After resting for a night, when people got up the next day, they found that there were many more locusts outside than the night before.
After finishing their meal, the group quickly set off without delay.
As Song Ning walked, he kept looking ahead, and sure enough, by noon, he could see a dark mass of people ahead.
Song Ning jumped out of the car and shouted, "Hide the grass you cut last night, there are locusts ahead."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly tightened the cloth covering the grass, fearing that locusts would crawl inside.
The further they went, the more locusts there were. The locusts were flying all over the sky, so Chu Ning quickly wrapped a headscarf around her head.
Although locusts devour crops and grasslands, they can also attack people.
When the people behind saw that Song Ning had covered himself up completely, they quickly put on their clothes and covered their heads, leaving only two holes in front of their eyes.
Many people on the road knelt down and kowtowed, chanting things like "May the Locust God protect us" and "May Heaven protect us."
Song Ning didn't believe any of that; she only believed that locusts couldn't withstand being burned.
Where they passed, there was no greenery left. Seeing that there was no food nearby, the locusts began to land on people, while some flew towards the road behind them.
What Song Ning couldn't stand was that some people, upon seeing locusts land on their bodies or vehicles, would pick them up and squeeze them, leaving their hands covered in the locusts' juice.
Song Ning: yue
They walked until dark, and the locusts along the way didn't seem to decrease, but if they continued, the livestock wouldn't be able to hold on.
There was no other way but for everyone to stop and spend the night.
Everyone gathered around a fire, and Song Ning took a torch, lit it, and wandered around. Locusts fell down wherever she went.
Upon seeing this, many people lit torches to burn the locusts.
Song Ning approached Village Chief Luo: "I still need to remind everyone that the locusts here should not be eaten casually; they might be poisonous."
After hearing Song Ning's words, Village Chief Luo quickly called over the patrolmen and notified each household.
When Village Chief Luo arrived, there were indeed several families gathered around the fire, roasting a lot of locusts, practically stuffing them into their mouths.
Upon hearing what Village Chief Luo said, they quickly threw it away.
"Everyone, don't eat this! You absolutely mustn't eat it!"
No one dared to eat them anymore, and they all took torches to burn the locusts.
For the first half of the night, Song Ning and the two village chiefs stayed up, still worried about the water issue.
If there's still no water ahead, then something really bad is going to happen.
She has plenty of water in her house and living space, but figuring out how to get it out is a problem.
With so many eyes watching, if she were to actually pull water out of thin air, people would probably think she's a monster.
"How about... we send someone out to find water tomorrow?" the village chief suggested.
"But we don't know where there's water. We don't want to get lost once we get out," Village Chief Luo sighed.
Going out to find water at this time is unrealistic, not to mention it's unsafe.
"Er Ya, what are your thoughts?"
"Let's go further ahead tomorrow and see what the situation is like."
Everyone still has water to drink, so they can last for another day or two. We'll see what happens after that.
Both of them nodded; there was no better solution at the moment.
The next morning, Song Ning could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the team had changed.
On the way, everyone spoke less and seemed listless and lacking energy.
If this continues, people will only become more and more desperate.
Some people are already regretting escaping.
If we had stayed in the village, we might have been able to avoid military service. Even if we had to hide in the mountains, it would have been better than what we are doing now.
These days, we live for who knows how long, and who knows when we might lose our lives...
There were still many locusts on the road, but far fewer than in the areas they had passed through yesterday.
Song Ning is much better now than when she first came out of Shanhe Town.
At first, her feet were blistered every day, but now, even if she doesn't rest all day, her feet are fine. She feels that her feet have developed calluses.
As usual, they fed the livestock hay along the way. Village Chief Luo came over and said, "Er Ya, use your treasure to check again. Is there anything ahead?"
Song Ning boarded the train at the station, looked around, but saw nothing. All he could see was a barren, yellow landscape, except for fewer locusts.
Village Chief Luo sighed: "Some people are already running out of water, and the livestock have nothing to drink either."
Seeing that it was getting late, Song Ning simply said, "Let's rest for a while. If we really can't get any water, we can borrow some from someone who has water."
After saying that, he took two water bags out of the car: "I still have some water here, give it to them first."
Village Chief Luo was moved: "Er Ya, you've done so much for everyone along the way. Now that water is scarce, you should keep it for yourself."
"It's alright, I'll think of something else. Just make sure the livestock don't go thirsty."
After much hesitation, Village Chief Luo finally accepted the water bag.
Before they even left, they heard the clattering of pots and pans from not far away, followed by cries and shouts.
The two were startled and quickly ran over.
One family's cow collapsed, and before they could unload the cargo from the cart, it was scattered all over the ground.
The water that was placed in the car was poured onto the ground, and it seeped in shortly afterward.
The family didn't even have time to watch the cows; they rushed to salvage the buckets and basins that had fallen to the ground.
Seeing that the water was almost gone, the woman threw the things on the ground, collapsed there, and cried.
"What a tragedy, what a tragedy..."
Only then did the man pay attention to the cow, but it was already dead when it collapsed.
To make matters worse, when Song Ning and the others arrived, they found the cow dead, their belongings scattered, and the water gone. The family was huddled together, crying.
Village Chief Luo quickly went over and had someone help lift the car up.
The whole family cried their hearts out, but what could they do?
"Fourth brother, stop crying, let's pack our things first."
Many of them didn't own livestock, so the men in their families pushed the carts all the way.
But so what? We still made it through.
Everyone helped clean up the mess. Even though the cow died, there was a benefit to it: they could eat beef.
Back in the village, we never saw anything like this. All I ever knew was what a cow looked like.
The family turned their grief into strength; since they were already dead, they decided to eat beef.
A group of people took out their weapons and prepared to slaughter the cow for meat.
But Song Ning stopped her.
"This cow is not edible," Song Ning said seriously.
"Why?" Village Chief Luo asked.
How did the cow die?
The family shook their heads, wondering why he had suddenly collapsed. He had been perfectly fine just moments before.
"In this kind of weather, coupled with these dead mosquitoes on the road, they probably died of disease."
What? People are now too scared to move.
Some diseases are most easily transmitted to animals, so the consequences of eating them are obvious.
Now, the family whose cow had died cried even louder, not only because the cow was dead, but also because they couldn't even get beef to eat.
"What should we do with the cow?" Village Chief Luo asked.
"Let's dig a hole and bury it, make sure it's buried tightly."
Gao Tiedan and his group quickly carried the cow to a distance and then began digging a pit.
Song Ning hadn't thought of this before; livestock can die if they get sick. This cow today reminded her of that.
Once there's a first one, there will be a second, a third, and if this continues, all the livestock will die out.
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