Chapter 6: Escape from the Troubled Times 4
When I opened the cupboard, I found a complete bowl, two chipped bowls and a salt shaker.
Lin Xia immediately picked up the salt shaker and looked inside.
There is still a bottom left, but it is salt!
The corner of his mouth curled up on his serious face.
Apart from that, there were only a few pairs of blackened chopsticks, a wooden spoon and a half-broken ladle in the entire kitchen.
After checking the kitchen, Lin Xia returned to the room she had been in before, walked around the old man, and carefully searched every inch of the room.
Unexpectedly, she found a surprise, a rusty sickle, a magical weapon commonly known as the Tetanus Blade.
Lin Xia swung the sickle twice, it was very smooth and she felt extremely safe!
In addition to the weapons, there was also a thin jacket with many patches and no warmth at all, and an empty sack that was probably used to store food.
At least there should be a quilt at home.
Lin Xia reasonably speculated that the quilt, iron pot, and other valuable things were taken by the old man to exchange for food. There was water in the house, but no food. It seemed that the old man died of starvation rather than thirst.
She first put together all the useful things she wanted to take away, and then dealt with the remaining half tank of water. The bottom of the water was full of sedimented mud. Lin Xia scooped the clean water into the earthen jar bit by bit, and poured the remaining turbid water into the ladle and waited for it to settle again.
The jar was more than half full. Lin Xia was too thirsty before and didn't care whether the water was clean or not. Now she was worried that there were parasites in the water.
Decided to boil the water in the clay pot before drinking it.
Getting ready to light a fire.
Then I didn't know where to start with the firewood.
How do others make fire? It’s impossible to make fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together with bare hands, right?
I searched carefully around the stove, but there was no fire starter or anything like that.
Lin Xia searched the original owner's memory again and realized that flint was often used to make fire here.
After searching on the ground again, he finally found two white jade-like stones. He recalled the operation process and went to make a fire with confidence.
Half an hour later,
Lin Xia angrily threw the two stones in his hands to the ground.
Calm down and pick up the flint.
Another half hour.
She kicked the hay in front of her away with an expressionless face.
He took a few deep breaths, calmed himself down, resigned himself to his fate and continued to make a fire.
This time, half an hour later.
The tinder on the ground finally caught fire.
Lin Xia jumped up and down twice with joy.
At this time, it was not yet noon, and she was so hungry that she did not dare to eat the remaining food. She just broke off a thumb-sized piece and put it into her mouth, chewing it carefully.
This cake was even rougher than the previous one I had eaten. I almost couldn't swallow it, but I had no choice but to swallow it with gritted teeth. After eating it, I didn't forget to tighten my belt half a circle.
Lin Xia was crying inside.
No matter how poor people are nowadays, they will not even have food to eat. Life in ancient times was simply not a way for human beings. It was too hard to endure. She was almost starving to death, wuwuwuwu.
After being emo for a long time, the water was boiled. She wrapped her hands with clothes, picked up the two little ears next to her, and carefully placed the earthenware jar on the stove to cool down.
It took nearly two hours to make a fire and boil water. The muddy water in the ladle also settled down. The cleaner water on top was gently poured into another broken clay pot and placed on the fire to continue boiling.
There is less water, so it will boil after a while.
After doing all this, Lin Xia put out the fire.
Seeing that it was still early, Lin Xia decided to bury the old man and at least take over his inheritance.
After walking around the house, she saw that the back of the house was a good place for feng shui. It would be great to live there before and after death without having to move.
In fact, she didn't want to walk far. The weather was too hot and at least there was some shade behind the house.
Lin Xia took a sickle and dug in the soil. Fortunately, the soil was loose and the land was desertified. After a while, she dug out a shallow pit that could accommodate one person. She didn't have the strength to dig deeper, but just doing it for the sake of showing it was enough.
After digging the pit, Lin Xia went back to drag the old man out. It wasn’t very heavy, and it was within her acceptable range.
After working hard for a long time, I finally managed to cover the soil.
There is a shallow mound of earth and a dilapidated earth house behind it, giving the feeling of being out of a rural horror movie.
After Lin Xia buried the body, he was thinking.
Since there is water in the old man’s house, it means there must be a water source nearby.
I walked around the village twice more, but found no trace of any other water source except a dry old well and a dried-up stream.
Maybe it’s in the distant mountains, Lin Xia sighed.
She didn't have the energy to look for a water source that might not exist.
After doing some heavy physical work and walking around for a long time, sweat was dripping down my face, my eyes were dizzy, and my stomach started to growl again.
The broken clay pot only held a bowl of water. Lin Xia added some salt into it. It had an earthy, salty and bitter smell and was really hard to drink, but she finally drank it to her heart's content.
She poured some of the water in the clay pot into the bamboo tube. The bamboo tube looked small but was actually quite large. After one pour, half of the water in the clay pot was left in an instant.
The bamboo tube is long and has a small hole on the top, which is plugged tightly with a wooden stopper. There are also small ears about two centimeters high on it, with holes punched in them and a rope tied to make it easy to tie around the waist.
Put the bamboo tube filled with water on the stove, then Lin Xia selected two relatively complete bowls, placed them, the salt jar and the broken clay pot in a corner of the backpack, then put the two sets of clothes in between them, and then put the clay pot filled with water in the middle of the clothes and wrapped them up.
This earthenware jar has a lid, but the lid can’t prevent the water from spilling out, so you have to be extra careful.
It's another day of envying Wang Zhaozhao.
I really wish I had a space to store water.
Unlike her, who has no place to put the water.
Put away the bottles and cans, and finally put two pairs of cleaner chopsticks and a wooden spoon on the clothes.
After packing up, the sun is shining brightly, so Lin Xia plans to take a nap so that she won't be hungry and then get up in the afternoon to continue her journey.
He placed the bamboo tube of water that guaranteed his survival and the sickle that guaranteed his safety at his side, and lay down to sleep with his clothes on.
Three hours later.
Lin Xia got up. This time her nap was not of good quality and she woke up intermittently several times.
Instead of recovering after a rest, the body became sore and weak, and the calves were swollen and painful.
She remembered that her history teacher once said that when hiking for a long time, you can tie your legs up, just like the Red Army did during the Long March. The teacher even demonstrated how to do it. It wasn't long after this happened, but she still remembers the explanation.
Lin Xia first did three sets of stretching exercises on the ground, then found the clothes in the basket and cut two ten-centimeter-wide strips of cloth from the hem.
After wrapping the flat end of the cloth strip around the calf twice starting from the ankle, start turning it over after each circle to ensure it is flat against the leg and then continue to wrap it upwards to the bend of the leg to tie a knot to seal it. After trying several times, the legs are finally wrapped properly, not too tight to prevent walking, nor too loose to have any effect.
He packed all the things he needed to take, tied the bamboo tube around his waist, put on the backpack, held the stick in his left hand and the knife in his right hand, and walked south away from the sun.
The weather is still hot, but a little better than at noon.
When locusts passed through the area before, they ate most of the leaves and weeds, leaving a lot of dead grass.
Lin Xia tied her leggings outside her pants to avoid bugs getting in. But now she realized that she had not considered it fully and had not tied her sleeves. She stopped and used half of her belt as a rope to tie her cuffs.
Not long after walking, Lin Xia discovered that the main road people traveled on was unclear whether it was an official road, so he continued along this road.
After walking for a while, Lin Xia was no longer the only one there. Occasionally, he saw a few ragged refugees on the road. They had sunken cheeks and looked very miserable and poor. They were unarmed and seemed to have no killing power at all.
However, she was on high alert and would take a detour when she saw people. Even though they were in extremely bad condition, if you walked past them with your luggage and showed any signs of fatigue, they would seem to rush up and eat you up immediately.
An old lady saw her carrying a basket and holding a bowl and walked towards her quickly.
Other people on the road also stopped and looked at her.
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