger, they start to shed tears. They become more and more reluctant to go out during the day and can only stay at night, as if they are gradually entering the ranks of non-humans.

Cannibalism can produce prions, but the incidence of this type of prions is highest when they eat the human brain. The incidence of prions in other parts of the body may only reach 2%, which means that only two out of a hundred people will be affected. The probability is too low, so it is impossible to prevent cannibalism from happening.

The difference between humans and animals is that humans know ethics and emotions, but these are not enough in the face of natural disasters and wars. Without food, humans can only turn their attention to their own kind.

Cannibalism may cause stiffness around the body, bone pain, muscle damage, and even involuntary laughing. Some people who eat too much meat may even die suddenly while eating. Even if people know that cannibalism has these side effects, will those who are hungry stop eating it?

Not at all!

This is similar to the situation in ancient times when people knew they would die from eating Guanyin soil during a disaster. If they didn't eat, they would starve, and if they starved, they would still die. They would rather die of bloating than starve to death.

The cost of eating human flesh is much lower than that of eating Guanyin soil. At least death will not be as painful as eating Guanyin soil.

In this era, God uses direct and explicit means to distinguish those who have eaten human flesh and those who have not. Just look at their eyes.

If the person is red and tears appear in the light, then he has definitely eaten human flesh.

The child did not lie to him. His eyes were still clear and clean. He was a normal person, but he had been hungry for too long.

Lin Rui tore open a bag of cookies from the mansion and put the cookies in the child's hand: "Eat first, and then talk after you finish eating."

The fool's eyes were wide open. The strange palm-sized biscuit in his hand exuded an indescribable sweet fragrance, which stimulated his saliva. When his saliva was about to drip, he remembered that he was wearing a new dress and immediately wiped it with his dirty little hands.

He picked up a biscuit and chewed it, his eyes lit up: "It smells so good!"

This was a delicious taste he had never tasted since he was born. He had never eaten sugar, but now he felt that these cookies were even better than sugar and were the most delicious thing in the world.

Hanbao ate two pieces and said he would not eat the other two pieces at all, and hid them carefully in his arms.

Lin Rui looked at him strangely: "Silly boy, why don't you eat anymore?"

The fool looked at him and begged, "Good man, can I take these back to my sister to eat?"

Seeing how skinny he was, Lin Rui was worried that he would not survive the winter. He even thought of saving some food for his sister. He was such a good brother. His mother must be very good to have raised such a sensible child. She should not have ended up being skinned and eaten.

He sighed. Once the world was in chaos, all kinds of dirty and tragic events would happen in every corner. What he saw now was just one incident, and there would be many more that he could not see.

Patting Han Bao's head, Lin Rui smiled and said, "Of course, but I still have some here. You can finish the biscuits and I'll give mine to your sister."

After all, Hanbao was still a child at heart. After hearing what Lin Rui said, he finally couldn't resist the urge to eat and ate the biscuits in his hand in small bites. He was afraid that if he ate too fast, he would lose the sweet taste.

Lin Rui waited for Hanbao to finish eating and then leave with him. Anyway, he had nowhere to go now, and he didn't even know where this place was. The cliff of Sheltering Wind Mountain was about ten thousand feet high, and the top and bottom of the mountain were almost two different worlds.

He lured away the people from Yishu Pass, and he didn't know whether Major General Sanliang and Han Wenjing had gotten away and found the main force to gather.

He really did everything he could. In that situation, it was fortunate that he was the one who distracted Chu Wu and the others. Otherwise, even someone as strong as San Liang would have fallen off the cliff and his body would have been nowhere to be found.

Hanbao ate the biscuits in small bites, licked the crumbs off his hands one by one, and then stood up with Lin Rui.

Outside of Shefeng Mountain, everything is desolate. Yishu Pass, Huangmo Pass, and Xiding Pass are all located along the border. Huangmo Pass is relatively well populated thanks to Xing Lie and the Xing Family Army. Furthermore, Lin Rui's efforts to revitalize the economy, encourage marriage leave, and stimulate population growth have led to the orderly development of wasteland, completely transforming Huangmo Pass's appearance.

Yishu Pass, however, seemed like a primitive desert, desolate and dusty. Lin Rui emerged from the woods, seeing only patches of weathered sand. Between the sky and the earth, the yellow sand flew everywhere, bewildering the eyes and casting a shadow over the hearts.

The two walked about two miles, and Hanbao led Lin Rui into a hill and valley, and then took a small path from the left side of the hill and valley. In the following journey, Lin Rui saw Hanbao leading him through countless forks in the road, so many that he couldn't remember them all.

"Idiot, where do you live? Why are you hiding so well?" Lin Rui couldn't help but ask.

The fool scratched his head and said, "Is it tight? I thought it was too easy to find!"

"Why are you afraid of being found?" Lin Rui couldn't help but ask.

Han Bao said, "There are a lot of hunters out there now. If they don't catch tigers and black bears, they catch people and send them to the meat market to sell them and make money to buy meat."

This is really a drop in the bucket. Hunters are really hunters. They don't hunt animals, they only hunt humans.

Finally, under Hanbao's guidance, Lin Rui was brought to a small cave. There were some thatched and loess houses built inside and outside the cave. The men and women staying inside were skinny and bony. They had not received nutritional supplements for a long time, making it difficult for them to walk.

A thin woman was struggling to pull a bundle of firewood towards the stove, apparently wanting to cook some food. The child on her back was crying for food, so hungry that he didn't even have the strength to cry.

The woman bit her finger with her teeth, put it into the child's mouth, and let him suck it despite the pain...

They had clearly survived the days of fleeing, but now they were faced with such a situation. Lin Rui felt that it was even more difficult than when they were fleeing. At least their Lin family had never encountered such a difficult situation when they were fleeing.

"Little fool, who did you bring with you?" An old man who was also very thin but had a sharp look in his eyes pointed at Lin Rui and shouted.

Han Bao said, "Grandpa Village Chief, I saw him in the shelter forest. If he hadn't saved me, I would have been caught by hunters and sent to the meat market. He also gave me delicious cakes. He is a good man!"

Immediately, a woman came up from behind Lin Rui and pulled the fool aside. "You kid, it's so easy to fool you. If a hunter gives you a small favor in the future, you will sell out everyone in our village!"