Chapter 19: Escape from the Troubled Times 17
It will take five days to reach Xiangzhou.
At this time, Lin Xia was not happy at all because she discovered something horrible: there were more and more victims vomiting and suffering from diarrhea on the roadside.
At first she thought that it was just caused by others eating unclean things, which was understandable in a famine year.
But it is normal only when it happens as an individual case. It is extremely abnormal if a large number of people get sick and die of shock.
It's an absolute plague!
Keeping company with corpses, dancing with death.
This feeling is terrible.
Lin Xia wore a homemade mask tightly, stayed away from the crowd, and tried not to contact anyone as much as possible.
Under such conditions, she couldn't even wash her hands or pay attention to hygiene.
Lin Xia felt a sense of despair.
Think about how they dealt with plague in ancient times. First they would seal off the city and try to cure the disease. When they found it couldn't be cured, they would let people lie down and die. Or, even more ruthless people would just massacre the whole city.
Thinking about her is even worse.
Along the way, there were so many victims that she could not avoid them, so she could only bite the bullet and rush to Xiangzhou, hoping that God would bless her again.
These past few days, Lin Xia has been extremely careful and tried to avoid large numbers of refugees whenever possible.
It seemed that they were only half a day away from reaching the border between the two states, but at this moment, a strong wind blew up, dark clouds gathered, and a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
Then there was a loud thunder, shocking everyone.
A violent storm swept in, the sky instantly fell into darkness, heavy rain poured down, and bean-sized raindrops hit the face, as if announcing the arrival of a storm.
People cheered and jumped up and down in excitement like gorillas.
Lin Xia couldn't be happy. She wondered what the heavy rain and the plague would bring.
Anyone can guess that the plague will spread the germs in all directions through rain.
Lin Xia hurriedly took out the oilcloth, cut a piece of it the same length as her body, and tied it to her chest with a rope to keep out the rain.
The most urgent thing now is to get away from this place.
It’s only half a day away to Xiangzhou. Maybe there is no plague in Xiangzhou?
Moreover, there is the Liuling Mountains next to the checkpoint. If it really doesn't work, you can go into the mountains and hide for a while, and then come out safely.
Plans are not as good as changes.
Lin Xia had only been walking for two hours when the rain not only did not get lighter, but it got heavier and heavier. The bean-sized raindrops hit her body and it hurt.
She couldn't cover herself at all and her whole body was soaked, but luckily there was a small space for her to keep the food.
It seemed like God wanted to make up for the lack of rain in the past six months. It was as if there was a big hole in the sky, and water kept pouring in.
The previously dry and cracked land seemed to have absorbed enough water, and the accumulated water gradually flooded over the ankles and onto the calves.
Three hours later.
Lin Xia was half swimming in the muddy yellow water, moving slowly.
The resistance in the water is huge, and you have to avoid all kinds of debris to avoid getting hurt. You also have to pay attention to the floating corpses that appear and disappear out of nowhere to avoid a kiss with them.
At this moment, she felt that the Dragon King might really exist in the world. He neglected his duties and forgot to work in the first half of the year. Once he remembered, he hurried to make amends and returned all the rain water to the earth.
She may also be a great person, who came to the world to experience hardships. If God wants to give a person a great responsibility, he must first make him suffer...
Lin Xia thought bitterly while trying to move forward.
She could already see the big mountain ahead. She would be able to reach the shore soon. She just needed to hold on a little longer.
If she doesn't arrive soon, she will drown in the rain. She doesn't have the skill of swimming, so she must learn it when she has the chance!
Climbing up the gentle slope, I saw densely packed little people walking towards the mountains.
Lin Xia's heart skipped a beat.
There is a natural thoroughfare ahead, and a city stands halfway up the mountain. This is the border crossing to Xiangzhou.
There are steep cliffs on both sides of the city. On the left is the winding "Great Wall" that seems to have no end, and on the right is the vast Liuling Mountains.
Those who can enter Xiangzhou from nearby places can either go directly into the city, or seek a breakthrough along the edge of the mountains, or go around the "Wanli" city wall.
Lin Xia remembered that Village Chief Wu had once explained that a long time ago, the southernmost part of Dajing was another country, so they built fortifications connecting the mountains and built defensive cities on major transportation routes. Later, when the ancestors conquered the territory, they also used these military defenses, but they had not been used over the years.
Now, the Great Wall has become a weapon to block people from passing through. Once the city gates are closed, everything is ignored and no one is loved.
The naturally defensive and difficult-to-attack geographical location does not pose any risk of being breached by refugees.
Lin Xia ran to the city gate to inquire for news without giving up, and then left with a frustrated look on her face.
She received accurate information from the city guards - no one was allowed to pass through and the gate would not be opened for the next month.
The rain continued to pour.
Lin Xia was worried that the mountain would be flooded and she would be infected if she stayed under the city gate, so she decided to go into the mountains like everyone else, away from the crowd, away from the flood, and away from the germs.
In fact, the Great Wall is also on the mountains, but those mountains are bare, with little vegetation and few trees. If you go up there, you will probably be swept away by a mudslide.
When it thunders, you cannot hide under a tree as you may be struck by lightning. It is best to find a cave.
Lin Xia's mind was full of thoughts, but she didn't stop. She walked into the mountain, one step deep and one step shallow, through the mud.
When she actually entered the mountain, she realized that she had thought too simply.
I also wanted to break through to Xiangzhou along the mountain wall, but it was all steep cliffs, so I had to take a detour.
Without the guidance of the sun, Lin Xia didn't realize that she had gone in the wrong direction and was going deeper and deeper.
After barely finding a flat area to set up the tent, Lin Xia took a short rest there.
Fortunately, the backpack was wrapped in oilcloth, so it was not wet and I could change my clothes.
Taking advantage of the darkness and the absence of anyone around, she took off all her clothes except her underwear, took a shower in the rain, and then went into the tent to change into her dry but dirty clothes.
Lin Xia huddled in the small tent and put on a modified raincoat.
Try to restore the modern hooded raincoat as much as possible and sew up the places that are prone to leaks.
Then put on your raincoat and start washing all the wet clothes on a rainy day.
These items have been soaked in the corpse water at the foot of the mountain and are very unsafe, so they all need to be cleaned thoroughly.
After finishing everything, Lin Xia remembered that she should take some medicine to prevent a cold.
She had medicine, which she had bought in Lucheng but had never used. Unfortunately, there was no place to fry the medicine bag, so she could only chew two slices of ginger as a comfort.
Staying where you are is not a long-term solution after all. Seeing that the rain has subsided a little, Lin Xia set off again.
The roads are slippery on rainy days, so you need to always pay attention to whether the mountain is prone to landslides, or whether there will be sudden floods in the mountain streams that will wash her away.
Occasionally there were thunderclaps along the way, and the journey was truly too difficult.
I walked and stopped, and it took me two days to search.
Lin Xia regretted only putting boiled water in the room. Now she urgently needed hot water to warm herself.
After a heavy rain, the temperature suddenly changed from midsummer to early autumn, and the cold rain hitting the face brought a chill.
After searching for two days, Lin Xia finally found a cave with a huge opening.
It is called a cave, but in fact it is just a concave cliff that cannot block the wind but can keep out the rain.
The most exciting thing is that there are a lot of dead branches, leaves and rotten wood inside, which means that Lin Xia can make a fire to keep warm.
Enter the cave and check around first.
After making sure there were no dangerous animals, I started a fire to boil water and dry clothes, and went out to drag some wet firewood back and put it aside to dry.
After an hour of busy work, I finally had some hot water to drink and put on dry clothes.
Lin Xia suddenly relaxed and fell ill.
She boiled the Chinese herbal medicine she bought for colds and felt groggy for three or four days before she gradually felt better.
During this period, Lin Xia was afraid that he would be infected with the plague and die in the mountains without anyone knowing.
The heavy rain lasted for seven days and seven nights before it gradually stopped.
That morning, the sunlight shone through the leaves onto Lin Xia's face, and Lin Xia opened her hazy eyes with trembling eyelashes.
Ah, the sun is out, let’s start practicing right away!
The forest after the rain is shrouded in mist, the air is filled with the fragrance of soil, crystal water droplets are dancing on the green leaves, the sun shines through the gaps between the leaves and sprinkles on the earth, everything seems to be rejuvenated, and the little man sitting cross-legged on the stone opens his tightly closed eyes.
"The air is so fresh and everything is so beautiful!" Lin Xia jumped off the stone, twisted his waist, swung his arms, and exclaimed in a simple way.
The heaviness of many days was taken away by the sunshine, and all the illnesses in the body were gone. Today was the day when Lin Xia was fully revived!
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