Chapter 1169

Then he looked toward the Wu River behind Liu Bei.

Cross the river?

"Big Brother, can't we just cross by following the Wu River downstream from here?" Zhang Fei asked, somewhat puzzled.

It would be easy for them to cross, as they were strong and sturdy soldiers.

But the refugees behind them were mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children. To cross the river at this time, not to mention the fact that there were pursuers behind them...

"Following the Wu River downstream will also lead to being chased. Crossing the river now might at least preserve some people."

After saying this, Liu Bei turned his horse around and took the lead in heading toward the Wu River to cross.

In early spring, the second lunar month, the river water that brushed against their waists was icy and bone-chilling.

The riverbed was uneven, and there were slippery stones; one careless step could lead to a fall.

A tacit understanding had already formed among the soldiers; when crossing, most held hands to resist the rushing current.

After Liu Bei led the first batch of soldiers across, the large crowd of bewildered refugees behind them also began to follow Liu Bei's army to cross the river.

"Mother... I'm scared."

Xiao Yu huddled in her mother's arms, looking up at the woman with a pair of eyes filled with terror.

The woman's eyes were also filled with panic, but she still tried her best to pretend to be strong as she comforted the daughter in her arms.

"Yu'er, don't be afraid, don't be afraid." The woman hugged her daughter tightly and said, "Hold onto Mother tightly, don't let go, you must hold onto Mother tightly."

Yu'er, her face covered in dust and tear tracks, nodded and pressed her head against her mother's chest, which was not warm but provided a strange sense of security.

The woman suppressed the fear in her heart, then stepped into the icy, bone-chilling river water.

The next second, the woman's brows furrowed tightly, and she bit down hard on her teeth.

Sharp stones on the riverbed pierced the soles of her worn-out straw sandals, and the icy water washed over her hemp trousers, which were full of holes. The rushing current made the woman feel unsteady the moment she entered the water.

But clutching her daughter, the woman gritted her teeth, her feet pressing firmly against the stones on the riverbed, letting the sharp stones sting her soles.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Every step taken was extremely difficult.

Most of the people beside her were like the woman, struggling to move forward in the icy river.

It was as if the opposite bank, only a few dozen meters away, was a future of a beautiful life.

Suddenly, just as the woman was struggling forward while holding her daughter, something washed down from upstream and bumped into the woman's leg.

Before the woman could react, she was grabbed tightly.

The woman, who was already standing unsteadily, tilted her foot and fell directly into the icy river.

"Yu'er!"

"Yu..."

"Yu'er..."

The woman, struggling constantly in the river, desperately raised her hands, trying to drag her daughter out of the water.

However, every time the river submerged them, the woman swallowed large mouthfuls of the icy, muddy river water.

"Mother..."

"Mother..."

The panicked little girl cried out, her hands grabbing wildly at the surface of the water.

Suddenly, a large hand grabbed the girl's struggling little hand and pulled her out of the river.

A middle-aged man grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her into his arms.

"Cough, cough..."

"Mother, Mother..."

The little girl, held in his arms, pointed at the woman being washed downstream by the river, warm tears gushing from her eyes.

But the woman no longer had the strength to struggle; there was no hope of standing up.

She could only be dragged to the bottom of the river by that person, who was also a miserable soul, one who hadn't even left a name behind, and who was being swept downstream by the river just like her.

Only at the very last moment, as she surfaced, did she cast one final, lingering look at her daughter.

PS: To better understand the terrain, I have added geographical locations to the narrative. ===== CHAPTER 1171 =====