Chapter 51

Chapter 51

After the commotion Zou Yong had caused, everyone at the back of the group learned that a swamp lay ahead.

The Xiao Family Branches had already survived several brushes with death. Now that they had finally made it this far alive, an immense panic welled up inside them.

This was a swamp!

Once Madam Chen recovered from the shock, she clutched Xiao Yan’s hand and refused to let go.

Xiao Yan looked toward the Main Branch up ahead, then leaned close to Madam Chen’s ear. “Follow them. If what you told me yesterday is true, then we’ll definitely make it through safely today.”

It was as if a light had suddenly gone on in Madam Chen’s head. Her eyes brightened, and she slapped her thigh in delight. “That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

She immediately released Xiao Yan and hurried over to the Main Branch, trying to walk beside Pei Wanqing.

“Second Aunt, what are you doing? Stay away from my mother.”

Xiao Jinghao held out an arm to block her.

Madam Chen’s face paled. She had been about to argue with him, but then remembered that she was relying on the Main Branch to get out of here. Swallowing the impulse, she adopted a fawning expression instead.

“Hao’er, Second Aunt knows I was wrong before, but I never did anything truly awful to any of you. Don’t hold it against me. Your mother and I are sisters-in-law, after all. I only wanted to be a little closer to her.”

Xiao Jinghao’s expression remained cold, and he did not budge an inch.

“Second Aunt, all my father’s true brothers died on the battlefield. If you’re so eager to claim a connection, are you hoping to become a widow? Even if you agreed, I doubt any of my uncles would want you.”

Madam Chen nearly choked on her own breath.

Every brat in the Main Branch had a vicious tongue. Not once had she ever gotten the better of them.

She suppressed her fury and swore inwardly, Just you wait. Once we reach Jinzhou, I’ll spread your family’s secret far and wide. You treasure that wretched girl so much. When the time comes, I’ll make you learn what it means to have your own flesh and blood torn away from you.

At the thought of her youngest son’s miserable death, her fingers clenched until her knuckles turned white.

“Fine. I’ll just follow behind you.”

Seeing that Madam Chen knew when to back down, Xiao Jinghao gave her a cold glance before turning away.

Xiao Jingmo had witnessed the entire exchange. Something about Madam Chen seemed wrong to him, and suspicion stirred in his heart. Still, he could understand her behavior.

Someone as terrified of death as she was would naturally try to stick close to the Main Branch if she wanted to survive.

Even so, she had been unusually quiet all along the road, only to approach them so abruptly today. It was too sudden. He would have to keep a closer eye on her from now on.

Holding Jin Bao, Xiao Jingmo followed closely behind Xiao Che.

The rest of the Xiao Family Main Branch followed behind him. To avoid any mistakes, everyone automatically formed a single-file line and stepped exactly where the person ahead of them had stepped.

To keep the group safe, Zhu Laosan even lent Xiao Che his saber to probe the ground.

Xiao Che made a show of stabbing the earth several times before taking a step.

“Daddy, one step to the left. That’s right.”

Jin Bao’s voice was quiet, but Xiao Che heard her clearly. His hearing was sharp, and she was directly behind him.

After being thoroughly humiliated, Madam Chen returned to Xiao Yan’s side, only to be mocked by him as well.

The two bickered for a while, leaving their family at the very rear as several other members of the Xiao Family Branches rushed ahead of them.

A quarter of an hour later, the group had already traveled more than a hundred yards when a startled cry suddenly rang out behind them.

“This is bad! They’re getting away!”

Zhu Laosan was in the middle of the group. He turned and saw Cui Jin with more than a dozen black-clad men behind him, each wielding a sword.

Cui Jin’s face was livid. He had gone to such lengths to lure these people into the swamp, yet they had somehow managed to escape.

At this distance, he and the assassins could not possibly cross. Without someone to guide them, a single careless step would mean death.

The leader of the black-clad men had been ordered to kill Xiao Che’s entire family. They had arrived several days ago to lie in ambush.

The massive boulders blocking the gorge had been their handiwork.

Yet their quarry had still managed to escape.

“Cui Jin, why weren’t you here watching them?”

Cui Jin was furious too. “Would they have gotten away if I hadn’t gone to meet up with you?”

“As if I needed you to meet up with us. Now that they’ve escaped, you’re chiefly responsible. If our master demands answers, you can bear the blame alone.”

Cui Jin sneered. “Trying to pass the blame, are you? What makes you think they can make it safely through this swamp?”

He was no match for all of them by himself, and a falling-out now would do him no good.

“Even if they make it across alive, we can simply wait for them in Jinzhou. Instead of wasting time arguing here, you’d be better off figuring out how to reach Jinzhou.”

With that, Cui Jin left without looking back.

The black-clad men exchanged unreadable glances, then turned and left as well.

Xiao Che led the group onward for nearly two hours before they finally found another road.

The moment they left the swamp, everyone collapsed onto the ground.

Those two hours had felt as long as half a lifetime.

Their next destination was Jinzhou, but none of them knew the roads from here to the city. They did not even know where they were anymore.

Worse yet, their mules were gone.

If they wanted to reach Jinzhou, they would have to walk every step of the way.

Old Madam Xiao could barely hold herself upright. Supported by Nanny Chen and Pei Wanqing, she sat down on a nearby rock.

Only after resting for a while did Zhu Laosan and Li Si approach Xiao Che.

“Brother Xiao, I saw Cui Jin bringing men over to assassinate us. It’s a good thing we were already in the swamp, or we wouldn’t have escaped. I’m afraid they’ll be waiting for us in Jinzhou next.”

Xiao Che remained calm, though inwardly he mocked Cui Jin.

The man had truly managed to shoot himself in the foot. He probably never imagined they would make it safely through the swamp.

“Sir, is there another road we can take?”

They had finally shaken Cui Jin off. If another route was available, they would rather take it and leave him unable to track their movements.

Zhu Laosan shook his head. “No. Jinzhou is unavoidable. You’ve heard it yourself, Brother Xiao. The terrain outside the pass changes constantly. If we wander around blindly, we could all die before we ever reach our destination.”

He was telling the truth.

The road beyond Jinzhou was where the true test of survival began.

Even without assassins hunting them, the harsh environment alone would leave this group with little chance of reaching Heishui alive.

Since ancient times, fewer than one in ten criminals exiled to Heishui ever reached the place.

After resting a little longer, everyone continued on their way.

It was already late, and they had been able to carry very little with them. Most of their larger belongings had been abandoned.

They had brought only what little food remained, their waterskins, and a few essentials. Nanny Chen had even strapped the small iron pot they had purchased to her back. The adults could make do however they had to, but the Young Miss was still too little and needed something warm to eat.

Night was drawing near. If they did not keep moving, who knew what dangers might await them after dark?

By now, Zhu Laosan and Li Si were just as lost as everyone else, with no idea which direction they should take.

“There’s only one direction open to us right now. We’ll keep going that way.”

In the end, Xiao Che made the decision.

The group walked for another hour.

The sun sank swiftly over Liaoxi. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the deepening dusk swallowed the fading yellow sun.

There were no villages and not even a single small animal. The only sound in their ears was the wind sweeping across the wilderness, while salty, damp grit stung their faces.

The sandy ground had baked under the sun all day, but after nightfall, the heat drained away rapidly and the temperature plummeted.

Jin Bao could not suppress a shiver.

“We have to find a way to start a fire.”

Xiao Che’s throat was parched, and when he spoke, his voice was as rough as if it had been ground through gravel.

Zhu Laosan licked his cracked lips. His waterskin was nearly empty, and his throat felt as though it were smoking.

Looking down, he could see only low shrubs and a few branches of saltwort.

He even spotted the sun-bleached remains of an animal.

Xiao Jingmo crouched and pulled up a handful of grass. After rubbing it between his fingers a few times, he sighed and shook his head. “Father, the grass here holds too much salt and moisture. It probably won’t burn well.”

What he did not say was that the grass was not their only problem. The wind was strong. Even if they somehow coaxed a weak flame to life, it could easily be blown out.

Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and damp cold weighed on their bodies while the hostile surroundings pressed in from all sides. Despair began to spread through the crowd.

Jin Bao was so hungry that her head spun. Curled in Pei Wanqing’s arms, she did not want to move at all.

“Second Young Master, why don’t you try this?”

Lu Shuangshuang took several black objects about the size of chicken eggs from her bundle and handed them to Xiao Jingmo.

He accepted them in puzzlement and studied them for a long while, but could not identify them.

“Aunt Lu, what are these?”

“They’re the tubers of Sea Asparagus. They contain a great deal of oil, so they should burn. I collected a few some days ago. When burned, they repel insects and pests. They give off a lot of smoke, but the smoke isn’t poisonous, and they burn for a long time.”

Everyone immediately crowded around her.

With these and a few saltwort branches added little by little, they might be able to make it through the night.

Now that they had fuel, the group chose a slope that offered some shelter from the wind and used their blades to dig a small firepit.

After a great deal of work, they finally managed to get a fire going.

Seeing Jin Bao so listless, with her lips covered in dry, peeling skin, Pei Wanqing’s heart ached.

She quickly boiled some water, soaked one of their few remaining steamed buns in it to make a thin mash, and fed it to Jin Bao.

At the promise of food, Jin Bao’s closed eyes cracked open a sliver. Her little mouth opened wide, and she swallowed one big bite after another.

After eating more than half a bowl of mash, she perked up considerably. Sleep soon overcame her, however. She yawned, and before long, her breathing had settled into an even rhythm.

By the time the moon hung high overhead, the flames were still dancing in the firepit. Everyone in the camp huddled together around it, their assorted snores making it impossible for Pei Wanqing to sleep.

She touched Jin Bao in her arms. Afraid the child might be cold, she pulled the padded coat tighter around her.

“Buggy… go away.”

Jin Bao was fast asleep, but her little mouth murmured faintly.

Pei Wanqing immediately sat up and lifted her into her arms.

“Good girl, did you have a nightmare? Mommy’s here. Don’t be afraid, good girl.”

Jin Bao did not stop despite Pei Wanqing’s soft reassurance. She continued repeating the same words.

Pei Wanqing instantly grew alert.