Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

The next day, Zhang Xixi got up early with two big dark circles under her eyes. Last night was truly indescribable!

Everyone packed their things and prepared to leave, but Zhang Xixi didn't move, staring blankly at the distant mountains and forests.

"Da Bao, Er Bao, what's wrong?"

"Mom, Little Gold hasn't come back yet, let's not wait for it!"

Zhang Xixi touched her nose and said that she seemed to have forgotten something last night.

"Da Bao, Er Bao, I'm so sorry! Mom sent Xiao Jin to the deep mountains and forests last night, I forgot to tell you!"

Da Bao and Er Bao's faces immediately fell. "Mom, isn't Xiao Jin coming back?"

"No, Xiao Jin will join us in a few days."

Erbao looked at Zhang Xixi suspiciously, wondering if her mother had chased away Xiaojinshui because she thought it drank too much!

"Mom, you're not lying to us, are you!"

"Why would your mother lie to you? Little Jin will really be back in a few days!" Zhang Xixi thought to herself, "Could it be that the original owner of this body often lied to the two babies, and I've become the scapegoat!"

"Okay!" Da Bao and Er Bao reluctantly believed them and happily carried the bamboo tubes forward.

"You two slow down!" Zhang Xixi slung her things over her shoulder and followed behind the two treasures.

The downhill path was easier to walk, and although the people of Zhoujia Village were carrying a lot of things, they all reached the foot of the mountain by noon. As they went down, the cliff became less deep, but it became wider and wider, and by the time they reached the foot of the mountain, they could no longer see the other side of the mountain.

Zhou Dashan and his group decided to rest at the foot of the mountain for a while, have lunch, and then make further plans.

Zhang Xixi took out the taro she had cooked that morning and gave it to the two children and Zhou Yujie. She also served it with dry pot rabbit. Mmm! Mom's cooking is so delicious.

After finishing her meal, Zhang Xixi yawned several times in a row, feeling so sleepy!

As the saying goes, "When you're well-fed and warm, you think about sleeping." Now, as long as no one wakes her, she can fall asleep immediately by leaning against a tree.

At Zhou Dashan's house, Da Wang whispered to Zhou Dashan, "Old man, there's only a little bit of salt left in the house!"

Zhou Dashan sighed. People can't live without salt; he had to go get some! "I'll go talk to the villagers and see what we can do!"

"Have you all finished eating? If you have, the heads of each household, come over here. We need to discuss something!"

"Brother, what's wrong?" Zhou Dahai asked.

Zhou Dashan looked around and saw that everyone had arrived. "Each household probably doesn't have much salt left. People can't live without salt. Let's discuss what to do."

"Chieftain, we are also troubled by this matter."

"Yes, we're out of salt at home!"

Zhang Xixi has plenty of salt, but Zhang Dacheng's family definitely does; they'll have to go to town for a trip!

"Let's go into town and buy some things!" Zhang Dacheng said.

Everyone else agreed, but not everyone could go. Zhou Dashan told those who needed to buy salt to pay him, and he would tally the money and then have Zhang Wenbo take a few people into town.

Finally, it was decided that Zhang Wenbo, Zhou Yuping (Zhou Dashan's eldest son), Zhou Yurong (Zhou Dahai's son), Zhou Yunian, Zhou Yushuan, Wang Yaozu, Zhang Xixi, and Zhou Yuping's wife, Shen, would go to the city together.

Because Zhang Xixi volunteered to go into the city to buy some women's items, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to go alone, Shen Shi was also arranged to go.

Zhang Wenbo and his group walked down the mountain path, but they didn't encounter a single person. There was no one in the village at the foot of the mountain either; all they saw were cracked, parched fields. They guessed that the entire village had fled the famine, just like them.

Since no one knew the way, they had to rely on their instincts and randomly choose a path to walk. After walking for almost half an hour, they finally encountered a few people, who were also refugees like them. They looked to be in very bad shape, with numb faces and tattered clothes.

Zhang Wenbo used a pound of dried wild vegetables to inquire about the situation and learned that the town was not far ahead, but there were hardly any people left in the town; they had all fled to escape the war.

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Wenbo and the others felt a chill run down their spines. No one being around meant there was nothing to eat; what were they to do?

Zhang Xixi thought she had no choice but to cheat, but she needed to go to town first: "Big brother, let's go to town first and see if we can find a general store that's open?"

Zhang Wenbo pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, let's go into the city first and see if we can find any salt."

Zhang Wenbo and the others protected Zhang Xixi and Shen Shi in the middle and walked forward. However, after walking for two hours, it was almost dark, and they hadn't seen a trace of a town, nor had they seen a single person.

Zhang Xixi wiped the sweat from her face and asked breathlessly, "Big brother, that person didn't lie to us, did they?"

Zhang Wenbo hesitated for a moment: "It shouldn't be! Maybe we took the wrong road. I remember there was a small path on the way here."

Zhang Wenbo looked at the others: "Did you notice this when you came?"

Zhou Yuping thought for a moment: "There does seem to be a fork in the road, but shouldn't we take the main road to get to town?"

Zhang Wenbo: "I've read in books before that some towns are built in remote areas, so there's no reason for those people to lie to us. Let's rest for a bit and then head back to take a look!"

At the foot of the mountain, Zhou Dashan and his group were extremely worried as it grew dark and Zhang Wenbo and the others hadn't returned. However, it wasn't convenient to send anyone down to look for them now; the roads were unsafe in the dark. They decided to wait until dawn.

I hope nothing bad happens to them!

When Zhang Xixi and the others walked back to that spot on the path, it was completely dark, and they could no longer see the path clearly.

They hadn't brought any torches when they came out. Zhang Xixi had already kicked stones several times. She wasn't afraid of stones, but she was afraid of stepping on a snake!

Fortunately, they were on the right track this time, as they could already see the lights of the town ahead.

But now I can't even see where the intersection is, what should I do?

"System, does the store have any items that can provide light?"

"Host, we only have moonstone, and the lighting effect is not very good."

"What does it look like? Moonstone should be a rock, right?"

"Yes, host!"

"Then I'll take this one!"

"Okay, deduct 500 luck points."

Zhang Xixi took a few steps back and threw the stone in her hand into the roadside bushes before stepping forward and saying in surprise, "Big brother, look, there's light over there. I'll go take a look."

Zhang Wenbo and the others turned to look at the source of the light, and there really was light.

Zhou Yuping: "It can't be a will-o'-the-wisp, can it? Third Aunt, don't go!"

Zhang Xixi ignored him, walked over, squatted down, and picked up the moonstone.

"Big brother, it's a stone that glows."

Shen: "It really does glow!"

Zhang Wenbo took the stone without even looking at it, and scolded, "Little sister, don't be so reckless next time."

Zhang Xixi lowered her head and admitted her mistake, "I understand, big brother!"

Zhou Yuping: "Now that we have something to light up, let's hurry up and go!"

"Let's go!"

Zhang Wenbo took the moonstone to the intersection and walked ahead to provide light, but the moonstone's lighting effect was really poor; only the person at the very front could see the road clearly.

With no other option, they carefully followed Zhang Wenbo, using their weapons as support, their brows furrowed, taking one step at a time.

After overcoming numerous hardships, they finally reached the town and found the only inn that was still open. They booked two rooms and went to sleep without eating anything.

Oh my god, I'm so tired!