Chapter 257: Bone and flesh on the road

Meat.

Meat.

These famine victims clearly can say 'caught money,' 'caught person'......

Even, catching big grievances, big heads.

But strangely, what they say is, '【I caught meat】'.

What is meat used for?

It goes without saying.

They've gone mad.

They've gone mad.

This group of famine victims simply cannot be considered human.

They, they had long since strayed far from humanity.

The old man, staying here to do good, was actually deceived by these hypocritical ghosts.

The citizens of this city......

They, they as long as they catch a person and linger......

Will turn into evil ghosts, evil ghosts, devouring people bite by bite!

That matter has already passed several days.

Chen Er has somewhat forgotten what exactly happened amidst the chaos back then.

He only vaguely remembers that after the evil ghost's howl, he struggled forward, grabbed the old man's arm, dragged the vacant-eyed old man back, and desperately ran toward the city outskirts.

He also couldn't describe the scene he saw at that time.

Those famine victims stretched out their arms, chasing on and on.

Even those famine victims lacking the strength to run stretched out their arms, following the bloody scent on the old man's feet, crawling toward them.

Those pallid, slender arms covered the famine victims' faces; he occasionally looked back in horror, only vaguely seeing mouth after mouth opened widest, reeking of rot, like bloody basins.

They live by chasing food, and he and the old man, these two 'food,' can avoid being eaten only with all their might.

Days......

How can days become this bitter?

Why, why whenever he feels days are already hard to endure, days always become even harder?

Not understood.

Not understood.

Chen Er wiped the tears from his face, gathered his thoughts.

He staggered up, first went to the shore to fetch some raw water, then returned to hide under the old withered tree, he lifted the grass-woven mat, and once again saw the old man who was dazed and had a death wish.

Since the old man injured his legs, he has continually had a slight low fever.

They had no herbs, nor dared to light a fire, fearing the smoke would attract nearby famine victims, at which point they would utterly lose their lives.

These past days, they could only make do with eating the little cold hard dry rations in his pocket, supplemented with some raw water.

The old man already had injuries; after eating the dry rations, he became even more muddled.

The old man closed his eyes and occasionally murmured; amidst a large amount of meaningless speech, Chen Er had also managed to discern a bit.

What this person calls most often is actually '【Ah Di】'.

He occasionally says, '【Ah Di, I am sorry to you.】'

He occasionally also says, '【Ah Di, the world cannot do without you.】'

Rarely, he also says, '【What to do, ah Ah Di, Ah Brother, after all these years, you're still so stupid, still only dragging people down......】'

The old man would close his eyes, tears flowing, saying much and much, finally repeating only one sentence over and over.

He says, '【Rest assured, I will go find Xiao Ai; I will surely retrieve the child of Yu Xiaoniangzi.】'

Everyone has their own past.

But Chen Er can faintly hear that this person's past seems especially abundant.

Today's situation is similar; Chen Er barely fed the old man some water, and also heard him muttering these idle chatter over and over.

After listening for a while, Chen Er suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

He bent down, used the back of his hand to test the old man's forehead, whose temperature was increasingly fading; after a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice:

"Old sir...... should I not have brought you here from Chong'an out of my own selfishness?"

Initially, when this old man was first seen, he had kind eyes and benevolent brows, his eyes smiling, resembling exactly the old immortals found only in storybooks.

The old man was affable; after chatting a little, he told him many secrets of the Yu family, and also said that some things couldn't be told directly, but if he brought him back to Cang Cheng, he could surely exchange for many rewards......

Back then, if he hadn't heard these, he wouldn't have dared to boldly decide to bring the person back to Cang Cheng.

If he hadn't done such a mistake, the old man now should be peacefully idling in Chong'an, enjoying his blessings.

Now, it's only been a short month, a mere thousand-li journey, and he has tormented the person into this state......

That band of conscience-less famine victims, while truly horrible, and the world's situation also truly difficult......

But his parents, since childhood, have always told him to always be a good person.

What lies before is truly a living person!

Oneself, this time perhaps truly going to cause the death of a living person!

Chen Er felt immense regret, nearly on the verge of tears, yet the old man kept his eyes closed, giving no response.

Chen Er roughly wiped his face, then murmured to encourage himself:

"It won't happen, it won't happen......"

"A few days ago, a few days ago, wasn't there also a merchant caravan that happened to stray into the vicinity of Tancheng and pass by?"

They, they said they saw our ragged clothes and feared we were also famine victims who had eaten only white meat, so they refused to take us along, but they agreed to help us send a letter back to Cang Cheng......

Old man, believe me, my new employer is formidable! She is beautiful and kind-hearted; not only does she not mind my past dishonesty, she gave me a job, and even under the eyes of countless people, she took away the corpse that the prefect had punished and buried it.

She is a truly good-hearted person; she will not abandon us.

The old man still had not uttered a word.

Chen Er did not dare to reach out to check his breath; he could only grit his teeth, clutch his head, lie on the ground and wail bitterly:

She will come, she will come......

She will surely come, she, she should come, right?

If she does not come, who will come to save them......

Who else could come to save this world?

Rely on those corrupt officials who levy harsh taxes and miscellaneous fees, their bellies full of grease?

Rely on those vicious lackeys who rush into homes and snatch at the raise of a hand?

In his whole life, he has only encountered such a kind-hearted person, a good employer.

Only she would say to him——

"Forget about paying the year-end tax; take your old mother and move to Cang Cheng, report my name, and no one will dare to make things difficult for you and your mother."

"Rest assured, not only will I not cause trouble, from now on you will be able to eat a full meal, indeed you will be able to eat your fill at every meal. After all, I have made a grand vow to let every person on this land eat their fill and live well."

A person who aspires to let everyone on this land eat their fill, if even they cannot come to save them......

Who else could come?

Perhaps only......

No one will come at all.

No one will come at all.

Chen Er clutched his head, lying on the ground, as something hot and salty rolled from his eyes, scraping across his unwashed cheeks for several days, flowing over his mouth full of wails and screams, finally returning to the earth.

People.

Always like this.

Always like this.

Because of a drop of tear one comes, and in the end one must again depart by a drop of tear.

Everyone is like this, there will be no variables.

Chen Er bowed his body to the ground, crying until he could barely breathe, almost feeling his flesh and blood would drown in this silent land......

However, just then.

"Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump——"

On that originally silent land, a vigorous heartbeat sounded once again.

The dry rations had been eaten up two days earlier, and Chen Er almost felt this was a hallucination born of his hunger-addled mind.

However, however, indeed there were several riders crossing the boundless wasteland, thundering with iron hooves, coming straight toward them.

Under the boundless sunset, one rider rode out first, discovering him first.

The rider's silhouette against the light made his features indistinct, but the brilliant sunlight behind him stabbed the eyes of onlookers with pain.

Chen Er wept, mouth agape, blankly watching all this.

Du Shanü, meanwhile, reined in her horse and stopped, asking:

"Here, here, why are you crying...... Have you eaten?"

?? This period is destined to be sorrowful, but soon the female emperor's majesty will shroud the entire land~