She blinked as the smoke cleared, only to find that it was still dark all around, with no starlight or moon shadows visible, and the air was still.
Xiao Nanhui's heart sank little by little.
Will it be a dead end?
She clenched her fists, pulled the person behind her over, and was about to carry him on her back. Before she could straighten her back, her head hit her hard.
She cried out in pain and had to squat down again. When she raised her hand to touch the place on her head, she touched a wooden board. The cracks on the board were the same as the gaps on the wooden board just now. Some of them were about one or two fingers wide, and it was obvious that they were quite old.
Where is this house? Why does it have such a low roof?
Could she be in a huge coffin?
Thinking of what she had seen and heard in the past few days, a creepy feeling crawled up her spine and onto the back of her neck. The fear of facing the unknown was infinitely magnified, and she felt the hairs on her body stand up instantly.
But she couldn't back down.
Now she is the only one he has. If she retreats, they may all die here, and Tiancheng will have no emperor.
No, you can't.
How could he, a man as graceful as Xuanzong and as charming as the moon reflected in a jade cup, die in such an unknown corner? And how could she, who had longed for the warm sunshine and the free wind all her life, feel so miserable in her last moments?
Xiao Nanhui clenched his fists.
No matter what was in the darkness, she had no choice but to move forward.
After taking several deep breaths, she finally bent over and mustered up the courage to move forward.
As soon as she took a step, she felt something knocked over.
There was a loud bang.
A round, heavy object rolled a few times under her feet and then stopped.
She swallowed and listened quietly for a while. After making sure that the thing was not moving, she dared to slowly reach out and feel around.
It's cool, round, and has some prickly hairs on it.
Xiao Nanhui was stunned for a moment, but he didn't give up and touched it again. The expression on his face gradually changed from confusion to shock.
Then she quickly took a few steps forward and squatted down to feel around.
This time she felt something long and round, one end was smooth and the other end had some scars and scabs.
She sat back on the ground, was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed out loud.
A winter melon and a cabbage.
She seemed to know where this was.
******************
Three days later, an ox cart creaked past on a sandy road southwest of Quecheng.
The sun was blazing brightly, and only half of the rag was torn off the roof of the ox cart. If you pulled it a little to the left, the right side would be exposed, and if you pulled it a little to the right, the left side would be exposed again.
Two people sat side by side under the rag, one gray and one white.
The wheels jolted, and as they passed a mound of dirt on the road, they kicked up another cloud of yellow dust that smelled of dried cow dung. The man in white was stained with dirt and dust, almost turning the same color as the man in gray.
Yikong took off his hat, shook off the dirt on it, and put it back on his head.
"How many days left?"
Hao Bai had a blank expression on his face. His mouth and nose were covered tightly with a piece of cloth. He stood still like a mountain, giving off an aura of "keep away from strangers".
"have no idea."
The young monk seemed completely unable to read the expression of the person next to him, and his tone was full of surprise.
"You're not from Wancheng? How come you don't even know how long it will take to get home?"
Hao Bai finally moved.
He blinked and felt particles of sand falling from his eyelashes. Then he pulled off the cloth tied around the cow's mouth and nose and threw it on the cow's butt.
"I only know how many days it takes to get there by car and how many days it takes to get there by horse. How can I know how many days it takes to get there by oxcart?!"
The young monk took out a palm-leaf fan from somewhere and fanned himself leisurely.
"The weather is dry and the air is dry. Hao Shi mainly needs to learn to calm his mind."
"We've been on the road for three days, and you haven't spent a single penny. I only have thirty coins left. Do you think you're going to beg for food for the remaining hundred miles?!"
One hand was fanning the fan non-stop, while the other hand was making a canopy and looking into the distance.
"Don't speak so harshly, Mr. Hao. This is called begging."
"Begging for alms?! What have you managed to collect from the day before yesterday until now? If I hadn't brought a few sesame cakes with me before I left, I'm afraid I would have starved to death on the road before I even left Chizhou..."
Hao Bai's incessant chattering spread across the hot wilderness, and even the old crow hiding in the shade under the old walnut tree was too lazy to pay attention to him.
The air was distorted and swirling due to the high temperature, and even the dirt road seemed to become curved. A large poplar tree in the distance cast a shadow on the road, which seemed to split the road in two at first glance.
Yikong squinted his eyes, not knowing what he saw. He stood up and patted the old ox's butt, and the ox cart creaked as it drove towards the tree.
This short distance took them about half an incense stick of time to walk. When they got closer, they could see clearly that there were two carriages parked in the shadows under the tree. The roofs of the carriages were newly painted, and the spots of light from the trees fell on them, making them sparkle.
Yikong's eyes seemed to be illuminated by the light. He brushed off the dirt on his body and looked at the impatient doctor beside him with great pleasure.
"The money is here."
Hao Bai's nagging stopped abruptly.
He has been unlucky recently. In the few long journeys he has had, he either narrowly escaped death and almost had his head chopped off, or was tricked into a village to treat the legs of a female bandit. He kindly saved a horse on the side of the road, but was locked up and made a slave for several months.
Alarm bells were ringing in his heart, and the anxiety made his voice sound different.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
