Uncle Zhang cooked a thin porridge, distributing it first to the frail children and the elderly, leaving the young men and women for last.
Only once everyone had a bowl of hot porridge did Uncle Zhang find a moment to ask about their situation. As it turned out, they had all come from the northernmost town near Beisha City. Recently, the Beidi Army had frequently appeared there, engaging in slaughter, looting, and the abduction of women—committing every evil imaginable. They had already massacred several border villages.
With no means of survival left, they had no choice but to flee south. However, Beisha City was hardly better off than the border regions. Compounded by the extreme weather this year, the citizens of Beisha had faced near-total crop failure, and famine had already set in. Having heard that the area before Yuancheng might accept refugees, they had traveled together, looking out for one another at night and huddling together for warmth.
Chapter 55