Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Dead Bodies All Along the Way Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Dead Bodies All Along the Way This time, everyone was generous with the seasoning, applying the last bit of wine and soy sauce evenly before placing it on the stove to roast.
Soon, the aroma spread through the dense forest, and those ravenous people swallowed their saliva frantically, but no one dared to enter the forest to snatch the food.
The Qiu family, though kind-hearted, was not saintly; even if they couldn’t eat all the food, they did not soften their hearts to share it with others but packed everything up.
After all, there were countless refugees. If you could help one, you couldn’t necessarily help the second, and they too were uncertain about the future, with not so much benevolence to squander.
It was not until the moon was high in the sky that the Qiu family finally set off toward the direction outside the city.
Passing by the city gate, everyone was especially careful. Even Xiao Shan and Bai Lingyu were frequently told to be absolutely silent. They all covered their mouths and tiptoed, following the adults as they ran outside.
It was not until the city walls were no longer visible behind them that the group slowed down their pace.
From here to Biluo, a massive North River lay in between.
After crossing the North River is Biluo City, which is the only official road from the Northern Lands to the south.
From this point to the North River, it was roughly a month’s journey.
Until yesterday, they had been heading towards Cold City, thus they had avoided the refugees for over a month.
Those heading south had already left much earlier, hence only their group of eight people set out from this direction at night.
Without carts and luggage, everyone was traveling light, and even Xiao Shan and Bai Lingyu walked swiftly.
However, just a short distance out of the city, bodies began to appear frequently on the road
But these bodies were not those of people who had starved to death; they bore knife wounds and large patches of blood that had diffused and turned dark brown, obviously caused by external forces.
These were probably civilians who had escaped from the city, but hadn’t gotten far before being plundered and killed by the refugees lying in wait outside.
And these scenes were truly shocking to Old Uncle Qiu and his family.
The south had been in turmoil for three years already, and the refugees who had made it to the Northern Lands were no pushovers, so the civilians escaping from the city were like cats without claws, and they became the first victims.
The refugees who got the food continued to flee southward.
However, the food and wealth in their hands were surely a death sentence; ahead, there were likely heaps of bodies and seas of blood, with corpses strewn everywhere from starvation.
Madam Liu couldn’t bear to see such scenes; she picked up Xiao Shan with a shiver and walked on trembling.
Contrarily, the three Bai siblings, used to such scenes, didn’t feel much of anything.
Now, Madam Liu finally understood what the foul smell masked by the cloth was.
As it was already summer, the stench of the rotting bodies was unbearable, but with their mouths and noses covered with cloth, the smell was somewhat less offensive.
The group hurried on through the night, and it was only as dawn approached that they finally felt tired and weary.
Bai Junjun used her Special Ability to sense the surroundings, then led everyone to a relatively clean clearing.
“Let’s rest here for an hour and then continue on our way. We should be near East River by noon, where we can rest properly.”
Bai Junjun had an entire map of Xuanwei in her mind, and it was very convenient to recall it at this moment.
For escaping disaster, naturally, Bai Junjun and her siblings had more say, and Old Uncle Qiu’s family, new to escaping famine, all followed Bai Junjun’s lead implicitly.
After arranging everyone, Bai Junjun immediately sat down and closed her eyes to rest.
Seeing this, the others also took the opportunity to rest.
Bai Sasa and Bai Lingyu quickly fell asleep next to Bai Junjun.
Qiu Er and Qiu San also rested back to back.
Xiao Shan was already soundly asleep in Qiu Da’s arms.
On the other hand, Madam Liu wanted to sleep but couldn’t.