Chapter 73
The golden crow was baking the earth with great heat. The dirt on the road was all scorched. Ling Xue licked her dry lips, gathered the rags on her body, and helped her mother walk forward. She was thin and small, so for the safety of herself and her mother, she could only dress as a man and did not dare to get too close to other disaster victims.
With a "bang", someone fell to the ground, and the people around him turned a deaf ear to it. I don't know how many such things happened along the way. Those who can survive until now are blessed by God and have a strong life.
"Mom, mother, wake up." A skinny boy cried heartbreakingly and pushed his collapsed mother with all his might.
The cloudy eyes of a man nearby lit up, and he looked at the boy with a gleam of light. He walked forward, grabbed the boy, and grinned.
Everyone knew that he was going to take the boy away by force, and sell him in a populated area for some money. If he couldn't sell him, he could just use him as food. They were used to this, having come all the way from Wei County.
The boy fought back desperately, but the man slapped him hard in the face. The skinny boy suddenly felt tinnitus in his ears and fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
The hungry people around were silent, and those with children held their hands tightly. Some people took advantage of the crowd's inattention and hurriedly left the place.
Ling Xue's eyes were filled with hatred, her fists were clenched tightly, and she wished she could eat the man's flesh alive. She had a younger sister, but she was separated from her family by refugees during their escape. When she tried to find her younger sister, she had disappeared. A kind-hearted person told her that he had seen a little girl being taken away and sold, and she was no longer alive or dead.
She was in so much pain that she wanted to die. Seeing the same scene again today, she just wanted to rush forward. Her hands were gently patted twice, and her mother's skinny face appeared in front of her, shaking her head at her.
The man looked thin, but he was tall and there was no way she could handle him. Ling Xue looked at the Gobi Desert in the distance. It was said that there were Gobi Deserts everywhere in some places in Dingyuan County. She wondered where they were now.
The man kicked the boy's calf with his foot, "Are you still alive?"
The boy's legs twitched a few times, and the man picked him up and said fiercely: "Come with me if you're still alive, or I'll beat you to death."
The boy had a wooden face and did not move. After being kicked again, he dragged his heavy steps forward. He heard a man cursing from behind. He looked back at his mother's body, his heart filled with grief and his eyes were empty.
Walking through the endless Gobi Desert, Ling Xue bent over and took out a small jar from her arms and quietly handed it to her mother. This was the only water she had left. The mother and daughter avoided the crowd and secretly drank a sip of water. Only a layer of water was left at the bottom of the jar, which Ling Xue still kept on her body cherishingly.
As night fell, Ling Xue supported her mother and continued to walk forward. She instinctively felt that they were almost reaching a place where there were people. It would be good if there were people around. Whether she had to beg or sell her body, at least she and her mother could survive.
A shrill cry came from the distance. It was the boy.
What followed was the vicious man's angry shout, "Try to cry again? Hurry up and leave."
Ling Xue settled her mother down, gritted her teeth, thought about her sister who had been sold, and took out an awl from the cloth on her body under the cover of night. This was the weapon that helped her escape from the hands of villains several times.
She saw the weak and easy to bully, so she would always take the opportunity to paralyze the enemy, and then strike the villain when he was careless. At first I was so scared that I was shaking all over, but after experiencing so much later I became numb.
The man over there was still punching and kicking the child. The boy let out a muffled groan. Ling Xue approached quietly and stabbed the man's neck fiercely when he was not paying attention.
The man screamed like a pig being slaughtered. Ling Xue took the opportunity to pull the boy up and ran forward. It was pitch black at night and she could only run forward desperately. Unexpectedly, with a "bang", the boy fell heavily to the ground.
Ling Xue ran back and helped him up. Before she could say a word, she immediately pulled her and continued to run, but was tripped and fell to the ground.
"Run, keep running, I've never seen any of the stuff in my hand run away," he pressed the wound on his neck with his hand and threw the awl in front of Ling Xue, "You little brat is quite capable, luckily I dodged quickly, but you still want to hurt me with this little thing, it's just right, I can sell you two together and make more money."
"But if you dare to hurt me, I'll teach you a lesson."
Ling Xue was thinking about how to escape, but was grabbed. She felt a sudden pain on her face. Before she could recover, she was kicked in the stomach. She fell to the ground, holding a stone she had just touched in her hand, waiting for Li Dayou to approach.
Unexpectedly, she waited a long time, and she rubbed her confused eyes and saw that the boy was holding Li Dayou's legs tightly, and kept saying to her, "Run, run."
Ling Xue struggled to stand up, picked up the hammer on the ground, and rushed towards him desperately. However, Li Dayou threw the boy to the ground, turned around and saw Ling Xue, twisted her hands behind her back, and punched her. Ling Xue looked in the direction of her mother and closed her eyes.
There was a noise, Ling Xue opened her eyes, and saw a sea of fire coming towards her very quickly.
"Who are you?" Lin Shuge asked.
He and County Magistrate Wu took turns patrolling tonight. A policeman came to report that there were traces of disaster victims in the suburbs of the county, so he brought people over to check.
"Help me," Ling Xue saw the official uniforms on everyone, pushed Li Dayou aside, knelt on the ground, and cried, "Sir, we are from Linhe County, Weijun. We fled here because of famine in our family. Unexpectedly, we met a villain who wanted to sell me and my brother. I heard him say that if he couldn't sell us, he wanted to use us as food."
When the officers heard this, they all glared at him, but Li Dayou said, "Sir, don't listen to his lies. I am his elder brother, and I was entrusted by his parents to bring him here. I didn't expect that he would want to steal my things to exchange for money. I couldn't help but teach him a lesson. As for that kid, I was kind-hearted. I saw his mother starved to death and picked him up to give him a chance to live."
Ling Xue had tears in her eyes, "Sir, he is lying..."
Li Dayou interrupted her loudly, "Sir, this kid is so shameless and even hurt people. There are marks on my neck from his murder weapon."
Several officers stepped forward to check and saw a wound on his neck. They all looked at Lin Shuge.
At this time, the boy who had just been kicked to the ground groaned, and an officer went to check, "Sir, this child is injured, it seems that he was beaten and kicked."
For fear of contracting infectious diseases from the victims, Lin Shuge and others covered their faces with scarves and wore gloves.
Lin Shuge sneered, and the officers stepped forward to capture Li Dayou.
"My lord, it's unfair."
The officer said sternly, "You dare to cry out for injustice when you are about to die."
Lin Shuge had the boy carried away to find a doctor. He looked at Ling Xue and said, "There is a porridge stall outside the city. You can go there and stay there for the time being. I will have someone take your brother to get treatment. You can come find me tomorrow."
Lin Shuge threw another bag at her, "There are medicines in it that can treat external injuries."
Ling Xue bowed to him, "Thank you, sir."
She watched the fire gradually fade away and opened the bag. In addition to the medicine, there were also a few bread cakes and a bag of water.
Ling Xue carefully put the things away and ran back with them. She had placed her mother far away and she didn't know what happened to her.
The next day, Ling Xue helped her mother walk to the place the adult mentioned. It was too late last night and she was afraid of encountering danger again if she went out. Anyway, there was food and drink, so she could go there at dawn.
It was too dark last night and I couldn’t see anything clearly. Today, after walking for a long time, I finally saw a towering city gate in the distance with the words "Ganzhou County" written on it.
It turned out that we had arrived in Ganzhou.
Judging from the appearance of that adult last night, she and her mother should not be driven away, so she followed the direction pointed by Lin Shuge and came to the place where porridge was distributed.
Unlike what she had imagined, with people crying and shouting and fighting over a piece of bread, everything before her was in perfect order.
The victims lined up in a long queue waiting for porridge. After receiving their porridge, they sat in the shacks nearby to drink.
She looked at the ferocious-looking officers beside her and the long swords flashing coldly in their hands, and she understood what was going on.
"Axue, let's go line up."
"good."
Ling Xue looked around, but didn't see the adult from last night.
She walked forward with the team, and soon it was her and her mother's turn. The servant who was distributing porridge had a fierce look on his face. He glanced at her and scooped two bowls of millet porridge for her. The millet porridge was thick and she thought it was just watery, but she didn't expect to give them such good food. Ling Xue bowed to thank him, and walked towards the shack with her mother carrying the porridge.
There were a lot of people gathered at the shack, but there were many guards guarding it. When they saw her coming, an official waved her over, asked her name and hometown, and then asked the guards to take her to an empty shack.
"You and your mother will live here for the time being. Once this period is over, the county will recruit workers and you can go and try to see if you can be selected." The officer spoke only after seeing that she behaved politely and was still protecting her mother.
"Thank you, sir."
The officer waved his hand at him.
"Wait a minute, sir. An elder saved my brother last night. He asked me to look for him here today. I wonder when he will come here?" Ling Xue helped her mother sit down and asked carefully.
"Last night? You are talking about County Magistrate Lin. The County Magistrate arranged for a doctor to prepare medicine this morning and he will come over at noon." The officer replied.
Ling Xue nodded, "Thank you, sir."
After the officer left, she carefully took out the remaining half of the bread from her bosom and said, "Mother, eat quickly."
Mother took the bread and tore it into two pieces. "Axue, you eat too."
Ling Xue nodded, and shared half a piece of bread with her mother with the porridge. The hungry people nearby saw their actions and had greed in their eyes, but they did not move because they were concerned about the officers around them.
The long-lost aroma of food brought a warm feeling to her stomach. Ling Xue held the remaining porridge in her hands, and a warm feeling welled up in her eyes.
Watching her mother wolfing down the food, Ling Xue pondered over what the officer had just said. It seemed that she had to dress up as a man first, so that she could at least earn some money to help her and her mother settle down.
"Mom, take a rest after eating. I'll watch over it first." Although the shack was simple, it was covered with wheat straw. Fortunately, it was summer now, so no one would freeze to death.
Ling Xue thought back to the people she met along the way, and sighed in her heart that there were many good people in Ganzhou County, but she did not dare to be careless. The mother and daughter prepared to take turns to rest and see if the adult would come at noon.
The mother held on and finally found a safe place. After a while, she fell asleep. Ling Xue straightened her mother's messy hair and sat quietly.
Suddenly, the sound of horses neighing was heard from the city. The city gate opened and then quickly closed. Ling Xue looked over there and saw a young man in official uniform and a turban. Someone went over to pay his respects. He gave a few instructions and looked very gentle.
It’s him, Ling Xue thought.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
