The culprit stood by, smiling but saying nothing. Recently, Jiang Yue had secretly fed her family a lot of pills, all so that they could witness this great migration. In ancient times, going out was a real hassle, and now that there was war everywhere, even the official roads were impassable. The official roads were not for ordinary people. But in peacetime, you could walk on them and no one would bother you. If something happened, you could just make way for them.
That won't work now. If someone is transporting grain and you happen to be unlucky enough to be caught in the middle, you'll die instantly. If you're lucky, you'll be forcibly conscripted to transport grain and die. It's unlikely that nothing will happen to you and you'll be able to pretend it never happened.
Now, ordinary roads are impassable, and one must detour via the official roads. Normally, it would take three to five days to reach the prefectural city by ordinary roads. Of course, riding a horse would be faster. For example, Chen prepared half a month's worth of provisions this time, and normally it would take about a week to arrive. However, there is no guarantee that one will not encounter defeated soldiers or refugees on the way, and if one has to detour, it will take longer.
After Chen left, Jiang Yue lay on the bed thinking about Bai Ze's progress. She wondered how things were going on his end. Right now, as an ordinary person, Jiang Yue couldn't contact Bai Ze directly. She could only do so when they were closer. Bai Ze could take the initiative to contact Jiang Yue, but that would require a lot of spirit stones and would be too much. So, Jiang Yue told Bai Ze that if it wasn't important, they should talk about it in person.
Because his body was too weak before, the wizard's magic seed and bloodline seed were not implanted. Implanting the magic seed would be useless, since there are no superhumans in this world who can provide the necessary energy, and it would be a waste of a magic seed. The bloodline seed could be considered, at least it can strengthen the body, and it can regenerate and is not very precious.
Now, when Jiang Yue uses items, she prioritizes using renewable resources. For example, even if she finishes a low-level pill, she can still refine it by finding some medicinal herbs that are over a hundred years old. Jiang Yue has never used special or high-level pills because she is reluctant to do so.
Jiang Yue selected a bloodline seed from her spatial storage that could accelerate plant growth and possess some animal affinity. It was extracted from some kind of magical animal, but it couldn't be implanted yet. She had to wait for Bai Ze to return; she didn't have the ability to do so right now.
The next morning, Jiang Yue was woken up by two mischievous kids. Chen Shi and Jiang's father were busy packing and didn't have time to look after them, so they came to bother Jiang Yue. After getting up, she disciplined the two little brats and gave each of them a piece of spirit meat jerky, which could strengthen their bodies. Jiang Yue didn't give the children any pills; she gave them monster meat jerky instead, which was gentler.
After folding the quilt, Jiang Yue went out to help her father and mother-in-law pack their things, but her mother-in-law told her to just take care of the two children. They were leaving tomorrow after packing, and there was a lot to do, so the two adults couldn't take care of the children. This important task was handed over to Jiang Yue. After taking care of the children all morning, Jiang Yue planned to cook a meal for her family at noon, but as soon as she lit the fire, the two children came over and made a mess, so she couldn't finish cooking.
In the end, it was Mother Chen who took over the cooking duties. By late afternoon, the house was almost cleaned up. The family looked at the empty room. Apart from the two children who were just having fun and didn't understand anything, the other three were more or less reluctant to leave. When they were having dinner, someone knocked on the door and then called out: "Is the host home? It's getting late, so we're passing through your area. Can we stay the night?"
The two children heard the loud voice, and Jiang Yue immediately recognized Bai Ze's voice. Jiang Yue was wondering how they were going to meet, but unexpectedly Bai Ze came over. This guy hadn't contacted her before, and she didn't know how he knew they were leaving tomorrow. Chen and Jiang's father exchanged a glance, and Chen said, "I wonder who it is. Should we let them in?"
After getting dressed, Jiang's father said to Chen, "You stay at home, I'll go out and see what's going on." He also took his butcher knife with him when he went out. Although it wasn't common for people to come and ask for lodging, it had happened a few times. After all, Jiang Yue's family were landlords, and their house was better than other people's, so the success rate of people asking for lodging at their house was higher.
The door was in the front yard, and Jiang Yue, being in the back yard, couldn't hear what was being said in front. She could only wait and see how her father would handle it. After a short while, Jiang Yue heard the door open, and the people inside heard it too. So, they told Jiang Yue to watch the twins and went to the front yard. After waiting for Jiang Yue, Chen Shi brought Bai Ze and his family of three to the living room where they were having dinner.
Father Jiang and Madam Chen invited everyone to sit down and eat. Indeed, high-level puppets could eat, although they were of little use. After sitting down, Father Jiang inquired about Bai Ze's background. Bai Ze smiled bitterly and said, "My family of three is from the vicinity of Tianshui County. We were living a good life until the rebel army attacked and the city was breached. Normally, it doesn't matter who is in charge for us ordinary people, but the rebels are too brutal. At first, they only demanded money, but later some ruffians took a liking to my wife and tried to forcibly take her. In a fit of anger, I killed them, and my family had no choice but to flee."
After speaking, the female puppet hugged Bai Ze. If Jiang Yue didn't know that all three of them were controlled by Bai Ze, she would have actually believed it. The acting was quite convincing. After hearing what Bai Ze said, Jiang's father slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Well done! You're a real man. What kind of man can't even protect his own wife and children?!"
"Come, let me toast you with tea instead of wine!"
The men were boasting to each other, while Chen comforted the female puppet. Jiang Yue and her two siblings played with the puppet child and chatted for a while. Bai Ze drank a cup of tea and asked Jiang's father, "Brother Jiang, I see you're leaving too, right? What happened?"
“Nothing serious happened, but when I went to the county town earlier, I heard that a group of defeated soldiers from who-knows-where came. The Li family in the neighboring county town had all their money robbed and all their people were gone. I feel it’s not safe here and I plan to go to Shima County to take refuge.”
“Brother Jiang! You can’t go to Shima County. I heard that the rebel leader who captured Tianshui County had his whole family killed by the governor of Shima County. Given the rebels’ brutality, going there would be like walking into a trap!”
After hearing Bai Ze's explanation, Jiang's father, Chen, was initially shocked, but then relieved that he had known beforehand. Jiang's father raised a cup of tea to thank Bai Ze, but Bai Ze quickly declined, saying it was nothing. After thanking Bai Ze, Jiang's father asked, "Brother Bai, where are you planning to go?"
“We plan to go directly north to the capital. In my opinion, this war will not end anytime soon; it has only just begun. The capital, under the emperor’s nose, is safer. Brother Jiang, if you haven’t decided where to go, we might as well travel to the capital together.”
After thinking for a while, Jiang's father and mother, Chen, were playing with the child and didn't say anything. Jiang Yue had mentioned going to the capital a few days ago. Now that they couldn't stay in the county town, going to the capital was a good option. Moreover, Jiang's father and mother saw that Bai Ze was also with his family of three. Everyone was traveling with their families, so they felt much more at ease traveling together.
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