Along the way, Su Ming'an walked and became increasingly aware of the pain and poverty of this world.
Many vagrants lay by the roadside, lying on straw mats like opium addicts of ancient times, chewing shriveled yellow tobacco, staring blankly at the sky.
Sleepless bodies lay under the bridge, frozen to death for days, their hair floating like water plants by the river. Their bodies had been stripped bare, naked and shriveled, even their clothes were stripped away without dignity.
As soon as they saw stray dogs and cats, people driven by hunger would rush at them, hacking desperately with machetes, short swords, and hoes, just to eat a little meat.
When someone fell, people would circle like vultures pecking at carrion, frantically snatching any item from the corpse.
But upon seeing the strong soldiers, people would scurry like rats into dark places, fearing being killed by these plunderers.
Constantly living in fear, constantly freezing and starving, constantly without hope.
