A dozen or so mud-brick houses stood crookedly in the deathly silence, their windows and doorways becoming huge, dark gaps, like empty eye sockets with their eyeballs gouged out.
The walls still bear traces of smoke and fire. The original doors, windows, and fences have long since disappeared without a trace. Not even a decent piece of wood can be found, leaving only bare, naked yellow earth.
The entire village was so clean it was unsettling.
"What...what's going on?" Li Laosan stood there, stunned, his voice trembling.
Village Chief Chen's face was grim. He strode quickly to the nearest house and peered inside.
Empty.
There were no tables, chairs, beds, or cabinets; broken tiles were piled on the floor; and the roof had several large holes, letting in direct sunlight that illuminated the floating dust.
“They fled…” the village chief murmured. “They fled the famine too.”
"Where's the door? Where are the windows? Not even a single piece of firewood is left!" Li Laosan cursed gruffly. "Not a fart was left!"
"Water! Quickly, find a well!"
The village chief's words instantly awakened the villagers who were overwhelmed by despair. The crowd stirred again, instinctively scattering towards the location where the well should be in their memories.
Several men rushed towards the village well, with Li Laosan running the fastest, peering down into the well—
The bottom of the dry well was completely devoid of moisture.
"No water!" he roared in despair, his voice echoing through the well walls.
"The well is dry! Completely dry!"
The desperate screams, choked with sobs, tolled like a death knell.
The crowd erupted in chaos, fear and despair spreading instantly.
"River! I know there's a river over here, let's go check! There should be some water!" someone shouted again amidst the chaos.
The crowd surged wildly again, stumbling and rushing towards the river outside the village.
Jiang Chan, holding Xiao Tao's hand, did not immediately follow the chaotic torrent. She slowed her pace, her gaze like a cold, hard probe, scraping inch by inch over the empty houses, the messy courtyards, and the collapsed earthen stoves...
The first rule of survival in the apocalypse: Always search more than everyone else!
Xiao Tao tugged at her sleeve, "Sister Jiang, aren't we going?"
Jiang Chan took off the water pouch and handed it to her, "No need for now, drink it."
The child's eyes widened, and he obediently took a sip, whispering, "Sister Jiang, why is there still water?"
"Drink sparingly." Jiang Chan replied casually, but her gaze locked onto a slightly larger mud house. "You wait here, don't wander off."
Xiao Tao nodded and quietly sat down on a large rock.
Jiang Chan turned around and, like a silent shadow, quietly slipped into the nearest earthen house.
The house was empty and completely exposed. Several men and women from the village were giving it a cursory look, their faces filled with disappointment.
"Pah! They've dug out all the rat holes!" Jiang Fu cursed as he came out of another room, spitting out a mouthful of saliva.
Jiang Chan ignored them and continued her search. Relying on the intuition she had honed in the apocalypse, she passed through several equally empty and despairing houses, finally stopping in front of a relatively "impressive" courtyard at the back of the village.
In terms of grandeur, it was nothing more than slightly higher earthen walls, a slightly larger courtyard, and three main rooms, but now, it is just an empty shell.
She walked in, her gaze sharp as a hawk's, sweeping across the dusty, muddy ground before settling on a thick, messy pile of straw in the corner.
The area covered by straw was unusually large.
The color of the loose soil at the edges also seemed to be slightly different from the rest of the area—it had an unnatural feel to it, as if it had been turned over and then hastily covered up.
She walked over, stretched out her hand, and gently ran her fingertips across the muddy ground at the edge of the straw. Suddenly, she felt a tiny, almost imperceptible indentation. With a thought, a short-handled steel crowbar instantly appeared in her hand.
She quickly parted the straw, and the sharp tip of the crowbar precisely inserted into the almost invisible crack in the mud. She took a deep breath, and her whole body suddenly burst with strength, her arm muscles bulging.
"Creak—!"
With a sickening scraping sound, she pried open a crack in a wooden plank that was disguised by being covered in mud!
A strong, musty smell, mixed with dust, suddenly burst out from the crack.
cellar!
She quickly sidestepped to the side, and only approached the cave entrance again after the stale, foul air had dissipated slightly.
It was pitch black inside.
She pulled a small, powerful flashlight from her storage space, its bright beam piercing the darkness as she quickly scanned the area.
The cellar was small, about a dozen square meters. In one corner were several burlap sacks that had been gnawed by rats and were riddled with holes. Some dark things were leaking out of the holes.
Besides that, the most conspicuous thing is the cart covered in thick dust in the center of the cellar!
The wooden structure is robust and sturdy, and the two wheels are still intact. Although the spokes are covered with mortar, they do not appear to be badly damaged.
Next to the cart, there were several earthenware pots of different sizes, a chipped iron pot, and a few rough pottery bowls and plates scattered around.
Without the slightest hesitation, the beam of her powerful flashlight precisely locked onto the earthenware pots, iron pans, and bowls. She went down, reached out and touched them, and as if by magic, the scattered utensils vanished without a trace.
Only faint traces of their existence remained in the same spot; the entire process was silent and incredibly fast.
Turning her gaze to the cart, Xiao Tao's frail figure flashed through her mind...
Xiao Tao sat obediently on the rock, looking around with a look of desolation on her face. This place was even more dilapidated than her home.
A series of crackling sounds came from the millstone. She turned her head abruptly, her eyes lighting up instantly. "Sister Jiang, you actually found the cart?!"
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