274. Inn
"Princess, I'm back." Xie Wenling came back with his back to the sea of fire, carrying two large bundles in his hands.
"Look, one bag is valuables, and the other bag is food." Xie Wenling took out a piece of candy and stuffed it into the little dumpling's mouth.
"Mmm." Sweetly, the little dumpling squinted its eyes happily.
Xie Wenling lifted her onto the sled, and the two left the village: "Alright, all the damned people are dead, all the grudges here have been settled, we can go home in peace."
Return to the capital, gather troops, and find an opportunity to eliminate the Prince of Zhennan. Also, see if you can rescue the old grandparents who saved the little dumpling.
"Yay!" the little dumpling muttered to itself, waving its round little fist.
Xie Wenling was pleased with her reaction: "You must be vengeful and not like Qu Zijin, who repays evil with good, that's sick."
"The duck will get its revenge! Fried dough sticks!"
"The county princess is indeed exceptionally intelligent."
"Roar~"
The two chatted as they walked.
-
Several days passed in this way.
The food Xie Wenling had snatched was almost gone, but the food problem was secondary. The main issue was that they were all finding it difficult to keep up with the continuous travel.
The little dumpling is only three years old. She had been exposed to the wind for a long time and was frightened. Although she was lucky not to get sick, her constitution is inevitably a bit weak.
Although the little dumpling didn't say anything, it would obediently lie in Xie Wenling's arms every day, eat whatever was given to it, respond to whatever Xie Wenling said, and sleep when it was tired.
Despite the daily bumpy ride, the little dumpling became increasingly tired.
That day, the little dumpling went to sleep early, nestled in Xie Wenling's arms, sleeping soundly but not peacefully.
Xie Wenling felt a pang of heartache, and with the sky overcast and looking like it was about to snow, and the surroundings deserted, he also began to feel anxious.
In fact, he couldn't hold on any longer either.
His wound is worsening.
He had been holding back his words and kept driving the sled along the side roads, rushing onward, all in order to get out of the Zhennan King's territory as soon as possible and reach a safe place.
At least, before he collapses, he must entrust the little dumpling to someone he can trust.
After traveling for a while, I wanted to find a cave to take shelter in in order to avoid freezing to death while traveling in the mountains in the heavy snow.
To his surprise, he actually saw an inn located there.
He immediately drove his sled over, and upon closer inspection, he discovered it was actually an inn run by someone, with candlelight flickering in the lobby.
Although it's a bit suspicious, it doesn't seem like there's a better option.
So he immediately got off the sled, picked up the little dumpling, and went into the inn.
In the lobby, two tall, burly men were chatting idly behind the counter. Judging from their attire, one was probably the shopkeeper, and the other was probably a waiter.
Hearing footsteps entering the room, the two immediately turned around and saw Xie Wenling holding a child.
The two were startled when a person carrying a child suddenly appeared in the desolate wilderness. But when they saw Xie Wenling's light armor and sword, they seemed to understand something, but they were even more puzzled.
However, the waiter still greeted him with a forced smile, tossing his handkerchief aside. "Young master, sir, um...hero? Are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"
Xie Wenling glanced at him and tacitly accepted all forms of address: "Checking in, I'll book a superior room."
He handed over the money, which the shopkeeper immediately accepted, and the waiter led him upstairs.
Once inside the room, Xie Wenling looked around and found it to be somewhat dilapidated and dirty.
However, he can accept it.
It's much better than the empty houses in Baicao Village and the caves on the mountain.
At least there's a bed.
He carefully placed the little dumpling on the bed. The little dumpling was a little uneasy after being suddenly separated from his arms, and its little hands twitched in the air.
Xie Wenling patted her back, and she gradually calmed down and fell into a deep sleep.
This made him marvel at how easy the child was to take care of; even someone like him who had never taken care of a child before could do so with ease.
Why can't it be his child?
He really needs to go back and fight for custody.
He stood up, and suddenly everything went black before his eyes. He swayed and almost fell over.
He was starting to feel the strain.
Outside, he saw the silhouettes of large snowflakes falling through the thin paper window.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Inside the room, the waiter smiled as he watched his swaying figure.
-
This inn seems particularly lively today.
Another person walked in from outside, holding an oil-paper umbrella and wearing a warm fur coat.
It was Qu Zijin.
He and two attendants followed the clues southward, but unfortunately the trail eventually went cold.
Having no other choice, they settled in the nearest town, but dared not search openly, so they searched in secret.
He and two attendants split up and went their separate ways.
However, the unfortunate thing is...
He seems to be lost.
Using the knowledge he gained from the book, he could roughly distinguish between east, west, south, and north.
But just as they figured it out, it started snowing heavily.
He was at his wit's end, but luckily he spotted the inn in time and rushed in to take refuge.
Now that we're here, we might as well resupply.
So Qu Zijin looked at the waiter who had been eyeing him and said, "Young man, what do you have to eat? Please bring me some."
The waiter smiled and asked, "What would you like to eat, sir?"
"Do you have any dried meat or other dry rations? I'd like to take some with me on the road."
"Yes, we have plenty of wild game in these mountains!"
"Oh? What kind of wild game do you have?" Qu Zijin thought that since he wanted to find out more from them, he might as well take this opportunity to get closer to them and start chatting.
"Well, you'll know once you try it, sir," the waiter said mysteriously.
“Alright, I’ll try it,” Qu Zijin glanced at the innkeeper. “Speaking of which, are you two the only ones running this inn?”
The shopkeeper nodded upon hearing this.
"That's really not easy."
"Hey, it's alright."
Qu Zijin looked at the heavy snow outside and sighed, "Sigh, I wonder when it will stop."
The innkeeper reassured him, "Sir, there's no need to worry. Please settle in and stay here."
“Indeed, we can’t travel in the snow all the time. It’s lucky we found this inn,” Qu Zijin nodded, then asked curiously, “Speaking of which, how did you two come up with the idea of opening a shop here?”
"It's precisely because this place is in the middle of nowhere that passersby have to stop by our shop to rest," the shopkeeper said, exchanging a glance with the waiter. "Speaking of which, do you still not know the young master's background?"
"Me? I'm from the capital." Qu Zijin observed their reactions.
Both of them were startled: "That far?!"
The reaction was normal, and Qu Zijin didn't know whether it was good or bad: "Yes."
"Then you must be someone of great importance, young master. May I ask why you have come to our small place, without any attendants?"
Faced with the two men's obvious attempts to probe their identities, Qu Zijin, who knew that some areas nearby were within the influence of the Prince of Zhennan and had suffered losses because of it, was already on guard.
He dodged the question: "Of course there are compelling reasons for my visit. As for attendants, yes, there are some, but..."
"Just what?"
-
In the guest room.
The little dumpling woke up not long after and found herself lying in bed with a candle lit on the table.
She rubbed her eyes, looked around, but couldn't find Brother Xie.
She was a little uneasy.
A clap of thunder outside the window startled the little girl, who hurriedly ran to the door and pushed it open.
The corridor was pitch black, and she became even more frightened: "Brother Xie? Brother Xie..."
The sound of thunder and snow outside drowned out her voice, so no one could hear her.
The little dumpling became increasingly confused, and a layer of misty water rose in its eyes.
She sniffed and decided to go find Brother Xie.
The little dumpling looked around and saw that there were two sides of the corridor, with a faint light coming from one of them.
Without hesitation, she prepared to walk towards the side with light.
【Wait a moment. 】
The system aunt, whose voice had warmth, suddenly called out to her.
The little dumpling obediently stopped in its tracks: "Auntie?"
【Take the other side.】
When Auntie, who has a warm body, speaks, her language is always very brief.
The little girl didn't question it; she believed that Aunt System wouldn't harm her.
Although she was a little scared, she still mustered up her courage and went out in the dark.
After reaching the end, there was a staircase leading down, and she carefully felt her way down.
After turning a corner, she saw a closed door.
A faint light shone through the crack in the door.
The little dumpling went forward and pushed the door, but the door didn't budge, and a foul smell wafted out.
It smells awful... and there's no sound coming from inside.
The little dumpling wrinkled its nose, turned its head, and saw the dark staircase and corridor, which blended into one in the darkness.
The little dumpling trembled in fright, as if some ghost or monster was stirring in the darkness behind it.
She was terrified and turned around, desperately trying to push the door open: "Help, help me..."
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