Chapter 4 People are so hungry that they rely on the city moat
In the rain curtain, only gray and white colors remained, and the sound of thunder cannot wake up the silent things.
The originally bright sunshine became extremely gloomy, shining through the gaps between the thick clouds.
However, in this desolate scene, there are skinny figures.
They looked numb and staggered, like ghosts.
But they are not ghosts, they are people, civilians fleeing.
Boom!!
Thunder followed by lightning fell on people, and some people fell to the ground tremblingly, but they could never get up again.
The faces of the remaining people were only numb, and their dull eyes looked in front of them, without looking back at those people who died.
Because such cruel deaths happen all the time in the Kingdom of Rain.
People like them, when they die, they are like water disappearing into the water.
As civilians in a small country, they feel nothing but numbness in their heart.
They didn't know if there is really a way to survive in front of them, but they would definitely die if they stopped. They could only crawl aimlessly towards the capital that was not affected by the war.
Like a wild dog covered in mud...
No, like straw in the field, it will fall when a gust of wind blows. Even if there is no wind, it will still be shaky.
However, there are some people who are different from the walking dead who are almost unconscious.
"Hey, um..."
"Yahiko! You need to use honorifics!"
"I, I know! But..."
Hearing the mutterings of the two little ones behind him, Kumokawa, who was following the refugees, turned his head and sighed deeply. He glanced at the awkward Yahiko, then smiled slightly and said: "If you don't mind, call me Kumokawa, I'm a few years older than you."
Hearing this, Konan behind him was stunned for a moment, and quickly waved her hand: "This, this How can it be possible! You saved us..."
Not paying attention to Konan's care about the title, Kumokawa turned his head and looked at the desolate road ahead.
"Don't worry, we're almost there."
They had walked without knowing how far they had to go. Although the area was still desolate, there were many ruts and horse tracks under their feet.
The horses were not eaten, indicating that there were people in front and there was no shortage of food there.
The number of refugees has visibly increased. They are not just corpses like before. It is obvious that they are gathering here.
Perhaps, in their opinion, as long as they reach the capital, they can survive.
"Konan, Yahiko." Kumokawa asked without looking back, "You were planning to go to the capital in exchange for some food, right?"
"Yes, Kumo, Brother Kumokawa." Konan hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded.
"You don't need to think about it. At this time, only the capital is safe. Only His Highness the Daimyo can protect some people!"
Yahiko shouted, and finally cursed secretly, "Damn ninjas, if it weren't for them..."
"Yahiko! That's enough!" Konan quickly pulled his sleeve to signal him not to continue talking.
After all, in their opinion, the boy in front of them was also a "ninja".
"Ninjas" are cruel and ruthless beings who don't care about the life and death of civilians. They are the ones who brought the war to the Land of Rain.
Yahiko has always thought this way, but he was saved by a "ninja" that he hated, so he has a very ambivalent attitude towards Kumokawa.
Under Yahiko's subtle influence, Konan thought so before, but now she feels inexplicably...
"Brother Kumokawa seems to be different from those ninjas."
Looking at the figure walking in front, Konan's pupils trembled slightly and she recalled the gentleness he shown to them before.
"...Brother Kumokawa." After a moment of silence, Konan asked softly: "You mean, even if we get to the capital, it will be difficult for the two of us to survive?"
As soon as She said these words, Yahiko, who was holding the ninja bag tightly and clamoring to exchange it for bread and fruits when they arrived in the capital, suddenly choked and turned to look at Konan with a look of disbelief.
Konan, how could such an idea come up in your mind?
"I see that you haven't been to the capital yet."
Kumokawa just chuckled, shook his head and said: "However, it is not in line with my character to easily deny the possibility of your survival."
"I'd better go and see it with my own eyes. I happened to be passing by the capital... "
After that, Kumokawa said no more, and ignored Yahiko who was hesitant to speak. He looked at the staggering figure in front of him with slightly curved eyes without any smile.
Compared to Yahiko who was worried about gains and losses, Konan noticed a different meaning in Kumokawa's words.
"Passing by the capital on the way..." Konan lowered her head slightly and thought to herself, "In other words, he doesn't live in the capital?"
Although The Land of Rain also has a one-country-one-village system, it is different from the situation of the five major countries.
Because the territory of the country is so small, the shinobi villages of the Rain Country are not separated from the country. The Rain Hidden Village is within the scope of the capital.
Therefore, the capital city where all the ninjas from Hidden Rain Village gather is already the safest place in the Kingdom of Rain.
With the ability that Kumokawa has shown before, he will definitely get preferential treatment in Amegakure Village, but he didn't choose to stay in the capital?
Why?
Just as Konan lowered her head and thought, she found that Yahiko next to her suddenly stopped at his feet.
"We're here, the capital of the Kingdom of Rain."
Konan subconsciously raised her head when she heard Kumokawa's voice.
However, the moment she looked away, her face also changed into the same expression as Yahiko next to her.
He was frozen in place as if being held in a restraint spell, with only dullness between his immature brows.
As far as the eye can see, outside the capital city, everything is deserted and desolate.
A black rain curtain washed over the two people's eyes. Most of the houses on the left and right were still dilapidated. It was almost dusk, but there was not even a trace of smoke. Rats, insects and ants could be seen everywhere among the broken walls and weeds.
This scene was nothing like what Yahiko and Konan had expected.
Even the putrid smell and piles of corpses here were far beyond anything Yahiko and Konan had ever seen before.
The capital of the Kingdom of Rain is surrounded by a moat that is tens of meters wide and bottomless. There is only one bridge leading to the city, but the city gate is also closed at this time. It is obviously a blockade and martial law. No entry or exit is allowed inside and outside the city.
However, more and more civilians came for a chance of survival, regardless of the cold rain that soaked their bodies.
Countless figures sat slumped beside the city wall, their sleepy eyelids could hardly be raised, and their confused and numb faces looked haggard.
The whole body was skinny and bones, with sunken eye sockets, like a living skeleton, and the hemp-like arms hung at his side, trembling slightly.
If you exhale too much and take in too little air, you may die at any time.
But some are already dead, and some are still breathing.
As for those who are still alive...
sniff! Sniff!
Konan and Yahiko sniffed their noses subconsciously and could smell the endless fishy wind swirling in the air.
However, in addition to the rotten smell in the air, there is also a strange smell.
It's meaty.
The smell of meat was hard to cover up even with the rotting stench of corpses.
"Ugh!!"
Finally, Konan fell to the ground limply and vomited unbearably.
Yahiko's face was also extremely pale, and his body was trembling as he looked at everything outside the capital.
"I don't know whether future generations will record this war, and how they will describe the harm it caused to civilians."
Kumokawa said softly with a touch of pity in his eyes, and the frost on his face had surpassed the nine-month cold winter. "But, I like to describe it with a sentence I once read, that is... "
"The people were so hungry that they leaned against the city's moat, and the thieves took prisoners to eat. Thousands of people a day made hundreds of huge pots, and put the bones and skins in mortars and ate it!"
(End of chapter)