Old Gu Six looked around the pond. The source of the water was flowing down from the rock wall on the right side, so he carried a bucket over.
He then placed the bucket down, moved a few large rocks to make a small flat area, and placed the bucket there. The water flowing down from the rock wall fell right into the bucket.
It would take some time for the bucket to fill up, so Old Gu Six decided to go into the woods to see if he could hunt any small game.
Old Gu Six headed toward the tiger, squinting his eyes as it approached with its tail sticking straight up.
"If I come back and see you've hurt anyone, I'll skin you alive and break all your bones."
"Roar!!"
The tiger trembled all over. The aura emanating from this two-legged beast was terrifying. It felt the pressure of a blood-binding.
No, it and the two-legged beast were different species, so how could there be a blood-binding?
This was devilish.
Whatever, this two-legged beast must have beast-like abilities. Better not provoke it!!
Seeing that the tiger was truly afraid, Old Gu Six turned and entered the woods.
The people processing fish by the pond saw Old Gu Six leave and looked apprehensively at the tiger. But the tiger obediently lay down and closed its eyes to rest, not bothering them at all.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and continued processing the fish, big and small.
With many hands, the fish were processed quickly. By the time they finished, Old Gu Six's bucket was full.
Little Ya's Dad went over, switched out the buckets, and covered the full one.
Then he led the dozen or so people with him to forage for wild vegetables around the area. Yang Poxiao and Yang Mingxiao exchanged a glance and joined in the foraging as well.
They found some wild vegetables, but not many edible ones – just a small handful each.
In a bush nearby, Little Ya's Dad discovered a new species. He carefully dug it out. Underneath were fruits the size of a child's fist, with many clustered on each vine.
They didn't know if these were edible, so they looked to the Yang brothers, who also had never seen these before and didn't know what they were.
"Why don't we wait for Old Six to return? He's well-read and knowledgeable, he'll surely recognize them."
Everyone agreed with Yang Poxiao's suggestion. While waiting for Old Gu Six, they dug up all the similar fruits around, amounting to around 200 pounds.
After digging them up, they sat by the pond waiting for Old Gu Six. His two buckets were already full, and the bamboo tubes Little Ya's Dad's group had brought were now being filled.
Yang Poxiao told them to fill the tubes first. "With just those two tubes, you can't carry much water. What would you do if you couldn't find a water source? Where are your packs?"
The bamboo tubes were only about a meter long each, so the two tubes couldn't hold much water for drinking and cooking each day. They'd have to conserve.
Little Ya's Dad said, "We lost all our belongings when we encountered bandits on the road. The only reason we still have these two tubes is because we were wearing them on our backs."
"Where did you all come from?"
"The south."
"What? What happened down south that you had to flee here? We were planning to head south to escape!"
Yang Poxiao and Yang Mingxiao were stunned. If people were fleeing south, what was the point of them going there?
"Six months ago, the south was hit by severe flooding, even worse and longer-lasting than your drought. Many people contracted the plague, and most who didn't flee were burned to death.
We snuck away and avoided the main roads, traveling only mountain paths. We don't know how long we walked before encountering bandits and losing our belongings.
Most of our family members had already died back home. We headed east and met refugees from the southwest on the official road.
Not all of us here are from the south. We banded together with others we met along the way."
"And what happened in the southwest?"
Then a refugee from the southwest in Little Ya's Dad's group spoke up, "Last September, the southwest was hit by a locust plague that decimated all the crops. The locusts kept swarming and growing in number. We saw no relief efforts from the imperial court, so to survive, everyone fled outwards."
Yang Poxiao and Yang Mingxiao were shocked - how isolated were they that they didn't know about these calamities?
It wasn't that they were isolated, it was that the local officials deliberately suppressed the information and sent people to block refugees on the roads, preventing news from spreading.
Later, when the eastern regions faced severe drought, with more fleeing every day, local officials didn't have bandwidth to worry about refugees arriving from elsewhere.
By the time the refugees showed up wandering in Yizhou County, the local officials had already fled with their families and belongings overnight.
Yang Poxiao said, "Then we can only flee west?"
"The west also has drought. Either go to Lingnan or to the northern wastes."
Old Gu Six returned just in time to hear Yang Poxiao's words, mentioning the two places they could go: the northern wastes or Lingnan.
He and his daughter were heading to the northern wastes. As for Elder Zheng and the villagers, they would undoubtedly choose Lingnan based on the plentiful mountains and water there.
Though mosquitoes were numerous, it wasn't an unsolvable problem.
But in the eyes of these people, the northern wastes were worse than Lingnan. Winter lasted half the year there with snowfall taller than a person.
Never mind whether crops could even grow – just the weather alone could kill them.
No need to consider it, they would definitely choose Lingnan. A wet, cold winter was better than freezing to death, right?
Yang Mingxiao asked Old Gu Six, "Brother Six, where do you plan to go?"
Old Gu Six didn't answer him, only asking, "Have you all filled your water?"
Little Ya's Dad said, "Yes, we have."
He had made up his mind – they would follow Old Gu Six, who seemed more reliable.
Old Gu Six nodded, crouching down to process the hunted game he had brought back: two wild chickens and two wild rabbits.
He skinned the rabbits whole. The skins could be used to make fur-lined boots for his daughter, but it wasn't convenient to tan them on the road, so nevermind.
Glancing at the processed fish laid out on the rocks to dry, Old Gu Six split one of the rabbits in half, giving one portion to Little Ya's Dad and the other to Yang Poxiao.
Little Ya's Dad waved it off. "No need, no need, these are your hunted game."
"Don't waste words, just take it. Why must you dawdle? Hurry up and prepare to depart, my daughter is still waiting for me."
Originally going to refuse, Yang Poxiao also didn't dally, taking the half rabbit and wrapping it in leaves.
Little Ya's Dad tearfully accepted the other half, watching as Old Gu Six finished processing the game. Then he took Old Gu Six to examine the fruits they had dug up.
"Old Gu Six, do you know what these are?"
Ah! He called me 'Old Gu Six' and addressed himself too, so I must play along.
Old Gu Six squatted down and used his sword to slice one open. He had never seen it before and didn't recognize it, but his intuition told him it was edible.
However, could he say he didn't recognize it? Of course not, as his daughter was a little fairy, and there was nothing a little fairy didn't know.
"These are all edible. Let's divide the fish first, then leave two people here to wait while we go back and get bags to carry them."
Only his daughter knew how to eat these things, so it wouldn't be too much for him to take a share, would it?
Besides, he had even given them half a rabbit, so having them give up a few potatoes was a fair exchange.
