In the summer of 387 in the Daliang calendar, several northwestern states of Liang suffered a century-long drought. Due to the government's ineffective disaster relief, several northwestern states were plagued by famine and bandits.

On the hillside, Sun Hao, who was hiding behind a rock, saw a group of hundreds of people fleeing famine walking away. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and put down the bow and arrow in his hand.

If people are very hungry, they will eat anything.

In disaster years when even grass roots and tree bark were eaten up, it was not uncommon to eat one's own children.

Second uncle Sun Mao was trying to protect his six-year-old daughter Sun Yao from being eaten by other hungry people. He was seriously injured in the fight and died that night.

Sun Hao committed his first murder in that fight, killing six hungry people at once.

It was thanks to Sun Hao's ferocity that his cousin Sun Yao was able to avoid being eaten as food by the hungry people.

"Brother, have those bad guys who want to eat me left?" Sun Yao, who was lying beside Sun Hao, asked in a low voice.

Perhaps recalling the scene of that day, Sun Yao's face had turned pale with fright.

"The bad guys are gone, little Ni'er, are you hungry?"

Xiao Ni'er is Sun Yao's nickname.

"Brother, I'm not hungry."

“Gurgle——”

Sun Yao said she was not hungry, but then her stomach growled.

Looking at the sensible Sun Yao, Sun Hao rubbed her head with pity, then took out half a cake made of bran and flour from the cloth bag on his body and handed it to Sun Yao.

When Sun Yao saw half a piece of pancake, a look of joy appeared on her face, but she took the half piece of pancake and did not eat it immediately.

Instead, he broke half of the pancake and handed most of it back to Sun Hao, "Brother, you eat the pancake too!"

"I'm not hungry, you eat!"

After Sun Hao finished speaking, his stomach started to growl.

"If you don't want to eat it, I won't eat it either." Sun Yao handed the pancake directly to Sun Hao's mouth.

Sun Hao, who was extremely hungry, finally took the pancake from Sun Yao's hand.

Because the biscuits contained a lot of bran, they would inevitably irritate the throat when swallowing, but the siblings Sun Hao and Sun Yao ate them with relish, and did not even waste the little bit of residue stuck on their hands.

Looking at Sun Yao who was still licking her palm, Sun Hao hesitated for a moment, then opened the cloth bag on his body, pinched a small piece from a whole pancake in the bag, and fed it to Sun Yao's mouth.

In fact, there were five cakes made of bran and flour in the cloth bag, each weighing almost one pound, but Sun Hao didn't dare to eat more.

Now, he and Sun Yao only have these cakes left to fill their stomachs, and Sun Hao estimates that it will take more than ten days to reach Ganyang City where they are going.

Because there were too many hungry people fleeing famine, Sun Hao had eaten up almost all the edible things on the road by the hungry people in front of him, so the remaining five cakes were probably the only food that could keep him and his sister alive before they arrived in Ganyang City.

Sun Hao took the water bag and fed Sun Yao some water, then looked at the sky.

It feels like it will be dark in more than an hour.

So Sun Hao decided to camp here today to avoid meeting the group of hungry people again.

Ever since his second uncle passed away, Sun Hao has been trying his best to avoid other starving people, to prevent some starving people from snatching the little food they have left, or even taking away his cousin Sun Yao.

Late at night, looking at Sun Yao who was already fast asleep, Sun Hao, who felt increasingly hungry, could not help but toss and turn in bed, but he resisted the urge to touch the cloth bag containing the biscuits.

In order to divert his attention, Sun Hao began to have wild thoughts.

Sun Hao, who is nineteen years old this year, was raised by his second uncle Sun Mao.

But Sun Hao is not an orphan, he has a biological father.

However, Sun Hao's father, Sun Zhe, married into a general's family in the Ganyang Army shortly after Sun Hao's mother died of illness. He handed Sun Hao, who was only 4 years old at the time, over to be raised by his younger brother Sun Mao, who had just returned to the countryside.

Sun Mao was originally a low-level officer in the Ganyang Army. In a battle with the Xiongnu cavalry, Sun Mao lost an arm and had to leave the army.

Sun Hao's proficient skills in archery and horse riding were taught by his second uncle Sun Mao.

The Ganyang Army was under the jurisdiction of the Ganyang Protectorate, which was one of the nineteen border protectorates set up by the Liang court in order to strengthen the central government's control over the border, consolidate border defenses and govern foreign ethnic groups.

After the "Five Kings Rebellion" sixty years ago, Ganyang Protectorate was one of the few border protectorates still under the control of the Liang court.

Over the years, Sun Hao's father, Sun Zhe, only visited him once when he was 9 years old.

Now Sun Hao can't even remember what his father looks like. In Sun Hao's heart, his father has long become a vague figure.

The drought in the northwest of Liang State did not occur this year. The town where Sun Mao and his nephew Sun Hao live has suffered from drought for three consecutive years.

However, the government's exorbitant taxes and levies were not reduced at all, but several items were increased.

As a result, even though Sun Mao's family owned more than 200 acres of fertile land, he could not bear it anymore and had to flee the famine with his family, preparing to go to Ganyang City, a thousand miles away, to seek refuge with his brother Sun Zhe.

As a result, just after leaving his hometown, Sun Mao and his companions encountered dozens of horse-riding bandits. Sun Mao's wife, concubine, and two underage sons were all shot to death by the bandits.

Only Sun Mao, uncle and nephew Sun Hao, and Sun Yao who was carried on Sun Hao's back, managed to escape.

Now that even his second uncle is dead, Sun Hao is actually very confused. He doesn't know what to do in the future. He can only follow his second uncle's original idea and go to Ganyang City to join his biological father.

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