Chapter 12: Drought-Stricken Barren Years (Part One)

Hot.

This was Qin Huai's first impression of this land.

The sun hung in the sky, scorching the earth; the dazzling sunlight was so piercing it was nearly impossible to keep one's eyes open. The ground was as hard as stone, cracked into irregular blocks, with not a trace of green visible in the deep fissures. A gust of wind brought only waves of heat and dust, and even the sky was veiled in a layer of blazing red.

"Barren land stretching a thousand li"—Qin Huai finally understood this phrase with profound clarity for the first time.

Qin Huai touched the soil; it was hard and rough, yet he felt no warmth. He then deliberately kicked a stone; the stone didn't budge, and his foot felt no pain whatsoever.

Very good; he was likely just a spectator within this dream sequence.

But where was the protagonist?

This was a vast wilderness; everywhere one looked stood nothing but endless yellow earth, a few withered trees, and a monotonous color scheme that induced suffocation. There were not even large rocks to block one's view, no people, no animals, not even wild grass; if one wanted to hide, there was nowhere to do so.

Qin Huai was bewildered.

Surely the system hadn't tricked him into a dream sequence just to make him start a desert survival challenge?

There was no need for survival here; he felt nothing. Even with the sun in the sky so fierce, he felt no heat. A normal person staying in such a place for a few dozen minutes would likely succumb to heatstroke and faint.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Qin Huai's feet moved.

A small bump swelled up.

Qin Huai:!!!

Accompanied by a shriek, Qin Huai leaped aside. The bump grew larger and larger until a head burst forth from the earth.

This description might sound strange, but it truly was bursting forth from the earth. The person's hair and face were covered in dry soil, and there was dirt in their mouth as well. The earth-bursted individual spat "Pei pei pei" several times but couldn't clear it all, so they finally gave up, closed their mouth, swallowed the dirt, struggled to crawl out, and just like that, a dirt person appeared out of thin air.

"Why is it still daytime?" The person spoke with a young female voice, which sounded vaguely familiar at first listen.

The person used dirty hands to wipe their even dirtier face, smearing the soil around before peeling off clumps of dirt, barely revealing facial features recognizable as human.

Chen Chen Huihong.

A younger version of Chen Chen Huihong.

Although the person was younger and looked somewhat inhuman, Qin Huai was absolutely certain he had not mistaken her; this was Chen Chen Huihong!

Watching the young version of Chen Chen Huihong, who was lively to an unprecedented degree, Qin Huai silently uttered two words: "Awesome."

Rich people really are different; when he dreamed, he usually dreamed of becoming overnight rich.

When Chen Chen Huihong dreamed, it was desert survival where she buried herself in the soil, only a hair's breadth away from a zombie siege battle royale.

"Still no people." Chen Chen Huihong looked around. "I've already changed locations three or four times and haven't seen a single soul. Did I go the wrong way?"

"No, I was heading south."

Having said that, Chen Chen Huihong looked up at the sky: "Southeast... this is... east is... which way was I supposed to go again?"

After muttering to herself, Chen Chen Huihong shook her head to negate her own thoughts, her fingers restlessly tapping everywhere, wishing she could make eight hundred small movements per second.

"This way then!" Finally, Chen Chen Huihong successfully pointed south. "Let's walk for ten days first and see if we can meet anyone."

Qin Huai:?

A yellow earth marathon?

This dream was too hardcore.

And then Chen Chen Huihong truly began to walk.

The kind that never stopped for a moment.

She walked from day into night, eating no food and drinking no water. Only after the moon hung among the branches would she find a slightly flat spot, lie down on the ground, sleep for a few hours, wake up, pull a thin, narrow strip of tree bark from her clothes, roll it into a ball, stuff it into her mouth, chew vigorously a couple of times, swallow, and then continue walking.

With such stamina and endurance, calling her a superhuman would not be an exaggeration.

Chen Chen Huihong walked like this for six days.

If Chen Chen Huihong was fleeing famine, then directionally speaking, she was heading the right way.

Although the land remained cracked and dry, the sun still scorched, and the dust and heat waves permeating the air had not diminished, Qin Huai detected a hint of hidden vitality from the arid earth, the dried-up riverbeds, the abandoned farmlands, the dilapidated mud houses, and the deserted old wells.

People had once lived here.

But the famine brought by the drought had forced people to drag their families along and leave their homeland. Chen Chen Huihong was like a leisurely player who had accidentally wandered into a wilderness survival game; every time she passed a village, she would search inside for something.

Of course, she couldn't find anything good.

Clothes and food were certainly nonexistent. As for water, she could draw some from deep wells, but it was all filthy, turbid water; Chen Chen Huihong drew some once and then poured it back.

For ordinary farming households, a single bowl, spoon, chopstick, or piece of wood was precious property. All Chen Chen Huihong could scavenge from the houses were rotten pieces of wood so decayed that even as firewood they wouldn't burn hot enough, withered grass that could barely provide warmth if spread on the ground, crushed stones, and piles of burnt garbage that one couldn't even tell what they used to be.

Of course, it wasn't entirely without extra gains.

From a crack in the wall of a brick-and-tile house that clearly belonged to a landlord, Chen Chen Huihong pried out a few copper coins and found two damaged wooden toys: a wooden figure that vaguely resembled a human but was missing arms and legs, and a small wooden horse with only half a body. Residual red paint remained on the little horse, showing it had once been an exquisite toy.

Chen Chen Huihong carefully tucked these good items into her clothes, keeping them close to her body. Like a player venturing through a game world, she wanted to pick up everything she saw and stuff it into her backpack.

And so, Chen Chen Huihong walked for thirteen days, stopping here and there to pick things up.

Qin Huai also walked alongside Chen Chen Huihong for thirteen days.

If one were to ask Qin Huai what his feelings were, he truly had none. This was Chen Chen Huihong's dream; he would not feel thirsty, hungry, tired, or sleepy. Apart from the plot being somewhat boring and the scenes overly realistic, it was no different from watching a movie. Moreover, during these thirteen days, Qin Huai was not entirely without discovery; he noticed that Chen Chen Huihong seemed to be learning something.

Chen Chen Huihong was constantly searching for traces of people, yet she was not obsessed with actually finding them. Her route made this clear: if she truly wanted to find people and join a larger group, she should have taken the main roads, or at the very least, the small paths trodden by humans. But Chen Chen Huihong refused; she insisted on taking 'roads' that clearly led to barren mountains and remote peaks, places so rarely visited by humans that even the most wicked mapmakers wouldn't mark them as paths.

Fortunately, this area was so drought-stricken that not even wild grass grew; otherwise, with Chen Chen Huihong's way of walking, she would have inevitably wandered deep into the primeval forests.

Chen Chen Huihong was not obsessed with finding people, but she was very interested in the environments where people lived.

Whenever she found a village, she insisted on carefully inspecting every single room: the stove, the bed, the firewood shed, the courtyard. Even if the mud walls had been burnt and mostly collapsed, leaving no trace of their original form, she would still carefully observe these ruins and broken walls.

This feeling was a bit like humans observing small animals. She didn't know, she didn't understand, yet she was very interested.

It was too strange.

Another night arrived.

Clouds obscured the moon; "so dark one cannot see one's own fingers when stretching out a hand" became a literal description. Chen Chen Huihong lay on the ground with her eyes closed, sleeping. The small wooden horse tucked at her waist fell to the ground, emitting a faint sound. Chen Chen Huihong didn't hear it; she turned over and continued sleeping.

Soon, new sounds came from the distance.

It was the sound of footsteps.

Very light, yet seemingly chaotic.

Qin Huai stood up and looked in the direction from which the sound came. Through the extremely faint moonlight, he vaguely saw a small black shadow, stumbling unsteadily. It seemed like a young fawn born not long ago that had not yet learned to walk, staggering and rushing toward where Chen Chen Huihong was.

The little fawn drew closer.

When the fawn was only four or five meters away from Chen Chen Huihong, Qin Huai realized this was not an animal; it seemed to be a child. A particularly thin and small child who couldn't even stand up, having to use both hands and feet to half-run, half-crawl forward.

Chen Chen Huihong woke up.

She sat up, immediately picked up the small wooden horse that had fallen on the ground, tilted her head, and stared at the child not far away. The child also saw Chen Chen Huihong standing up and dared not move for a moment. The two remained locked in a standoff until Chen Chen Huihong spoke: "Who is it?"

It was a female voice.

Only then did the child dare to move, trembling as they stood up, lifting their head to try to see who was before them. But because it was too dark, they could only make out a black silhouette, bulging and appearing both tall and strong.

Of course, the reason they appeared tall and strong was that Chen Chen Huihong had stuffed a great deal of withered grass, which she had carefully selected, into her clothes. As an excellent scavenger, she hadn't even let the withered grass go to waste.

"My name is Hui Niang," the child said with a trembling voice. Whether out of fear or something else, the voice was extremely hoarse.

Chen Chen Huihong looked at Hui Niang and said, "Come here."

Hui Niang dared not move.

"Why are you here?" Chen Chen Huihong asked next.

"I... I..." Hui Niang tilted her head slightly, seemingly checking to see if there were others nearby. Only after confirming that Chen Chen Huihong was alone did she summon the courage to speak: "I got separated from my father and mother."

Seeing that Chen Chen Huihong did not answer, Hui Niang asked again: "Sis... Sister, did you... get separated too?"

Chen Chen Huihong still did not answer. The two, one big and one small, sat quietly like that, you looking at me, I looking at you. Neither could see the other clearly, and neither dared to move, resembling two stone statues under the moonlight, making Qin Huai, the bystander, feel extremely out of place.

Finally, Chen Chen Huihong spoke: "Yes, I got separated too."

Hui Niang instantly became joyful, as if she had found her own kind. She stood up and cautiously walked toward Chen Chen Huihong. Seeing that Chen Chen Huihong made no move, her boldness grew even greater; she shuffled directly in front of Chen Chen Huihong and sat down facing her.

"Is Sister also from Yu County?" Hui Niang asked, opening her eyes wide.

"No." Chen Chen Huihong shook her head, thought for a moment, and said, "I am... from next door."

Hui Niang was obviously easy to fool; even such a perfunctory answer received her affirmative nod. She continued asking: "Then where is Sister going?"

"I don't know."

"Where are you going?" Chen Chen Huihong asked in return.

Hui Niang fell silent.

Under the moonlight, Qin Huai inexplicably felt that the contours of Hui Niang's face were somewhat familiar.

"I don't know." Hui Niang's voice sounded even more hoarse. "I got separated from my father and mother."

"Why did you get separated?" With just a few sentences, Chen Chen Huihong had seized the initiative.

"I was too hungry, couldn't walk, and fell asleep." Hui Niang's voice trembled slightly. "When I woke up, my father and mother were gone."

"I'm so hungry, and so thirsty. I wanted to find my father and mother, but the sky was too dark and I couldn't see. I seem to have gone the wrong way, and then I met Sister."

Chen Chen Huihong looked at the thin, small figure before her, thought for a moment, pulled a small piece of tree bark from her clothes, hesitated for a while, tore off a small strip, and handed it to Hui Niang.

"This is all there is."

"There's an abandoned well nearby; it should still have water. When dawn breaks, go draw some yourself... I'll think of a way to help you." Having said that, Chen Chen Huihong lay down. "Sleep, and don't disturb me."

Seeing Chen Chen Huihong lie down straight like that, Hui Niang stood stunned on the spot. She glanced at the tree bark in her hand, hesitated for a moment, stuffed the bark into her mouth, chewed with effort, and swallowed it with difficulty. Only then did she cautiously lie down beside Chen Chen Huihong, watching her uneasily. It was not until she heard Chen Chen Huihong's steady breathing and confirmed she was asleep that she finally felt relieved enough to lie flat and close her eyes.

Soon, Hui Niang fell asleep.

The sky was already beginning to brighten. Chen Chen Huihong, who should have been asleep, opened her eyes. Borrowing the faint daylight, she carefully examined Hui Niang, turned over, picked up the little horse that had fallen off again, held it in her hand, and continued sleeping.

Behind Chen Chen Huihong stood Qin Huai, his eyes widened like copper bells.

However faint the daylight was, it was clearer than moonlight, enough for Qin Huai to see Hui Niang's face clearly.

It was a standard face of a child from a poor family: thin, small, and very dark. Severe malnutrition had prevented her features from fully developing; she wasn't ugly, but she was definitely not good-looking.

But this face was too familiar to Qin Huai.

This was Chen Chen Chen Huihui!

When he first saw the child during the day, she still wore her hair in twin braids and a dress; she was fair-skinned, cute, obedient, sensible, lively, cheerful, sunny, and positive—a good child who even dreamed of her mother in her sleep.

But once she entered her mother's dream, she had become a refugee.

Looking at the mother and daughter refugees sleeping soundly, Qin Huai couldn't help but sigh: "This is truly..."

"... a dream of maternal kindness and filial piety."

(End of Chapter)