Chapter 28: It’s better to kill with one sword.
"Who told you to stop? Are you slowing down the team and asking for a fight?"
The ancient roads were not even as good as modern rural dirt roads, and Ran Qingxuan had a very difficult time walking along the bumpy roads.
Although she had three sisters-in-law helping her push the cart, after an hour, or more than two hours, the straps on her shoulders had already rubbed her skin under her clothes.
The wound was made worse by the friction of rough clothes.
Seeing that the officers were about to approach, Ran Qingxuan gritted his teeth and endured the pain, stood up and continued walking forward, not giving the officers any chance to hit him.
"Sixth brother's wife, let me pull it. You take a rest first."
Without waiting for Ran Qingxuan to refuse, his second sister-in-law Chang Yue'e took off the strap on her shoulder and put it on her own shoulder.
The team only paused for a short while before continuing to move forward. The officer who was about to step forward put down the whip in his hand, snorted coldly, and left.
"Second sister-in-law..."
"It's okay, your sister-in-law is very strong, but you should just stay by her side and take a rest first!"
Sister-in-law Zhou Furong helped push the cart. Ran Qingxuan temporarily put down the burden on his shoulders and felt pain all over his body.
Come to think of it, this body had been hungry for a few days before this. Coupled with the weight that was not suitable for his age and the symptom of dizziness when he stood up suddenly, he was simply too weak.
In the past, she would have walked for an hour without stopping while carrying 30 kilograms of equipment on her back, but now she just wanted to sit down and have a good rest.
She was not the only one in the team. Many others were the same. They were all used to being served. The first heavy rain in Path of Exile consumed everyone's energy.
Fortunately, the sky began to clear up after walking for about half an hour. The weather in early autumn is changeable. It rained heavily in the morning, but the sun started to shine brightly at noon.
The Gu family also got wet in the rain at the beginning. Even though they had raincoats at the end, their clothes were not very dry.
The wet clothes mixed with cold sweat stuck to their bodies, and everyone had a painful expression on their faces. Many people in the team were complaining bitterly.
After the officer scolded them a few times, the team finally stopped in front of a dilapidated temple.
After a whole morning of traveling, Ran Qingxuan was so tired that he slumped down beside the cart and didn't want to get up. Gu Yanchen turned his head slightly and saw half of Ran Qingxuan's face was pale and bloodless, and there was an obvious slap mark on the other side.
With a bitter feeling in his heart, he spoke softly.
"How's your face? Can you hold up?"
Ran Qingxuan changed her posture slightly, making it look like she was pretending to lie on the edge of the cart to rest.
“I’m fine, you better not move for now. When Shen Huai came just now, I saw that there was someone else in the carriage he was sitting in.”
A few strands of hair were messily stuck to her face. Gu Yanchen really wanted to reach out and help her tidy it up, but Ran Qingxuan's words made him dare not act rashly.
"I think Shen Huai's coming to see me is just a cover. Maybe the person who didn't get out of the car is coming for you."
"How do you know?"
"The fact that he can come here in Shenhuai's carriage shows that this person is of high status. I guess he is either the crown prince or one of the princes..."
After saying this, Ran Qingxuan felt that it was a bit unrealistic. Even if someone was good friends with Gu Yanchen, they wouldn't be so cautious.
"I always feel that things are not as simple as they seem. Before we know what Shen Huai and that person's intentions are, we'd better be careful. If possible, you'd better wake up after seven days."
Ran Qingxuan's words made Gu Yanchen fall into deep thought. If the people on the carriage were just here to watch the fun, it would be fine. But if they were here specifically to investigate what was happening to them, then they would have to be careful and cautious.
But Gu Yanchen couldn't bear it when he saw his family members working so hard for him.
"Three days, seven days is too long, otherwise you...and your sisters-in-law will have a hard time."
The place of exile is in the northwest, which is equivalent to the Xinjiang area in his previous life. Ran Qingxuan silently calculated the distance in his heart and muttered softly.
“The group started walking at 9:30 in the morning and it’s 1:30 now.
I walked 13 kilometers in five hours, an average speed of 2.6 kilometers per hour. If I walk ten hours a day, I can walk about 25 kilometers..."
Gu Yanchen didn't understand what Ran Qingxuan meant by the word "hour", and anxiously reached out and pulled her sleeve.
"What are you talking about?"
Ran Qingxuan came back to his senses, looked around, and when he was sure that everyone was exhausted and had no time to pay attention to them, he quietly took out a pocket watch the size of a one-yuan coin from his arms.
Pointing to the minute hand, second hand, and hour hand above, he explained softly, as well as the numbers.
After just one time, Gu Yanchen remembered how to tell time and was impressed by this small pocket watch.
Ran Qingxuan put the pocket watch into his hand and whispered, "Help me watch it and calculate how much time it takes in a day."
"good!"
Gu Yanchen did not ask Ran Qingxuan why, he only knew that she must have her reasons for doing so.
Ran Qingxuan did have her own thoughts. The team was moving slowly, and she was afraid that Gu Yanchen could not bear to see the women of the Gu family suffer like this, so she found something for him to do.
From Northern Qi to the northwest, prisoners had to rely entirely on their own strength to walk step by step to the place of exile. Exiled prisoners were not allowed to take the official road without special approval, and the winding path took as much as three thousand kilometers.
There were many women and children in the exile team. If a normal person walked for more than four hours continuously, all his physical strength would be consumed. Excluding rest time, the team could walk less than 20 kilometers a day.
At the current speed, it will probably take five months to get there.
It would be fine if the weather was good, but if it was raining or snowing, they would probably have to die on the road before they even reached their destination.
The more he thought about it, the colder Ran Qingxuan felt. It would be better to kill him with a single blow!
Gu Yanchen was shocked when he saw Ran Qingxuan’s face turned pale.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"Ran Qingxuan...Ran Qingxuan?"
"Um?"
"Are you feeling unwell?"
If possible, Gu Yanchen would like to get up immediately and end the torture of his family.
Seeing the worry in his eyes, Ran Qingxuan forced a smile that was uglier than crying, which made Gu Yanchen even more worried about her condition.
"What's wrong with you? Just lie still for seven days and your wound will heal. Then you can run and jump as you like. Don't let the night bring you more trouble!"
The words "lest the night be too long and dreams too much" dispelled Gu Yanchen's attitude of continuing to insist. He nodded slightly and tightly held the pocket watch given to him by Ran Qingxuan.
The officials had already started a fire in the dilapidated temple, but apart from the officials, the exiled prisoners had no right to go in to keep warm.
Ran Qingxuan and the women of the Gu family were sitting beside the cart, whispering about Gu Yanchen's situation. An officer holding a cloth bag walked up to the line of prisoners and stood beside them.
"Come on, come on, it's time for dinner. One mixed vegetable steamed bun for each person. Any more?"
As soon as the officer finished speaking, a slightly angry voice appeared in the team.
"You've traveled all morning just for one? You're sending away a beggar?"
Ran Qingxuan didn't know the person who was speaking, but fortunately her family was at the back and no one was paying attention to them. Gu Yanchen hid himself and explained softly.
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