Many descendants

……

The village was stained with blood everywhere, as if it had just been robbed.

If Xiaomei were still alive, Su Yan could trace back the timeline here and see what happened.

Suddenly, she remembered the pack of jackals she had encountered when she first woke up; they were all covered in blood, and it wasn't their own blood.

Could it be that the attack on the village was carried out by a pack of jackals?

Su Yan continued walking forward, "Ah!" she suddenly cried out in pain, as a shard of broken porcelain had pierced the sole of her foot.

Bright red blood sizzled out...

Red!

Isn't she the Goddess of Creation? Her blood should be golden divine blood!

I suddenly remembered that when the egg was laid, the blood was also red.

Where did her divine power go? A bone-chilling cold swept through my entire body.

"Who is there?"

came a female voice.

Su Yan looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl dressed in coarse linen clothes.

She was blind, her eyes were a dull gray.

"Hello, my name is Su Yan. I'm passing through here in distress. May I ask where this place is?"

Hearing that Su Yan was also a woman, the other person lowered their guard a little. "I... my name is Zhou Hongmei. On the day I was born, the old red plum tree at the entrance of the village was full of flowers, so my father named me Hongmei."

"A very nice name."

"Our village is also called Hongmei Village."

Su Yan chatted with Hongmei for a while and learned roughly what had happened in Hongmei Village.

Just as she had guessed, wild animals had been attacking the village recently. Hongmei's parents and older brother had also suffered this calamity.

The villagers had all fled. Because Hongmei was blind, her uncle and aunt abandoned her as a burden.

On the journey of fleeing, even good people might not survive, let alone a blind person. Hongmei understood her uncle and aunt's actions; she stayed in the village, waiting for the wild animals to come and reunite her with her parents and elder brother.

Su Yan looked into her eyes. "Are your eyes natural or acquired?"

“I had a serious illness when I was seven years old and went blind.” Hongmei replied, “By the way, you should leave quickly, it’s very dangerous here.”

“It’s completely dark now. It’s not safe to walk at night. Besides, I’m hungry. Are you hungry?” Su Yan asked.

Upon hearing this, Hongmei's stomach growled, and her face turned bright red.

Su Yan smiled and said, "I see there's some food in the kitchen. Can you cook?"

“You can use anything I have at home, and I’ll help you start the fire,” Hongmei replied.

Su Yan nodded, "Okay."

Although she is blind, this is the courtyard where Hongmei grew up, and she knows the location of every item very well. She is especially skilled at starting fires; she must have helped with that often.

“I also have a second brother who joined the army seven years ago. If he were still here, my parents and eldest brother would probably be fine.” Hongmei’s eyes were fixed on the fire in the stove.

The firelight illuminated her dull eyes, giving them a sparkle.

Su Yan poured the mixed dough pieces into the vegetable soup pot.

"The deceased is gone, and the living must go on. You must accept this loss and live well. Your parents and eldest brother must feel the same way. By the way, where is your second brother serving in the army?"

"I only heard my eldest brother say that the army my second brother was in was called Zhenyuan Army, and his name was Zhou Xiaoshan."

"Alright, let's set off tomorrow to find Zhenyuan Army."

"Is it possible?" Hongmei's face lit up with hope.

"Of course I can. I have nowhere else to go anyway, I'll just live wherever I can." Su Yan laughed, but her gaze drifted to the egg baby tied to her back... She was just an ordinary beastman now, so she had to survive first.

Seeing a chicken coop in the yard, Su Yan went over to take a look.

There are four chickens inside, and there are eggs in the henhouse.

Su Yan's eyes lit up, and she opened the chicken coop and took the eggs.

There were six eggs in total. Considering that she had just given birth and Hongmei hadn't eaten for two days, she cracked all six eggs into the pot.

"There were four chickens in the coop, and eggs too. I took all the eggs out. It's especially important to eat well during times like this so you have the energy to run."

"Yeah, I thought they'd been killed by wild animals."

"We're lucky, hehe." Su Yan served Hongmei three eggs and some dumpling soup, then served herself a big bowl. "Let's eat!"

"Sister Su's cooking is really good!" Hongmei praised after taking a sip of soup.

"There's still some in the pot." Su Yan looked back at the egg baby strapped to her back, which seemed to have grown even bigger than when it was first born.

Could it be that it can develop and hatch on its own without the power of the Ancestral Dragon?

Considering the mouse-like markings on the eggshell, it's highly likely to be a baby mouse; it might actually be true.

Early the next day.

Su Yan changed into a set of old clothes and shoes left by Hongmei's mother. They were coarse linen clothes, but they were more covering than her maternity dress. The shoes were also big, so she wore them as slippers, which was better than going barefoot.

She bound the chickens' claws, put them in a basket, and took them with her. She then smeared her face with soot from the bottom of the stove, and finally, using a stick to lead Hongmei away from Hongmei Village.

We had no choice but to leave; at midnight, wolves were still roaming the village, howling in terror.

Su Yan seemed fine, turned over and went back to sleep.

Hongmei was terrified and trembled with fear, unable to sleep well all night.

……

After traversing mountains and valleys, Su Yan, carrying Hongmei, arrived at a small town.

Many people have fled here, but some elderly people living alone did not want to leave their homeland, so they stayed.

Su Yan exchanged the four laying hens she was carrying for some money and some dry food that could be stored along the way.

"No wonder Sister Su didn't kill those chickens." Hongmei heard that Su Yan had sold four hens for eight hundred copper coins.

Su Yan replied, "It would be a waste to kill them, and the money they get would be more useful. There's an inn ahead, but the doors and windows are dilapidated and nobody seems to care. I guess the owner and staff have run away. Let's go there and stay for a while. We can continue our journey tomorrow morning. I'll also ask the old folks here if anyone knows anything about Zhenyuan Army."

"Thank you, Sister Su. If it weren't for you, I might have been eaten by those wild beasts by now."

"We'll help each other out, no need to thank me."

Su Yan settled Hongmei in a guest room. The bed had neatly folded bedding and personal items, indicating that the people in the inn had indeed fled in a hurry without taking care of anything.

He left some food and drink for Hongmei, and told her to bolt the door and go to sleep after she finished eating. Good health was the most important thing during the escape; otherwise, getting sick would be a real problem.

Hongmei responded to each one.

Su Yan did not leave the inn immediately, but went to the inn's kitchen and found a lot of fruits, vegetables, rice, salt, oil and grains.

Some were put in a basket.

The rest were also hidden away, in case others were scavenging for supplies like her.

She wandered the streets of the small town carrying food, passing by a blacksmith's shop.

I saw an old man with a limp, pulling a bellows while forging iron.

Then they went inside.

"Hello boss, I'd like to ask you something, and I'd also like to exchange this food for a self-defense item." As she spoke, Su Yan took out two small bags of rice and flour, sweet potatoes, radishes, scallions and ginger, dried cured meat, salt, seasonings, four large pears, and a small jar of sesame oil from the basket.

The lame shopkeeper looked at the food, then at Su Yan's smeared face. "Just pick one from the ones hanging on the wall. What do you want to ask?"