Who are those people up ahead?
Looking at the large group of people from Linjia Village, Lu Xueying felt uneasy. There were few of them, and she was worried that the things on the carriage might be stolen.
Yun Mo only said that the people of Linjia Village were refugees from Pingcheng, and like them, they were heading south.
"Will they mind if we follow behind them?" Lu Xueying asked with some concern.
After all, it seemed impolite of me to follow them without saying hello.
"Mother, don't worry. When we stop to rest, I'll go and say hello to the village chief." Yun Mo thought it wouldn't be a big problem.
Lu Xueying immediately felt relieved. "That's good."
Fearing pursuit by government troops and Hu people, the people of Linjia Village kept traveling during the day without stopping to rest, gritting their teeth and persevering until the sun began to set.
Finally, on a flat spot on a hillside far from the main road, they stopped to spend the night.
Lin Yinan silently estimated that they had walked about fifty li, or about twenty-five kilometers, that day.
The official road was full of refugees who had fled from Sword City. There were so many of them that if anything happened, there would be nowhere to hide.
After stopping, the village chief struck a gong to gather the men from each household together for a meeting, where those with clear minds could read and analyze the current situation.
The elderly, women, and children gathered firewood and foraged for wild vegetables around the camp.
After returning from the meeting, Lin Shuo and his nephew Lin Yiheng conveyed the village's message: the situation on the road was unclear, so each family should prepare extra dry rations for the night so they could have enough to eat while traveling during the day.
Lin Yinan, carrying a basket, went with Li Shulan to dig for wild vegetables.
This place is not far from the official road. Not only wild vegetables, but even edible tree bark has long been picked clean. If you want to dig for wild vegetables, you have to go deeper into the mountains and forests.
As she stepped into the forest, she noticed a beautiful woman following behind her.
"What are you doing following us?" Lin Yinan turned around.
Lu Xueying was caught off guard by the question and stammered, "I... I want to go dig for wild vegetables with you, is that alright?"
The son and daughter were setting up tents and starting a fire. They had come out in a hurry and didn't have enough food with them.
She overheard Lin Yinan and her daughter going to dig for wild vegetables as she passed by, so she carried a basket and followed behind them.
Seeing that the woman was intimidated by Lin Yinan's imposing manner, Li Shulan gave her daughter a reproachful look.
"Yes, but the mountains and forests are fraught with danger, so Madam should not go too far."
Li Shulan spoke gently, which greatly increased Lu Xueying's goodwill towards her, so she took two steps forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
“Madam is so generous, then I’ll shamelessly come with you. I think we’re about the same age, so you can just call me Xueying.”
Li Shulan was a little embarrassed. "We've all come out to escape famine, why call me 'Madam'? My maiden name is Shulan."
Calling each other by their maiden names instantly brought the two closer together.
Li Shulan enthusiastically taught Lu Xueying to identify various wild vegetables in the grass. Lu Xueying listened attentively and occasionally offered a few words of praise.
Lin Yinan wanted to go into the dense forest to see if she could hunt any wild animals. "Mother, I'll go inside and take a look."
Li Shulan had a companion, so she no longer needed her company.
"Go ahead and do your work, I'll take your Aunt Lu and we'll dig here."
Well, this beautiful woman I just met has become my Aunt Lu after just a couple of chats.
Lin Yinan carried her bow and arrows and headed into the depths of the forest. She was craving meat and wanted to hunt a couple of chickens to eat.
There were several wild boars in the space, but no suitable excuse to take them out.
The mountain wasn't high, and the forest wasn't dense. Lin Yinan circled around but didn't find any trace of large wild animals.
She looked up and saw a bird's nest in a tree branch. She nimbly climbed the tree and found six bird eggs the size of her thumb inside.
Lin Yinan carefully put the eggs away and looked down at a pheasant in a tree not far away.
She pressed her back against the tree trunk to steady herself, took the bow and arrow from her back, aimed, and the arrow pierced straight through the pheasant's head.
At the same time, an arrow flew from the other side and pierced the pheasant's neck.
The pheasant was hit by two arrows, fell into the grass, fluttered a few times, and then lay still.
Lin Yinan looked towards where the arrow had been shot, and met a pair of dark, bright eyes.
It's him again!
Lin Yinan was about to slide down from the tree. Regardless of who spotted it first, she was the first to shoot the pheasant.
She wouldn't just hand over the pheasant; if the other party submitted, she wouldn't mind fighting him, and whoever won would keep it.
In fact, she was overthinking it.
As soon as Lin Yinan landed, Yun Mo brought the pheasant to her.
"Girl, you have excellent archery skills."
"Thank you for the compliment." Lin Yinan accepted the pheasant without any modesty.
Her archery skills were honed using human heads; it would be strange if they weren't good.
He pulled the arrow from the pheasant's neck and handed it to Yun Mo, saying, "Young Master, here's your arrow."
Yun Mo took the arrow and, seeing her turn to leave, quickly called out to her, "I just saw a group of badgers heading towards the mountaintop. Would you be interested in joining us, young lady?"
Lin Yinan raised an eyebrow. Was this man trying to get close to her because he still hadn't given up on the drug he'd used on her?
"No, I'll just wander around the area." She declined decisively.
After saying that, she turned and strode away. Being alone with a man, she didn't want to give others cause for gossip.
Yun Er emerged from behind a large tree not far away, looking at Yun Mo anxiously. "Master, how is it? Did the little girl fall for it?"
Yun Mo rolled her eyes at him. "What do you think I lied to that young girl about?"
Judging from his unfriendly tone, he must have been rejected.
Yun Er comforted her, "It's alright, young ladies should be a little reserved."
"Let's go hunt badgers."
“Yes, we can give her one if we kill a badger. Girls like to receive gifts.” Yun Er clapped his hands.
The two hadn't walked far when they saw a man and a woman standing vaguely in the woods.
Yun Er looked closely and clicked his tongue twice. Spring hasn't even arrived yet, and they're already in a hurry to sneak into the woods?
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