No one turned around!
"Serves you right!"
"retribution!"
"Mountain God, open your eyes! Take these beasts away!"
Low curses and trembling prayers of "May the mountain god protect us" echoed through the procession.
The bloodshed of last night and the desperate cries behind me now intertwined, making my heart, which had just relaxed a little, tighten again.
Previously sustained by anger and lingering fear, their bodies now truly felt the deep-seated terror and exhaustion. Many people's legs began to tremble, and their steps became unsteady.
The team moved silently and quickly along the dirt road, the heavy burden and mental exhaustion making it hard to breathe.
"Sister Jiang..." Xiao Tao, who was standing next to Jiang Chan, said in a soft and weak voice.
Jiang Chan looked down and saw that Xiao Tao's face was flushed, her eyes were glazed, and she was about to fall over!
She reacted quickly and grabbed it!
My forehead is burning hot; I have a fever!
The exhaustion and fear of the past few days directly overwhelmed the little boy's body.
Jiang Chan immediately slowed down, leaving the cart at the back of the line.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, with a slight thought, he pinched a white fever-reducing pill between his fingers.
She pried open Xiaotao's mouth, quickly stuffed the pill in, and then drank a mouthful of water from the water pouch.
"Swallow it," she said calmly.
Xiao Tao did as instructed in a daze.
Jiang Chan lifted her onto the cart and laid her down.
After walking briskly for about half an hour, the group found a shady spot by the roadside to rest briefly.
As the medicine took effect, Xiao Tao's fever subsided somewhat, but she remained weak.
Her eyes were half-open, her small hands clutching Jiang Chan's clothes tightly as if grasping at the only piece of driftwood. Her voice was filled with immense fear: "Sister Jiang... don't... don't leave me... I'm scared... I'm scared to be alone..."
"No." Jiang Chan held her small hand.
"I...I've eaten so many pancakes...Grandma gave them to you...I've almost finished them all..." Xiao Tao's eyes were filled with a cautious and humble look. "Will...will you still take me with you?"
Jiang Chan looked at her pale, dependent face and forced a faint smile. "Take her with you. I promised your grandma. If I have food, you have food. If there's no food... we'll starve to death together..."
This cold yet substantial promise felt like a reassurance.
A weak but incredibly satisfied smile appeared on Xiao Tao's face. Her grip on her clothes loosened slightly, and she drifted into a deep sleep.
The smile on Jiang Chan's face disappeared.
She looked at Xiao Tao's sleeping face with a complicated expression.
Five years into the apocalypse, my heart has long since frozen into iron.
The law of the jungle prevails.
Trust? Sympathy? Those are death warrants!
In the apocalyptic world where starvation was rampant, Grandma Sun's half-eaten pancake was nothing.
She didn't even blink at those who kowtowed until their heads bled and cried for help.
But... after transmigrating into the world of this melodramatic book... when I first arrived, I felt utterly awful.
Living is nothing more than a breathing shell, with a heartbeat that's a little more than being a walking corpse.
Tasteless, devoid of thought, it was merely a mechanical act of pawning jewelry to buy food in order to...survive.
Until Grandma Sun stuffed that stone-like cake into her hand... and pushed Xiao Tao in front of her... at that moment... her frozen heart felt as if it had been violently struck by something.
Those bewildered, helpless, yet clean eyes, as if washed with water, reflected... the shadow of her own being as a "human being" that she had long forgotten.
Bringing Xiao Tao along is a burden, a hassle, but perhaps... it's also the last rope that keeps her, this walking corpse, from tethering her to remind her that she's still human in this messed-up world.
Let's just say... we should at least try to maintain some semblance of humanity.
She gently touched Xiaotao's forehead.
The fever has subsided.
The sound of a gong signaling the departure of the procession rang out.
She pushed the heavy cart, carrying that small burden, and once again merged into the billowing dust of the famine refugees.
The wheels creaked as they rolled over the dry earth, leaving behind the cries of Wengjia Village and the turmoil in their hearts, all in the dust.
The road ahead is long, but at least she is no longer a lost soul...
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