Chapter 10
In the middle of the night, Sui Yu was awakened by a loud thunder. When she opened her eyes, she saw lightning outside the window. In the light, she saw Sui Hu sitting on the side. She didn't know how long he had been sitting there, motionless.
Sui Yu turned over, pretended to be dazed and closed his eyes.
After the thunder, heavy rain began to fall outside the house. Raindrops as big as beans hit the roof, earthen walls, and mud ground. Moist water vapor mixed with the fishy smell of earth poured in from the broken windows and leaky doors.
There was no movement around her, and Sui Yu was worried. She was afraid that Sui Hu had died like the old monk, and she was also afraid that he was secretly thinking about something. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. In the end, she couldn't help but sit up.
"Dad, what are you doing sitting here in the middle of the night? Why aren't you sleeping?" she asked.
"Keep watch, and you go to sleep."
Sui Yu's heart dropped. Another thunderclap struck. When the thunder died down, she made small talk: "It's raining. This is the first time we've encountered rain on this journey."
"The spring thunder, spring has arrived." Sui Hu said.
Spring thunder roars, snakes come out of their holes. Sui Yu inexplicably thought of this sentence. She lay down, covered her belly with straw, and said, "If the rain doesn't stop tomorrow, I shouldn't have to travel any further, right?"
"We'll know at dawn. Go to sleep quickly. If you can't sleep, you can keep watch for me." Sui Hu was too impatient to talk to her anymore.
Sui Yu didn't say anything. After a while, he asked, "Do you get up every night to keep watch?"
Sui Hu no longer paid any attention to her.
"Go to sleep. I'll keep watch over you." Sui Yu sat up and added, "If you don't sleep well, you'll feel tired. Don't let Liang Geer fall again when you carry him on the road."
Sui Hu had only said this casually. Since Sui Yu was a solitary and indifferent person, he hadn't expected her to take over his night watch. She suddenly became more talkative, and he felt a little lost.
"No, you sleep..."
"Stop talking nonsense and don't be ungrateful." Sui Yu interrupted him forcefully and asked bluntly, "How long will you keep guarding?"
Sui Hu was silent. He thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go to sleep then."
"How long do we have to wait?"
"You'll find out."
What the hell? Sui Yu frowned and was about to ask again, but someone in the woodshed made an impatient "tsk" sound, disturbing everyone's sleep. She swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
The night wind was a little cold and Sui Yu shivered. She gathered the scattered straw to cover herself, piled it into a nest, and sat cross-legged in the straw like a hen laying eggs.
The wooden door creaked open, and two figures, one tall and one short, exited. A damp, cold night breeze blew in, carrying with it the faint sound of knocking on the door. Sui Yu pricked up his ears and listened carefully. There was movement in the front yard, and soon the sound of hooves approached, suggesting movement in the nearby stables.
Some of the people in the woodshed woke up, but no one went out to check. They talked to each other in low voices, then lay down or sat down and became quiet again.
After an unknown amount of time, it became quiet outside, and the two people who had opened the door and gone out came in. When Sui Yu heard the sound of clearing throats, he realized that it was a man and a woman.
She didn't think much of it until she heard the rustling of footsteps in the woodshed. Rice stalks cracked and bent underfoot, then stood up again after the weight was gone. The subtle creaking sound was like pea pods bursting in the scorching sun, tickling her heart. A sticky, low gasp echoed through the rainy night, and Sui Yu froze. She turned her head in disbelief, her eyes already adjusted to the darkness, and she could vaguely make out the undulating curves not far away.
There were footsteps coming, Sui Yu looked over with a stern face. After seeing the sitting figure, the short figure turned on tiptoe and left.
It turns out that there are such dirty and ugly things hidden in the dark night. Sui Yu's scalp tingled. She looked at Sui Hui and Sui Ling who were sleeping beside her. If she hadn't been awakened tonight, she would have been like them, just upset because of the fatigue of the day.
The woodshed gradually became quiet. Some people fell into a deep sleep, while others huddled in a corner, swallowing their tears while eating.
The roosters in the post station crowed, and Sui Yu lay down. She understood what Sui Hu said.
Listening to the loud crowing of roosters, she stared at the dark roof and wondered what he meant.
The rain continued at dawn, and the servants came and called ten prisoners to clean the stables. Breakfast was also delivered late.
"It's raining today, so stay one more day." The escort officer braved the rain to come to the woodshed. He warned, "There's an envoy coming to the post station. If you don't want to lose your heads, stay in the woodshed."
It turns out that the noise last night was the arrival of an envoy, Sui Yu thought.
"What are you planning to do?" Sui Ling noticed that Sui Yu was listless early in the morning. She whispered, "Don't even think about running away again. It would be terrible if you get caught."
Sui Yu waved her hand. She was too lazy to talk. After breakfast was served, she drank a bellyful of thin porridge and lay down in the haystack to sleep.
She slept and woke up all day, and got up to keep watch in the middle of the night.
"You..." She looked at Sui Hu, not knowing how to ask.
"I just want you to have an idea. Since you can't sleep, then you just stay here." Sui Hu lay down again.
Tonight was similar to last night. Sui Yu sat in silence, listening to the rustling of footsteps and the rustling of hay. Despite her suppressed sobs, she could do nothing.
When the sun rose as usual, thousands of people walked out of the post station calmly through the mud. Sui Yu was among them. She looked up and around. Under the majestic mountains, she was like an ant with wings. She was not sure whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.
As we walked up the hillside step by step, the terrain beneath our feet became higher and higher. When we looked back, we could only see the roof of the post station shrouded in mist.
"We still need to go up the mountain? We need to cross this mountain?" Sui Ling asked worriedly, "I'm so tired. I can't walk anymore."
The mountain road was difficult to walk on, and everyone's steps became slow and heavy. The escort officer was urging them to reach the next post station before dark, but it was not the will that could drive the legs.
After climbing to the top and then descending, the moist mountain soil, trampled by cattle and horses, was so crumbly that even the most cautious people could stumble and fall. Hearing the sound of water below, Sui Yu looked up, then slipped and fell flat on his face. He struggled to his feet, but was tackled by Sui Ling, who had fallen down, and the two of them tumbled down the slope.
He fell two meters away, and the person walking in front of him hurriedly dodged to avoid being knocked down.
Sui Yu was lying in the mud, looking up at the sky. Now he was covered in mud and looked even less like a human being.
"Get up." Sui Ling pushed her, "You're pressing on me."
"Are you stupid? I fell and you're not careful." Sui Yu climbed up with the help of his elbows.
"Someone pushed me." Sui Ling climbed up, not bothering to shake off the mud. She stood there waiting, staring at the person on the higher ground. The people standing behind her were all surnamed Sui. She guessed who was pushing from the direction of the hand. When the person came over, she pointed and said, "You pushed me. If you hadn't pushed me from behind, I wouldn't have fallen."
The person she pointed at was Sister-in-law Zhen. She stared at her with disgust, stretched out her hand, and slapped the hand pointing at her nose with all her strength, cursing in a hoarse voice: "Get out! I hate my dirty hands if I touch you."
Sui Ling was beaten badly and her finger was broken. The pain made her burst into tears. She suddenly became emotional and rushed forward to fight.
Sui Yu had no time to pull her away, and could only watch as she was pinned into the mud pit and beaten and pinched by four or five people. Sui Wen'an and Sui Hui came to stop them, but were also slapped on the head.
"What are you doing?" The escort officer behind rushed over and, without caring who was who, whipped them a few times and cursed with a gloomy face: "Looking for death? You dogs are tired of living. I'll give you some face."
"Hurry up, everyone. I see you are not tired enough and still have the mind to fight. Hurry up." Another escort officer whipped people like herding sheep. Anyone who was slow would be beaten.
Sui Yu was pushed to the periphery by Sui Hu. The others were afraid of being beaten and were eager to make room for them.
"Stay away from that stupid thing. He only cares about food and not beatings." He said impatiently.
Sui Yu said "Oh" and concentrated on walking on his way with his head down.
There is a river at the bottom of the hill. The water from the snow and rain makes the river flow fast, and occasionally there are lumps of ice and snow floating on the water.
Going up the river, the mountain path became narrower, the team of a thousand people became longer, and Sui Yu and the other two were getting farther and farther away from Sui Wen'an and the others.
They arrived at the post station in the middle of the night. After eating some hot porridge, Sui Yu couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep. When she woke up, the mud on her body had dried up. She rubbed it off bit by bit and asked Sui Liang to rub the mud off her head.
"Why didn't you help me?" Sui Ling was still brooding over what happened yesterday.
"I wanted to help, but was pushed away." Sui Yu said in a gentle voice.
Sui Ling was satisfied. The next moment, she said aggrievedly, "I thought you were going to scold me too. My eldest brother and sister scolded me all the way yesterday."
Sui Yu forced a fake smile. She really had no memory and refused to listen to any advice.
"Sister Yu, let's go." Sui Hu shouted outside the door.
"Let's go, let's go. It's time to set off." Sui Yu picked up the wooden board, grabbed Sui Liang with one hand and walked out quickly.
Sui Ling was a step too slow, and the two families were separated again.
Longzhou is made up of mountains of various sizes. When the snow on the mountains melts, the snow water gathers into rivers. This is also the most convenient way for people to cross Longzhou. They walk along the rivers, shuttle through the woods, and circle between the high and low valleys.
…
After marching through the mountains for more than a month, the snow covering the hillsides melted away, the soil became dry and cracked, spring grass emerged, and the branches turned green.
After climbing another mountain, Sui Yu broke out in a light sweat. She didn't dare to open her clothes, and even felt happy. After enduring the cold for a whole winter and spring, her body could still sweat. The situation didn't seem as bad as she had imagined.
"Rest here for a cup of tea." The whistleblower gave the order.
When the whistle sounded, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Most people sat down on the spot, or even lay down. The ground was hot from the sun, and people lay down, closed their eyes, and fell asleep.
Sui Yu sat for a while and then got up. She stood on the top of the mountain and looked down. The grass and trees were growing at an astonishing rate. They had just sprouted and formed buds a month ago, but now the mountainside was already lush and green, with grass and trees as high as knees and large leaves on the trees.
In the gap between the two peaks, snow water oozing out from the bluestone slabs attracted birds, mice and rabbits to drink water.
"Brother Liang, come here." Sui Yu waved his hand.
Sui Liang walked over and looked in the direction of her finger. He saw a snake crawling on a huge rock. When he saw it clearly, he was so scared that he turned and ran away.
"What what?" Sui Ling ran over and chirped, "Let me see, what's there?"
"Snake." Sui Yu pointed to her, "The snake is basking in the sun."
Sui Ling widened her eyes and looked for a long time before she could recognize that the snake had a blue-black skin that had merged with the stone.
"Sister, come and see, the snake's belly is bulging, it must have just eaten something." Sui Ling shouted.
Sui Hui waved her hand and asked, what's so good about snakes?
Some people were attracted by her words and asked in a flurry, "Where is it? Where is it?"
"It's on the stone." Sui Ling said in a very light voice.
Not far away, someone had a gloomy face. He looked over there viciously like a poisonous snake. "What a noise! How come they didn't fall off the mountain and die?"
A cup of tea was over, the whistle sounded again, and more than a thousand people got up and walked down the mountain to continue their journey.
Sui Yu leaned on a stick, plucked a leaf and put it in her mouth, blowing on it from time to time, making a fart-like sound, which attracted Sui Liang to look at her frequently.
"Aren't you tired?" Sui Hu envied her energy and casually picked up a leaf and handed it to his envious son.
"I'm tired, of course I'm tired." Sui Yu plucked a leaf and replaced it with another. "The mountains are beautiful, the water is beautiful too. This might be the only time I'll be able to go through this in my lifetime, so I'll take in more of it."
"Still not tired." The stranger next to him interjected.
Sui Yu laughed twice and said, "You don't even believe this yourself, but you're busy looking at other things, your attention is distracted, and you don't think about being tired, so you don't feel that tired."
"I don't believe it."
"If you don't want to believe me, forget it. I'm just talking nonsense." Sui Yu didn't force others to believe him.
After descending the mountain, we had to cross a river to reach another low hill. The river was about ten feet wide and not deep, with the edge barely above the ankles. Pebbles were clearly visible in the depths. The first person to cross took off his straw sandals, and those behind him followed suit.
Sui Hu picked up Sui Liang and asked Sui Yu to walk in front of him, and warned him: "Don't look left and right, stare at the rocks in the river, don't fall..."
Before he finished speaking, there were two "pop" sounds in front of him. Sui Yu looked up and saw two people lying in the river on his left. They were Sui Wen'an and Sui Ling.
Sui Hu saw that Sui Wen'an hadn't been able to stand up for a while, so he waded over to help him and asked, "Why did you fall? Did you slip? Where did you fall?"
"I just twisted my ankle, it's okay." Sui Wen'an used the force to stand up, put his hand on Sui Ling's shoulder, and said, "Hold on to me, don't walk around."
"They pushed it again." Sui Ling cried, "Are we just going to keep enduring this? Dad's dead, our house has been ransacked, what else can we do?"
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