When the villagers saw their men safely returning with water, the worry in their hearts finally eased.
They set up pots to cook food for their men, then poured the water their men had brought back into the pots to boil. After cooling, they transferred it into water canteens.
The refugees following behind the group also burst into tears of joy upon seeing their men return with water and elm bark.
A woman holding her five-year-old daughter, Little Ya, wiped away her tears and said to her, "Little Ya, Daddy has brought back water and food. We will have something to eat."
The little girl smiled weakly, already too exhausted from hunger to speak. Yesterday, she had even drunk her father's blood.
She felt that she had become a burden to her parents. With little food and water, her father had even let her drink his blood. She was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold on.
It would be better if she just died, but her parents were risking their lives to keep her alive.
They now had food and water, but they were worried again as they had no pots or fire to cook with. Did they have to eat everything raw?
Little Ya's Daddy hesitated. He and his wife could eat raw wild vegetables, but he was afraid their young daughter might get sick from eating them uncooked.
Other families were in the same situation, with elderly and young children, the youngest only two years old.
Little Ya's Daddy gritted his teeth and walked towards the Qingfang Village group.
He didn't go to the front, but instead found Old Gu Six and his daughter trailing behind the group.
Everyone in the group had lit fires, so this area wasn't too dim.
The mosquito repellent bracelets were somewhat useful - at least Old Gu Six didn't have to keep swatting mosquitoes while sleeping.
Chang'an sat beside Old Gu Six, keeping him company with a vacant stare.
Before Little Ya's Daddy approached, Old Gu Six had already awakened, his eyes clear and alert, not like someone who had been sleeping.
He glared fiercely at the approaching man, a skeletal figure so thin that Old Gu Six tried to scare him off with his gaze.
Little Ya's Daddy was indeed somewhat frightened by the imposing aura of the man leaning against the carriage, sitting on the ground. Thinking of his daughter, he swallowed hard and resolutely walked over.
As he drew closer, he noticed the child sitting beside the man was an exceptionally beautiful girl with bright, starry eyes that shone brilliantly.
Her chubby baby face resembled a small, milky cake. Little Ya's Daddy was momentarily entranced. This child was really cute and well-fed. If only his Little Ya could eat and dress well, she would surely look just as adorable.
Seeing the man staring at his daughter, Old Gu Six's gaze turned icy as he stood up and hid Chang'an behind him.
With a swift motion, he drew the soft sword concealed at his waist, pointing the blade directly at Little Ya's Daddy.
In the distance, Little Ya's mother and the other refugees saw this and their faces paled. They immediately ran over with the children, hoping to plead for the man to spare Little Ya's Daddy's life.
Little Ya's Daddy was so startled that he stepped back two paces, cold sweat pouring down as he stammered an apology, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to..."
From behind Old Gu Six, Chang'an peeked out to look at the man across from them, who was so thin he hardly looked human. When he had gazed at her earlier, his eyes held no malice, only wonder.
She tugged on Old Gu Six's clothes and said softly, "Daddy, why don't we ask him what he wants first?"
Hearing Chang'an's sweet voice, Little Ya's Daddy didn't wait for Old Gu Six to ask, immediately explaining, "I mean no harm, nor am I here to ask for food. I only wish to borrow some fire and, if possible, a clay pot to cook some wild vegetables for my daughter."
As he finished speaking, his wife holding their daughter, along with the other refugees accompanying them, all knelt and kowtowed.
"Please spare my husband's life, honorable sir. We will forever be grateful for your kindness."
Little Ya crawled out of her mother's arms and prostrated herself on the ground, begging Old Gu Six, "Please spare my Daddy's life, honorable sir. He did not intend to disturb you. I beg you, in the name of a father's love for his daughter, to forgive him."
This commotion drew attention from those ahead, and someone alerted the Village Head, who rushed over with others.
Old Gu Six sheathed his soft sword and returned it to his waist.
Looking at the little girl prostrate on the ground, and then back at his own daughter, he decided to treat this as accumulating merit for his daughter's sake.
He took a fire striker from his pocket and tossed it to Little Ya's Daddy, then turned to Chang'an and asked, "Daughter, do we have any clay pots?"
He couldn't recall seeing any when they packed up.
Chang'an: ...
She had thought the broken clay pots on the kitchen floor were useless, so she didn't take them.
However, she had seven or eight sandy pots of various sizes in her space. Giving them one wouldn't be a problem.
Chang'an crawled into the carriage, considered their large group size, and took out a big sandy pot from her space.
The sandy pot was quite heavy, and she dragged it out of the carriage with a 'thud thud' sound. Once outside, she called out to Old Gu Six, "Daddy, it's heavy. Help me carry it."
Old Gu Six immediately came over and lifted the big sandy pot, examining it. Hmm, it didn't seem unusual in any way.
He passed the pot to Little Ya's Daddy. "Here, take it. We don't have any clay pots, only this."
Little Ya's Daddy held the pot and kowtowed to Old Gu Six, "Thank you, honorable sir."
His wife, daughter, and the other refugees also knelt and kowtowed, "Thank you, honorable sir."
Old Gu Six waved his hand, telling them to leave. "Alright, alright, go now."
By the time the Village Head arrived, Little Ya's Daddy had already taken his group back to their resting area.
"Old Six, what happened?"
Old Gu Six lazily replied, "Nothing, they just came to borrow some fire."
"Borrow fire, yet you drew your sword?"
"They frightened my daughter."
"... Well, you shouldn't give them any of our food supplies if they ask. I can see you didn't bring much either. Our food supplies won't last long.
We don't know how much further we have to travel. If we give away our food, we'll end up starving ourselves."
"Don't worry, Village Head Uncle. We won't give them any. Our food supplies are only enough for ourselves. We can't provide relief to others."
He wasn't lying. Their food supplies were indeed only enough for themselves. Even though he had bought a lot of food, he could eat it all himself.
Seeing that Old Gu Six had his own calculations, the Village Head didn't say much more and left with his people.
After they were gone, Old Gu Six told Chang'an, "Daughter, the further we go, the more refugees we will encounter, and we may see even more miserable people than those we just met.
The world is in chaos. We must exert our utmost effort just to protect ourselves. We don't have the ability to help others, so we cannot be softhearted, or we may invite trouble."
"Dad, I know we're just ordinary people, not saviors, and our resources are only enough for ourselves. We have the heart but not the ability to help others."
Being a saint in troubled times is not feasible. In the apocalypse, she saw a mother whose excessive compassion ultimately led to the deaths of her parents, husband, and children.
There have also been cases where saints caused the demise of their entire team, which is why people say to kill the saints first in times of chaos.
This kind of species, if not eliminated, will lead to even more deaths.
A saint even questioned a teammate with spatial abilities, "Why don't you take out the food from your spatial storage and give it to others?"
The teammate replied, "The food in my spatial storage is only enough for our team, not enough to share."
The saint refused to listen and insisted the teammate take out the food. In the end, everyone knew they had resources and came to kill them for their supplies.
That teammate with spatial abilities met the most gruesome death, forced to hand over their resources, then skinned and thrown into a horde of zombies as a human plank.
Those saints believe that if you have spatial storage, you must save the world. Not doing so is considered selfish and morally wrong, and you don't deserve to have spatial abilities.
Nonsense! Having spatial storage also requires having supplies. How can one save others without resources?
Such a ridiculous mentality is truly unparalleled.
