Chapter 46 – Cannon-Fodder Old Woman Fleeing Famine (Part 16)

After everyone finished breakfast, Wang Daya instructed them to go in pairs into the roadside bushes to relieve themselves, and then the group prepared to set off again.

After all, the barbarian troops were still in pursuit. These northern invaders ravaged and plundered everywhere they passed—ordinary folks like them had no chance of survival if they were caught.

But they couldn't count on the enemy showing mercy. So, for the past several days, Wang Daya's group only rested a few hours at night, spending every other moment on the road, even marching under the scorching midday sun.

Everyone was exhausted, but no one dared stop. After the previous incident with the nighttime thieves, even the children understood that danger could strike at any moment.

At this point, the most pressing issue was water. Today's temperature had soared to a record-breaking 43°C. The forests had long lost their greenery, and now only deep underground might water still be found.

Thus, the greatest crisis on their journey had arrived. The earth, baked by the sun, was cracked and splitting. The rivers had already dried up the day before, and everyone's lips were cracked and bleeding.

But no one dared to touch the water in their canteens. Wang Daya was now even stricter about rationing water use.

Though she had refilled a few large jars of water back in town, their party consisted of more than a dozen people—plus two donkeys—and their daily water consumption was significant.

Yes, she still had water stored in her space, but in these times, openly appearing well-hydrated would only draw attention and possibly unite others against them.

So now, Wang Daya only dared to secretly refill their jars, hiding any signs of abundance.

Outside sources of water had all but dried up, so she no longer even pretended to go out scouting—better to avoid suspicion altogether.

As the drought worsened, some people had already begun resorting to drinking urine or even blood to survive.

They were being driven to the brink. Those who drank urine did so only after their own water stores had run dry.

But others—those who no longer even had urine—began harboring darker intentions.

Some people had started draining the blood of the fallen by the roadside, using it just to stay alive.

Upon discovering this, Wang Daya made an immediate decision: they would slaughter the two donkeys that night and make dried donkey meat to bring with them.

After all, if others found out they still had enough water to keep donkeys alive, the group would be attacked without hesitation.

That night, the Lin family found a hidden cave to do the slaughter. Though they couldn't fully dry the meat overnight with smoke alone, it was the best they could manage under the circumstances.

That evening, they even feasted luxuriously on donkey meat—better to eat it now than carry the extra weight tomorrow.

By the time everything was done, the sky had already lightened. With the donkeys gone, they could no longer use the carts.

So the group discussed it and agreed: everyone would minimize their luggage, abandoning any nonessential items to lighten their load.

After they left, Wang Daya deliberately stayed at the back, and once they were about 100 meters from the cave, she used her psychic ability to collect the discarded items into her space.

For some reason, she couldn't help but want to hoard everything—as long as there was room in her space, she couldn't feel at ease unless she filled it.

By now, the youngest child in their group was already seven, and after these days of travel, they had barely managed to keep up. Even with blisters on their feet, none of them complained.

The adults had no better solution—they too had loads to carry, and couldn't afford to pamper the children anymore.

Meanwhile, Qian Lan was leading her villagers on the road. They were still a hundred kilometers behind Wang Daya's group.

The reason the villagers followed her was simple: she used her system to open a shop and bought water to distribute to them.

But Qian Lan now faced a major problem—she was running out of money. At this rate, there was no way she could continue supplying water for the entire village.

She was on the brink of a breakdown.

From time to time, she'd see people collapse on the road, and she'd secretly loot the corpses for coins, but others had already done the same before her. What little she found was nowhere near enough.

Worse, the situation was spiraling downward. Cannibalism had begun.

It started with those blood-drinkers from earlier—now no longer satisfied with blood alone.

Their logic: "These dying people won't survive much longer anyway. Our food is gone, so why not eat them to stay alive?"

And so, the worst depths of human depravity were unleashed. Once Pandora's box was opened, the demons within could never be sealed again.

Back in Wang Daya's group, after discovering this horrific development, they began carrying knives at all times. Even at night, they set night watches in pairs. The two older boys were assigned shifts too—they simply didn't have enough people.

Because now, anyone who dared eat the nearly-dead today… might target the living tomorrow.

Those who had eaten human flesh had a strange red glint in their eyes, and when the Lin family saw them, they instinctively stayed far away—these people had become monsters in human skin.

But the wicked don't always let you go just because you avoid them. Having tasted human meat, they began targeting healthy people, especially children.

And the Lin family had five children—a tempting target. At first, the cannibals hesitated because of the machetes, but as time passed, escape seemed less and less possible.

That evening, while Wang Daya was accompanying her three grandsons to relieve themselves, several large men with red, bloodshot eyes surrounded them.

Their eyes were filled with malice. Their hair was filthy and tangled. The moment they saw the children, drool began dripping from their mouths.

They looked like zombies—monsters cloaked in human skin.

But this was exactly what Wang Daya had planned—she had deliberately used the children to lure these predators out.

She needed to make an example—a warning to all those with bad intentions.

She used her psychic power to put the children to sleep, then used her ability to directly destroy the intruders' brain nerves, killing them instantly.

Luckily, there were only four of them. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared use such a power, as it consumed too much of her ability.

Not long after Wang Daya left with the children, another gang of cannibals appeared.

They had come, hoping to "share the meal," only to find the corpses of their own kind—the former ringleaders.

They stared at each other. They all understood—Wang Daya's group was not to be messed with.

But they still got something: the four corpses were now their food.

They quickly dragged the bodies away, and once the flattened grass rebounded, no one would ever know what had happened there.

Wang Daya, after carrying the kids to a safer place, gently laid them down, modified some of their memories, and woke them up.

She did this not only to protect them from trauma, but more importantly—to ensure no one discovered her powers, not even the children.

As for those men being dragged away by their fellow cannibals—Wang Daya had, of course, sensed it with her psychic powers.

But this was their own doing. She had no intention of interfering.

There were simply too many cannibals now—not something she could change on her own.

Wang Daya had no grand savior complex. Her priority had always been her mission—and she had never been one to "save the world."