Novel Bin
Chapter 79
The ferryman was an old man wearing a bamboo hat and straw raincoat. He was quite surprised to see Old Gu Six and his daughter.0
"Where did you come from?" he asked.0
Old Gu Six scratched his nose awkwardly, bowed to the old man as a junior, and said, "We came down from the mountain across the way."0
"People still live in the mountains?"0
"No, we were just passing through."0
"I see. Well, you can't go to the other side. If you cross over, it's still mountains. Where are you trying to go?"0
"The place closest to the sea."0
"In that case, follow me downstream. There's a small town downriver. If you leave from there and travel for about a month, you should reach where you want to go."0
"Thank you, old sir."0
The old man waved kindly and positioned his ferry in front of their raft, moving at just the right pace for the raft to keep up.0
Floating downstream, they reached the small town the old man mentioned in about two hours.0
The town was not small at all. It was bustling with activity, with people coming and going at the dock, and cargo ships loading and unloading goods.0
The old man called to the father and daughter to come ashore. "It's getting late. You should stay in town for the night and leave tomorrow."0
Old Gu Six didn't refuse and followed the old man with Chang'an.0
The townspeople were curious about the new faces. As they walked from the dock to the main street, a group of adults and children followed behind, watching with interest.0
Those familiar with the old man smiled and asked, "Uncle Li, where did you pick these two up from?"0
Uncle Li laughed and scolded the young man, saying, "What do you mean 'pick up'? They're just passing through our town."0
He led the father and daughter to a decent-looking inn and turned to Old Gu Six, saying, "You two can stay here. The inn is run by my nephew, so you can rest assured it's safe."0
"Thank you, old sir," Old Gu Six bowed again in gratitude.0
Some children joined in, imitating Old Gu Six's bow with exaggerated gestures, then burst into laughter.0
The group of children left, laughing and playing.0
After saying goodbye to Uncle Li, Old Gu Six took Chang'an into the inn.0
The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, they were awakened by the aroma of meat pies from across the street.0
They got up early, checked out, bought ten meat pies from across the street, and left the small town leading their mule.0
Outside the town was a wide road with broad fields. Golden rice swayed in the morning sun, a breathtaking sight.0
They didn't immediately bring out the carriage after leaving town. After walking for two hours and carefully observing that no one was around, Chang'an finally took out the carriage.0
Of course, taking the main road meant passing through towns. They had initially thought about taking small paths, but considering their sense of direction, Chang'an felt it was more reliable to stick to the main road.0
Some cities didn't allow outsiders to enter, so in those cases, they had no choice but to take side roads.0
The cities they could enter were not peaceful. One day, they arrived at a place called Qiushui County. Just to enter the city, they had to pay ten copper coins.0
The innkeeper shamelessly overcharged customers, demanding two taels of silver as a deposit before allowing anyone to stay.0
As they passed through the lobby, they overheard people whispering.0
"Have you heard?"0
"Heard what?"0
"How come you haven't heard?"0
"Well, what am I supposed to have heard?"0
"The Chen Family Army from Lingnan is fighting with Prince Rong's Army in the south."0
"They're both in the south. Their fighting won't affect us. Instead of worrying about this, you should go to the docks and carry a few more big packages to earn some extra money."0
"How can you say that? If the south is fighting, won't it be only a matter of time before we in the north start fighting too?"0
"That's all the more reason to earn more money and stock up on food, so we don't go hungry when the war comes."0
The other person wanted to say more, but his companion ignored him and strode away.0
During dinner, Old Gu Six and Chang'an ate in the lobby, incidentally overhearing some current events.0
It was all about the war in the south, people becoming refugees, large numbers fleeing, and worries about their own hometowns. If it came to that, where would they escape to?0
Chang'an thought: Will this fleeing ever end?0
They didn't linger long in this county. Since fighting had broken out in the south, it wouldn't be long before it reached the north, so they needed to hurry on their journey.0
They restocked some daily necessities in the city and also bought some grain and vegetable seeds before hastily departing.0
On the road, they noticed many families leaving the city with their belongings, heading for the mountains.0
Chang'an wondered if they were trying to avoid danger in advance.0
The father and daughter continued towards their destination, but unfortunately, halfway there, the flames of war spread to the north.0
Misery was everywhere, and people could barely survive.0
Taking the main road was no longer possible, so they had no choice but to switch to mountain paths again.0
This time, Old Gu Six didn't blindly forge ahead. He first settled Chang'an safely, then went to scout the path alone.0
He was gone for four or five days. Chang'an waited in a cave, though she entered her space after Old Gu Six left.0
By the time he returned, ten days had passed.0
"I'm not sure exactly what's ahead, but I'm certain that even after we leave these continuous mountain ranges, we still won't be at the seaside," he said.0
"It's alright, let's just focus on getting out of the mountains first," she replied.0
They climbed mountains and forded streams, fighting off wolves and chasing away tigers. Their days were nothing short of exciting.0
By the time they emerged from the mountains, a month had passed. Before them stretched an endless wilderness; they had somehow arrived at a plain region.0
Chang'an didn't know where they were, but it didn't matter as long as the road was easy to travel.0
However, their luck seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. A group of men with braided hair came galloping on horses, killing everyone they encountered and hanging the severed heads on their horses.0
They laughed uncontrollably. Upon seeing Old Gu Six, they discussed something in their language.0
Seeing them charge over, Chang'an was oddly reminded of stealing kills in a certain game she used to play.0
So now they had become potential "kills" in someone else's eyes. Was this karma for her past game behavior?0
But they were destined to be disappointed. With Old Gu Six, the human killing machine, it wasn't certain who would be taking whose head.0
"Daughter, stay in the carriage and don't come out."0
"Father, be careful."0
Old Gu Six faced multiple opponents. The other side wasn't entirely unskilled; two or three of them could put up a fight.0
Fearing Old Six might be overwhelmed, Chang'an directly used lightning strikes. Old Gu Six followed up with killing blows. The father-daughter duo coordinated remarkably well.0
Noticing the jewels on their bodies, Old Gu Six didn't hesitate to strip them of everything.0
For several consecutive days, they didn't leave the wilderness but encountered several waves of braided-hair men. All of them ended up having their heads taken by the father-daughter pair.0
After they passed through the wilderness, the road became increasingly familiar.0
Father and daughter exchanged a glance. Wasn't this the place where they had robbed the County Governor's mansion?0
They bypassed this area and continued forward. The road was full of displaced people seeking refuge with the County Governor in Linyun City.0
An old man stopped their cart. "Young sir, may I ask if you're coming from Linyun City?"0
Old Gu Six stopped the mule cart and said calmly, "No, we're just passing through."0
"Young sir, there's no need to go further. The area ahead has been occupied by people from the Yan Kingdom. We barely managed to escape."0
"Thank you for the information, old sir, but we're not entering the city."0
Seeing that Old Gu Six wouldn't listen, the old man just shook his head without saying more and let the cart pass.0
The mule cart moved forward at a steady pace, then turned onto a side road.0