Chapter 86

He nodded. "Really, if you listen carefully, I can hear Chen Wu snoring."

Si Yanmo was amused by him, and her movements touched something hard, making her feel helpless and shy.

I was supposed to rest for the night, but I was exhausted by the revelry.

When everything was finished, light began to shine through the window. The two had only slept for less than half an hour when they were awakened by a rooster crowing.

She had intended to sleep a little longer in the carriage, but the carriage itself didn't make things any easier for her.

Zhou Yanqing noticed that she was feeling unwell, so he pulled her into his arms and put his hand warmer in her arms to warm her up.

"We're almost there, just hang in there a little longer, okay?" He said, as if he were coaxing a child.

Si Yanmo rested her head on his shoulder, feeling drowsy. "When we get to town, we should find a nice inn. I want to sleep a little longer."

"Okay, okay, whatever you say."

Fortunately, the journey wasn't too long, and the group arrived in town in two hours.

To save time and prevent the old woman from working in vain, Zhou Yanqing had Sano and Chen Wu go with the old woman to find her son, while she took Si Yanmo to an inn to rest.

Now, with the freezing weather, although we are still on the border of Qin, we are not short of food, but we are using up too much charcoal, and the prices of inns are soaring.

The good rooms at the first few inns only cost 200 coins, but now they've all gone up to 1000 coins.

Zhou Yanqing began to worry about whether she had enough money for her journey.

They also had to conceal their itinerary and guard against the Sak King discovering it. In Qin, there were always ways to get around it, but once they entered Sak, things might be different.

Sano's journey was relatively smooth; he quickly found the old woman's son and even encountered an acquaintance among the disaster victims.

"Brother Sayong!"

He walked toward a burly-looking man standing in the corner.

The man held a large flatbread in his hand, taking a bite every now and then while cautiously observing his surroundings. When his gaze met the man's, the man looked somewhat confused, but his eyes quickly lit up again.

"You are... young master?"

“It’s me!” Sano nodded quickly.

Sayon stood up in disbelief. "You've grown so much?"

As if remembering something, he quickly pulled the man into the alley. "Young Master, what are you doing here? Weren't you sent as a hostage by that bastard?"

Sayon was a servant in Sano's household before the tragedy occurred, and he often played with Sano when they were children. He was also the first martial arts Sano learned.

After King Sak set his sights on their family, Sano's father quickly dismissed the servants in the house, fearing they would be implicated.

Sayong is one of them.

He was raised by the Sano family and had an exceptionally deep affection for them.

He was initially unwilling to leave, but Sano's father told him that because he had been at home for so many years, they treated him like their own child, and now he only hoped that one of the children in the family could escape.

Only by living well can they have a chance to meet again in the future.

Sayong remembered the agreement and had been secretly investigating the Sano family. He was more anxious than anyone else when he learned that Sano had been sent to Qin, but there was nothing he could do.

Unlike Sachi, his first thought after the frost disaster wasn't to find Sano, but to rescue Sano's parents.

Unfortunately, they were outnumbered and had no opportunity to help Sano, so they came to Qin to see if they could help him. They never expected to meet here.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Sano explained his current situation to him.

“Brother Sayong, to tell you the truth, this time I want to go back to Sak not only to rescue my parents, but also to prevent our Sawa people from being oppressed.”

He asked Sayon about the current situation of the Sawa people.

After King Sak drove them out of Sak, some of the wealthy chose to travel by water to Qi Valley, while others, like Sak, went to a more southerly part of Qin.

They had enough money to travel further, so they could avoid the freezing weather and prevent the Uk people from exterminating them.

Ordinary people suffered. The lucky ones managed to escape to Qin and find work to make a living, but most of them had to hide in Sak.

"As far as I know, there are only about a hundred people here," Sayong said.

When he heard about Sano's plan, he never imagined that the immature boy from back then would have such lofty ambitions.

"Don't worry, if you want to do it, I'll definitely be the first to follow you."

He was all alone, and his closest relatives were the Sano family. Now that the master and mistress had been captured by King Sak, he would follow the young master wherever he went.

With Sayon's help, Sano's situation became much easier.

Since arriving here, Sayong has been able to work for nearby businesses because of his strength. Although he has no place to stay, he never has to worry about food.

After finishing his work each day, he would go to the nearby Yunji Temple to rest with the disaster victims and share his food with some of the children.

Over time, the disaster victims here came to respect him greatly.

He would also introduce some people to different merchants to earn a little extra money for a meal.

"In that case, could you take me to meet them, Brother Sayong?"

Throughout history, the most important thing for anyone wanting to start a rebellion is to have their own army.

Sano silently touched the silver notes hidden in his clothes. After obtaining Sayon's permission, he went to a stall selling cakes and bought a lot of cakes and buns.

"Young Master, what's wrong...?"

“I can’t go empty-handed,” Sano laughed.

Sayong, however, felt it was unnecessary. "You also came from Qin'an City. Right now, with the freezing weather, food and charcoal are the most expensive items. You should save some for yourself."

Sano was reminded by him, "Yes, and we also need to buy some charcoal."

He called Chen Wu, and the three of them went to buy some charcoal. This was no longer considered good charcoal, but its price was comparable to that of coal.

It's easy to imagine how severe the freezing disaster in Sak was; even prices in Qin were rising.

Sayong felt sorry for the silver notes he had given away.

Sano, however, didn't take it seriously. He believed that you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; if you want to win people's hearts, you can't be stingy at this time.

Light snowflakes were still falling from the sky as the three of them pulled their belongings in a horse-drawn carriage.

Sano followed Sayong in front, while Chen Wu followed behind the carriage. It's always good to be cautious; they were carrying so much food and charcoal so openly, it would be disastrous if someone robbed them.

Fortunately, all of them were skilled in martial arts, and none of them were courting death, so they successfully arrived at the nearest Yunji Temple.

Yunji Temple is not as magnificent as Digu Temple, but because of the legend of Yunji, it is the only temple that accepts disaster victims.

The fortune tellers in the temple would set up several sheds in the backyard, surrounded by dry grass, to provide shelter for disaster victims or homeless people.

Even though it's snowing heavily now, having a place like this at least provides shelter.

Sayong led the two to the backyard, where they saw shivering women holding their children under the simple thatched huts.

It was still daytime, and the men with some strength would try to find odd jobs outside to earn money for a day's meals.

Women and children could only huddle together for warmth. A few skilled seamstresses used their frozen, red hands to sew shoes, hoping to earn a few coins.

Sano had seen similar scenes in Qin, but at least it was warm there. This place was different; it was drafty everywhere, and even if there was food, one might freeze to death.

He remembered Zhou Yanqing's words: as the leader, he could not give up.

He was not yet the leader, but he knew that someone had to step forward and free his people from this suffering.

He wiped his nose and asked Sayong and Chenwu to help him distribute the food to everyone.

At first, the group of women were at a loss, but when they heard Sayon say that Sano had given it to them, they all knelt down and kowtowed to express their gratitude, along with their children.

"Not enough," he muttered to himself, thinking that it should at least be a place to shelter these people from the wind and rain, and also some warm cotton clothes.

Just then, Chen Wu suddenly shouted, "Young Master, come and see!"

He walked over and discovered that it was a girl who was holding her baby sister in her arms.

The little girl's face was red from the cold, and her tears could freeze into frost as they streamed down her cheeks.

She knelt down with a thud and presented her younger sister to Sano. "Kind man, please save my sister! She's had a fever for two days, and my parents are gone. I'm so scared!"

Sano looked at her, and thinking of how helpless he felt when he was about to be sent to Qin, his nose tingled with emotion. "Don't be afraid, brother will take you to the clinic."

As he spoke, he helped the little girl up, took the younger sister from his arms, and led her into the carriage to find a clinic.

Heaven seemed to be not so cruel after all. He brought the two little girls to the clinic, where the doctor examined them and determined that they had caught a cold. He then prescribed some medicine.

Sano gave him some money and told them to stay at the clinic, promising to come and get them once his sister recovered.

The little girl thanked him profusely, but he felt uneasy.

His younger sister is about the same age; we don't know how she is doing now.

When he came out of the clinic and found himself all alone, he finally couldn't hold back and squatted down in the snow, sobbing softly.

He had witnessed too much suffering these past few days and didn't know if he could lead them out of it, nor did he know how his own family was doing.

Sano knew he wasn't that strong yet, but reality forced him to become stronger.

Just then, two shadows appeared in front of him, like a ray of warm sunshine.

He looked up and, sure enough, it was Brother Yan Qing and Sister Si.

"Why did you all come here? Didn't you say you were going to rest?"

Si Yanmo squatted down, patted his head, and said in a gentle, sisterly tone, "I was worried about you, so I came to check on you. It seems our future King Sak is a little unhappy."

Si Yanmo always treated him like a child, coaxing him like that.

He stood up, wiping away his tears sheepishly. "I just... I just can't stand seeing them like this."

“It’s precisely because we can’t bear to see this that we must change things,” Zhou Yanqing said. “Go, lead them away from here. You must protect your people.”

A subject? But he was still just an ordinary person.

"They are not yet..."

“Why not?” Si Yanmo winked slyly. “Don’t forget you’re a hostage. King Sak sent you here. He acknowledged your identity, so why not make good use of it?”

Sano was taken aback by what she said, and before he could react, he was back at the Yunji Temple.