In the thirty-eighth year of Nanwu, there was a three-year famine, and there was no harvest at all.
The people were starving and would eat anything to survive. When there was absolutely nothing left to eat, many people even resorted to cannibalism and exchanging children to eat each other.
The fields were withered and yellow, the trees on the mountain had been stripped of their bark, and some people's eyes were green with hunger, their gazes filled with scrutiny.
In a dilapidated courtyard in Hutouya Village, Wuling Town, Han Luoxue's eyes were closed. A little girl about her age was carefully wiping her face with a cloth of indistinct color, removing the dust and revealing a fair and delicate face.
The girl froze for a moment, then her face suddenly turned vicious. She threw the cloth aside angrily, twisted Han Luoxue's waist and arms several times, and muttered curses under her breath:
"You really are a little slut, just like your mother, a vixen who knows how to seduce men. Even though it's been windy and rainy, why is your face still so pale?"
The girl tried to twist her hand a few more times, but with a "smack," a hand landed on the little girl's messy blond head.
"You brat, who told you to twist her? What if she gets injured and we can't sell her for a good price?"
An elderly woman with bound feet rushed in, slapped the little girl on the head without hesitation, and then roughly pulled up Han Luoxue's tattered clothes. Seeing the obvious pinch marks on her fair and delicate skin, she slapped the little girl twice more.
"You little money-loser, look at this, how are you going to get a good price for it?"
"If they don't pay you later, you won't get any food for the next two days."
Han Luoxue's head throbbed with pain, and the chattering sounds around her were driving her crazy. A flood of unfamiliar memories washed over her, and the girl's short life flashed before her eyes like a fleeting glimpse.
The girl shared the same name as her and was the eldest daughter of the third son of the Han family.
Grandma Han has four sons and two daughters, and the family hasn't separated yet. They also went hungry during the three-year famine. Earlier this year, her four sons encountered wolves while hunting, and her father fell and became paralyzed. Her youngest sister was bitten by a snake while catching fish in the river and nearly drowned; after being rescued, she became lame. Her youngest brother is less than six months old and has no milk; their mother feeds him by biting her finger until it bleeds. Now, their mother faints frequently, and their family is a burden on the Han family. Their grandmother constantly beats and scolds their parents, except for her.
It wasn't because her grandmother loved her so much, but because she was afraid that no one would want her because of her injuries.
Last night, the original owner overheard her grandmother and aunt discussing selling her. When she tried to escape, they knocked her unconscious, and the back of her head still hurts.
The scene continues, and the original owner of this body is targeted by Liu the butcher, who tortured four or five women to death at the market. He trades her for eighty catties of coarse grain and two catties of pork. She is tortured for three years before dying. Based on the principle of making use of waste, Liu the butcher cuts her up and sells her as pork.
In the second month after she was sold, her second sister was also sold and eaten. When her father heard the news, he was so angry that he went to confront her grandmother, but he was beaten to death by his three uncles. Her mother, whose body had long been exhausted, also fainted from anger.
Those beasts in the Han family actually went so far as to divide and eat both of them. The younger brother was too small, not even a year old, and Old Mrs. Han thought he was just a skeleton with no meat. So, that perverted fourth uncle covered the younger brother in mud and threw him into the fire. The next day, he dug him out and ate him. While eating, he said it tasted better than roast chicken.
The memory abruptly ended.
The Han family are utterly inhuman. And her current situation is that she's about to be dragged to the market by these beasts and sold to the perverted butcher Liu.
With her current frail physique, she absolutely couldn't win a head-on confrontation. She was certain that if she opened her eyes now, her beastly grandmother would immediately knock her unconscious.
Han Luoxue closed her eyes and pretended to be dead. The old woman hit her a few times and cursed for a while, then viciously pointed at the little girl's nose and sneered:
“I’m going to find your fourth uncle! Han Juhua, you’re not allowed to hit her again! If she loses even a single hair, I’ll sell you.”
Han Juhua nodded hurriedly in fright. These days, who has spare money to buy a child?
Her mother said that the so-called "selling" was just to exchange for a child that was almost good enough. They couldn't bear to eat their own child, so they would exchange it for another one to kill and cook to fill their stomachs, and the rest of the family could live a few more days.
The Han family used to live a decent life. Han Laosan was a skilled hunter, and the family could eat meat from time to time. But later, Han Laosan became paralyzed, and the family's life got worse and worse. Now they haven't seen a trace of food for five or six days.
The old lady hurriedly went out, wanting Han Laosi to come and carry the person.
In the past, there were oxcarts to go to the market, but now, let alone oxen, people are being eaten, and you have to run on two legs to get anywhere.
Seeing her grandmother go out, Han Juhua also ran out. Her grandmother was sending someone to the market, where there must be delicious food. Even if she couldn't eat it, she could at least smell the aroma.
Hearing the footsteps fade into the distance, Han Luoxue opened her eyes and, after confirming that no one was in the room, hurriedly got up.
She had a terrible pain in the back of her head. She raised her hand to touch it, and it felt sticky with blood seeping out.
Those beasts really went too far.
She didn't have much time left, so she steadied herself, carefully ran to the door, and seeing that no one was in the yard, slipped into the backyard.
The backyard was where her family lived. Now, the three of them were just a burden to the Han family, and they had been moved from the main house to the cowshed behind the house.
The cattle pen was dark, without windows. Han Luoxue could barely see her father lying on the simple bed, and her mother biting her finger to feed her younger brother blood. Her thin, bony face was frighteningly pale.
Upon seeing Han Luoxue enter, her mother raised her eyelids slightly, then continued feeding her younger brother.
Father coughed a few times. It had been cloudy lately, and the air was stuffy, which made his cough worse.
"Xue'er, what brings you here?"
Father's voice was weak and feeble. Han Luoxue hadn't returned yesterday. He had asked Erya to inquire, and she said that the old lady had asked her to stay, and she had already gone to sleep.
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