Chapter 27 In ancient times, roads were all traversed by human labor…
Qin Ren brought Liu Qingyue along because after leaving the mountains, he discovered that there was a road ahead.
In ancient times, roads were all built by human labor.
Where there is a road, there are people.
Qin Ren needed Liu Qingyue's help to ask for directions after coming out of the mountains, so it would be more convenient to bring Liu Qingyue along.
The two walked slowly along the path, which gradually became wider and flatter, and some villages began to appear.
Qin Ren went back halfway and brought Liu Qingyue's mountain bike with him.
This way, Liu Qingyue could ride the bicycle and carry their belongings, which would be much easier than if they carried them by hand.
At this time, they approached a village called Qinghe Village.
They met two villagers who were washing clothes by the river at the entrance of the village.
The two villagers were startled when they suddenly saw them.
One of the villagers had a striking cinnabar birthmark on his forehead, just like Liu Qingyue's.
After the other party said something to Qin Ren and his companion, Liu Qingyue quickly explained, "Don't be afraid, we are traveling from the north to the south to find our relatives. We just wanted to ask you for directions as we were passing through."
The villager with a cinnabar birthmark on his forehead blinked his big eyes and glanced timidly at Qin Ren behind Liu Qingyue.
"I... I haven't left the village much, so I might not know how to get there."
"It's okay, just tell us what you know."
"Then tell me, where are you headed?"
"We are heading to Yu Yang Prefecture, but where are we now? How far are we from Yu Yang Prefecture?"
The villagers muttered to themselves, "Yuyang Prefecture... seems to be further south, quite far from here."
He muttered to himself, then glanced at his companion beside him.
His companion said, "Yuyang Prefecture is in the South China Sea. We are in Qiuchuan. If you continue south, it will probably be a long way off."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyue quickly asked, "Then... are there any merchant caravans in the city heading to the South China Sea?"
Villager: "Yes, but... the world is in chaos now, and caravans dare not leave the city. Even in peaceful times, caravans are easily robbed by bandits. Now that the north is in chaos, even if there are still caravans willing to leave the city, I doubt they would dare to take you with them."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyue's beautiful face immediately scrunched up in a frown.
I thought that now that we'd reached Qiuchuan, we'd be able to find a caravan heading south, and they wouldn't have to walk anymore.
After hearing what they said, Liu Qingyue couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Liu Qingyue thanked the two men, then told Qin Ren what they had said, and led Qin Ren out of the village.
They parked their car in a reed bed outside the village, and having asked for directions, they planned to continue their journey on their bicycles.
Then, at that moment, they ran into an acquaintance.
The person who came was a disaster victim named Shen Wanying. She had previously traded jade with Qin Ren for food.
Logically speaking, since Qin Ren rode his motorcycle past them, the other party should still be behind them.
But to their surprise, this guy was right in front of them.
Shen Wanying was ahead of them because he often traveled to the south with his father for business when he was young. He was quite familiar with many places in the south, so he didn't have much trouble along the way.
In addition, when he passed through a town, he obtained a mule in his father's name.
When Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue were trapped in the mountains, it was enough time for him to ride his mule and catch up with them.
Shen Wanying recognized Qin Ren immediately upon seeing him, mainly because Qin Ren's short hair and gruesome face were too eye-catching.
Shen Wanying ran towards them almost in tears, "Benefactors, benefactors, is it really you two?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyue looked at him in disbelief. He had thought that Shen Wanying, being alone and so thin and timid, would not be able to go very far.
So Liu Qingyue was quite surprised to suddenly see him here.
Liu Qingyue: What are you doing here?
Shen Wanying: "I came here to escape."
Liu Qingyue: "You came all by yourself? You're quite capable."
Shen Wanying humbly replied, "No, I don't have any special skills. I just happened to know the way and I also managed to get a mule before, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get here."
Also, he was quite cautious along the way, and he was an ugly man. For safety, he deliberately avoided other people, which is how he safely arrived in Qiuchuan.
"My two benefactors, are you planning to settle down in Qiuchuan?"
Liu Qingyue shook her head. "No, we still need to continue south."
"What a coincidence! I'm also heading south. How about we travel together?"
Upon hearing that another person was going to travel with them, Liu Qingyue relayed the message to Qin Ren.
Liu Qingyue: "He wants to come with us."
I thought Qin Ren would refuse as always, but to my surprise, Qin Ren agreed this time.
"It seems he knows the way, so we can go with him for now. When we need to go back, we can part ways with him then."
Anyway, the other party is just one person, and even if he has any bad intentions, Qin Ren can easily subdue him.
Liu Qingyue nodded upon hearing this, then turned to look at Shen Wanying.
“We can travel with you for now, but we can’t be sure how far we can go. If we have other things to do later, we’ll probably have to part ways with you.”
"It's alright, it's alright. I was the one taking advantage of my two benefactors. It's fine even if we can't walk together forever."
He didn't travel with Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue; he traveled alone on the road.
Even if they are destined to part ways, the road ahead will be safer than if he walks it alone.
Afterwards, Liu Qingyue found the car, and the three of them continued on their journey together.
After seeing the car, Shen Wanying would occasionally turn her eyes to look at it.
He held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help asking, "What... what is this?"
Why does it run faster than his mule?
Liu Qingyue pedaled the pedal and explained to him, "This is called a bicycle, also known as a mountain bike. It's a vehicle invented by foreigners."
These were words that he and Qin Ren had discussed beforehand.
Since transportation is underdeveloped, the people of Nanning have virtually no opportunity to go abroad, and therefore have no way of knowing about other countries.
"Foreign, foreign things? Then, then he, he really is a foreigner?"
The "he" that Shen Wanying was referring to was Qin Ren, who was standing behind Liu Qingyue.
“He… is not considered a foreigner. His mother was from Dayong, but was later forced to marry a foreigner. He recently returned to Dayong with his mother and is considered a citizen of Dayong.”
This explanation was something he and Qin Ren had prepared in advance.
As for why Qin Ren didn't have his identity document, the north was in chaos, and the capital was also vying for the throne. Liu Qingyue had lost her identity document, so naturally Qin Ren's identity document was also "lost".
The three of them were: one on a mule, one on a bicycle, and the other on foot.
Qin Ren put all his belongings on the bicycle.
This way, even if he walks, it will be much easier than before.
They traveled for two days before finding lodging in a town and inquiring about any caravans heading south.
The townspeople's response to them was similar to that of the two villagers before them.
Even though the south is relatively peaceful now, no caravans dare to travel around.
If they want to go south, they can buy their own carriage.
However, buying a carriage is clearly not cost-effective, since Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue might return, and buying a carriage would easily become a burden for them.
After discussing it with Liu Qingyue, Qin Ren decided to continue south to see if any other towns had caravans heading south.
If there are still no caravans, they can spend some money to hire a security escort agency.
If even the escort agencies can't provide transportation, they'll just buy a horse-drawn carriage to get around.
After leaving the small town, they passed through a county town called Yucheng.
There were many messy tents outside the county town, which were said to be refugees who had fled from the north.
Yucheng was unable to accommodate so many disaster victims, so they had to temporarily settle them here.
When Liu Qingyue saw so many people, she couldn't help but say to Qin Ren beside her, "I thought... we were among the faster ones to leave, but I didn't expect so many refugees to have arrived here. They're all gathered outside the city gate. Are they not planning to continue?"
Qin Ren remained silent upon hearing this, but Shen Wanying spoke up instead.
"It's not that they don't want to walk anymore, but that they can't walk anymore."
The three of them knew how arduous the journey had been.
These disaster victims don't have many supplies, and they must be suffering from hunger and cold on the way, with many of them also carrying injuries.
Unable to continue their journey due to their condition, they could only gather at the city gate hoping that the local officials would provide them with relief.
However, an ancient county town certainly wouldn't have much stored grain.
In addition, the imperial court was inactive, and officials dared not use all the grain to provide disaster relief.
If these people stayed here, it's unlikely they would all survive.
Liu Qingyue couldn't bear to watch any longer; he was afraid he would be tempted to save them.
There's no way around it. Even if he was harmed by some disaster victims before, not all disaster victims are bad people.
Seeing the elderly, women, and children, he still couldn't help but feel sad and heartbroken.
Qin Ren could see his soft heart, but there was nothing he could do to save them.
Because there are too many disaster victims, he doesn't have the ability to save them right now.
Qin Ren: "Let's go."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyue quickly nodded.
As the three of them left, several young men dressed as guards were searching among the refugees outside the city.
Guard A: "We still haven't found the Third Young Master. There's none of him among these disaster victims. If the Eldest Young Master knew, he would probably be disappointed again."
Guard B: "There's nothing we can do. I have a feeling that the Third Young Master is already dead. Keeping searching like this is just a waste of effort."
Guard A was horrified upon hearing this. "Shh, are you out of your mind? The young master and madam can't hear this!"
Guard B: "But we've searched all the way from the north to here, we've searched every possible route. Where could a young master like the Third Young Master have gone by himself?"
Upon hearing his words, the other guards remained silent and continued searching for the person.
Whether they can find it or not, the eldest son said they had to search, so they had to keep searching.
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