Chapter 6 She Shouldn't Meddle
At noon, the autumn sun was no less intense than the summer sun. It scorched the top of her head, and Lin Xiaoyue felt her back begin to sweat. They had no chance to rest after leaving the capital. The two yamen runners urged them to hurry on, as if the Yangming Mountain was so terrifying!
"Two yamen runners, we've been walking all morning. Let's sit down and rest for a while."
Lin Xiaoyue saw several prisoners around her with pale lips, staggering and looking like they could fall down at any time. She sat down on the ground and said breathlessly.
Jiang Bai was about to curse, but when he turned around, he saw Lin Xiaoyue sitting on the ground!
He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, cleared his throat, and said, "Rest here! Follow closely when we go up the mountain. If anyone falls behind, they'll be eaten by ghosts at night!"
Lin Xiaoyue looked in the direction of Jiang Bai's finger. There was a fork in the road not far away. On the left fork was a wooden sign for Yangming Town, and to the right was an uphill road. It seemed that they had reached the foot of Yangming Mountain.
She took a sip of water and then took out a steamed bun from her bag. In order to prevent her secret from being discovered, she had taken out some dry food from the space and put it in the bag.
She quickly ate two steamed buns and planned to take a nap. She needed to save some energy to climb over the mountain in front of her in one breath!
“Bang!”
Just as she was sleeping comfortably, a loud whip cracking sound was heard.
She suddenly raised her head and saw a thin man curled up on the ground, trembling with fear after being beaten, and desperately shouting "Mercy!"
"Brother yamen runner, why did this man make you angry?" She bit her lip, and finally could not suppress the pity in her heart, so she walked over and asked.
Jiang Bai cursed as he whipped the man, "Damn it! That bastard actually lied about needing to pee and tried to escape while we were napping! I'll beat him to death!"
Lin Xiaoyue tilted her head and met the man's stubborn eyes. What a man!
"Brother Yamen Runner, you may be angry, but if you beat him up at this time, what if he can't get up the mountain? Then we won't have to spend the night there. This... I don't want to be eaten by ghosts!"
Jiang Bai felt that Lin Xiaoyue's words made sense. He retracted the whip and angrily warned the man on the ground, "You're lucky, you bastard! If you do it again, you'll be in trouble!"
The man got up from the ground in pain, lowered his head and said to Lin Xiaoyue, "Thank you."
Lin Xiaoyue waved her hands and whispered, "Be smart next time you want to escape. Let's go. I'm afraid of ghosts, so we'd better get over this mountain as soon as possible."
The man grabbed Lin Xiaoyue's clothes and said, "Are ghosts scary to humans? If I, a man, go to the Northern Territory, I'll be a slave and live like a dog! But if you, a woman, go there, you'll be worse than a dog, living a life of being slept with by thousands of men and ridden by tens of thousands of men. I can see that these two yamen runners are somewhat obedient to you. Why don't we work together to escape?"
Lin Xiaoyue's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure. She didn't know this man at all. He was talking about cooperation, but he might end up using her as a scapegoat. She wasn't that stupid!
"Thank you for your reminder, but everyone has their own destiny, and I don't want to escape."
The man's face darkened instantly, and he said sarcastically, "It's something I'm used to doing. I do the same thing wherever I go!"
Lin Xiaoyue knew that the man in front of her was implying that she was a prostitute, waiting for her to jump up and down and stand at attention to prove her innocence, but she was not a three-year-old child. Was she bored enough to argue with a stranger?
She even began to regret stopping Jiang Bai from beating up this foul-mouthed man. It really is true that one should not meddle in other people's business, or else one might step on shit!
"What's it to you?"
After replying coldly, she heard the two yamen runners, Jiang Bai and He Yuan, waving whips and desperately urging others to get up and prepare to go up the mountain, so she turned around and followed them.
Yangming Mountain is not low. The higher Lin Xiaoyue goes along the mountain road, the more sore her calves feel. It becomes difficult to lift her feet, and even her head becomes confused!
She glanced at the other prisoners who were tied with chains. These people were dragged down by the heavy chains and had difficulty walking!
At this snail's pace, can we really get over this mountain before dark?
Suddenly, the image of a mountaineer holding a trekking pole in her previous life flashed through her mind. She lowered her head and found a thick branch on the ground to use as a trekking pole, and walked up step by step, leaning on the branch.
With the branches, the whole person seemed to have support, and walking was not as difficult as before.
"Everyone should find a branch like me. Just walking up the mountain is too tiring!"
Seeing that Lin Xiaoyue walked more easily than before, the others also followed her example and started picking up branches on the ground.
Sure enough, this method is very effective, and everyone's speed is much faster than before.
Jiang Bai couldn't help but look at Lin Xiaoyue with admiration. She was worthy of being from the palace, she was so smart!
Alas, such a smart girl, maybe what she said will come true, and the emperor will remember her kindness in a few days and want her to go back!
He walked to Lin Xiaoyue's side and said with a smile: "If you really can't walk, I'll let He Yuan stay here with you for a while, and I'll take these people away first."
Lin Xiaoyue originally wanted to refuse, but when she looked up, she met the hostile gaze of the man just now. Humph, some people dislike her so much, and she is determined to make him mad to death!
So, she nodded deliberately and said loudly, "Okay! Thank you very much, two yamen runners!"
"I don't agree! Why can she stay and rest while we have to move forward?" The man's eyes almost popped out of his head in anger.
Jiang Bai picked up the whip and started to whip him, "Who do you think you are? If you don't want to die here, get out of here!"
The man was in so much pain that he could hardly stand. He glared at Lin Xiaoyue viciously and walked up the mountain with gritted teeth.
Lin Xiaoyue was very proud and pretended to be at a loss, saying, "I'd better follow you, otherwise someone will hate me to death!"
"Don't worry about that bastard! You can rest here without worry. We'll walk slowly and wait for you up ahead." Jiang Bai called He Yuan over and gave him a few words of advice, then continued forward with the others. "Let's go, let's go! Anyone who dawdles any longer will be whipped!"
Although the rest of the people were jealous of Lin Xiaoyue's special treatment, they were also afraid of being whipped, so they had to swallow their complaints and move forward.
Lin Xiaoyue found a clean place to sit down and looked at the team going away. She couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
In fact, ever since the jailer at Shuntian Prefecture told her about the exile in the northern border, she had been planning to escape. But she didn't expect that because she had just helped that man out of kindness, he would become jealous of her!
It would be even more difficult for her to escape next. Not only did she have to deceive the eyes of the two yamen runners, Jiang Bai and He Yuan, but she also had to deceive the man just now!
What should she do?
The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. She couldn't sit still any longer and stood up and said, "We'd better hurry up and leave. If we can't get out of this mountain before dark, it will be troublesome!"
He Yuan nodded and walked to the front to lead the way. "Okay! Lao Jiang and the others haven't gone far yet. We should be able to catch up with them. Don't worry."
Lin Xiaoyue couldn't help but roll her eyes in her heart. She didn't want to catch up with the team so quickly. Now was a good opportunity to mark the way along the way so that she would know how to avoid it when she escaped in the future!
When He Yuan wasn't paying attention, she took out a small dagger from the space and hid it in her palm. Then she walked close to the big tree on the side of the road, slashing the tree twice every few steps. Her movements were fast and careful, but she walked two or three steps slower than He Yuan.
Just as the dagger sliced through the trees, He Yuan suddenly turned around and stared at Lin Xiaoyue with a vigilant look. He said as he walked towards her, "What are you doing? Why are you walking along the weed-covered side of the road instead of taking the good path in the middle?"
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