Chapter 36 Tragedy
Birds were hopping in the treetops, chirping.
The morning mist gradually dissipated and the golden sun rose in the sky.
Lin Zisu opened her eyes, looked at the roof, and touched her body. Why was she lying on the small bed? She remembered that she slept on the double chair on the passenger seat.
I sat up, my head still a little dizzy, and my mother was sleeping next to me.
Don't you want to travel at night tonight?
I got out of bed and walked to the passenger seat, opened the curtains, and then lifted the straw mat. Huh? Something was wrong. It didn't look like it was still dark outside.
I opened the passenger door, stepped outside, and took a deep breath. The temperature was cool and the air was fresh.
Sister Qiuyue was making a fire, Sister Xiatao was stirring the pot with a large wooden spoon, and Sister Cuihe was cutting vegetables on the chopping board.
Looking behind the team, white smoke was floating above each household, and everyone was cooking.
"Zi Su, are you okay?" Lin Qiuyue clapped her hands, stood up and saw Lin Zi Su standing there in a daze.
"Sister, are you feeling better?" Cuihe put down the big wooden spoon, walked over and touched Lin Zisu's forehead.
Lin Zisu: "Is it morning now?"
Xia Tao cut the vegetables, poured them into the pot, turned around and said, "Yes! You had a fever last night. Are you feeling better now?"
Sure enough, it was just as she thought. She really slept all night! Fever? "I had a fever last night?"
Cui He: "Well, after dinner last night, everyone was busy melting pine resin to make torches. You fell asleep without eating anything, so I got in the car to check on you and found that you were burning hot and couldn't be woken up even if I called out. I quickly told Fourth Aunt, and she said you had a fever and gave you medicine."
"I didn't know anything after I fell asleep. I just felt strange that no one woke me up." Lin Zisu smiled helplessly.
"You must have been scared yesterday. Grandma burned paper and lit incense last night to call back your soul. It's okay now, it's okay now." Cuihe patted Lin Zisu's back and comforted her.
"Oh..." Lin Zisu stretched her head to look at the ox cart and the mule cart, "Where are they? Why do I feel like there are so many people missing?"
Cui Tao pulled Lin Zisu to sit on the straw bench and pointed to the mountain beside the road and said, "At dawn, they went up the mountain to pick up pine resin. It was not easy to come across them, so pick up some for future use. They will be back soon. After breakfast, we will set off again."
When the vegetable porridge in the pot is cooked, turn off the heat and steam the buns in the other pot.
Lin Zisu watched her mother get out of the car with dark circles under her eyes, and saw her sitting aside talking to her three cousins.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Shen Xianglan walked over yawning.
"Fourth Aunt." The three sisters shouted.
Lin Zisu: "No, I just feel a little weak..."
"Are they here? Are they going up the mountain again?" Shen Xianglan looked around but didn't see anyone.
Lin Zisu: "Yeah, he said he would be back soon."
Shen Xianglan: "Can you still drive today?"
"Yes, but I guess I'll have to rest more often." Lin Zisu stood up and replied while yawning.
"You have a fever and can't leave, but no one will say anything. We have been traveling day and night for such a long time, and we all want to get a full night's sleep last night. Just tell the village head later, and it just so happens that our family is at the end of the team today."
When it was bright, the people who went to the mountain came back.
Lin Youcai put down the basket, asked his daughter a few questions, and hurried to register.
Lin Zisu couldn't stand everyone's enthusiastic greetings and quickly hid in the RV. After washing up, my mother brought her a bowl of vegetable porridge.
Lin Zisu had no appetite at all, her mouth tasted bitter, and she drank a few sips reluctantly.
After everyone finished breakfast and packed their luggage, the team set out again at around 10 o'clock in the morning.
The sun was not high in the sky until noon. It was cloudy again today. It has been cloudy for three days in a row and there has been no rain.
The group walked on the path for two days and finally saw a village.
The path led directly to the village, and the village head asked everyone to slow down to pass through the village. The team slowed down, and he would greet the village head later. After all, it was someone else's territory, and looking around, there was no other road around that could pass the ox cart.
When the team approached the village, the village headman found something wrong. In the broad daylight, even though they were so close, the village was still unusually quiet and they could not hear any sound.
"Ding ding ding ding!!!" Lin Benshu struck the gong and the team stopped.
The loud sound of the gong echoed, but there was still no response in the village.
He gathered 20 young men, each armed, and went to the village to see what was going on.
After a while, the faces of the 20 people changed drastically, their eyes were filled with fear, and they ran back in panic.
Lin Benshu panted as he approached the ox cart and quickly told his father, "There is no one alive in the village ahead."
The village head frowned. Could it be that everyone in the village had fled like them? He asked, "An empty village?"
Lin Benshu felt sick when he thought of the scene he just saw: "No... there were a lot of dead people..."
The head of the village was shocked and said, "The whole village was massacred?!" He immediately remembered the village with flames rising from the sky that he encountered while traveling at night some time ago.
"...There are dead bodies everywhere, and burned houses." Lin Benshu was waiting for his father to make a decision, and his face became sad when he thought about it.
Lin Youcai said a few words to the Lin family, and then they gathered around the village head to discuss the matter.
Village Chief: "It's broad daylight now, let's go quickly! There's no other way around here!"
"Fortunately it's broad daylight, it's too creepy!!!" Zhao Dazhuang rubbed his arms, feeling a little cool in the hot weather.
"Living people are scary, dead people are not that scary." As a businessman, Shen Jingfu has to run around everywhere. When walking on the road, he is more afraid of meeting living people.
Lin Youcai: "You are right, village head. Compared to the death of a whole village, I am more afraid of encountering soldiers."
Tao Mingyuan: "Brother Youcai is right, but it's so hot and there are so many dead people in the village. I'm afraid I'll get sick."
After fleeing for more than 20 days, Tao Mingyuan and Lin Youcai stood together, and they no longer looked like scholars.
"There is a wolf in front and a tiger behind." Mr. Shen sighed.
"We can't do anything. There is no other way to go now. Turning back is also dangerous. We have been walking on this small road for so many days because of the danger. I just checked the houses in the village. It doesn't look like the village was destroyed by an epidemic. It is more likely that they were burned, killed, and looted." Lin Youcai glanced at the crowd and continued, "Everyone, be fully armed, cover your mouth and nose with cloth, and walk quickly. The mouths and noses of the animals should also be covered with cloth. People should lead the animals in front and make sure they don't get away while walking. I just used a telescope to check that the road through the village is not very long and can be walked through in a short time."
Village Chief: "Do you have any other solution?"
No one spoke, everyone looked at the head of the village.
The head of the village said, "Okay, let's do as Youcai said. Everyone, cover your mouth and nose, and leave quickly. Don't waste time."
"Younger children, please squeeze into the cars! Don't scare the children." After saying this, Lin Youcai walked towards the RV.
After everyone is ready, they follow the person in front of them without looking around.
Everyone covered their mouths and noses with several layers of clothes, but the smell of the rotting corpse still went straight into their noses.
The women in the RV escaped the disaster as they could neither see nor smell it.
Lin Zisu stared at the back of the car in front of her without looking away. As long as she controlled the speed and didn't hit it, she would just follow it. She was afraid too! She had a fever from being scared just two days ago, and she just recovered.
The worst thing is that those who have to push the carts and walk on foot, some of them can't help but want to vomit, but they force themselves to hold it back.
Half of the houses in the village were burned down, and there were broken limbs and debris everywhere, including half-rotted corpses, some that had turned to bones, and there were men, women, and children.
Butcher Zhao, Lin Benshu, and Lin Youfu walked in front to clear the way, using sticks to push the bodies lying on the road to the sides as much as possible to make it easier for people and cars to pass. They were also afraid, but there was nothing they could do; they couldn't just step over the bodies.
The head of the village said that they would double the work points, but only the three of them were willing to open the way. After all, they were all ordinary people.
In fact, it was only a 3-4 minute walk, but it felt like it took a long time.
After finally getting out of the village, everyone set foot on the official road they had not seen for a long time.
As soon as they got onto the official road, the old people recited something and bowed in the direction of the village.
Some people even vomited as soon as they got on the official road. They couldn't control their nausea, but they were afraid of being left behind. Those who complained about fleeing the village and gossiped about it were speechless when they saw the tragic scene in the village.
It was still early, so we continued on our way.
Of course, even if it’s getting late, we have to speed up and get away from here.