From the beginning, a rule was set: never abandon anyone around you, and never sell a child for a bite to eat.

If someone is willing to do anything to survive, Lin Jinyue cannot feel at ease cooperating with such a person.

The group stopped. The others who hadn't fainted weren't much better off; they all slumped weakly on the ground, their lips cracked and pale.

They hadn't found a water source for seven days, and the water they had stored and the wild fruits they had finally found had to be shared with the livestock.

Otherwise, if these horses die of thirst, there's no way to haul away such a huge pile of stuff.

It's all thanks to Lin Jinyue getting up in the middle of the night to secretly feed the horses; otherwise, these four horses wouldn't have survived until now.

It's a strange thing to think about it.

For some reason, the closer we got to Runan County, the more desolate it became. There were several abandoned villages, and people had been gone for a long time.

Not only have fewer villages, but there are also far fewer fruits. Even the sour fruits that they used to dislike are now hard to find, even though the mountains are full of fruit trees.

The woman who fainted was Liu the butcher's daughter-in-law and also Liu Dazhuang's wife. In an instant, the men of the Liu family rushed to look for the water bag, only to find that there was not a drop of water in it.

Lin Jinyue handed her her water pouch and gave her a sip; she recovered in no time.

A short while later, the person woke up.

Liu Dazhuang was extremely anxious: "Why aren't you drinking water?"

Da Zhuang's wife also felt wronged: "Niu Niu is thirsty..."

Liu Dazhuang slapped his son on the forehead, making the child howl: "I told you to be thirsty, but you can't even hold it in. You know your mother loves you, but all you do is cry in front of her. If you're so capable, why don't you come to me and your grandfather?"

Da Zhuang's wife hurriedly tried to stop her, but she was too weak.

Niu Niu is only six or seven years old, how could he understand so much?

Lin Jinyue's family had all traveled from the modern world. Seeing Liu Dazhuang's ruthless act, the skinny boy curled up in a ball, about to suffocate, Lin Shucheng rushed over to stop him.

Lin Jinyue then brought out her own water bag. "Uncle Dazhuang, don't be angry. My family still has some water. You can take this water bag first. My dad and I will think of something."

In fact, Lin Jinyue had long been unable to stand it and wanted to take the water from the farm, but its source was unknown and it was inconvenient to take it, for fear of arousing suspicion.

So I had to drink less and eat more fruit.

Lin Jinyue also wanted to filter the water. Logically speaking, after filtering these impurities, it should be drinkable after boiling and look clear. But for some reason, every time she filtered it, the system said it was undrinkable because the harmful substances exceeded the standard.

This made the family feel somewhat guilty every time they went to the farm for water.

Her family has held many meetings to help these villagers whenever possible, but even in dire circumstances, they cannot act out of kindness indiscriminately.

After all, there's a system monitoring them. If someone discovers something's wrong with their business, they'll get three red card warnings, and their golden touch will be gone.

Lin Jinyue didn't even dare to imagine how miserable her family would be without her cheat code in this world.

Even more terrifying is the possibility that if someone discovers something is wrong with his family, they could conjure up food out of thin air, break their limbs, and control them, forcing them to hand over their cheat code. Just thinking about it is a bit horrifying.

Lin Jinyue should never have taken water from the farm for them to drink, no matter what.

However, after spending so many days together, these people were so tired at night that their eyelids were drooping, their shoes were worn out, and their soles were bleeding. Despite being in such a sorry state, they still went to pick mushrooms, fruits, and herbs for the family out of gratitude before dark.

They watched as Lin Jinyue did things for them, and the villagers would stuff any food they could save from their own mouths into her arms.

Human hearts are made of flesh and blood. The villagers treated them sincerely, and they couldn't bear to watch this group of people die of thirst on the road.

Lin Jinyue looked in the direction of Runan County and whispered to her father, "How about we change our clothes and go to Runan County to find out what the situation is like now, and buy some supplies while we're at it?"

Although they didn't have much silver, she had a chest full of silk brocade and several bolts of silk cloth and coarse cloth, which could be exchanged for some silver.

These were the items we traded with in Nan'an County last time. The family was kind; for just a few eggs, they not only gave us some silver coins but also an extra box of cloth. Lin Jinyue and the others thought it was just a box of coarse cloth, but they didn't expect that there were three bolts of silk and two bolts of fine cloth underneath.

If they didn't have money to purchase supplies, they could exchange silk and fine cloth for money.

Lin Jinyue then said to them, "Brother, you stay here and rest well. My parents and I will go and see what you need. We'll buy it for you."

Lin Jinyue wanted to bring him along, but all her belongings were here, and if anything happened, Lin Xueqing would have to stay behind.

Lin Xueqing thought for a moment, "Let's get some knives, big and small, and some woodworking tools too."

These are basically for self-defense.

Lin Jinyue agreed, "As long as I can find it, I will definitely bring it back to you without missing a single one."

Lin Xueqing whispered, "Put it in the space."

Lin Jinyue nodded: "Okay."

The next moment, Lin Jinyue was lifted onto the horse's back.

Lin Shucheng said anxiously, "Hurry up, or it will be noon soon and the sun will be blazing. Don't waste any more time."

Lin Jinyue sat on horseback, while Lin Shucheng led the horse from the front. The family of three slowly walked back the way they had come.

Once the villagers were out of sight, Lin Shucheng quickly stuffed the water bag into Lin Jinyue's arms: "Yueyue, hurry up and drink more, it won't taste as good if they see it later."

Jiang Yun also fed the horse a few juicy apples, because the horse had been so thirsty all the way.

In just over half an hour, they were able to see the city gate of Runan County.

Lin Jinyue didn't rush into the city. Instead, she remembered that her family was wearing tattered clothes, patched in many places, and they looked like refugees. The guards on the city walls would definitely question them.

Lin Jinyue then brought her parents into the space to change clothes.

Jiang Yun has been making clothes whenever she has free time these past few days. She makes clothes from dyed fine cotton fabric, and each of the four family members has a set of fine cotton clothes. However, the journey to escape famine was too difficult, and they couldn't bear to see the clothes they had worked so hard to make ruined, so they never had a chance to wear them.

This has come in handy now.

When Lin Jinyue and the others arrived at the city gate, they didn't dare to get too close. They just watched from a distance to see how the others entered the city.

This is quite surprising; nowadays, you even need a travel permit to enter the city!

Where are they supposed to find them?

Lin Jinyue also thought about whether she could sneak in, but to her surprise, when they saw some refugees trying to sneak in, they were immediately discovered, dragged out, and had their hands chopped off on the spot.

The withered, bloody hand looked terrifying. The guards kicked the severed limb away, and it was immediately snatched away by a dog on the roadside.