Wei Jing opened his eyes again. The low, dark thatched roof and the flickering orange-red bonfire dispelled the coolness brought by the river breeze. His clothes were dry. A woman was leaning over the head of his bed, crying softly.
He held out his hand, "…Don't cry, I'm fine."
It was a very weak and slight sound, but it was real. For a moment Shao Qing thought she was hallucinating. She raised her head suddenly and met a pair of dark eyes, which reflected the dancing flames and her own surprised face.
"Are you really awake?!"
Shao Qing cried and laughed, and held his hand tightly, "That's great! That's great!"
The word "good" alone could not express her joy at all. She wiped her face and said, "You know what? We all survived!"
"I know. I know everything."
Her hair was disheveled and her speech was incoherent, but Wei Jing did not show any disdain. He just comforted her in a low voice and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Shao Qing probably didn't know that her face was as pale as paper and her lips were dull, and her condition didn't look much better.
"Your forehead..."
There was a bruise on Shao Qing's temple, which was caused by the impact of the tree trunk when she jumped into the river. It was very serious and caused her to still feel slightly dizzy. Wei Jing touched her lightly, and she felt some pain, so she quickly dodged it: "It's nothing serious, I just hit it on the tree trunk, it's a bit heavy, it will probably take a few days to heal."
Compared to Wei Jing, she felt that she was not a big problem, but he was the one who could not be delayed any longer.
"How is the poison in your body? We will set off at dawn. We must find a doctor quickly."
It's good that he woke up. Shao Qing could half-support him, otherwise she would not be able to move him by herself.
Speaking of this, she was a little worried: "We have no money, no household registration, and we don't know where this place is. Will they search it?"
According to the memories she received, the household registration system of the Great Chu was as strict as that of ordinary ancient times. If you wanted to go to a distant place, you would need a travel permit. If you were found to be an unregistered illegal resident, you would be arrested and made into a government slave.
Generally, people coming and going through important checkpoints in towns and cities would not check their passes. However, Wei Jing's body was covered with sword scars and two special wounds on his collarbone were too conspicuous. Once reported, he would be in big trouble.
Official slaves were a small matter. Shao Qing was most afraid that the new emperor's men had already ordered a search along the river. Once exposed, he would probably not have a second chance to escape.
But Wei Jing was covered in wounds and had to seek medical treatment.
"We should still be in Yizhou, but this should be the lower reaches of the Qian River."
It was already dawn. Wei Jing could vaguely see the broad and gentle river surface under the morning mist through the wide-open door of the shack. He pondered for a moment and said, "The upper reaches of the Qianshui River are mountainous and densely forested. It is not easy to travel by land or water. Moreover, the Qianshui River has a wide basin. They cannot confirm where we landed."
Most importantly, there is no way to confirm whether they are alive or dead, so we can only search just in case.
Wei Jing wanted to sit up, Shao Qing came forward to help him, letting him lean against the wall of the shack. He said, "As long as we don't reveal any flaws, after searching for a while, this matter will naturally come to nothing."
By then, the enemy will be in the open and we will be in the dark. After we have fully recovered from our injuries, it will not be too late to plan for the rest of the situation.
Wei Jing's eyes flashed red, and he whispered to comfort Shao Qing: "Our priority is to detoxify. As for the few sword wounds on your body, just say you were robbed by bandits."
He had experienced a lot and had much more knowledge than Shao Qing. After a little thought, he came up with a suitable way to deal with the situation.
Shao Qing frowned: "What about the other injuries on your body?" Especially the two clavicles.
"It's nothing, just give me some golden wound medicine, I will take care of it myself."
After all, Wei Jing had fought on the battlefield for a long time, and even though he was a prince commander, he was well aware of how to deal with external injuries. As long as the pharmacist was awake, this would not be a problem.
As for other issues like money, they had to go out first. He said, "Don't be afraid. Ordinary towns don't check for passes."
As for the household registration, even though Wei Jing was in such a poor state, he didn't care about it at all.
"Um!"
Shao Qing finally felt relieved. She smiled and said, "Then let's pack up and go. It's already daybreak."
"good."
Wei Jing responded and asked, "Is the sword still there?"
After receiving a positive reply, he instructed: "Take your sword with you. The world is not peaceful, especially in the border states and counties in the north and south."
"Um."
Originally raised in seclusion, Shao Qing was always in the presence of the emperor. She didn't know how to understand this unrest. But since Wei Jing had specifically instructed her, she did not dare to neglect it. She first used the bandage she had taken off earlier to wrap the sword around his back, then went to get the dried outer clothes and trousers and helped him put them on.
The front of Wei Jing's clothes was originally stained with blood, but after being washed in the river for such a long time, the bloodstain had faded. The clothes were originally dark gray, so this whole area of blood made it inconspicuous.
Shao Qing picked up a number of mud eggs from the edge of the fire pit. These were the roasted wild duck eggs left over from yesterday. She cracked the mud shell, peeled the egg and handed it to Wei Jing.
They didn't know what the situation was outside and they had no money, so this was necessary to fill their stomachs. The roasted eggs alone are very dry, but this is all we can do for now. I will help Wei Jing out to drink water later. He woke up, and Shao Qing couldn't feed him water like he did last night.
After eating his fill, Shao Qing still had a few duck eggs left. He put them all in his arms, put out the fire, and piled the firewood back.
She did not tidy up the two of them. Instead, she took some fire ash and smeared it on their faces, especially her own hands and neck, leaving no exposed skin untouched. It was not appropriate for them to cause trouble now.
Let’s pretend to be fellow Beggars’ Gang members first. The two of them walked with each other’s support. This identity is the least noticeable and there will be no problem as long as no one looks closely.
Finally, she silently thanked the owner of the shack and carried Wei Jing out the door.
It was bright outside in the morning, and the riverside was shrouded in mist. The wind blew across the river bank, the reeds swayed, the wild ducks flapped their wings, and the river water sparkled against the beach.
It was the first time that Shao Qing saw the surrounding scenery clearly. She looked towards the shore. I saw that the river beach was dozens of meters wide. Behind the beach was a dense patch of thatched grass. Behind it was a river bank four or five meters high, rising slowly. The thatched grass as tall as a person spread all the way up, covering the entire area tightly.
There seems to be a road on the river bank, leading to the mountains upstream, but this road is obviously not often walked by people, because there is no small path leading down to the river beach.
The human settlement should be downstream. Shao Qing seemed to see smoke from cooking fires in the distance. It seemed like it was there and it seemed not to be there, but she was cheered up.
"As long as there is a road, there will be people."
However, after she and Wei Jing discussed it, they did not climb up the river bank and take the path, but walked down along the river beach.
There were so many reeds and grass that you had to push them aside one by one before you could walk. It is troublesome, but the two of them have special identities. If possible, they should observe the environment carefully before appearing in front of others. In case something happens, they can have a buffer.
Although Wei Jing woke up, he was still very weak, with half of his body weight leaning on Shao Qing. Shao Qing naturally found it difficult, but she was mentally prepared. This was not the first time she had done this job, and it was certainly easier than walking on the slippery mountain road, right?
The only thing that made her feel uncomfortable was the sword behind her. The tip of the sword could not be wrapped and was very sharp. She was always afraid that it would poke her thigh, so she reached out to move it from time to time.
Wei Jing said that the world was not peaceful, which made her feel a little uneasy. In addition, she was a fugitive, so she was extremely vigilant along the way and looked around from time to time.
But she didn't expect that she would encounter unrest in the world so soon.
…
We kept walking like this for at least an hour. Although there were still a lot of reeds and thatch, fortunately they were not connected together like they were upstream. There were footprints on the sand in the gaps, and the thatch on both sides of the river bank was sparse, and the road in the middle could be vaguely seen.
There must be a town nearby.
Shao Qing's spirits lifted and her steps quickened. However, just as she pushed aside the grass and was about to step out, Wei Jing beside her suddenly grabbed her.
Although she didn't understand why, the two of them had already developed a tacit understanding after going through all the adventures. Shao Qing immediately helped Wei Jing and quietly took a step back. They squatted down together and hid in the dense thatched grass.
Shao Qing looked carefully and vaguely saw a three-way intersection on the river bank. She seemed to hear the sound of running, and she held her breath.
After a while, two young men were seen running out from the fork in the road in panic. They looked like a master and a servant. The master shouted as he ran, "I've given you my horse! What else do you want?!"
A dark-faced burly man with a beard on most of his face chased after him, grinning grimly: "Good boy, you dare to drive your horse to lead my brother away?!"
"Grandpa not only wants the horse, but also the money!"
While he was speaking, he had already caught up with the two people in front. He threw the servant to the ground and snatched the master's bag. The heavy bag made his eyes light up immediately.
"How can there be any imperial law in broad daylight?!"
The owner held on tightly and refused to let go. The dark-faced sturdy man tried to pull him away but failed. He was furious: "You want the emperor's law?! There have been bandits in that mountain for many years, why haven't the government sent troops to suppress them?!"
This man actually pulled out a dagger from his boots and stabbed his master with it. The master screamed and was pushed off the river bank, rolling down.
The dark-faced sturdy man was obviously not doing this for the first time, and his movements were very experienced. He grabbed the frightened servant who was climbing up without hesitation, and pushed him down the river bank with a clean stroke of his knife.
The sound of horse hooves rang out, and another strong man rode over on horseback: "Third brother, what took you so long?"
"These two bastards are really good at running!"
The black-faced man spat, weighed his bag, smiled with satisfaction, turned over, rode on the same horse with his companions, and immediately turned around and left.
In broad daylight, what was thought to be a robbery suddenly turned into a murder case. Shao Qing's hands and feet were cold. Seeing the horse turn around and walk away, she stiffly turned her head to look at the master and servant who rolled down the river bank.
"Let's go!"
She hurriedly helped Wei Jing up. The two men were stabbed in the chest and were doomed to die. They were like clay Buddhas crossing the river and could not afford to attract any more trouble.
Wei Jing stood firm, took a breath, but grabbed Shao Qing first.
Shao Qing looked back in surprise.
Wei Jing listened for a moment and said to Shao Qing, "There's no one around. Let's go over and take a look first."
He pointed to the riverbank where the master and servant had tumbled down.
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