Ning Ze, with weak legs unable to support him, looked pale and breathless, and was speechless upon hearing the two leisurely conversing.
Ning Yao looked just as pale and speechless. She was stronger than Ning Ze, but only slightly.
Su Rong and Feng Ling, having rested enough, continued leading the pair to climb. Half a unit of time later, they finally reached the top of the cliff.
Untying the ropes around their bodies, the siblings from the Ning Family collapsed to the ground in unison.
Su Rong reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle, pouring out a pill and handed it to Ning Yao. "Eat this," he said.
Ning Yao didn’t question him. At this point, she didn’t think Su Rong would harm her. If he had intended to, he could have simply abandoned them instead of painstakingly assisting them in climbing the steep cliff. Therefore, she opened her mouth and swallowed the pill.
Ning Ze waited for a while but saw no pill offered to him. He asked, "What about me?"
"This is a pill to stabilize pregnancy. Do you need one too?" Su Rong raised an eyebrow.
Ning Ze immediately shut his mouth.
Feng Ling looked at Ning Ze with contempt, "Why do you always lack ambition? When you were in Nanping, didn’t you fiercely compete with your older brother? I thought you were highly skilled and resolute. I heard Ning Chi has suffered quite a bit under your hand."
Ning Ze retorted, flustered, "When did Ning Chi ever suffer at my hands? I can’t even match him."
Feng Ling raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"
Ning Ze nodded solemnly, his face pale, "My older brother is ruthless. I merely relied on my father’s favoritism, my mother’s influence, and my sister’s cunning."
Feng Ling tutted in understanding, "So that’s why."
Ning Ze felt his dignity as a man completely drained in front of Feng Ling, but at this point, he didn’t care. Ever since he lost three fingers, his pride had vanished. No, maybe even earlier, back at the Crown Prince’s residence, which was considered her sister’s territory. One day, he was tied up in the kitchen of the Crown Prince’s residence for half a day by Feng Ling, a mere guest, and made to run around helplessly, in extreme frustration.
Seeing that the siblings from the Ning Family were still too weak to walk, Feng Ling took out a map from his pocket to study the mountain routes.
After a while, he showed the map to Su Rong, "Sister, there are two routes from here. One leads through the wilderness and requires us to cross the mountains, but a pregnant woman may not be able to withstand it. The other route is via the river. At this time of year, the river has frozen over and boats have ceased operation, but we can walk across the ice. However, the icy road is also difficult, stretching a full hundred miles. If a fall occurs, a pregnant woman may not be able to withstand it either."
Su Rong decisively replied, "We’ll take the river route. I can pull her along and ice skate there. It’s better than hiking through the never-ending mountains. Let’s treat it as fun."
Feng Ling chuckled, "That’s a clever idea. Jiangning County is warm all year round and the river here never freezes in winter. We’ve never tried ice skating. An entire hundred miles, enough for us to have a thorough enjoyment."
Su Rong nodded in agreement, "Hmm."
Ning Ze whispered to Feng Ling, "I need you to pull me along too."
Feng Ling rolled his eyes in reply, "I might as well throw you down."
Ning Ze gave a start, about to say he could skate by himself when Feng Ling interjected, "Don’t hinder me. I’m racing with my sister. If you don’t play the part of a wooden man, I’ll throw you down."
Ning Ze promptly assured him, "I promise not to move around."
After resting for a while, the siblings from the Ning Family, not daring to waste any time, got up from the ground and followed Su Rong and Feng Ling on their journey.
After descending the mountain and walking about ten miles, they indeed saw streams on both sides of the mountain converging into a lake, which led to an open river.
Su Rong quickly grabbed Ning Yao and Feng Ling grabbed Ning Ze’s arm, and almost at the same time, the two started to skate on the ice.
The speed was so fast that the siblings could hardly open their eyes. All they could see were gusts of wind as the two skaters moved through the icy landscape like arrows shot from bows.
The wind whipped against their faces, cold and sharp like a knife.
Normally, a hundred-mile journey would require two units of time with a fast horse, and even half a day if the road conditions were difficult. But now they were on ice, and aided by Su Rong and Feng Ling’s high martial arts skills, they even treated it as a game. They reached the end in just about a unit and a half of time.
Upon reaching the end, Ning Yao, being pregnant, couldn’t bear it and fainted.
However, Ning Ze, being a man, managed to hang on until the end despite his weak constitution and timidity.
He collapsed on the ground, completely worn out, still anxiously calling out to Ning Yao, "Sister? Sister!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"She’s fine. She will wake up in a while," Su Rong said. "Pregnant women simply can’t handle stress."
Relieved, Ning Ze continued to lie helplessly on the ground, finding the cold surface oddly comforting.
There was no clear winner between Su Rong and Feng Ling; they had almost arrived at the same time. But Feng Ling disagreed, "Sister, I carried a man who is heavier."
Su Rong counter-argued, "I carried a pregnant woman, which makes two people."
Feng Ling: "..."
That’s true.
After resting for a while, Su Rong got up and said, "Let’s go find a place to get some sleep."
Feng Ling nodded, glanced at Ning Yao, and without any further ado, lifted her up, refraining from having Su Rong bear her.
Ning Ze opened his mouth, looked at Su Rong, then at Feng Ling, and resignedly followed them on foot.
After walking about ten miles, they entered a small town and stopped at the largest restaurant there. Feng Ling flashed a badge, and upon seeing it, the restaurant owner prepared to greet them with a bow, but Feng Ling waved him off. "Two quiet rooms," he ordered.
The restaurant owner nodded repeatedly and personally led the way to a small courtyard in the backyard, "Esteemed guests, the private rooms in the front building are often occupied by merchants and guests. This courtyard in the backyard is much quieter."
Feng Ling thanked him, "Fine, thank you. Please serve whatever dishes you have and two pots of liquor. We’re all hungry."
"Alright," the restaurant owner promptly left.
Ning Yao came back to her senses and thanked Feng Ling, "Thank you, Master Feng."
Feng Ling waved it off.
Ning Ze realized that Feng Ling wasn’t as terrifying when he wasn’t wielding a sword and so he moved closer and asked in a hushed voice, "Master Feng, is this place your property?"
"It belongs to the Crown Prince," Feng Ling didn’t hesitate to tell him.
Ning Ze finally understood. He had noticed that the restaurant owner hadn’t addressed them as bosses or masters, but rather as esteemed guests.
The restaurant owner quickly had the meals brought up and the four of them sat down to eat. Ning Ze and his sister remained mostly silent while dining, partly because they were not familiar with the other two and weren’t sure what to say, but also because they lacked the energy and were content with quietly eating their meals.
On the other hand, Feng Ling and Su Rong chatted leisurely while eating, paying no attention to the siblings.
Feng Ling asked, "Sis, we are only three hundred miles away from Nanping. Are we really going to escort them all the way? Didn’t we originally plan to leave them halfway and go after Zhang Ping in Jibei?"
Su Rong replied, "We’ll go to Nanping first, then to Jibei."
Feng Ling blinked, "Are you doing this because of young master Zhou? He should have reached Nanping already."
Su Rong glanced at him and countered, "Did the shadow guards figure it out? Which army are they from?"
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