Xi Qingyue waved at Aunt Wu with a polite smile. "Aunt Wu, long time no see!"
She hadn't expected to run into someone from town all the way out here. She'd thought everyone from the Baiquan County area had long since moved on.
Aunt Wu was puzzled to see the two children still without any family members accompanying them. She was genuinely curious how the two kids had managed to get this far on their own.
Xi Qingyue had no intention of satisfying her curiosity. She planned to exchange a quick greeting and then keep moving.
"Aunt Wu, we'll be on our way now."
Just then, Aunt Wu seemed to remember something and slapped her forehead. "Oh dear, I almost forgot—there's something I haven't told you yet."
"What is it?" Xi Qingyue asked, puzzled. It wasn't like they were close with Aunt Wu; they'd only ever bought steamed buns from her.
Aunt Wu walked over to their mule cart and leaned in close, lowering her voice. "A while back, some people stopped me in town to ask for directions. They accidentally dropped a portrait, and I thought the kid in the painting looked a lot like you—just a bit younger than you are, that's all."
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue froze. Who in the world would be carrying around a portrait of her for no reason?
She lowered her voice and asked, "Aunt Wu, who were those people? What did they ask you?"
Aunt Wu thought for a moment before answering uncertainly. "They looked like bodyguards from a wealthy household—each one of them was carrying a blade. They asked me which way to Liushu Village."
Xi Qingyue listened but had no idea what to make of it. Still, she wasn't worried.
She smiled at Aunt Wu, thanked her, and discreetly slipped a piece of silver into her hand, hidden by her sleeve. "Keep this. Consider it my thanks."
"This... I can't accept this." Aunt Wu tried to decline, but Xi Qingyue stopped her. "Take it. Don't let anyone see. The road ahead is long—take care of yourself."
Aunt Wu heard her words and stopped refusing. She tucked the silver away into her sleeve without a sound and went back to her handcart.
Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan gave her one last wave, and the mule cart slowly rolled away from her sight.
After they left, a little girl looked up at Aunt Wu curiously. "Grandma, do you know those two kids? Why are they all alone? Aren't they scared?"
Aunt Wu patted the girl's head affectionately. "They bought a whole bunch of buns from our stall before. I remember them clearly. If they could make it all the way from Baiquan to here, then they must not be scared. You should be just as brave as them when you grow up."
The girl nodded eagerly. "I will, Grandma."
Xi Qingyue sat at the front of the mule cart, deep in thought. She racked her brain but couldn't figure out who might be carrying her portrait and going to Liushu Village looking for her.
But one thing was certain: by the time those people reached Liushu Village, she had already gone into the mountains, and all the other villagers had left too. It was nothing but an empty village now.
"Sis, is there some bad guy trying to catch you?" Xi Weilan's first thought was that her sister was being targeted again, probably by some villain.
Xi Qingyue shook her head. "Rich Man Wang is dead, we killed him. Xi Erniu is dead too. All our enemies are gone."
She couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it. It didn't matter anyway.
"Forget it. Maybe it's not even me. The world is full of people who look alike."
That was her reasoning, and Xi Weilan's mind was even simpler—she only cared about food and fun. And so, the two sisters quickly put the matter behind them.
Soon, Aunt Wu was far behind them. Their mule cart eventually came upon a relay station.
Xi Qingyue stopped the cart in the shade of a tree outside the station to rest. Many refugees were gathered there in the open as well.
A group of people walked toward the station entrance, only to be barked at by the soldiers stationed there. "Get out! This isn't a place for you filthy commoners."
"Who are you calling a filthy commoner? You're just a lowly soldier. What makes you so high and mighty?"
The soldier didn't take kindly to being talked back to by a refugee. He abruptly drew the sword at his waist and pointed it at the man. "Say one more word, and I'll cut you down right now."
The refugee didn't flinch. Instead, he wore a look of defiance, as if he feared nothing. "Go ahead then. Cut me if you've got the guts."
The soldier raised his sword to strike, but when he saw that the group of refugees around this man were all clutching weapons and glaring at him, he suddenly thought better of it.
None of the other soldiers had moved. If he were to act alone, these refugees would tear him apart. He cursed himself inwardly for being too impulsive.
But although he didn't move, the refugees did.
The man who had been provoking the soldier, seeing that he wouldn't strike, looked disappointed. He shot a glance at the other refugees, and without a word, a crowd of them charged toward the station.
"Why won't you let us in? You mutts who think you're so tough on your master's leash—this station belongs to everyone! We want to go in and rest!"
As they shouted, one of them swung a blade at a soldier. The soldier's legs gave out and he fell backward, which just barely saved him from the strike.
The other soldiers had also drawn their swords by now, and they clashed with the refugees. The ring of metal against metal was harsh, and the midday sun glinted off the blades, bright and blinding.
Seeing that someone had dared to attack the soldiers, more refugees surged forward.
In an instant, the station entrance turned into a chaotic bloodbath. Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan sat at the front of their mule cart, watching without blinking.
"Sis, it's nice and cool under this tree. Why do they all have to go inside?" Xi Weilan thought these people were out of their minds.
Soldiers would die, but so would plenty of refugees. Some were knocked down by their own side and trampled to death. It was a terrible sight.
Xi Qingyue shook her head. "They're looking for an excuse to rush in and loot the place. The station's bound to have horses, grain, and water—maybe even meat."
As the crowd fought in a mess of friend and foe alike, the sound of hoofbeats drew near—"clop, clop, clop"—growing louder by the moment.
Before anyone could see who the riders were, a dozen or so men leaped from their horses, each gripping a longsword, and charged straight into the fray.
"What's going on? Where did these people come from?" Xi Qingyue muttered, puzzled.
The next moment, the men, stone-faced, waded into the crowd and began cutting everyone down.
They weren't there to help the soldiers. Neither were they there to help the refugees.
They slaughtered everyone who stood in the way of the station entrance—soldier and civilian alike.
Blood dripped from the tips of their swords to the ground. A deathly silence fell over the area.
All the refugees were too terrified to even breathe. The men looked at them as if they were already corpses.
It seemed that if anyone uttered a single word, they'd be killed on the spot. Everyone kept their heads down and stayed silent, not daring to move.
The man in the lead scanned the crowd with contempt. "Useless trash."
Being insulted for no reason didn't sit well with Xi Qingyue. She didn't know where these men had come from, but they sure looked like they deserved a beating.
Those refugees and soldiers had been evenly matched—if they killed each other, they died; if someone else killed them, they died. She still had to eat, so she wasn't about to get involved.
But these men who had suddenly appeared were being awfully arrogant, weren't they?
