Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 10

But even so, a few lone children always become lambs in the eyes of greedy and selfish people.

Someone had set their sights on the Fu siblings and had been following them all the way.

By the afternoon, during a break, Fu Manman noticed that several strong young men were tailing them, including Liu Si, who had provoked her the previous night. This guy still hadn’t given up.

Just as she was thinking about how to shake them off, a sharp scream suddenly pierced the sky:

“Run! The Dazi are coming!”

The air instantly turned dangerous and tense!

The ground seemed to tremble, and distant screams could be heard.

“Run! The Dazi army kills without blinking. We have to run!” Fu An was so terrified his legs were shaking uncontrollably.

He had personally witnessed two of his playmates having their throats slit by Dazi soldiers—they died on the spot.

This was Fu Manman’s first time encountering such a situation. Dazi army—if she understood correctly, they were probably enemy forces invading from beyond the frontier.

Based on what she’d seen in dramas, these Dazi soldiers were nothing short of bloodthirsty demons.

“Run! Into the woods!”

This was no time to worry about wild animals. Compared to beasts, the Dazi army was far more terrifying!

In an instant, people continuously rushed past the four siblings. Everyone was fleeing into the forest.

Fu Manman led her brothers into the woods.

Once deep inside the dense forest, the crowd scattered, each searching for their own best hiding spot.

The forest was eerily quiet, with only the rustling of wind through fallen leaves.

This silence was terrifying—desolate and deadly. No one dared make a sound, afraid of attracting the man-eating enemy troops.

“Waa… waa…”

Suddenly, a baby’s cry pierced the sky.

The cry was weak, yet in such a tense and quiet environment, it sounded startlingly loud.

The faces of the people hiding and fleeing turned pale with fear. Hostile, resentful eyes shot toward Fu Manman and her siblings.

“Sis! Little brother is crying—what do we do?” Fu An asked, his voice trembling with fear.

He was terrified. If the enemy came, they would kill him—and maybe even eat his baby brother.

“Sister…” Fu An whispered tearfully.

The helpless crying, at this very moment, was unbearably piercing!

These cries could bring death.

If not for the need to stay silent, someone would have already rushed over to curse them out.

Fu Manman hadn’t expected Little Maodan to wake up suddenly. She quickly covered his mouth, leaving his nose free to breathe.

Just then, a man charged toward them, his face murderous and eyes blazing with anger. He reached out to snatch the swaddled baby from Fu Manman’s arms.

Suddenly, a cold arrow whistled through the air—thwack!—piercing straight through the man’s body. Warm blood splattered across Fu Manman’s face.

“Ah! The Dazi are here!”

“Run!”

Fu Manman ignored the blood on her face and pushed aside her fear. Clutching the baby in her arms, she sprinted deeper into the forest.

“Sis… we can’t go any further. There are wild beasts in these woods,” her younger brother’s weak voice called out from behind.

Fu Manman’s legs felt like jelly. With nothing in her stomach and the intense running, her strength was completely drained.

Whoosh… whoosh…

A cold arrow whistled past her ear and thudded into a tree trunk ahead.

There were too many arrows—no amount of strength could help her dodge them all.

“Run! Into the dense forest!” she shouted to her two brothers behind her.

If they didn’t run, they would die faster. Entering the forest might mean facing wild animals, but it also meant a greater chance of survival.

Night was falling, and the autumn chill made the woods feel especially cold and desolate. Leaves fell continuously from the trees, and withered vines and bare trunks were everywhere.

Fu Manman didn’t know how long she had been running. The baby in her arms had stopped crying—she didn’t know if he had cried himself to sleep or if he had died.

The thought that he might be dead made her heart ache sharply.

She thought of her own nonexistent child. She had always loved children. Back then, when she learned she was pregnant, she had been overjoyed and had agreed to that scumbag’s proposal.

After marriage, she immersed herself in prenatal care, education, and the anticipation of the baby’s arrival.

At that time, she believed she was the happiest woman in the world!

But she had never been pregnant. That scumbag had never even touched her—how could she have been pregnant? She had been deceived by him and her sister all along. They had bribed doctors to fake medical reports—all to swindle her out of the shares and assets her father had left her.

Fu Manman opened the tattered swaddling cloth to check if Little Maodan was still breathing.

If he was dead, she would have to bury him right here.

She held her fingers under the child’s nose.

There was breath! Faint, but he was still alive.

Relief washed over her, followed by an overwhelming tenderness. I must keep Little Maodan alive—as a solace for the love I never got to give to that nonexistent child.

After checking on Little Maodan, Fu Manman suddenly realized her two adopted brothers were nowhere in sight.

She spun around, scanning the area. Aside from withered vines, old trees, weeds, and dead leaves, there wasn’t a single human figure in sight.

“Second Brother, Third Brother?” Fu Manman called out several times, but there was no response.

Her two brothers had gotten separated from her! What should she do now?

She had to find them—their supplies and food were with them!

But she was disoriented in the forest. Fu Manman searched for a long time but found no trace of them.

Since she couldn’t find her brothers, she had to come up with another plan. Right now, she needed to figure out how to survive the approaching night.

The real danger was just beginning!

She looked around, searching for a tall tree. She would have to spend the night up there—staying on the ground meant risking being eaten by wild animals.

As darkness deepened, she finally found a tall tree with sturdy, plentiful branches. Tonight, it would be her refuge.

While searching for the tree, she had gathered vines and woven them into a rope. She tied herself securely to the tree, leaving enough space for movement.

She then used more vines to fasten Little Maodan snugly against her chest.

Thankfully, even after years as a wealthy young lady, she hadn’t forgotten the skills she’d learned from her grandparents in the countryside.

Soon, she climbed the tree and used the vines to create a makeshift hammock between the branches where she could sleep.

Testing its sturdiness, Fu Manman lay down with the child in her arms.

She was exhausted! Her legs were sore, numb, and aching, and her feet throbbed dully from the cold.

The last trace of red faded from the sky, and darkness fell completely. Ink-black night enveloped everything, and soon she could see nothing around her.

Fu Manman gazed into the distance, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. Ahead, the depths of the forest seemed like a bottomless abyss.

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you!

The oppressive darkness filled her with fear. She closed her eyes, refusing to look into the abyss ahead. Hold on, endure this. Once the day breaks, everything will be better.

“So cold!” She shivered uncontrollably, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. She was truly afraid of the dark.

It was late autumn. During the day, fleeing for her life had kept her warm enough, but now, at night, the temperature plummeted, and the heavy dew soaked through her thin, ragged clothes. The cold pierced straight to her bones.