Song Ning didn't say anything. In fact, she felt that she had gone a bit too far just now.

Song Ning had assumed these people were all well-trained professionals, but it turned out they were just ordinary people.

It must be said, their courage is truly commendable.

"This time it's different from the past. To put it bluntly, it's like they're going to their deaths, so they all came voluntarily. Yuanzhou is such a big place, and only these five came."

"But even if we go, what can we do? It's just sending them to their deaths for nothing."

He Qiu sighed slightly: "I know, but there's no other way. If we don't go, people will be in a panic. If things continue like this, the outsiders won't even be able to break in before things fall into chaos inside. To stabilize the people's hearts, we have to go this time."

"I've already made arrangements for their families. They all know that there's a high chance they won't be coming back, but they still want to go, so..."

Song Ning felt a pang of sadness.

"Lord He, rest assured, we will definitely get things done."

He Qiu knew that Song Ning was good at business, but this matter was not as simple as doing business.

One wrong step, and it could be fatal.

If the Duke's mansion blames him then, how will he explain himself?

On second thought, if the enemy really did invade, he probably wouldn't live to see that day.

Well, since she insisted on going, he wouldn't stop her. Besides, after hearing what Song Ning said earlier, he felt much more at ease.

To be honest, he thought that maybe this Miss Song really could do it.

Song Ning knew this person wouldn't believe her, but she wouldn't do anything unprepared. Since she was going, she naturally wanted to come back unharmed.

"Lord He, if Yuanzhou City can hold out for half a month, good news will come from the north."

He Qiu's expression brightened, and he nodded solemnly.

When the group set off, He Qiu escorted them to the city gate.

"Don't worry, Miss Song, I will defend Yuanzhou to the death and hold out for half a month."

Song Ning's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded.

The half-month figure was actually made up by her.

But people always need hope, otherwise she was really afraid that Yuanzhou City wouldn't last until Xie Linzhou returned.

After waving goodbye, the six set off. Snowflakes began to fall again, and soon they disappeared from sight.

The group entered the mountain before dark. The first half of the mountain was relatively easy to walk, with many traces of people having walked there, and the path was fairly flat.

They climbed only a short distance before starting to move horizontally.

Before moving forward, Song Ning instructed, "Be careful. Although the enemy troops are all on the main road, the possibility of them coming up the mountain cannot be ruled out."

"Don't worry, Miss Song, it's from our province."

As darkness fell, Song Ning took out her flashlight from her spatial storage.

The other five were extremely curious and asked, "Miss Song, what is this? It looks a little different."

"This is for lighting, it's similar to a torch."

Torch? That's strange. They've all used torches before; they have flames on them. But this thing doesn't have a flame, and it doesn't get hot when you get close.

Before she could ask anything else, Song Ning interrupted, "Alright, let's hurry on our way. None of this is important."

Seeing that Song Ning didn't want to say more, the others didn't bother him any further and followed behind him.

They walked until late at night, and no one knew what time it was. The further they went, the more difficult the road became.

There was basically no road ahead, so they had to find their own way through the overgrown weeds.

Song Ning, who was leading the group, stopped, turned off his flashlight, and signaled everyone to be quiet.

Then, after listening quietly for a while, he whispered, "It's relatively safe here. Let's rest here for a bit."

The remaining five people didn't feel tired, but it was too dark and they had trouble finding their way.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Song Ning took some hot water from her spatial storage, turned on her flashlight, gathered some firewood, and built a fire.

Snowflakes were still falling from the sky, and they were falling heavier and heavier. They had to hurry, because if the snow got too thick, the road ahead would be even more difficult to travel.

The group took the bowls and wondered again, "Where did the hot water come from?"

And this bowl—I didn't see Miss Song carrying a bowl during the day.

But they wisely didn't ask. They didn't care, as long as they had hot water to drink.

After eating, I wanted to rest for a while, but it was too cold. I couldn't sit still because I was too cold to do anything.

So, after discussing it, everyone decided that there was no point in resting and they should continue on their way.

Before dawn, we crossed a small hill.

Song Ning picked up her binoculars and looked from a high vantage point. There were at least three more hills ahead. Once they crossed them, they should reach the valley marked on the map.

"If you are tired or feel unwell, please tell me. Don't push yourself."

Although the mountain road was tiring, Song Ning had come here as a refugee. He had endured all kinds of hardships on the road when he fled famine. The roads there were much more difficult to travel, but they still made it through.

She also learned about the people behind her; they were all from the lower classes who did all sorts of heavy and tiring work on a daily basis. Walking on mountain roads was not a big problem for them.

When the group reached the second hilltop, the sky began to brighten, but the sun was not visible due to the snow.

Song Ning held a compass in her hand, which she had bought just in case when she went hiking.

I never thought that I'd only used it a few times in my past life, but it'd come in handy in this one.

According to the map, they should be heading north. If the compass is working, then they haven't gone astray.

Standing on the second hilltop, Song Ning looked down. The vegetation was sparse, and he could see the path below from above.

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