I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

Before, after eating and digesting my food, I would lie on the sofa and watch TV.

What I once thought was an ordinary life now seems like an unattainable happiness.

Zhao Ningning didn't respond to his comment. She had been bound to the system for over a year, and based on the system prompts, "no permission" meant that permission would be granted later; otherwise, it meant "entry prohibited."

Perhaps, when all the rooms in the house are unlocked, my whole family will be able to go inside...

Tonight, Wang Xiufeng led two men from the village on guard duty.

This area was wide open and unobstructed, so they didn't have to go too far and could walk around the group in groups.

He would take a walk every now and then, and nothing unexpected happened in the village until dawn.

The two men went home to rest, and their families complained: "There was nothing to do tonight, but we still made you keep watch. Isn't this just torture?"

How can you be in good spirits after not sleeping all night and having to travel during the day?

A more reasonable man rebuked his family, telling them to stop complaining.

The other one was hugging his wife and going along with her complaints.

They walked for another two days. On the twelfth day, the group from Wangli Village was constantly being overtaken by other groups fleeing famine.

The village head wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the sun in the sky.

It feels like it's getting hotter and hotter these past few days.

On the thirteenth day, as the procession was moving slowly forward, a man suddenly fell straight to the ground.

His family members were startled and quickly helped him lean against the car.

The doctor went to take a look and said it was heatstroke.

There was still some time before noon, so the village headman had the children go down the main road and find an open space large enough for the group to rest.

"It's so hot!" Zhao Ningning went in and out of the space, feeling a wave of heat hit her face every time.

The scorching heat was almost enough to burn her face.

Ning's mother wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's so hot, it feels like we're in an oven."

"It's unbearable!!" Ning's father sighed. He was sitting in the front of the car driving, and gusts of hot air were blowing in front of him. Even with an ice curling stone in hand, he was about to suffer from heatstroke.

If he weren't still in the queue, he would have loved to wear an old man's vest and shorts to catch the bus.

"Could it be that the natural disaster has escalated?" Zhao Ningning said. "High temperatures and drought come together."

"Possibly." Ning's mother weighed the ice curling bag in her hand, the ice water inside making a splashing sound.

If you pour a pot of ice into it, it won't melt into water until the afternoon.

It was only noon today, and all the ice in the curling set had melted.

The melted ice water wasn't wasted either; Zhao Ningning put it in a bucket, and when the temperature was about right, she could take it out to feed the horses and mules.

He filled a few more jugs with ice and took them outside. Just as he got outside, a flying insect swatted at his hand.

Zhao Ningning was startled, thinking it was a cicada that had come from somewhere, and quickly brushed it off her hand.

"What's wrong?" Ning's mother asked as she came out of the carriage. "Come in quickly, dinner is ready."

"It's nothing, a bug just flew by." Zhao Ningning handed the ice curling stone to her father and went to eat lunch in the carriage.

It was hot today, so Ning's mom didn't bring out any hot food. Instead, she brought out noodles that Zhao Ningning had cooked in advance on the way. The noodles had been chilled in ice water beforehand, and when she took them out of the space, they were just as good as freshly made.

Next, add the prepared sauce and blanched vegetables, and finally add Ningning's favorite tomato slices and mix. A bowl of refreshing cold noodles is ready.

Zhao Ningning has a small appetite, so her mother didn't give her any other meat, but only added a handful of braised beef slices when mixing her cold noodles.

After the mother and daughter finished eating, they went inside to replace the father and son who were outside.

Holding the ice curling stone, Zhao Ningning sighed inwardly, "If I had known the refrigerator would be refreshed, I would have frozen a few large ice blocks in it. That way, we could put some in the carriage and it wouldn't be so hot."

Ning's mother: "What are you thinking? You're already doing very well to have what you have now."

Zhao Ningning was about to say something when an insect swarmed towards her. Enraged, Zhao Ningning grabbed it with one hand, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it to death.

Ning's mother: ...

Although Ningning has never been afraid of these insects since she was little, every time her mother sees her stepping on them, she still has to exclaim: "Well done!"

After trampling him to death, Zhao Ningning sat back down on the hood of the car, patted her chest, and said, "That scared me to death! It always rams into my face; this is the second time it's hit me today!"

"Why are there so many bugs?" Ning's mother asked.

Due to the drought, although some cicadas survived, only a small portion did not make it out of the parched earth.

There were other insects as well, and we'd occasionally run into them along the way, but this was the first time I'd seen one flying onto people in broad daylight like today... It's the first time I've seen one like this in the last few days.

Ning's mother looked down at the insect on the ground, and what she saw was astonishing. Although the insect had been crushed by Zhao Ningning, it was still clear from its wings and legs that it was a locust!

After finishing his meal, Ning's father wiped his mouth and came out, asking, "What's wrong? I just heard Ningning say she was terrified."

Ning's mother: "Old Zhao, a locust just bumped into Ningning, and Ningning stepped on it and killed it."

"Well done!" Ning's father praised, "No wonder she's my daughter."

"I didn't ask you to praise me!" Zhao Ningning said, "My mom said something's not right!"

The group observed the scene from the front of the vehicle for a while and discovered that every now and then, some families in the procession would encounter locusts.

Even though there are locusts every time, we've never encountered such a high density. Ning's father was shocked when he thought of the locust plague in the south that he had heard about before fleeing the famine.

It seems that the mountain still couldn't stop the locusts... A locust plague is coming!

Not daring to delay, Ning's father went over to the village head and the others after they finished eating and told them about the locusts they had encountered that day.

Upon hearing this, the village head looked serious and nodded, saying, "I understand."

Before deciding to flee the famine with his family, he asked around among many people. He not only knew about the locust plague, but he also knew that... these were no ordinary locusts!

If they were still in the village, and each household closed their doors and windows and stored their food and water properly, the locusts would be helpless against them.

But now we're on the road to escape famine. Those with carriages can at least get some shelter, but those without carriages, are they just supposed to tough it out?

—No, that can't be done.

The village chief didn't know what Zhao Lao Er had said to the village head, but he knew that after listening, the village head paced back and forth, trampling down the withered grass on the ground.

Annoyed by his behavior, the village chief went over and interrupted him, asking, "What's wrong? What did Zhao Lao Er say to you?"

"Sigh!" The village head sighed heavily. "Old Li, the second brother just said that he saw several locusts running into people today, and when I looked just now, it was indeed true."

The two men's expressions turned grim when the locusts were mentioned. The reason they led the village out of the famine was because of wave after wave of disasters in the further south. If they didn't flee, the village would become increasingly chaotic due to the influx of people from the south.

"Stop talking, go think of a way to deal with it!" The village chief patted the village head on the shoulder, telling him to go back and inform his family first, so that they could prepare more dry food. If they really encountered locusts, they probably wouldn't have time to cook.

Zhao Ningning's family is also trying to find a solution.

Unfortunately, none of them had ever seen anything like this before. During a rat infestation, they could think of ways to contain it, but now, in the middle of nowhere, the only thing they could think of was to hide inside the carriage.

Before setting off, the village head told the group about the locust plague. Upon hearing this news, the group immediately erupted in excitement.

For families with carriages, it was easier; before the procession left, they could go around the carriages and see if there were any gaps, and stuff anything that was tied to the outside of the carriage into the carriage.

Those without carriages are in a terrible situation; their carts are filled with all their belongings! If the locusts were to destroy even a little bit of it, they would be heartbroken!

Wang Xiaohua and her mother were also worried.

There were only the mother and daughter in their family. When they fled the famine, Wang Xiaohua's mother took out all her savings, which was only enough to buy a cart.

The cart was loaded with their family's grain, pots and pans, clothes, dried vegetables...

And there was that tattered quilt that the thieves stole from our group a couple of days ago, mistaking it for food.

Wang Yan and her daughter took the tattered quilt out of the bag, gathered all the edible things in the car into a bag, wrapped it tightly in the quilt.

After wrapping it up, it was covered with a sheet, and finally covered with an oilcloth, making it completely secure.

Even if locusts come, with several thick layers in between, there will still be time to salvage the food inside.

Many villagers do the same thing as Xiaohua's mother. They store away all the edible things, just in case they are just scaring themselves. At worst, it will just be a little trouble to take the grain out again.

In the event of a locust plague, protecting the food supplies is crucial for survival.

It was too hot today, and the team needed to pack up their food, so they didn't set off again until late afternoon.

Once on the official road, they would occasionally encounter other groups fleeing famine. Fortunately, everyone was focused on their journey and had no time to pay attention to the other groups.

With a long rest period during the day, the journey in the afternoon would take longer. It wasn't until it was too dark to see the road that the village head led the team down to the bottom of the main road to rest.

Even at night, the group still encountered a few locusts from time to time; the number hadn't increased, but it hadn't decreased either.

Some families remained cautious, carefully hiding the remaining food after their meal.

Some lazy people thought they had nothing to do during the day, and that the village head was just scaring people. After eating, they would tie up the grain sacks, stuff them into the cart, and that would be the end of it.

The night passed, and they set off again early the next morning. The villagers started their journey with hope, then complained as their feet blistered and their bodies ached, and now they were starting to feel numb. Fortunately, the village head said that evening that they would reach Lingbei Prefecture in three more days at most.

Suspended by this radish, the people in the group walked more than 30 miles in one go this morning.

The village head was thinking of letting the children move forward to find a place to park and lead the group to rest when, unexpectedly, his own carriage started making a rattling noise.

The noise sounded like something was hitting the carriage.

The village headman had a bad feeling.

Turning around, the sky began to darken. The villagers were still rejoicing, wondering if it was going to rain, but in the blink of an eye, they saw locusts falling from the sky like raindrops.

That swarm of black "clouds" was actually... locusts!

The village head shouted, "Locusts! Hide!"

The villagers immediately squatted down, covering their heads.

Wang Xiaohua's mother quickly grabbed her daughter and wrapped a coarse cloth around their heads and bodies.

On Zhao Ningning's side, when the locusts started swarming the carriage, Ningning's father jumped off the train. He and Ningning's mother were tall, and together they tied up the mule and horse, then wrapped a sheet over their heads.

This at least protects their heads from being bitten by locusts.

After doing all that, the family of four got into the car and closed the windows and doors tightly.

The sound of the impact kept getting louder.

A swarm of locusts, darkening the sky, appeared above the procession. Before long, as if they had discovered "delicious" food in the procession, more and more locusts flew down from the sky, landing on the vehicles, the livestock, and even the people.

When the locusts came, Granny Qian let out a howl and wrapped herself up tightly in a bed sheet. Old Man Zhao also hurriedly pulled out a piece of clothing from his bundle and wrapped it around himself.

The eldest Zhao family followed suit, as did the third brother and his family; they all wrapped themselves in clothes so that their heads wouldn't be exposed.

Locusts not only eat grain, but they also bite people!

Even when covered in clothes, the sight of insects crawling all over one's body is still quite horrifying.

Even through the thin layer of clothing, Zhao Huilan heard the rustling of insects on her clothes, and was so frightened that she dared not make a sound.

At this moment, she was jealous and resentful.

Before, when she bullied Wu Ya, she would often brag to her about how much her parents doted on her. Now it seems that her second uncle and his family are much better to Wu Ya; they actually let that brat into the carriage…

She was clearly the Zhao family's most deserving daughter! If only they hadn't separated from the family, she could ride in the carriage, she could even get into the carriage herself…

Just then, Zhao Huilan felt a sharp, piercing pain in her ankle, as if she had been pricked by a needle. Zhao Huilan was shocked: This, this is locusts biting her ankle!

Zhao Huilan stomped her feet, trying to shake off the locusts, but she couldn't shake them off no matter how hard she tried. Instead, her movements created a gap in the clothes she was wearing, and a locust crawled in and bit her hand.

After feeling the pain, Zhao Huilan carefully crushed the locust that had crawled in and threw it out.

Envy and jealousy nearly consumed her reason.

If only there were no Wuya!

At this moment, Wu Ya, Zhao Ningning, is sitting in the car eating an ice pop.

The weather was already hot, and with the doors and windows closed, it felt like a sauna.

The popsicles started melting as soon as they were taken out, so Zhao Ningning could only keep eating them.

Ning's dad has a big mouth, so he quickly finished the popsicle, wiped his mouth, and started worrying about the situation outside.

Worrying won't help; he can't see anyway.

Ning's father: "Sigh, I wonder what the situation is outside. It would be great if we could install glass in the car windows."

"I can 'see' it!" Zhao Ningning finished her popsicle, put away the small wooden stick, and said, "I can go back to the space and use the space card's perspective to take a look."

When she was in the space, she could "see" the outside situation through the space before she went out. The perspective was as if she was standing on a small building, and she could see through the space to the situation inside.

Without hesitation, Zhao Ningning flashed back into her spatial dimension and looked outside.

"Do you think the locusts might chew through the carriages?" Ning's father asked.