Zhao Yiming brought back a lot of things this time, including weapons, men's clothing, oilcloth, hemp ropes, sacks, and more than a dozen backpacks.
The men each had an axe or hatchet, while the women had short daggers, and the worst had a pair of scissors. The three best long swords went to Chen Feng, Deng Yuan, and Deng Xue. Zhao Yiming also prepared two extra quivers.
After getting the men's clothing, Tian An led Deng Xue, Chun Xi, and the other maids into it. They then untied their hair, combed it into a man's bun, and tied it up with coarse cloth. Then, Tian An took out a special fragrance-free rouge and powder and had them apply it. The fair-skinned girls instantly darkened several shades. He also carefully treated their earlobes to conceal their pierced ears.
The maids sewed the oilcloth into rainproof clothes according to Tian An's description, which were called raincoats for short.
Finally, the food was broken down into small pieces and repacked into sacks. Each person carried a little, and the rest was pulled by ox carts and donkey carts.
There are two advantages to separating the food: first, it prevents people from getting separated along the way and starving to death due to lack of food; second, it prevents all eggs from being broken in one basket.
After everything was explained, while everyone was busy making preparations, Tian An quietly took his two younger brothers out and personally used needle and thread to sew small change and banknotes into the lining of their clothes and shoes.
"Don't tell anyone about the silver. This is so that you can protect yourself in case we are forced to separate. But remember, don't show your wealth to others. Don't trust people easily outside. Be careful about everything..." Tian An instructed them while sewing clothes for them.
The two younger brothers held onto Tian An's clothes tightly and said, "Sister, we won't get separated. We will stay by your side all the time."
Tian An stopped and patted the heads of her two brothers, "Well, we won't get separated. Sister is just making extra preparations."
After sewing the clothes, the three of them saw Zhao Yiming standing not far away when they went back. Tian An asked her two younger brothers to go back first, and she was going to have a good talk with Zhao Yiming.
The two of them have kept silent about the incident these days. On the surface, it seems that it has passed, but only the two of them know that it has not.
Tian An wasn't one to drag things out; she didn't want any future rifts between them, so she decided to make everything clear before leaving. If Zhao Yiming could accept it, then he could. If not, then they could part ways as soon as possible, so she could prepare for it.
Taking a deep breath, Tian An walked towards Zhao Yiming, "Brother Yiming, let's talk!"
This matter was of great importance, so the two of them walked further away from the crowd and made sure that there was no one around before stopping.
Occasionally, the chirping of insects could be heard from the dark forest. The two people who had stopped walking were now speechless.
After a long while, Tian An gritted his teeth and spoke first: "Brother Yiming, just ask whatever you want to ask!"
Zhao Yiming frowned and thought for a long time before he said, "Can I ask anything?"
Tian An nodded without hesitation. Since she had decided to confess, there was no need to hide it.
Zhao Yiming opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally looked at Tian An as if he had made up his mind and asked, "You...you...are you Tian An?"
Tian An was stunned. He didn't expect that he could think of this. After thinking about it seriously, he shook his head at him and then nodded.
Zhao Yiming's brows deepened. "What do you mean? Why are you nodding and shaking your head?"
Tian An hesitated for a moment and replied, "I am Tian An, but I am not Tian An."
Zhao Yiming had a face full of question marks. "Yes, yes. No, no. What does yes and no mean?"
"My name is Tian An, but I'm not the Tian An from Shangba Village."
Zhao Yiming keenly caught a word, "Before? When was before?"
"It was before you saved me on the back mountain that day."
Zhao Yiming asked again: "If it was you I saved that day, then where is the real Tian An? Li Dazhu also admitted that they threw Tian An into the back mountain. Could it be that the real Tian An has died in the back mountain?
No... If you are not Tian An, how can you know so much about Tian An's affairs?"
Zhao Yiming's eyes suddenly turned cold, and his icy gaze locked onto Tian An. "You are a spy sent by another country. You have secretly investigated Tian An's every move, so you were able to sneak into the Tian family and replace Tian An without anyone noticing."
Tian An: "...How did she suddenly become a spy? But it seems that this explanation does make sense."
Looking at Zhao Yiming's increasingly cold eyes, Tian An had no doubt that if she dared to admit that she was a spy, Zhao Yiming would tear her apart on the spot or arrest and torture her.
She trembled with fear and shook her head quickly, "No, I'm not a spy. Tian An is not dead. That's not right. Tian An should be dead. That's not right either..."
The more Tian An explained, the more confused he became, and in the end he was almost incoherent.
Zhao Yiming looked at Tian An's panic, thought for a moment, and then stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me slowly."
Tian An looked up at him and said seriously, "I am not a spy from another country."
Zhao Yiming nodded. "Well, you're not a spy. Then tell me who you are."
Tian An didn't know how to explain the time travel to Zhao Yiming. After all, this kind of thing was not known to the ancients.
After thinking for a moment, he asked tentatively, "Do you believe in past lives and present lives?"
In the face of Zhao Yiming's incredulous gaze, Tian An briefly recounted his experience of time travel.
"You mean, you and the real Tian An died at the same time, and then your soul took over her body, so you are both Tian An and not Tian An." Zhao Yiming concluded.
"That's about what I mean!" Tian An nodded.
Zhao Yiming thought back to what Tian An had just said, digesting the matter in his mind. He didn't think Tian An had lied to him. After all, they had been together for such a long time, so he still had some confidence. But this matter was too unbelievable...
After a while, he said, "Is there a possibility that the things you just said about your past life were actually your own imagination?"
Tian An tilted his head and looked at him: "......?"
Zhao Yiming continued, "What I mean is that you are actually Tian An here. You were not dead at all, but you were in a near-death state and imagined all this."
The situation Zhao Yiming described does exist in the real world, but she is very sure that she is traveling through time. Other things can be faked, but space cannot be faked.
Tian An stretched out his hand in front of Zhao Yiming, and with a thought, a box of Zihaiguo appeared out of thin air in his hand. "If this is just a fantasy, how can this be explained?"
Zhao Yiming looked at the box in Tian An's hand. He reached out and took it. He found that there were many words written on it, but he didn't recognize any of them. Only one picture on it could be barely understood, but it was too real! It didn't look like a painting at all, but more like... it grew on it.
"Is this...food?"
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