Falling into the mortal world

When Lan Qingqing opened her eyes again, she found herself sleeping on a wooden board.

Just then, a little girl dressed in tattered linen clothes ran over and shouted happily, "Mother, come quick, our benefactor has woken up!"

Upon hearing this, the woman rushed in and was overjoyed to see the woman on the wooden board awake.

Lan Qingqing looked around at her surroundings. The dilapidated thatched hut didn't even have a door, and you could see the outside world at a glance.

The woman was disheveled and dressed in tattered linen clothes, just like the little girl in front of her, whose hair almost covered most of her face.

Looking out the door, one could see that there were quite a few refugees lying scattered about.

"Who are you people? Why do you call me your benefactor?" Lan Qingqing asked, puzzled.

The woman hurriedly said, "Benefactor, we are refugees in this area. If it weren't for your help, we would have been victims of the rebel army."

"You were the people who were trapped in the city at that time," Lan Qingqing asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how my benefactor fell into the water, and he was bitten on the leg by a poisonous snake," the woman asked with concern.

The woman reminded her that Lan Qingqing had been bitten by a poisonous snake and her nerves had been temporarily paralyzed by the venom. She then fell into the river, which was swiftly flowing. She grabbed onto a piece of broken wood and drifted downstream.

Saving them was just something I did on a whim; I never expected the mother and daughter to be so kind-hearted.

You have to understand that this is not the time to be overly kind. Just by looking at these people's unsteady steps, you can tell they are starving and hungry.

Unexpectedly, her momentary kindness saved her. The mother and daughter in front of her must have been the ones who saved her. Once she recovered, if they were willing, she would take them back to the city, which would also be a way to take them away from the war.

She moved her legs and found they were numb. So she checked her pulse and realized she had been poisoned, but thankfully not with a potent poison, otherwise she would probably be dead by now.

The toxins would be fine with some antidote herbs; it wasn't a big problem. These antidote herbs were readily available in the mountains and weren't particularly rare. So Lan Qingqing was already quite relieved.

"Where is this?" Lan Qingqing asked.

The woman said, "This is the lower reaches of the Hongcheng River. The prefectural city has now been occupied by the rebel army. It is now extremely difficult for us common people to escape."

So they could only hide in sparsely populated places, hoping to stay hidden for as long as possible.

"Who are those people outside?" Lan Qingqing asked.

We are all from the same village, which is right next to the city. When the rebel army entered the city, they began to massacre people indiscriminately. We ordinary people had no choice but to hide and escape.

So the village chief led everyone to flee for their lives. Now that we can't leave the city, we can only hide here for the time being.

This place is in a relatively remote location, and bandits generally don't come here, so it's safe for the time being.

Hearing the general situation put me at ease; I never expected she would be unconscious for three days.

Lan Qingqing had just woken up, but before she was fully awake, she fell asleep again and slept until the afternoon. She woke up again because she was hungry; she hadn't eaten for several days.

When the little girl saw that Lan Qingqing had woken up, she quickly took out a roasted sweet potato and handed it to Lan Qingqing. Lan Qingqing accepted the roasted sweet potato, as she was indeed very hungry and needed to replenish her energy.

The little girl looked at the roasted sweet potato and tried her best to resist the urge to swallow.

At this moment, she noticed the little girl's actions, so she broke the sweet potato in half and handed it to the little girl.

The little girl glanced at the sweet potato, but still took it. Food was truly scarce, and now they could only survive by digging for wild vegetables.

There were too many refugees, and not enough wild vegetables to dig up. Sometimes, people would fight to the death for a bite to eat.

If you lose your home, you can forget about food. Without food, you'll just go hungry.

Now they even have difficulty begging. With war and chaos everywhere, where can they find refuge?

She is currently unable to move around easily and needs to recover quickly, so Lan Qingqing drew pictures of the herbs for the little girl so that she could see if she could find these herbs when she went into the mountains.

The little girl, named Wang Yuanyuan, looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. Although she was dirty, she had a sweet smile.

Yuanyuan carefully remembered the herbs that Lan Qingqing mentioned.

The next day, when I went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, I paid extra attention to the plants on the ground, and brought back any herbs that looked similar.

That evening, Lan Qingqing looked at the various kinds of herbs in front of her and didn't know what to say. Fortunately, after searching around, she actually found the antidote.

"My benefactor, is this the antidote you spoke of?" the little girl asked curiously, her big eyes wide open.

Lan Qingqing said affectionately, "Yes, this is it. From now on, you can call me 'elder sister.' Calling me 'benefactor' feels a bit formal."

The little girl happily said, "Okay, then I'll call you 'sister' from now on."

Seeing the little girl happy, Lan Qingqing felt inexplicably happy as well.

If she weren't paralyzed, she could have led them out to find food. The Lan family owned properties in the prefectural city, and although everyone had evacuated, they could still find food in the cellars. Only the manager, steward, and members of the Lan family could open the Lan family's cellars.

Even if the rebel army burned down the shop, they might not be able to find the entrance to the cellar. Therefore, outsiders simply couldn't find the entrance to the cellar.

"Sister, you're so pretty!" the little girl said innocently and adorably.

Lan Qingqing smiled indulgently as the cute little girl praised her looks. This child, who was the same age as her younger sister, always evoked a sense of pity in her.

At this moment, the woman also came in and said to Lan Qingqing, "Now that our benefactor is injured, it is not appropriate for her to have such a beautiful face. For safety's sake, we should dress up a bit."

Auntie, you can just call me Qingqing. It sounds a bit awkward to keep calling me "benefactor."

"Alright, then I will call my benefactor by his name from now on," the woman said generously.

I agree with what my aunt just said. The world outside is in chaos right now, and my face is indeed prone to attracting trouble. As she said this, Lan Qingqing tore a piece of cloth from the corner of her clothes. "I'll cover my face from now on, so I'll be safer."

After listening, the woman agreed and lamented, "Although the army has temporarily stopped slaughtering the people, women outside are still their prey. If a woman outside is spotted by the army, her fate is sure to be dire."

They were disheveled and dirty in order to avoid disaster.