Chapter 448: Drought
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
A moment later, two wolf cubs were curled up in the cloth sack in Su Ying’s arms, shivering non-stop.
Su Ying had already noticed these two wolf cubs when she passed by the wolf pack. They were probably injured and were lagging behind the pack. Calling them wolf cubs wasn’t entirely accurate, because they weren’t that small anymore. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have followed the pack to come outside.
However, the wolf pack seemed to be abandoning the cubs, probably because the pack saw that the young ones were injured. Since the wolf pack did not want them, she would bring them back. They would make perfect gifts for her two little ones.
The two little wolf cubs were shivering in the cloth sack hanging on Su Ying’s chest due to the harsh wind!
The desert was vast, so Su Ying rode as fast as she could and enjoyed the thrill of racing.
At the speed of 124 miles per hour, this desert didn’t seem that big. It wouldn’t be long before Su Ying could get out of the desert.
When she felt that the distance was about right, Su Ying slowed down.
If she remembered correctly, she should be able to get out of the desert before dawn.
The closer she got to the edge of the desert, the more corpses Su Ying encountered. Most of the corpses had already been chewed by wild beasts and were incomplete.
She took out a water bag and poured some water into her hand for the two wolf cubs to drink. The two wolf cubs seemed to be able to feel the strong murderous aura around Su Ying and did not dare to behave badly. When they saw that there was water, they obediently drank it.
After traveling for another hour, Su Ying exited the desert.
The night sky before dawn was always exceptionally dark. Even the moonlight hid in the clouds and nothing could be seen in front of her.
Su Ying turned on her high beam lights and suddenly saw a corpse hanging from a tree.
Her eyebrows twitched as she walked toward it. The corpse hanging on the tree had long since been dried by the gusting wind into a desiccated corpse.
Su Ying continued on her journey. At daybreak, she saw the city gate of Luo City from afar.
She put the things into her interspatial store and led a horse out. When she approached the city gate, she found that the city gate was already surrounded by people.
They were all squatting outside the city gate and waiting for it to open.
Su Ying walked up to an old woman carrying a child. When the old woman saw someone approaching, she glanced at Su Ying blankly. Upon seeing that Su Ying was dressed cleanly and was even leading a horse, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Kind Young Master, please do us a favor. My grandchild and I have not eaten for many days. Please, kind Young Master, give my grandchild a bite of food.” The child in the old woman’s arms looked to be only two or three years old. His stomach was bulging due to malnutrition caused by prolonged hunger.
As soon as the old woman opened her mouth, the people sitting around her immediately turned to look at Su Ying. Compared to the scrawny and sallow people in their tattered clothes, Su Ying appeared very incongruous standing among these people.
Su Ying surveyed these zombie-like people. They looked as if they would attack her at any moment.
“I don’t have any food on me, but I’m a doctor. I think your grandson doesn’t look too well. Let’s look for a cooler place and I’ll take a look at him.”
The old woman thanked Su Ying gratefully when she heard her.
Su Ying looked around and brought the old woman to a place that was facing the backs of the people. However, the horse she was leading was too conspicuous. No matter where she went, there were countless pairs of eyes with unfathomable intentions staring at her.
Su Ying secured the horse to a spot some distance away before walking over to the old woman. She took the child from her arms and began giving him an examination.
“This child doesn’t look well. Are there any symptoms of discomfort?”
“Yes, yes. He has been running a fever for the past few days. His fever went up and then went down. He is also trembling. He even vomited white foam during the day. It was really scary. Young Master, you have to save this poor child.”
Su Ying frowned when she heard these symptoms. These were the symptoms of malaria. Although malaria was nothing compared to the various strange viruses that broke out during the apocalypse, it was practically a terminal illness in this era.
Su Ying said after some thought, “Your grandson’s condition isn’t too good. It won’t be so easy to treat him. If the city gate is open tomorrow morning, I’ll bring you two into the city first.”
Upon hearing Su Ying’s words, the old woman kowtowed profusely in gratitude.
Su Ying took out some dry food and handed it to the old woman. “Eat some first. I don’t have much food on me.”
The old woman looked at the half pancake in Su Ying’s hand, but she didn’t rush to stuff it into her mouth. Instead, she carefully put away the pancake in her robes.
“You don’t have to worry. I’ll feed your grandson when he wakes up.”
However, the old woman still did not eat. She only shook her head and said, “I’m not hungry yet. I can still hold on.”
When she saw this, Su Ying didn’t try to persuade her anymore. Perhaps the old woman wouldn’t be willing to eat the pancake until the very last moment.
Before long, the sky turned bright. The dark clouds seemed to have dispersed in an instant, and rays of golden light scattered all over the earth at that moment.
It was daybreak, but the tightly shut city gates still showed no signs of opening.
Right now, it was already past the time to open the city gate. Su Ying asked the old woman, “The city gates have always been closed?”
The old woman nodded. “Yes. I’ve been here for two days, but the gates were not open for the past two days.”
Su Ying didn’t say anything. The City Guardian was probably worried about the disaster victims flooding into the city, so they kept the city gate shut.
The disaster victims flooding the city would indeed cause many problems, but the other party had to at least have other countermeasures instead of letting the disaster victims wait for death outside the city.
Su Ying walked to the city gate and knocked on it. “Open the gate. I’m just passing by on my way to the capital on official business.”
The soldiers behind the city gate heard Su Ying’s shout and opened a small door on the city gate.
A soldier walked out. “You are the one shouting at the door?”
Su Ying nodded. “It’s me. Who told you guys not to open the city gate?”
The soldier saw that Su Ying’s bearing was extraordinary, and she was presumably not a refugee, so he replied, “His Lordship said that these disaster victims would cause trouble if they went in, so he didn’t allow the city gate to be opened.”
Su Ying took out her gold token that permitted access. “I want to bring two people into the city.” As she spoke, she made the old woman sit on her horse.
The soldier didn’t say anything when he saw that one was an old woman and the other was a child. He let Su Ying in straightaway.
When the disaster victims waiting outside the city saw this, they all wanted to follow Su Ying’s group to go in, but the soldiers did not give them the chance and immediately closed the city gate.
To Su Ying’s surprise, the situation in Luo City was not much better either.
She led her horse through the streets of Luo City. Practically all the shops along the streets were closed, and there wasn’t even a single pedestrian on the streets. After walking one round, Su Ying finally found with much difficulty an inn to stay in.
When the shopkeeper saw the grandmother and her grandchild, he was somewhat unwilling to receive them. However, Su Ying could afford to pay, so he could only let them in.
“Is there anything to eat in the inn?” Su Ying asked the waiter.
The waiter said, “We only have dried noodles. Do you want them?”
“Yes. Give me two big bowls.”
“Young Master, I have to inform you upfront. This bowl of noodles is 50 copper coins, and two bowls are 100 copper coins.”
When the old woman heard the price, she was so astounded that she couldn’t speak. This price of 100 copper coins was almost equivalent to the waiter’s monthly salary.
The waiter explained, “Please forgive me, Young Master. There is a drought in Luo City now. There is nothing left. In a few days, even a hundred copper coins won’t be enough to buy a bowl of dried noodles.”
“There’s no water in Luo City at all?”
“No. Even the well water has almost dried up..”
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