Awooo... Awooo...
It was a dark and windy night with the moon high above the branches. Deep in the dense forest on the back mountain of Shangba Village, a tattered straw mat wrapped around a petite "corpse".
Inside the straw mat, the "corpse's" fingers moved... and moved again. After a long while, Tian An finally struggled to lift the straw mat off his body.
Huh… Huh…
"I almost suffocated to death."
She struggled to open her eyes, and all around her was pitch black. Tian An felt weak and sore all over, and her head felt like it was about to explode. Before she could even catch her breath, fragmented memories forcibly flooded into her mind:
Tian An, 11 years old. Her family lived in Tianling, a small mountain village in southern Taiwan. When she was just over five, the imperial court called for military service, and her father, along with the entire family, was forced to serve in the army. His whereabouts have been unknown ever since. When she was six, her mother suffered a difficult birth, leaving her with a chronic illness. Later, her mother-in-law's harassment completely damaged her health. One day, while washing clothes in a river, she accidentally fell overboard and was already dead by the time she was rescued. She left behind seven-year-old Tian An and her one-year-old brother.
After a few rains during last year's spring planting season, not a drop of rain fell in the south until after the autumn harvest, while many provinces in the north were hit by severe drought. At the end of the year, there were several heavy snowfalls, crushing many houses in the village.
I heard that the south was still relatively good, with several canals still around. Even if it didn't rain, we could still draw water from the river. It was hard work, but at least we could still get a harvest.
But the situation in the north was more serious. Not only was most of the grain harvested shriveled, but before the New Year was over, heavy snow had collapsed houses. Unable to survive, many people fled south with their families.
Although the harvest in the south was decent, due to the arrival of refugees from the north, the imperial court ordered the collection of grain to provide relief to the refugees, and the tax was three times higher than in previous years. As a result, even those with more land in the south often had no food to eat.
Tian An died of starvation. Of the three branches of the Tian family, the first and third branches each had two adults and four children. Only the second branch had two young children left.
Without their parents' protection, 11-year-old Tian An and her 5-year-old brother were required to do relentless work every day. If they didn't finish, they would be beaten and denied food. Despite toiling away every day, they were only given a bowl of coarse flour porridge for each meal. Tian An's younger brother was young and incompetent, so fearing he'd get beaten, she did the work for two people. She also gave more of the porridge to him, taking only small bites herself. When she was starving, she would go to the mountains to find wild vegetables.
Tian An collapsed from exhaustion due to long-term high-intensity work and malnutrition. The Tian family, unwilling to pay for Tian An's medical treatment, simply threw him into the hills behind the village, leaving him to fend for himself.
Oh! What a miserable child!
"Tian An is her namesake. She's a medical genius who specializes in both Chinese and Western medicine at a 22nd-century medical school. Before coming here, she was conducting research on a 'medical storage and testing space.' Just as she was about to succeed, the laboratory exploded for unknown reasons. She thought she was dead, but unexpectedly, she woke up here."
"Haha, God won't let me die!"
Tian An rested for a while before he had the strength to raise his eyes and look at everything around him.
Alas! A child without a mother is nothing but a straw! Little Tian An wore only a padded autumn coat, stiff from age. Not only was it covered in patches, but it was also a bit too large for his skinny frame. Such clothes were no match for keeping him warm on this early spring night in the mountains.
His hair was a mess, covered in mud and grass, and some of it was stuck to his face. He looked like a beggar, even worse than a beggar.
As far as I can remember, this piece of clothing belonged to Tian An's mother. After Tian An's mother died, the first and third wives took over all the things of the second wife. The piece of clothing Tian An was wearing was left behind because it was too torn.
...coo...coo...coo...coo...
Before Tian An could think much, his stomach started to protest. That's why being hungry is the worst. I'm afraid there's not even a grain of rice left in my stomach.
She was so weak that she couldn't even stand up. Where could she find food? She was afraid she would die on the first day. Isn't it said that those who survive a great disaster will have good fortune in the future?
...coo...coo...coo...coo...
Oh! I wish I had some glucose at a time like this. I've been hungry for too long, and even if I eat something right away, it will hurt me!
As Tian An was thinking about it, he felt something strange in his hand. He raised his hand with great effort and took a look. He was immediately overjoyed. It was glucose.
Haha, there is hope, there is hope.
She managed to get the glucose into her mouth, but her mouth was too dry and she didn't have the strength to get up. She almost choked to death after drinking the glucose.
Cough cough... cough cough...
Phew, what a close call! She had it so hard. Hmm...
Awooo... Awooo...
The sound of branches rustling in the distance came from far away.
There really were a thousand horses galloping in Tian An's heart!
The noise must have startled the wolves nearby. Not only was it difficult for her to even stand up, even under normal circumstances, she couldn't possibly defeat a single wolf! Heaven was killing her!
Tian An lay on the tattered mat, covering his mouth with his hands, his nerves tense, not even daring to breathe, hoping that the wolf would not eat the corpse and leave quickly.
Her eyes were fixed on the distant bushes, and she could see nothing but two dark green lights in the darkness, but she knew it was there, watching everything here.
Awooo...
With a howl, a huge brown-gray wolf leaped out of the bushes and ran towards her at full speed...
Looking at the wolf coming at him quickly, Tian An's pupils dilated and his heart stopped beating.
It's over, am I going to die? She closed her eyes in despair.
call out…………
The sound of an arrow whistled, bringing with it a gust of wind that passed close to her scalp...
Bang…………
Tian An opened her eyes and saw the huge wolf lying on the ground. Its bloody mouth was less than a meter away from her. The stench of the wolf's mouth filled her nose, making her feel sick. Unfortunately, she didn't even have the strength to vomit and could only endure dry heaving.
"If you're not dead yet, get up quickly, otherwise when the wolves come you won't be able to leave." A cold and slightly childish male voice came from behind.
"I feel weak all over and can't get up," Tian An said in a hoarse voice.
The boy walked closer and looked her over, frowning with a look of disgust and impatience: "What a hassle."
But he still bent down, picked up Tian An and walked down the mountain.
Is this finally salvation?
…………
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