She quietly poured Song Dahai a bowl of drink, but Liu Yuelan couldn't drink it, so she gave her an ice pack to cool her down.
Seeing her daughter take out these strange things again, Liu Yuelan couldn't help but ask, "Er Ya, where did you get these things? And what are those two cylinders you were holding this morning?"
They had never seen that thing before when they were at home.
Song Ning didn't want more people to see it, but she forgot about it in her haste.
"I bought it in the county town. I thought it was novel and well-made, so I spent money to buy one."
Once they heard that he was from the county town, the couple stopped asking questions.
There are many good things in the county town, and even more that they have never seen before.
The group moved slowly, without stopping since morning, without even stopping for lunch. It took them almost four hours before they finally saw the main road in the distance.
That road connects to the road they took the detour yesterday. Song Ning is standing on high ground, and the situation ahead is not good either.
But there's only one road ahead, so we can only keep going forward.
When the livestock stopped to graze, the two village chiefs looked worried. When asked why, they learned that the water they had brought was running low.
They had brought as much water as possible when they set off, but considering the weight and space it took up, they still reduced their load somewhat.
Along the way, in addition to food and supplies for people, water also needs to be provided for livestock. Nowadays, many families don't drink water much anymore; they save it for the mules and oxen pulling the carts.
They hadn't seen a single stream or pond along their journey.
Song Ning looked ahead; they were almost at the mountain they had seen last time.
If there's no water, we won't be able to hold out for long.
"Let's take a look when we get to the foot of the mountain ahead; maybe there's water up there."
The mountain looks lush and green, and the vegetation on it is growing well, so there's a high chance we can find water there.
The village chief shouted, and everyone continued walking forward. As soon as they reached the main road ahead, their expressions changed.
The road was littered with corpses, and several carts were parked by the roadside. The animals pulling the carts were dead, and the people in the carts were also dead.
It was clear that he had been dead for some time, and the corpse was emitting a foul odor. Song Ning quickly covered his mouth and nose.
There were many such incidents along the way, so Song Ning quickly shouted, "Everyone, cover your mouths and noses!"
Upon hearing Song Ning's shout, the two village chiefs quickly found cloths and wrapped them around their faces.
"If you have anything to cover your mouth and nose, cover it up now!" Village Chief Luo shouted.
Song Xiu'e quickly pressed the two children down and buried their heads in her clothes; the scene on the road was truly frightening.
The word was passed down from family to family, and people dared not disobey. Even when it was so hot they could hardly breathe, they would cover themselves up completely.
The vehicles were all intact, but there was nothing inside except for the corpses; the food had probably all been looted.
The group continued walking forward, and only those who followed behind saw what was happening ahead. Many of the women were so frightened that they didn't dare to look up.
Many people were envious of that car, thinking they could use it if they could remove the corpses from it.
Song Ning was speechless. He was really too clever. If he could use it, why didn't he take it from everyone he passed by?
Let it be passed down from family to family.
“These people have been dead for who knows how long, or if they have any diseases. You can’t touch anything of theirs.”
After what happened last night, everyone is much more obedient.
As they went along, no one had that wicked thought again.
As the weather gets hotter, people's clothes are already soaked with sweat, making them feel uncomfortable against their skin.
Some people couldn't stand the heat, so they rolled up their trouser legs, pulled their shirts up to their waists, and walked around shirtless.
Everyone thought it was improper, but more and more people were imitating it.
Luo Wenxin and Zhou Cheng were too embarrassed to take their clothes off because they had daughters-in-law at home, so they just endured it.
Li Xingwang didn't care about anything else, so he took off his shirt and tied it around his waist, earning several glares from his mother.
Er Ya is still ahead, what's she like?
But it was just too hot.
Song Ning was envious; she also wanted to wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
However, no other girl in the entire procession was dressed like that. The women in front, including Madam Yu and her eldest daughter-in-law, were completely covered up, not even their feet were showing.
Song Ning was truly impressed.
The corpses on the road didn't disappear until they reached the foot of the mountain, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When they saw Song Ning remove the cloth covering his face, they all pulled off the clothes that were covering their heads.
Song Ning jumped out of the car, said something to the village chief, and went up the mountain. Li Xingwang was worried and followed him up.
Following Song Ning's suggestion, the village chief told everyone to rest for a while.
Song Ning didn't climb very far. He took out his binoculars and looked ahead. His heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.
This mountain is probably the most humid place in the vicinity, and the last place where water might be.
Further on, it was mostly a barren, yellow landscape.
If they can't find water here, they'll have no chance of survival if they go any further.
Song Ning handed the binoculars to Li Xingwang: "Brother Xingwang, you have good eyesight, see what's in the distance?"
Li Xingwang looked into the distance and then gave Song Ning the same expression.
Although they hadn't seen any water sources along the way, at least there was grass for livestock to eat on the ground. Now, looking ahead, they couldn't see a single patch of green.
Luo Wenxin and Zhou Chenggang had just rested for a while and had a sip of water when Song Ning and Li Xingwang came down from the mountain with grim expressions.
The two quickly stood up and asked, "How is it?"
"We think we'll have to go up the mountain to find water."
Upon hearing this, the two knew that the situation was not good.
"It's getting late today, let's rest for a day tomorrow and then go up the mountain to find water."
They had planned to go up the mountain to spend the night, but with so many people and cars, it was really inconvenient to go up.
Fortunately, there weren't many people on the road today. They'll be more vigilant tonight, so they should be able to get through it.
However, Song Ning was still worried. She took out the knife she had bought earlier from her spatial storage and asked Village Chief Luo, "Are there any skilled young people in Dongyuan Village? It's not safe at night, so we still need to find a few people to patrol."
Village Chief Luo nodded quickly: "Yes, wait here, I'll go and call him for you right away."
Zhou Cheng looked at the knife in Song Ning's hand and asked in surprise, "Er Ya, where did you get this knife?"
"I bought it for self-defense."
Song Ning initially bought two knives, a short sword, and a dagger.
The short sword was left to Song Dahai, the dagger to Song Xiue, and the remaining two knives came in handy.
Village Chief Luo quickly brought the people over, four or five burly men.
"Who has the best skills?" Song Ning asked.
“He is Gao Tiedan. He used to go hunting in the mountains and learned martial arts,” said Village Chief Luo.
Upon hearing this, Song Ning looked at the group and said, "The village chief should have told you all about it. It's not safe at night. Besides those who are watching over the luggage, everyone needs to patrol and keep watch." He then handed a knife to Gao Tiedan.
"Brother Tiedan, take this knife. If you see anyone daring to approach us, don't say anything, just start slashing."
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