Chapter 11
Two Paths
A few men dressed like Lin Yue pushed open the door and entered. They asked, “Guard Lin, is Young Master alright?”
Lin Yue waved his hand. “I’m fine. How’s Master?”
One of them said, “No news yet.”
Lin Yue lowered his eyes and said decisively, “Let’s set off now and escort Young Master to the Beiyun City. Master might already be waiting for us there, but can’t send out any news.”
The men nodded in agreement. “Alright, the longer we delay, the more dangerous it will be. Young Master also needs someone to take care of him.”
Lin Yue held the child and looked back at Chu Tianbao and Bai Wutong, who were being treated as a backdrop. He said simply, “Thank you.”
Just as Lin Yue was about to walk out of the door, Bai Wutong stopped him. “Wait.”
Lin Yue and the others stood still and looked at her.
Bai Wutong took out a water pouch from her bag and handed it to Lin Yue. She looked at little stinky, who was sleeping soundly, and instructed, “There’s some mushy porridge inside. Be careful when feeding it to him.”
She mixed baby milk in the porridge and hoped that it would last until stinky was taken care of.
Lin Yue took a deep look at Bai Wutong and said, “Thank you.”
Watching them mount their horses and disappear from sight, envy flashed across Bai Wutong’s eyes. If only she could get a horse too.
Suddenly quiet, Chu Tianbao said regretfully, “Stinky is gone.”
Bai Wutong glanced at him and smiled. “Does Tianbao like Stinky?”
After some serious thought, Chu Tianbao replied, “I like it when Stinky doesn’t cry.”
Who wouldn’t like a soft baby?
Bai Wutong patted him on the shoulder and smiled. “Let’s go.” Perhaps they would meet again when they had the chance.
Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao continued towards the Beiyun City.
Perhaps it was Bai Wutong’s imagination, but after the rain, the refugees’ mental state was much better than the day before.
The grayness in their eyes had mostly faded. It was also possible that it was because they were about to reach Beiyun City.
Although they were both refugees, no matter how Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao disguised themselves, they could not hide the fact that they were considered well-endowed.
No matter how many waves of them were slaughtered, there were still starving refugees who pounced on them.
Walking through the spa.r.s.ely populated forest, there were even more people who saw them as targets.
Their originally fast footsteps also slowed down.
It wasn’t easy for them to reach the Beiyun City, but they were blocked at the entrance again.
The dense crowd of refugees surged forward in waves, and the road was so crowded that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
The agitated refugees had bloodshot eyes and were so hungry that they had lost their minds. A donkey shared by a few people had actually been bitten to death.
The woman holding the child trembled in fear. “What kind of sin have we committed!”
Bai Wutong asked her, “Auntie, why is everyone stopping here?”
The woman looked back at her and saw Chu Tianbao behind her. She backed away in panic. When she saw that there was nowhere to hide, she trembled. “The soldiers are collecting the pa.s.sing fee at the front. If we can’t take out a tael of silver, they won’t let us pa.s.s.” As she spoke, she reached the sad part. “We sold everything and had to eat tree bark and dig up gra.s.s to get here. How can we fork out a tael of silver? They are not after silver at all, but our lives! G.o.d, why are you so blind—”
Bai Wutong frowned and looked ahead. Everyone’s faces were filled with despair and madness.
If the refugees could not cross and could not find anything to eat, there were only two paths left. They could only wait for death or revolt.
With a glimmer of hope, the refugees would choose the latter path.
The riot was about to happen. They had to get out of there immediately.
This group of good-for-nothings from the Yan Kingdom could not do anything for the country and the people, but they were top-notch experts at acc.u.mulating wealth and giving away their empire.
As they were guarding the key location, Bai Wutong could not take a detour even if she wanted to.
Now, the fastest way was to pay the money and go over first.
When they finally squeezed to the front, they were stopped by a group of refugees.
The man in the lead held a bloodstained kitchen knife and said fiercely, “Hand over the silver!”
Chu Tianbao was about to draw his dagger when Bai Wutong stopped him. She took out a tael of silver and said, “This is all we have. Here.”
Seeing Bai Wutong take out the silver, the united refugees immediately turned into scattered sand and came up to s.n.a.t.c.h the silver.
Bai Wutong raised her hand and threw it into the crowd. They fought and wished they could kill the other party who had s.n.a.t.c.hed the silver.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was blocking the way, Bai Wutong immediately led Chu Tianbao to the entrance.
There were many soldiers on horses stationed in front of the sharp fence. They looked down at the refugees as if they were looking at a group of lowly ants.
Seeing the refugees fighting over the one tael of silver from Bai Wutong, they even laughed arrogantly. “Look at them. They’re no different from dogs who are fighting for bones.”
“Hahaha… Even dogs are cleaner than them…”
Bai Wutong frowned and glanced at the crowd that was on the verge of despair.
They thought they were the G.o.ds who ruled over life and death and overrode the pain of the people for their own pleasure. However, they did not realize that it would not be long before they would suffer the consequences of their actions.
Bai Wutong calmed herself down and deliberately dug out a piece of silver from her shoe and handed it to the cavalry guard at the fence.
The cavalry guard shook the silver and sneered. “Oh, you still have silver.” Then he said meaningfully, “You’re a cunning woman. Are you hiding silver elsewhere?”
Bai Wutong smiled, revealing her big yellow teeth. “Sir, it’s really all gone. If I still had money, I wouldn’t have hidden it in my shoe. Please let us go over. We’re just going to the Beiyun City to find our relatives and make a living.”
The cavalry guard looked at her in disdain and was about to wave his hand when the cavalry guard beside him suddenly smiled and gestured with two fingers. “For two people, you have to pay at least two taels of silver. If you’re short of a copper coin, the two of you can forget about going over.”
Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao were the rare “fat people” in this crowd. They must have some money on them.
In order to compete for the one tael of silver thrown out by Bai Wutong, seven or eight refugees had already died.
When they realized that they had taken out another tael of silver and handed it over to the soldiers, wanting to take the opportunity to pa.s.s through, immediately a lot of red-eyed refugees rushed towards them.
They still had money, but they dared to lie to them!
Bai Wutong clenched her fists and glanced hatefully at the cavalry.
The cavalry guard smiled and reminded them maliciously, “If you can’t take out the silver, you’ll be skinned alive by them.”
Even if they took out another tael of silver, the soldiers would think that they had hidden more silver and would not stop.
Now, there were only two paths in front of her. Kill them or pay enough money.
However, why should she give the money to these shameless people for nothing?
Bai Wutong winked at Chu Tianbao and prepared to rush out of the soldiers’ defense.
Suddenly.
In the crowd, a skinny person, who could not be discerned between a man or a woman, pointed at Bai Wutong and said excitedly in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “My lord, the silver on them is all mine. They robbed me of my silver. It’s a total of 50 taels and they almost killed me! Please, help me!”