Han Mingxiang and Zhang Shulan, who were on Li Lanzhen's mind, were lying on a beach, soaking wet.
Although the two of them were unconscious, they were still tightly holding onto the withered tree.
Han Mingxiang was awakened by a sharp pain. When she opened her eyes, she saw someone trying to snatch the big tree she was holding.
He hurriedly searched for Han Shulan, who was with him.
This discovery was alarming. They saw a group of people pulling Han Shulan's body towards the reeds deep in the sandbar.
Han Shulan remained silent, her entire body limp.
Han Mingxiang pretended to be unconscious, took out the small dagger that Li Lanzhen had given her from her bosom, and stabbed it into the body of the man next to her who was moving the withered tree beneath him.
Blood splattered all over his clothes and face. He wiped it off and quickly chased after Han Shulan.
Those people were one man and two women.
They were laughing and joking, saying they were going to have a big meal today.
Han Mingxiang rushed forward silently and immediately stabbed the man from behind with the knife in her hand. She also quickly slashed the arms of the two women who were holding Han Shulan's arm.
Those people shouted and released Han Shulan.
Han Mingxiang immediately pulled Han Shulan into her arms, then raised the knife and said to them, "Anyone who dares to step forward, I'll stab them to death!"
Several people were stunned into standing still by his fierce appearance.
Han Mingxiang looked at them and saw that although they were thin, their eyes were glowing red. He knew that they had eaten human flesh and could no longer be considered human.
He felt a wave of fear, wondering what would have happened to Han Shulan if he hadn't woken up at that time.
Thinking of this, he dragged Han Shulan and quickly retreated into the flood.
The men were stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening. They grabbed their sticks and chased after Hai Mingxiang, shouting, "You little bastard, you wanted to eat this woman first and then keep this guy for a few days before eating him, but you didn't expect him to hurt us. Catch him and throw him into a pot of boiling water to cook him first."
At this moment, Han Shulan also woke up with a start, "What happened to Brother Mingxing?"
"Shulan, get up and run! Someone's trying to catch us!"
Han Shulan immediately jumped out of Han Mingxiang's arms, grabbed his hand, and ran into the floodwaters together.
They ran to the dead tree, grabbed each other, and slid into the water.
A thin woman who had been chasing them jumped into the water like a fish and caught up with them in a few moments, grabbing Han Shulan's hair.
"You little bastard, you think you can run away? Once I've caught someone, no one can escape from my grasp. You think you can swim? When I was playing in the water, you were probably nowhere to be found."
Upon seeing this, Han Mingxiang tightly hugged the piece of wood with one hand and brandished the knife in his other hand, stabbing it at the woman.
Unfortunately, although the woman was thin, she was very agile and dodged the knife that Han Mingxiang swung back. Several times, she shielded Han Shulan in front of her, and Han Mingxiang almost stabbed Han Shulan.
This made Han Mingxiang hesitate, so he let the woman pull Han Shulan away with all her might.
They carried the log and slowly approached the beach they had just left.
Just then, a black head suddenly emerged from the seabed, holding a harpoon, and smashed it hard on the woman's head.
The woman instantly lost consciousness and released Han Shulan's hand.
Han Mingxiang didn't even have time to see what kind of person the black head that popped out looked like; she only saw the red bandage on the top of the head. She quickly led Han Shulan towards the center of the flood.
They only breathed a sigh of relief after they had clung to the piece of wood and paddled away from the beach.
Han Shulan choked on some water while fleeing and coughed incessantly. Han Shuxiang gently patted her back.
Han Shuxiang thought that drifting in the water all the time was not a good thing. She had to find a place to dock, at least to make a fire, dry her clothes, and eat something.
They were reluctant to eat the large loaves of bread that Li Lanzhen gave them. They would only eat a little when they were extremely hungry. When they were thirsty, they would tilt their heads back and drink rainwater, but they would never dare to drink floodwater.
That day, they left Hanjiacun Village. The floodwaters carried them rapidly down the mountain. Their bodies stumbled and fell, sometimes hitting the mountain walls, sometimes hitting the logs and branches that the floodwaters had swept down. Their bodies were covered in bruises.
They also saw many wild boars, pheasants, and rabbits floating in the water.
Drifting with the current, they reached the foot of the mountain and, as they passed through a village, shouted loudly for help from the people on both sides of the flood.
But those people were just frantically using sticks and other things to retrieve the carcasses of pheasants, rabbits, or wild boars from the floodwaters, and no one paid any attention to them.
Fortunately, as they passed through a mountain village that had been flooded, the dead tree got stuck on a roof.
The house was covered with tiles, so it was still relatively intact. After the dead tree got stuck on it, Han Mingxiang pulled the tree directly onto the roof.
The two of them rolled over and climbed onto the roof ridge, which had not yet been flooded.
Han Mingxiang looked around. This should have been a small village, but now it was mostly submerged and barely visible. In the distance, on a tall tree, there seemed to be three people waving and shouting something to them.
Han Mingxiang and Han Shulan were too exhausted to listen to or answer them, and they were also in dire straits themselves.
Only then did Han Mingxiang have time to open the bag that Li Lanzhen had given him.
Then they discovered two large flatbreads, shaped like steamed buns, inside a transparent bag that resembled oil paper but was even more transparent. There were also ten taels of silver, a small knife, two sets of clothes, and a lighter, which my mother said could be used to light firewood like a tinderbox.
He carefully put the items back inside, and since the bag was intact and hadn't gotten wet, he knew the transparent bag must be waterproof.
The two ate something, and Han Mingxiang wrapped the bag tightly around herself.
He climbed onto the roof ridge, hugged that dead tree, and took a nap.
The next day, he was awakened by shouts and the rushing sound of floodwaters.
Looking up, I saw a lot of furniture, trees, branches, and many people floating in the water. Some people were sitting on cabinets, while others were hugging trees. Many people were crying and shouting. Some people had put children in a large wooden shed and were pushing them forward.
Their place had already been completely submerged, and Li Ming figured the floodwaters must be getting bigger and bigger.
There was no village in front or shop behind, just a vast expanse of water. We still had to keep going, so we followed the crowd and drifted downstream with them.
Unexpectedly, the drifting boat followed the group of people, and when they passed a fork in the road, it swept them into the right fork, where there was a drop. They clung tightly to the logs and were carried downstream by the flood.
Then Han Mingxiang and Han Shulan were knocked unconscious by the drop in the floodwaters. Even after they lost consciousness, they clung tightly to the tree. Finally, the floodwaters carried them to the beach they had just been on.
Looking back now, Han Mingxiang realizes that the terrain where they are now is indeed much lower than the direction they came from.
"Brother Mingxiang, look, there are many boats ahead!" Han Shulan exclaimed in surprise.
Han Mingxiang craned his neck to look and saw that there were indeed many boats in front of him, and they were stretched out in a line across the waterway.
There were many people standing on the boat, and even more people were stopped on this side of the boat.
Han Mingxiang had a bad feeling; he guessed that these people were planning to rob him in the water.
"Shulan, loosen your hair a bit, these guys are probably robbing us."
Han Mingxiang thought of the bag Li Lanzhen had given him and was determined not to let these people search it. He was trying to figure out a way to get it.
Han Shulan said, "I have a way."
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