Chapter 43 The Journey to Repay the Gods

"Is that what everyone says?" Mu Xi couldn't help but look at Mu Xun, who was already riding a horse beside her.

Whether it was the original owner or the current her, the only way for her to obtain information from the outside world was through Mu Xun.

She had no way of knowing anything that Mu Xun didn't mention to her.

This is not a good thing.

Mu Xi secretly pondered how to establish her own information channels, while verbally expressing her gratitude to Qi Yingyu: "Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Boss Qi. Don't worry, your matters will be resolved properly one by one. The servant you sent is also very good; I am very satisfied with him and will certainly treat him well."

Qi Yingyu tilted her head back and smiled like a Buddha: "Hahaha... I wish I could follow the young master every day, so what am I worried about? It's Bao Fan's good fortune to be able to follow the young master."

Mu Xun urged, "Your Highness, it's getting late, we should set off."

That's about all for now.

Qi Yingyu then stepped aside.

Subsequently, Mu Xi's convoy rumbled off into the morning sun, embarking on its "tribute to the gods" journey.

Mu Xi was in a carriage with her two maids, Tao'er and Zhe Lan. Following closely behind was Doctor Luo with Bao Fan in another carriage, then four maids in a separate carriage, and finally ten carriages carrying luggage of various sizes.

Mu Xi opened the wooden brocade box that Qi Yingyu had specially sent in the carriage. Inside the box was a small bottle of ointment, but it was actually a box full of gold leaves, which really stunned her.

Such generosity! Mu Xi sighed in admiration, closed the brocade box, and handed it to Zhe Lan on her right: "Keep it, it's something I put a lot of effort into."

Qi Yingyu is really thoughtful and generous. I wonder what's hidden in this box of gold leaves. Anyway, she has her two children under her control now, so she's not afraid of Qi Yingyu having any ulterior motives.

What she had just heard made Mu Xi reconsider the matter of "offering thanks to the gods." She never expected that her resurrection and visits to brothels would not make her famous, but this "divine intervention" had played a significant role.

So, once they reach Yangyi Altar, shouldn't they create some kind of "auspicious omen" or "divine revelation," first granting this person the identity of a male shaman, then establishing some kind of association to recruit followers...?

Mu Xi was lost in thought inside the carriage as the large procession left Moyang City.

As soon as they left the city, they heard the sound of a baby crying outside the carriage.

Mu Xi lifted the curtain of the car window and looked in the direction of the crying.

Outside the city gate, there were many thatched huts erected on both sides of the official road for some unknown reason.

The shed was filled with disheveled, elderly, sick, and disabled refugees.

The old woman with white hair, curled up, stared at the chipped earthenware bowl in her hand with her cloudy eyes, her white eyebrows covered with bits of grass.

The woman kneeling beside her on a straw mat, her faded dress stained with mud, held a baby in her arms whose cries were barely audible. Her deep brown pupils reflected the empty rice bag, and her hollow gaze, like that of a dry well, was fixed on the eaves of the distant city walls.

The lame old man leaned against the side of the thatched hut, using a charred wooden stick as a support. His right eye was covered with a blood-soaked burlap smear, his left eye was bloodshot, and his cracked lips moved as half a broken tooth was visible.

A young child was curled up in the mud, his face covered in grass ash, his almond-shaped eyes swollen like walnuts, and tear streaks like broken pearls formed salt frost on his cheekbones.

The hunchbacked old man huddled on the drafty bamboo mat, coughing. His bluish-gray beard trembled with each breath, and a layer of gray cloud covered his sunken eye sockets. Dark brown bloodstains were seeping into the tattered handkerchief he clutched with his knuckles.

The wheelbarrow lay askew by the roadside, the middle-aged man pushing it slumped on the ground, and his elderly father, wrapped in a moldy straw mat, sat on the cart, his sunken eyes filled with the last glimmer of hope, his bluish-purple fingertips still clutching half a piece of clay.

A commotion suddenly arose among the refugees, and the city guards whipped the crowd away.

Amidst the dust kicked up by horses' hooves, the muffled thud of a baby falling to the ground mingled with hoarse cries. A ragged old man stumbled and fell into a roadside ditch, his murky eyes reflecting the dirty water teeming with duckweed.

The three-year-old child clung to the overturned basket, his round eyes reflecting the cold glint of the soldier's blade as it slashed down. His cat-like face was still covered with bits of tree bark he had gnawed on the night before.

Mu Xi frowned: "What's going on?"

Tao'er and Ze Lan also looked out.

Most of the bodyguards around the original owner had been trained to be taciturn and cautious.

Tao'er, being naturally clever and talkative, was always the first to speak: "It's just that there was a flood somewhere, or an earthquake somewhere, and these refugees fled here but can't enter the city, so they can only live outside the city."

Yansheng is surrounded by the sea on all sides. Although the inland area is vast, it is crisscrossed by rivers and lakes. Most of the year is rainy season, and floods are frequent. In this context, it is common for people to be displaced.

"Why can't we enter the city when we're fleeing?" The original owner of this body had little knowledge of worldly affairs, so Mu Xi had to start learning all over again.

"Moyang City is the residence of kings and nobles. How can it be defiled by refugees and beggars? Moreover..." Before Tao'er could finish speaking, Mu Xun, who was riding with her, urged her to come up on horseback.

Mu Xun blocked Mu Xi's view from his horse: "It's windy outside the city, Your Highness, don't look out. Even if these people see us, it won't be good."

In the past, the few times the original owner went out, he was always trapped in the carriage like this. Occasionally, when he wanted to look out, someone would immediately remind him.

Mu Xi disliked Tao'er's statement and Mu Xun's excuse, and asked only, "If those refugees are not allowed to enter the city, they will have nowhere to find a way to survive, so why are they still gathered here? Aren't they just waiting to starve to death?"

"We're staying here to wait for food, of course." Before Mu Xun could answer, Tao'er spoke up first, "I heard that every few days the Bureau of Works sends people out of the city to select able-bodied adults to build the royal mausoleum in the western suburbs. These old and weak people are the families of the able-bodied men, so we're staying here to wait for them to come back so we can bring back food."

"I see," Mu Xi said, and then she lowered the carriage curtain.

Within the city of Moyang, flowers bloom in abundance; outside the city, people are displaced and destitute. This is the Great Yu Kingdom established by the Mu clan.

The convoy continued on its way, and soon left the official road and went up the mountain road.

The mountain road was rugged, and the carriage bounced back and forth, the wheels crunching over the gravel.

Mu Xi leaned against the car wall, closing her eyes to rest, but the mountain road was really difficult to travel, so she couldn't help but lift the curtain of the car window to look out again.

The area the carriage was traveling through was sparsely populated, with steep cliffs on one side and dense forests on the other.

Previously, Mu Xun said that the area outside the city was not peaceful and was infested with bandits. Wouldn't this place be a perfect spot for highway robbery?

The moment this thought arose, a deafening roar came from above.

"Ah, no! Protect the prince!" Mu Xun shouted.

The carriage shook violently and suddenly accelerated.

Before Mu Xi could react, she was thrown heavily back into the carriage.

Outside the carriage, the sounds of boulders rolling down and people and horses falling were incessant.

Just as Mu Xi thought "Oh no," the carriage was struck by a huge rock. Immediately afterward, the world spun around, and Tao'er and Zhe Lan's screams rang in her ears. The three of them were inside the carriage, tumbling and rolling around like clothes in a washing machine.