A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

Chapter 61 Retrieving the Corpse

Li Duwei nodded, and a figure darted past him—it was Zhao Sanyang.

"Wutong, I'll go see it with you!"

He grabbed the edge of the boat and was about to step out when his clothes were suddenly grabbed, preventing him from moving forward.

Nanxing pulled him back forcefully and nimbly jumped onto the wooden plank.

The wooden plank, bearing the weight of the two people, swayed but did not sink.

He grabbed Wutong's clothes, raised his chin at Zhao Sanyang, and snorted, "I'll go with her."

There was absolutely no way a third person could jump onto the wooden plank, Zhao Sanyang said with a disappointed pout.

The boatman handed his spare oar to Wutong, who waved to them and rowed away on the water.

Vice Minister Liu coldly curled his lip, crawled back into the cabin, and Commandant Li's boat also returned to its original position, but deliberately slowed down a little, waiting for Wutong.

Not long after, Wutong returned, and there were still two people on the wooden plank.

Zhao Sanyang reached out to pull her onto the boat and asked, "Aren't you human?"

Wutong nodded and said, "It was a big water buffalo. Its hoof got stuck in the door panel. Once we got its hoof out, it swam away by itself."

She boarded the boat, and Nanxing reached out his hand, asking Zhao Sanyang to pull him along as well.

Zhao Sanyang arrogantly crossed her arms and refused to pay him any attention.

Nanxing rolled his eyes in anger, while Wutong chuckled silently and pulled him up.

The group continued on their journey, soon leaving the town and heading towards their destination, Jingzhou.

The boat traveled fast enough on the water that it arrived in Jingzhou in just one day and two nights.

Jingzhou is located on the left bank of the Dingjiang River, and basically half of the town is built along the river.

People live off the land and water, and the people of Jingzhou have a very good life thanks to this river. It is one of the most prosperous prefectures among the twelve prefectures in the Central Plains.

However, every advantage has its disadvantages, and they were the first to suffer when the Dingjiang River dam breached.

A town covering nearly 30 square kilometers was destroyed in a single day, leaving more than two million people homeless and countless dead and injured.

The breach of the dike came too suddenly and was completely unpredictable. The government urgently organized a rescue effort, and with the help of many people sent from the southern border, the people were transported to the mountains outside Jingzhou. They worked day and night for several days, but thousands of people still died or were injured.

When Wutong and the others arrived, most of the survivors had been rescued, but there were not enough people to deal with the aftermath. As a result, countless dead dogs, chickens, pigs and cows were floating on the water, with an occasional corpse mixed in.

The water reeked of a foul stench and looked utterly terrifying.

The floodwaters overflowed, houses were reduced to ruins, boats traversed the land, and people and livestock drifted on the water.

The soldiers on the ship stared blankly at the horrific scene, deeply shocked. Even the usually composed Captain Li and Nan Xing, who was indifferent to the outside world, couldn't help but stand up and frown at the scene before them.

Wutong was sitting near the edge of the boat when she felt something bump into the cabin and make it shake. Looking down, she was horrified to see a bloated and pale corpse. She turned pale with fright and screamed as she shrank back.

Nanxing caught her in time, and Wutong grabbed his warm hand, pointing there and exclaiming in horror, "A person! A person!"

When Li Duwei went over to take a look, his face became even more grim, almost turning ashen.

He picked up a stick and pushed the body away.

Besides these things, the most conspicuous features on the water are two long stone dams.

The dam was originally over a hundred meters high, but now it is submerged, leaving only the top section, which is over thirty meters long, exposed. It is long and dark, stretching endlessly into the distance, like a giant dragon lurking at the bottom of the water, revealing its spine covered with bone spurs.

Liu Shilang's boat sailed forward, heading towards the mountains, which was where the disaster victims had gathered.

Lieutenant Li and his soldiers followed behind, advancing for another half an hour before finally reaching the shore.

Many guards stood on the shore, along with about a dozen officials dressed in the same official robes as Minister Liu, looking up with their heads held high, seemingly welcoming him.

The boat stopped, and Vice Minister Liu disembarked. The officials then offered him food and drink.

From the way they addressed each other, Wutong learned that most of the officials present were civil officials such as Assistant Directors, and their ranks were not very high. Among them, Vice Minister Liu was the most prominent and the oldest, so he was highly respected.

Another boat docked, and Zhao Sanyang jumped off and turned around to pull everyone aboard.

The officials sized him up, then looked at Lieutenant Li in unison, cupped their hands, and asked, "This is... General Abdo?"

Lieutenant Li shook his head: "No, I am his deputy."

Why hasn't the general come?

"There are many affairs at the border, so I was ordered to come in his stead."

"Oh……"

The officials' faces all turned disappointed.

Wutong pulled Nanxing off the bed. Once their feet touched the ground, they finally felt safe and asked, "Are we going to help with the flood now?"

It's still morning, the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, and it's not raining—it's a nice day.

Lieutenant Li looked at the official, who shook his head and said, "No need to rush, we have already prepared a banquet to welcome the soldiers and help them wash away the dust of their journey."

The soldiers, who had been on the move for nearly half a month, cheered immediately when they heard that there would be a feast.

Lieutenant Li remained silent, his expression not very pleasant.

Wutong tugged at Nanxing's earlobe, leaned close, and whispered, "This isn't Moon Gate Pass. Not everyone here is as easy to talk to as the General. Don't be too presumptuous, understand?"

Nanxing, wearing a mask, hummed in response.

For some reason, as they approached the shore, he insisted that the wind was strong and his head was hurting from the wind. He took a piece of cloth out of his pack and wrapped it around his face, and he became much quieter.

Wutong was worried that he was sick.

During flood season, with so many corpses on the river, who knows what bacteria might be lurking among them?

If the wind blows it in and it gets into your nose, you might get an infection.

Modern medicine is not very advanced, and once infected, there is no cure.

She used the back of her hand to touch his forehead to check his temperature, again and again, until Nanxing got annoyed. He grabbed her hand and gently bit it through the fabric before stopping.

The soldiers disembarked and lined up neatly on the shore, while the boatmen rowed the boats to another hilltop, where the disaster victims had gathered.

The officials led the way, followed by Li Duwei, and then Wutong, with Nanxing and Zhao Sanyang in tow, followed behind them.

As we walked along, we saw countless tents, much more spacious than the ones they slept in while traveling, complete with tables, chairs, benches, and other furniture.

Cooking was done outdoors, with neatly stacked firewood piled up next to the fire. There were also many freshly cut tree stumps along the roadside, presumably used for setting up tents and cooking.

The mountain was submerged, leaving only a section. It wasn't very large, but with over 2,900 soldiers crammed in, it became extremely crowded. They walked shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe.

Wutong was curious about everything she saw, as she had never seen anything like it before. She was so focused on walking with her head held high that she suddenly kicked something furry and soft, and a yelp came from under her foot.

End of this chapter