132 Escape
◎We are all good people, why did we die in a war that did not belong to us?◎
The dim sunlight filled the gloomy inn, like floating golden dust, falling heavily on Song Jinyi's fingers as she packed the package.
"Why did a war suddenly break out on the border?" Li He's voice trembled. She seemed to have not yet recovered from the bad news Chen Ming told them. Seeing that Song Jinyi did not respond, she asked again: "Then...what about buying horses?"
Song Jinyi was busy packing up her things, and without even looking up, she said, "If we don't leave now, I'm afraid we won't be able to leave. We can only talk about buying a horse later!"
The two hurriedly packed up their packages and went downstairs. There was a half-worn carriage parked in front of the shop. Chen Ming was talking to the coachman in front of the carriage. When he saw them coming, he walked over and said, "I have found a carriage, but it's a special period, so the price may be higher than usual."
At a time like this, who would be reluctant to spend money? Song Jinyi had no objection to this.
Chen Ming helped the two of them onto the carriage, stood up, and stuffed an oilcloth bag into Song Jinyi's hand. The bag was hard, and the round outline could be felt through the cloth.
Chen Ming told them that this was a special kind of pancake from the northwest. It was dried in the sun and could last for three days if soaked in water. In case of any accidents on the road, it could fill the stomach and prevent them from starving.
Song Jinyi took the cloth bag and looked at Chen Ming: "Aren't you going with us?"
Chen Ming didn't answer immediately, but smiled bitterly. The wind blew dust and sand past, and the fine sand scraped across the wrinkles on his face, and the white hair on his temples was blown up.
"Chen Tian was buried on the sand slope east of the city." He raised his hand to wipe his face, his voice as low as if it had been rubbed by the wind and sand, "He and I fled from Zhongzhou to Shengjing, and then from Shengjing to Jinzhou.
"I've been wandering around all my life, never having a single day of stable ground. Now... I'm tired and don't want to go on anymore."
"But the Western Barbarians will be here soon! It's not safe here!" Song Jinyi leaned out of the carriage and tried to pull his arm, but he gently dodged it.
Chen Ming shook his head. "I've already told the coachman that I'll take care of you in Qinzhou." He pushed the carriage towards the city gate, his tone urging them, "Hurry up, or we'll be running out of time if the sun rises any higher."
Song Jinyi knew that he was determined to leave and no one could persuade him. She could only say "take care" and turned away to sit in the carriage.
Li He opened the curtain of the carriage and looked at his standing figure, her eyes slightly red. The carriage slowly drove towards the city gate. Chen Ming's figure became smaller and smaller, like a grain of sand, blending into this empty city.
After leaving the city, the carriage merged into the crowd of fleeing people. The road was full of people with their families. The carriage could not pass through the crowd quickly and could only move slowly with the crowd.
The howling sound of the wind was like a baby crying, hitting the hearts of every fugitive heavily.
The western sun shone on the migrating people and then slowly set, taking the warm air with it. A dark sky and cold air descended.
The cold wind blew gravel onto the car board, making a fine "rustling" sound, like countless fine needles drilling into the cracks of human bones. Song Jinyi pulled Li He closer to her, and the two of them were wrapped in two cloaks.
The two bodies were pressed tightly together, but they still felt the cold air rushing in from all directions, and even their breath was covered with white steam.
The desert night is very quiet, with only the whistling of the wind and intermittent sounds coming from afar - a woman's suppressed cry, mixed with the weak cry of a baby, and the occasional cough of an old man, which is particularly clear in the cold night.
After a while, there seemed to be no sound at all, as if there was no one outside, and it was eerie and quiet.
Li He shrank into Song Jinyi's arms, her voice trembling, as if her vocal cords were frozen. "Just now... when that woman holding the child asked me for food, I didn't dare answer."
Song Jinyi rested his chin on the top of her head. He could feel her shoulders shaking slightly and heard her voice lightly say, "Am I very bad?"
Li He lowered her head even lower and choked up, "Her child was crying so loudly, his little face red from the cold. I knew we still had food, but I didn't dare to give it to him."
Song Jinyi raised her hand and patted her on the back, saying in a gentle voice, "What's wrong with you? The road ahead is long, there are no houses around here, and you can't buy food even if you have money.
“If Chen Ming hadn’t thought of this and sent us a few bags, we would be the ones starving, and the grooms outside would also have to eat. We don’t know what the situation will be like tomorrow.
"Even if you want to save people, you have to do it within your ability."
Li He didn't say anything, her tears quietly seeped into Song Jinyi's clothes, leaving a small wet mark.
"It's never our fault." Song Jinyi looked out the car window at the pitch-black Gobi Desert. The cold wind blew the branches of the dead poplar trees around, like countless hands crying for help. "It's the war—if it weren't for it, that woman would be sewing in the sun in her yard; the child would be sleeping soundly in his soft swaddling clothes;
“Those men shivering with cold on the roadside should have been tilling the soil in the fields or carrying loads of goods on their shoulders at the market; even we should have been resting peacefully in the inn in Jinzhou.
"So, the suffering of those people outside is not your fault for not giving them half a piece of the sac."
The wind was still blowing, and the crying sounds in the distance gradually weakened. I didn't know if they were tired of crying, or if they had no strength left because of the cold wind.
In the cold desert outside the car, the dotted bonfires looked like dying fireflies, reflecting the curled-up figures, which looked particularly pitiful in the winter night.
*****
The next day, the sky brightened again, and rustling sounds became louder and louder. The fleeing people began to flow eastward like a flowing stream.
This went on for two days, and finally I saw the outline of a towering city gate in the distance. When I got a little closer, I could see the three big words "Huaiyuan City" hanging on the gate.
Li He heard the commotion outside from the carriage. She leaned over and saw the words. She turned around and held Song Jinyi's hand. "Sister Jinyi, we're here! We're finally here. We'll rest for a night in Huaiyuan City and then return to the capital."
Song Jinyi rested her head lightly on her legs. She had not expected that a one-day journey would take three days.
They left in a hurry that day, and their rations were only the three bags of rice given by Chen Ming. In the end, she couldn't deduct the rations from the groom, nor did she want Li He to starve, so she could only go on a diet herself and save money from the rations.
He hadn't had any oil or water for two days and hadn't eaten for a day. Now he didn't even have the strength to sit up. His body was half limp and he could only lie on his cloak with his eyes half closed.
Hearing Li He's words, she slowly opened her eyes and met his. Both of them had smiles that were hard to conceal in their eyes. Their chapped lips uttered a few syllables, "Finally—"
Before he finished speaking, the rolled-up curtains suddenly burst into flames that shot up into the sky. Li He turned around and opened the curtains, only to see that the sky from the Jinzhou side was a dazzling orange-red, with large patches of it spreading outward, trying to dissolve the entire azure sky.
Everyone stopped in their tracks in astonishment. What did that brilliant, unusual color represent? Everyone understood. Some people immediately gave way, weeping bitterly in the direction they had come from.
I'm afraid it will be hard to return to my hometown.
Before they could calm down, they shouted, "Close the city gate! Close the city gate quickly!" The soldiers on the city gate saw that Huaiyuan City could not accommodate so many refugees.
He reported to his superiors and received orders to close the city gates.
This sudden move caused the crowd to explode instantly, and they stepped forward, eager to run into the city in one step.
Soon, the city gate was only half a foot wide.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Song Jinyi knew that it could not go on like this. The coachman Xu suddenly cracked the whip. Passersby were shocked and terrified, so they made way for the carriage. The carriage rushed into the high gate that was about to close at the last moment like an arrow from a bow.
Song Jinyi clutched the wooden frame of the car window, watching the scene beside the car rapidly recede: a young man carrying a bundle staggered into the city gate, and the old woman following closely behind was tripped by the crowded crowd. Before her outstretched hand could touch the city gate, the heavy iron gate fell with a "clang".
The cries and despair of the crowd were kept outside the city.
******
Song Jinyi's heartbeat hadn't calmed down until the carriage stopped at the backyard of an inn. As she steadied herself by the doorframe, she heard a heated discussion coming from the lobby.
"Have you heard? Jinzhou... was captured last night! Those barbarians from the west entered the city and robbed all the money and killed everyone they saw. The whole city was on fire... Now the pursuers are burning, killing, and looting the villages outside Huaiyuan City. I'm afraid Huaiyuan City won't be peaceful for much longer!"
Li He, who came later, heard the news as soon as he stepped into the threshold. His feet suddenly felt like they were filled with lead and fell heavily to the ground, unable to move even a step.
Brother Chen is still in Jinzhou City. Besides him, there are many other people left there. Are they... really... all dead?
Li He first looked at Song Jinyi in disbelief, looked into her calm yet desolate eyes, was stunned for a moment, and slowly lowered her head. She should have guessed it ever since she saw the abnormality in Jinzhou.
But Brother Chen is such a good person, and there are so many innocent people in Jinzhou City, why - why do they have to suffer this!
When she thought of this, her heart ached and her eyes turned red unconsciously. Her arms hung stiffly on both sides and she looked at Song Jinyi sadly.
Why is this happening?
They are all good people, why would they die in a war that does not belong to them?
Song Jinyi sighed softly. She couldn't answer this question, and even she couldn't understand it in her previous life.
Song Jinyi and his group originally wanted to just rest in Huaiyuan City for a while, but they didn't expect that once the city gate was closed, it could never be opened again - Huaiyuan City was surrounded by the Western Rong in just one night!
News heard from elsewhere: Although the Western Rong and Wusun jointly invaded the territory of Daxia, the leader of the Western Rong did not stop his troops in Jinzhou to burn, kill and loot, but expanded eastward and pressed forward to Huaiyuan City.
Now, the high city walls prevent the refugees outside from getting in, and the people inside the city who want to escape cannot escape either.
Under the current circumstances, the price of grain in Huaiyuan City changed dramatically in just one day.
The waiter came in with a dish of small dishes, two steamed buns, and two bowls of rice porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it. His tone was filled with fawning helplessness: "Ladies, it's not that I'm being rude. The price of grain is rising three times a day these days, and this is what the shopkeeper left on purpose..."
Song Jinyi didn't say much and directly handed over the heavy silver ingot.
Li He watched this scene, his eyes moving, but he didn't say anything. How dare this thing ask for money? But now, if he didn't pay, he wouldn't even have this meal.
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