The itinerant doctor ran away
Wen Ruo suddenly laughed out loud. The gloomy sky was about to clear up, and golden rays shone precisely on her face, tracing her curled eyelashes, her delicate nose, and her star-like eyes, making her shine.
Qi Guanlan was so close that he could see even the fine downy hairs. He froze for a moment, then felt annoyed. He put his arm around her, naturally wrapped his arms around her neck, and whispered loudly in her ear, not wanting to hide anything from others.
"If you abandon me, I'll strangle you right now, and we'll go see Father together."
To threaten openly and brazenly.
In this critical moment, Qi Guanlan was quite resourceful. Wen Ruo pretended to struggle a few times, then helplessly lowered her hands, raised a bitter face, and pleaded through gritted teeth, "Please, kind sir, take my brother in."
Having such a useless older brother is a misfortune for the family. One-Eyed seemed to remember something, his eyes showing indignation and sympathy, but he glared at Qi Guanlan with a fierce look, intending to kill him with his knife.
Unfortunately, he was thick-skinned and had no sense of shame. Wen Ruo looked at him with pleading eyes and finally agreed with a cold face. Qi Guanlan immediately beamed and said, "It has to be my brother."
The two were forced to catch up with the main group by their arms. Qi Guanlan complained incessantly along the way, while Wen Ruo smiled apologetically the whole time. She did her part well, but her face was almost frozen from smiling.
Following the winding path, they finally saw the true face of the bandit leader. The scar on his diamond-shaped face stretched from the end of his eyebrow to below his ear. He grinned, and the red scar looked like a centipede crawling on his face. Compared with Gu Yu's murderous aura, the faint but obvious cruelty and brutality could not be concealed even by holding one's breath, and the stench was overwhelming.
"What, scared?" She sized up the group of people, and naturally, some people were sizing her up too. Scarface noticed it with his sharp eyes, but he only asked a question afterward.
Behind her, a group of robbers were pale and thin. A hint of worry flashed in Wen Ruo's eyes. She smelled blood. Most of these people were dressed in black, and the bloodstains on their bodies were not very noticeable.
The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to see them all at a glance. She wondered why they had stopped. It turned out they had split into two groups, and the surrounding villages must have been ransacked.
Outnumbered and outgunned, even General Gu... Wen Ruo felt a sharp pain in her wrist and realized that her hands were bound. It was Qi Guanlan who had done this, seemingly harboring a deep hatred for her and showing no favoritism whatsoever.
The two robbers behind her, having been robbed of their livelihood, were speechless and shocked. They also heard the one-eyed man muttering to himself, and several sympathetic gazes fell on her again.
Wen Ruo smiled wryly: "Brother, you really can't change at all. I'm your brother."
Qi Guanlan blinked his left eye, deciding to go all out with the act, since he couldn't escape anyway.
As fate would have it, a moment later, Qi Guanlan was on one side of the rope, his hands bound like a pretzel, while the bell doctor was tied far away on the other side, wearing a bamboo hat, his face obscured, with a green beard, he should be around forty years old, and his expression was calm and composed.
There were only a few dilapidated thatched huts on the mountain. Qi Guanlan, panting heavily, stood with his hands on his hips. Upon seeing the scene before him, he immediately wailed, "How am I supposed to survive the winter in this wretched place? It'll all fall apart in the wind. I'll freeze to death! Heaven has betrayed me. Everywhere I go is a dead end."
There was only a stone table and four stone benches in the open space in front of the house. Scarface sat in the center, while the others sat in twos and threes on broken wood. Occasionally, there were wild black moss plants, which were trampled underfoot and broken into pieces if one was not careful.
“Big brother, my brother is just outspoken, he didn’t mean it.” Wen Ru nudged him, secretly glancing at Scarface’s expression, and couldn’t help but explain for him, “But this place isn’t much better than where my brother and I are hiding.”
The mountain path was slippery, and everyone seemed to be struggling to keep up. Wen Ruo's face was particularly pale. She forced back the itch in her throat and raised her bound hands to signal:
"Brother, are the brothers hungry? Shouldn't you untie us? Or should I start a fire to warm them up and bake some flatbread? It's not good to eat cold food on such a cold day."
Scarface nodded slightly, and with a flash of light, the rope snapped. Wen Ruo quickly wrapped herself in his arms, and Qi Guanlan also reached out, loosening his grip on her wrist, leaving a red mark around her wrist.
He had already picked a good spot and was ready to go there to rest. "Brother, don't think about abandoning me. Come and help me."
Qi Guanlan exclaimed, "I can't! I'm not a cook!" His face was full of resistance as he was dragged away, leaving two footprints on the wet ground. "This is revenge," he said.
Wen Ruo rummaged around for a while, but unfortunately the branches were soaked through, and the fire still couldn't be lit after half an hour. She made naan bread with an apologetic look on her face, and in the end, she broke off her own half and handed it over.
Qi Guanlan took a bite, then looked horrified and was about to spit it out. Compared to this, the food in the military camp was simply a delicacy.
Dissatisfied glances came from around them again. Wen Ruo, with her sharp eyes, quickly covered his mouth. After looking around, she decided to pull him to the one-eyed man's side, since he was probably used to Qi Guanlan's way of speaking. "This is a day's ration. If you throw up, I won't take care of you."
The itinerant doctor was guarded, and the medicine bag was in the hands of the robbers. Wen Ruo could only wander around the perimeter, without even being able to say a word of greeting. The thatched roof was still dripping water from the four corners, and it was dilapidated. If she had to spend the night here, her mouth would probably be crooked.
The thatched hut contained only a wooden bed, which had not been repaired for a long time. The bed legs were covered with wormholes, and the bed was covered with a thick layer of thatch. On rainy days, mottled water stains were scattered throughout the hut.
Is this a place for humans to live? Are even bandits this destitute?
Qi Guanlan tossed the pancake to Wen Ruo, wandered around the door for a while, and couldn't help but click his tongue and shake his head. "A tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. This house is even worse than a pigsty. If it were before, my maids wouldn't have lived here. There are no silk quilts, no delicacies, and not even a place to shelter from the wind and rain. I might as well be dead."
Wen Ruo kicked him and moved closer to Scarface. "Brother, don't take it to heart, but are we really staying here tonight?"
Scarface swallowed the naan bread with water in one gulp, and mumbled, "What, is your older brother trying to run away again?"
Wen Ruo cupped her hands in admiration and said, "Brother, you are truly a genius. My brother has been like this since he was a child, indulging in pleasure. He can spend a copper coin twice, and he has squandered all of our family's wealth. My father had no choice but to send him to the army for training. Who knew that I would do such a thing? Please forgive me, brother, and don't hold it against him."
"Big brother, if you're sleeping here tonight, I'll go tidy up right now so the brothers can sleep peacefully." Wen Ruo wiped her mouth and jogged to the front of the room.
With just a gentle push, the wooden door creaked and fell to the ground. Wen Ruo was startled and stared blankly at the scarred man. She quickly waved her hands and said, "Big brother, I didn't mean to."
"fine."
Wen Ruo was relieved. She went inside and opened the window, but with a snap, both windows fell off. She ran around the room, not believing it, and found that the interior of the wood in several rooms was completely corroded. When she squeezed it with one hand, wet wood chips leaked out from between her fingers.
"It's even worse than I described." Qi Guanlan stayed around her, occasionally relaying messages to those outside.
The commotion inside the room, along with Qi Guanlan's disgust, made the robbers instinctively grab their clothes and sniff them. The smell of blood on their bodies and the spittle on their hands couldn't be wiped away.
Looking at the disheveled appearance across from him, he seemed to see himself reflected in the scene, and felt extremely bitter. He couldn't even swallow the pancake in his hand.
Wen Ruo walked awkwardly to Scarface and said, "Brother, what should we do? No one can live in the house, and the sky looks gloomy. It looks like it's going to rain again."
Scarface's expression turned cold. He stood up, walked to the itinerant doctor, placed his medicine bag on the table, and said in a hoarse voice, "What are you afraid of? The doctor is here. You won't die. We'll go back to the village at dawn."
Wen Ruo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly, "Brother, you have such foresight. I admire you."
"Sycophant!"
For some reason, Qi Guanlan suddenly glared at the two of them, crossed her arms, and sat down to the side, sulking. Wen Ruo was immediately embarrassed, wondering whether she should argue with her at every turn.
She tightened her clothes, feeling cold both physically and mentally. She had been moved for nothing; she shouldn't have brought Qi Guanlan along. What cooperation? He couldn't even handle a little hardship.
Wen Ruo pulled Qi Guanlan to a large tree in the distance. The sound of arguing could be heard intermittently from behind the tree. Qi Guanlan leaned against the tree trunk, looking at her with a playful expression, and asked a strange question, "I want to see how much of what you say is sincere?"
Wen Ruo glanced at them furtively. It seemed she was still worried about the two of them and had even sent someone to keep an eye on them. To ensure it was all real, she took a deep breath and said, "If you want to live, you have to listen to me."
The roar was so loud that people a hundred miles away could hear it. Qi Guanlan rubbed his ears, his face growing even more gloomy. Wen Ruo was even more confused. What had she done to offend him? But she still lowered her voice and pleaded, "Shout it out, or we'll all be exposed."
"Look at you, so capable. You even fooled me completely. What are you worried about? You seem quite skilled at it, but you're just using the same words you used to fool me to fool him."
Qi Guanlan spoke in a sarcastic tone, and Wen Ruo's face turned pale after understanding what he meant. When did he suddenly become sensible? Was he going to quit?
"Young Master, what are you saying? Young Master and I have perfect chemistry. Aren't we just putting on an act together?"
Qi Guanlan's stomach suddenly growled. He hadn't eaten for several hours, and his belly was already churning with resentment. He should have just rewarded her with gold instead of being so clever as to secretly follow her to find some miracle doctor. His mother was right; he had misjudged people.
"It's just a little hardship, and you can't even handle it!" Wen Ruo shouted again, her voice almost hoarse from performing a one-woman show.
Qi Guanlan was even angrier upon hearing this. "Yes, you are smart and you can endure hardship." He continued, "Not only that, you are also full of tricks. The moment the robbers arrived, you sold me out. Even a god couldn't be as fast as you. It's hard on you to keep coaxing a playboy like me."
Wen Ruo was speechless at his bluntness. To be honest, she didn't really want to argue in the current situation. She wanted to say a few more words, but Qi Guanlan's reflection was not thorough enough.
She looked into the distance, where the dirt road was flanked by empty, deserted land, with a few occasional hills that anyone who had ever farmed knew were graves.
The tombstone was shrouded in mist. With the Cold Clothes Festival fast approaching, Qi Guanlan couldn't even bear this short time and had to lose his temper now. Did he want to leave her corpse to rot in the wilderness?
She had no desire to experience the taste of near death again. Wen Ruo's eyes turned cold, and she said indifferently, "Do you want to do this groveling and opportunistic thing? I'm just trying my best to protect the two of us. Do you want us to switch places?"
I can't argue with you!
Qi Guanlan stormed off, and Wen Ruo, unable to hold back any longer, yelled at his retreating figure, "If you've got the guts, don't try to run away!"
To others, these words would simply be interpreted as the younger brother venting his anger at his older brother for deserting. But Qi Guanlan unexpectedly understood: he was being scolded for being out of his mind and insisting on following along.
"Yes, I'm useless. I'll just find a place to hang myself. Don't bother with me." Qi Guanlan was even angrier. It felt like he had been stabbed in the chest. Blood rushed to his head, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
Wen Ruo glanced at the scarred man, stomped her foot, and chased after him. Even if she returned alive after Qi Guanlan died, what difference would it make?
She was also confused by the cold wind; coaxing him wouldn't hurt her, so why make a scene now? "Brother, I was wrong. Have you forgotten Dad's last words?"
Seeing that he was stopped by the lookout, Wen Ruo slowed down her pace. The downhill road was slippery, and she was walking fast. She accidentally fell to the ground. Frustration and discouragement welled up in her heart, and her eyes reddened. She cried half-truthfully, "You are my only family left. I can't live without you."
Qi Guanlan's body stiffened, his bulging eardrums pounding in his heart, pulling him back, "From now on, you'll listen to me?"
He said that as if she hadn't heard it before. After all that, all he wanted was this one request. What's wrong with him?
"Don't lie to me."
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