Chapter 787 A Dream of Youth 319
"Thank you, young master."
Xie Ning did not deny it.
She wore men's clothing so that it would be easier for her to move around outside.
Looking at the children kneeling in front of the grave, Xie Ning pursed her lips. How were they going to live?
She had just checked the food supplies in the cellar, and there was only enough for them to eat for seven days at most. There wasn't even a single grain of rice left in the outside world, and now it was winter, and they were suffering from hunger and cold... They had survived the swords of the Northern Jin army, but they were struggling to endure the long winter.
"Sister, what's that? Is there a fire in the mountains?" The little boy blinked his big, innocent eyes, full of confusion.
“I remember Grandpa used to burn this kind of smoke.” Then they were hidden in the cellar, forbidden to speak or make a sound.
The younger children didn't understand, but the older ones' expressions changed. "That's the direction of Wenshui County."
The speaker was a boy slightly smaller than Mu Tou. He was the son of the village head and was quite familiar with some of the surrounding villages and towns, not to mention that he had even been to Wenshui County.
Wenshui County has city walls, but Xie Ning doesn't think those walls can stop the Northern Jin army below. She wants to go and see for herself.
"Although the village has been looted, it's hard to guarantee that other Northern Jin troops won't return. Take the food from the cellar and hide in the mountains. I remember there's a cave where hunters rest."
After saying that, Xie Ning took out a medicine packet from his bundle. "This medicine packet can repel some snakes, insects, and rodents. You can also gather some firewood. The terrain there is high, so as long as you keep the fire burning, no wild animals will come."
The terrain there was much steeper than the cave she had found the first time. The hunter climbed up using vines, so it was much safer.
With Snowball around, she could protect herself, but she couldn't protect so many children, especially some of them who were too young. So the best solution was to arrange a place to hide them.
Xie Ning looked at the older children and said, "Take care of each other and wait for me for five days. If I am not back by then, you should go out and find other ways to make a living."
They didn't know why Xie Ning wanted to help them, but they still nodded earnestly. They didn't have time to grieve because they had to live on as a spark.
Xie Ning climbed down the cave and couldn't help coughing for a long time. She knew that these children were not her responsibility, but now that she had seen them, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Before leaving, she had already asked the boy about the surrounding routes and villages, but Xie Ning did not go to Wenshui County, but to Songshi Wubao, the closest village to Wenshui County.
If the people in the fortified village are shrewd enough, they can exchange food for life, and she will have room to scheme. If the people in the fortified village are too tough, their fate will definitely not be good.
It takes about half a day to get from here to Wubao.
Meanwhile, amidst the billowing smoke, Magistrate Li, stationed in Wenshui County, stood with a grim expression. "Send someone to bring out the crossbows."
The ditch outside the county town was not wide. Although it would be difficult for the attacking soldiers to climb back up if they fell in, the enemy outnumbered them. When Magistrate Li saw the first group of attackers, his heart sank. They were not from the Northern Jin, but from the Great Zhou.
They were sent up as cannon fodder. He couldn't even imagine what would become of the unprotected villages around them. In the past few days, he had seen smoke signals rising in many places.
Without rescue, all that awaited them was slaughter. Ordinary people could not escape the iron hooves of the Northern Jin. They could only hope that those who had not yet suffered the disaster would be able to take refuge in the mountains in time after seeing the smoke signals.
Soon, the ditch was filled with corpses, and the remaining people simply stepped on the corpses to jump over them. Some even carried ladders over, but they were shot before they could run across the ladders. However, once the ladders were lowered, even more people were able to reach the city walls.
Magistrate Li's heart was pounding. He glanced at the number of people who had run to the city wall and immediately said, "Bring me boiling oil!"
Besides boiling oil, there were also boulders and logs, which were used when someone was climbing.
As the hot oil was poured down, torches and rockets followed, and cries of agony immediately filled the air.
Magistrate Li breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and turned around to discuss countermeasures with the county constable and others. They had already sent people to the prefectural capital and other counties to seek help, but they did not know the current situation in Bingzhou City.
As the sun began to set, Xie Ning applied some medicine to herself and then climbed onto Snowball's back, tugging at its soft ears. "Snowball, have you grown a bit bigger again?"
Logically speaking, Snowball is not young anymore, but compared to ordinary wolves, it seems to have exceptionally abundant energy and its size is still increasing, suggesting that it is in its growth period rather than the aging period that Xie Ning thought it was in.
"Awooo—"
Xie Ning sighed. She couldn't understand, so she stopped paying attention to Xueqiu's situation. Anyway, it was developing in a positive direction, and she should be happy.
She then recalled the wound she had just touched. Because it was on her back, the stitches were not done well, but unexpectedly, the wound healed very quickly.
Xie Ning didn't think this was the reason why the medicine worked for her; something else must have happened.
I can't help but think of her physique in the previous world. Her self-healing ability was unparalleled. Could it have affected her physique in this world as well?
Despite the biting cold wind, Xie Ning felt a slight warmth in his chest and seemed to have an epiphany.
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