The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

The sun was shining brightly. Lu Qingqing wiped the sweat from her forehead, but her eyes were fixed cautiously on the refugees on the road ahead.

After being nearly robbed five days ago, they had not stopped to rest since then, only occasionally finding deserted paths to change horses.

After such a long time, there was no water source on the road, and most of the refugees were running out of water.

As they moved forward, more and more refugees on the road stared at their carriage, and their greedy eyes made people feel uneasy.

Yesterday we encountered refugees chasing a carriage. Fortunately, there were not many refugees at that time and there was no obstacle ahead, so we relied on the speed of the carriage to run out.

At this moment, Qin Lang was catching up on his sleep in the carriage. He had traveled all night last night.

At this time, a refugee sitting under a big tree on the roadside in front of the right saw the horse and swallowed unconsciously when he thought of the horse's blood.

Unfortunately, long-term dehydration has resulted in very little saliva in my mouth, and the act of swallowing pulls on my dry and painful throat, making it even more uncomfortable.

The refugee suddenly stood up and ran towards Lu Qingqing, holding up the cloth bag and shouting:

"Little girl, I have food. Can I exchange some water with you? Just a little will do!"

Lu Qingqing was startled by the man's hoarse voice, and when she saw him running towards her, she became alert instantly.

Seeing the refugees rushing around looking at this side with greed in their eyes, alarm bells rang in his heart.

She jerked the reins, and the horse ran faster in pain.

"I don't have any water to exchange with you, so stop chasing me!"

The man did not give up and chased after the carriage, taking things out of the bag as he ran, muttering:

"You still have horses, so there must be water. I'm dying of thirst. Please save my life! I'll trade you some food."

The corner of the cloth bag that was exposed was black and looked like roasted meat.

The man pulled it out suddenly, the distance was too close, Lu Qingqing was startled, it was an arm with fingers.

Qin Lang was also awakened by the noise. He quickly came out of the carriage, holding a long knife and on guard.

Lu Qingqing raised the whip and whipped the horse's butt hard again. The horse's speed became faster and faster, gradually leaving the man behind.

The man saw the carriage go away and shouted unwillingly:

"There's water on that carriage. If we stop it, we can survive!"

When the refugees on the road nearby heard that there was water, many of them were excited and turned to look over.

Among the refugee group ahead, there was a man with chapped lips who turned around and looked at Lu Qingqing's carriage.

His eyes were fixed on the running horse, as if he had drunk the horse's blood.

He quickly pulled the cart to block the road and shouted to the people on the side:

"Quick, stop her over there, don't let her get through. The horse blood and horse meat will keep us alive!"

When several families with carts nearby heard this, they dragged their carts to block the road, and some refugees tried to drag large branches from the side of the road to block the way.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Qingqing took out a few water bags from behind and threw them towards the group of people, shouting:

"There's still water in these water bags. Whoever grabs it gets it!"

When the group of people saw several water bags thrown at them, they subconsciously let go of the cart and rushed over to grab the water bags.

Qin Lang took the opportunity to drive his carriage past the side.

Lu Qingqing turned around and saw that the refugees in that area were all fighting over the water bags. No one was chasing them, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

After running away for a while, Lu Qingqing found a deserted road and turned into it, then put the carriage into the space.

They had to walk the rest of the way.

The further they went, the more refugees who were short of water there were. The carriage moved through the refugee group like a child carrying gold through a busy city.

If they continued to drive the horse-drawn or ox-drawn cart, they would probably be robbed frequently. If they encountered a large group of refugees, they would also be in danger.

Seeing that there was no one around, Lu Qingqing took out the water bag and handed it to Qin Lang. She saw him gulp down a few big gulps.

She also took out her water bag and took a big sip of water. The cool well water made her head, which was a little dizzy from the heat, clearer.

I took a few more gulps before I felt a little better.

Thinking that it would be inconvenient to eat while they were in a hurry, Lu Qingqing took out a small bowl of meat buns and vegetarian buns and placed them on the big rock next to her.

Qin Lang is a typical meat lover, eating a meat bun in each hand with relish.

Lu Qingqing also sat next to them and took a meat bun and a vegetarian bun. The meat bun was made with pork and green onions, and it was so greasy that it oozes out when you take a bite.

At the end of the small bowl of buns, only two vegetarian buns were left. Both of them were rubbing their stomachs to digest the food.

Lu Qingqing took out mugwort from the space and lit it to smoke away the meat smell that might be on her clothes.

He took out two more tomatoes and asked each person to eat one to get rid of the meat taste in their mouths.

Lu Qingqing looked at Qin Lang and her own clothes. He was wearing a bamboo hat and his clothes were wrinkled.

These were similar to the other refugees, but their faces and necks were much cleaner than the others.

It was hot at the time, and there was no veil on the hat, so the face and neck were exposed, so I decisively smeared some dust on them.

They had been riding in the car these days and had taken off their leg wraps. Thinking that they would have to walk later, they started wrapping their legs again.

Lu Qingqing thought about the other refugees and found two pieces of cloth to tie into two bundles, in which she simply put a few coarse grain cakes and a water bag.

Each of them carried a bag and found two sticks to use as crutches.

Thinking about the cannibalism he had encountered on the road before, he took out a hatchet and asked Qin Lang to carry it on his back.

Lu Qingqing looked at Qin Lang. Apart from being taller and stronger, he was almost the same as the other refugees on the road.

The two continued on their journey.

It was not yet noon, but the sun was already very hot. Not long after we started walking, we began to encounter refugees again.

This time, the two of them were only carrying a small bag on their backs, and did not attract the attention of other refugees.

They walked until dark, and Lu Qingqing's pace had obviously slowed down. During this period in the evening, she relied on Qin Lang to support her arm while walking.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Lu Qingqing thought about stopping to rest. It was the first time in all these years of fleeing famine that she had walked for a whole day.

Before, she would walk for a distance and then ride a bullock cart for a while. At that time, she felt pain in her waist and buttocks from the bumpy ride. Now she really wants to go back and slap herself in the face.

There were already refugees stopping to rest around, so Lu Qingqing found an open space on the side of the road and stopped.

I saw a team not far away making a fire to cook. The team was large and there were many people cooking.

Lu Qingqing was surprised to find that the team was the Gaoyuan County soldiers!

The team that Lu Tianming had been chasing for so long but failed to catch up with was unexpectedly met by Lu Qingqing.

At this moment, the soldiers in the team were baking pancakes, and the guards were absent-minded. After walking for so long, no refugees had ever dared to rob them.

The entire team consists of more than 300 soldiers, all holding a big knife. Unless they encounter barbarians, no refugees dare to attack them.

When the guards saw that their superior was not there, they gathered together to chat.

In the team, Brother Li and other soldiers were baking pancakes together.

The biscuit was dry and hard. It hurt my cheeks when I chewed it, and it choked my throat when I swallowed it.

But each person is allocated a limited amount of water, and it takes a long time to drink the water in this water bag.

The soldiers were choked so badly that they were willing to take a small sip.

Brother Li was chewing on a pancake. He smelled the aroma of rice and meat coming from the county magistrate's side and took a big gulp of water.

The other soldiers also looked up at the carriage and the surrounding guards from time to time, with unknown meanings flashing in their eyes.