PFC Chapter 933: Dead Silence
Chapter 933: Dead Silence
Upon seeing his aggressive action, Xiaobai let out an uneasy hissing sound.
At the same time, they spontaneously ran to the roadside.
Lu Qingqing had already targeted the man, and as he approached, she drew back the bowstring.
With a 'whoosh' of an arrow, the man's maniacal smile froze, and he fell straight backward.
At this moment, the two refugees in front of him also rushed over.
Seeing that the two were in almost identical situations, Lu Qingqing quickly shot out an arrow.
Two arrows in quick succession took down both men.
Looking at the three corpses on the ground, she covered her mouth and nose, stood up, and loudly warned the people behind her.
Upon hearing Lu Qingqing say that she had just killed a suspected plague patient.
The first reaction of everyone in the group was to touch the masks on their faces.
I breathed a sigh of relief after making sure it was properly on.
At the very front of the procession, Lu Qingqing finished giving the warning and sat back down on the carriage shaft.
Qin Lang drove the car quickly across the far left side of the road.
Old Zhuang and Sun Yue followed closely behind them.
The Wu family, who followed closely behind them, also imitated their behavior.
Cover your mouth and nose, and drive quickly past the very edge of the road.
The people behind them all looked pretty much the same.
When the infected soldiers passed by at the very back of the column...
Upon seeing the appearance of the three corpses, their fear reached its peak.
They didn't want to end up like those three, neither human nor ghost, suffering so much torment before they died.
Some soldiers broke down in despair and burst into tears.
Hearing the crying behind him in the line, Bai Song felt a lump in his throat.
But what distressed him even more was that there were also plague patients outside of Fushan Town.
Moreover, the condition of those three people was clearly much more serious than that of the people in their group.
In other words, the road ahead is not necessarily safe.
What Bai Song thought of was something that most people had also thought of after calming down.
The entire afternoon was completely silent in the queue.
Even Sun Laohai's youngest grandson sensed that something was wrong.
Even though the scarf on his face was uncomfortable, he didn't dare to pull it down and sat obediently in the basket on the right side of the wheelbarrow.
Later, they encountered two more groups of refugees, neither of whom were very large.
A group of four or five refugees were shot dead by Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang as soon as they showed any intention to attack.
The group of more than ten people they encountered later retreated to the ditch by the roadside as soon as they saw so many of them.
They were on high alert as the group approached.
It suggests that they'll flee at any moment if they sense something is wrong.
Fortunately, neither side had any malicious intent.
Only after Lu Qingqing's group had gone far away did those people climb out of the ditch.
He tightened the bundle on his back and continued walking.
As Lu Qingqing and her group walked until dark, they still hadn't encountered any more villages or towns where they could stay.
That night, the group continued to spend the night outdoors.
Based on previous experience, first clear away the haystacks and clods of dirt on the campsite.
They also lit fires around the camp to drive away any snakes, insects, or rodents that might be present.
Only then did they begin setting up the tents.
The tent belonging to Lu Qingqing, Old Man Zhuang, and the other three was located at the innermost part of the camp.
The four of them set up the tent and got to work.
Because the incident happened so suddenly, they didn't prepare much food before they left.
The dry rations I had on hand were only enough to last me a day or two.
Now, having just fetched water during the day, I plan to knead dough and make some flatbread.
However, as the temperature rises day by day, they are afraid that the dry food will spoil if left for too long, so they don't plan to make too much.
Make enough pancakes to last eight or nine days, then that's fine.
Because of the plague, the four of them did not stand too close together while working.
They each took some grain and began kneading dough.
Because they were fleeing famine, they were physically exhausted on the way.
Old Zhuang also specifically instructed them to add some lard and salt to the flour.
These two things are considered the best in the eyes of ordinary people in this era.
It's only because Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang hunted a lot of wild boars before, otherwise they would have run out of lard long ago.
The four of them got to work in an orderly fashion.
When the other families had set up their tents and were preparing to cook dinner, they smelled the aroma of flatbread.
The aroma produced by baking white flour with lard is so enticing that it makes many people salivate.
In particular, the soldiers and villagers had been traveling all day and were starving.
Many people simply took out the cold, dry rations from their bundles and started eating them dry.
Those who are more particular will take it to the fire, intending to heat it up before eating.
Not far away, Sun Xiaobao smelled the aroma of the pancakes and swallowed hard.
He tugged at his mother's sleeve and whispered:
"Mom, can I eat white flour cakes on my birthday? They smell so good!"
Just as Dahai's wife was about to politely refuse her son's words, her father-in-law spoke up.
"Honey, you and Dahai's wife go and knead some dough, we'll make some pancakes too."
Old Hai's wife laid out the mattress before coming over and saying in a low voice:
"Honey, our family's dry rations, if we eat them sparingly, will last us three more days."
Shall we do it now?
I've noticed that it's getting warmer every day.
Don't make it and then let it spoil; that would be such a waste!
Sun Laohai tugged at his wife's sleeve, gesturing for her to look towards Lu Qingqing's tent on the right front.
"You see Uncle Zhuang over there? They're making dry rations."
Our family has never traveled far from home, unlike Uncle Zhuang and his family who came all the way from the capital.
Their experience is definitely more extensive than ours.
Once we're out in the world, let's learn from others.
In any case, it can't hurt.
Old Hai's wife nodded.
"Okay, let's do it too."
But how much of this dry rations should we make? I'm still worried they'll spoil.
Sun Laohai looked at his own wheelbarrow, calculated the amount of food his family ate each day, and said:
"Don't make too much, just enough for five or six days."
By the way, I heard the woman from the East Courtyard tell Brother Lu.
If you keep going, you'll probably come across towns along the way.
Use less of that flour.
When we come across a grain store, we'll exchange our white flour for more coarse grains, so the whole family can eat for a few more days.
Old Hai's wife agreed, leaving Old Hai to watch the child, while she called her daughter-in-law to cook.
At this moment, the Wu family also smelled the aroma of the pancakes.
His family has a lot of stored grain, unlike Sun Laohai's family who are more frugal.
The shopkeeper Wu, smelling the aroma, swallowed hard and called to his wife to make pancakes as well.
He even specifically instructed her to make some plain white flour pancakes separately.
In the camp, many families started cooking after smelling the aroma.
Only then did they realize that they hadn't fetched enough water during the day.
The little water we stored is enough for drinking.
But if you're going to make dough and pancakes, that's a whole different story.
But we can't skip making dry rations.
With no other option, they had to swallow their pride and borrow water from people they knew.
Fortunately, there are always some cautious people who have stored up extra water.
When it comes to making dry rations, Baisong naturally hasn't neglected that either.
Unlike these villagers who had no experience in fleeing famine, he actually led several hundred people on a journey that lasted for several months.
They were well aware of the possible situations they might encounter on their journey to escape famine.
Things like villagers not having water to make dry food are not a problem for him.
During the day, when fetching water, he would even set aside half of a carriage to carry water.
However, he is now also facing a dilemma.
Another soldier has started coughing!
For the safety of his other brothers, he not only separated those who were coughing.
Even soldiers who had been in contact with people who were coughing were placed in a separate area.