Chapter 8: Overnight in the Forest
Xiao Jin looked at Su Ying, who was only a palm's distance away from him. His body stiffened and a hint of disgust flashed across his eyes. He quickly stepped back to keep further away from her.
His subconscious act of disdain made Su Ying very unhappy. If it weren't for her, he would still be smelling of rotten meat, and he still had the nerve to disdain her!
Su Ying glanced at him coldly. Seeing that he was concerned about Dabao, she said in a cold voice, "He still has a low fever, and the redness and swelling of the wound haven't completely subsided, but it's not a big problem."
Xiao Jin reached out his hand with a worried look on his face and touched Dabao's forehead. Although he still had a low fever, Dabao seemed to be in better condition than yesterday. It should be that Su Ying's medicine took effect.
Su Ying originally wanted to take advantage of this gap to find some supplies in the mountains, but the officers were patrolling back and forth all the time. If she left the team now, it would be too conspicuous. She was afraid that the officers would cause trouble for Xiao Jin and the others while she was away, so she had to give up for the time being.
The team rested for about quarter of an hour and then continued on their journey.
"Hurry up, everyone. If you can't get down the mountain before dark, you'd better be prepared to be attacked by wild beasts." The officer shouted in the front and whipped the slow prisoners.
Everyone was afraid of being beaten, so even if they were too weak to lift their legs, they had to grit their teeth and keep moving forward.
The further up the mountain the team went, the darker the light became. Even the scorching sun in the sky could not penetrate the thick leaves and shine into the forest.
Because there were too many people in the team, the small animals in the forest were scared away. Along the way, Su Ying didn't even see a wild rabbit.
The sky gradually darkened, but they were still on the mountain. It was so dark in the forest that they could hardly see the road ahead, so they could only continue to move forward in the dark.
"Boss, I'm afraid we won't be able to get down the mountain before dark, so we'd better find an open space to stay." The officer suggested.
The leading officer looked at the endless forest in the darkness and nodded, "Let's find a larger open space, preferably to round up the people."
"There happens to be a flat slope in front. I checked and it can accommodate several hundred people without any problem."
"Then go over there."
Under the command of the officers, the team arrived at Pingpo.
The vegetation here is relatively sparse, allowing some faint moonlight to penetrate for illumination.
After arriving at the place, the officials began to distribute dry food for the day. Su Ying put her two children down and went to get the dry food. She did not need the dry food now, but if she did not take it, others would see the dry food that appeared out of nowhere in her hands and would definitely cause her unnecessary trouble.
She is not afraid of trouble, but she cannot ignore the safety of her two children.
Although the officers didn't want to give the dry food to Su Ying, they still put the dry food in her hand obediently when they thought of Su Ying's fist.
When Su Ying walked back, she heard Erbao's surprised cry.
"Brother, you're awake."
Su Ying couldn't help but quicken her pace. With the dim light from the fire not far away, she saw that Dabao had opened his eyes.
"Ji'er." Xiao Jin stepped forward and carefully lifted Dabao onto his body.
Dabao looked around weakly, "Daddy..."
Xiao Jin watched Dabao wake up, and the hostility between his brows faded a little, "It's good that you woke up."
"You're awake. Come, drink some water first." Su Ying handed over the water bag on her body. This water bag was the one she brought with her when she was in exile, but the water bag did not contain ordinary water, but nutrient solution that she put in from the space.
As soon as Dabao saw Su Ying, his small sword-like eyebrows wrinkled up, and he stared at her with fear and anger, "You bad, bad woman, don't come over here."
Su Ying looked at the stubborn look of the little guy and did not move forward. Instead, she handed the water bag to Xiao Jin and said, "It should be fine if he wakes up. Here are some dry food and water. Let him eat some."
Xiao Jin glanced at Su Ying grimly before picking up the water bag and bringing it to Dabao's mouth, "Ji'er, drink some water first."
Dabao then opened his mouth obediently. The moment the water flowed into his mouth, he widened his eyes in surprise. Why did the water taste sweet?
Because Dabao rejected Su Ying, Xiao Jin acted as his wet nurse. After feeding Dabao water, he also fed him some dry food.
Dabao was still too weak, and not long after eating, he fell asleep in Xiao Jin's arms again.
Su Ying was chewing some dry food, but her pair of sparkling eyes were always observing the situation around her.
Xiao Jin said that someone had attacked people from Prince Qi's mansion along the way, which meant that among these hundreds of people, there were many people who wanted to kill them, so she must not take it lightly.
Before going to bed, the officer held a long whip in his hand and looked at the prisoners with a sharp look.
"Behave yourself at night. Don't think you can escape this mountain by yourself. I tell you, even if you can escape from our eyes, you can't escape from the sharp mouths of wild beasts. The prisoners who were exiled before and tried to escape from here have all been chewed up by wild beasts. If you don't want to die now, stay here obediently."
The officer shouted warnings and walked among the prisoners before returning to his post to guard.
As the night deepened, the prisoners, who had been traveling all day, fell into a deep sleep.
Su Ying was dozing off against a tree. When she felt the air around her become calm, she suddenly opened her eyes.
The location they were in was just enough to avoid the sight of the patrolling officials. She glanced at Xiao Jin and the others, and after seeing that Jiang Yang was not sleeping but on guard, she quietly went towards the mountains in the dark.
Jiang Yang watched her leave. He frowned, thinking that Su Ying was trying to play some tricks again. But because he had to protect Xiao Jin and the others' safety, he didn't dare to follow her rashly.
As soon as Su Ying left, another figure quietly climbed up from the group of prisoners. After the patrolling officer passed by, he silently ran towards the forest. Even though the forest was dangerous, some people would still give it a try compared to being exiled to the northern wilderness.
After the prisoner was out of the officer's sight, he ran madly towards the forest. He didn't know how long he ran until he was so tired that he couldn't lift his legs. He then leaned against a big tree and gasped for breath.
It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and the only sound in his ears was his heavy breathing. But when he slowed down his breathing, he found that his panting was getting heavier.
He opened his eyes wide in astonishment, and looked behind him with his head stiff, and met a pair of eyes emitting green light in the darkness...
After Su Ying left the team, she went into the storage space. She had consumed a lot of physical energy throughout the day, and that little bit of dry food could not satisfy her growing desire for meat.
She took some jerky from the rack and took a bite. The crispy roasted bear meat instantly made her addicted.
After eating and drinking, she got up and took some anesthetics and a dagger from the shelf to prepare for the hunt at night.
As soon as she came out of the space, Su Ying heard a scream that broke the calm night sky.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com