Since entering June, there has not been a single drenching rain in the desolate land.

 The wheat fields around Woer Village are already knee-high with seedlings, and the mountain valley is a lush green scene.

Although the rainy season has not yet arrived, the water reservoir was built in time before winter last year and was filled with water throughout the winter. Therefore, this year's dry season is the best year for the village of Woer.

The water pool in Beigou Pasture has completely dried up, and the acanthus and thirsty grass on both sides of the ditch have been gnawed away by the yellow sheep, leaving only the rhizomes under the soil.

The wheat that was harvested last fall after a long winter was almost left, and then it had to cope with the long dry season.

This year's drought has become even more serious. Many villagers from other villages have gone to Helensa City to seek livelihood. Some skilled bricklayers and stonemasons have also gone to Wall Village to build flood control dams for reservoirs and artificial drainage channels.

There are many villagers who go over Paglos Mountain into the Oak Ridge to dig wild vegetables and cassava. Some women are worried about leaving their children at home to starve, so they usually take their children into the mountains to dig wild vegetables.

When passing by the entrance of Wall Village, many people will stop and look towards the village. They want to take a good look at the reservoir that is under construction.

Today, the creek in Wall Village is one of the few creeks flowing with clear water in the deserted land.

　Village people who pass by here will fill their dry water bladders by the stream, then lean over and drink to their full content before continuing over the mountain pass and into Oak Ridge.

 A group of children from Wall Village were sitting under a big tree at the entrance of the village.

Old Sheila would bring little Peter here to sit here every day. When she saw the old and young hungry villagers marching towards Oak Ridge, she would think of herself. If Suldak was lost at that time, Li Li would be in trouble in the future.

Ta is about to get married again, and I am afraid that she will take little Peter to join the army going to Oak Ridge to dig wild vegetables. Life is always full of hardship and helplessness.

 Old Sheila would hug little Peter tightly at this time.

Little Peter, who was held in Old Sheila's arms, stared wide-eyed and refused to be idle for a moment.

He looked curiously at the slave camp not far away. He wanted to check out the mysterious house surrounded by reed mats with his friends, and wanted to know how the kobold slaves lived.

There were several times when I almost got in, but was stopped in time by the adults in the village.

The adults warned these naughty naughty children that those kobolds will eat any kind of meat, and their favorite food is children...

The sun was shining warmly on his body. Little Peter showed the datewood shield and wooden sword in his hands to his friends around him, making those children very envious.

Several old people sitting at the entrance of the village were chatting under the tree, and the topic always turned to Surdak.

 The old man asked: "When Dak comes back this time, he won't leave again, right?"

A tall figure appeared in Old Sheila's heart, and said in a calm voice: "He is now a knight in the guard camp of Helensa City. As long as the plane war mobilization order is issued from above, he may go to the battlefield at any time."

Another old man said with sour envy in his tone: "Yes, little Duck is the first knight to step out of our village of Wall..."

 Old Sheila didn't want to talk about this. Her eyes fell on the brown-haired woman walking out of the wasteland not far away.

Her hair was in a mess, and she carried a swaddled baby on her broad shoulders. She was followed by two others, the older one holding the smaller one.

The woman walked very slowly, her skirt was a little torn, and her skinny thighs were exposed when she walked. Her face was a little yellow, and the child on her back was holding a piece of thin wicker in her hand, and she was crying loudly while putting it in her mouth.

.

The two younger ones, who were as thin as poles, followed the woman. Although it was very difficult to walk, they gritted their teeth and endured it, and walked forward silently.

Their clothes were a little wet, and they had obviously drank water by the stream.

Hearing the child's cry, old Sheila stood up from under the tree and walked towards the family.

 “Which village are you from?”

Old Sheila was standing on the roadside. Her back was so hunched that she had to tilt her head to chat with the woman.

"Yuangang Village..." the woman stopped and said to old Sheila.

She shook the child behind her, trying to coax him to sleep. At least she wouldn't feel too hungry in her dream. As long as she climbed over another ridge, she might be able to find some wild vegetables.

 But the child refused to sleep no matter what, and cried more and more.

 “Come from so far away?”

 Old Sheila looked at the child and stretched out her hand to tease him.

 The woman nodded reluctantly.

 “Where is the father of the child?” Old Sheila asked casually.

"Died on the battlefield..." The woman turned her head and quietly hid the bitterness on her face.

The child on her back suddenly stopped crying. The woman looked back in surprise and saw Old Sheila taking out a piece of chestnut-flour multigrain cake that was so crispy that it fell apart from her arms. She divided the cake into two halves and stuffed it into the cake with a gentle look on her face.

There were two children next to the woman. The older girl wanted to refuse with a shy face. The younger child stretched out his dirty hands early and held half of the pancake in his palm. His eyes were shining and he stared at the

The piece of multigrain cake gave off a strange brilliance.

The youngest child on the back grabbed a piece of snow-white baked wheat cake with both hands and stuffed it into his mouth.

The smaller child held the half piece of multigrain pancake and ran to the woman. His eyes were clearly full of longing, but he still stood on tiptoes and handed it to the woman, saying in a low voice: "Mom, you eat!"

There were tears in the woman's eyes, but she toughened her heart and said to the younger child: "Nanny, we can't take grandma's cake. If we eat grandma, we will starve. If we endure it any longer, we can climb over the ridge ahead.

There are a lot of green wild vegetables behind the mountain."

Old Sheila stretched out her hand and touched the child's face that was flushed by the wind, and said slowly: "A multigrain pancake is nothing. You can endure hunger and walk there, but the two of them are so hungry that they have no strength."

No, you have no right to refuse for him, this is for the children."

 After saying that, he stuffed the remaining half of the multigrain cake into the arms of the older child, then turned around and walked back to the dead tree at the entrance of the village.

The woman stood at the entrance of the village and saw old Sheila sitting under a dead tree. Then she silently continued towards the mountain pass with her two children, one old and one young.

 Old people were sitting under the trees chattering:

“I don’t know how long it will take for it to rain…”

“It’s almost June. It rained heavily in late June last year.”

 “Damn years, damn plane wars!”

 …

 Dusk, sunset.

Birds looking for food in the wilderness are returning to their nests one after another.

 Some villagers slowly climbed over the mountains and walked home.

There are not as many wild vegetables in Oak Ridge as you think. If you want to dig more wild vegetables, you have to go deeper into the mountains.

 The kobold slaves dragged their tired bodies back from the river. After they washed themselves, they waited obediently by the big iron pot in the slave camp.

The aroma of beans from the multigrain porridge cooked in the iron pot wafted far away. The women returning from Oak Ridge passed through Wall Village, and the eyes of the children following them would always look towards the slave camp involuntarily.

 A group of kobold slaves washed themselves by the river and then sat outside the slave camp silently eating grain porridge.

We cook a lot of multigrain porridge, because occasionally Wall villagers come here to mix it with the porridge, just to save a dinner. The wheat bran in this kind of multigrain porridge is a bit harsh on the throat, but it is definitely not unpleasant to drink.

, the cook who is responsible for dividing the porridge will only ensure that each kobold slave gets a large bowl, and the remaining grain porridge will not be too strict, and it is not impossible for the villagers to drink the porridge if they want.

If the cook feels that the porridge is not enough, she will add some water to the pot and mix it casually to make another big pot. Of course, this situation cannot be seen by the old village chief, otherwise he will really curse.

.

Rita and Natasha worked with women from the village and went from the reservoir construction site to the slave camp to cook porridge. The main reason was that the women in the village felt that the food at the reservoir construction site was better.

After all, the cook can still have a working meal every day. Among the women in the village, Rita and Natasha are probably the only ones who don't care about this dinner.

 Old Sheila took little Peter and sat on the big rock next to the slave camp, waiting for them to finish work.

 Andrew and Samira led their horses back from the village. They patrolled the deserted land every few days, and this time they went out for nearly a week.

  Andrew saw little Peter watching the kobold slaves eating cereal porridge eagerly, and licking his lips from time to time. He squatted in front of little Peter, put his arms around his shoulders and asked with a smile:

 “Why, hasn’t our little knight had his dinner yet?”

Little Peter shook his head, reached out and patted the small cloth bag he was carrying, indicating that the bag contained food.

“Then why are you drooling while watching the kobold slaves eating dinner?”

Little Peter replied crisply: "Uncle Andrew, I just want to know what is cooking in the pot. They eat delicious duck!"

 Andrew touched little Peter’s head and said seriously: “That’s not delicious. Are you really going to try it?”

Hearing what Andrew said, little Peter became a little hesitant.

Samira from behind came over, took out an apple from her pocket and gave it to little Peter. Andrew and little Peter made an appointment to test his homework tomorrow morning, and then the two led the horse and walked back to the village.

It wasn't until the two left that the kobolds in the slave camp breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. The villagers couldn't feel the strong murderous aura emanating from the two men, but their noses could smell the smell of blood, whether it was the butcher carried behind Andrew's back.

, or the arrow pot hanging on Samira's waist, all have this strong aura.

 …

 Kobold slaves will go into the work shed to rest after dinner. Their happy-go-lucky character can easily be satisfied no matter where they go.

There is still a little bit of multigrain porridge left in the big iron pot. Rita and Natasha are going to scoop out the porridge and give the big iron pot a good scrubbing. The day's work is over.

The two were chatting about what they wanted to eat for dinner. Suldak came back for dinner tonight, and Natasha wanted to make the dinner more sumptuous. Little Peter sat aside and gnawed on apples. Apples can still be eaten during this season.

Yes, there is only the half-elf archer under Surdak in the village.

 Old Sheila came to Rita, bent down and picked up a large wooden bowl from the large wooden basin, and handed it to Rita.

"You want to eat this?" Rita's eyes widened, looking at the big wooden bowl in old Sheila's hand, and pointed with a spoon at the almost cold multigrain porridge in the iron pot.
To be continued...