Under the moonlight

Xu Ao walked alone along the path, carrying a walkie-talkie and a small amount of supplies and medicine. He found no signs of human activity along the way, indicating that the area was deserted.

The roadside weeds had grown almost up to his waist, and the road was nearly completely covered by the rampant, spreading weeds. But this actually served as a natural barrier for him.

Although he was able to handle various issues with ease at the embassy, ​​after the bombing, he heard descriptions of the aftermath from others and Huang Meng, but those were still scenes imagined in his mind by adding other people's experiences to his own preconceived notions. The feeling was completely different from actually being there.

Everywhere you look, there is devastation. Not a single house is intact. The shattered tiles hanging from the rooftops sway and shake in the wind, as if they might fall at any moment. Up close, you can see that not a single door or window is intact. Many houses still have clotheslines hanging in front of them, swaying in the wind in front of the empty rooms, making the scene even more lifeless.

Xu Ao stood in front of a house and looked inside through the wide-open doors and windows. The furniture and objects inside were overturned and covered with a thick layer of dust. Children's graffiti could be vaguely seen on the cement wall by the door. One could imagine that children used to live happily and carefree here, but now only the lifeless building was left, emitting an empty wailing in the wind.

Xu Ao stopped from time to time to observe his surroundings. After walking for so long, all he could hear were the chirping of insects and birds, the whistling of the wind blowing through the empty buildings, and his own heavy breathing.

He stopped, raised his wrist, and glanced at the time. He had been walking for nearly three hours. He had set off at 5 a.m., handed the milk to Huang Meng, tidied himself up briefly, and then left. Worried that too much medication would be bad for her health, he had only given her half the dose. He figured she must be awake by now. In any case, at least he hadn't let her come out with him.

Xu Ao chuckled at the thought of Huang Meng's furious reaction upon waking, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips. He muttered to himself, "I wonder if I'll make it back alive. But even if I do, she'll probably beat me half to death, hehe~"

At this moment, Huang Meng was walking silently along the path, not daring to stop and rest. Her mind was blank, as if she were a wound-up machine, only knowing to move forward. She dared not think, as if thinking would slow her pace. She had to catch up with Xu Ao as soon as possible.

The roadside weeds almost completely blocked her view. As she walked, she kept pushing aside the weeds with her hands, but her eyes carefully observed every corner within sight. Xu Ao had set off early, and he would definitely stop to eat and replenish his energy along the way.

Finally, in front of a house, she found an inconspicuous plastic bag—a compressed biscuit wrapper she'd brought from the embassy. Her eyes lit up, and she stood up and circled the house, but couldn't find Xu Ao. It seemed he'd only stayed a short while; at least she had a lead. Huang Meng composed herself and continued on her way.

Along the way, Xu Ao seemed to have gotten used to the surrounding environment, the silence, the stillness devoid of any signs of life.

So when he heard that faint crying sound, he wondered if he was hallucinating. He crouched down in the grass, held his breath, and listened intently for a while, confirming that someone was crying. He slowly moved towards the source of the sound, crouching down, and observed through the grass that the cries for help were coming from a house behind the grass. He was about to get up and go out to check, but hesitated for a moment, then crouched down again, crouching low in the grass, and carefully observed the house through the weeds in front of him.

Until he saw a little girl run out of the house. She seemed to be carrying a clay pot in her hand. She walked forward, looking back every step of the way, and said something to the people in the house as she walked. The little girl was very thin and spoke in a very soft voice, but it was as if she had used up all her strength. She was panting heavily after saying a few words.

Xu Ao pondered for a moment, then decided to go out and take a look. He stood up, parted the grass in front of him, and walked towards the little girl.

The little girl was walking slowly forward with her head down when a pair of large feet suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her so much that she froze on the spot. Her hands, clutching the earthenware pot, began to tremble unconsciously. She slowly raised her head, looking at the strange man who had suddenly appeared before her. She didn't scream or speak; she just stared wide-eyed in terror. All instinctive movements were replaced by fear. She stood there, stunned, as if she had forgotten how to resist, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Xu Ao stopped two steps away from her. He bent down and looked at the girl. Her eyes were full of fear, so much so that when Xu Ao placed the food in front of her, she did not show any expression or move.

For the first time, Xu Ao truly experienced what it meant to be terrified. She was completely tense, and only her eyeballs moved when she looked at Xu Ao.

Xu Ao sighed and squatted down, looking up into her eyes and slowly said, "I'm not a bad guy, don't worry!" Xu Ao didn't know if she could understand English, but she just stood there blankly.

Perhaps it was Xu Ao's kind smile that eased her tension and fear, and her brain seemed to slowly come to its senses, wanting to overcome her fear and regain control of her limbs. Her feet were slowly moving backward. Xu Ao saw her small movement, but not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble, he quickly took out his work ID from his backpack and held it up in front of the little girl.

The little girl stopped in her tracks. Although she couldn't read, she remembered seeing that bright red badge on TV.

She looked at Xu Ao with some skepticism. Xu Ao squatted down in front of her, watching her complexion gradually return to normal. Knowing this trick had worked, he flashed what he thought was a very approachable smile and nodded at the girl. Perhaps it was his sincere smile combined with the red badge that worked, for the girl finally relaxed. She licked her dry lips, looked at Xu Ao, and smiled. In the boundless silence of the ruins, that smile was so dazzling and beautiful that Xu Ao felt his eyes sting. He quickly lowered his head and rubbed his nose.

When he looked up again, his smile returned. He pointed behind her, and the girl turned her head to look at the dilapidated house behind her. Helplessness and sadness instantly flashed in her eyes, and she pouted sadly.

Xu Ao stopped smiling, raised his hand, pointed behind her and then to himself, his eyes asking for her opinion. The girl turned around, glanced at Xu Ao, and nodded.

The girl turned and walked towards the house. Xu Ao followed behind her. As they got closer, he realized that it was more like ruins than a house. Xu Ao followed her with heavy steps.

As Xu Ao approached the door, the girl had already entered the room and was squatting down next to a man.

He stood by the door, peering inside. None of the walls were intact, and only half of the roof remained, barely blocking out the scorching sun. The man lay in the shade under that half of the roof, with tattered bedding beneath him.

Xu Ao approached the man and found that his breathing was very weak. He reached out and touched his forehead; it was burning hot. The girl didn't understand; she only knew he was sick, so she covered him with all the clothes she could find.

Xu Ao quickly ripped off all the thick cloth covering his body. The girl panicked, shouting something repeatedly and frantically trying to stop Xu Ao's hands. Xu Ao couldn't understand her and didn't know how to explain, so he simply placed his hands on her shoulders and helped her sit down on the ground. Although he knew she couldn't understand, he still said seriously, "He is sick. I will help him. Believe me, okay?"

After Xu Ao finished speaking, he turned around, took off his backpack, took out the first-aid medicines he had brought and placed them aside, and then squatted down to check on the man's condition.

The girl couldn't understand what he was saying, nor did she sit quietly to the side. Almost as soon as Xu Ao turned around, she stood up, picked up a toy doll, and tried to rush over. But when she saw Xu Ao take out a lot of medicine, her raised arm slowly fell down. She recognized it; it was medicine that could cure illnesses. Judging from his actions, she guessed he was helping her father. Holding the toy doll she had dug out of a pile of rubble, she obediently waited to the side without saying another word.

Xu Ao discovered the man's wound on his leg, where a strip of cloth was bound, with dark red dried bloodstains on it. He tried to tear the cloth off to examine the wound. The top layers were fine, but the layer right next to the wound was stuck to it. Every time he tore it open, the man would let out a painful whimper.

Seeing her father in such pain, the girl quickly hugged his head and whispered something in his ear. Then she pressed her smiling face against his, as if to comfort him.

Seeing the tears streaming down the girl's face, Xu Ao had no choice but to speed up his movements so that he could treat her more quickly.

Xu Ao steeled his heart and forcefully ripped off the remaining strips of cloth sticking to the wound. When he saw the man's leg wound, which was rotting and infested with maggots, exposing the white bone, he couldn't help but turn his head to the side and gag.

The man let out a painful growl as he forcefully tore off the strip of cloth, then fell unconscious. The girl shook the man's head vigorously, looking helplessly at Xu Ao through her tear-blurred eyes. Xu Ao turned around, suppressing his discomfort, and gave the girl a forced smile, nodding vigorously.

She stood up, wanting to see the wound on her father's leg, but Xu Ao stopped her.

He waved to the girl, signaling her to take good care of her father. Then he turned his head and took a deep breath. He first used clean bottled water to wash away the rotten flesh and maggots from the wound. Once the top layer was cleaned, the bone exposed at the wound site could be seen directly.

Xu Ao endured the pungent smell of decay and carefully wiped the area around the wound with gauze soaked in alcohol until the wound was completely clean. Only then did Xu Ao turn his head and breathe in the air deeply.

The girl would look down at her father, who was still unconscious in her arms, and then watch Xu Ao carefully wrap gauze around his wound.

After bandaging the wound, Xu Ao took out a small white pill. He gestured for the girl to lift the man's head. Xu Ao put the anti-inflammatory medicine into the man's mouth, but the unconscious man was unable to swallow it. Helpless, Xu Ao crushed the pill, mixed it with some water, and poured it into the bottle cap. Little by little, he let the liquid mixed with the anti-inflammatory medicine flow into the man's mouth, and then gently lifted his head.

Xu Ao only breathed a sigh of relief after pouring the last drop of liquid into the man's mouth. He looked at the man's pale and bloodless face and sighed inwardly, wondering if he could help him. Xu Ao packed his things into his backpack, dragged his schoolbag, and sat down by the door.

The girl sat next to her father, hugging her legs, staring at him intently, as if he would wake up at any moment.

Xu Ao glanced at the time; an hour had already passed. He couldn't delay any longer. The man had likely been injured in the leg by a falling rock. The wound was rough, bloody, and deeply wounded, exposing the bone. To stop the bleeding, the wound had simply been wrapped with a strip of cloth, and the lack of timely cleaning had led to inflammation and abscess formation. Combined with the weather, the condition had worsened, causing the man to develop a high fever.

Xu Ao looked at the girl, who was sitting quietly next to her father, fiddling with a dirty rag doll, seemingly lost in thought.

She wondered why the fireworks in the sky suddenly fell that day, why they made such a terrifying sound, and why her home was destroyed by those loud fireworks. Were they fireworks?

Her mother was leaning against the headboard trying to lull her to sleep, and she was holding this rag doll in her arms when suddenly the room shook violently, and with a loud bang, the roof crashed down on them.

Terrified, she clutched her doll tightly in her mother's arms. When she woke up again, only she and her father were left at home. Before she could even ask where her mother was, she saw large fireworks flying through the sky above the broken window. Her father quickly carried her into the yard, and with a deafening explosion, she heard a painful scream from inside her father's arms. Then, she fell to the ground as her father collapsed. She was in pain and terrified, constantly calling for her mother.

She was certain it wasn't fireworks; she had seen fireworks displays before. Fireworks were beautiful, blooming only in the sky, never falling to the ground, never making a terrible noise, and certainly wouldn't take her mother away. The girl looked at her father again, reaching out her thin little hand to gently touch his cheek; it seemed less hot now.

Xu Ao kept looking at her. Her hair was dry, yellow, and filthy; her clothes were so worn that their original color was unrecognizable; and her figure was terribly thin. He couldn't bear to look any longer. He sighed, looked up through the broken eaves at the blue sky, and realized that the consequences of this internal strife were being borne by innocent people. If even a strong man couldn't protect himself in this chaos, one could imagine that the elderly, women, and children were in no better shape. Any external injury, if not treated promptly, would be fatal.

Xu Ao rubbed his sore eyes and nose with the heel of his hand, took a deep breath, stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and took out a bottle of water and a few packets of compressed biscuits from his bag. That was all he could do for now. The girl must have been trying to go out to find some food or water.

He handed the item to the girl, who slowly raised her head and stared at him with her big eyes. Only her pupils were the clearest and brightest feature on her small face.

Xu Ao smiled at her, and seeing that she didn't reach out, he pushed the things in his hand forward a little. The girl slowly reached out and took them. After watching her take the things, Xu Ao turned around, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and prepared to leave. When he reached the door, he turned back to look at the man on the ground. Compared to when he first saw him, his breathing seemed more even. Xu Ao glanced at the girl again, then turned and walked out.

He needed to quicken his pace and get into the main urban area as soon as possible to get a clear picture of the situation.