Other than drinking blood, very few people would eat the flesh directly.
Because it was a hassle...
Cooking it was difficult. For one, there was no fire. For another, to cook it, one would have to waste a great deal of energy gathering firewood… With that kind of energy, wouldn't it be better for them to just hurry on to the next town?
Unless they were starving to death, who would want to drink human blood?
Human blood was extremely metallic, even more so than animal blood. Did they really think it was some kind of delicacy?
And although it was a liquid, drinking it actually made you thirstier.
The heavens hadn't rained in three or four months. Water was more precious than food.
In desperate situations, people pursued greater cost-effectiveness.
Naturally, they wouldn't do it.
Of course, when one was starving… some would take a couple of raw bites.
But this was incredibly draining. Raw meat was tough and required a lot of energy to chew. Most of the time, they could only choose to swallow it whole.
But swallowing it whole was also risky... When you were both starving and parched, your throat felt completely clogged. Instead of getting the meat down, you'd end up choking to death… Such cases weren't unheard of.
...
Time passed. The setting sun sank in the west, darkness fell, and the moon peeked out from the horizon.
A hint of coolness entered the scorching air, somewhat invigorating the refugees' spirits.
But as their spirits were lifted, the hunger in their bellies grew even more intense.
GROWL...
The rumbling in his stomach was like thunder.
Qin Fang used to think that was an exaggeration.
He never expected it to be literal.
Stomach acid churned, and violent contractions sent waves of sharp pain through his stomach. Qin Fang furrowed his brow, his forehead beaded with sweat. All he could do was clutch his stomach and endure.
After a long while, the pain subsided slightly. He subconsciously made a swallowing motion.
As a result, his throat was searingly dry, without a drop of saliva. The action only made the walls of his throat stick together, and he felt a sharp, stinging pain.
His face stiffened slightly. He didn't dare to try swallowing again. After a moment's pause, he let out a soft breath and continued on his way.
'Other people transmigrate, and I transmigrate. Even being a death row convict would be much better than being a refugee fleeing a famine, right?'
'At least... I wouldn't be hungry.'
Qin Fang thought silently.
He used these thoughts to distract himself from his discomfort, his feet moving forward mechanically.
He wore a pair of straw sandals scavenged from a corpse, but he could feel that the soles had already worn through again. The bottoms of his feet were covered in blisters upon blisters, some of which had already burst and festered. Every step was like walking on knife points.
His legs had long since gone from sore to numb.
But he knew he couldn't stop. Once he did, he was afraid he'd never get back up.
The next moment, someone would be on top of him, slitting his throat...
He needed to keep his legs moving in this mechanical rhythm… Maybe then he could last a little longer.
He wasn't from this World. He had only arrived three months ago.
What sent him here… was a big truck.
To this day, he still remembered the terrified expression on the truck driver's face—the man looking as if he'd just woken from a dream—in the cab of the truck that had 'flown' at him from the opposite lane of the highway...
Then, with a BOOM, he knew nothing more.
When he woke up again, he had become 'Qin Fang,' a refugee on the road.
The confusion, terror, and horror of his initial arrival.
Then came the pain of starvation, the anger, the despair.
And now… numbness, acceptance, struggle…
It hadn't been an easy process.
In three months on the road, he had passed through many places and seen many things he could never have imagined before.
In the beginning, everyone still had some food, so things were a little better.
But as the food gradually ran out, the fighting began.
For a mouthful of food, he had been forced to fight. Someone had dug a wound into his waist with a hoe... If he hadn't reacted fast enough, he'd be attracting flies by now… That hoe had been aimed at his head.
In a life-or-death moment, his own ferocity was unleashed. Using the Dagger the original owner had carried for self-defense, he got in close and frantically stabbed SHINK SHINK into the other person, losing count of the holes he made.
In the end, the other person died, and he lived.
The man's companions were scared off by his savagery, allowing him to protect his meager rations.
He had been ambushed once while resting in the middle of the night. If the attacker hadn't stepped on a twig, waking him from his half-asleep state, he probably would have been killed in his sleep.
As it was, he took a dagger to the shoulder… but after reacting, he used his own Dagger to slit the attacker's throat.
He had also…
Recalling the journey so far, Qin Fang's expression was numb.
"A hair's breadth from death" wasn't even enough to describe this past experience.
At this thought, he stared blankly at the empty space before him.
"Golden Finger..."
That's right, he had a Golden Finger.
In fact, without this Golden Finger, he most likely wouldn't have survived until today.
'Practice without cease, and you shall surely gain!'
'Basic Dagger Skill (Minor Achievement): 132/1000'
The first time he killed someone, this panel and these words appeared automatically.
It made him realize he was a person with a system.
After careful study, he discovered it was a proficiency panel.
It had no extra features, only one...
If you did something for a long time, the results would become permanent.
When Breaking Through, there would also be an effect similar to an 'Epiphany'.
For example, when the Basic Dagger Skill first appeared, it wasn't 'Minor Achievement,' but rather 'Basic Dagger Skill (entry-level) 1/500'.
Through his research, he found that as long as he wholeheartedly focused on practicing how to use a Dagger—like 'slicing,' 'piercing,' 'stabbing,' and so on...
...the number at the end would tick up and increase.
But it wouldn't work if he was distracted; he had to be completely immersed.
As a result, when he spent over a month grinding the Dagger skill proficiency to 500/500, he had a feeling as if Blessings Arrive in the Heart, as if he had suddenly had a breakthrough.
He looked down at his gaunt hands and, with a reverse grip, pulled out the Dagger from his waist. It was sharpened to a fine edge, but also mottled and worn.
The next moment, the Dagger seemed to come alive in his hand. The sharp blade spun and danced across his fingertips...
...with extreme agility.
Yet it didn't nick his fingers in the slightest.
This was something he couldn't have done before.
But now, he did it with incredible smoothness.
This was all gained from the Epiphany he had when his 'Basic Dagger Skill' was promoted from (entry-level) to (Minor Achievement).
And on the day he was ambushed… if his Basic Dagger Skill hadn't reached 'Minor Achievement,' he probably wouldn't have been able to beat that attacker.
Because he had even learned the 'blocking' and 'parrying' Techniques of the 'Basic Dagger Skill' out of thin air. When he was ambushed, he had subconsciously used these Techniques to successfully turn the tables and kill his opponent.
This discovery invigorated his Spirit.
In the following months, he thought about training other things… like a Fist Technique, or a kicking style.
This would undoubtedly increase his chances of survival.
But the result…
After fumbling through a few punches on his own and nearly seeing stars before collapsing…
...he didn't dare to act so recklessly anymore.
'I'm a refugee fleeing for my life!'
'I have no food, no water. Every bit of stamina is precious…'
'Where's the room for trial and error?'
'To try is to die!'
So, he could only continue to focus on the 'Dagger'. And even then, he could only carve out a little bit of time each day to practice… After three months, his 'Minor Achievement' Dagger skill only had 132 Skill Points…
The vast majority of his time was spent on the road.
'...Survive first, think about the rest later.'
he thought to himself.
Suddenly, a clamor of voices came from up ahead.
"We've reached True Martial County!"
Qin Fang's Spirit was instantly roused, and he looked up.
An official in the last place they passed, 'Yanping City,' had told them that the nearest place from there was True Martial County.
In True Martial County, the Court had already prepared a large amount of supplies for disaster relief to help the refugees!
A chance to live!
A smile appeared on his face. He finally saw a glimmer of hope, and his steps seemed to become a little lighter.
But before the smile could fully blossom, a wail rang out from the front.
"It's terrible!! The soldiers in True Martial County say they don't have any more grain! Th-they're telling us to go to the next county!!!"
Instantly, it was like a single stone stirring a thousand waves.
The previously numb refugees erupted into chaos!