Sun Yi was overjoyed. Naturally, he wouldn't make the unreasonable request for them to wait, especially since Ge Feng wasn't too far from here.
As long as they followed the path this young woman had taken, he felt it would be much safer. He quickly bowed to thank her, "Thank you, young lady. We dare not trouble you further; we can make it there ourselves."
Jiang Jin's group quickly finished burying the bodies, organized their ranks, and continued their journey.
On Sun Yi's side, however, some villagers questioned the decision to go to Ge Feng. "Ge Feng is a border town, and it's under the control of the Quzhao people. Will we Han people have a good life there?"
"That's right! I heard the land there is barren and crops won't grow. How will we survive if we go?"
"Yes, I'm afraid we might not even be able to get into the city. And even if we do, what kind of livelihood can we find in a small border town?"
The village chief understood their concerns, which were his as well, but they were now at a dead end.
He had a gut feeling that following that young woman was the right choice. Moreover, she had saved them, which gave him a certain level of trust in her, prompting his decision to head for Ge Feng.
He asked the crowd, "Then where do you think we should go?"
Everyone fell silent. Indeed, where else could they go?
Low weeping sounded once again, rising and falling.
"The heavens just won't let us live! What did we do wrong? What did our Yan Kingdom do wrong?"
The village chief sighed. "Enough. We have to survive. Everyone, pack up and let's set out as soon as possible. If we can trail behind the young lady's group, our safety will be somewhat guaranteed."
Hearing his words, the crowd held back their grief and bewilderment, quickly gathered their belongings, and stepped onto the path of refuge once more.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. They finally left Chunnan Commandery and entered Ningding Commandery.
The group continued forward, but less than twenty miles into their trek, they saw more than a dozen corpses lying haphazardly by the roadside.
Jiang Jin and Zhou Sui stepped forward to investigate. The first thing they noticed were several naked bodies.
Not even a child of six or seven had been spared. The child's body was covered in wounds, and a stick was inserted into a sensitive area, indicating brutal torture before death.
Jiang Jin pressed her lips together tightly, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
Zhou Sui's face was also covered in frost. It took him a long moment before he went up to examine the scene.
A few minutes later, he concluded, "Judging by the current weather and the decomposition of the bodies, these people have been dead for about two days."
"The bodies are covered in blade wounds. The cuts are similar, caused by the same type of standard issue sword."
He pointed to the grass not far away and said, "There are also hoofprints and horse manure on the grass over there."
Jiang Jin nodded. "The barbarians?"
Ordinary refugees might also commit such atrocities, but they generally didn't have horses or standard unified weapons.
Zhou Sui wasn't entirely certain. "It could also be rioters or bandits."
Large-scale rioters and bandits would also be equipped with horses and weapons like swords.
"What about the number of people? Can you determine how many there were?" Jiang Jin asked.
Zhou Sui shook his head. "The hoofprints are a bit messy, and it's been a while, so I'm not sure how many riders there were."
Jiang Jin didn't press the matter further. She had her people come over to bury the bodies, helping them find peace in the earth.
This place wasn't too far from Ge Feng. At their current speed, it would take about three or four more days of travel.
Just as they found a temporary campsite at noon, Yun Chengxuan sneaked over to Jiang Jin. "Auntie, let's go hunting in the mountains."
Jiang Jin was speechless. "Didn't we just eat meat yesterday?"
Yun Chengxuan scratched his head. "Auntie, I want to eat bunny. Bunny is delicious."
Jiang Jin looked at the continuous mountain range in the distance. "Are you sure there are rabbits in these mountains?"
Yun Chengxuan nodded. "The mountains are so big, there definitely are. I'll roast a bunny for you to eat later."
Speaking of roasted rabbit, Jiang Jin couldn't help but recall the past between the original owner and her silly nephew, Yun Chengxuan.
The original owner did have poor health when she was young, but the main reason she was raised in Yinshan Temple was to pray for the Yan Dynasty.
When the original owner was three years old, she accompanied Empress Ji Yue to Yinshan Temple to pray for blessings, and was noticed by the eminent monk Kongxun.
Kongxun said that the original owner was a blessed person. If she stayed at Yinshan Temple to pray for the Yan Kingdom, she could boost the nation's destiny and secure good fortune for the common people.
Emperor Yan was overjoyed when he heard this. Ignoring Ji Yue's objections, he directly left the original owner to be raised at Yinshan Temple.
Yinshan Temple was considered the national temple of the Yan Kingdom. Countless people went up the mountain to pray, especially the royalty and nobility of the Yan Kingdom, who often stayed for days or even a month.
It wasn't unusual for the original owner, as a princess, to live at Yinshan Temple year-round to pray for the country.
As a princess, the original owner had her own independent courtyard at the temple, with servants to take care of her, so her life was quite decent.
But a temple was still a temple, and the food was somewhat lacking. It wasn't appropriate to have lavish meals of meat and fish, so the original owner ate very plainly on a daily basis.
The original owner was just a child back then. How could she bear such hardship? She cried and fussed several times, but to no avail, until she met her silly nephew, Yun Chengxuan.
The two hit it off instantly and worked together seamlessly.
Yun Chengxuan would find an excuse to throw a tantrum at the entrance of little Jiang Jin's courtyard, keeping the servants too busy to pay attention to anything else.
Little Jiang Jin would take the opportunity to sneak out. Once they met up, the two would head to the back mountain of Yinshan Temple.
Perhaps because the monks at Yinshan Temple never killed living things, the back mountain was teeming with wild rabbits.
Every time the two went to the back mountain, Yun Chengxuan would manage to hunt a wild rabbit.
There was also a crystal-clear stream on the back mountain. After catching a rabbit, the two would go to the stream to clean and roast the meat.
It was unknown where Yun Chengxuan learned his skills. Although his method of cleaning the wild rabbit was clumsy, it was clean enough, and he even brought some salt with him.
Even without other seasonings, the two still ate with great satisfaction. After eating, they would lie on a large rock by the stream to bask in the sun, listening to the babbling water and the chirping of insects and birds.
This was probably one of the few happy times of little Jiang Jin's childhood, and it was also a happy time in Yun Chengxuan's childhood.
Looking at Yun Chengxuan's sparkling eyes now, Jiang Jin couldn't bring herself to refuse. She nodded. "Alright."
Yun Chengxuan was thrilled. Carrying his bow, he led the way.
Dong Si quickly ran over. "Young lady, young lady, where are you going?"
Jiang Jin slung her bow and arrows over her back. "Chengxuan and I are going up the mountain for a bit. We'll be back soon. You all carry on with your work."
Dong Si was a bit worried. "Young lady, shouldn't we send someone to follow you?"
Jiang Jin waved her hand. "No need."
The mountains here were quite steep. If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Jin's physical training had yielded some results recently, she really wouldn't have been able to climb up.
Yun Chengxuan, on the other hand, walked as if on flat ground. Seeing Jiang Jin start to pant, he crouched down. "Auntie, I'll carry you."
When they were young and went to the back mountain of Yinshan Temple, Yun Chengxuan often carried little Jiang Jin on his back when she couldn't walk anymore.
Jiang Jin patted his shoulder. "Auntie isn't the same auntie from when we were little. I don't need you to carry me. If you're fast, you go on ahead."
Yun Chengxuan smiled a bit foolishly. "Okay, Auntie. Then I'll go hunt a bunny for you first."
With that, he dashed upward like a gust of wind, causing the trees to sway in his wake.
Amused, Jiang Jin called out from behind, "Be careful!"
"I know!"
