《Martial Arts Master Travelled to Ancient Time and Farms》


 Chapter 1

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    In the autumn of the 11th year in Jiande, the world of Dongqi was in chaos.


    As soon as Cheng Ling awoke, she heard someone cry out loud.


    ¡°No! You guys must leave at once! Aunt, don¡¯t you sell off my sister. We won¡¯t exchange her for food! We won¡¯t!¡±


    The other girl¡¯s voice said firmly, ¡°Give me five buckets of rice, and I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Cheng Ling opened her eyes and felt pain all over her body. She didn¡¯t know what kind of injury she had suffered, but she couldn¡¯t care about that.


    She first looked around and saw that there were several people around.


    A short but strong-looking woman was cursing with her hands on her waist, ¡°Five buckets of rice? Do you think of yourself as the golden sparrow who wants to ascend to the heavens? You are just a little girl who does not have much, and you dare ask for five buckets of rice? Why don¡¯t you take a piss and look at yourself? Our Master Jin is kind and merciful enough to give you a bucket!¡±


    As she cursed, Cheng Ling¡¯s line of sight passed all people present in the room and landed on a man with a trim beard standing a few meters away.


    The man had a small mustache and he was standing with his arms crossed. His eyes were tiny, and there was a glint in them.


    Cheng Ling did not know how, but with one look, she immediately knew that this person must be Master Jin.


    The girl standing in front of him was the second eldest sister, Cheng Erni. And the one who was willing to sell herself for five buckets of rice was the eldest sister, Cheng Dani. The woman who was cursing was their Aunt Liu.


    As for the onlookers, they had both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Cheng Ling glanced over, but she did not have the time to identify them one by one. All she could feel was the feeling of being broken.


    None of these people were neatly dressed. They were all in tattered, dirty, and grey clothes.


    Except for Master Jin and a few people, who looked like thugs, standing beside him.


    She also noticed that everyone around was dressed in ancient costumes.


    Cheng Ling covered her head and suddenly realized; she had transmigrated!


    After yelling at Cheng Dani, Aunt Liu was currently smiling as she said to Master Jin, ¡°Master Jin, this is the girl. One bucket of rice is enough. You can take her with you.¡±


    She then reached out to pull Cheng Dani.


    Cheng Dani dodged, but after a few steps, Master Jin, who had been crossing his arms without saying a word, suddenly raised his hand.


    The thugs beside him swarmed over, when someone even laughed and said, ¡°Little girl, there¡¯s no need to hide. Come back with our Master Jin. After entering the city, you will at least have a full meal to eat, so what are you doing outside? Are you waiting to starve to death?¡±


    Someone then remarked, ¡°Five buckets? That was yesterday¡¯s price, and today it¡¯s one bucket! You are the one who came to the city gate to spread the word that you¡¯re willing to sell yourself. We¡¯re not snatching you away against your will. Our Master Jin is a kind man. He doesn¡¯t do that kind of thing!¡±


    The bouncers were all over the place, but their price was one bucket, so how could Cheng Dani agree?


    ¡°I won¡¯t sell myself off to you if it¡¯s just for a bucket of rice!¡± She struggled.


    Cheng Erni wanted to protect her sister, but a thug pushed her away, while the other raised a stick and smashed it at her head.


    Just as blood was about to splatter on the spot, a person suddenly rushed over from the side.


    The person pulled Cheng Erni away and stuck out two fingers at the same time. Like a poisonous dragon, they poked at the thug¡¯s eyes.


    What good would it do if he was poked?


    The thug was so shocked that his heart started beating wildly, and he subsequently turned around and closed his eyes. However, he was clearly swinging the stick with all his might. He struggled with the stick when he twisted his body, and it swung back wildly.


    Bang! Bang!


    It immediately hit a thug beside him, causing him to scream in pain. Blood spurted out from his nose, and he fell to the ground.


    It was as if the pause button was pressed. All the men carrying hatchets, who were in the middle of tussling, turned their gaze over.


    Cheng Erni was overjoyed. She looked at Cheng Ling, who had just pulled her away, and tears of joy came out. ¡°Brother Ling, Brother Ling, you¡¯re awake!¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s head was still a little dizzy, and her whole body was in pain, but she knew that she had to stand up in this situation. A bucket of rice to buy a big girl, what kind of world is this?


    Cheng Ling raised her other hand. The broken pieces of porcelain in her hand were so sharp that they flashed.


    She walked to Cheng Dani¡¯s side and pulled her behind, portraying a protective posture.


    Perhaps her eyes were too sharp and terrifying, or perhaps her skills had just now made people fearful, or perhaps the broken porcelain pieces in her hands were more or less a deterrent.


    Of course, it could also be that the thugs were a motley crew to begin with, and they were afraid of being stupid.


    In short, no one stopped her.


    A few of the thugs looked at Cheng Ling with sinister eyes, while Master Jin walked over with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Little brother, are you trying to break the rules?¡±


    Cheng Ling was dressed in men¡¯s clothes. Although she wasn¡¯t fully grown yet, just by standing there, she had the natural strength of a small pine tree, which made people look up to her.


    This was not an exaggeration. One had to know that the people scattered outside the city were basically refugees who had no future. After suffering from the torture of fleeing, these people¡¯s essence, energy, and spirit were basically scattered.


    Even if there were those who were not numb to it, the fear and uneasiness that came from the bottom of the society naturally existed and could not be hidden.


    After all, temperament was something that could only be cultivated with environment and knowledge. Otherwise, why would there be a saying that ¡°one¡¯s temperament changes with one¡¯s body¡±?


    Cheng Ling¡¯s ¡®breaking willows at the edge of the courtyard can be used as a sword¡¯ spirit was enough to make her stand out among the refugees.


    At this moment, Master Jin couldn¡¯t help but doubt his background.


    This child couldn¡¯t actually be from some big family, right? If this was the case¡­


    This was the bad habit of being too smart. If it was someone more reckless, then would Cheng Ling¡¯s different temperament even matter?


    ¡®No matter how energetic he is, he¡¯s still a poor dirty boy. Whoever cared about him?¡¯ Thought Master Jin to himself.


    However, Master Jin had always been cautious and thoughtful. The more he looked at Cheng Ling, the more suspicious he became. Unconsciously, his bottom line was retreating.


    ¡°According to the rules, since I¡¯m here, there¡¯s no reason for the neighboring Auntie to buy my sister,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°As for my sister herself, it¡¯s the same logic. Since I¡¯m here, what can her words do?¡±


    When she opened her mouth, her tone was neither fast nor slow, like the accent of the ancient vernacular novels, and she didn¡¯t seem like a vulgar person.


    As for belittling Cheng Dani, there was no need to take it seriously.


    Master Jin¡¯s brows raised slightly and he sneered, ¡°Little brother, think carefully. You must know that in today¡¯s world, you protect people and think that you are good to them, but you would have never thought that the outside world is like wild sand. In just a few days, even the best people will wither. Why bother?¡±


    He described the outside world as wild sand, and Cheng Ling slowly said, ¡°I¡¯d rather die hugging an incense stick than be blown into the north wind.¡±


    ¡°Little brother, have you ever been to school?¡± Master Jin was stunned and asked solemnly.


    On the side, Aunt Liu, watching the two of them talk slowly, couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She held it in for a long time and finally screamed at the moment, ¡°What¡¯s with the dead and alive! I¡¯m going to kill you! Xiao Ling, you can¡¯t do this! If you don¡¯t sell Dani, how will you return my food? You can¡¯t do this. You¡¯re going to take my life¡­¡± She started wailing.


    As she cried, she took a step forward, her short and strong figure stomping on the ground. It looked as though she was about to pounce on Cheng Ling.


    Master Jin¡¯s eyes flickered, but Cheng Ling suddenly raised her hand.


    A cold light suddenly flashed at this time. Aunt Liu, who had pounced over, only felt a gust of wind in her face and a pain in her neck.


    A bone-piercing chill flowed down from her neck. Aunt Liu¡¯s legs trembled, and she could not move.


    She subsequently raised her hand and wiped it across her neck, only to see a bright red stain on her finger.


    Aunt Liu shrieked, ¡°Ah! They¡¯re killing people!¡±


    Her eyes rolled back as she fell to the ground.


    At this time, the broken piece of porcelain that flew past Aunt Liu¡¯s neck had just landed a few meters away at Master Jin¡¯s feet.


    With a clang, the porcelain pieces fell to the ground.


    The remaining sharp horns on its head were still shaking slightly.

 Chapter 2

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    There was silence all over the place.


    Master Jin¡¯s face turned blue for a while after which he adjusted his gaze and suddenly opened his mouth and said, ¡°Okay! Little brother, you are indeed skilled!¡±


    As he finished speaking, he raised his hand again and gave a thumbs up. ¡°It¡¯s even more upright. Lao Jin, the person I admire most in my life, is an upright person. You little brother, I¡¯ll give it to you!¡±


    Since Master Jin was clearly impressed with Cheng Ling, selling off Cheng Dani was now out of question.


    For a while, Master Jin didn¡¯t know what to say. People who were on the road kept staring and paid close attention to their faces.


    Cheng Ling raised her hand and clasped her fists and said with a slight smile, ¡°Brother Jin is so bold!¡±


    The way she said Brother Jin immediately made Master Jin chuckle.


    Cheng Ling raised her hand to the side again and said, ¡°Brother Jin, how about taking a step to speak?¡±


    Master Jin touched his moustache and said, ¡°Oh?¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s posture remained unchanged, and her smile was graceful.


    Master Jin raised his foot and walked over. There were thugs beside him who seemed to want to stop him or tried keeping up with him, but he waved his hand and said impatiently, ¡°Okay, my little brother, hero boy, it takes a lot of time. Are you coming to guard?¡±


    And with that, he walked to Cheng Ling¡¯s side all by himself.


    Cheng Ling raised her hand and said, ¡°Brother Jin, please.¡±


    The two walked a few steps to the side again, and they happened to reach the edge of a dilapidated shed.


    This was actually the shed of Cheng Ling¡¯s house. There were originally several refugees watching all this play out. Seeing the two of them approach, these refugees immediately avoided their gaze.


    This was a quiet place with just the two of them.


    Master Jin glanced at the shed and saw that the shed was low and cramped, not even tall enough for a person. It was just propped up with a few logs and some dead grass.


    A straw curtain hung down from the front, which looked like a substitute for a door.


    In this situation, to say shabby would be an insult to the word shabby, this was on a whole new level altogether.


    He looked at Cheng Ling again, but Cheng Ling¡¯s expression was calm. She didn¡¯t even say a word. But after a while, she said in a low voice, ¡°Brother Jin, listen to my advice, don¡¯t go out of the city to do business in the next few days. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    As soon as these words came out, Master Jin¡¯s expression changed instantly.


    He looked at Cheng Ling with scrutiny in his eyes and asked solemnly, ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    Cheng Ling said softly, ¡°Brother Jin, it¡¯s not that I intend to alarm you. You can also see that there are more and more refugees gathering outside the city, but there is still no answer from the city. In the past two days, even the porridge shed has been closed.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which.¡± She paused for a while before continuing, ¡°So many refugees have gathered outside the city and are neither allowed to eat nor allowed to enter. That¡¯s just a tinderbox.¡±


    Cheng Ling looked at Master Jin with eyes that conveyed, ¡°Brother Jin, I hope you understand¡±, and her eyes were indeed full of clarity.


    Master Jin¡¯s thoughts turned and he blurted out, ¡°Could it be that all of it was intentional¡­¡±


    Cheng Ling nodded. With a very solemn expression, she thought in her heart. ¡®Your words not mine.¡¯


    Did the people in this city do it on purpose?


    Since so many victims could not be relieved, they just covered up and did nothing, forced them into chaos, and then just came out to drive the rioters out? To get rid of the baggage along the way?


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t tell. After all, she knew too little to analyze the specific situation here. But it didn¡¯t prevent her from fooling Jin Ye.


    However, Master Jin reacted and quickly stopped and said again, ¡°Good brother! I¡¯ll remember your love. Just wait, Jin will repay your kindness later.¡±


    After speaking, he lifted his foot and left in a hurry.


    Cheng Ling bowed her hand towards him. Jin Ye greeted the thugs, took a few steps forward, then turned around again. He also bowed his hand to Cheng Ling. Only then did he take a group of his subordinates and leave.


    After he left, the refugees who were onlookers scattered quietly. Some were even excitedly gossiping.


    Of course, it seemed like they had scattered, but this area outside the city was just as big. With thousands of refugees gathered here, who could see who?


    Cheng Ling still felt that there were a lot of eyes, either intentionally or unintentionally, projecting on her side.


    There were also some people quietly pointing at Liu who was still lying on the ground, but no one could care less to know what exactly happened.


    Cheng Erni was very excited and rushed to Cheng Ling¡¯s side, grabbed her arm, and said excitedly, ¡°Brother Ling, you are just¡­¡±


    She didn¡¯t even know how to describe her feelings, but she just felt that her younger brother who suddenly woke up was so powerful, it was as if he had been enlightened by a god at this moment.


    Extraordinarily magical, extraordinarily surprising.


    But Cheng Erni¡¯s thinking was simple, and she could not guess that Cheng Ling had changed her head, yet she was full of excitement and agitation.


    Using her own barren language, she finally popped out a sentence. ¡°Brother Ling, I feel like I¡¯m going to heaven now!¡±


    Cheng Dani, who was on the side, also came over, but her expression was much more complicated; her joy contained hidden worries.


    She then said, ¡°Brother Ling, you protected me for which I¡¯m thankful and happy. But what about the food? A-niang, she¡­¡±


    Before she could finish, a man hurried over from the direction of the woods. As soon as he saw Mr. Liu lying on the ground, his footsteps stopped.


    After a while, he readjusted his expression and rushed to Liu¡¯s side squatting down, shouting in a sad voice, ¡°Damn it!¡±


    As he raised his head, he looked at Cheng Ling with an expression of anger and disappointment and said sadly, ¡°Brother Ling, no matter what, this is your aunt, how can you be so cruel? Your hands are too dark, You are so rude to your own family, you¡­¡±


    Cheng Ling interrupted, ¡°Uncle, Auntie is fine. It¡¯s just a little skin trauma. The reason as to why she is still lying on the ground is because her body is too heavy, so I thought she could rest right there laying on the ground.¡±


    Uncle Cheng wondered, ¡®Isn¡¯t this mockery towards Liu¡¯s too strong to be disguised?¡¯


    Although Uncle Cheng sometimes disliked her, hearing these words come out of Cheng Ling still made Uncle Cheng feel strange and uncomfortable.


    ¡°Hey? wrong! What is he here for?¡±


    Without waiting for Uncle Cheng to get up and fight again, Cheng Ling walked to Liu¡¯s side. She crouched down, stretched out a hand, and pinched Liu Shi¡¯s center with lightning precision.


    Aunt Liu screeched, ¡°Ouch!¡±


    She jumped up from the pain, and her flexible body was like a fat-headed fish that bounced from the water to the ground.


    Uncle Cheng didn¡¯t take precaution and was frightened. He put his foot down and was now sitting on the ground with his buttocks. He fell into a fight.


    Cheng Erni burst into a smile.


    But Cheng Ling said slowly, ¡°Uncle, I¡¯d like to ask something. Just now, Auntie was talking about selling my sister. Where were you then?¡±


    Uncle Cheng was all stunned. He impulsivelyreplied, ¡°What? Your aunt wanted to sell Dani? This, this can¡¯t be done! This woman is too outrageous. I condemn this!¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you condemn it.¡± Cheng Ling said, ¡°But I have two elder sisters, how did you know that I was talking about Cheng Dani?¡±


    Uncle Cheng opened his mouth, resting on the ground with one hand and his head with the other, just staring at Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling added, ¡°Also, since you were not here until just now, how come you know that Auntie¡¯s skin injury was caused by me?¡±


    Uncle Cheng was left speechless.


    But Liu Shi finally recovered from the fear of near death and had now put her hands on her hips, habitually resorting to her shrewd tactics.


    However, Cheng Ling immediately took a step forward, raised her hand high in the air, and suddenly pressed hard on Lui Shi¡¯s scar.

 Chapter 3

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling reached out and pressed on Aunt Liu¡¯s wound.


    This wound wasn¡¯t very deep, just a little cut and some blood. In fact, by this time, the bleeding had already stopped.


    But when Cheng Ling pressed on it, Aunt Liu still felt a sharp pain.


    The familiar fear hit her again, and Aunt Liu suddenly froze.


    Even though Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t fully grown, she was a little taller than her.


    This height difference gave Mrs. Liu a sense of threat from Cheng Ling¡¯s condescending gaze.


    ¡°Auntie, you can¡¯t be thinking that this external injury was because I didn¡¯t have enough strength, right?¡± Cheng Ling asked softly.


    Aunt Liu¡¯s two legs trembled a bit, and she said sternly, ¡°You, what do you want? I¡¯m your aunt. I¡¯m your elder! Don¡¯t you dare go too far!¡±


    Cheng Ling smiled and said, ¡°Not to mention the aunt next door, even if you¡¯re my real aunt, so what? Everything is a mess in this world. What etiquette! What top and bottom! Auntie, don¡¯t push me too hard; otherwise, this porcelain piece won¡¯t gently cut across your neck next time.¡±


    Aunt Liu looked at her smile but only felt a chill run down her neck.


    Cheng Ling took a step back, and Aunt Liu suddenly felt a sense of danger, as if she had escaped from the claws of a fierce beast.


    At that moment, how could she still dare to bug her? She just grabbed Uncle Cheng, who was still sitting on the ground, and ran.


    Uncle Cheng said, ¡°Aiyo! Can¡¯t you be gentler?¡±


    Aunt Liu exclaimed, ¡°Light my ass! You spineless good-for-nothing, I¡¯m unfortunate to have married you! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t know how your old Cheng family gave birth to such a sinner¡­¡±


    The two of them gradually went further and further away. They mixed into the crowd of refugees and went to the area closer to the city gate.


    The shed over there was not as crowded as the outer area. The materials were more solid, and the space was often larger. Generally, only the more powerful refugees with more non-disabled men in their families could live there.


    In the past, every morning and evening, there would be large families in the city who would come out to set up porridge stands and distribute porridge. These refugees who were closer to the city gate would often be able to grab the porridge first.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s family¡¯s shed was at the outermost part of the refugee gathering area, the furthest away from the city gate. If they went further, they would enter the mountains.


    At this position, not only was it difficult to snatch the porridge, but there were also many insects and snakes by the mountain. At night, the wind whistled, and the mosquitoes flew around, making people panic.


    However, this was nothing. The most despairing thing was that the city had not even distributed porridge in the past two days!


    During this year¡¯s summer floods, the Golden River¡¯s riverbank burst, and half of Yunchuan Prefecture¡¯s Tai region was hit by the disaster, which led the refugees to flee in all directions.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s family was from the Meihua village in Lou County, so they chose the north route.


    They walked like this for more than twenty days. Along the way, they first saw neighbors gathering. Then, the people who fled along the way either died or scattered. Gradually, more and more unfamiliar faces appeared.


    When they arrived at Ping County, the only people they knew and were familiar with were Uncle Cheng¡¯s family.


    However, even though they were of the same race, they had been separated since Cheng Ling¡¯s grandfather¡¯s generation.


    The two sides weren¡¯t very close when they were still in Meihua village. When they were on the road to escape, Uncle Cheng¡¯s family was even more afraid of Cheng Ling¡¯s family taking advantage of them. As such, there were not many cases of helping each other, as there were many cases of treason.


    These things didn¡¯t need to be explained in detail. In short, after Cheng Ling transmigrated, she merged with the original owner¡¯s memories. Now that she gradually recalled all kinds of information from her memories, she had a clear idea of what to do next.


    Cheng Erni watched Aunt Liu and Uncle Cheng leave. She lightly spat and then smiled. ¡°Brother Ling, you¡¯re the best!¡±


    Cheng Dani¡¯s face also revealed a smile, but she sighed, ¡°What¡¯s the point of venting our anger if we don¡¯t have any food to eat?¡±


    As she spoke, she walked directly to the side of her shack, lifted the grass curtain, and bent down to walk in.


    Cheng Erni winked at Cheng Ling and quickly followed him. Cheng Ling naturally followed behind her.


    The shack was built low, only about four feet high, and people couldn¡¯t even straighten their backs inside. The space inside was also tiny, about three square meters.


    There were some worn-out things piled up in the corner, and a person was curled up beside this pile of worn-out things!


    This person was their mother, Mu Sanniang.


    Mu Sanniang was almost a skeleton. She was a tall woman with long arms and legs. She was curled up on a pile of torn clothes. Her eyes were closed, her face was sallow, and her lips were pale. Just by looking at her, one could imagine how tormented she was right now.


    Cheng Dani looked at her. Her eyelids trembled, and two drops of tears fell from the corner of her eyes.


    However, she just pursed her lips and didn¡¯t wipe the tears on her face. She bent over and walked to the pile of junk at the side. Then, she dug around and finally took out a rough porcelain bowl with a hole.


    She lifted the grey cloth wrapped around the thick bowl and saw that half a bowl of congee was so cold that it had already congealed into a paste!


    ¡°Big sister, you actually¡­¡± Cheng Erni was shocked.


    Cheng Ling quickly reached out to cover Cheng Erni¡¯s mouth. Cheng Erni also became alert and immediately shut her mouth in annoyance.


    ¡°Every time we received the congee, mother and I would secretly save some,¡± Cheng Dani said softly. ¡°This half bowl was left the day before yesterday. After that¡­¡±


    After that, there were no more nobles in the city who came out to give porridge.


    This half bowl of congee from two days ago was not only cold, but there was also a layer of yellow watery substance on it.


    In this tiny shack, the cold porridge exuded an indescribable sour smell.


    However, Cheng Dani cherished it very much and only said, ¡°Mother can¡¯t wake up. She must be hungry. Although she told me to leave the food for a few more days and not to touch the porridge until Brother Ling can¡¯t hold on any longer, but¡­¡±


    Then, she turned to Cheng Ling and pleaded, ¡°Brother Ling, give it to mother first. She¡¯s the one who can¡¯t take it anymore.¡±


    Cheng Ling was speechless.


    She felt like something was stuck in her throat, and a sense of heartache and discomfort rose from her bones.


    She took a light breath and didn¡¯t say, ¡°The congee is bad and can¡¯t be eaten.¡± Instead, she squatted down beside Mu Sanniang and put her hand on her left hand¡¯s pulse.


    After checking her pulse and combining it with her original memories, Cheng Ling immediately had an idea.


    ¡°What I need more is medicine,¡± she said in a low voice.


    But where could they find the medicine?


    Cheng Ling, who had always been well-organized since she transmigrated, felt that she had already controlled her emotions very well. However, she couldn¡¯t help but be at a loss at this moment.


    Her eyes peeked through the cracks of the tattered shack. She was thinking about the possibility of going into the mountains to pick herbs and find food when she suddenly felt her vision blur.


    Something was not right¡­


    Wait, what did she see?


    A narrow, pitch-black space with no light appeared before her.


    The incredible thing was that even though the space was dark, she could clearly see everything in it.


    What were they?


    Small steel cups, an alcohol stove, water cleansing pills, compressed biscuits, dehydrated vegetables¡­


    Cheng Ling was left speechless.

 Chapter 4

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart was in turmoil. A small space had actually appeared. Was this a sign of transmigration?


    She glanced at Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni, ensuring they couldn¡¯t see this space. Then, she quickly looked around the small space.


    First, she looked at the volume. It should be about one cubic meter. It was tiny, and there weren¡¯t many supplies inside, but it was rich in variety.


    In addition to the compressed biscuits and other items that she had seen at a glance, there was also a compass, a map, a thermos bottle, an outdoor watch, a small telescope, a compound crossbow, a military knife, a Steel Dragon spring sword, and other supplies.


    These seemed to be the things that she had put in her bag before she transmigrated because she had to participate in a survival activity in the wild!


    Most importantly, there was a small first-aid kit inside.


    That¡¯s great!


    In today¡¯s era, this thing was obviously more precious than food to protect one¡¯s life.


    Cheng Ling immediately turned to her two sisters. ¡°Sisters, I actually hid some things outside. Wait a moment. I¡¯ll go get them now.¡±


    Due to the lack of food, the host had indeed explored the nearby forest.


    In the end, she only walked around the foot of the mountain and fainted in front of her two sisters when she returned.


    Seeing her brother faint again, Cheng Dani was in despair. It was too difficult to live, and she would rather sell herself in exchange for food.


    After Cheng Ling suddenly woke up, Cheng Dani was pleasantly surprised, but the worry of not being able to exchange herself for food suppressed her.


    She frowned and said, ¡°What are you hiding? Why didn¡¯t you take it back before?¡±


    Cheng Ling raised a finger and made a shushing gesture, but she only smiled. Then she got up, bent over, lifted the curtain, and walked out.


    After she went out, she deliberately crossed her legs and pretended that she had to go to the toilet. Then, she hurriedly ran towards the nearby forest.


    Many of the escapees immediately looked over. Cheng Ling¡¯s reaction to Master Jin was too eye-catching, so the refugees would always pay more attention to her, intentionally or unintentionally.


    Cheng Ling knew this in her heart, so she deliberately pretended to feel the need to pee.


    Fortunately, her shack was close to the mountain, so Cheng Ling only ran a dozen meters before reaching the foot of the mountain. She crawled a few steps and found a big rock. In a flash, she went behind the rock.


    Cheng Ling focused her mind and checked around for a moment. After making sure no one was around, she gathered her spirit and tried to take something out of the small space she had just seen.


    While she was running, she had already discovered that this small space could disappear and appear as she wished. When she didn¡¯t think about it, it was as if the space didn¡¯t exist.


    Only when Cheng Ling concentrated on the space would the space appear in her field of vision.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes fell on the small medicine box in the space, and her thoughts were powerful. She kept muttering, ¡°Come out, come out!¡±


    The next moment, her palm sank.


    The first aid kit had been summoned!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s tense heart relaxed slightly. Even though she had expected this, she was still pleasantly surprised.


    She was worried about whether this space could be seen or not. Now that she was sure that the supplies inside could be taken out at will, the anger in her heart subsided.


    She opened the small medicine box and saw that it was divided into three layers from top to bottom. According to its function, each layer was further divided into several storage compartments. The inside was packed to the brim. It could be said that even though it was small, it had all the essentials.


    The primary materials included two pairs of disposable latex gloves, a pair of scissors and tweezers, a set of suture needles, a scalpel, a group of cold and hot surgical dressings, a collection of tourniquets, medical gauze, alcohol cotton, iodophor, and so on.


    The most precious thing was that there were two first aid treasures, the Angong Beef Emperor pill and two boxes of Yunnan Baiyao.


    In addition, there were two boxes of amoxicillin, which was an anti-inflammatory medicine, ten small packets of Indigowoad root, two plates of bezoar detox tablets, two boxes of Lianhua Qingwen capsules, ten small packets of Yun Fen granules, and a box of painkillers.


    There was also a bottle of activating blood essence, essential balm, and Wanying pain relief cream. The cooling ointment was very small, so she brought five small boxes and ten small packages of Ren dan pills.


    Cheng Ling quickly looked through it, and after making sure she had an idea, she took a box of Yunnan Baiyao, a portion of cooling ointment, and a portion of Ren Dan pill.


    Then, she closed the medicine box and muttered in her heart, ¡°Go back.¡±


    With this thought, the medicine box was indeed kept back into the space.


    Cheng Ling then unwrapped the Yunnan Baiyao and took out the insurance on the bottle cap. She then sent the Yunnan Baiyao back into the origin space.


    The cooling ointment and Ren Dan pill were also sent back to the medium.


    These things were very small and had already been taken out from the small medicine box. They were just placed in the space, so it would be convenient for her to smuggle them whenever she needed them next time.


    Cheng Ling then took out two pieces of compressed biscuits from her space.


    These were compressed military biscuits. Each piece was only half the size of a palm, but they were extremely high in calories. One piece could satisfy an adult¡¯s energy needs for a day and a night.


    Cheng Ling had brought 15 of these compressed biscuits.


    She took out two pieces and unwrapped them. Cheng Ling put the packaging back into her interspace, as well as the unwrapped biscuits. Then, she walked out from behind the stone empty-handed.


    After a few steps, Cheng Ling suddenly stopped.


    It turned out that a man had walked out from the group of refugees.


    This man looked to be in his early twenties, and his figure was quite burly. If not for his sallow face, he would not even look like a refugee.


    Next to the man was a young man with lively eyes. The young man stretched out his finger and pointed at Cheng Ling.


    The two of them conversed for a bit before walking over to Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling guessed that the two of them had something to do, so she stopped walking and only looked at her family¡¯s shack a dozen meters away. She wanted to ensure she could take care of her family in the shack.


    After a while, the man and the young man came over.


    The young man first cupped his hands to Cheng Ling and said with a smile, ¡°Brother Cheng, this is the leader of our Ten Mile Castle¡¯s Hundred Clan team, Chief Guo. Both of you are heroes. You should get to know each other. ¡±


    One shouldn¡¯t hit a smiling person, so Cheng Ling returned the gesture with a fist. However, she only smiled and didn¡¯t say anything.


    What hero? By looking at how these two walked, Cheng Ling knew that the teenager who spoke was at most an ordinary malnourished person. As for Chief Guo, he probably only knew some farming skills.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know if this person had any heroic deeds, but from the young man¡¯s words, Cheng Ling could smell a different meaning.


    It wasn¡¯t that she looked down on anyone, but she was afraid that these two came with ill intentions.


    Sure enough, seeing that she didn¡¯t respond, Chief Guo frowned impatiently. He looked at Cheng Ling with scrutiny and unconcealed dissatisfaction.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know where this emotion came from, so she kept silent and responded with the same attitude.


    The atmosphere became a little awkward. After a moment, the young man suddenly cleared his throat and chuckled. ¡°Brother Cheng, we¡¯re not having a good time in this situation.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Cheng Ling asked.


    Since she was so insensitive, Chief Guo¡¯s expression began to turn gloomy.


    ¡°Alas!¡± The young man gritted his teeth. ¡°Brother Cheng, so many dog officials and rich people in the city have fish and meat to eat, but we, brothers who have suffered, are so hungry that we can¡¯t even get a few grains of rice. Can this work? This is unreasonable!¡±


    Cheng Ling finally understood.


    The ¡®civil unrest¡¯ that she had talked about when she was fooling Master Jin might be right in front of her!

 Chapter 5

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart thumped.


    The people were in chaos!


    These two people were here to invite him to join them.


    Of course, Cheng Ling wouldn¡¯t agree.


    ¡°Alas!¡± Cheng Ling¡¯s tone was steady and calm. ¡®He¡¯ proceeded, ¡°My mother is weak, and I can¡¯t afford to waste more time here. I have to hurry back and take care of her. Goodbye.¡±


    As she spoke, she cupped her hands and stepped aside, wanting to quickly bypass the two of them and leave.


    The best way to not get involved was to stop listening to them.


    At this moment, a hand reached out.


    Chief Guo exhaled and shouted angrily, ¡°Dear boy, it¡¯s not that easy to leave!¡±


    As he spoke, his fingers curled into the shape of an eagle¡¯s claw and swiped at Cheng Ling¡¯s head.


    His body charged forward at the same time, as his two thick legs stomped on the ground. Not to mention anything else, just the strength he showed when running was terrifying.


    Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t short, but she was fragile. How could she be compared to this strong man?


    If the man hit her, she would spit out some blood.


    A sinister smile appeared on Chief Guo¡¯s face. Cheng Ling¡¯s body was more flexible than he had imagined.


    She turned her body to the side, and just as Chief Guo couldn¡¯t stop his running momentum and passed her, she suddenly stretched her hand out.


    This hand was on Chief Guo¡¯s extended arm, precisely the acupuncture point on his upper arm.


    Chief Guo immediately experienced what it meant to have ¡®half of the body go numb.¡¯


    He was shocked, but Cheng Ling turned around and moved behind him before reacting. She turned her hand and knocked on the acupuncture point on the back of his neck.


    Wing Chun, one-inch punch!


    In the space of a square inch, an extremely condensed force attacked in an instant.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Chief Guo cried out as he felt a sharp pain in his spine. Immediately after, Cheng Ling kicked him in the knee.


    Bang! Bang!


    The brawny man was knocked to the ground, and like a fish out of water, he could no longer turn over.


    Cheng Ling raised a foot and gently touched the central point on Chief Guo¡¯s back.


    However, Chief Guo could swear he felt whatever was pressing on his back was more than just a light foot; it was like a huge mountain!


    Everything happened extremely quickly.


    On the other side, the young man who was watching finally woke up from his daze.


    He hurriedly took a deep breath and wavered between immediately running away and going forward to save him for a moment. In the end, he managed to move a step. With a stiff face, he laughed dryly and said, ¡°This¡­hehe, brother, Brother Cheng, you ¡­ What do you mean by this?¡±


    Cheng Ling stared at him and didn¡¯t say anything.


    The man¡¯s face turned pale as ¡®he¡¯ slowly said, ¡°Tell me your name and background.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± The teenager gulped and moved his hands and feet uneasily. He said hurriedly, ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ Cough, I¡¯m also from Ten Mile Castle. I¡¯m from Dong¡­ Lin County. My name is Liang Erzhu. I have an eighty-year-old mother at home!¡±


    ¡°Boohoo¡­¡± Liang Erzhu was finally in the right mood. He started crying and wiped his tears. ¡°Brother, it¡¯s not easy for us. My¡­ My Brother Guo may have a bad temper, but he¡¯s not a bad person.¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯m not a bad person! Brother Cheng, what are you doing? No, it really shouldn¡¯t be like this. We don¡¯t have any grudges in the past or present, brother Cheng. You-you should lift your feet!¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Cheng Ling was stunned. ¡°We didn¡¯t have any grudges in the past, but as for whether we¡¯ll have any grudges in the near future¡­ Heh.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember Brother Liang¡¯s name,¡± she laughed. I¡¯ll also have to trouble Brother Liang to persuade Chief Guo. I don¡¯t care what you want to do, neither do I know what you want to do. This Cheng only has one request. Don¡¯t blame me for anything.¡±


    As she spoke, the tip of her foot that was on the acupuncture point on Boss Guo¡¯s back suddenly exerted a little force.


    Chief Guo had initially tried to support himself with his hands, not wanting to look too ugly, but Cheng Ling¡¯s force caused him to feel a sharp pain in his back. This time, he breathed a sigh of relief and couldn¡¯t help but groan in pain.


    His face turned red, and he wished there was a hole in the ground so that he could bury his head in it.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s voice was neither fast nor slow, ¡°Okay, okay, don¡¯t mess with me, and we¡¯ll all be fine.¡± Whoever offends me in this world, should know that a few lives are nothing!¡±


    Finally, after saying this, she retracted her foot.


    Chief Guo, who was lying on the ground, felt the weight on his back loosen. After a while, he heard the sound of footsteps gradually fading away.


    He suddenly let out a breath, and his first reaction was to lie on the ground and not get up. He didn¡¯t care if he wanted to save his face or his life, but he wanted to cry.


    ¡°Wuwuwu ¡­¡±


    Liang Erzhu came to pull him, but Chief Guo¡¯s sobs were muffled, and he refused to get up. He only covered his face with his sleeves and pulled Liang Erzhu, ¡°T-that kid really went far, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    Liang Erzhu said carefully, ¡°We¡¯ve gone far, brother. Get up quickly. I¡¯ll cover you. No one will dare to look at us!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Heh!¡± Cheng Ling shook her head and laughed.


    She walked to the side of her shack. Before lifting the grass curtain, she glanced toward the mountain forest from the corner of her eye. She saw Liang Erzhu pulling Chief Guo, and the two of them were hunched together. She didn¡¯t know what they were hiding from, but they were just walking around the mountain forest.


    They didn¡¯t know that their position was actually not covered from every angle. No matter who it was in this refugee area, as long as they looked over, they could be seen.


    Who could he hide from? He was probably just hiding from some psychological comfort.


    As for Cheng Ling, she had even defeated Chief Guo. Now, there were fewer refugees who dared to target her. Her gaze only needed to sweep around casually, and anyone who made eye contact with her would hurriedly lower their heads, no matter who it was.


    This deterrent effect was really not bad!


    Only then did Cheng Ling lift the curtain and bend over to return to her shack.


    In the shack, Cheng Dani and Cheng Ernii were surrounding Mu Sanniang. Cheng Erni hugged Mu Sanniang¡¯s upper body and lifted her up, while Cheng Dani carefully fed her porridge.


    However, Mu Sanniang didn¡¯t open her mouth at all. She even clenched her teeth and turned her head to avoid the porridge.


    It was evident that she was not completely unconscious. She was simply willing to leave the food for the child and not eat a single bite.


    Cheng Dani¡¯s tears started to flow. ¡°Mother, why don¡¯t you eat?! We can¡¯t live without you!¡±


    Mu Sanniang still didn¡¯t open her mouth. At this time, Cheng Ling walked over.


    She knelt in front of her and gently brushed her lips.


    At the same time, her hand lightly pressed an acupuncture point on Mu Sanniang¡¯s cheek. Mu Sanniang unconsciously opened her mouth, and a small Yunnan Baiyao pill, the size of a green bean, was fed into her mouth.


    Everything happened too quickly. Cheng Ling¡¯s actions were like lightning. When she fed the medicine, the Cheng sisters didn¡¯t even see what she had done.


    Of the two sisters, only one said happily, ¡°Brother Ling, you¡¯re back.¡±


    ¡°Brother Ling, you¡­¡± One of them was shocked.


    Before she could finish her sentence, Mu Sanniang, who had her eyes closed, suddenly groaned and opened her eyes.

 Chapter 6

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Lady Mu was awake!


    Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni shouted in surprise, ¡°Mother!¡±


    Mu Sanniang opened her eyes and looked around sluggishly. Finally, her gaze fell on Cheng Ling. ¡°Little Ling, you just¡­ what did you just feed me?¡±


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t expect her to notice the pill she had just eaten in her dazed state.


    That¡¯s right. The pill had a bitter medicinal smell. Mu Sanniang was not a fool. How could she not notice the difference?


    Fortunately, Cheng Ling had already thought of an excuse. ¡°It¡¯s the Hundred Treasure pill, Mother. I used a piece of information to exchange it with Master Jin.¡±


    ¡°Master Jin?¡± Mama Mu¡¯s voice suddenly became louder, and she actually sat up by herself in a moment of panic.


    Although she had been unconscious for half a day and didn¡¯t know that Cheng Dani had wanted to exchange herself for food, she had heard of Master Jin.


    As early as a few days ago, Master Jin would often go out of the city to pick some neat-looking girls and boys to buy back into the city. He was a famous figure in the refugee area outside the city!


    Therefore, when Cheng Ling mentioned Master Jin, Mu Sanniang became anxious, afraid that the child at home would do something stupid.


    ¡°Mother, our Chief Guo wanted to bring people to the city gate, so I exchanged this information with Master Jin for a life-saving pill,¡± Cheng Ling quickly explained in a low voice.


    She had the original owner¡¯s memories, so she was very friendly to Mama Mu. At this time, she called out to her mother very smoothly, without any psychological barrier.


    Mu Sanniang was stunned by the news and instinctively reached out to hold Cheng Ling¡¯s hand. She stared at her and asked, ¡°Little Ling, where did you get the news? Can you confirm it?¡±


    ¡°A guy called Liang Erzhu, who¡¯s always by Chief Guo¡¯s side, told me about it,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°I¡¯m the only male figure in our family, so if they want to gather the refugees, they must inform the men of each family.¡±


    Mu Sanniang let out a breath. Leader Guo and Liang Erzhu¡¯s names were out. Cheng Ling was telling the truth, so how could Mu Sanniang not believe her?


    Her heart was in turmoil for a moment. She was already weak from her illness, but the pill also had a strong pain-killing effect in addition to her internal injuries.


    After a while, the pain in Mother Mu¡¯s body gradually subsided, and she pulled herself together. She quickly said, ¡°No, we can¡¯t stay in this place anymore. My dear children, we must leave this place as soon as possible. ¡±


    Her expression was firm as she spoke. It was clear that she had already made up her mind.


    ¡°Xiao Ling, when Liang Erzhu came to look for you, what did you say?¡± She asked Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling looked at Mu Sanniang. Although her face was pale and haggard, she had a determined expression.


    This was an ordinary ancient woman who didn¡¯t look any different from the ordinary toiling masses.


    However, she had been widowed at a young age. She was able to raise three children and raise them independently. She was also able to raise her youngest daughter as her son and keep it a secret from everyone.


    From this, one could imagine how unusual she was.


    To Cheng Ling, this was great. The road ahead was difficult and dangerous. To have such a teammate was also a kind of luck, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll leave when it¡¯s dark,¡± she said in a low voice.


    As she spoke, she made a gesture of taking something out of her arms, but in fact, she secretly communicated with the realm and took out a piece of compressed biscuit that had just been torn from the package.


    When she opened her palm again, there was a slightly yellow compressed biscuit in Cheng Ling¡¯s hand. It had the aroma of food.


    ¡°Gulp!¡± Cheng Erni swallowed her saliva.


    She had just been listening to the conversation between her ¡°brother¡± and her mother. She didn¡¯t even react when she heard that someone was about to attack the city gate. However, the appearance of this compressed biscuit instantly broke her defense.


    Fragrant, it was too fragrant!


    In fact, the smell of the compressed biscuits was not very obvious, but for people in a state of extreme hunger, even the faintest smell of food would cause them to drool.


    What was more was, compressed biscuits contained a lot of oil and sugar. Thus, after Cheng Ling opened her palm, the smell of food mixed with oil and sugar entered the nostrils of the people around her.


    Not only did Cheng Erni swallow her saliva, but her eyes were also green with envy.


    Mu Sanniang still had some rationality left in her. She asked reluctantly, ¡°Little Ling, What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°I picked up a small bag in the forest earlier,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°There¡¯s some dry food in it. Mother, let¡¯s share it and accumulate some strength. We¡¯ll leave when it¡¯s dark.¡±


    After saying that, she stretched out her hand and broke the small piece of compressed biscuit into four portions. She kept one for herself and gave the other three Mu and the two sisters.


    The four of them ate a small piece each.


    This wasn¡¯t because Cheng Ling was stingy, but because the four of them were in a long-term state of hunger. In this case, it wasn¡¯t appropriate to overeat right after breaking this obligatory fast.


    Compressed biscuits were things that made them feel full and were not easy to digest. Eating a small piece at a time would be enough to provide some energy to their dried-up bodies.


    Of course, Cheng Ling also had to consider the resources.


    Although she had just obtained a Goldfinger small space, the resources inside were limited. There were only 15 pieces of compressed biscuits in total. Of course, Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t waste them and had to use them according to plan.


    Cheng Erni didn¡¯t have any other thoughts. The only thought she had was to eat!


    After she finished the water and biscuits, she looked at Cheng Dani and Mu Sanniang with eager eyes.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eating speed was just as fast as her, and she had already finished the small piece of biscuit.


    Only Cheng Dani and Mu Sanniang were eating rather slowly. They both had the same thought. They wanted to keep some of the precious food.


    That¡¯s right. If the taste of compressed biscuits was put in modern society, it might be criticized by many people.


    However, in the mouths of refugees like Cheng Dani and Mu Sanniang, the taste was salty and sweet, mixed with the smell of oily nuts. With a bite, it felt like it was full of carbon water. It was simply a divine meal!


    Not to mention the fact that even before they fled and their families were still stable, they had never eaten such food.


    The mother and daughter tried their best to restrain themselves, but their hungry bodies were not under the control of their rationality. By the time they came back to their senses, Cheng Dani and Mu Sanniang realized that no matter how slowly they chewed, they had already finished the food in their hands.


    Cheng Dani was speechless.


    Her eyes were filled with tears.


    ¡°Dear sister?¡± Cheng Erni was also wiping her tears. ¡°Why are you crying?¡± she asked.


    Cheng Dani inexplicably hiccupped, then covered her face in shame. ¡°I..¡±


    She turned around and said solemnly, ¡°I didn¡¯t leave any rations behind, Wu¡­..I was wrong.¡±


    Cheng Erni¡¯s tears flowed even more freely. She cried as well. ¡°Yes, I should also leave some behind. I won¡¯t be able to eat such delicious food anymore. What should I do, wuwuwu!¡±


    Cheng Ling was speechless.


    What could she do? It was such a sad thing, so why did she suddenly feel like laughing?


    AI!

 Chapter 7

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    At Xu, the sky gradually darkened.


    Cheng Ling carefully observed her surroundings through the cracks in her shack.


    There was no moon in the sky, and the starlight was sparse.


    The hazy night blurred everything, including the various bitter winds and rain in the refugee area outside the city. It seemed to have disappeared into silence as the sunset.


    ¡°Mother, we can go now,¡± Cheng Ling said softly.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we wait until after midnight?¡± Mu asked.


    The latter half of the night was usually the time when the human body was the most tired. At this time, one¡¯s vigilance would also be at its lowest. Logically speaking, the best time to leave quietly would be the latter half of the night.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes moved slightly. Although the night was blurry, she could more or less hear the subtle sounds of people moving and the movements of shadows.


    Therefore, the current refugee camp was like a barrel of explosives that might explode at any time even though it appeared to be quiet!


    ¡°Mother, did you see that? Those people are moving around and colluding,¡± Cheng Ling said in a low voice.


    During the day, Chief Guo had run into a wall at Cheng Ling¡¯s place, but this obviously didn¡¯t dispel his thoughts of starting a riot. On the contrary, because Cheng Ling had leaked the news, it was likely to make him even more anxious.


    Based on what she observed, Cheng Ling concluded: ¡°Mother, there¡¯s a high possibility that by the second half of the night, they¡¯ll be charging through the city gates!¡±


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll leave immediately.¡± Mu stated


    Why can¡¯t I leave?


    In the beginning, they had cooped up in this place because the nobles in the city would give out porridge. Those who were afraid of hunger wanted to take a rest and get a few mouthfuls of food.


    On the other hand, he had also fantasized about living in the city ¡­


    It was just a fantasy, but how many could actually be realized?


    Cheng Dani¡¯s eyes were filled with tears, and she only said softly, ¡°We¡¯ve only stopped for a few days, and we¡¯ll be leaving again. ¡±


    Where should he go?


    He did not know.


    Cheng Danni wiped her tears dry and took the initiative to pick up the heaviest bag.


    In fact, there was not much. The heaviest bag was filled with their clay pots and broken bowls, as well as a few bamboo tubes of water.


    These things were not valuable but indispensable on the escape road.


    Cheng Erni and Mu Sanniang each carried a bag, while Cheng Ling was empty-handed.


    She quietly held a Switzerland army knife in her hand. If anyone tried to stop her on her way out, she wouldn¡¯t think twice before using the weapon.


    Cheng Ling took the lead, and the group of four silently walked out of the shack.


    The night gave them the best cover, and the four of them used their fastest speed to enter the forest behind the shack.


    When they entered the mountain, Cheng Dani took a heavy breath.


    ¡°Great!¡± Cheng Erni whispered happily, ¡°No one is stopping us!¡±


    Cheng Ling also heaved a sigh of relief. However, she didn¡¯t feel that her previous vigilance was unnecessary. On the contrary, she became even more cautious after entering the mountain.


    ¡°Mother, wait for me here for a moment,¡± Cheng Ling said. She then came to the big rock where she had hidden before.


    Using the stone as a cover, she quickly took out a dark green canvas bag from the space and put the telescope, insect repellent, small composite crossbow, windproof matches, compass, survival whistle, binding belt, strong flashlight, and other things in the canvas bag.


    Of course, Cheng Ling also didn¡¯t forget to take out a few more compressed biscuits. She tore off the packaging, put them in a preservation bag, and then put them in her canvas bag.


    After doing all this, she walked out from behind the rock and returned to her mother and her two older sisters.


    Mother Mu¡¯s eyes were sharp. Even in the dim light of the night, she could see that there was an extra bag on her. She was a little surprised. ¡°Xiao Ling, is this the bag you said you picked up in the mountains?¡±


    That¡¯s right, Cheng Ling¡¯s previous excuse was to wait here for a response.


    ¡°Yes, mother. I was afraid that it would be inappropriate if someone saw me, so I hid the bag behind the rock.¡± Mother, there are a lot of rare things in the bag. I took a look, and they are all very useful. ¡±


    As she spoke, she took out the bottle of insect repellent from her bag.


    The insect repellent was a spray type. Cheng Ling pressed down on the pump head and sprayed it on the legs of Mu Sanniang and her two sisters. At the same time, she also sprayed herself.


    Cheng Dani took a step back in shock, while Cheng Erni covered her mouth with her hand. Mu Sanniang cautiously said, ¡°Little Ling, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Mother,¡± Cheng Ling said, ¡°The first thing we need to do when we enter the mountain is to get rid of mosquitoes. This thing can get rid of insects.¡±


    After that, she put the bug repellent back into her canvas bag.


    She didn¡¯t need to explain how she knew that ¡°This thing could drive insects away.¡± There was no need for that, and now was not the right time.


    Cheng Ling took out the composite crossbow from her canvas bag as she spoke.


    This composite crossbow was foldable and portable. It could hold five arrows at a time. The widest part was only a foot wide when opened and could be used with one hand.


    Cheng Ling held the crossbow in her left hand and casually broke a three-foot-long Branch with her right hand. She led the way, tapping the sides of the road with a branch as she walked up the mountain.


    The purpose of this was to alert the enemy.


    After the summer floods, the weather in Ping County was still hot. There were insects and snakes everywhere on the mountain. Going up the mountain at night was a very dangerous thing.


    However, Cheng Ling had already planned to cross the mountain tonight and head to Wei County.


    They had to stay as far away as possible from the refugees who would start a riot. Cheng Ling didn¡¯t think they would succeed in breaking into the city at all. Therefore, the best way to avoid the settling of Ping County¡¯s officers and soldiers was to leave as soon as possible.


    Just like that, the four of them groped in the dark and walked under the sparse Starlight for who knows how long.


    It was not easy to walk halfway up the mountain. Cheng Erni was panting and could not help but suggest, ¡°Mother, why don¡¯t we stop for a while and light a torch before we go?¡±


    Just as she finished speaking, she suddenly felt the sky above her light up!


    ¡°Ah!¡± Cheng Erni yelped and turned around to look. She suddenly realized that it was not dawn. Countless torches suddenly lighted up the location of Ping County below.


    Under the fire light, the four stood on the mountain and looked down. From a distance, they could see everything clearly.


    The city gate on the other side was wide open, and countless soldiers rushed out, fighting with the crowded refugees at the city gate.


    Blood splattered everywhere, and screams resounded through the night sky.


    They were clearly very far away, but at this moment, the four people standing on the mountain simultaneously felt that those distant screams seemed to be right next to their ears.


    Cheng Dani bit her lip, and Cheng Erni couldn¡¯t help but say in a trembling voice, ¡°If we didn¡¯t leave ¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a gust of wind came from the side. Cheng Ling was instantly alert. She raised her left hand, and an arrow shot out like a meteor towards the black shadow.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Cheng Dani exclaimed.


    Before the scream could stop, the black shadow was shot in the neck and instantly fell to the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s a wolf!¡± Cheng Erni exclaimed.

 Chapter 8

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Wolves are not solitary creatures.


    At this moment, Cheng Ling, who was standing in place with her crossbow, clearly didn¡¯t see anything, but she could feel that there were countless shadows in the forest in front of her, vaguely hiding murderous intents.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. She only raised her crossbow and made a threatening gesture.


    She knew that wolves were very intelligent animals.


    Since the wolf that had launched a probing attack earlier had died so easily, it was very likely that the Wolf Pack that was following closely behind would immediately go into hibernation.


    They weren¡¯t giving up on their prey, but were definitely waiting for an opportunity. As long as Cheng Ling let down her guard, these countless beasts in the dark would definitely pounce on them and mercilessly devour the four of them!


    ¡°Mother, bring Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni up the tree first,¡± Cheng Ling ordered in a low voice.


    Mu Sanniang¡¯s hands were shaking. Before she fell unconscious, she was the pillar of the family. On the road of escape, the three children would listen to her no matter what.


    After waking up this time, the usually silent Cheng Ling seemed to have been reborn and suddenly taken the lead.


    She was like a real man, taking on the family¡¯s burden in times of danger!


    She was clearly the youngest, and she was also a delicate woman.


    Mu Sanniang wanted to advise Cheng Ling not to force herself, but she also knew that her delay might bring more trouble to Cheng Ling.


    As a result, although her heart was filled with thoughts, she didn¡¯t say anything more.


    She just held Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Alright little girls, let¡¯s retreat!¡±


    About two feet to their left, there was a big tree.


    Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni were very obedient. The three of them carefully retreated. They had only taken a few steps, but they were already frightened.


    When they reached the tree, Mu Sanniang pushed Cheng Erni, and she nimbly climbed up the tree.


    She hooked her legs on a tree branch nearly three meters above the ground and hung upside down to pull Cheng Dani. Cheng Erni pulled Cheng Dani¡¯s hand, and behind her Mu was of great help. They quickly climbed up the tree.


    The two sisters came to pull Mu Sanniang back. She was worried about Cheng Ling, and the moment they climbed up the tree, she couldn¡¯t help but look back.


    At this moment, the branch that Cheng Erni had hooked onto suddenly made a slight cracking sound.


    ¡°Mother!¡± Cheng Erni let out a cry.


    Mu quickly hugged the trunk of the tree.


    But Cheng Ling, who had heard the commotion behind her, was already affected and couldn¡¯t help but tilt her head slightly.


    Suddenly, a strong wind blew.


    ¡°Aowu!¡±


    The wolves that had launched their attack at this moment!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s crossbow fired at the same time.


    This was a composite crossbow from the modern era, which had the function of rapid firing.


    The compound crossbow¡¯s quiver could hold five arrows at a time. Cheng Ling had shot one before, and now she had four arrows left. She didn¡¯t hold back at all and released all four arrows at once.


    ¡°Wuuu ¡­¡±


    The wolf¡¯s screams were accompanied by the thudding sounds of its body falling to the ground.


    Instantly, four more wolf corpses appeared in front of Cheng Ling.


    This level of savagery was enough to intimidate the wolves.


    Even the carnivorous beasts couldn¡¯t help but feel frightened at this moment. Following the howl of the Alpha Wolf, the rest of the pack sprang out from the grass.


    At this moment, the lower half of the moon, which the clouds had hidden, slowly peeked out.


    The moonlight poured down, like frost and snow, illuminating the dark forest.


    The wolf¡¯s eyes were like green ghost fire under the moonlight, and Cheng Erni¡¯s back was covered in cold sweats. However, she clenched her teeth tightly, afraid that she would make any more noise and hurt Cheng Ling.


    It was a silent confrontation.


    The five wolves¡¯ carcasses were the most powerful deterrence, causing the pack of wolves to not dare launch another attack.


    A wolf was a wolf after all. No matter how smart an animal was, it wouldn¡¯t know that these five arrows were Cheng Ling¡¯s limit.


    If she wanted to fire another arrow, she would have to reload. In a confrontation with a beast, it was often just the time to fill the quiver, and it might be able to determine life and death!


    Cheng Ling maintained her posture of holding the crossbow, but at the same time, her footsteps and standing posture changed slightly.


    In the end, this body¡¯s foundation wasn¡¯t strong enough. After Cheng Ling transmigrated, she had made up for her lack of strength because of her strong spirit and superb skills, and it seemed like her martial arts skills were extraordinary.


    But in reality, the power she could unleash now was not even one-tenth of her peak.


    During the confrontation with the wolves, the first thing she felt was not the lack of will, but the difficulty of her body.


    Her physical strength seemed to have reached its limit!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s method was to change a normal standing posture into a standing stance through subtle body movements and slight adjustments to the posture.


    Traditional Chinese martial arts practice focused on training the muscles, bones, and skin on the outside, while training one breath on the inside. The importance of training one¡¯s breath internally was even more critical than training one¡¯s bones and skin externally!


    Pole-standing was a type of Qi cultivation technique that combined both the inside and outside of the body.


    Through exquisite stances, Cheng Ling could not only save physical strength, but she could also combine her strength from the outside to the inside.


    Cheng Ling slowly breathed and started visualizing Tai Chi.


    She majored in Wing Chun Kung Fu, but the pole-standing that had been building her foundation for a long time was the Tai Chi stance.


    The Tai Chi stance was a combination of strength and gentleness, Yin and Yang. It was the authentic Xuanmen. For modern martial artists, practicing martial arts had a health-preserving effect, which could make the martial artist¡¯s life more vigorous and long.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s breathing was slow, which was in line with the softness of Tai Chi. However, the current state and atmosphere were actually extremely tense. Danger was imminent, which was in another sense of toughness.


    When the softness and hardness became one, Cheng Ling¡¯s state of mind reached a different kind of sublimation in this strange state of danger.


    She was no longer in a hurry, but the moonlight in the sky suddenly brightened at this moment.


    This level of brightness, to others, might only be due to the moonlight being slightly more luxuriant, which was nothing special.


    However, Cheng Ling could clearly feel strange energy flowing from the moonlight.


    The energy entered her body through her breathing and pores.


    She felt as though she was absorbing the essence of the moonlight.


    As soon as she thought of this, Cheng Ling suddenly had an idea.


    She raised the branch in her right hand, and the Tai Chi sword¡¯s starting position was in her hand.


    In the wolf pack, the alpha wolf seemed to be uneasy. Suddenly, it raised its head slightly and let out a soft howl.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s wrist moved, and the branch flew out of her hand. The new force she had just obtained flew along the branch simultaneously.


    Under the moonlight, a ray of light cut through the space. Whoosh!


    The dried branch was like the sharpest sword in the world, piercing through the alpha wolf¡¯s throat.

 Chapter 9

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The alpha wolf fell to the ground and died!


    Under the moonlight, the forest and the night wind seemed to freeze for a moment.


    After a while, Cheng Ling picked up the crossbow again and was about to shoot.


    The rest of the pack of wolves howled mournfully, cries of ¡®awoo awoo¡¯ echoed in the air.


    Amidst the chaotic howls, a wolf finally turned around and fled.


    A pack of wolves that had lost their alpha wolf was like a group of scattered soldiers that had lost their general. They had lost their organization, discipline, courage, and even direction.


    The remaining wolves followed closely behind and fled in all directions. Their speed was so fast that they had all fled in just a moment.


    If it weren¡¯t for the few dead wolves left on the ground, it would have been as if the attack of the wolves had never happened.


    Behind them, Cheng Erni climbed down the tree.


    ¡°Brother Ling, hahaha¡­¡± She laughed with her hands on her hips.


    Hahaha! Hahaha!


    Cheng Erni laughed until she was out of breath. She laughed without restraint and had never laughed so freely in her life.


    But she was too happy. After the extreme shock came the extreme joy. Anyone who could control such an emotion was either a saint or a villain, not Cheng Erni.


    Cheng Dani, who was right behind her, wanted to cover her mouth with her hand, but Cheng Dani¡¯s mouth was still wide open. She reached out to cover her own mouth instead of her mother¡¯s.


    ¡°Wuwuwu ¡­¡±


    Cheng Dani was so happy that she cried.


    Mu Sanniang was the last to come down. Her eyes were shockingly bright, and her hands and feet were a little weak, but she still walked to Cheng Ling¡¯s side first, took her hand, and examined her limbs.


    ¡°Xiao Ling, you¡¯re not hurt. That¡¯s great!¡±


    Cheng Ling was still holding the crossbow in her left hand. When Mu Sanniang held her hand to check, her limbs were a little stiff.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, mother,¡± she replied.


    Mu Sanniang nodded, her eyes shining. She stared at Cheng Ling and asked, ¡°Brother Ling, what took over you when you suddenly shot the alpha wolf to death with a branch? Where did this power come from?¡±


    This question was interesting.


    Cheng Ling blinked. The feeling of the moonlight entering her body just now was very mysterious, and she actually wanted to know what was going on.


    Was it because of her pole-standing, or was there something strange about this world? Or was it because she was already abnormal?


    After all, the transmigration had already happened, and she even had a small portable space. So, it didn¡¯t seem strange for her to have another mystical gift, right?


    However, Mu Sanniang¡¯s question gave Cheng Ling some new ideas. She immediately reached into her bag and put five more arrows into the compound crossbow.


    Cheng Ling had a total of 30 of these arrows. She took out 10 and put them in her bag, while the other 20 were still hidden in her space.


    It was dangerous in the mountains. Although the wolves had retreated, Cheng Ling still had to keep the crossbows fully loaded at all times to be safe.


    After doing this, she slightly adjusted her standing posture, slightly bent her knees, stepped on yin and yang, and divided her hands into Tai Chi.


    The compound crossbow was still tightly held in her left hand, so the Tai Chi stance was not quite the standard.


    However, just as Cheng Ling was visualizing Tai Chi with this imperfect Tai Chi pillar and was once again exploring the mysterious feeling in her heart, the moonlight shone brightly in the night sky.


    The strange energy that was invisible to the naked eye but clearly felt by Cheng Ling once again flowed into her body like water.


    From the skin to the fascias, and then to the blood and meridians.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes also seemed to contain a glimmer of light. She looked at Mu Sanniang and said softly, ¡°Mother, when we were in danger, I suddenly had a strange feeling. It was as if there was a mysterious power in my body. Mother, would you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Cheng Ling revealed this to Mu Sanniang because she was testing her.


    In the days to come, she would show more and more abnormalities. There would always be many skills that the original Cheng Ling wouldn¡¯t have. There had to be a source for all of this and a name.


    She definitely couldn¡¯t say that she had transmigrated, and she couldn¡¯t say anything about her space either, so how was she going to find other excuses?


    Cheng Ling decided to ask Mu Sanniang for help!


    As her mother, she had an instinctive talent for finding excuses for her child.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been practicing in the booklet your grandfather left behind and found the Gu, right?¡± Mu Sanniang asked.


    Qi, same Qi.


    The two words had the same pronunciation, but the concept was slightly different.


    Cheng Ling understood. Mu Sanniang said ¡®Qi¡¯ instead of ¡®Qi.¡¯


    She searched her memories, thinking about the Cheng family¡¯s roots and Mu¡¯s background.


    The Cheng family was said to be an ordinary farmer¡¯s family, but they were not all farmers. This was because Cheng Ling¡¯s father, Cheng Ming, had studied and even passed the exam for Tong Sheng.


    At that time, the Cheng family could also be said to be a family of farmers and scholars.


    If it weren¡¯t for the death of Cheng Ling¡¯s grandfather, the severe illness of her grandmother, and the fact that her father, Cheng Ming, was killed by bandits when he was out, the Cheng family¡¯s life in the village would have been pretty good.


    As for lady Mu, her family was not poor either. She was the youngest daughter of an old man in the town.


    Lady Mu had been by her father¡¯s side since she was young and had learned some simple medical skills. Later, the old doctor passed away, and Mu became a widow at a young age. She used her own medical skills. In addition to helping the women in the village to see some minor illnesses and pain, she sometimes also helped the pregnant women deliver their babies.


    With this skill, she raised three children and established herself in Meihua village.


    As for the booklet Grandpa left behind, Cheng Ling had an impression of it. It was actually a book with pictures of the five animal Frolics technique, attached with the breathing techniques of Chinese medicine.


    The original owner of this technique, Cheng Lingsong, had practiced it in a relaxed manner before. It was supposed to strengthen her body, but she had never achieved any results.


    Now that Mu Sanniang had attributed Cheng Ling¡¯s change to this, Cheng Ling immediately said, ¡°Mother, is this the Leviathan?¡±


    As she spoke, she raised her hand and consciously tried to mobilize the ¡®moonlight essence¡¯ that had just entered her body, trying to see if she could release it.


    But to no avail, Cheng Ling moved her hands and said awkwardly, ¡°Mother, I can feel the presence of this Gu, but it seems to be very difficult to control it.¡±


    In a moment of desperation, Cheng Ling had thrown out a branch with a Gu attached to it, but it turned out that wasn¡¯t normal.


    Cheng Ling pondered, ¡°It seems that she needs to strengthen her training and strive to be able to control this kind of energy as soon as possible. Otherwise, having this kind of energy but not being able to use it would really be a waste of God¡¯s gift.¡±


    Perhaps, she could pick up the breathing technique that Grandpa Mu had left behind and practice it properly.


    ¡°Xiao Ling, it¡¯s amazing that you can feel Yi¡¯s presence.¡± Mu Sanniang exclaimed as she was overjoyed. ¡°People like you are talented! You have to practice hard. This is the ability to settle down!¡±


    Cheng Ling nodded solemnly.


    The two of them didn¡¯t delay their conversation. Cheng Ling said, ¡°Mother, let¡¯s get rid of these wolf corpses.¡±


    At the same time, she called out to Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni. Cheng Ling walked to the nearest wolf corpse. She wanted to pull out all the arrows from the wolf¡¯s corpse and recycle them.


    Afraid of blood splattering out, Cheng Ling walked behind the dead wolf and pressed on the back of its neck.


    At this moment, a new change occurred.


    Cheng Ling felt her uncontrollable Qi suddenly start to move on its own.


    Chi, it surged into the wolf¡¯s corpse.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand subconsciously, she suddenly heard a ¡°ding¡± sound, like money falling into a bag.


    What was that?

 Chapter 10

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart was beating wildly.


    She discovered that her small portable space had also undergone new changes at this moment.


    Next to the small cubic space, a new small space had slowly opened up!


    The new small space was next to the old space. They were both about the same cubic size, but the walls on both sides were clearly separated.


    The old space was filled with all the supplies from the hiking backpack Cheng Ling had carried before she transmigrated. The new space was empty, except for; a small handful of copper coins that had suddenly fallen into the new space!


    The main point was, where did this small handful of copper coins come from?


    At that moment, a familiar female voice rang in Cheng Ling¡¯s ears.


    [Backpack bound picking function, you have collected the wolf corpse and received a Grand Qi Tong Bao, 23 copper coins]


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t help but shiver, and the hair on her back stood up.


    Why did this female voice sound familiar?


    This was clearly the voice that Cheng Ling had before she transmigrated!


    Here, it was necessary to mention some of the things she had been doing before she transmigrated. Besides hiking with her backpack, Cheng Ling had just finished dubbing a Chinese-style mobile game before the hike.


    During her travels, she would sometimes take out her phone and run around with the game as a test.


    Thus, Cheng Ling started to make connections. ¡®I ¡­ While I transmigrated, I also obtained some abilities from this particular game?¡¯


    This was amazing, but it was still the same sentence. Transmigration had already happened, so what else was impossible?


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to delve into the origin of these abilities. Cheng Ling thought to herself, ¡°Other than the small portable space and the ability to pick up things from the backpack, what other abilities do I possess?¡±


    The excited Cheng Ling hurriedly explored the area, and what Mu Sanniang saw was Cheng Ling in a daze, touching the Wolf¡¯s corpse!


    ¡°Xiao Ling?¡± Mu Sanniang called out worriedly.


    Cheng Ling came back to her senses. After her previous investigation, she realized that apart from her portable space and backpack, she didn¡¯t have any other gaming abilities.


    There was no such thing as having a game system within her. She had been calling out to it for a long time, but she couldn¡¯t get any response.


    Of course, picking up bags was already amazing. Without the system, Cheng Ling was even happier.


    She had been practicing martial arts since she was young. If she was being honest to herself, she probably couldn¡¯t adapt to the existence of a portable system.


    If a game system really appeared, perhaps even she herself couldn¡¯t predict how she would react.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine,¡± Cheng Ling replied.


    As she spoke, she pressed on the Wolf¡¯s neck again. With a swish, she pulled out the arrow.


    Some blood splashed out of the wolf, but Cheng Ling successfully dodged it. She then put the bloody arrow in the grass and wiped it.


    She did the same thing, walking past the five wolf corpses and retrieving all five crossbow arrows.


    In the process, she also tried to pick up the other wolf carcasses. The prerequisite for picking up and collecting was the hope that her body must contain moonlight energy.


    In other words, she had to have Gu in her body.


    Without Gu, pick and harvest could not be activated.


    This was more like an energy exchange, but Cheng Ling thought it was more of a unique ability.


    Whether it was a game or not, it was much easier to understand if she simply treated picking and gathering as her own special ability.


    Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni followed Cheng Ling. Cheng Dani took out a rusty knife from her tattered bag and tried to skin the wolf.


    During the process, Cheng Erni kept swallowing her saliva as she said, ¡°There¡¯s so much meat. Sister Dani, Brother Ling, mother, we can finally eat the meat freely, right?¡±


    In her eyes, how could these wolf corpses be the corpses of ferocious and bloody wild beasts?


    This was clearly a pile of fragrant meat!


    Cheng Ling stood next to the Alpha¡¯s corpse and changed her stance at the same time. She stood on the Tai Chi stance for a while.


    The moonlight energy she had absorbed earlier had only allowed her to touch a wolf¡¯s corpse, which had already been exhausted. If she wanted to pick up the body of the alpha wolf, she had to absorb energy again.


    After a few dozen breaths, Cheng Ling placed her hand on the Alpha¡¯s corpse.


    The familiar female voice sounded again


    [You¡¯ve collected the corpse of a wolf. You¡¯ve received the treasure of Da Qi, 51 copper coins, a piece of tanned wolf skin, and 10 pounds of wolf meat.]


    The energy faded, and Cheng Ling looked at the new things in the storage space. She was excited and curious.


    However, at the same time, she also felt that her hands and feet seemed to be a little soft, and a wave of mental exhaustion surged.


    [Collect] was an ability that mainly consumed [bones], but it did not seem to be just [bones]!


    Interesting, this is really interesting.


    Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t afraid, but she didn¡¯t rashly try to pick up the wolf corpses in the middle of Suan Ni¡¯s collection. She only pulled out the arrows from their bodies, but did not collect them.


    Or it could be said that she had tried to collect it before, but because of the lack of Gu, she did not succeed.


    In theory, if she continued to absorb moonlight essence, Cheng Ling should be able to collect more. However, Cheng Ling gave up on that idea.


    She just stood beside the Alpha¡¯s corpse and continued to absorb the moonlight essence while the moonlight was still there.


    Cheng Ling thought, ¡°I should gather this energy and try to gain more control over it, instead of just using it to loot corpses.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t easy, but Cheng Ling didn¡¯t lack the spirit to research.


    She wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Martial arts was a painstaking process. How could a person who had been training in the winter and summer not be patient?


    On the other side, Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni were skinning the wolves, while Mu Sanniang took the wolf meat.


    After standing for about 15 minutes, Cheng Ling felt her meridians slightly expand, and the energy in her body seemed to be difficult to continue, so she gave up.


    She came to the side of her mother and her two older sisters, and squatted down, ¡°Mother, leave this to me. You bring those two to weave some grass baskets so we can store the meat. Let¡¯s not stay in this place for too long,¡± she added.


    Although she had killed the Wolf Pack and there was a murderous aura in this place, in the forest, this kind of murderous aura could not intimidate the surrounding wild beasts for long.


    Cheng Ling was afraid that the smell of blood would attract other significant things. She couldn¡¯t guarantee that she would be invincible in the forest.


    Fortunately, the new energy in her body gave her a little more confidence.


    Cheng Ling moved her limbs and realized that although she couldn¡¯t control the skeleton in her body at the moment, her spirit seemed to have become stronger and her limbs were more robust than before.


    ¡°Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni, you two go and make the basket. Xiao Ling, I¡¯ll clean the wolf skin; you pick the meat.¡±

 Chapter 11

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling and the others packed up until the moon was high in the sky.


    At this moment, the horizon had just begun to turn slightly white.


    It was the end of June. When the last quarter moon rose to the highest point, the sky would light up slightly, illuminating the whole world as if it was shrouded in a layer of dark green gauze.


    This layer of serene sky concealed all the cruelty and suffering in the world. Cheng Erni happily covered the basket full of wolf meat with a grass curtain. After covering it, she suddenly turned to look down the mountain.


    The lights in the direction of ping city at the foot of the mountain were dim. The scene of the deafening battle cries had disappeared without anyone noticing. Only the green shadow of the city could be seen under the hazy sky.


    It was like the fireworks of the human world and the outline of a home. The illusion was very beautiful.


    Cheng Erni was stunned. She didn¡¯t know how to describe her feelings at the moment, but she suddenly blurted out, ¡°It¡¯s all over. ¡±


    Yes, it had all ended.


    Gritting her teeth, Cheng Dani picked up the two baskets on the ground and threw them on her shoulders.


    It was already quite heavy, but she still had to bend down to pick up the bag on the ground.


    Cheng Ling walked over and picked up the heaviest bag on the ground. Then, she also carried two baskets on her shoulders.


    This weight did not seem to be much to her. Her strength had clearly improved compared to before. Soothing and peaceful energy was flowing through his limbs and bones. It was a wonderful feeling.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said in a deep voice, ¡°The soldiers might not be able to arrest all the intruders. If someone were to escape from the mountain, there might be soldiers chasing after them.¡±


    So don¡¯t think that the current calm is really calm. Danger often pretends to be calm.


    Mu immediately carried a basket on her back and walked to the front.


    There were three wolf skins in her basket, while the other two were in Cheng Erni¡¯s basket.


    Mu carried a bundle in one hand and a vegetable knife in the other. She said, ¡°Xiao Ling, let¡¯s cross this mountain. After daybreak, we¡¯ll rest at the other side where there¡¯s water.¡±


    Cheng Ling chose to bring up the rear and agreed.


    And just like that, the mountain road continued.


    When they reached the mountain¡¯s highest point, the four stopped for a while. Suddenly, they saw a red sunfish leaping out of the white horizon!


    ¡°It¡¯s morning already!¡± ChengErni shouted in surprise.


    The sun had come out, and its rays dyed the sea of clouds. The dark red and light red flames burned on the horizon, as if the heavenly Palace was on fire. It was indescribably beautiful.


    Cheng Erni suddenly tossed everything that was on her body to the ground and spread herself on a thin patch of grass on the top of the mountain. She was crying and laughing at the same time. ¡°The sun has come out. I can see the sun again.¡±


    Mu¡¯s face darkened, and she was about to urge her to get up, but just as she was about to scold her, she was suddenly choked by the words ¡°Today¡¯s sun.¡±


    The words of scolding turned into helplessness. ¡°Alright, what do you think you are doing? Erni, get up, hold on a little longer, and rest when we reach the mountain. ¡±


    Cheng Erni¡¯s butt was as heavy as lead. She wiped her face and was about to cry again when Cheng Ling suddenly put down everything on her body.


    ¡°Mother, let¡¯s not rest for too long. We¡¯ll only stop for 15 minutes, okay?¡± Cheng Ling said.


    As she spoke, she took out another piece of compressed biscuit from her bag.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡±


    She heard the sound of someone swallowing.


    Cheng Ling and Mu Sanniang both looked at Cheng Erni, but Cheng Erni looked at Cheng Dani.


    It turned out that the person who had swallowed her saliva was not Cheng Erni, but Cheng Dani!


    Cheng Dani hung her head in shame, her thin, yellow face blushing.


    After this, Mu didn¡¯t insist on leaving. She put down her things and took the water and hardtacks from Cheng Ling.


    It was still a whole piece of compressed biscuit, which was broken into four small portions by Cheng Ling, one for each person.


    Cheng Erni was eating the compressed biscuits and drinking water, but her eyes were fixed on the wolf meat in the basket. Her pupils were filled with the light of the meat.


    ¡°Xiao Ling,¡± Mu Sanniang asked as she ate, ¡°Do you have a lot of dry food like this in the bag you picked up?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still about ten pieces,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother. It¡¯s enough for now. We still have plenty of wolf meat.¡±


    ¡°The only thing is, we don¡¯t have much water. After we finish this, we have to find a new water source,¡± she added.


    As she spoke, her consciousness entered the small space and subconsciously counted the remaining compressed biscuits in the space.


    There were originally 15 pieces of compressed biscuits, but they had already eaten two so far. Cheng Ling had also taken out a few pieces earlier, unwrapped them, and put them in her bag.


    So, nine pieces of compressed biscuits should still be left in the space.


    That¡¯s right. There were nine pieces left, that¡¯s right, but¡­ Besides those nine intact compressed biscuits, another small piece of compressed biscuits stuck to it like a small tail. No, it was a small piece of compressed biscuit the size of a quarter. What was that?


    At first, Cheng Ling suspected that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but her brain quickly gave her an answer.


    This quarter of a piece of compressed biscuit was clearly the one she had eaten before!


    So, in this small space of the backpack, the things that had been used could be regenerated?


    Thinking of this, Cheng Ling¡¯s heart immediately jumped with joy.


    She thought again, ¡°There¡¯s only a quarter of an extra piece. Does this mean that only things I¡¯ve eaten can be regenerated?¡±


    But if that was the case, the extra biscuits in the boundless space should be half a piece, not a quarter¡­


    After all, Cheng Ling had eaten a quarter of a piece yesterday and another quarter just now.


    No, wait!


    After thinking for a while, Cheng Ling finally understood.


    First, the items in the space could probably be regenerated, but the premise was that the items had to be consumed by her before they could be regenerated. The items consumed by others could not be regenerated.


    Second, there was a time limit for the items in the space to regenerate. This time limit must be at midnight?


    She wasn¡¯t very sure yet, so she decided to confirm it tonight.


    She didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry, but she was still pleasantly surprised.


    Although this ¡®rebirth¡¯ seemed a little useless and a little stingy, if they used it well, their overall supplies would still increase.


    One can¡¯t be insatiable, and this is already good enough.


    Thinking of this, Cheng Ling took another sip of water and then covered the bamboo tube.


    Seeing her mother and two sisters still carefully nibbling on the biscuits, she felt she couldn¡¯t waste time. So she walked a few steps away, chose a relatively flat place, and stood up again.


    Tai Chi stance was the essential skill of her martial arts practice. Whether she could absorb the moonlight essence or not, she had to practice it diligently.


    After practicing for a while, Cheng Ling discovered a new world.

 Chapter 12

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Facing the morning sun, Cheng Ling bent her legs slightly.


    Her thoughts were light and agile, and her hands were divided into Tai Chi.


    In her daze, a warm and comfortable bone rose from her dantian!


    This energy resonated with the rising sun in the eastern sky.


    In her daze, Cheng Ling even felt like she saw a wisp of purple Qi being projected from the golden sun.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s body swayed slightly, but she quickly steadied herself.


    She was like a strong bamboo in the wind, standing straight and firm in the face of the wind, but no matter how the branches swayed, she would still stand where she was and never fall.


    As the saying goes, let him be strong, let the wind blow the mountains, let him be strong, and let the moon shine on the river.


    This was actually the rhythm of Tai Chi.


    Cheng Ling felt as if her five viscera and six organs were soaked in warm water. From the inside out, every blowhole seemed to have opened.


    The moonlight energy absorbed last night still flowed in her limbs and bones. The two circulated and intertwined, just like the human body itself. Yin gave birth to Yang, and there was one inside and one outside.


    This was also Taiji!


    Cheng Ling suddenly realized that absorbing the essence of the moon at night and gathering the purple Qi of the sun in the morning was the path of Qi refinement that the ancient people pursued.


    After coming to this world, her Taiji stance actually had the ability to absorb the essence of the sun and moon!


    She just didn¡¯t know if this sun essence could also provide energy for her collection like the moon essence.


    Of course, whether she could or could not, Cheng Ling would have to do her homework in the future.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know if the sun essence could be used to ¡°loot¡± corpses, but she was sure that the energy provided by the sun essence could increase her own essence and power.


    She couldn¡¯t relax with this kind of ability.


    Just like that, Cheng Ling stood there for a short while until her dantian felt a slight swelling, and the purple Sun Qi turned from gentle and warm to scorching hot. Only then did she slowly withdraw her force and stop.


    As the group was about to continue their journey, Cheng Erni stayed where she was for a moment, feeling a little nostalgic. In the end, she struggled to stand up.


    Mu Sanniang looked at Cheng Ling curiously, ¡°Xiao Ling, how does the Gu you¡¯ve refined feel like?¡±


    Cheng Ling saw that she seemed to be lost in thought and suddenly had an idea. ¡°Mother, after we¡¯ve walked through this section, I¡¯ll teach you how to stand when it¡¯s a little more stable.¡±


    The Tai Chi stance wasn¡¯t a secret. Cheng Ling was willing to share this stance with her closest family in ancient times.


    Most importantly, it was too difficult for a few weak women to protect themselves in this chaotic world.


    It was better to teach a person to fish than to teach a person to fish. Even if they couldn¡¯t produce any results from their training, it was good to be able to strengthen their bones and muscles.


    Although Mu Sanniang was already a mother of three children, she still had a vigorous spirit for seeking knowledge. She immediately replied with a delightful ¡°Sure!¡±


    ¡°Back then, your grandfather had actually wanted to teach me martial arts,¡± she said. ¡°Unfortunately, I was naughty when I was young and couldn¡¯t bear the pain of practicing martial arts. I just casually fooled around with it. Now that you¡¯re all grown up, I still need you to teach me, Xiao Ling. Do not laugh at me If I can¡¯t learn it.¡±


    Cheng Ling just smiled. ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t learn. At most, you can learn a little more if you¡¯re fated to. If you¡¯re not, you can learn a little more. Don¡¯t mind it too much.¡±


    ¡°She really knows how to talk.¡± Mu Sanniang looked at Cheng Ling, her eyes filled with relief and sadness.


    The child was too considerate. In the mother¡¯s heart, she always felt that this was because she had suffered too much in life and had been honed.


    Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni, who were walking in between the two, suddenly looked at each other. Cheng Erni stuck out her tongue, while Cheng Dani glared at her.


    As the few of them talked, the atmosphere became slightly more relaxed, and it seemed less tiring to travel.


    After walking for a while down the mountain, Cheng Ling chose to walk in the direction where the vegetation was lush and wet. Not long after, she suddenly heard the sound of running water.


    This time, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t need to say anything. Cheng Erni shouted in surprise, ¡°There¡¯s water up ahead. That¡¯s great!¡±


    She was about to rush over, but Cheng Ling stopped her. ¡°Sister, don¡¯t be anxious. Let me go first.¡±


    Since there were wild wolves in this mountain, there might be other giant ferocious beasts. After Cheng Ling stopped Cheng Erni, she squatted down and put her ear to the ground to listen.


    She wanted to use her binoculars, but the trees in front of her blocked her vision, so the binoculars wouldn¡¯t be very useful.


    After listening carefully, Cheng Ling¡¯s expression suddenly changed.


    When she stood up, Mu immediately asked, ¡°Xiao Ling, what did you hear?¡±


    The host had learned this skill from a hunter in the Plum Flower village. However, the host had learned it from a group of kids in the village and wasn¡¯t very good at it. Cheng Ling, on the other hand, was very good at it.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone ahead by the water!¡± Cheng Ling said.


    Mu, Cheng Dani, and Cheng Erni¡¯s faces changed.


    There was someone, but that did not mean that he was a good person.


    After this escape, the mother and daughter had long since passed their initial state of ¡°being happy to see people.¡± They both understood that in today¡¯s world, sometimes the most dangerous people were actually people of the same kind!


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow the sound of the water and go up,¡± Mu suggested.¡±We¡¯ll bypass these people.¡±


    She didn¡¯t even see a shadow and only heard Cheng Ling say that there were people, so she subconsciously wanted to avoid these people.


    Cheng Ling also agreed, and they were about to change their route.


    Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps in the forest ahead was heard, followed by a few chaotic shouts, ¡°You¡¯re a b*stard! You stole our blood food and still want to escape!¡±


    ¡°Damn it! Let¡¯s capture this brat and skin him alive ¡­¡±


    Before the chaotic voices could finish, a tall figure rushed out of the forest with a fragile child in his arms.


    Following closely behind was a lean man. This man was also carrying a child in his arms. At this moment, his eyes were red, and he was panting.


    Behind them, there were more than ten men with greasy faces. Some were holding knives, some were holding sticks, and they were cursing and shouting.


    Seeing that the people behind him were getting closer, the man suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted at the young man in front, ¡°Brother, I¡¯ll leave my child to you! You help me bring it out, and big brother will cover your back!¡±


    After saying that, he threw the child in his arms forward with all his might.


    The tall and thin young man who was running in front turned around with his eyes wide open, as if blood was about to drip out of them.


    ¡°Big Brother Hong!¡±


    He roared, simultaneously stretched out his other arm, and caught the child that was thrown at him.


    Then, he gritted his teeth, carried the two children, and ran out again.


    As he rushed forward, he bumped into Cheng Ling and the others.


    The young man was shocked and blurted out, ¡°Quickly run! The people inside, they¡¯re cannibals! They eat people!¡±

 Chapter 13

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The group of people inside, they eat people!


    At that moment, Cheng Erni, who was carrying the basket on her back, suddenly felt her legs go weak. Mu Sanniang quickly supported her.


    The young man in front of him was still running and shouting, ¡°Run! Quickly run!¡±


    The dazed Cheng Dani finally reacted, pulling Mu Sanniang and Cheng Erni to turn and run, not forgetting to shout, ¡°Brother Ling, run!¡±


    At the edge of the forest, the lean man was already engaged in a crazy fight with two chasers holding thick wooden sticks.


    However, this lean man could only stop two pursuers. He could not stop more people.


    How could they possibly stop him?


    One person wanted to stop more than ten people. The other party was not a fool. Wouldn¡¯t they split up?


    When these people saw Cheng Ling¡¯s family, their eyes lit up and they laughed, ¡°Fresh and tender little lady, good blood food, no envy of sheep!¡±


    ¡°Brat, our brothers are kind enough to pull you in. You didn¡¯t live a good life, and now you¡¯re running away with our blood and food. Best believe, if I catch you, I¡¯ll cut you into pieces!¡±


    Seeing that the large group of people had already caught up to them, the sound of wooden sticks and axes slashing could be heard. At the front, the young man holding the child had a look of despair in his eyes.


    He placed the two children on the ground and roared, ¡°Come on, you bastards, I¡¯ll fight you to the death!¡±


    The two children who were placed on the ground did not make a sound. They just leaned against each other and shivered.


    A few of the pursuers were already fighting with the young man. The sound of flesh and blood clashing could be heard right there and then.


    Mu and the others could already smell the demonic aura of this cruel scene.


    They couldn¡¯t run. It was too late. It wasn¡¯t that they were slow, but everything had happened too quickly.


    In the blink of an eye, the remaining man-eaters charged at Cheng Ling¡¯s family with green eyes.


    Cheng Ling stopped in her tracks. Cheng Danni, who wanted to pull her and run, couldn¡¯t do anything and could only panic, ¡°Brother Ling?¡±


    ¡°All of you, back off!¡±


    After saying this, Cheng Ling put down the bag in her hand, took out the crossbow from her waist, and raised it to shoot.


    Her speed was as fast as lightning, and the arrow was like a ray of light when it was shot out. It penetrated the chaotic human world and brought the reward and punishment of hell to the moment of chaos.


    Blood splattered, and a scream was heard.


    The person who charged the fastest was shot in the chest and immediately fell to the ground, his life or death unknown.


    However, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t stop. She continued to set the crossbow.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    This composite crossbow could fire continuously and was extremely fast. Cheng Ling¡¯s eyesight and accuracy were even better. She could shoot an arrow in the dark and kill the wolf immediately, let alone in broad daylight.


    A few more screams sounded in succession. Bang Bang Bang!


    The body fell to the ground, but Cheng Ling left the last arrow behind and aimed it at the remaining people who were still charging forward. Her eyes were murderous, and her expression was cold.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Finally, the cannibals that were running over stopped in their tracks in shock.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s movements were too fast. It wasn¡¯t as though the people rushing forward weren¡¯t scared, but they simply didn¡¯t have time to react.


    Now that Cheng Ling had finally stopped shooting, they stopped and one of them shouted, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    As he shouted, his legs were still shaking, and his voice was so high that it even sounded a little shaky.


    ¡°We¡¯re blood food, aren¡¯t we?¡± Cheng Ling asked.


    This question seemed to have finally made the people on the other side come back to their senses, so someone immediately replied loudly, ¡°No, no, we¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his words, one of the people fighting with the tall and thin young man, went completely ruthless and cut off the young man¡¯s arm with a hatchet, while the other grabbed his neck. His life was in danger.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s crossbow changed direction and shot an arrow in that direction.


    The composite crossbow, which could hold five arrows at a time, finally shot the last arrow in its quiver. The arrow was like a shooting star, instantly hitting the man who was holding the tall and thin young man¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Amidst the screams, another person fell to the ground.


    Immediately after, one of the people who had been shocked by Cheng Ling said in a trembling voice, ¡°He has no arrows! Charge and kill this brat!¡±


    At the front end of the compound crossbow, where there should have been more arrows, there were indeed no more arrows.


    Someone had actually observed this small detail.


    The next moment, an axe was thrown out, whistling through the air as it flew towards Cheng Ling.


    They were all desperadoes, and the death of their companions did not make them completely afraid. Now that there was an opportunity, their ferocity was all aroused.


    On the tall and thin young man¡¯s side, he kicked away the dead body on top of him, then got up and picked up the stones on the ground with his other intact arm. He used all his remaining strength to struggle and fight with the two people who were still around him.


    These people didn¡¯t have any special rules and weren¡¯t experts either. They were just fighting for victory with their lives.


    When the battle reached the point of ferocity, it was bewildering. There was nothing in front of them, only life and death.


    ¡°Argh! Go to hell!¡±


    Bang! Bang!


    On Cheng Ling¡¯s side, she dodged the flying axe.


    Following closely behind the flying hatchet were five people who pounced over.


    The five of them yelled out ferociously. Their eyes were red, but their pupils seemed to be green. One of them raised a stick and swung it at Cheng Ling¡¯s head.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s feet moved again, but her whole body was as flexible as a fish swimming with the current. She turned around, stood behind another person, and then casually waved her palm.


    A palm struck the man¡¯s back at the Dazhui acupuncture point. The man only felt a strong force coming at him, and his whole body uncontrollably fell forward.


    Bang! Bang!


    What a guy, the thick and heavy wooden stick didn¡¯t hit Cheng Ling, but it hit this person.


    With a scream, another person fell to the ground.


    Behind Cheng Ling, a sharpened hatchet was slashing at her.


    Cheng Dani had already retreated ten steps, but she couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Brother Ling, be careful!¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s five senses were extremely sharp, and her body¡¯s yin and yang Qi circulated. She dodged again, turned to the left, and hooked her right leg forward.


    The man who was waving the hatchet to attack from behind was hooked by her and pounced forward.


    Buzzzzzz!


    The sound of a hatchet cutting into flesh was heard. The person who was cut was none other than the person who had hit Cheng Ling with the stick.


    After a few consecutive moves, Cheng Ling¡¯s movements were light, and in just a few moments, the enemies were beaten into a mess.


    When there was only one person left, the unkempt middle-aged man¡¯s knees suddenly went soft.


    He knelt on the ground and cried, ¡°Please spare me! Spare my life! I¡¯m not an evil person. I didn¡¯t want to do this.¡±


    He was indeed an evil person, despite what he claimed otherwise. All he could do was cry in front of Cheng Ling.

 Chapter 14

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Under the sun, in the forest, while some people were crying, Cheng Ling stood there and took out five more arrows from her bag, reloading the compound crossbow.


    This action was undoubtedly the most powerful threat. The person who was crying so loudly suddenly felt his throat choke up and he couldn¡¯t help but stop crying.


    He didn¡¯t dare to run, so he just looked at Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling aimed the arrow at one of the people still hassling with the tall and thin young man.


    The people on the other side were fighting madly and didn¡¯t care about the changes on this side.


    The wound on the tall and thin young man¡¯s left arm was very deep, and blood stained half of his body. One of his opponents had died, leaving two more. The three of them fought with their lives on the line. Finally, at a certain moment, Cheng Ling¡¯s arrow was fired.


    Whoosh!


    The light from the arrows reflected the sunlight, almost enough to make people dizzy.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    There was another scream. Bang!


    The tall and thin young man¡¯s opponent fell again, and the last one finally woke up from the agitated state of battle and screamed.


    He was scared out of his wits, and after subconsciously letting out a cry, he broke into a run.


    Cheng Ling aimed the arrow at him again and fired.


    Whoosh!


    The arrow was like a gust of wind, hitting the man¡¯s right leg. The man screamed in pain and fell to the ground.


    In the end, a strange laugh that sounded both happy and sad came from the depths of the forest. It turned out to be the lean man who went by the name Big Brother Hong, who had turned around to stop the pursuers at the beginning. He was covered in injuries but had finally defeated both opponents.


    He seemed to be crying and laughing at the same time.


    Between laughter and tears, the man staggered out of the forest.


    His eyes swept over the scene before him. Suddenly, he fell to his knees with a thump.


    ¡°The heavens have eyes, the heavens have eyes!¡± The man burst into tears.


    After crying for a while, he suddenly looked in a certain direction. Another person was kneeling in that direction. It was the same man who had knelt down and begged for mercy from the group of people that had fought with Cheng Ling.


    The man rushed over, raised his fist, and began to punch the man madly.


    As she hit him, she shouted, ¡°You¡¯re all black-hearted, you¡¯re not human, you¡¯re not human!¡±


    ¡°You eat the dead, and you also kill and eat the living! Do you have any humanity left in you?¡±


    ¡°Wuwuwu ¡­ My child¡¯s mother, it¡¯s my fault, it¡¯s all my fault! You¡¯ve mistakenly believed me to be with the group of bastards, and they have harmed you¡­¡±


    As he cried to the point of heartache, his fists became more and more ruthless. The person who was hit only held his head and explained in a hoarse voice, ¡°Don¡¯t blame me, I was forced to¡­I was forced to do this. If I had not listened to them, they would have eaten me¡­.¡±


    Later on, the crying gradually weakened. The man did not listen to the man¡¯s sophistry and just punched him again and again. After a long time, there was finally a moment when the man was no longer breathing.


    Only then did the man suddenly let go of her, and then he was stunned.


    Mu, Cheng Dani, and Cheng Erni stood a little further away. The two daughters, one on the left and one on the right, held their mother¡¯s arms tightly. They trembled in fear at the scene.


    Mu Sanniang was also terrified, but she suppressed it. She consoled her two daughters in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. Xiao Ling is right here with us.¡±


    Although she said this, her eyes were still on Cheng Ling, full of worry and heartache.


    A wave of heavy footsteps sounded. It was the tall and thin young man. He walked over to the stunned man and bowed deeply to Cheng Ling. ¡°Shi Hong will never forget the hero¡¯s life-saving grace!¡±


    As he spoke, he looked at the man who was standing there in a daze and said, ¡°This is my big brother Hong, Hong Guangyi. He was just devastated and thus was a little rude. Please forgive him. ¡±


    In this situation, what was there to be concerned about?


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t mind this. Her eyes fell on Shi Hong¡¯s arm and she said, ¡°You¡¯re seriously injured. Do you need to apply medicine first?¡±


    Hence, Shi Hong lowered his head and looked at his injured arm. He raised his head again and stammered, ¡°I..¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, his feet swayed. After all, he was still in a weak state and was seriously injured. With this sway, his entire body fell forward.


    Hong Guangyi, who was beside him, finally reacted and quickly rushed over to help him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Hong Guangyi shouted, but he fell to the ground first.


    Fortunately, Shi Hong fell on top of him, and Hong Guangyi acted as a human cushion, so the fall wasn¡¯t too serious.


    The heavy and somewhat stagnant atmosphere finally loosened up because of this fall.


    Mu Sanniang brought Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni over and carefully helped Shi Hong up. As they helped him up, their eyes were alert. Although they still maintained basic human kindness, they didn¡¯t dare to let their guards down completely.


    Cheng Ling walked over to the people on the ground while collecting her crossbow.


    Of course, she was also observing Shi Hong and Hong Guangyi from the corner of her eyes. At the same time, she was also keeping an eye on Mu Sanniang and her two sisters.


    The wound on Shi Hong¡¯s left arm was extremely deep. Other minor injuries aside, just the wound on his arm was very worrying.


    Mu Sanniang tore a narrow strip of cloth from the corner of her skirt and skilfully tied it to both ends of Shi Hong¡¯s wound to stop the bleeding.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Hong Guangyi said gratefully.


    ¡°Do you have any medicine?¡± Mu asked. I¡¯m afraid that this injury can¡¯t be treated without medicine. ¡±


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s lips moved, but he just stood there dejectedly.


    How could there be medicine?


    At the end of the day, being alive at this moment was a godsend. As for what would happen in the next moment, who would know?


    Cheng Ling took back the arrows she¡¯d released on the other side.


    She was in a very heavy mood when she was collecting the arrows.


    This was the first time she had killed someone. Needless to say, it troubled her.


    It goes without saying that these people weren¡¯t malicious spirits that deserved to meet this fate. They were indeed evil, but Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t.


    She grew up in a peaceful era. Even though she had been practicing martial arts since she was young and had a strong will, she had taken someone¡¯s life.


    Guo Shu was a killing technique.


    This was also the reason why Cheng Ling had been strictly taught martial arts by her master when she was very young.


    The intent of taking away someone¡¯s life couldn¡¯t be easily aroused. The more weapons he had, the more cautious and reserved he had to be.


    If she hadn¡¯t transmigrated and faced such a situation, Cheng Ling probably would never have let go of her weapon like this.


    The process of retrieving the crossbow was also a process of adjusting her conscience.


    At the same time, when she touched the crossbow and the corpse on the ground, the energy in her body suddenly surged, and the familiar collection prompt sounded again:


    ¡°You¡¯ve harvested the man-eater among the refugees, Mr. Zhang. You¡¯ve obtained 31 copper coins and a map of Zhangjiakou.¡±

 Chapter 15

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    A map of Zhangjiakou!


    Cheng Ling was pleasantly surprised. It wasn¡¯t that the map of Zhangjiakou was terrific, but that the significance of the map was extraordinary.


    In this ancient era where information was limited, maps were undoubtedly one of the most important strategic resources.


    The fact that she could get a map from searching corpses gave Cheng Ling a new understanding of her dimensional pocket collection function.


    She resisted the urge to immediately take out the map from her interspace and read it carefully. She walked to the next corpse and collected the crossbow while controlling the energy surge.


    This time, she consciously urged the Yang to attribute part of the sun¡¯s energy to her body.


    Cheng Ling frowned slightly. The sun¡¯s energy actually didn¡¯t move. They only flowed freely between Cheng Ling¡¯s internal organs and meridians. They had their own route and weren¡¯t under her control.


    Cheng Ling finally understood. It seemed that the ability to collect corpses could only be activated through moonlight energy. Solar energy couldn¡¯t be used as a substitute!


    She then gave up the idea of continuing to forcibly control the energy and instead let it flow naturally.


    Moonlight energy instantly gushed out, and a familiar prompt sounded [You have harvested from a man-eater among the refugees. You have obtained 16 copper coins and a stack of rough burlap cloth.]


    She didn¡¯t get a map this time, but the sackcloth was useful, so Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t disappointed.


    However, when she retrieved the third arrow, she consciously controlled herself and stopped collecting.


    After all, moonlight energy was limited, and it was still early. She didn¡¯t know what they would encounter next, or whether moonlight would appear at night. Thus, Cheng Ling needed to use this moonlight energy wisely.


    She had collected most of the arrows. However, when she went to collect the last one, she realized that the person who had been shot was still alive.


    As it turns out, when she had shot the last arrow, Cheng Ling¡¯s hand had subconsciously tilted to the side, which is why it didn¡¯t hit the other party¡¯s vital point. Instead, it only pierced his right leg.


    This couldn¡¯t be considered a kind act, but it was Cheng Ling¡¯s first time killing someone, so it wasn¡¯t strange that she couldn¡¯t bear to do it.


    Cheng Ling walked to the man¡¯s side. The man¡¯s right leg had been nailed through, so he raised his elbow and lay on the ground.


    When Cheng Ling walked over, he suddenly raised his head, his eyes bulging. He laughed and said, ¡°You called us animals and said we¡¯re not human. How are you any better?¡±


    He hissed, ¡°You just haven¡¯t reached that step, boy!¡± Your Grandpa will be waiting for you down there. When you¡¯re so hungry one day, you¡¯ll eat all the women around you¡­¡±


    Buzzzzzz!


    Cheng Ling pulled out the arrow from his leg and suddenly pierced the arrow through his throat!


    Before the man could finish his sentence, he suddenly took his last breath.


    Cheng Ling breathed lightly, but the energy in her body quickly circulated. After a while, she calmed down and pulled out the arrow again.


    Fresh blood spurted out. Cheng Ling dodged to the side, but her shoes inevitably got stained because she was too close.


    Her eyes darkened slightly as she wiped the arrow on the grass next to her, and then put it back into the case.


    In the end, Cheng Ling touched the freshly-made corpse and activated moonlight energy for the third harvest of the day.


    She chose to collect this person because Cheng Ling found that the material of his clothes was slightly more prominent than the others. Although the clothes were tattered and dirty on the surface, one could clearly tell that they were made of silk if one observed them carefully!


    In addition to the words he had just said, it didn¡¯t sound like anything special, but these kinds of heart-piercing words were not something that ordinary people at the bottom of the society could say.


    At the very least, if they had only buried their heads in farming in the past, they would not have been able to say such words when they saw the muddy yellow soil in front of them.


    Cheng Ling decided to try again.


    Moonlight energy surged, and a notification alerted her, ¡°You have collected the man-eaters among the refugees from a merchant in Lou County. You have obtained 10 taels of silver and a merchant map.¡±


    Eh, this is interesting.


    Cheng Ling stood up and looked at Mr. Liang¡¯s body on the ground again, deep in thought.


    On the other side, Hong Guangyi was sitting on the ground, holding the unconscious Shi Hong.


    Mu was also at a loss. She had some basic medical skills but no medicine in hand. Everything was in vain.


    At this moment, Cheng Ling walked over. She had just put away the crossbow. It all seemed like a long story, but her actions were swift and didn¡¯t waste much time.


    Cheng Erni saw her and called out happily, ¡°Brother Ling!¡±


    A kind of dependence and trust was already reflected in his tone.


    Cheng Ling nodded and squatted next to Shi Hong to check his wound.


    First of all, he found that Mu Sanniang¡¯s technique of tying the bandage was very good. In addition, although the wound on Shi Hong¡¯s arm was deep, fortunately, it didn¡¯t hurt his major arteries. So by this time, the blood flow from his wound had actually gradually stopped.


    The reason why he was unconscious now was probably because of his injuries, and also because he was very likely hungry.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the water first,¡± Cheng Ling said immediately. ¡°We¡¯ll get some water and some food.¡±


    Hong Guangyi seemed to have woken up from a dream. He quickly said, ¡°Yes! We should get some food!¡±


    With that, he hurriedly helped Shi Hong to stand up. Then, he mustered all his strength and lifted him up vertically from his knees.


    After carrying the man, Hong Guangyi strode away. As he walked, he didn¡¯t forget to call the two children. ¡°Little lang, lady Yun, come quickly.¡±


    The two children looked like they were seven or eight years old. Since the adults put them down, they had been snuggling up to each other and did not say a word. When Hong Guangyi called out to them, they didn¡¯t respond and just followed him obediently.


    The group entered the forest. Not long after, they saw that the trees in front of them gradually thinned. A wide stream meandered down from the mountain in the West. The stream gurgled and passed through the forest. It was actually about ten feet wide.


    What a beautiful mountain stream, so clear and pleasant!


    The most eye-catching thing was the large iron pot placed next to the mountain stream.


    The iron pot was three feet wide, and the firewood under it was burning vigorously. The water in the pot was boiling, and the steam was rising, which was very unsightly.


    ¡°What a big wok!¡± Cheng Erni exclaimed in joy.


    She was pleasantly surprised. Nowadays, ironware was hard to come by. Such a big iron pot was hard to come by, even before the disaster, let alone during the escape.


    ¡°They used this pot to cook people,¡± Hong Guangyi continued.


    ¡°Blargh!¡±


    Cheng Erni¡¯s joy suddenly stopped, and she bent over to retch.


    Mu also turned her head away, revealing an expression of not being able to bear to watch.


    ¡°Mother, let¡¯s go upstream for a while,¡± Cheng Dani bit her lip and said.


    Cheng Ling walked over to the pot and picked up a stone on the ground beside the stream. She used a stone as a cushion to flip over the pot, and the boiling water in the pot was poured over the burning firewood below.


    With a few sizzling sounds, the firewood was immediately extinguished, and a burst of choking smoke rose.


    The iron pot was turned upside down on the wet firewood. Cheng Ling lifted the stone and smashed the bottom of the pot.


    Her strength was extremely condensed, and her technique was superb. Coupled with the continuous flow of yin and yang energy in her body, after a few violent hits, the bottom of the iron pot was smashed through by her!


    Hong Guangyi stood at the side, dumbfounded.

 Chapter 16

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling smashed through the iron pot, then walked along the stream for about 50 meters.


    The location was not bad. There was a relatively flat gravel ground by the stream, and the shrubs beside it were relatively low. It had a certain degree of concealment, but it would not hinder the view too much, not to mention, it was also convenient to move around.


    Cheng Ling stopped at this position, and the others quickly followed.


    Mu Sanniang glanced around and ordered Cheng Erni to pick up a few stones to build a stove. She also asked Cheng Dani to pick up some dead branches nearby to make firewood.


    She unloaded a few baskets filled with wolf meat and prepared to wash them by the stream.


    In short, they just had to make the best use of their time to work. As for resting and gasping for breath, this kind of good thing didn¡¯t suit their current state.


    Hong Guangyi also carried Shi Hong and followed them. He chose a relatively dry and refreshing place, took off his tattered outer garment, and placed Shi Hong on it.


    Then, he helplessly watched Muu and the others while they worked.


    The two children behind him were very obedient. They didn¡¯t even need Hong Guangyi¡¯s instructions and went to pick up the firewood on their own accord.


    ¡°Mother, bring some water to the shore to wash your hands. Don¡¯t directly put your hands in the stream,¡± Cheng Ling said.


    Mu immediately stopped what she was doing and asked, ¡°Xiao Ling, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Mother, this is a mountain stream on the mountain, not the kind of river that people usually move around in our village,¡± Cheng Ling said. We¡¯re not familiar with the situation in the water, so it¡¯s better to be careful. ¡±


    The logic behind these words was very common, but not everyone had such carefulness and cautiousness. Mu Sanniang was reminded and a smile appeared on her face. Obviously, she enjoyed Cheng Ling¡¯s attentiveness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± She replied quickly. ¡°Mother knows.¡±


    So she turned around and took out a clay pot from her bag. Then she returned to the stream, used the clay pot to scoop water, and began washing the wolf meat.


    As the few of them busied themselves, Cheng Ling assessed the situation. After confirming that there was no imminent danger in the surroundings for the time being, she came to Shi Hong¡¯s side.


    Shi Hong¡¯s wound still needed to be treated further. Cheng Ling squatted down and took out a small bottle of saline from her space under the cover of her satchel.


    She held the small, soft-shelled saline bottle tightly in her hand. Cheng Ling pushed the cap open with one finger and said to Hong Guangyi, ¡°Go start a fire and boil a can of water. I¡¯ll take care of this.¡±


    Hong Guangyi didn¡¯t know what to do. Hearing Cheng Ling¡¯s order, he heaved a sigh of relief and said gratefully, ¡°Yes, thank you, benefactor!¡±


    My benefactor¡­


    Cheng Ling¡¯s face revealed a strange expression that was hard to describe in words. Today, she was really happy to be called all kinds of names, such as warrior, hero, swordsman¡­ Hey, even her benefactor came out.


    She let out a breath and smiled. ¡°My name is Cheng Ling. Big Brother Hong, you can just call me by my name.¡±


    Hong Guangyi was overwhelmed by the ¡®Big Brother Hong¡¯ and even panicked. He quickly waved his hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m flattered, I¡¯m flattered, I ¡­¡±


    He scratched his head, then cupped his hands and bowed to Cheng Ling.


    With that said, she quickly ran to the place where Cheng Erni had built the stove.


    Cheng Ling sent him away and turned to look at him again. Only then did she have the time to examine Shi Hong¡¯s wound carefully.


    The wound was very dirty, so it needed to be washed with saline first and then disinfected.


    As for suturing, Cheng Ling knew how to perform basic sutures, but it wasn¡¯t convenient for her to do it right now.


    Most importantly, Cheng Ling¡¯s resources were limited. She could lend a helping hand to someone she had just met, but she couldn¡¯t do it without holding back.


    There were too many unpredictable dangers on the road to escape, and if others used the resources in the space, they could not be regenerated.


    Cheng Ling still had to think about Mu Sanniang and her two sisters. She had inherited the original owner¡¯s body and feelings, so she had to bear the original owner¡¯s responsibility. She had to distinguish between her family and her two sisters.


    In the end, Cheng Ling used half a bottle of saline to clean Shi Hong¡¯s body.


    She had a total of five bottles of this type of saline in her first aid kit. She would not dare to squander it without proper restocking.


    Then, Cheng Ling used iodophor to disinfect Shi Hong¡¯s wound. After that, she lightly applied a layer of Yunnan Baiyao powder on it and then bandaged his wound with a bandage.


    Cheng Ling had done her best to do this. As for whether Shi Hong would be able to survive in such simple and crude conditions, it would depend on his own ability to resist and the will of heaven.


    In this era where human lives were as worthless as grass, he only hoped that everyone could be a little more tenacious.


    Cheng Ling stood up and saw that Mu Sanniang was halfway done cleaning the wolf meat. Hong Guangyi had already helped Cheng Erni build a simple stone stove and piled up dead branches and firewood under the stove.


    These things weren¡¯t difficult to do, so Cheng Ling didn¡¯t care much. Thus, she picked a foot-high rock and sat on it. Then, she turned to the crowd and took out the two maps she had obtained earlier under the cover of her bag.


    One was a map of Zhangjiakou, and the other was a map of my Merchant House!


    Cheng Ling was a little excited. She had high expectations for these two maps.


    In the original owner¡¯s memory, she only knew that the country she was in was called Da Qi and the place she grew up was called Meihua village. Meihua village was under Lou County, which was under the control of Yunchuan Prefecture.


    As for what the surrounding counties were, how big the country was, and if there were any other countries or governments around it, the original owner had no idea.


    A commoner, other than being able to see his own land, how wide could his vision be?


    The innate information conditions determined this, so the original owner couldn¡¯t be blamed.


    She had never gone out, and no one had ever told her what the world was like.


    In fact, the number of people who knew about this problem in the surrounding villages could be counted on one hand, let alone the host who did not know anything.


    Third Aunt Mu didn¡¯t know either. She had received some education, but her vision was limited.


    Therefore, from the flood of the Golden River to the entire village¡¯s escape, to the road¡¯s wandering, and finally to the border of Ping County with the escape team¡­ Mu Sanniang and the others had come, but they were in fact confused about how they had come.


    Even after they escaped from Ping County, they were at a loss as to where they would go after crossing this mountain.


    During the time they stayed outside Ping County¡¯s city gate, they had heard that there was another County on the other side of the mountain called Lu County.


    But what was Lu County like?


    Would Lu County be willing to accept refugees?


    What¡¯s the situation in Lu County?


    However, no one knew about this.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t want to be blind. She wanted to expand her knowledge now.

 Chapter 17

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling was looking forward to the answer and chose to look at the map of Zhangjiakou first.


    The map that had been collected was about ten inches in length and width, square, neither big nor small. It was presented on a smooth piece of paper that was slightly yellow, and the scale ruler in the upper left corner was clearly marked.


    This was the drawing method of modern maps, which was undoubtedly more clear and accurate than ancient maps.


    Cheng Ling felt that her collection ability was impressive. What was the principle behind it? Since she couldn¡¯t figure it out, she could only treat it as a gift from the heavens. She would slowly study it when she had the opportunity in the future.


    She looked at the map carefully.


    The main part of this map was of course Zhangjiakou. The terrain of Zhangjiakou, where there were mountains, where there was water, where there were roads, where there were fields, where there were houses, all were clearly marked.


    There were even some houses with the owners¡¯ names written in nuanced simplified characters, such as the Li Zheng family, the family of the clan leader, and so on¡­


    It was an accurate satellite cloud image!


    However, this wasn¡¯t Cheng Ling¡¯s main focus. She was mainly looking at the surroundings of Zhangjiakou.


    To the North of Zhangjiakou, over the mountains, was Ping County!


    The county that Zhang Jiagou belonged to happened to be Lu County.


    It turned out that the refugee, Zhang, was from Lu County.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart trembled.


    Zhang, a citizen of Lu County, came to the mountains of Ping County and became a refugee. He even became a cannibal¡­ What did this mean?


    It meant that Lu County must have also suffered a disaster, and it was very likely to be a disaster more serious than that in Lou County!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart started to beat faster as she carefully looked at the map again.


    The main part of the map was Zhangjiakou, so only Zhangjiakou was drawn in detail. The rest of the map only had the main routes and rough terrain, which was naturally much simpler than Zhangjiakou.


    However, this also revealed a lot of information.


    For example, the mountain where Cheng Ling and the others were now.


    This mountain was called Mount peace. Mount Peace was a mountain that extended from east to west. The mountain range rose and fell, starting from the west of Wei County in the east and ending in the west¡­ But where the west ended was not indicated on the map.


    However, Cheng Ling knew that Mount Peace divided Ping County and Lu County into north and south.


    Ping County was in the north of the mountain, and Lu County was in the south!


    Crossing the mountains was undoubtedly the shortest route if there was transportation between the two counties. However, if one did not want to cross the mountains, they could take a detour from Wei County to Ping County.


    That was all the information on the map. However, through Cheng Ling¡¯s memory, she knew that after she escaped from Lou County, she had passed by Zhu County and Wei County.


    With that, Cheng Ling figured out the route from Lou County to Zhu County, Wei County, Ping County, and Lu County.


    She let out a light breath and put the map back into the medium under the cover of her bag.


    Next up was the merchant Liang¡¯s merchant map.


    This merchant map was obviously not as detailed as the map of Zhangjiakou, but it showed a wider geographical scope.


    From Lou County, to Ping County, to Yun An County, and then to the North, it was Red Cloud City.


    And Chixia city was the capital of Yunchuan County!


    Chixia city was located in the North of Yunchuan County, guarding the key traffic point. Further north was the Shenchuan County.


    After the divine river, it would be the capital Area.


    Unfortunately, the map only had the words ¡°capital¡± roughly written on it. As for the specific route and terrain, it didn¡¯t show anything.


    But that was enough.


    At this point, Cheng Ling went from being completely clueless about this world to a basic understanding of its administrative geography.


    She let out a sigh of relief and put away the map.


    At this time, she looked at Mu Sanniang and the others. Mu Sanniang had already washed the wolf meat. Cheng Dani had brought the two children to pick up a lot of dry wood and half a basket of wild vegetables.


    Hong Guangyi had finished boiling a pot of water while Cheng Erni checked their rattan basket backpack.


    ¡°It¡¯s been worn out,¡± she said with heartache as she checked. ¡°I have to pick up some materials and make another one.¡±


    This was what it meant to escape. Everything was lacking along the way, and they had to collect everything constantly. Many things that were obtained from local materials were very fragile, and they had to be remade after a few uses.


    Cheng Dani bit her lip. ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to make it. There are willow trees by the river. I¡¯ll go and pull some willow branches over. The woven basket will be more solid.¡±


    Third aunt mu looked at the pile of wolf meat that had been washed clean and felt a little worried.


    The weather was hot, so the wolf meat wouldn¡¯t be preserved for long even if it was salted, not to mention that they didn¡¯t have enough salt.


    How should he preserve the wolf meat?


    ¡°Mother, I found a map on the bodies of those refugees,¡± Cheng Ling said softly as she walked over.


    Third aunt mu raised her head, her eyes lighting up.


    ¡°Mother, we¡¯ll go down to the middle of the mountain later,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°We¡¯ll walk a hundred miles east along the foot of the mountain, then cross the mountain to the North. There¡¯s a road there that leads to Yun An County.¡±


    In other words, they had to go along Mount Pingming, take a detour to the East, bypass Ping County, and go directly to Yun An County.


    He couldn¡¯t go to Lu County, and he couldn¡¯t stay in Ping County. Yun An County wasn¡¯t far from Chixia city, but he could try.


    For a County that was closer to the prefecture capital, it was generally better than a remote area in terms of policies and facilities.


    Cheng Ling explained the geographical location of Yun An County to Mu Sanniang.


    Mu¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard this, and she immediately said, ¡°Then let¡¯s cook all the wolf meat and let it be smoked and dried under the sun. It should be able to last for a longer time, at least enough to support us through this hundred li!¡±


    ¡°We only have two jars,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to cook so much wolf meat before dark. I¡¯ll build a few more stoves and find some thin stone slabs to cook the wolf meat on. It¡¯ll be edible.¡±


    This was a good idea. Third aunt mu nodded her head.


    Cheng Ling got to work and ordered Hong Guangyi, ¡°Second brother Hong, please cool the boiling water in the clay pot and take out the clear parts for brother Shi to clean.¡±


    There were also many small wounds on Shi Hong¡¯s body, but they weren¡¯t as serious as the knife wound on his arm, so Cheng Ling didn¡¯t treat them before.


    She couldn¡¯t handle it. If she really wanted to clean all the wounds on Shi Hong¡¯s body, she would have to use up all the saline and iodophor she had in Cheng Ling¡¯s space.


    In addition, Hong Guangyi had many small wounds on his body.


    However, they were used to the rough way of escape, and sometimes they didn¡¯t even care about small injuries.


    Hong Guangyi quickly agreed. He was not good at finding work, but if someone asked him to do something, he would do it quickly.


    On the other side, Cheng Ling was busy, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Cheng Dani washing the wild vegetables.


    Among the wild vegetables, there was one that looked familiar. Cheng Ling¡¯s heart moved, and she quickly pointed to the small handful of green vegetables and said, ¡°Big sister, let me see this.¡±


    Cheng Dani raised a few wild vegetables in her hand and handed them to Cheng Ling. Cheng Ling took them and was a little surprised. ¡°This is little li!¡±


    ¡°Tang Ben Cao¡± records that Xiao Li specializes in blood.


    This was a medicine that could cool blood and stop bleeding!

 Chapter 18

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Under the sunlight, Cheng Ling looked at the Xiao Li in her hand, a surprised smile on her face.


    Cheng Dani was confused, ¡°Brother Ling, isn¡¯t this a prickly vegetable? Why are you calling it Xiao Li?¡±


    That¡¯s right. Xiao Li was also called prickly cabbage. It was common for the villagers who didn¡¯t know its true face to eat it as a wild vegetable.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t expect to find Xiao Li on this mountain. Or rather, she had transmigrated too quickly. Ever since she arrived in this world, she had been either running for her life or fighting. As such, she didn¡¯t even remember that the mountain beside her should be a natural medicinal herb warehouse.


    Since there was Xiao Li on the mountain, there must also be other medicinal herbs. If he looked for them carefully, they would be important resources for survival.


    ¡°Big sister, the thorny vegetable is Xiao Li. Xiao Li has been mashed and it¡¯s a good medicine for stopping bleeding. It could cure bleeding, vomiting, and blood diarrhea. Quickly search the surroundings, if there¡¯s Xiao Li, pick all of them. ¡±


    Thanks to Lady Mu¡¯s many personal letters from Grandpa Mu, the body¡¯s original owner had also been taught by Grandpa Mu when she was young. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t strange that Cheng Ling knew how to recognize herbs in the mountains.


    In fact, Mu Sanniang knew a little about medicine, but she was mainly good at delivering babies. She had some local prescriptions and could only see simple coughs due to the cold wind, but she was not good at recognizing medicine.


    This didn¡¯t mean that third aunt mu was lazy and didn¡¯t want to improve herself. The main reason was that there were too many trivial things in daily life.


    As a widow, she had to raise three children and couldn¡¯t slack off in the fields. She had to travel all over the country to give birth to children to earn some activity money. On top of that, she had to do all kinds of household chores. How could she have the time to learn and improve?


    Even if he had learned some things when he was young, he had been delayed by various things in life when he grew up. In addition, he had not used them for a long time, so he had abandoned them.


    Now that Cheng Ling had opened her mouth to acknowledge Xiao Li, Mu Sanniang immediately looked at her with a gratified look, saying, ¡°My family has a child who has just grown up.¡±


    While she was busy with her life, the child had inadvertently grown up under her eyes. This was really delightful and inevitably emotional.


    ¡°Xiao Ling,¡± Mu Sanniang said, ¡°There¡¯s one more medicine that¡¯s actually very effective in stopping bleeding. It¡¯s something we can get our hands on now!¡±


    ¡°What is it, mother?¡± Cheng Erni immediately asked.


    This time, without waiting for Mu¡¯s reply, Cheng Dani suddenly said, ¡°Mother, it¡¯s burning ash, right?¡±


    Burn ashes?


    Plant ash?


    Cheng Ling raised her eyebrows slightly, then she heard Mu Sanniang say with joy, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s cut some hair out and burn some ashes. It¡¯s good to store them. They might be useful on the road.¡±


    She then turned to Cheng Ling. ¡°Xiao Ling, don¡¯t be under the impression that it¡¯s just a simple hair burn. I¡¯ve been giving birth for so many years. Whenever I meet a woman who keeps bleeding, as long as it¡¯s not the kind of woman who can¡¯t sit still in her life, I can stop the bleeding by eating the ashes!¡±


    Cheng Ling immediately understood. Mu Sanniang¡¯s ashes were actually blood charcoal!


    ¡®The compendium of herbs¡¯ had recorded that the hair was blood, so the Fang family called it blood.


    After Chinese medicine was processed and turned into charcoal, it would have an even better effect on stopping bleeding.


    Cheng Ling was an Orthodox Chinese martial arts inheritor. She had been practicing martial arts since she was young and studied Chinese medicine. At the same time, she had a deep understanding of various Chinese Studies.


    This was because traditional Chinese martial arts placed great importance on maintaining one¡¯s Qi and mental state. To learn Chinese martial arts, one not only had to first cultivate martial virtue, but also had to have a certain understanding of medicine, Confucianism, Daoism, and other cultures.


    The Taiji Qi refinement was even more so.


    If you don¡¯t study these, you won¡¯t even understand how to practice martial arts!


    For example, what was Yin and Yang, what was the unity of the inside and outside, what was the growth of the five elements, what was the principle and extraordinary meridians, and so on.


    Those who couldn¡¯t understand and read it thoroughly could at most train their bodies and practice some moves and techniques. It was impossible for them to reach the height of true impartation.


    He was just a martial artist. This was not martial arts!


    And Cheng Ling, who had a deep heritage in Chinese martial arts, was definitely an excellent student in this aspect.


    Her medical skills could not be said to be the best, as she lacked practice. However, in terms of theory, including the recitation of various classics, she was undoubtedly very outstanding.


    Mu Sanniang only said that blood charcoal could cure a woman¡¯s womb, but Cheng Ling knew that blood charcoal could also cure dystocia, bloody strangulation, bloody diarrhea, and other symptoms. In addition, it could also be made into an ointment for external application.


    In fact, the burning of ashes that Mu Sanniang mentioned was only the basic method of processing blood charcoal. The truly excellent method should be the pan-frying method.


    It was just that it was very difficult to achieve the right conditions, so Cheng Ling didn¡¯t mention it.


    She only said, ¡°Mother, then let¡¯s cut some hair and burn it to ashes. A part of it will be for brother Shi to consume, and the other part will be kept as backup medicine.¡±


    After hearing Cheng Ling¡¯s words, Hong Guangyi, who had been working hard, suddenly raised his head and said, ¡°Langjun Cheng, cut my hair! I¡¯m not afraid of my hair being cut. ¡±


    His tone was very generous, as if he had made a great sacrifice.


    Cheng Ling was left speechless.


    At that moment, a question mark slowly appeared in Cheng Ling¡¯s mind.


    But after a moment, she thought it through.


    The ancient people paid particular attention to the body, hair, and skin, and usually did not cut their hair easily.


    Shaving hair was not an easy task.


    This required determination and generosity, which could be considered an extremely important form of giving up.


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t really empathize with him, but she didn¡¯t reject Hong Guangyi¡¯s ¡°generosity¡±, nor did she say anything like ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of cutting my hair. I¡¯ll just cut mine¡±.


    Since Hong Guangyi wanted to help his brother, he would let him do it.


    After Hong Guangyi¡¯s work, six simple stone stoves had been stacked up on the flat ground by the stream.


    While everyone was talking, Cheng Dani and Cheng Erni didn¡¯t forget to continue gathering Xiao Li. Cheng Ling had already picked out Xiao Li from the pile of wild vegetables.


    Cheng Ling used a slightly damaged basket to bring these little thistles to the stream and used a clay pot to scoop up water to wash them.


    In short, everyone¡¯s work didn¡¯t stop. Then, Cheng Ling said, ¡°Brother Hong, you don¡¯t have to shave all your hair. Just cut off five or six inches, and you can still burn some charcoal.¡±


    Hong Guangyi could do this himself.


    Hong Guangyi opened his greasy and dirty hair bun. After letting his hair down, he saw that it was all tied up and couldn¡¯t be pulled out smoothly. That appearance¡­ Tsk!


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t bear to look at him and tilted her head. Fortunately, the charcoal from the burnt hair was not for her to eat.


    She subconsciously felt a little scared, and a sense of disgust rose from her heart.


    Then, as she turned her head, Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes fell on the water, and her reflection was clearly reflected on the water.


    Cheng Ling was speechless.


    Oh my God, who is that impersonator in the water?


    This messy hair bun, this dirty face, this image that could stink up to three miles away¡­


    Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t at peace at all.

 Chapter 19

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling was stunned, as if she had been struck by lightning.


    A Thunderbolt from a clear sky was the best description of her current state. The moment she saw herself clearly, it was not an exaggeration to say that she was at the scene of a social death.


    This is terrible!


    It was fine when she didn¡¯t notice this. After all, the pressure of survival was at the forefront, and it was common to be in chaos on the way to escape. Perhaps this body had already gotten used to this dirty state.


    Thus, before this, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t consider paying attention to her image.


    It wasn¡¯t until this moment that Cheng Ling began to feel that something was wrong.


    The first thing she felt was the numbness and itchiness on her scalp.


    I don¡¯t dare to look. I can¡¯t bear to look. Oh my God, are the little white spots crawling on my hair lice?


    No, Cheng Ling started to feel itchy again.


    It was itchy and prickling, and not a single part of her body felt comfortable.


    Cheng Ling stood there stiffly. Seeing that she was suddenly in a daze, Mu Sanniang couldn¡¯t help but ask with concern, ¡°Xiao Ling, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Cheng Ling was speechless.


    She was so uncomfortable that she wanted to rush into the stream and soak in it for ten rounds. It would be best if she could peel off a few layers of skin, but was that possible?


    No, this can¡¯t be.


    Cheng Ling controlled her impulse with great willpower. She took a light breath and forced herself to speak calmly, ¡°Mother, we have to move quickly. It¡¯s best to deal with these things before noon. It¡¯s not good to stay in the mountains for long.¡±


    Having said this, she put the shower aside for now.


    Moreover, with Hong Guangyi and the others around, it was not convenient for them to take a bath.


    Cheng Ling only used the time she took to wash Xiao Li¡¯s hands to wash them properly. She also washed her face and tidied up her hair.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that baldhead didn¡¯t fit in with this era, Cheng Ling would¡¯ve shaved her head clean on the spot.


    She couldn¡¯t bear to look into the water again. Even if she had washed her face and had lice all over her head, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t want to look at her current appearance.


    His heart felt stifled after taking a look. ¡°Forget it¡±, she thought to herself. ¡°It¡¯s better not to see it.¡±


    After Cheng Ling finished washing Xiao Li, she found a stone with a slight depression and washed it clean. Then, she smashed it in the depression to extract the juice.


    There were several ways to make little li, but since the conditions were not good enough, he should use the simplest method and the fastest way to make use of it.


    Fortunately, the fresh Xiao Li¡¯s hemostasis effect was not bad. The juice of Xiao Li could be consumed directly, and the crushed leaves could also be used for external application.


    Cheng Ling had great strength and speed. The hollow was filled with Xiao Li¡¯s fresh juice in a short while. She was about to stop and take another bamboo tube to collect the fresh juice when the solar energy in her body suddenly moved.


    Eh?


    Cheng Ling was stunned. She felt it.


    The Qi of sun, which was completely unmoved when she was looting the corpse, actually flowed into her palm spontaneously along her meridians at this time. Then, through the stone in her hand, it flowed into the medicinal liquid in the hollow of the stone!


    Qi was something that seemed to have shape and form but was invisible. At this time, only by observing with the naked eye, of course, one could not see if there were any special changes in the medicinal juice in the stone concave.


    But at this moment, Cheng Ling felt something.


    She felt that the Qi of the sun seemed to have strengthened the medicinal properties of the medicine.


    Was this for real?


    Or was it just her imagination?


    If it was true¡­ Cheng Ling¡¯s heart started to beat faster.


    She could feel that there was a small amount of Yang Qi in the medicine just now, about one-eighth of the total Yang Qi in her body.


    After this small portion, the Qi of the sun stopped pouring in. It seemed that the medicinal properties of the medicine in the hollow had been raised to a saturated state and could no longer be increased.


    Cheng Ling quickly took out the medicine and put it into a bamboo tube. Then, she called Hong Guangyi over. He told him to feed the medicine to Shi Hong and apply the powder to his wound.


    Hong Guangyi himself had many minor injuries. Cheng Ling said, ¡°If you have any excess medicinal herbs, please apply some on your own, brother Hong.¡±


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s hair was disheveled. His waist-length hair had become shoulder-length hair. His shoulder-length hair was even greasy and knotted. His image was not embarrassing, but rather funny.


    Cheng Ling sighed silently. She didn¡¯t have anything to look down on. Her own image wasn¡¯t any better now. They were both in the same boat, so why should the big brother criticize the second brother?


    Hong Guangyi happily took the food and gave it to Shi Hong.


    As for the hair he had cut off, Cheng Dani was using it to wash and make charcoal.


    It turned out that Cheng Dani had helped Mu Sanniang cook blood charcoal at home. She was quick, nimble, and even more skilled than Mu Sanniang.


    Mu Sanniang was busy cooking the wolf meat in the clay pot, while Cheng Erni was stoking the fire.


    The other two children swallowed their saliva and kept glancing at the wolf meat in the pottery jar. At the same time, they obediently helped Cheng Erni start the fire.


    There were six simple stone stoves in the open space, and some of them had thin stone slabs on top of them. After heating these stone slabs, Cheng Ling would use them to roast the wolf meat.


    He didn¡¯t have enough clay pots, so he could only make up for it with stone slabs.


    Cheng Ling hurriedly went over to help. She used her family¡¯s broken vegetable knife to slice the wolf meat thin. Then, using the cover of her bag, she took out a small bottle of salt from her space and carefully smeared it on the wolf meat. Then, she spread the pieces on the stone slab and slowly roasted them.


    As for the other condiments, there was none.


    Cheng Ling was even very conservative with her salt.


    In fact, Cheng Ling still had a small bottle of chili, a small bottle of soy sauce, and a small bottle of cumin in her bag.


    However, these things with a strong smell weren¡¯t convenient to use, so Cheng Ling didn¡¯t take them out at all.


    But even without the seasoning, just the aroma of the roast meat itself was enough to tempt people.


    Especially for these people who were already famished to the extreme, let alone cooked meat, even a little bit of food was enough to make their eyes green with envy.


    Cheng Erni was like this. From when the fire started to when the wolf meat gradually became cooked, the smell of blood was gradually replaced by the aroma of meat. It was as if she could not see anything else in her eyes.


    In her mind, there seemed to be only one thought left: Eat meat!


    She seemed to be the only one left by the stream, asking, ¡°Mother, can the meat be eaten?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ling, are you ready to eat?¡±


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯ll add more firewood to make the fire burn brighter.¡±


    ¡°Aiyo, go away. The pot is going to crack!¡± Mu shouted.


    On Cheng Ling¡¯s side, in addition to using the stone slab to roast the meat, she also cut a few tree branches and skewered a lot of wolf meat. Then, she directly roasted it over the fire.


    Now that the weather was hot, the wolf meat couldn¡¯t be stored well, so he made as much as he could.


    Of course, she had also secretly smuggled some wolf meat into her interspace.


    Then, Cheng Ling realized that her two small spaces were really distinct.


    A space that can store items in the inventory. However, the space that stored the collected materials could only store collected materials. As for external items, it would not accept them.

 Chapter 20

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The space gave Cheng Ling a great sense of security.


    Both spaces were small, with a capacity of only one cubic meter. The items had occupied even the space in his backpack, and the remaining space was even smaller.


    However, as long as they existed, they were Cheng Ling¡¯s last resort and trump card.


    Although transmigration was difficult, it was comforting to chat in two small spaces.


    As Cheng Ling burned the wolf meat, she calmed her mind and tried to transfer the yin and yang Qi in her body silently.


    Although the two strands of Qi could flow freely in her body, they were not under her control. They were more like a passive skill if she had to describe them.


    How could this be?


    Wasting a treasure was something Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t accept.


    In her past life, she had practiced Chinese martial arts. Although she had only practiced internal martial arts, in fact, she had not really felt the existence of ¡°Qi¡± in her twenty years of practice.


    At that time, ¡°Qi¡± was more like a spirit, a realm.


    It existed in one¡¯s heart, but if one were to release their inner Qi to achieve some special magical effect, such as flying three feet high or piercing through thick steel plates with one finger, Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t do it in her previous life.


    However, she specialized in Wing Chun and was particularly skilled in the use of a one-inch punch.


    By gathering all the strength in a single point, not only could it break a steel plate, but it could easily kill a person on the spot if it was pressed on an important acupoint of the human body.


    If not, why else would they say that Chinese martial arts were killing techniques?


    It had the potential to be dangerous. He would be sent into a small black room if he was not careful. People who did not practice martial arts should not even be let out.


    Cheng Ling had practiced martial arts for more than twenty years in her previous life and had already reached a state where she could shift her force between the clear and the hidden. She could even use her force with great precision and was approaching the transcendent state.


    A person who had reached such a realm would definitely be extremely familiar with every inch of his muscles and bones.


    At the same time, his body¡¯s physical fitness would be far beyond that of ordinary people.


    After transmigrating, Cheng Ling had absorbed the essence of the sun and moon by standing still, and for the first time, she felt the existence of Qi in her body.


    On the other hand, this body¡¯s constitution and strength were far inferior to her original.


    Even with the support of the yin and yang Qi, Cheng Ling felt that her body was gradually becoming stronger. However, there was still a certain distance compared to her previous life.


    Cheng Ling was a person who pursued herself. If there was a gap, she would catch up. Not only did she want to catch up, but she also wanted to improve. So, as long as she had the opportunity, she would constantly strengthen her familiarity with herself.


    At the same time, she kept trying to communicate and use the Qi in her body.


    As the wolf meat was cooked piece by piece, Cheng Ling visualized the Qi in her body bit by bit. She slowly felt as though her blood and bone marrow were heating up.


    The flow of yin and yang Qi was warm and comfortable, and the feeling was indescribable.


    The wolf meat on Mu Sanniang¡¯s side was ready.


    Cheng Erni cheered and pounced over. ¡°Mother, can we eat now?¡±


    She had waited for too long, and her mouth was constantly salivating. If she didn¡¯t get her food any sooner, she would chew her tongue into pieces and swallow it.


    Mu Sanniang glared at Cheng Erni before ordering her to get a bowl.


    They had five broken bowls in total. Now, the four of them each had a bowl of wolf meat and soup. The extra bowl was just enough for Hong Guangyi.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Brother Hong,¡± Mu Sanniang said apologetically. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough bowls here. You can use one bowl and take the two children to eat first. Although the bowl isn¡¯t enough, there¡¯s enough wolf meat. After you¡¯re done eating, come to my place to add more. ¡±


    ¡°One is enough, one is enough,¡± Hong Guangyi quickly said. Thank you, dear sister, for the meat. This¡­This food is precious. ¡±


    He was left speechless and full of gratitude, not knowing where to start.


    Seeing that he was a reasonable person and didn¡¯t think that a bowl was a neglect, Mu¡¯s heart immediately calmed down.


    They might be together now, but they were not kin. Mu felt that she was already very kind. She could help others, but she couldn¡¯t have any boundaries.


    Hong Guangyi staggeringly fed the juice that Xiao Li had made to Shi Hong and helped him apply the medicine.


    Shi Hong had an instinct to swallow. When Hong Guangyi brought the medicine to his mouth, he swallowed it even though he was unconscious.


    Mu personally brought a bowl of wolf meat to Hong Guangyi. Hong Guangyi swallowed his saliva and called for the two children to eat together.


    The three of them gobbled up the food, and that was needless to say.


    Who here wasn¡¯t gobbling up the food?


    Even Cheng Ling didn¡¯t have the calm temperament that she usually had when facing an enemy. Her body¡¯s hunger instinct made her gobble up the food like a tornado.


    Cheng Ling ate very quickly, and her appetite seemed to have grown a little too much.


    It wasn¡¯t obvious when she was eating compressed biscuits before, but now that there was enough wolf meat, Cheng Ling¡¯s appetite was reflected.


    She found that she could clearly feel a large amount of meat entering her body, and her muscles and bones acting like sponges absorbing water¡­ The feeling of energy was irresistible.


    Even the yin and yang Qi in her body seemed to have strengthened a little because of the large amount of meat she had consumed.


    A thought suddenly appeared in Cheng Ling¡¯s mind: The essence of food!


    She understood now that this body¡¯s ability to collect energy was comprehensive.


    She could absorb the essence of the moon and the essence of the sun. At the same time, the human body naturally had the ability to obtain energy essence through food. She also had it here. Wasn¡¯t it normal?


    However, hers should be an enhanced version.


    On the other side, Cheng Ling was silently experiencing the feeling of being full of energy. On the other side, Mu Sanniang gave Hong Guangyi another meat round.


    Hong Guangyi thanked them profusely. He ate with the two children until tears almost came out.


    Mu Sanniang also ate a bowl of meat. Then, she stopped eating. She drank the soup and talked to Hong Guangyi.


    She asked, ¡°Where is Brother Hong from? How did you get here?¡±


    Hong Guangyi quickly replied, ¡°I¡¯m from Lu County. Sigh, I¡¯m ashamed to say this. I¡­ I used to have a butcher¡¯s shop on the east side of the county. I was able to get by quite well.¡±


    It turned out that he was a butcher, and a butcher in the county!


    The butchers in the county had actually fled to the mountains and were almost torn apart and eaten by the ferocious man-eaters. There must be an extremely unexpected story behind this!


    As Cheng Ling ate the wolf meat, she paid more attention to the conversation between Mu Sanniang and Hong Guangyi.


    ¡°To be able to own a shop in the county, actually makes Brother Hong a capable person!¡± Mu Sanniang praised.


    The way they addressed each other was also very messy. Cheng Ling called Hong Guangyi ¡®Big Brother Hong¡¯, Mu Sanniang called Hong Guangyi ¡®Brother Hong¡¯, and Hong Guangyi called Mu Sanniang ¡®Big Sister-in-law¡¯.


    Hong Guangyi sighed. ¡°Sigh. Decades of savings. All gone in one day.¡±


    As he spoke, he lowered his voice slightly, as if he was unconsciously nervous. ¡°It¡¯s a good time to let you know that half a month ago, a group of soldiers with unknown names suddenly came to the county and occupied our city!¡±

 Chapter 21

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Half a month ago, an unknown army had occupied Lu County!


    This was really unexpected, and Cheng Ling¡¯s heart suddenly trembled.


    It seemed that her previous speculations about Lu County being hit by the disaster were wrong.


    Lu County might have also suffered a disaster, but it was likely that it was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Third Aunt Mu asked in shock. Could it be that someone is rebelling?¡±


    When the word ¡°rebel¡± came out of her mouth, her face suddenly turned pale. The natural disaster was already bitter enough. If someone rebelled, how would the lives of the people at the bottom of the society continue?


    ¡°This, this can¡¯t be, right?¡± Third Aunt Mu quickly added. This is big news. We were in ping county, but we didn¡¯t hear anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Sister-in-law, the first thing they did when they entered the city was to lock the city gates and then¡­ massacre the entire city!¡± Hong Guangyi said in a low voice.


    What?


    Sanniang Mu was stunned. Cheng Dani and Cheng Ernii, who were sitting a little further away, also stopped eating.


    Cheng Ling sat by the fire and wiped the thin beads of sweat from her forehead. She put the bowl in her hand aside.


    ¡°How, how did you massacre the city?¡± Third Aunt Mu asked dryly.


    How did they massacre the city?


    Hong Guangyi paused as if he was reminiscing.


    In fact, it was not quite right to say that they were going to massacre the entire city. Hong Guangyi snorted, as if he was mocking himself.


    He said in a low voice, ¡°There¡¯s no order. The city gate was closed.¡± A general rode a horse and ran from one end of the street to the other. He shouted, telling everyone to be obedient and not to massacre the city. Then, everyone agreed. The general said, ¡°Disband. The soldiers will be free to do whatever they want.¡±


    It sounded nice not to massacre the city, but what was the result?


    Hong Guangyi paused, and then said with a trembling voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know why there are so many soldiers filling the streets and alleys, filling the entire city. They¡¯re chasing people from house to house. If anyone doesn¡¯t listen and doesn¡¯t come out, those evil ghosts will rush in and kill them.¡±


    After killing a few, no one would dare to not come out.


    Then, Hong Guangyi¡¯s eyes turned red.


    He pushed his messy hair behind him and gritted his teeth, ¡°It¡¯s called handing over grain, money, and silk. In short, hand over whatever you have. Not a single bit of property is allowed to be left behind. They¡¯re going to extort us to death! If we don¡¯t plunder enough, we¡¯ll slaughter them all.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t live anymore. Who can survive after being scraped so hard?¡±


    As he spoke, Hong Guangyi¡¯s voice sounded like he was about to cry. ¡°The few of us did escape, but that was only after we sneaked out at night and used all our means and efforts.¡±


    He started crying.


    It wasn¡¯t Hong Guangyi. Shi Hong had woken up!


    He didn¡¯t know when he had woken up, but he didn¡¯t make a sound. He just listened to Hong Guangyi¡¯s words silently. After a while, he started crying.


    Hong Guangyi turned around and looked at him. He was both sad and happy. ¡°Brother Shi, you¡¯re awake!¡±


    Shi Hong sat up shakily and said faintly, ¡°I¡¯m lucky. I didn¡¯t die.¡±


    Following that, he sat there and cupped his hands at Mu Sanniang, saying, ¡°Greetings, Aunt.¡±


    He then cupped his hands at Cheng Ling and said, ¡°Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life!¡±


    After saying this, Shi Hong continued, ¡°We did escape from the city, but most of the people are still locked up in the city waiting for death. These rebel soldiers do not have any provisions and supplies, so they will sweep through wherever they are attacked.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking it and eating it!¡± Shi Hong wiped his tears and sneered. ¡°Half a month ago, he was in Lu County. I don¡¯t know where he is now.¡±


    These words, this knowledge, it actually seemed somewhat extraordinary.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart also felt heavy, and she immediately said, ¡°Brother Shi, do you have any ideas on where they¡¯re going?¡±


    ¡°Did brother Shi study before?¡± he asked.


    This time, without waiting for Shi Hong¡¯s reply, Hong Guangyi straightened his back and said with pride, ¡°My brother Shi is a scholar in grade!¡±


    Shi Hong was indeed a scholar.


    This was actually a combination of a butcher and a scholar. This was a little interesting.


    It was not easy to study these days. Shi Hong looked young, but he was able to pass the elementary scholar examination. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was one in ten thousand.


    Third Aunt Mu stood up immediately and said politely, ¡°So it¡¯s actually Lord Xiucai in front of you. This woman has been impolite.¡±


    With that being said, he walked to the side.


    Shi Hong was anxious. with an ¡°Aiya,¡± he quickly said, ¡°Aunty, don¡¯t make this one angry!¡±


    He wanted to get up and pull Mu Sanniang, but his legs were weak. Besides, it was impolite to keep tugging.


    Shi Hong was so anxious that his face turned pale. Third Aunt Mu immediately returned to her seat. Hong Guangyi, who was next to her, quickly supported Shi Hong and handed him the bowl he was still holding.


    He swallowed his saliva. When a starving person was faced with food, it didn¡¯t matter if you were a scholar or a beggar. Wouldn¡¯t they all be dominated by the word ¡°eat¡±?


    15 minutes later, Shi Hong had eaten and drunk his fill. Cheng Ling also finally gained a further understanding of this world through him.


    Previously, Cheng Ling only knew that the country she was in was called Qi country. As for how big Qi country was and what the situation was around it, she had no idea.


    The low-level people had limited information channels. They could only see the small piece of land in front of them and repeat a dull and boring life.


    However, Shi Hong knew that ever since the Great Qin Empire was divided in the previous dynasty, the world has been divided and has been at war for years. Now, the Wei Kingdom in the north has finally been unified, but the Qi Kingdom, Shu Kingdom, and Chen Kingdom in the south can¡¯t have a sovereign.


    Cheng Ling raised her eyebrows slightly.


    It turned out that this world was divided into north and south by shenchuan. In the north, Wei unified the five Hu, while Qi, Shu, and Chen in the south were at odds with each other for 80 years.


    Although the current Emperor of Qi State had been on the throne for eleven years, he was still an emperor!


    The King of Qi State ascended the throne at the age of two. When he ascended the throne, he was still a little boy who only knew how to eat, drink and sh*t. After eleven years, he was only thirteen years old.


    As for the assistant ministers, they had already changed three times!


    As for who was truly in charge of the court?


    ¡°There are three skies above us,¡± Shi Hong said very carefully. His Majesty is at the first layer of heaven, the Empress dowager is at the second layer of heaven, and nine thousand years old Eunuch Mi is at the third layer of heaven.¡±


    However, Shi Hong had no way of knowing who was more powerful among the three heavens and who had suppressed who.


    Although he had studied and learned many things from his teachers and classmates, he was still just a scholar from a country bumpkin¡¯s family. Even many court officials could not understand the matters of the imperial court, let alone Shi Hong.


    That¡¯s right, Shi Hong was from a well-known family in Lu County. He was actually different from Hong Guangyi, Cheng Ling, and the others.


    Of course, people like him couldn¡¯t be said to be rich.


    Perhaps among the local county level forces, his family could be considered as a despotic family. But in fact, when placed in the whole world, the level of the Shi Family was just a small landlord family in the humble class.


    As for people like Cheng Ling, they weren¡¯t even qualified to enter the humble class!


    Speaking of humble families and aristocratic families, Cheng Ling felt that there was a very interesting phenomenon in Qi State.

 Chapter 22

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°In such a small county like Qi, there¡¯s no unification and political chaos, but there¡¯s actually an imperial examination!¡±


    If the aristocratic families were in control of the world, how could they allow the imperial examination to take place in this country?


    But this question wasn¡¯t good to ask directly, so Cheng Ling beat around the bush and sighed, ¡°No matter what, brother Shi has a good reputation. After this, you will have a good future.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Shi Hong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I won¡¯t hide it from Brother Cheng. After becoming a scholar, I¡¯ve also thought about seeking advice from an official. Unfortunately, even if I donate a large amount of money, I can¡¯t find an official.¡±


    It turned out that the imperial examination system of Qi State was not perfect. At present, only the two levels of Tong Sheng and Xiu Cai could be tested. Tong Sheng was not really a scholar, but a scholar was.


    As for what was above elementary scholar?


    No, I don¡¯t know.


    Shi Hong also had no way to rise up the ranks. After obtaining the title of a scholar, the neighbors were more polite to him, but it was extremely difficult for him to advance further.


    Therefore, words and knowledge were basically in the hands of the upper-class aristocrats.


    Otherwise, why would master Jin¡¯s attitude change so suddenly when Cheng Ling casually quoted a poem in front of him?


    In this world, people were really divided into different classes. This was not a future of freedom and equality, this was a cruel feudal society!


    From this point of view, it was really not easy for the original owner¡¯s father, Cheng Ming, to be able to study and obtain the qualification to be a child.


    Either he was born outstanding and exceptionally smart, or there was something else in the Cheng Family that Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know about.


    However, the original owner didn¡¯t have much memory of this, so Cheng Ling decided to ask Mu Sanniang again when she had the chance.


    Shi Hong then talked about the imperial examination and said with a sad tone, ¡°20 years ago, when the previous emperor first ascended the throne, he advocated to follow the example of northern Wei and take the imperial examination to become an official, opening up the path of the poor families in the world. to select talents for the county and strengthen the county.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the previous emperor passed away at a young age. In the early days, there were a few outstanding people who were chosen to enter the officialdom as scholars. Now, the road to becoming an official¡­ ha, after all, it has nothing to do with us poor families!¡±


    He stopped talking about the imperial examination and changed the topic to the rebel army that had taken over Lu County.


    Previously, Hong Guangyi had said that he didn¡¯t know who that person was, but Shi Hong actually knew a little.


    ¡°His majesty has two royal uncles¡±, he said in a low voice. ¡°One is in Nan¡¯an and is given the title of King Linhai. The other is in Shaoling and is given the title of King Xiangxi. The two kings have long been dissatisfied with the young Lord¡¯s arrival in the country. Now that the golden river is in high tide, King Linhai¡­¡±


    At this point, Shi Hong paused, seemingly not knowing how to continue.


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s eyes turned red. He urged, ¡°Brother Shi, so you actually know the origin of those beasts! Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier? They! are they King Linhai¡¯s army?¡±


    What was the relationship between Shi Hong and Hong Guangyi?


    Shi Hong had actually mentioned it in their previous conversation.


    Before the two of them met with disaster, one of them was a rich man from a local gentleman¡¯s family, while the other was a brutal butcher who wielded a butcher¡¯s knife in the market. They actually did not have any interactions before.


    After escaping from Lu County that night, Hong Guangyi had unintentionally saved Shi Hong, and Shi Hong had helped him take care of his family. The two of them had gradually become familiar with each other.


    It was said that true love was easy to see in times of crisis. In this particularly difficult environment, a scholar and a butcher had actually become good brothers who shared life and death friendships.


    However, friendship was friendship. The two of them who had not known each other for long actually had their own stories.


    It was mainly Shi Hong. Previously, there were some things that he was indeed unwilling to say.


    At this moment, Shi Hong said bitterly, ¡°Whether it¡¯s King Linhai¡¯s army or not, I¡¯m just guessing.¡± If that is the case, what can we do even if we know about this?¡±


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s eyes were red, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. ¡°I want to join the army! Go to the imperial court and sue him, King Linhai! I want to kill and take revenge!¡±


    Although he appeared to be slow in front of Cheng Ling, he was actually a hot-blooded person.


    If he wasn¡¯t so courageous and had a bottom line, why would he risk his life to get the child out when the man-eating refugees wanted to eat him?


    Shi Hong was also such a person.


    Shi Hong was even more advanced than Hong Guangyi, because Hong Guangyi had snatched his own child, Hong Xiaolang, while the girl Shi Hong had snatched had no blood relationship with him.


    According to Shi Hong, this woman called Lady Yun was a child of his close family.


    That night was too chaotic. Most of the people who rushed out of the city gate were chased to death, and the few who risked their lives to escape were either injured or scattered.


    Lady Yun was separated from her family, and after some unknown experience, she was captured by the man-eaters among the refugees.


    When Shi Hong had met her, she had almost been washed, skinned, and thrown into a pot of boiling water.


    It was too dangerous. This child was only seven years old.


    She was once a little doll that was carved out of jade and was treated like a child by her family. Now, she was thin and numb, like a timid deer.


    She knew how to split firewood and work. Without the chattering, she was so obedient and silent that she didn¡¯t seem like a child.


    But in the current situation, Daren was also exhausted.


    Although Shi Hong had saved Lady Yun¡¯s life and intended to raise the child by his side, he did not know where his future lay. He also did not know if there would be a tomorrow if he lived past today.


    Therefore, he was not in the mood to pay attention to Lady Yun¡¯s mental state. At most, he reached out to pat her little head and told her to eat slowly.


    Wolf meat was not easy to digest, and it was not a good thing for children who had been hungry for a long time to suddenly eat too much.


    Cheng Ling dug around in her bag and finally took out two unwrapped milk candies.


    She had a box of this milk candy in her bag. There were 30 boards, with ten pieces on each board.


    The white and round milk candy was lying in Cheng Ling¡¯s clean palm, emitting a sweet milky fragrance.


    Lady Yun glanced at Cheng Ling fearfully before hiding behind Shi Hong again.


    Cheng Ling reached out her hand and handed it to her. With a smile on her face, she said gently, ¡°There are two candies. You take one and give one to your brother Xiaolang, okay?¡±


    Hong Xiaolang was eight years old this year. He was originally a mischievous person, but now he had become very obedient.


    He was the youngest son in the family and had not yet come up with a real name, so he was just called ¡°Langlang¡± by everyone.


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s eldest son had died the night he left the city. His wife and daughter had also been killed not long ago. He was the only family he had left.


    At first, Lady Yun didn¡¯t dare to take the candy, but when she heard that Cheng Ling wanted to give one to Hong Xiaolang, she finally mustered the courage to reach out and timidly and slowly grabbed the two candies in her hands.


    She grabbed the candy and quickly retracted her hand. Then, she quickly handed one to Hong Xiaolang.


    Hong Xiaolang stuffed the candy into his mouth without hesitation. Lady Yun looked left and right, then suddenly split the candy into two. She stuffed one into Shi Hong¡¯s mouth and timidly handed the other to Hong Guangyi.

 Chapter 23

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Half a piece of milk candy was lying in the child¡¯s slightly dirty palm.


    The white of the milk candy formed a sharp contrast with the child¡¯s slightly grayish-yellow palm.


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s fierce eyes softened instantly. The seven-foot tall man lowered his head slightly. For a moment, he could no longer say that he would risk his life to seek revenge on King Linhai.


    ¡°Good Child, you can eat it yourself,¡± he said.


    These few simple words were actually a little choppy, as if he was trying to hold back his sobs.


    Cheng Ling then took out six milk candies from her bag and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to decline. Everyone has one, so can you eat it yourself?¡±


    She might not be able to change the world, but she could give each of the people around her a piece of candy.


    At the very least, this was something she could afford.


    Cheng Ling also ate a candy, and the familiar milky taste slowly spread in her mouth. In fact, it was only slightly sweet, and if she didn¡¯t eat it carefully, she wouldn¡¯t be able to tell. After all, the candy she bought was a zero-sugar version of the milk candy.


    It was laughable that she had pursued a low sugar life in the past. Now that she was in another world, she was actually moved by this little bit of sweetness.


    That¡¯s why they say that life is unpredictable. You should cherish the good days.


    Cheng Ling sucked on the candy and smiled.


    ¡°Brother Shi, in your opinion, if the one who occupied Lu County is really King Linhai, which way will they go next?¡±, she asked.


    Shi Hong was stunned for a moment. Cheng Ling¡¯s question had stumped him.


    He could think of King Linhai as the one occupying Lu County because his fief was close to here.


    Nearby, who else but King Linhai could have such a powerful army?


    However, it was beyond Shi Hong¡¯s knowledge to speculate the marching route of King Linhai.


    He was stunned for a moment and thought about it carefully. This question was very important and he had to think about it carefully.


    They were a group of people who had lost their sense of direction and were trying to find a way out in this chaotic world. They couldn¡¯t really join the army in the imperial court as Hong Guangyi had said, right?


    The problem was that even if they wanted to invest, they didn¡¯t know where to invest and whether the other party would accept them.


    And if they really did join the army, would they be able to fight for a way out?


    The best option was to find a safe route to a safer place.


    At this moment, only two words came to Shi Hong¡¯s mind: the capital!


    He swallowed his saliva and said nervously, ¡°If King Linhai is really rebelling, he is probably going straight to the capital. We¡¯ll¡­¡±


    Shi Hong stopped again. The world was so big, but they had nowhere to go!


    ¡°Brother Shi, do you want to know the exact situation in Lu County?¡± Cheng Ling asked in a low voice.


    Shi Hong was shocked. He looked at Cheng Ling, but couldn¡¯t answer.


    Mu Sanniang immediately looked at Cheng Ling nervously, afraid that Cheng Ling would say something like she wanted to explore Lu County.


    Cheng Ling finally made up her mind and said, ¡°Let¡¯s pack up. We will get up immediately and head east for another 20 miles. We will try to find a suitable place to set up camp before dark. When night falls, I will go to Lu County to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ling, you can¡¯t!¡± Third Aunt Mu exclaimed.


    ¡°Mother, the specific situation in Lu County is very important, we must know,¡± Cheng Ling slowly said. If King Linhai really wants to rebel, do you think that his majesty, who is sitting on the throne, can stop him?¡±


    This¡­ how would Third Aunt Mu know?


    However, she had a simple way of thinking, so she said, ¡°As an Uncle, if he wants to snatch away my nephew¡¯s family business, how can my nephew resist?¡±


    As soon as she finished speaking, Third Aunt Mu shut her mouth tightly again, as if she was shocked by her words.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a matter of whether His Majesty can resist,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°There are three countries south of shenchuan. With the state of Qi in such chaos, won¡¯t the neighboring Shu and Chen States react?¡±


    Cheng Ernii, who was listening, suddenly let out an ¡°ah¡± and said in a panic, ¡°Brother Ling, do you mean that the Shu nation and the Chen nation will come and attack us?¡±


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t answer, but turned to Shi Hong and asked, ¡°Brother Shi, do you think this is very possible?¡±


    Shi Hong opened his mouth and said dryly, ¡°It¡¯s probably, probably possible.¡±


    A dazed and depressed atmosphere suddenly circulated among the people. Although everyone was a low-level citizen, they also vaguely understood that the people of a fallen country probably would not have a good end.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t the end of the country, if these big shots really fought with all their might, the refugees would really have no place to stay.


    Cheng Ernii bit her lower lip tightly, trying to stop her tears from falling.


    ¡°Brother Ling, brother Ling, if you must go to Lu County to investigate at night, then go ahead.¡± Third Aunt Mu¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my mother.¡±


    Cheng Ling turned to Hong Guangyi and Shi Hong. ¡°Second Brother Hong, Brother Shi, do the two of you want to go with me?¡±


    This was an official invitation to the two of them to escape together. Before this, although they had been walking together, they were not really companions.


    However, Cheng Ling considered the fact that the road ahead was boundless. Although her personal martial strength was outstanding, The combination of a young man and three women was still too weak on this uncertain escape road.


    It was easy to attract evil thoughts and cause trouble.


    There was strength in numbers, and there were times when she couldn¡¯t take care of things. At this time, the existence of two strong young men seemed very important.


    In addition, Shi and Hong could be considered to be people with feelings and loyalty. In this world, it was not difficult to meet a kind person for a moment, but it was rare to meet someone who could still hold on to his bottom line at the moment of life and death.


    If he didn¡¯t befriend such a person, what kind of person would he befriend?


    Shi and Hong were overwhelmed by the favor.


    Cheng Ling had taken a fancy to their character, but in their eyes, Cheng Ling was a heroic figure.


    Although the two of them didn¡¯t say it explicitly, when they first met, Cheng Ling¡¯s meteor-like killing moves had already made them admire her.


    Hong Guangyi was excited. ¡°Langjun Cheng, please give me your orders. I¡¯m familiar with all the routes to Lu County. I¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, it¡¯s true¡­¡± Shi Hong also said almost in unison.


    ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood, brothers,¡± Cheng Ling said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll go alone to Lu County.¡± However, after I leave, please take care of my mother and my two sisters. Brother Shi¡¯s injuries haven¡¯t healed yet and you need to recuperate more. You can¡¯t be too busy.¡±


    There was nothing to refute about this arrangement.


    It was decided. Hong Guangyi didn¡¯t want to argue about ¡°working for Cheng Langjun.¡± He patted his chest and promised,


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Langjun Cheng. I, Hong Er, will protect my sister-in-law and the two ladies no matter what danger we encounter!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Brother Hong!¡± Cheng Ling cupped her fists and said solemnly.


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s spirit was lifted, and his eyes became extremely determined.

 Chapter 24

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    In the middle of the afternoon, Cheng Ling and the others headed east along Mountain Pingming and walked another twenty miles.


    When they left, they headed east while going down the mountain.


    It would be too dangerous to sleep in the mountains at night.


    It was better to go a little to the foot of the mountain and find a place not far from the foot of the mountain where she could escape at any time and had enough cover. If there was danger at the foot of the mountain, she could also quickly escape into the deep mountains.


    This kind of location wasn¡¯t easy to find. Cheng Ling had brought binoculars with her and only found a relatively suitable place before dark.


    After finding a camp, she handed the composite crossbow in her hand, along with the fifteen bolts, to Sanniang Mu.


    Mu Sanniang was determined to refuse, but Cheng Ling whispered, ¡°Mother, have you forgotten about my Gu?¡±


    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t make me worry,¡± Cheng ling said.


    Finally, Mu Sanniang held the compound crossbow tightly in her hand and tied the quiver to her waist.


    Cheng Ling taught Mu Sanniang how to fire an arrow. This kind of composite crossbow wasn¡¯t complicated to fire, and one could pull the trigger with one¡¯s hand. It wasn¡¯t like the bow, which had high requirements for the user.


    However, although it was not difficult to fire a crossbow arrow, aiming was not an easy task.


    Even with the help of the aiming device, it would take a long time for Mu Sanniang to achieve high accuracy.


    This was good enough. Cheng Ling didn¡¯t expect Mu Sanniang to become a master instantly. She only needed Mu Sanniang to be able to use this weapon to deter the enemy at the critical moment.


    At first, Mu Sanniang was worried about Cheng Ling, but after practicing a few times with the crossbow, her attitude changed.


    She touched the cold body of the crossbow, her eyes full of determination and joy. She waved at Cheng Ling and said, ¡°Quickly leave!¡±


    ¡®F*ck, isn¡¯t this forgetting the old love with a new love?¡¯


    Cheng Ling chuckled and, as expected, didn¡¯t delay any further. She turned around and quickly walked away.


    She didn¡¯t see that just as her figure disappeared into the trees, Mu Sanniang suddenly put down the crossbow in her hand and turned to look in the direction she had disappeared.


    Cheng Ling went down the mountain in the sunset.


    She had to go west from the road at the foot of the mountain and turn back to Lu County.


    On the one hand, she wanted to take the road at the foot of the mountain, which would make the journey short. On the other hand, Cheng Ling wanted to take the opportunity to see what the world below was like.


    Her speed was breakneck. After walking for about 15 minutes, she could clearly see a winding path at the foot of the mountain. On the other side of the path was a large piece of farmland!


    The sun was setting in the west, and the sunset glow was slightly hazy. The mountains were green, and the farms were endless.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes lit up. Upon taking a closer look, she found that the rice stalks in the farmland were all over the place.


    It turned out that these farmlands had been harvested by violence!


    Cheng Ling immediately stopped in her tracks and took out her binoculars. Before completely descending the mountain, she looked around with the binoculars from above.


    Soon, Cheng Ling discovered that a village had appeared in the field of vision of her binoculars not far to the west.


    But¡­ there was no smoke, no trace of people, no crowing of chickens, and no barking of dogs.


    It looked like a peaceful and uninhabited village.


    For a moment, Cheng Ling felt a chill run up her spine and up her body.


    She put away the telescope, gritted her teeth, and changed direction. She ran towards the village with determined steps.


    No matter what, Cheng Ling still wanted to take a closer look.


    Half an hour later, Cheng Ling covered her nose and mouth and ran out of the village at an even faster speed.


    What did she see in the village?


    Cheng Ling almost didn¡¯t dare to recall.


    What she saw was a mess of corpses, an indescribable feeling of misery.


    What made Cheng Ling feel like a disaster was that no one had cleaned up the corpses in the village. After being catalyzed by the high temperature in the summer, they had long been rotten beyond recognition.


    There were mosquitoes and flies flying around and rats shuttling through. This was a breeding ground for a plague!


    The army that had occupied Lu County had most likely left.


    Cheng Ling could even imagine their route: after the locust-like army had ransacked Lu County, they left the city gate and headed west to east.


    Along the way, they plundered food and resources and killed. Everywhere it passed, corpses were strewn all over the ground!


    Cheng Ling felt her heart tremble at this very moment.


    She followed the road back to Lu County and ran wildly. As she ran, she didn¡¯t forget to take out the alcohol spray and spray it all over her body.


    This time, Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t stingy with her supplies.


    She was pretty sure that the things she had eaten and used in her backpack would recover automatically after midnight. Therefore, she didn¡¯t need to save anything for herself.


    Finally, Cheng Ling washed her hands thoroughly with alcohol before putting the alcohol spray bottle back into her bag.


    At the same time, she kept taking out convenient food from her backpack and stuffing it into her mouth.


    There were chocolates, candies, energy bars, and, of course, compressed biscuits.


    Basically, they were all high-calorie foods. In terms of replenishing energy, these things were good.


    Cheng Ling felt like her stomach was like a bottomless pit. No matter how much food came, it could quickly digest it.


    If there were any energy left, this energy would turn into essence Qi, which would be produced from the dantian and finally nourish the Yin and Yang Qi circulating in the body.


    Cheng Ling ran and ate all the way.


    She had actually come across several villages by the roadside during this time.


    In short, the farmlands that she saw were all ruined.


    As for the people in the village¡­ Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know if they had all been killed or if a portion of them had escaped and disappeared.


    In short, nine out of ten rooms were empty. In this place, it was not an accurate description. None of them were complete.


    Not a single survivor. What kind of road was this?


    When they arrived at the edge of Lu County, Cheng Ling stopped.


    And here, she finally met someone!


    Cheng Ling stopped on a slightly high slope outside the city and used her binoculars to observe the city gate under cover of the trees.


    He saw many soldiers with clear weapons stationed on the city wall. It was hard to say the exact number, but at a glance, there were at least a few hundred people.


    The city gates were tightly shut, and not a single person entered or exited. Only soldiers and generals strictly guarded the gates, and the atmosphere was cold and somber.


    Cheng Ling furrowed her brows slightly, thinking, ¡®Did I guess wrong again? This army still hasn¡¯t left?¡¯


    No, that¡¯s not right!


    She had misunderstood just now. There were still soldiers and generals stationed in Lu County, but that did not mean the rebel army had not left. There were many other possibilities.


    At this moment, Cheng Ling¡¯s binoculars moved, and she noticed something.

 Chapter 25

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Through her binoculars, Cheng Ling saw that at the end of the group of soldiers guarding the city gate, a few soldiers seemed to be looking around.


    Suddenly, the person¡¯s gaze at the end of the line was fixed in the west direction.


    Through the telescope, Cheng Ling clearly saw that the man¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. In the direction he was looking, there was a person hiding on the other side of the wall, quietly sticking his head out.


    The man in hiding waved his hand, and the soldier at the end of the line patted the shoulder of the man in front of him.


    The soldier at the front winked at the soldier at the back. The soldier at the back laughed and bent over to walk towards the soldier who was waving at him.


    In Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes, the soldiers suddenly leaving the army was a blatant violation of military discipline.


    However, he did it so easily and naturally. His companions saw this, but they didn¡¯t stop him. They even cooperated with him and made a tacit expression.


    It could be seen that this team was probably not elite.


    Cheng Ling let out a sigh of relief. She stared at the soldier who had left the group and watched as his figure gradually disappeared to the west of the city wall. There was a corner there that blocked Cheng Ling¡¯s line of sight.


    Cheng Ling put the telescope into her space through her bag and walked west along the mountain road.


    Mountains on both sides surrounded Lu County, so Cheng Ling could walk along the mountain road to where the soldier had disappeared.


    After walking for a while, she followed the path at the foot of the mountain and reached the other side of the city wall. When she looked up, she saw two people side by side, talking together. They were actually walking towards the mountain.


    These two people were naturally the two that Cheng Ling was about to follow.


    This was interesting. Cheng Ling hurriedly dodged and squatted down, hiding behind an inconspicuous bush.


    She could hear the conversation between the two, ¡°Damn it! We¡¯re the most pitiful. We were already the last group when we were just casually moving around the city. The b*stards in front of us are already covered in oil, but now it¡¯s our turn¡­ F*ck! Don¡¯t even mention it.¡±


    ¡°What can we do? Those at the front are either related or good at pulling strings. Honest people like us didn¡¯t know that there was such a big difference between the front and back.¡±


    ¡°Brother Guan, I¡¯m fine with it. I¡¯m a muddlehead with no skills, but you¡¯re different. You¡¯re skilled in martial arts, but you¡¯ve been left behind to guard Lu County, a poor and run-down place. Ai! I really feel bad for you!¡±


    ¡°Who isn¡¯t worth it? Brother Wang, we¡¯ve pulled out our heads, bled, and put in the effort. But we didn¡¯t follow Your Highness to the capital¡­ When Your Highness¡¯s great cause is successful in the future, will our names still be on the book of merits?¡±


    The two of them praised each other and complained.


    Your Highness!


    Cheng Ling caught on to this keyword.


    It was King Linhai. It was undoubtedly King Linhai.


    As expected, King Linhai would lead his troops directly into the capital. The main force had already left, and those who remained in Lu County were either marginal figures in the army or¡­ ugly people.


    But now, these two ugly people had left the team. Other than flattering and complaining to each other, what else did they want to do?


    Cheng Ling continued to hold her breath and hide.


    The two soldiers were careless and didn¡¯t even think about checking their surroundings. They continued to walk into the mountain while talking.


    After they had walked for about ten meters, Cheng Ling got up and quietly followed them.


    The two of them walked up the mountain for about ten meters, then stopped. Instead, they walked along a road on the east side, parallel to the road for a short distance.


    As they walked, they continued to talk.


    The slightly round Brother Guan said, ¡°I heard that there are only two survivors. They¡¯re both weak. Damn it! This is the last time we¡¯re doing this. You don¡¯t even give us a quick and easy time.¡±


    Hearing this, Cheng Ling frowned.


    She could hear a very bad meaning in his words.


    The two people in front suddenly stopped. It turned out that there was a dent in the mountain wall, and a natural cave had appeared.


    Just by standing not far from the cave, Cheng Ling could smell a very unpleasant smell when the mountain wind blew over.


    She couldn¡¯t tell if it was the smell of mold, blood, or some other strange rotting smell, but it was so bad that it made her dizzy.


    Cheng Ling immediately took out a mask from her space and put it on. If she smelled this too much, she might be poisoned.


    She covered her surgical mask with a black cloth mask before continuing to look.


    She saw a head sticking out of the cave. It was a soldier yawning.


    He glanced at Brother Guan and Brother Wang and mumbled, ¡°You¡¯re here. Come in. It¡¯s only been a few times, and most of them have died.¡±


    Brother Guan, however, fanned his nose and said, ¡°What smell is it? Why don¡¯t you clean it up? Hurry up! Pull him out, 100 wen each time. This is 200 wen, here! I¡¯ll pay for my brother!¡±


    After saying that, he threw a money bag over.


    The yawning soldier lazily accepted it. Not disdaining the other party¡¯s attitude, he turned around and entered the cave. Then, he dragged out two women covered in scars like he was dragging sacks.


    Bang bang! The two women were thrown in front of Brother Guan and Brother Wang.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s hand instantly grabbed the military knife on her waist, and her knuckles turned white and blue.


    Brother Wang¡¯s eyes were wide open. He swallowed his saliva and pounced forward.


    The woman on the ground stared numbly, not saying a word or moving.


    Brother Wang hurriedly unbuckled his belt.


    ¡°I heard that the people here are all nobles of the official family. When those cowards fled from the city, they didn¡¯t even forget to salute but pushed their wives down the carriage!¡±


    ¡°Hehe, let¡¯s have a taste of these aristocratic girls¡­¡±


    Before his voice had died away, a snow-white blade light, reflecting the setting sun, broke through the sky and came from behind.


    The military saber was about a foot long, and it was sharpened. With a horizontal slash, Brother Wang¡¯s dirty head was cut off.


    Bang! Bang!


    Brother Wang fell limply against the blade light.


    Beside him, Brother Guan opened his eyes wide and said, ¡°You¡­¡±


    A long leg swept across like a whip and directly kicked the man¡¯s head, knocking him down in an instant.


    At the entrance of the cave, the small-eyed soldier who had just dragged the two women out was trembling as he stood there. He suddenly cried out, ¡°Ah!¡±


    He turned around and ran into the cave.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s military knife flew out of her hand. The knife light cut through the mountain wind and slit the man¡¯s throat.


    At this moment, Brother Guan, who had been kicked to the ground by her, had just woken up and was struggling to get up from the ground.


    Cheng Ling immediately walked over and kicked him in the chin, making him faint again. Then, she raised her foot again and stomped heavily on his chest.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Brother Guan also cried out in pain and numbness, but he could not pass out at all. He could only open his eyes in pain and horror.


    ¡°I ask, you¡¯ll answer,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°If you answer well, I¡¯ll spare your life!¡±

 Chapter 26

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Extorting a confession through violence was very useful in many cases.


    In this world, not everyone was a hero who would rather die than submit. After all, there were only a few people like that.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s killing of two people had indeed caused Brother Guan to answer all his questions. Even though he was in great pain, he didn¡¯t dare to be slow.


    ¡°Who is your master?¡±


    ¡°Our¡­ our wangye is King Linhai!¡±


    Brother Guan answered while gasping for breath. He forced himself to take a breath and said, ¡°Our Wangye is the king of Linhai, you¡­.. young hero, hero, lift your noble feet. It¡¯s not good to go against our Wangye, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°How many people did King Linhai bring to the capital?¡± Cheng Ling asked.


    Brother Guan raised his voice, ¡°His Royal Highness has 100000 soldiers! An army of 100000!¡±


    What an army of 100000!


    Cheng Ling raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t comment.


    Was there really an army of 100000?


    Cheng Ling knew that in the era of cold weapons, the participating side would often make false numbers.


    A hundred thousand or a million was just to raise the morale of their side and to intimidate the enemy.


    In fact, even a 50000-strong army was already very terrifying and majestic, let alone a 100000-strong army.


    Where the army passed, even the people and horses on the road had to feed, so what kind of concept was a hundred thousand people?


    This small Lu County, once robbed clean, would not be able to support an army of 100000 for long?


    However, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t continue to ask Brother Guan this question. This person was only a low-level soldier, and it was impossible for him to know how many people were in King Linhai¡¯s army.


    Cheng Ling felt a little more confident now that he could say that it was an imaginary army of 100000.


    ¡°How long has King Linhai left Lu County?¡± She continued to ask.


    ¡°Six days, we¡¯ve just left for six days!¡±


    ¡°How many of you are still in Lu County?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Brother Guan paused, and his eyes flickered.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s foot on his chest immediately exerted more force, and brother Guan¡¯s Tanzhong point was under heavy pressure. He broke out in cold sweats and hurriedly said, ¡°There are five hundred people, five hundred people!¡±


    He took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°Five hundred people are guarding the south and east gates!¡±


    There were no city gates to the west and north of Lu County, because these two directions were basically surrounded by the winding Mountain Pingming.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the commander?¡± Cheng Ling asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s General Kang. General Kang is secondary consort Kang¡¯s younger brother!¡±


    ¡°How many people are still alive in the city?¡± Cheng Ling raised her eyebrows and asked.


    Brother Guan became hesitant at once as he couldn¡¯t answer this question!


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t ask any more questions. Instead, she suddenly crouched down and attacked like lightning.


    After four cracking sounds, Brother Guan screamed, ¡°Boy! You broke your promise and said you would spare my life¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still alive.¡± Cheng Ling said, ¡°I¡¯ll break your limbs and spare your dog life. When have I ever gone back on my word?¡±


    After saying that, she stood up and was about to go check on the two women who had been struck to the ground.


    As for this Brother Guan, he will definitely die!


    If Cheng Ling didn¡¯t kill him, he wouldn¡¯t have survived even if his limbs were broken and he was thrown into the mountains.


    But what Cheng Ling didn¡¯t expect was that the moment she got up and was about to take a step, the woman on the ground in front of her suddenly held her hand and quickly crawled to Brother Guan¡¯s side.


    She was as fast as a mad beast, and as soon as she reached Brother Guan, she raised her right hand high.


    In her right hand, she was holding a sharp stone!


    ¡°Bastard, go to hell!¡±


    The woman screamed as the stone suddenly fell.


    Bang! Bang! Bang bang!


    Brother Guan struggled to dodge, but all his limbs were broken, and his body was in an extremely weak state. How could he dodge?


    The sound of the stone hitting the human body was still ringing out. Finally, when Brother Guan¡¯s breath was completely gone and his entire head seemed to have been smashed into a ball, the woman who was madly hitting him suddenly threw the stone away and knelt down on the spot, crying bitterly.


    Cheng Ling stood rooted to the ground, feeling a little helpless for a moment, not knowing how to deal with the situation in front of her.


    After crying for a while, the woman suddenly stopped crying and looked up at Cheng Ling. ¡°Thank you for saving me. I was the daughter of the Wang Family of Pingchang. When I traveled to Yunchuan with my younger brother, I was accidentally blocked by the King of Linhai in Lu County.¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at her seriously.


    Wang Shi¡¯s wife continued, ¡°My brother, Wang Qi Lang, has been taken hostage by King Linhai. It¡¯s very likely that he¡¯s going to use him to threaten my uncle to let go of the red cloud city¡¯s gate!¡±


    She looked at Cheng Ling and said sincerely, ¡°Langjun, please help me pass a message to my big uncle. The disciples of the Wang Family would rather die standing than live a humiliating life. Please be at ease and make your decision, Big Uncle. If my father knows about this in the netherworld, he will only be grateful and not blame!¡±


    As she spoke, her hands trembled and she suddenly touched her hair bun.


    Her hair had long been in a mess, and there were no adornments on her bun. There was only a bun on her head that was tightly tied up, but it did not come loose completely under such circumstances.


    A moment later, Madam Wang took out an extremely short silver hairpin from the tightly tied hair bag.


    She was still kneeling on the ground and handed the hairpin to cheng ling. her eyes were full of hope as she said, ¡°My big uncle, Wang Bei, is now the governor of Yun Chuan County. This is a token, please pass it on. The Wang Family will definitely reward you generously!¡±


    Cheng Ling bent down and didn¡¯t directly take the hairpin. instead, she reached out to hold Madam Wang¡¯s wrist, wanting to help her up.


    He sighed and said, ¡°These words, no matter who it is, it¡¯s not as appropriate as the Wangniang personally saying it. Moreover¡­¡±


    She was just about to ask, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to save your brother?¡±


    Even though¡­ it was probably just words of comfort.


    Madam Wang had already said, ¡°Langjun¡¯s eyes are as bright as a torch. You must have already guessed that I have the will to die! I¡¯m pure white, but my body is dirty¡­¡±


    Before she could finish her words, a stream of blood had already seeped out from the side of her lips.


    It turned out that just now, she had taken advantage of the gap in her speech and bit off her own tongue!


    Cheng Ling was shocked and reached out her hand. Madam Wang tried her best to hold her hand, but she didn¡¯t let her touch her face. ¡°My¡­ body is already dirty, but my, my heart, must still, be, pure! I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Her tongue was almost completely bitten off, and even though she managed to speak at the end, her words began to become very vague and sleepy.


    At the same time, blood kept flowing out of her mouth.


    Cheng Ling felt a shock that seemed to cross space and time. She knew that for some people, dying a quick death was far better than living like a walking corpse.


    Could she still save a person who was physically and mentally tortured to the limit and would rather end her own life?


    She¡­ was a step too late!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s fingers moved, and she took the silver hairpin from madam wang¡¯s hand and held it in her palm.


    Wang Shi¡¯s wife¡¯s dull eyes brightened up a little. She raised her head and said in a very thin and fuzzy voice, ¡°Langjun, I¡¯m¡­ Wang Yan. The water ripples are like¡­ like brocade, the words are called xun!¡±


    Cheng Ling squatted in front of her and looked her in the eye. ¡°My name is Cheng Ling, the spirit of the bell and the jade. Your name is very beautiful, I like it very much.¡± Then, she pulled down her mask in front of Wang Hua.


    A smile bloomed on Wang Jie¡¯s withered face. She said, ¡°Good, very good¡­¡±


    His voice became weaker, his eyes closed, and he no longer had any life.

 Chapter 27

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling stood in the gradually darkening sky and remained silent for a moment.


    The sky was like ink, regardless of the joys and sorrows of the human world, it was free.


    As a soul from a different world, Cheng Ling felt the difficulty of staying out of this world for the first time in her life.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to¡­¡± She muttered


    But in the end, she still wiped Wang Hua¡¯s silver hairpin with an alcohol-wet wipe and carefully kept it in the satchel at her waist.


    She was even worried about losing the silver hairpin, so after thinking about it for a while, she moved it from her bag into the small space in her backpack.


    After cleaning up, Cheng Ling put her mask back on and knelt down next to Wang Hua. She reached out and touched her body lightly.


    Cheng Ling thought to herself, Wang Family¡¯s Sister, I used the gathering skill on you, so I¡¯m already indebted to you. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll do my best to help you achieve your wish. However, if I¡¯m not fast enough and can¡¯t reach Red Cloud City before King Linhai¡­


    This was very likely. After all, King Linhai had left Lu County six days ago. Even if the main force¡¯s speed was delayed due to the large number of people, Cheng Ling, who had set off later, might not be faster than him.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart felt heavy. Moonlight energy flowed out of her palm and into Wang Zheng¡¯s corpse. The system¡¯s notification rang out:


    ¡°You¡¯ve collected the bones of the queen of the Wang Family of Pingchang and received books like ¡®noble etiquette model¡¯, ¡®the genealogy of today¡¯s aristocratic families-a simplified version¡¯ and ¡®a preliminary understanding of the world¡¯s general situation-an incomplete version¡¯.¡±


    Cheng Ling was surprised that the three books had landed in the collection space, but she also felt that it was reasonable.


    A portion of Wang Ben¡¯s knowledge had been extracted!


    The daughter of an aristocratic family had extraordinary knowledge.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know why she came to Lu County or why she wasn¡¯t taken away by the king of Linhai with Wang Qilang. Instead, she was kidnapped by the rebel army outside the city and ended up like this.


    But no matter what happened, the result had already happened.


    ¡°May you go to the next life and be born in peace,¡± Cheng Ling said in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t create trouble for the world.¡±


    It would be best if she could reincarnate in the modern world that she had come to. That would be her greatest fortune.


    Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t in a hurry to bury Wang Si. instead, she turned around and walked over to the other woman lying next to her.


    The woman had not moved since she was dragged out. She did not even react to Wang Ben¡¯s death. In fact, Cheng Ling had already observed her from the corner of her eye. She found that not only was her expression numb, But her breathing was also weak.


    Could she still be saved?


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know. She walked over to the woman and squatted down, wanting to take her pulse.


    The woman¡¯s wrist moved slightly. She looked slightly older than Wang Jie. Her eyes fell on Cheng Ling¡¯s face, and she suddenly whispered, ¡°Liu Lang, is it you¡­ you¡¯re here?¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s hand paused for a moment. The moment it touched the woman¡¯s wrist, the woman suddenly shrank back as if she had been electrocuted.


    It was like a conditioned reflex. She was afraid of being touched!


    Cheng Ling let go of her hand and was about to express that she had no ill intentions.


    The woman chuckled to herself and said in a strange tone that was both melodious and singing, ¡°They¡¯re all dead, it¡¯s good that they¡¯re all dead. Clean, clean, clean¡­ I¡¯m also, dead!¡±


    After saying that, she closed her eyes and lay there peacefully without any more movement.


    Cheng Ling was stunned for a moment, then quickly reached out to the woman¡¯s nose, but she couldn¡¯t find any breath.


    She went to check the woman¡¯s pulse, and her pulse¡­ was also completely gone.


    A person¡¯s death was so easy.


    After half an hour, Cheng Ling put away the small military shovel in her hand.


    She buried Wang Lian and the unknown woman together on a slope about 50 meters away from the cave. The burial ground was flat, and there was no monument.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was stingy, But that she was afraid that someone would have evil thoughts and search the body of the person who had just died.


    However, she remembered the location and made a small mark that only she knew. If there was a chance in the future, she would come back to pay her respects to Wang Lian.


    After another 15 minutes, the cave that was basically blocked was set on fire.


    When Cheng Ling went down the mountain, she turned around to look. At this time, the sky was already completely dark. From the outside, she could only see the faint light of the fire in the cave and the faint gray smoke.


    Cheng Ling pursed her lips and didn¡¯t stay any longer. She turned around and continued down the mountain.


    There was only a small hole in the cave, and there was not enough oxygen inside. If the fire continued for a while longer, it would probably go out on its own.


    This time, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t head towards the city gate of Lu County. Instead, she walked along the foot of the mountain and headed west for a while.


    Some parts of the city wall on the west side were even connected to the mountain wall of mount Pingming, so there was no city wall here.


    After walking for a while, Cheng Ling started to climb up the mountain again.


    The mountain here was very steep, almost at a right angle. Cheng Ling took out a bag of magnesium powder from her backpack and tied it to her waist. She also took out a long rope and a climbing hook.


    The long rope was tied to a grappling hook. Cheng Ling rubbed a little bit of magnesium powder in her palm, held the rope, and swung the grappling hook. The grappling hook was accurately hooked behind a protruding stone corner on the mountain wall.


    Cheng Ling pulled hard to make sure the hook was tight enough, then immediately pulled the rope and began to climb up.


    She climbed very quickly, and after a short while, she had climbed more than six meters high.


    This place was exactly the same as a section of the city wall of Lu County!


    Thus, Cheng Ling changed the hook to a more suitable angle and put it in place. Then, she gently stepped on the connecting point of the mountain wall and the city wall.


    Her balance was excellent, and her technique in exerting force was brilliant. In addition, the Yin and Yang energy in her body were circulating on their own. Although it could not be released, It seemed to have naturally added a lithe attribute to her body.


    After a while, Cheng Ling jumped down with the help of the rope.


    After climbing over the city wall, she landed smoothly.


    ¡°Pfft,¡± there was only a soft sound on the ground.


    The city wall on this side was unguarded, so the subtle sound quickly disappeared into the night without anyone¡¯s attention.


    Cheng Ling put away the grappling hook and rope, leaving only the bag of magnesium powder at her waist and the military saber hanging on.


    She even fastened a small mountaineering buckle on her left hand and put on a mask. then, she quickly headed in the direction of the east city gate.


    Why did they go to the east gate?


    Because before she jumped down from the mountain, Cheng Ling had already observed that in the entire Lu County, only the east gate was the most brightly lit!


    King Linhai left only 500 people in Lu County¡¯s army, and these 500 people were probably weak soldiers who had been eliminated.


    These 500 weak soldiers surrounded King Linhai¡¯s brother-in-law and teased him. He was the concubine¡¯s brother, so he shouldn¡¯t be called the brother-in-law. If a secondary consort was a concubine, then what was her younger brother?


    No matter what he was, he was probably not an elite.


    How could a commander who could allow his soldiers to do such a thing be a hero?


    Cheng Ling guessed that Commander Kang should be in the brightest place in Lu County.

 Chapter 28

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling decided to do something big!


    With the current situation, it was too difficult for them to find a safe place to stay.


    Escape, escape, no matter how you want to escape, you should at least have a direction, right?


    It was impossible to run aimlessly without end, as he would die of exhaustion on the way.


    However, with the current situation of Qi State, such a stable place was too difficult to find.


    Cheng Ling had even thought about it before. Since the south was so chaotic, why didn¡¯t they just escape to the Wei Kingdom in the north?


    The Wei Kingdom had already unified the north. Being a citizen of Wei State was definitely much better than being a citizen of Qi State.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t have any thoughts of being loyal to Da Qi just because she was a person of Da Qi. This was not her country. Her country was on the other side of the distant space and time.


    After transmigrating to this strange time and space, was there any difference between Big Wei and Big Qi to her?


    The only difference was that she now had the Qi State¡¯s household registration paper in her hands, so she had a solid background. Even if they were refugees, they were still refugees with a registered residence.


    However, if they fled to the Wei Kingdom, how would the Wei Kingdom treat the refugees from other countries?


    This was hard to say. There was not enough known information, so it was not easy to speculate.


    Cheng Ling felt that going to the Wei Kingdom was a possible path.


    However, at the moment, the Wang Family could also be used as a clue.


    If the governor of Yunchuan prefecture, Wang He, could defeat the rebellious king of Linhai, and if the rule of Qi State could still be maintained, then Chixia City would be a good destination.


    Going to Red Cloud City, not only could she fulfill her promise to Wang He, but she might also be able to find a way out.


    The only problem was that they had to be fast.


    How could she be faster?


    It was definitely impossible to walk on foot.


    Cheng Ling pondered all the way. Under the cover of the night, she quickly passed through the desolate Lu County.


    The darkness blurred the city¡¯s ruins. There were no pedestrians on the streets, only an indescribable stench in the air, as if telling what the city had experienced.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s steps were light and fast, and the stars in the sky flickered. After a while, she was close to the east gate.


    From here, it could be seen that the place with the brightest lights was not the east gate, but a large mansion about two hundred meters away from the east gate.


    Cheng Ling stopped and observed for a moment. She could clearly hear the faint noise of music coming from the house.


    The high walls surrounded the house, and there were a few soldiers guarding the gate. They held their weapons in a crooked way, but they didn¡¯t look outside. Instead, they kept looking at the house behind them.


    Someone said enviously, ¡°Those brats inside are having a good time, damn it! We¡¯ll be left here to feed the mosquitoes!¡±


    As he spoke, he suddenly clapped his hands. Pa! He smacked a mosquito that had gotten close to his face to death.


    Cheng Ling walked around and observed for a while. Then, she chose a position on the wall at the back of the house.


    There was no one guarding the place, and the wall was about three meters high.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t even need the help of the grappling hook. She just jumped up, stepped on the wall with the tip of her foot, and then climbed to the top of the wall with one hand.


    With a push of her right hand, she turned around and flipped from the outside to the inside of the wall.


    After landing lightly, Cheng Ling directly sneaked toward the place where the sound was the most obvious.


    When they passed by the area connecting the backyard and the third courtyard, Cheng Ling discovered that there was a large stable there!


    Several strong horses were standing in the stable, seemingly unable to sleep due to the noise in front of them.


    The two stablemen were sitting unsteadily by the stable, but they were obviously so tired that they had fallen asleep.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately remembered the stables¡¯ location.


    Very quickly, she continued to move forward.


    After passing through multiple courtyards, Cheng Ling suddenly stopped behind a bush of flowers.


    There was an open space in front of them, and in the middle of the garden surrounded by flowers, there were more than ten women in thin gauze screaming and running.


    The red lanterns hanging high around them reflected their panicked expressions clearly and hazily, as if they had coated the world with a layer of absurd filter.


    On one side, several musicians were playing the instruments, and the music was continuous.


    In the midst of the accompaniment, a fat man with a black veil over his eyes stretched out his hands and groped around the group of women. He laughed foolishly and said, ¡°Beauty! A beauty! Who stopped? Who stopped and got caught by me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll reward the one who was caught, a strong man! Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Who is it? I¡¯m going to draw lots later, and I¡¯ll use the hair of two-legged sheep. Whoever gets the longest hair will be the king tonight! Hehe, hehehe¡­¡±


    ¡°Old Xiang, could it be you?¡±


    On the periphery of the empty space in the garden, there was a circle of soldiers in military uniforms.


    These people were all tall and big. Some of them were standing unsteadily, some had lustful eyes, some had wretched expressions, and some had even thrown their weapons aside.


    However, Cheng Ling secretly looked around from behind the flowers and trees and found that some of these people were obviously different from each other just from their standing postures.


    Their postures were very stable, and their center of gravity was in a position where they could attack at any time. Clearly, they were all martial artists.


    There was even one person whose temples were bulging. When he stood there with his arms crossed, his loose military uniform seemed to be unable to hide the muscles on both sides of his arms.


    His fierce aura was particularly eye-catching.


    This was an expert!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes only briefly touched this person before she quickly looked away.


    She was secretly shocked and didn¡¯t dare to look at this person for fear that if she looked too much, he would sense something and expose her.


    Cheng Ling thought to herself, ¡°This is bad. I didn¡¯t expect Commander Kang to have a few elites with him even though he¡¯s an idiot.¡±


    The elite troops did not guard the perimeter, but instead, they guarded Commander Kang closely. It would be difficult for Cheng Ling to kill him.


    Cheng Ling thought for a moment and made a prompt decision. She turned around and quietly retreated.


    She was nimble, and perhaps because of the music, she came and went without alerting anyone.


    After Cheng Ling left the garden, she ran in the direction of the kitchen.


    There were no patrols in the house, but occasionally, servants could be seen sweeping the ground in the night.


    Cheng Ling carefully avoided these people. When she arrived at the kitchen, she found that there were only two servants guarding it.


    But even if they were guarding, the two maidservants were absent-minded. The two of them leaned on the steps outside the kitchen and talked anxiously.


    ¡°My little son is starving to death. I¡¯ve been working in the kitchen, but I can¡¯t even get him a lunchbox,¡± one of them said.


    One of them cursed, ¡°That damned Kang bastard!¡± When he dies, I¡¯ll burn paper offerings to him!¡±


    The other one quickly covered her mouth, and Cheng Ling took advantage of the time when the two lowered their heads to sneak into the kitchen.


    They searched quickly. A moment later, a fire rose high from the kitchen. When the smoke choked, The two maidservants screamed and ran down the steps in shock.


    As she ran, she vaguely heard a voice in her ear, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you going back and escaping with your family?¡±

 Chapter 29

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The kitchen was on fire!


    Commander Kang and the others, who were immersed in their enjoyment, did not even notice it at first.


    It was only when the flames grew stronger and almost set the entire area on fire that a soldier standing outside turned around and exclaimed, ¡°Fire!¡±


    Commander Kang was currently tugging on a woman¡¯s light muslin sleeve, wanting to pull her into his arms. When he heard this, he pulled off the black muslin cloth covering his eyes and looked in the direction of the fire. His first reaction was to open his mouth and curse, ¡°Unlucky!¡±


    Then, he stomped his feet and said, ¡°A bunch of useless things, how did you start a fire? Aren¡¯t you going to take a look?¡±


    ¡°Aiyo, aiyo,¡± he shouted, ¡°I¡¯m so angry, I¡¯m so angry!¡± what a killjoy¡­¡±


    The shouting was accompanied by the women¡¯s shrieks, which made Commander Kang happy.


    He pointed at the girls who were screaming in panic and laughed, ¡°Aiyo, not bad! This scream was even more pleasant than the previous one. Hahaha¡­ scream, right! That¡¯s right, that¡¯s it. Keep shouting, hurry up and shout!¡±


    F*cking pervert!


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t help but curse in the dark.


    Many soldiers had already rushed out of the merry circle, and some were even shouting, ¡°Men! Someone, put out the fire!¡±


    Someone else cursed, ¡°Did someone set the fire?¡± Who was it? You¡¯re tired of living!¡±


    In the chaos, Cheng Ling held the military knife by her side. Then, she took out the climbing rope and the grappling hook from his backpack. She pulled the rope tightly with one hand and twisted the grappling hook with the other.


    In the space where lights and darkness intertwined, the chaotic people saw a silver light suddenly fly through the air like a shooting star.


    Pfft!


    The silver light latched onto Commander Kang¡¯s left shoulder, causing him to stagger and fall forward to the ground.


    Cheng Ling pulled the rope back and mustered all her strength to pull the fat man in front of her at an extremely fast speed, as if she were pulling a wheeled skateboard.


    Commander Kanghad so many guards around him, but none of them could react.


    Because Cheng Ling¡¯s climbing rope absorbed all the light, it was hard to see clearly in such an environment if one didn¡¯t look carefully. Thus, in the eyes of the people around him, Commander Kang seemed to have been controlled by a force that came out of thin air after being hit by the silver light.


    This was a little metaphysical and a little terrifying. who wouldn¡¯t be stunned when they saw this?


    It wasn¡¯t until Cheng Ling appeared at the intersection of the garden, grabbed Commander Kang, and chopped off the stinky head that someone among the soldiers shouted, ¡°Little thief, stop!¡±


    However, it was too late. At the same time, Cheng Ling¡¯s blade had already turned from white to red.


    She unsheathed her saber and sheathed it.


    Blood dripped from the shiny tip of the knife.


    Cheng Ling held the knife in her right hand and put her left hand on Commander Kang¡¯s body, gathering energy as fast as she could.


    System notification: ¡°You have harvested the rank five Commander Kang ping under King Linhai. You have obtained 10 taels of gold beads, 20 taels of silver, King Linhai¡¯s military route map incomplete, and Kang ping¡¯s happy secret scroll.¡±


    Cheng Ling was speechless.


    At this moment, a cold and sharp aura suddenly struck down from above!


    One of the guards had rushed over and was about to kill cheng ling.


    Cheng Ling was instantly alert and raised her military knife.


    Rub!


    As the two knives met, Cheng Ling instantly felt a fierce force hit her. In that instant, her right arm, which was holding the knife, and even the entire right half of her body, was shocked numb.


    This person was an expert!


    He was the one Cheng Ling had been especially wary of earlier, the one with the temples throbbing.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart trembled. It hadn¡¯t been long since she transmigrated, and the opponents she¡¯d met before were either unsightly or ordinary. When killing wolves, although the wolves were fierce, she had the compound crossbow from the modern era, which was a great advantage in long-range combat.


    This was the first time she had met an opponent with real skill. After this confrontation, she immediately had an idea of what was going on.


    She was unable to fully judge this person¡¯s martial arts skills for the time being, but in terms of strength alone, this enemy¡¯s strength was above hers!


    Even Cheng Ling, who had spent more than 20 years in her previous life, might not be as strong as this person.


    But Cheng Ling wasn¡¯t afraid.


    At this critical moment of close combat, she couldn¡¯t retreat or be afraid. The moment she felt that her strength wasn¡¯t enough, she suddenly bent down.


    Cheng Ling was originally squatting on the ground, but now that she leaned back, her body instantly fell to the ground.


    However, her legs lifted up like a whirlwind and kicked upwards in a series.


    Bang! Bang!


    These few very tricky kicks landed on the kneecaps of the opponent, and in an instant, the other party cried out in pain.


    ¡°Little thief!¡± The man cursed.


    Cheng Ling was even sneakier. She kicked the other party and took advantage of the gap when the other party lifted his big ring knife to land on the ground and roll.


    Lazy donkey roll. This move didn¡¯t have a nice name, and it didn¡¯t look very elegant either, but it was very practical in a dangerous battle.


    After Cheng Ling dodged, she turned over and jumped up.


    At this moment, a few more soldiers rushed over and surrounded Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling reached into the magnesium powder bag on her waist, grabbed a handful of magnesium powder, and scattered it at the people opposite her.


    The magnesium powder was silver-gray in color. Under the illumination of the night light, it gave people a sense of twinkling stars after scattering. The few people who were rushing over immediately stopped in their tracks and subconsciously closed their eyes.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s steps were nimble, and she took the opportunity to quickly move to the left. She grabbed a lantern pole standing next to her, took off the lantern, and threw it at those people.


    These people had been stained with a lot of magnesium powder before. When the oil from the lanterns fell, the tongue of the flame licked.


    The magnesium powder burned and immediately released an even more intense light. There were even some places where the concentration of the magnesium powder was high, and there were even sounds of explosions.


    Screams rang out, ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Ah!¡±


    When had these ancient soldiers ever faced an opponent like cheng ling?


    The strange phenomenon caused by the magnesium powder made people panic and fear. Amidst the screams, some people turned around and fled.


    There was even a soldier who was either timid or guilty, who suddenly shouted, ¡°Demonic magic! This kid has a demonic technique, run!¡±


    Seeing that these people¡¯s anger had dissipated, Cheng Ling immediately changed her mind of running away. Instead, a wave of anger suddenly rose in her.


    The people before him were all extremely evil people. Any one of them could be killed, and any one of them was worth killing!


    Killing an evil person could save hundreds and thousands of innocent people.


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t save the world, but she could kill a few more evil people in front of her!


    With this thought, Cheng Ling immediately swung the hook in her hand.


    Cold light shot out, and the long whip was like a dragon, its claws everywhere. It had actually become a sharp weapon for killing.

 Chapter 30

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes were almost dyed red with blood.


    Hooks and magnesium powder played a very important role in this battle. From time to time, there would be a flash of silver light at the intersection of the night and fire, accompanied by screams. It reflected her as if she was a messenger of punishment from hell.


    The musicians and the veiled women had long fled in the chaos, but one of the veiled women suddenly stopped and turned around.


    The young man in the field raised his hand and waved his blade. The blade light was like frost and snow. He also waved his whip with a backhand, and the hook of the whip was like a graceful swan.


    At this moment, he looked like a shooting star that lit up the night sky.


    As for Cheng Ling¡¯s disheveled appearance, it didn¡¯t affect her image as a beggar.


    After all, in the eyes of those who had light in their hearts, everything she saw was light. Why would she care about the shadow under the light? She didn¡¯t turn a blind eye on purpose, she really couldn¡¯t see.


    But at that moment, a blade light flew towards Cheng Ling¡¯s face.


    The woman turned around and exclaimed, ¡°Ah!¡±


    Cheng Ling tilted her head and narrowly avoided the attack. However, the knife was extremely sharp, and the edge of the knife brushed past her cheek, cutting off the strap of her mask and a strand of her hair.


    Strands of hair fell, and the mask scattered.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s face was revealed. She was cold and beautiful, but there was a shallow bloodstain on her cheek. The woman was stunned.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you running?¡± Her companions pulled her back.


    ¡°He, he¡¯s still¡­¡± The woman couldn¡¯t bear it and said, ¡°He¡¯s still¡­ still fighting.¡±


    Would the thrilling scene just now happen again?


    Would he be able to escape unscathed?


    Before she could finish her words, the woman¡¯s companion had already pinched her hard and said angrily, ¡°Stupid again! Who can you help by stopping here? Let¡¯s go! Stop causing trouble!¡±


    After being scolded by her companion, the woman did not stay any longer. The two of them held each other¡¯s hands and stumbled away.


    Opposite Cheng Ling, the person who had almost cut off Cheng Ling¡¯s head was also stunned. Then, he spat, ¡°Mother! He¡¯s a pretty boy¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Cheng Ling took a step forward and swung her military knife from below, instantly cutting a long gash from the man¡¯s neck to chin.


    ¡°Ah, Yingluo.¡±


    There was a scream.


    The man fell, but Cheng Ling¡¯s left shoulder was hit by a big ring knife from behind.


    At the same time, Cheng Ling also heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from the other side of the door.


    It¡¯s the enemy, reinforcements from the Linhai army have arrived!


    That¡¯s right, this residence was only about two hundred meters away from the east gate. With the flames soaring to the sky, how could the soldiers at the gate not notice such a huge movement?


    Someone must have come to check.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t dare to delay any longer. Just as she was about to block the blade behind her and leave, she heard a strong and heavy blade. The sound of the wind was rapid, as if it had the power to cut rocks and break jade.


    It was that expert!


    In the chaotic battle just now, Cheng Ling had used her positioning to avoid a head-on battle with this person many times, but now she couldn¡¯t avoid it. The other party had caught up with her again.


    Cheng Ling immediately changed her move, turning around and doing an extremely dangerous iron bridge move.


    The knife streaked across her body.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes widened as she looked at the blade light. She suddenly shouted, ¡°Good blade! May I know your name, Sir?¡±


    The other party was stunned.


    But because of Cheng Ling¡¯s question, he felt like he was being respected by his opponent. He said proudly, ¡°I¡¯m Xiang Yong! Little brat, you seem to be an expert. Surrender and I will recommend you to His Highness!¡±


    Cheng Ling took advantage of this time to roll away from the center of the battle.


    As soon as she escaped the threat of Xiang Yong¡¯s blade, she immediately got up and ran toward the stable.


    Xiang Yong didn¡¯t expect this heroic-looking young man to run away so quickly. He immediately shouted, ¡°Brat, if you¡¯re a hero, don¡¯t run! Fight with me for 300 rounds to determine the winner!¡±


    Cheng Ling sneered as she ran, ¡°You¡¯re a good man. If you¡¯re a good man, why didn¡¯t you follow your King Linhai to earn military merits, but instead, you were sent to Kang Ping, this idiot¡¯s side?¡±


    These words poked Xiang Yong¡¯s sore spot, and he immediately chased after her even more anxiously as he said angrily, ¡°Brat, you¡¯ve killed Commander Kang, so you¡¯d better think about how you¡¯re going to answer to his highness! When His Highness succeeds, he¡¯ll definitely kill you¡­¡±


    Before she could finish, Cheng Ling¡¯s body suddenly fell forward.


    Immediately after, Cheng Ling let out an ¡°ouch¡±. Her voice was painful and angry. At first, it was hurried, but then it was light and distant, as if the person who made the sound was falling far away.


    Xiang Yong was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed.


    Looking closely, there was a landscape stone in the shape of a rockery. The rock was about the height of two people, and it was dark behind it, so he couldn¡¯t see what was going on.


    But after hearing Cheng Ling¡¯s voice, Xiang Yong thought, ¡°Could there be a pit behind the rock? This kid fell down?¡±


    That would be great!


    Xiang Yong quickly took a few steps forward and looked behind the landscape stone.


    Subconsciously, he still maintained some vigilance, but his body¡¯s movements were faster than his thoughts. At this moment, he stretched his head out and saw a cold mirror-like knife light suddenly appear at this time, straight like a crescent moon, catching people off guard.


    It was too fast!


    Xiang Yong couldn¡¯t see anything in front of him, only the light of the blade.


    Buzzzzzz!


    The blade was about to cut his neck off, but Xiang Yong¡¯s fighting instinct finally came into play. He raised his hand and blocked the blade!


    But Cheng Ling¡¯s knife also cut off his right arm at the same time, and blood poured out.


    Xiang Yong cried out in pain.


    The large ringed saber in his right hand fell to the ground along with half of his arm.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t show any mercy. After one strike, another followed closely behind like a wave.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The ferocity of the knife momentum was completely inconsistent with her thin figure.


    This wasn¡¯t flowing water, this was simply a storm.


    Great saber technique, the Qi Sect¡¯s joint saber!


    One slash after another, each one was fatal.


    It wasn¡¯t that Cheng Ling could only take the agile route. She had only wanted to conserve her energy before, but now that she had to face the strongest opponent, Xiang Yong, head-on, she also dared to use her greatest courage and fight to the death.


    Xiang Yong lost his composure and rolled and crawled, trying his best to dodge in order to survive.


    But soon, he had been hit several times, and his dodging movements became slower and slower.


    Seeing that both his arms were broken and that Cheng Ling would be able to cut off his head with one more strike, Xiang Yong, who had been suppressed all this time, suddenly became ruthless. He shouted and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Although the spittle was liquid, when it flew out with the blood, there was a strong wind sound. There seemed to be qi in it, which was very unusual.


    Cheng Ling, who had Yin and Yang Qi, was instantly alert and dodged to the side.


    The spittle flew out from her side and landed on the ground behind her, making a rustling sound.


    At the same time, it was also because of Cheng Ling¡¯s dodge that Xiang Yong, who had been struggling on the ground, caught the ringed saber with the tip of his foot!


    The ringed saber was instantly kicked away.

 Chapter 31

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Buzzzzzz!


    Cheng Ling cut off Xiang Yong¡¯s head.


    At the same time, the large ringed saber that Xiang Yong had kicked flew past Cheng Ling¡¯s left shoulder blade.


    Cheng Ling dragged her knife and suddenly took a step forward.


    However, it was too late. The blade cut through her left shoulder blade, making a ¡°clang¡± sound, and finally fell to the ground.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s shoulders and back ached, and her heart beat wildly. She let out a breath.


    In a life-and-death battle, the danger was so sudden that it caught one off guard.


    No one could guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t be injured just because they were stronger than their opponents. Moreover, Cheng Ling was actually at a disadvantage against Xiang Yong.


    She was able to win against a stronger opponent because of modern equipment. Her own fighter aircraft also played a very important role.


    At this moment, she heard a clamor coming from the outer court, and it was getting closer and closer.


    Cheng Ling hurriedly suppressed the sense of danger in her heart. She didn¡¯t care about the wound on her back and squatted down beside Xiang Yong¡¯s corpse. She reached out to activate the energy and began collecting it.


    System notification: ¡°You¡¯ve collected items from Xiang Yong, a rank nine lieutenant under King Linhai. You¡¯ve received 35 copper coins, a martial world saber technique, saber controlling technique: simplified, and a special reward. Strength +1.¡±


    Strength +1!


    Cheng Ling was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, she felt a strange warm current. At that moment, it suddenly passed through the connection between Xiang Yong¡¯s body and her palm. It entered her palm like a light smoke and instantly flowed back up.


    As soon as this warm current entered Cheng Ling¡¯s body, it was like mist entering sand. It naturally merged and spread out, disappearing without a trace.


    Cheng Ling retracted her hand as if she had been electrocuted, not knowing if she was surprised or happy.


    To be honest, this feeling was a little strange.


    However, she didn¡¯t have much time to think about it as a cry of surprise came from the second entrance.


    ¡°Commander Kang! Not good, Commander Kang has been killed by an assassin!¡±


    ¡°Quick, chase that way!¡±


    Cheng Ling hurriedly picked up Xiang Yong¡¯s ringed saber and held her military saber in her other hand. She continued to run towards the stables.


    She didn¡¯t have the time to feel the effect of strength +1 yet, but the pain in her left shoulder blade was still present.


    Cheng Ling endured the pain and ran through the darkness as fast as she could. After a few dozen breaths, she had passed through another courtyard. In front of her, the stable was in sight!


    The neighing of horses could be heard as the two horse grooms woke up. One of them shouted in panic, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s happening?¡±


    The other opened the door to a stables and said through gritted teeth, ¡°Mother! No matter what happened, it was still a mess. Idiot, what are you doing? Aren¡¯t you going to lead the horse?¡±


    The person who had shouted in panic earlier was trembling. His lips were trembling. ¡°No, this, this, this¡­¡±


    It turned out that ChengLing¡¯s knife-wielding appearance had frightened him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Another person turned around. He also screamed.


    ¡°Get out of the way and bring two horses out, quick!¡± Cheng Ling said.


    The two stablemen didn¡¯t dare disobey her orders and quickly did as she said.


    Cheng Ling flipped onto one of the horses and pulled on the other horse¡¯s reins. She squeezed the horse¡¯s belly with her legs and galloped towards the back door of the house without any delay.


    As the horse hooves stomped, her voice reached the ears of the two horse grooms. ¡°Traitor Kang is already dead, why aren¡¯t you two leaving?¡±


    As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Ling had already rushed to the back door of the house with two horses.


    There was no one guarding the back door, only two heavy iron locks.


    Cheng Ling swung her knife sideways and cut the lock.


    Buzzzzzz!


    The chains fell to the ground, and the two horses under Cheng Ling¡¯s control jumped out as if they had been released from their reins.


    Cheng Ling displayed the best horse-riding skills she had in her two lives. She controlled the horses and led them straight to the east gate.


    The sound of the horse¡¯s hooves was like thunder. after they got on the main road, many soldiers of the Linhai army were running toward them.


    ¡°Thief, stop!¡± A series of shocked and angry shouts sounded.


    ¡°Little thief, die!¡±


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t stop her horse. She had already put the ringed saber in her bag and hung the military saber at her waist. She controlled the two reinders with one hand and swung the climbing rope and grappling hook with the other.


    Under the night sky, the hooks danced in the air, and the cold glints coexisted with the blood.


    ¡°Traitor Kang is already dead!¡± Cheng Ling shouted at the same time. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die with him, you¡¯d better leave!¡±


    The horse galloped wildly and knocked away a person who was overconfident and wanted to stop him.


    Bang! Bang!


    The sound of a human body being sent flying was heard.


    ¡°Get lost!¡± Cheng Ling shouted angrily.


    As the horse galloped, Qi was concentrated in his dantian, and his clear voice resounded in the night wind, ¡°What a bunch of loyal Linhai soldiers! It¡¯s a pity that the traitor Kang is dead, and King Linhai will be enraged in the future. what¡¯s the use of your loyalty?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the day when Secondary Consort Kang will take her anger out on you! When the pillow is blown by the wind, I¡¯ll make you die without a burial place! Hahaha¡­¡±


    The taunting was effective. The Linhai army that was left in Lu County was the last in line. The only elites that were with Kang Ping were mostly dead, and the remaining people were not united.


    After Cheng Ling¡¯s horse killed a few people, the force in front of them gradually weakened. Some of the more agile ones had already started to retreat quietly, preparing to leave the group.


    The distance of more than two hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye, and the tightly shut city gate was in sight.


    Oh no, the city gate is closed!


    This was going to be troublesome.


    She had actually forgotten to calculate this previously.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s mind whirred as she pondered whether she should immediately rush to the side door and swing her knife to cut it open, or simply abandon the horse and rush up the city wall, then use the hook to jump down the city tower to escape.


    Neither side was a good choice because there were three or four soldiers blocking the small door. It would be difficult to kill them all in a short time.


    At this moment, a ray of light suddenly shot past Cheng Ling¡¯s back like a falling star, directly shooting towards the city gate!


    ¡°Ah!¡± There was a scream by the city gate.


    One soldier fell to the ground.


    That was not all. After the first arrow, another arrow followed.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With three consecutive arrows like this, the few soldiers by the city gate could not react at all. They screamed as they were hit by the arrows one by one, and all died.


    The last soldier who had not been shot screamed and threw away his weapon, then ran to the side door.


    The man trembled as he opened the small door on the side. once the door was opened, he rushed out without looking back and disappeared into the vast night in a moment. He had actually escaped with his life.


    Cheng Ling slightly reined in her horse and turned to look behind her.


    She saw a figure standing on a roof with a bow in hand.


    The night wind blew, and his clothes fluttered. His figure was lonely and cold, like a legendary immortal from beyond the heavens.


    Sensing Cheng Ling¡¯s gaze, the man suddenly laughed. ¡°Young hero, I shall send you off with these three arrows of wind and snow!¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s eyes lit up like a lake of stars. She immediately smiled. ¡°Thank you for your wonderful three arrows!¡± As she spoke, she cupped her hands at the man on the horse.


    ¡°We¡¯ve met in the Jianghu, and I¡¯m here to help you.¡± The man said, ¡°No need to thank me. I just found it familiar. Hahaha!¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, he jumped up and flew away from the tall buildings like a graceful bird. He was heading towards the mansion where Cheng Ling had tried to assassinate Kang Ping.

 Chapter 32

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Cheng Ling maneuvered the two horses out of Lu County¡¯s City gate.


    The moonlight had yet to come out, and the brightest light in the city came from the fire that Cheng Ling had set up.


    Cheng Ling couldn¡¯t help but look back at the city in the dark.


    No one came to kill Cheng Ling. Instead, she vaguely heard someone shouting, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s all scatter, we¡¯ll also escape! Since that Kang is dead, we might as well pretend that we are dead too. If we go back and get targeted by Secondary Consort Kang, will we have a good ending?¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry. That, that fiend is still outside. When she¡¯s far away¡­¡±


    It sounded like those people were afraid that Cheng Ling would ambush them outside the city?


    Don¡¯t you think this is laughable? Cheng Ling was only one person!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s mouth twitched, but she couldn¡¯t smile.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the pain in her left shoulder blade reminding her, she would probably really lay in ambush and harvest those beasts again, killing as many as she could.


    However, the injury on her back made her clearly realize that she was also made of flesh and blood. The consequences of her rashness could very likely cost her life.


    I can¡¯t be greedy, let¡¯s go!


    Cheng Ling whipped her horse, and it galloped away in the night.


    Her heart was still in Lu County. She was grateful, confused, and even more fascinated by the archer who had come to the rescue just now.


    What Cheng Ling envied was none other than that person¡¯s agility!


    To be honest, it was a little magical.


    That kind of leaping martial arts was just like the Qing Gong that Cheng Ling had seen on TV in her previous life.


    Cheng Ling had also practiced martial arts in her previous life, but Qing Gong in Chinese martial arts didn¡¯t break away from the limits of the human body, nor did it go against the common sense of physics.


    As far as Cheng Ling knew, there wasn¡¯t a single Guo Shu expert who could jump five or six zhang away with a light leap.


    She was a little excited. ¡°In this world, were there many experts like that? Was the upper limit of people far higher than she could imagine?


    Crossing the river on a reed, breaking stone steles, treading on water, transforming Qi into wind¡­


    Could all these be realized?


    The world was too big, and she had seen too little, but she still had a lot to learn!


    Cheng Ling was looking forward to the resources in the collection space. After leaving the city, she galloped east for a while. When she looked back, Lu County was no longer in sight, so she stopped her horse.


    The two horses were already very well controlled by her and were very obedient.


    After Cheng Ling stopped the horse, she first looked around carefully.


    She had once again arrived at the foot of Mount peaceful. Through the sparse starlight, she could see more green shadows of the mountain peaks in the distance. The nearby vegetation was lush, and the chirping of insects could be heard.


    However, the air was damp and stuffy, and it might rain at any time.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t dare to delay and quickly controlled the two horses to the side of the road. She chose a slightly sunken part of the mountain as a cover, then tied the two horses to a tree on the side of the concave.


    The wound was too uncomfortable, so Cheng Ling pulled open her clothes and started to treat it.


    She tried her best to turn her head, but there was a blind spot in her vision. She couldn¡¯t see the full picture of the wound on her left shoulder, but she could smell the blood. When her clothes were pulled open, it hurt.


    Cheng Ling gritted her teeth, unscrewed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and poured it directly on the wound.


    Hydrogen peroxide came into contact with the open flesh and immediately bubbled, stimulating Cheng Ling so much that she almost didn¡¯t scream.


    She used up more than half of the hydrogen peroxide in the bottle before putting the bottle back into her backpack. Then, she poured iodophor on the wound, sprinkled Yunnan Baiyao powder, and applied a large medical dressing.


    After quickly treating the wound, Cheng Ling¡¯s clothes were stained by the medicine and blood.


    The clothes were too dirty. She was already injured, and if she wore dirty clothes, Cheng Ling was really afraid of getting an infection.


    She couldn¡¯t take it anymore. After making sure that there was no one around, she let out the tent.


    Cheng Ling quickly set up a single-person tent from the modern era and went inside to take off her tattered upper clothes.


    There were wet wipes in her backpack. Cheng Ling took out the wet wipes and a bottle of mineral water. She used the water to wipe her dirty upper body. There was no way to take a bath, so she could only wipe herself first.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t turn on the lights during the process, but with the faint natural light and the touch, Cheng Ling could clearly feel the flat chest of her body.


    Although the little girl wasn¡¯t short, she hadn¡¯t even developed yet.


    This was probably one of the important reasons why she could dress up as a man without being suspected at all.


    Cheng Ling had the original owner¡¯s memories and knew that she hadn¡¯t even had her first period yet, so she was slightly relieved.


    In her current condition, all female characteristics were a burden to her. So what if she developed late? It was better to hide. As for the future, she would think about it in the future.


    After wiping her upper body, Cheng Ling took out a sports vest and a pure white long-sleeved t-shirt from her backpack.


    She still had a spare mountaineering suit in her backpack, but it was too eye-catching, so she didn¡¯t take it out to wear.


    After tidying up her upper body, Cheng Ling took off her dirty pants and also cleaned them.


    Maintaining hygiene could reduce the breeding of diseases. Cheng Ling warned herself: I¡¯m not being pretentious, I¡¯m just trying to prevent diseases.


    After cleaning herself, she changed into the underwear in her backpack.


    In her backpack, there were two sets of undergarments that she had tidied up in the modern era. After Cheng Ling put it on, she also put on a pair of sports tights. Finally, she gritted her teeth and put on the dirty pants again.


    As for the torn outer clothes that had been thrown on the ground earlier, Cheng Ling hastily washed the blood and medicine-stained areas and wrung them dry. In the end, she still put them back on.


    As a result, one and a half bottles of mineral water were used up, and there was only half a bottle left in her backpack.


    Cheng Ling took back her tent and counted the time.


    Midnight should be here soon. After midnight, would the mineral water that she had consumed in this way appear again?


    If she could, she would have more confidence in using these supplies.


    In the second half of the night, when the moonlight came out from the sky, Cheng Ling returned to the temporary camp set up by Mu Sanniang and the others on Mount Pingming.


    At this time, Cheng Ling had already finished checking all the supplies.


    First of all, it was clear that the supplies in her modern backpack that she had consumed were all regenerated!


    The amount of iodophor and Yunnan Baiyao powder had decreased. Shi Hong must have consumed this part, so the backpack did not regenerate.


    As for the mineral water pixiu, it was very interesting.


    One bottle of mineral water had been regenerated, and the other half had not.


    What did this mean?


    Cheng Ling thought about it for a moment before she understood. She used half a bottle of water to wash the clothes, so¡­ The water used for washing clothes can¡¯t be regenerated?


    Those who washed their bodies could be reborn, but those who washed their clothes couldn¡¯t¡­ Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry.


    Should she praise her space? So smart?

 Chapter 33

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    She still needed to explore the various characteristics of space, but in short, its existence was a great help to Cheng Ling.


    At the edge of the campsite, Hong Guangyi, who was on night duty, shouted, ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±


    Cheng Ling led the two horses and moved through the bushes. She smiled and appeared in front of Hong Guangyi, who was standing up alertly.


    On the other side, Third Aunt Mu, who was dozing off at the entrance of the cave, also woke up in an instant.


    As soon as she saw Cheng Ling, she ran over happily and shouted, ¡°Xiao Cheng!¡±


    He turned around and saw Cheng Ling leading the horse. When he saw the pile of supplies on the horse¡¯s back, he was even more surprised. ¡°Brother Cheng, what are you doing?¡±


    Cheng Ling took this opportunity to take out some of the materials she had stored in her space. For example, she had obtained a stack of rough burlap from collecting the refugees and the ¡°knife controlling technique: simplified¡± book she had obtained from Xiang Yong.


    The main reason she brought out the saber controlling technique was to clear her martial arts path with Mu Sanniang.


    Other than that, she also took out a sleeping bag, a waterproof mat, a thermos bottle, and other things from her backpack.


    She didn¡¯t take out the tent. The workmanship of this thing was too difficult to explain. It was unlike sleeping bags and waterproof mats, which were more private. If she didn¡¯t let others see it, she could still fool them.


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t take out any maps either. In ancient times, maps were too sensitive. If it wasn¡¯t necessary, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t plan on showing it to others.


    There were a few items on the horses that were particularly eye-catching. Hong Guangyi¡¯s eyes were glued to them.


    ¡°Saber!¡± He exclaimed in shock.


    As he spoke, he pounced over, his eyes fixed on the ringed saber at the top. It was as if they were glued to it, unable to move away.


    ¡°Xiao Cheng, where¡­ did you get these weapons?¡± Third Aunt Mu¡¯s voice trembled.


    ¡°Mother, Lu County is in chaos,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°The commander of the Linhai army who stayed behind to guard the city was killed, and most of the soldiers fled. I picked up a few weapons.¡±


    These words were not a lie, but they were vague and blurred the main point.


    Hong Guangyi quickly asked, ¡°What about the rest of the people in the city?¡± How many people¡­ are there in the city?¡±


    This question was a little heavy. Cheng Ling paused for a moment before saying, ¡°There aren¡¯t many of them, but some of them are still alive. They should have all escaped by now.¡±


    Hong Guangyi let out a long breath. He didn¡¯t know if he was comforted by Cheng Ling¡¯s words or if he thought of some other story. He turned his head and looked in the direction of Lu County.


    Naturally, nothing could be seen in the night.


    Hong Guangyi turned around and cupped his hands at Cheng Ling. ¡°Thank you, Brother Cheng, for taking the risk to bring me the news of my hometown.¡±


    Cheng Ling turned her body sideways and said, ¡°Second Brother Hong, it¡¯s confirmed that King Linhai has raised the flag of rebellion. I met a lady from the Wang Family in the southern suburbs of Lu County. before she died, she asked me to pass a message to Red Cloud City.¡±


    She told him everything about Wang Hua in detail. There was no need to hide this from him.


    However, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t tell him what exactly happened because she wanted to preserve her dignity. Presumably, a woman like Wang Lian, who cared so much about dignity, would definitely not be willing to expose her tragic story.


    In the end, Cheng Ling concluded. ¡°King Linhai has already led his army for six days. We¡¯ll set off tomorrow morning and take a shortcut. Hopefully, we can reach Chixia City before him. ¡±


    ¡°Brother Hong, it¡¯s hard to say if we¡¯ll encounter any danger on this trip to Red Cloud City. ¡°You and Brother Shi can also choose another route, you don¡¯t have to go with us.¡±


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s expression changed when he heard that. He quickly said, ¡°Brother Cheng, you¡¯re looking down on me, Hong Er, and Brother Shi. You can¡¯t say this again. We said we¡¯re going the same way, how can we split up halfway?¡±


    He even put on a straight face. ¡°This definitely won¡¯t do. No way! ¡±


    At some point, Shi Hong had also woken up. He had been napping by the fire with his head lowered. Now that he looked up, he immediately added, ¡°We¡¯ll go wherever Brother Cheng goes!¡±


    Seriously, he was clearly injured and tired, so sleepy that he couldn¡¯t even open his eyes, but he still didn¡¯t forget to express his loyalty.


    The night passed quickly.


    In the second half of the night, Cheng Ling took advantage of the moonlight and stood at the Tai Chi stance again.


    The moonlight energy that she had used up before was replenished. Cheng Ling observed it carefully and even felt that the moonlight energy she absorbed this time seemed to have increased a little.


    It wasn¡¯t an obvious trace, but it should have increased.


    This was great. If Cheng Ling saw herself as a container, then the first time she absorbed moonlight¡¯s energy, the energy accumulated in her body was enough for her to absorb five or six times.


    This was her second time absorbing the moonlight¡¯s energy. Through observation and comparison, Cheng Ling realized that although the energy she absorbed this time didn¡¯t increase by a large amount, it still made her feel a little better.


    For example, she could go from collecting five or six times to six or seven times.


    However, it was good enough to have a slight increase.


    With progress, there would be unlimited possibilities. This was what Cheng Ling felt was most worthy of joy.


    The next day, it was a cloudy day.


    The sun did not come out. Although the sky was bright at seven o¡¯clock, the sky seemed a little dim.


    Third Aunt Mu was busy mixing wild vegetables with the leftover wolf meat from yesterday and cooking it for breakfast. She then urged Cheng Dani and her sister to continue gathering all kinds of wild vegetables and fruits that could be used in the surrounding area.


    Cheng Ling had gotten up early to do her stance, so she hadn¡¯t been able to absorb the sun¡¯s energy. However, her daily training had strengthened her muscles and bones, so she hadn¡¯t neglected it.


    After she was done, she picked up a knife and looked for suitable wood to cut. She was going to make two simple handcarts and let the two horses pull them.


    With a simple carriage, they could move much faster. Compared to King Linhai, who was slowed down by the infantry, they had an advantage.


    This was called ¡°sharpening the knife will not delay the work of cutting wood.¡± Shi Hong and Hong Guangyi also agreed with this.


    Shi Hong¡¯s injuries were more serious and he couldn¡¯t do heavy physical work, so he helped Mu Sanniang smoke wolf meat.


    There were still more than 30 pounds of wolf meat left. Although it was cooked yesterday, it was best to continue to smoke it today. This way, it could be preserved for two more days.


    Hong Guangyi, on the other hand, was logging with Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling took out Xiang Yong¡¯s knife controlling technique and practiced it while cutting wood. She also invited Hong Guangyi to learn it with her.


    Hong Guangyi was so touched that he almost kowtowed to her.


    The ancient people treasured their own brooms and were extremely strict about the inheritance of various techniques. No one would easily pass on their knowledge and skills.


    Cheng Ling stopped Hong Guangyi from bowing. Hong Guangyi said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. After learning your martial arts, from now on, I will not go west if you point east. If you ask me to kill someone, I will not hit the dog! I¡¯ll leave my hundred jin to you!¡±


    Cheng Ling, uh¡­


    I can¡¯t accept it.


    Only the heavens knew that she really wasn¡¯t a homicidal maniac. She didn¡¯t have a hobby of killing people, and she didn¡¯t intend to recruit subordinates to commit murder and arson.

 Chapter 34

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The day passed in a flash.


    Time passed quickly, but Cheng Ling and the others had done a lot of things.


    Cheng Ling and Hong Guangyi worked together, and with Mu Sanniang¡¯s help, they made two simple handcarts. Two horses each pulling a carriage could free up some manpower.


    It was a pity that there were no iron bearings. A cart made of wood was not flexible and firm enough, and its shock-resistant ability was also lacking. In addition, time was tight, and the ceiling could not be built.


    ¡°How beautiful would it be if we could split into two angels on this day?¡± Third Aunt Mu said.


    ¡°Mother, can¡¯t we just stop for one more day?¡± Cheng Ernii asked.


    The resources on the mountain were actually relatively rich.


    That day, although Cheng Ling was busy making the cart, she also did some other things in between her carpentry work.


    For example, when she was cutting wood, there were snakes slithering around, and Cheng Ling caught two of them. Very good, the snake soup was here.


    One could be used to make soup, and the other could be roasted and eaten on the road tomorrow.


    Cheng Dani and Cheng Ernii brought the two children to dig up a lot of wild vegetables, and at the same time, they also gathered half a basket of Xiao Ji.


    Cheng Ling then told them to wash and moisten these fruits, then place them on the rocks to dry.


    Cheng Ling also found a large patch of honeysuckles on top of the cave. The honeysuckles could clear away heat and detoxify, cool blood and reduce swelling. They also had broad spectrum antibacterial effects.


    The weather was hot today, and if she could bring honeysuckle along with her, she could burn and drink it often on the road, which could also prevent diseases.


    In addition, there were also wild fruits on the mountain.


    For example, the crow¡¯s beak and the peach blossom maiden.


    However, the crow¡¯s nest was a fruit and wasn¡¯t full. The crow¡¯s nest on this mountain had not been optimized, so most of the ones that Cheng Dani and the others could pick were very sour. Occasionally, there were some sweet ones, but they were also the kind that were almost ripe.


    The mommies were also berries, and they weren¡¯t full. If one ate too much, they would easily suffer from constipation.


    Therefore, although there were a lot of resources on the mountain, if one wanted to live a good life, they still had to return to society.


    There were a lot of mosquitoes on the mountain. It was summer now, so if one stayed in the mountain at night, one would not feel the reclusive atmosphere of the stars and moon, the heaven and earth as shelter, and the green as friend. On the contrary, the humid air, the movement of insects and snakes, and even the cries of wild beasts in the depths of the mountain could be heard.


    All of this made one feel frustrated and only felt the difficulty of survival.


    Cheng Ling thought, ¡°Maybe one day, when I don¡¯t have to worry about survival anymore and have the mood to enjoy life, I¡¯ll be able to sleep in the mountains again. I¡¯ll probably be able to experience the fun of the mountains.¡±


    Just like in her previous life, she found the convenient and modern city life boring, but she liked to carry her backpack and go hiking. She was alone, away from the secular world, and went to the wild to find the fun of nature.


    Why else would there be a saying that people always yearn for things they can¡¯t reach?


    This was probably human nature?


    At night, Cheng Ling took out her sleeping bag and waterproof mat.


    In the innermost part of the shallow cave, Mu Sanniang, Cheng Dani, and Cheng Ernii lay on the waterproof mat. Cheng Ling unzipped the sleeping bag and used it as a blanket for them.


    ¡°Brother Ling, is this for the noble?¡± Cheng Ernii asked curiously. ¡°Did you get this from Commander Kang who was killed?¡±


    Before Cheng Ling could reply, Cheng Dani spat, ¡°Bah! What noble? That¡¯s an evil ghost!¡±


    Cheng Ernii immediately stopped asking questions and curled herself up into a ball.


    Tsk, who cares where she got it from, as long as it¡¯s useful.


    So what if it had been used by evil spirits? Even if it had been used by the king of hell, as long as it could make their days of escape slightly better, she, Cheng Ernii, would treat it as a treasure and cherish it.


    Sanniang Mu wanted to pull Cheng Ling in to sleep, but Cheng Ling said, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the fire, it¡¯s more comfortable to sit there.¡±


    Hong Guangyi and Shi Hong were still sitting by the fire. Mu Sanniang opened her mouth and was about to ask Cheng Ling to stay away, but she remembered that cheng ling was a ¡°man¡± now. What else could she care about on the road of escape?


    In the end, Third Aunt Mu didn¡¯t say anything.


    She only beckoned to the two children, Hong Xiaolang and Lady Yun, and said, ¡°Good children, come to Yingluo, Yingluo will take you to sleep.¡±


    On one hand, it was out of kindness for the child, but on the other hand, it was also a bit deep. She was actually thinking, ¡°Your child is with me. You can¡¯t harm my child, right?¡±


    Mu Sanniang didn¡¯t dare to voice out her thoughts, only keeping them in her heart.


    Shi Hong and Hong Guangyi were extremely grateful. They thanked Mu Sanniang repeatedly and urged the two children to hurry over.


    In the middle of the night, Cheng Ling, Shi Hong, and Hong Guangyi sat in a triangular formation around the fire. They sat and sat, and in the end, Shi Hong couldn¡¯t hold on any longer and fell asleep on Hong Guangyi¡¯s shoulder.


    Hong Guangyi put him down so that he could rest on his legs more comfortably.


    After sleeping for four hours, Shi Hong woke up with a start. He sat up straight and asked Hong Guangyi to rest on his lap for a while.


    Hong Guangyi was extremely tired. He unceremoniously laid on Shi Hong¡¯s lap and said, ¡°Brother Shi, you¡¯re finally awake. My leg is numb from your sleep!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed, I¡¯m ashamed. Brother Hong, please have a good sleep.¡± Shi Hong hurriedly smiled apologetically.


    Hong Guangyi laughed and turned to look at Cheng Ling.


    He saw Cheng Ling sitting upright on the other side of the fire. She closed her eyes slightly and kept her hands in her dantian. Her posture was cold, as if there was a layer of light in the night.


    At first, Hong Guangyi was worried that Cheng Ling wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep well, so he thought about asking her to come over and share a pillow with her.


    But when he looked up, he suddenly felt that if he really invited her, it would be like¡­ blaspheming Brother Cheng.


    Uh, no, no.


    Hong Guangyi¡¯s thoughts suddenly changed. He thought that Cheng Ling was a very mysterious person. It was impossible that she couldn¡¯t take care of herself. He shouldn¡¯t be a busybody.


    With that thought, Hong Guangyi fell asleep peacefully.


    He didn¡¯t want to disturb Cheng Ling, which was the right thing to do.


    Cheng Ling was in a very wonderful state.


    Earlier, she had done her routine of standing on the taiji stance again. However, there was no moonlight in the second half of the night, so she did not manage to collect any moonlight essence.


    However, even though she was unable to absorb any new energy, the benefits of standing still existed.


    After completing her stance, Cheng Ling felt refreshed. The Yin and Yang Qi in her body were harmonious and active, and they circulated around each other. She vaguely felt like her sense of them had deepened.


    Later, when they sat by the fire, Cheng Ling used the breathing method mentioned in the book Grandpa Mu left behind.


    She had used this book to fool Mu Sanniang before. Now that she was sitting by the fire, she decided to use the breathing technique Grandpa Mu had left behind to pass the time.


    She didn¡¯t expect to be surprised by this practice.

 Chapter 35

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    The breathing technique that Grandpa Mu left behind seemed to be especially sensitive to the energy in Cheng Ling¡¯s body.


    Cheng Ling closed her eyes and suddenly realized that the thin layer between her and the Yin and Yang Qi seemed to have been removed.


    For the first time, she touched the two Qi so clearly, and it was as if she could really see them with her ¡°naked eye¡±!


    The two Qi ran side by side, passing through the meridians and bone marrow. Along the way, the moonlight scattered a faint silver glow, and the sun¡¯s energy left a faint warmth. This Yin and Yang nourished her internal organs and meridians, causing her body to change without her knowing.


    Cheng Ling knew that these changes were actually slow. If she really wanted to see the obvious effect, she still needed to persist for a long time.


    But wasn¡¯t it a good thing that perseverance would lead to progress?


    She observed the energy in her body and saw that after it had circulated through the bones and meridians, it had automatically returned to her dantian.


    At this time, there was actually a slight loss of energy. Strengthening the body required energy, which was not a problem.


    She could increase her energy by absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon. Eating the five grains and meat could also increase her energy. This kind of absorption and consumption was basically an intuitive way of improving her body¡¯s blood circulation.


    Putting aside the fact that she could directly absorb the essence of the sun and moon and could see the subtle changes in the energy in her body, her microcirculation was an innate ability of every living being.


    Cheng Ling thought, ¡°Is this a special ability? No, perhaps I can see it as a deep level of genetic liberation.¡±


    This was the after-effect of having received a scientific education. No matter what problem it was, they always wanted to use a scientific way of thinking to interpret it. For someone like Cheng Ling, even if she had been practicing traditional martial arts since she was young, she couldn¡¯t control this kind of thinking.


    She had also specially divided the energy in her dantian into equal quantities.


    For example, if she fully absorbed the moonlight energy once, she would be able to harvest about six times. Then, the total moonlight energy she had now was 6.2.


    The extra 0.2 was formed from the food she absorbed.


    The energy from the sun was slightly lesser because there had been no sun for the past two days. She had used up a bit of energy when she was dealing with little Li earlier, so she only had 5.2 points of energy left.


    The energy from the food would automatically separate, with half of it flowing into the moonlight energy and the other half flowing into the solar energy. It was very balanced, and it could be said that the bowl of water was very flat.


    There were two main things Cheng Ling needed to train.


    One was to control energy and release it.


    Just like that time, she had only thrown a branch from a distance, and it had easily killed the ferocious alpha wolf.


    The moonlight energy attached to the branch was like a divine artifact.


    Second, he had to train more to strengthen his body.


    If her physical body could be strengthened and her dantian could be expanded, not only would her basic combat strength be greatly increased, but the amount of energy that could be stored in her dantian would also be more.


    More energy could help her build up her body faster, and it would also allow her to gather materials and process medicinal herbs more freely, without having to worry about insufficient energy.


    This was a virtuous cycle.


    Cheng Ling sat down and meditated. For a moment, her thoughts were clear, as if she had entered a wonderful realm.


    The next morning, Shi hong was the first to wake up and exclaimed, ¡°Brother Cheng, what are you doing?¡±


    The sky was already bright, and the fire had already gone out. Cheng Ling was still sitting in the same place.


    But Cheng Ling was surrounded by a pile of wild animals!


    There were about three or four snakes that had their seven-inch ends snapped. There were also five roe deers that didn¡¯t seem to have any wounds on the outside but seemed to be dead.


    Shi Hong swallowed his saliva, feeling a little dazed.


    Cheng Ling said, ¡°This little thing is used to staying in the day and coming out at night. It rarely comes to strangers. It just happened to come over at night and give us food. ¡±


    Shi Hong was dumbfounded for a moment after hearing how she said it so casually. He then cupped his hands at Cheng Ling and sighed. ¡°Brother Cheng is extraordinary.¡±


    He only said these four words and didn¡¯t know how to describe the rest.


    Although there were only a few snakes and roe deers, there didn¡¯t seem to be any particularly fierce animals. But one had to know that Cheng Ling had killed these wild animals in the middle of the night without making any noise.


    Not revealing any movements and not waking up the few people who were already in light sleep, this was a skill!


    Cheng Ling smiled faintly and looked down at her own hand. She actually felt that it was quite magical.


    Her strength had clearly increased significantly compared to before!


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t think it was entirely the result of cultivating the yin and yang qi through the night. The strengthening of the body by Yin and Yang Qi was a long-term process, and the effect would not be so fast.


    This was mainly due to the previous ¡°strength +1¡±.


    This special attribute point had increased Cheng Ling¡¯s strength by 20 to 30 percent.


    This improvement was all-rounded. After her strength increased, along with her original martial arts techniques, Cheng Ling¡¯s overall combat quality didn¡¯t just increase by one.


    At 7:35 am, the sun hadn¡¯t come out yet, and the sky was still gloomy. Cheng Ling and the others finally led their horses, handcarts, and luggage out of the mountains.


    Cheng Ling had already secretly looked at the King Linhai¡¯s military map that she had collected from Kang Ping, so she naturally had a clearer plan for the route.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not go any further,¡± she said. ¡°After traveling ten miles east, we¡¯ll head north.¡±


    No one had any objections and listened to her words.


    After going down the mountain, the carriage could finally sit up. Cheng Ernii was the most delighted. She excitedly climbed onto one of the carriages and made a driving gesture, shouting, ¡°Go!¡±


    The horse didn¡¯t move, and Third Aunt Mu glared at her, ¡°Do you know how to drive? You¡¯re going! Be careful that this horse will lead you into the ditch!¡±


    Of course, Cheng Ernii didn¡¯t know how to drive a carriage. She had never even touched a horse¡¯s hair in her life, so how could she know how to drive a carriage?


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t know how to drive a carriage. She knew how to ride a horse, but she had never driven a carriage before.


    However, Third Aunt Mu had driven an ox-cart before. She said, ¡°It¡¯s more or less the same, we have to keep this animal in control and not let it lose its temper.¡±


    In the end, Hong Guangyi was in charge of driving one of the two carriages, while Mu Sanniang was in charge of the other.


    Shi Hong and the two children sat in Hong Guangyi¡¯s carriage. as for Mu Sanniang, Da Ni, Er Ni, and Cheng Ling sat together.


    Although the carriage did not have a roof, there were guardrails one and a half feet high on all three sides. In the driver¡¯s seat in front, Third Aunt Mu sat upright, flicking her whip and shouting, ¡°Go!¡±


    The horse moved and Cheng Ernii cheered, ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± The carriage jolted, and she laughed again. She was actually much more lively than the two children, Hong Xiaolang and Lady Yun.


    Cheng Ling felt the carriage shake and her waist hurt from the back. The sky was dark and the road ahead was always worrying, but to have such laughter on the road, the whole world seemed to have become brighter.


    Laugh, why can¡¯t you laugh?


    Finding joy in suffering was also a kind of ability!

 Chapter 36

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    With the carriage as a means of transportation, the distance of ten miles was covered in a flash.


    After about 15 minutes, the turning point appeared in front of everyone.


    At this time, Cheng Ernii was still very excited.


    Although she was also in pain from the jolting, she could still weave a bamboo hat with thin wicker while sweetly saying to Mu Sanniang, ¡°Mother, tell me about the tricks of driving a carriage. When I learn it, I can take your place, so you can rest.¡±¡±Although Cheng Ernii¡¯s temperament was a little off, she was not careless at all.¡±


    Her weaving skills were especially good. When she was in her hometown, she would often weave bamboo baskets, flat bamboo, bamboo baskets, and so on and sell them at the market to supplement her family¡¯s income.


    Cheng Dani was not idle, either. Her weaving skills were not as good as Cheng Ernii¡¯s. When she sat in the carriage, she carried a small shallow basket on her legs, and from time to time, she flipped through the honeysuckle that had not completely dried yesterday.


    At the same time, she was also holding a needle, thread, and sackcloth in her hands. She was imitating Cheng Ling¡¯s canvas bag to make a satchel. Cheng Ling¡¯s bag opened Cheng Dani¡¯s eyes. ¡°This thing is convenient, much better than a kasaya.¡±


    A kasaya was a kind of carry-on bag commonly used by the ancient people. A wide cloth belt hung down in the middle, which could be directly draped over the shoulder, and a square cloth bag was connected from the two ends to the waist.


    To be honest, the capacity of the kasaya was not small, but because the strap on the shoulder was not sealed, the kasaya could easily fall off when people ran, and Cheng Dani felt very unsafe.


    The slanted bag was much more convenient. She could carry it in front of her and carry the basket on her back. When running, the shoulder straps could still be worn firmly on the person¡¯s body, which gave Cheng Dani a full sense of security.


    ¡°I want to make three more satchels. Let¡¯s all carry these satchels and bring some important things with us,¡± she said.


    What was it?


    For example, food like wild vegetable balls and dried meat. And¡­ money.


    When they were in the cave, Cheng Ling had secretly given money to her two sisters and Mu Sanniang.


    She gave her two sisters thirty wens each and ten taels of silver. At that time, Mu Sanniang was so scared that she clutched the silver tightly, her eyes fixed on Cheng Ling.


    ¡°Shush¡­¡± Cheng Ling gestured with her hands and turned to look in the direction of Lu County.


    Mu Sanniang quickly put the silver away, her lips moving a few times. She had a ¡°tacit understanding¡± with Cheng Ling about the origin of the silver.


    Cheng Ling still had twenty taels of silver, ten taels of gold, and some scattered copper coins.


    It was safer for her to keep the majority of her money in her dimensional pocket. In addition, she had been working and living independently for many years in her previous life, so she was used to managing her own finances.


    On the other side of the carriage, several people were also not idle.


    As Hong Guangyi drove the carriage, Hong Xiaolang sat next to him and copied Cheng Ernii¡¯s method of weaving.


    He knew how to weave a basket backpack, but he didn¡¯t do it very well. It was crooked, and some branches couldn¡¯t tie it tightly. However, for a child who had just learned how to weave yesterday, this was already very good.


    Shi Hong was sitting there weaving rattan shoes, and Lady Yun was also doing it with him obediently.


    After spending so much time in the mountains, their shoes had long been worn out. They had to find new shoes to replace them, or it would be difficult to walk.


    The Cheng Family had already had Cheng Ernii weave several pairs of straw shoes and put them in the bag, so they didn¡¯t need to worry about this problem for the time being.


    Hong Guangyi led the way in his car. There was a fork in the road to the north, but it led up along a mountain peak.


    The west side of the road was clearly a high mountain, while the east side was empty. There were no guardrails or shelter. The road meandered upward, like a sharp knife that forcibly cut into the stone mountain.


    ¡°The hanging mountain road!¡± Hong Guangyi exclaimed.


    This was the shortcut that could cut into Yun An County.


    If he took this route, he would be able to reach Yun An County at the fastest speed possible. Then, he would be able to reach red cloud city through Yun An County.


    However, this road was undoubtedly very dangerous. If he slipped down the slope, it would be a narrow escape.


    King Linhai¡¯s army route also clearly indicated that this was a route that had been studied before being helplessly abandoned.


    Cheng Ernii, who had been excited all the way, was also a little shocked. She blurted out, ¡°Brother Ling, are we going to take this path? Are you really not doing business with the king of hell?¡±


    Third Aunt Mu immediately spat at her and scolded ¡°Pei pei pei, if you don¡¯t know how to speak, then shut up!¡±


    Cheng Ling got off the carriage and stood at the foot of the mountain road. She looked up and carefully observed for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s not that dangerous. It looks scary now only because the mountain is high, and we¡¯re looking up from the bottom.¡±


    After a pause, she said, ¡°Mother, Eldest Sister, Second Sister, Brother Shi, Brother Hong, if we want to reach Red Cloud City before King Linhai, this road is the most likely to achieve our goal.¡± If you don¡¯t want to, we can choose another route, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Third Aunt Mu said resolutely, ¡°Let¡¯s go this way! ¡°We¡­ we can¡¯t do anything big, but I don¡¯t want to run away anymore.¡±


    At this point, she lowered her voice slightly. ¡°This King Linhai massacred a city. Let¡¯s go faster and report this. If Lord Jun can stop him, then we shouldn¡¯t waste our time.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Hong Guangyi quickly said. Isn¡¯t it just a mountain road? We¡¯ve already experienced a city-wide massacre, so why should we be afraid of this?¡±


    Since he had decided to leave, he had to feed the horse again before going up the mountain.


    The two horses that Cheng Ling had snatched could be considered the best battle horses from Kang Ping. One was maroon, and the other was dark brown. They were both well-fed and well-built.


    Unfortunately, Cheng Ling didn¡¯t have any good grass to feed them, so she could only lead them to eat some grass on the side of the road and feed them some water.


    As for water, everyone brought three bamboo tubes with them. There were also two buckets of water in the carriage. These two buckets of water were the drinking water for the horses.


    After feeding the horses, Cheng Ling patted their necks and suddenly hugged them, feeding them a milk candy.


    The two horses both liked to eat sugar. When their big tongues rolled over the milk, the brown horse suddenly neighed in joy, and the date red horse followed suit.


    Cheng Ling smiled and patted the two horses. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard, let¡¯s go!¡±


    No one boarded the carriage again. They only let the two children sit in the carriage. Two horses pulled the children, their luggage, and food. The main focus was the five fully-grown roe deers. They began to walk up the mountain.


    The mountain path was indeed as Cheng Ling had said. It looked narrow and dangerous when one looked up, but when one actually walked up, it was actually four or five feet wide.


    If one walked against the mountain wall and didn¡¯t run around, one usually wouldn¡¯t fall down.


    Fortunately, their carriage was small, with a total width of about four feet. As such, the horse could pull the small cart up the mountain road.


    When they reached steep places, everyone would help the horse push the cart. Hong Guangyi and Mu Sanniang were in charge of pulling the reins, while Cheng Ling would support them.


    When it was almost noon, they walked past the road up the mountain and saw a downslope in front of them.


    Hong Xiaolang, who was sitting in the carriage, suddenly turned his head and exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s raining!¡±


    It was raining, but it wasn¡¯t raining where they were. It was raining in the direction they had passed earlier, the south side of the mountain.


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads and see a sudden rain in the south. Bean-sized raindrops fell, but they stood outside the curtain of rain as if they were watching another world.

 Chapter 37

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    There was a saying, sunrise in the East, rain in the West.


    The current phenomenon was that the sun rose in the North and it rained in the South.


    Standing on this narrow and dangerous mountain road, everyone looked in the direction of the rain.


    It was raining in the South, but there was sunlight breaking through the clouds in the sky to the West!


    The clouds parted, and the sun appeared. The red wheel reflected the rays of the sunset. Vaguely, a Rainbow Bridge was set up at the place where the shadow of the mountain and the curtain of rain met.


    The rainbow was out!


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen this kind of mountain, walked this kind of road, and seen this kind of rain,¡± Cheng Ernii suddenly said. ¡°I¡¯ve escaped disaster, encountered wolves, and now I¡¯m still alive¡­ I¡¯ve not lived my life in vain!¡±


    As she spoke, her tears began to fall.


    Tears flowed down her face, but a smile appeared on her face.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t live in vain!¡± Cheng Ernii chuckled. She kept laughing. She laughed so hard that her chest was trembling. She laughed so hard that her eyes were staring at the Rainbow, and her pupils seemed to be reflecting light.


    Third Aunt Mu, who wanted to scold her, didn¡¯t say it out loud. She only said in her heart, ¡°Who wasn¡¯t?¡±


    She then looked at Cheng Ling and thought, ¡®It¡¯s all thanks to my brother Ling.¡¯


    Cheng Ling didn¡¯t feel as emotional as they did. She glanced at Cheng Ernii and thought, ¡°This cheap second sister of mine is an ancient version of an artistic girl.


    She didn¡¯t go to school, and her personality was unpredictable, but this didn¡¯t stop her from having an artistic and sensitive heart.


    Cheng Ling smiled and patted the horse beside her. ¡°Mother, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Yi Xing was on the road again, but this time it was going downhill.


    However, going downhill was not as easy as going uphill. In fact, because the slope was too steep, it was easier for the cart to slide down when the horse was pulling the cart, making it even more difficult.


    Hong Guangyi couldn¡¯t even be bothered to drive the cart. Shi Hong, who had yet to recover from his injuries, was leading the horse in front while he pulled the cart behind.


    In addition, the two girls, Cheng Dani and Cheng Ernii, were also arranged to board the carriage.


    Their weight was just enough to press on the handcart, preventing it from sliding too fast.


    Cheng Ling was also pulling the cart from behind, while Mu Sanniang was leading the horse in front. She said worriedly, ¡°Brother Ling, why don¡¯t you let mother pull the carriage, and you go to the front to pull the horse!¡±


    She was the only one who knew that Cheng Ling was also a girl. Among her daughters, Cheng Ling was the youngest.


    At this moment, Third Aunt Mu¡¯s heart was the most tormented.


    ¡°Mother, just ask big sister to feed me some jerky. I¡¯ll be full and have plenty of strength,¡± Cheng Ling said.


    Sitting in the carriage, Cheng Dani quickly took out a handful of dried wolf meat from her bag and fed it to Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling opened her mouth and caught it. As she chewed, she frowned slightly. Although the wolf meat had been roasted to a rather dry state, it was already the third day. If one were to eat it carefully, there would always be an uncomfortable sluggishness. It was likely that it would go bad!


    ¡°Mother, the wolf meat is about to go bad,¡± she said softly.


    Third Aunt Mu¡¯s expression changed. There were still about ten pounds of dried wolf meat left. If all of it were to go bad, it would be a heartache.


    ¡°Brother Ling, stop eating!¡± She said first.


    ¡°Leave them all for me,¡± he said hurriedly. ¡°I¡¯ll eat the wolf meat when we go down the mountain later.¡±


    Hong Guangyi, who was pulling the cart in front, heard this and quickly said, ¡°Sister-in-law, I can eat too! I won¡¯t hide it from you, I haven¡¯t been full these two days, so let me eat.¡±


    But Cheng Ernii had already taken out a piece of dried meat from her bag and was chewing it as she said, ¡± ¡°It¡¯s salty, fragrant, and delicious! Brother Ling, this isn¡¯t broken!¡±


    ¡°Quick,¡± Third Aunt Mu said, ¡°Give me a bite too.¡±


    In the end, everyone tried the dried meat and said, ¡°It¡¯s not broken!¡±


    The seven-year-old Hong Xiao lang slowly said, ¡°It didn¡¯t go bad when I ate it. I¡¯ve eaten really bad things before. It¡¯s not like this.¡±


    Was it really not broken? Or was it because everyone couldn¡¯t bear to waste food, so they all said this?


    In the end, Cheng Ling concluded that the dried meat wasn¡¯t too fresh, but it shouldn¡¯t be too bad. The reason why she had a strange taste was probably because her tongue was particularly sensitive.


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t just her tongue that had become more sensitive, but her entire five senses-shape, sound, smell, taste, touch-had all been enhanced.


    Her five senses had become more sensitive, and the sound of the wind she could hear seemed to be different from others. This was the biggest problem!


    This should also be the benefit of transporting energy. This indicated that she had further developed her body¡¯s soul.


    Cheng Ling silently digested this conclusion and felt a little happy.


    Although he now had a very picky tongue, this was not a problem. The most important thing was that his five senses were sharp and his combat strength could be improved.


    Third Aunt Mu made a bold decision, ¡°Eat! Even if it¡¯s not bad, eat it all, don¡¯t leave anything!¡±


    Cheng Ernii cheered and immediately began to distribute the dried meat.


    Even though she was sitting in the bumpy and slippery carriage, she still felt as if she was distributing rare delicacies.


    Cheng Dani held up the dried meat and hesitated, not knowing if she should continue to feed Cheng Ling.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, big sister, just let me eat it,¡± Cheng Ling said.


    The practice of martial arts was not about happiness or enjoyment, but to move the heart and endure, to temper oneself into steel.


    Cheng Ling decided to suffer.


    However, when she ate the third piece of dried meat, she was slapped in the face by herself.


    She started to feel nauseous and started to protest from her body to her soul. Even if he had a heart that would rather self-abuse, he still couldn¡¯t stand this!


    She was too naive. She had not cultivated enough.


    Cheng Ling suddenly turned her head. She still had to maintain her image as a master when Cheng Dani asked, so she laughed dryly. ¡°I¡¯m full. Big sister, you guys go ahead.¡±


    She covered her mouth with her hand and used two milk candies to heal herself.


    What Cheng Ling didn¡¯t notice was that almost everyone had seen through her disguise. Even the six-year-old lady Yun had a new understanding of her.


    Little Yun¡¯s mother thought, ¡°So brother Cheng Ling is more picky than my father.¡±


    Her father had opened all kinds of restaurants in Lu County and never got tired of the fine food. However, on the day he took her out of the city, he ate a rotten mantou that had fallen to the ground.


    He even broke off half of it for her to eat¡­


    When the sun set in the West, the people who were eating while walking with great difficulty were about to smoke from their mouths after eating the dried meat. The foot of the mountain was finally in sight.


    Hong Xiaolang, who had been well-behaved all the way, finally revealed some of his child¡¯s nature at this moment. He almost jumped up. ¡°Great, we¡¯re going down the mountain!¡±


    ¡°My dear ancestor, your uncle¡¯s arm hurts. I can¡¯t take it!¡± Shi Hong yelled.


    Before he could finish, his hands went soft, and his knees knelt forward uncontrollably.


    The brown horse raised its front hooves, and with a neigh, it galloped down the main road at the foot of the mountain.


    Hong Guangyi tried to pull the cart from behind but failed. He could only use a strange posture, dragging the cart¡¯s tail with both hands and running with both legs.


    The small slope flashed past, and in the midst of the horses¡¯ cheers, the cart fell.


    Bang!

 Chapter 38

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Bang Bang Bang!


    Not only did the cart fall, but the things on top of it also fell to the ground.


    Then, there was a rustling sound, and the cart fell apart.


    One of the wheels fell on the left, the other on the right, and two pieces of the guardrail of the handcart had also jolted out.


    Hong Xiaolang sat on the ground, feeling dizzy from the fall and wailing.


    ¡°Aiyo!¡± This time, it was Hong Guangyi who cried out in pain.


    He didn¡¯t manage to grab onto the cart and fell down along with it, landing on his butt!


    He looked up and saw a fertile field on the other side of the mountain. In the field, a few farmers were bending over to work.


    There was a young man on the side of the road, carrying two baskets. His mouth was wide open as he looked over at the broken carriage with a dumbfounded look.


    There was a ten-year-old boy beside the young man. The boy stared at Hong Xiaolang and clapped his hands as he laughed, ¡°Dirty child, snot, snot bubbles, dirty face, cry, cry, cry, shame, shame, hehehe!¡±


    Hong Xiaolang was speechless.


    Hong Xiaolang¡¯s dirty face turned red in an instant. He stood up from the ground with his hands bound. He stopped crying and only widened his eyes, glaring at the child.


    The child made a face. ¡°Teehee teehee¡­¡±


    Aiyo, this really made Hong Xiaolang angry!


    Hong Guangyi saw that Hong Xiaolang could still stand up smoothly and still had the strength to be angry. He knew that his fall should not be serious and was relieved.


    He rubbed his butt and stood up. At this time, Shi Hong also limped up from behind. Behind him, Mu Sanniang and Cheng Ling carefully controlled the carriage and also went down the mountain.


    When the young man carrying a pole by the side of the road saw so many people coming down the mountain all of a sudden, and these people even had horses and carriages, he immediately scolded the child beside him, ¡°Stupid child, shut up!¡±


    Then, he looked at Cheng Ling and the others and asked directly, ¡°You came down from the mountain? Why did you come down from the mountain?¡±


    Cheng Ling took a step forward and said, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not easy to climb the mountain.¡±


    These words resonated with the young man. He nodded repeatedly and said in agreement, ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. You guys can actually flip it over. That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    Because of this resonance, the distance between the two sides was shortened.


    Cheng Ling started asking him about the specific location and how far Yun An County was from here.


    As she spoke, she didn¡¯t forget to observe her surroundings.


    He saw tall mountains behind him, but fertile soil in front of him. Further away, the faint outline of green mountains could be seen. Under the light of the setting sun, they looked extremely beautiful.


    The farmers were working in an orderly manner. At the end of the eastern field, there seemed to be the green shadows of houses, the cries of chickens and dogs, and the rising smoke.


    Such an ordinary countryside scene almost instantly broke Cheng Ling¡¯s defense.


    After seeing the desolation and the near-death slaughter, Cheng Ling almost thought that the world was broken.


    The voices and smoke in front of her were so rare that it even made her feel dazed for a moment.


    That¡¯s great, at least this place hasn¡¯t been affected by war or disaster.


    The young man with a pole told her, ¡°This is Yun An County. After leaving the village, walk north for ten miles and you¡¯ll be in the county. Do you have relatives in the county?¡±


    Yun An County was ten miles to the North!


    Before Cheng Ling could react, Cheng Ernii¡¯s eyes were already wet with joy.


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes, we¡¯re going to Yun An County!¡± She couldn¡¯t help but interrupt.


    Third Aunt Mu had also been quietly observing the young man. Seeing that his eyes were constantly looking at the hairpin on the ground, her heart suddenly moved, and she hurriedly said, ¡°Little brother, do you want this hairpin?¡±


    The carrying pole youth let out an ¡°ah¡± sound, but his face revealed a stunned expression.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need money,¡± Third Aunt Mu quickly said, ¡°Just use two, no, three roe deers in exchange for us to rest at your house for a night. How about it?¡± Let us eat some soft soup and rice, and prepare some hot water for us to wash up and feed the horses. That¡¯s all!¡±


    This¡­ This was indeed a success! This was good, this was simply too good.


    Before the young man could answer, the child beside him cheered, ¡°Oh! Great, there¡¯s meat to eat tonight! Big brother, Big brother, Quickly agree!¡±


    The young man¡¯s family was a big one. He had five brothers. He was the eldest, called Wang Dazhu. The child beside him was the fourth, called Wang Sidun.


    Wang Dazhu and his second son, Wang ermiao, were already married and had children. In short, there were more than a dozen people in the family, enough to spare two rooms to entertain Cheng Ling and the others.


    Cheng Ling and the rest led their horses and followed Wang Dazhu and his brother into the village.


    Along the way, they attracted many villagers to watch, especially many people who showed particularly curious and envious expressions at the two horses. There were also children running back and forth, wishing they could climb onto the horse¡¯s back and sit down.


    There was no need to mention how lively it was.


    Cheng Ernii was so excited that she whispered to Cheng Ling, ¡°Brother Ling, this place is lively. This is great. I like this place.¡±


    Who wouldn¡¯t like it? Cheng Ling also liked it.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was worried about King Linhai¡¯s rebellion, Cheng Ling would have stopped here and settled down.


    However, he was afraid that the peace in front of him was just a dream. In the blink of an eye, war was coming, and all the good things would be turned into nothing.


    In the Wang family, the group was warmly received.


    At night, the Wang family killed one roe deer, but the five roe deers that Cheng Ling and the others put in the carriage were not dead.


    Cheng Ling had only knocked them out before, then tied the roe deers up with a straw rope and crossed the mountains to bring them here. A living roe deer was fresher than a dead one. They could be killed and eaten on the spot, so there was no need to worry about rotting.


    However, Juan Zi had been tied up tightly and had not been fed, so she probably would not live for long.


    ¡°There are still two more. I¡¯ll bring them to the county to sell tomorrow,¡± Old Master Wang said. He then asked Cheng Ling and the others, ¡°Little brother, are you going to sell your hairpin in the county tomorrow? If you want to sell it, I¡¯ll ask my eldest son to show you the way.¡±


    This is great!


    With the locals leading the way to Yun An County, how could he not agree?


    ¡°Thank you, old man. I¡¯ll have to trouble Brother Wang then,¡± Cheng Ling hurriedly said.


    Wang Dazhu laughed, ¡°No trouble, no trouble.¡±


    After dinner, everyone washed up and settled down.


    Cheng Ling had finally washed her first head since coming to this world. Of course, it wasn¡¯t easy to take her first bath. She didn¡¯t dare to say it, as it would only bring her tears.


    She deliberately chose to take a shower last and then hid in the Wang family¡¯s bathroom alone. She took out the travel-wear shampoo and shower gel from her backpack and washed up.


    He rubbed his body five times, but his head¡­ Heh, he was too embarrassed to mention his head.


    In any case, even modern shampoo wouldn¡¯t be able to completely wash off lice.


    Cheng Ling could only endure it for now. She planned to go to Yun An County tomorrow. After finding out the route and restocking her supplies, she would definitely go to the pharmacy and get some lice medicine!

 Chapter 39

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    Yun An County wasn¡¯t small. It was equivalent to the Wei City of Red Cloud City.


    The next morning, when Cheng Ling and the others arrived at the County Gate, they saw a long line.


    In the long line, there were farmers carrying loads, merchants doing business, scholars hurrying on their way, and other people of unknown identity. In short, it was a lively and bustling scene.


    Cheng Ernii¡¯s eyes could not take it anymore. She sat in the repaired carriage and said excitedly, ¡°Brother Ling, this place is great.¡±


    This was already the umpteenth time she had sighed with emotion.


    Wang Sidun puffed out his chest proudly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, we¡¯re very close to the county city, how can it not be good?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the county like?¡± Cheng Ernii asked. Xiao Si, have you been there?¡±


    Wang Sidun was speechless.


    Great, now that the question was about to be asked, he suddenly shrank his neck and said in a weak voice, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m still young. When I grow up, I¡¯ll definitely go and take a look.¡±


    Cheng Ernii was speechless.


    This guy was bad.


    Cheng Dani glared at her, while Cheng Ernii giggled.


    After a while, it was finally Cheng Ling¡¯s turn to enter the city.


    This time, Cheng Ling was leading a carriage in front, and Wang Dazhu was walking side by side with her.


    When it was the officer¡¯s turn to question him, Wang Dazhu quickly went forward to pay the entrance fee. There were a total of ten people in their group, so that was ten Wens.


    Wang Dazhu had already told Cheng Ling and the others about the entrance fee, so Cheng Ling had already given Wang Dazhu her eight Wens to help pay.


    The officer could tell from Wang Dazhu¡¯s accent that he was a local. He also saw that Cheng Ling and the others were dressed neatly. When his gaze landed on the two horses, he frowned slightly.


    Cheng Ling immediately understood-these two horses were too eye-catching!


    Seeing that the guard was about to make trouble, Cheng Ling quickly stepped forward and grabbed a handful of money.


    She directly took the officer¡¯s hand and stuffed the money into his palm. She imitated Wang Dazhu¡¯s accent and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s a small business. It¡¯s not easy. Please let me pass.¡±


    The officer quietly took the money and grabbed it. He felt that it was about ten Wen and his expression relaxed. He waved his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Don¡¯t occupy the path!¡±


    With this small twist, everyone entered the city.


    After entering the city, Cheng Ernii immediately became cautious. She now knew that this city was not that friendly.


    According to what they had discussed, everyone took their horses and followed Wang Dazhu to the market in the west of the city to sell the hairpin.


    At this moment, Hong Guangyi came in handy. He used to be a butcher and was good at selling things, especially meat.


    ¡°Mother, you guys sell here, I¡¯ll go take a look around,¡± Cheng Ling said.


    Mu Sanniang wasn¡¯t worried about Cheng Ling anymore. Instead, she said, ¡°Go, your second brother Hong is here to look after us, don¡¯t worry about us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Langjun, ¡°Hong Guangyi said hurriedly. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely protect sister-in-law and the two ladies.¡±


    Look at how messy the address was! Cheng Ling laughed.


    She took a horse and left, preparing to buy some food and daily necessities, and ask the merchant for the way to the county.


    After collecting them, using some of them, and giving some money to Mu Sanniang and her two sisters, Cheng Ling still had ten taels of gold and twenty taels of silver. She didn¡¯t have any copper coins left, so she was going to buy some things to exchange for some.


    She also wanted to familiarize herself with the current prices. The original owner¡¯s knowledge was limited, so Cheng Ling had to figure it out herself.


    Then, she realized that the grain price in Yun An County was a bit ridiculous.


    Cheng Ling had asked Wang Dazhu on the way to the county. Last year, they sold summer grain at the price of eleven Wen per bucket of new grain. But now, the price of grain in the grain store was 80 Wen per bucket!


    Why was he selling old grain?


    Because the new grain of this summer had not yet been harvested, the best time to harvest grain would be in another ten days or half a month.


    Not to mention the new and old grains, just the price difference between the sale and purchase was terrifying.


    The waiter¡¯s attitude wasn¡¯t bad. Perhaps it was because Cheng Ling was particularly beautiful, but he was willing to talk to her. ¡°Who says it¡¯s not expensive? I didn¡¯t set the price. It¡¯s hard for my family to even eat food.¡±


    As she spoke, she suddenly pointed her finger up at Cheng Ling and said in a whisper, ¡°It¡¯s the price set by the higher-ups, the grain Chamber of Commerce¡­ Understand? It¡¯s decided, and no one can change it.¡±


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart suddenly trembled. Listening to the voice, she understood a little.


    She cupped her fists to the waiter as a form of thanks and immediately said, ¡°Sorry to trouble you, Brother. Please help me weigh twenty dou of rice.¡±


    One bucket of rice was about 12 catties, so 20 buckets would be 240 catties.


    It wasn¡¯t that Cheng Ling didn¡¯t want to buy more, but if she bought too much, she was afraid it would be inconvenient to bring it along. She was planning to steal ten of these twenty buckets into her bag space.


    Other than that, he also needed to buy some horse food.


    For example, soybeans, sorghum, and wheat bran. These two days had been hard on the two horses. Cheng Ling even felt that they had become thin from hunger and fatigue.


    Although horses could eat grass, they could not just eat grass! What Cheng Ling had bought was only low-level horse food.


    Not to mention the high-end ones, he couldn¡¯t afford them now.


    The shop assistant smiled and replied in a clear voice, ¡°Alright!¡±


    Cheng Ling then asked him about the grain Chamber of Commerce, and the waiter said, ¡°The president is in the county. He¡¯s the famous Marquis of Cuojin of our great Qi. I heard that the Empress Dowager gave him this name!¡±


    Then, he wanted to ask more, but the waiter could not answer.


    When it was time to pay, Cheng Ling asked the shopkeeper again. The shopkeeper smiled but didn¡¯t say anything, so Cheng Ling knew she couldn¡¯t ask anymore.


    After leaving the grain store, Cheng Ling went to the cloth store and bought two rolls of sackcloth. One roll of sackcloth was worth 200 yuan, which was the selling price of the cloth store.


    In fact, there were people who used sackcloth as a currency for trade. Usually, at this time, sackcloth was worth about 180 coins per bundle.


    As for the cotton cloth, there was no cotton cloth in the Qi Kingdom at the moment.


    The commoners wore hemp, while the gentry wore brocade and embroidery. The difference was like heaven and earth.


    Cheng Ling still wanted to buy ready-to-wear clothes, but The Cloth Shop didn¡¯t have any ready-to-wear linen. Silk and silk brocade ready-made clothes were available for sale, but they were shockingly expensive.


    One set cost at least 2000 Yuan. Even if Cheng Ling could afford it, she shouldn¡¯t spend it like this, let alone be so flamboyant.


    Then, Cheng Ling went to the grocery store and bought two clay pots that could be used as pots, ten rough porcelain bowls, and some miscellaneous daily necessities.


    For example, soap, Bath Beans, a combfor homunculus, straw clothes, umbrellas, oilcloths, and so on.


    Finally, he went to the pharmacy and bought a lot of common medicine and ten sets of lice medicine.


    There was no other way. Everyone had to get rid of the lice. After all, lice were contagious!


    One person removing lice was not considered removing lice, but being meddlesome. Everyone removing lice was really removing lice¡­ Hehehe.


    After leaving the pharmacy, Cheng Ling was about to head west to the market when she bumped into someone.

 Chapter 40

    Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation


    At the entrance of the pharmacy, Cheng Ling stopped in her tracks and was about to dodge.


    Unexpectedly, the person staggered and suddenly jumped out, ¡°It¡¯s you¡­¡±


    This voice was familiar!


    It was the person who shot three arrows in a row at the East Gate of Lu County that night to help Cheng Ling repel the enemy. This should be his voice!


    Cheng Ling instantly remembered why this voice sounded familiar. She quickly reached out and supported the person¡¯s body.


    As soon as the two sides came into contact, a strong smell of blood assailed their noses.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s expression changed slightly, but the voice still rang in her ears. ¡°Run, there are, there are pursuers¡­¡±


    The last two words were said very softly and vaguely. If it wasn¡¯t for Cheng Ling¡¯s sharp senses, she wouldn¡¯t have heard it clearly.


    Cheng Ling¡¯s heart trembled. This wasn¡¯t an ordinary expert. If he could suffer such serious injuries, then the people chasing him must be extraordinary.


    This could not be delayed!


    Cheng Ling immediately put a hand under his armpit, helped him up, and put him on the carriage tied to the medicine shop.


    The carriage was filled with all kinds of messy things, but Cheng Ling didn¡¯t care about cleaning them up. She just squeezed him in the middle and covered him with a raincoat. ¡°You hide well!¡±


    After saying this, Cheng Ling sat in the front seat and gently shook the reins, urging the horse to run.


    She knew how to ride a horse, and after yesterday and today, she had learned how to drive from Mu Sanniang.


    Cheng Ling drove the carriage quickly and steadily. Although there were many pedestrians on the road, she was as agile as a fish. Her expression was also very calm, and almost no change could be seen. Not long after, they arrived at the market in the west of the city.


    There, someone was pulling Hong Guangyi¡¯s arm, saying that he wanted to buy a horse instead of a hairpin.


    How could this horse be sold so easily?


    When Cheng Ling arrived, she saw Hong Guangyi¡¯s eyes suddenly widen. He took out a polished knife from his bag.


    Although it was just a vegetable knife, in Hong Guangyi¡¯s hands, it already had the bloody smell of a butcher¡¯s knife.


    He raised the kitchen knife, and under the man¡¯s terrified gaze, he cut the throat of a roe deer in front of the stall.


    Her eyes, which were already in a daze, only whimpered softly, and then blood spurted out, spilling on the ground.


    The merchant who wanted to buy a horse was speechless.


    Hong Guangyi said in a rough voice, ¡°I¡¯m not selling the horse!¡± The hairpin was killed on the spot, do you want it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes!¡± The merchant immediately nodded his head vigorously.


    As he spoke, he took out two strings of money from his sleeve and threw them in front of Hong Guangyi. He then dragged the hairpin to the ground and walked away quickly with his head lowered.


    Wang Dazhu¡¯s eyes lit up, and Wang Sidun¡¯s face was full of envy. Hong Guangyi wiped the blood off his face and carefully handed the money to Sanniang Mu. The smile on his face became simple and honest again. ¡°Sister-in-law, we¡¯ve earned some money.¡±


    Third Aunt Mu hurriedly took it, not knowing how to respond.


    Fortunately, Cheng Ling came over and said, ¡°Pack up, we¡¯re leaving the city.¡±


    Everyone agreed with Cheng Ling¡¯s words, so Hong Guangyi started to pack up.


    Actually, there wasn¡¯t much to pack. The two roe deers had been sold out, and the Wang brothers¡¯ roe deers had also been sold out. On the other hand, Cheng Ling and the others only needed to roll up the broken mat on the ground, and everyone got into the carriage.


    ¡°Big sister, second sister, I have a lot of things in my car,¡± Cheng Ling said. ¡°You can all sit in Second Brother Hong¡¯s car. Mother, you can sit in our car.¡±


    After the distribution, everyone got into the car. Cheng Ling then said to Wang Dazhu and his brother, ¡°Brother Wang, thank you for your hospitality yesterday. You guys should also hurry home! The martial world is a long way, we¡¯ll meet again if fate allows!¡±


    With that, he cupped his fists and drove away.


    Before they left Xi City, they saw a group of people rushing towards them. The leaders were all dressed in official uniforms and they were shouting, ¡°Get out of the way! Move! Take a closer look, have you seen this person before?¡±


    The person in the lead was holding a portrait. The man in the portrait had Phoenix eyes and a pair of eyebrows. Although the drawing wasn¡¯t very vivid, one could still vaguely see that it was the man Cheng Ling had hidden in the carriage!


    Cheng Ling¡¯s path was blocked by this group of people. She immediately reined in her horse and got off the carriage.


    She cupped her fists and smiled, ¡°Sir, who is this? I¡¯ve never seen him before.¡±


    Seeing that the official¡¯s gaze was on the carriage, he quickly said, ¡°It¡¯s for the sake of our family. We¡¯re doing some business. These are all stored goods. I¡¯m sorry to see you like this.¡±


    As she spoke, she held hands with the officer and took the opportunity to give him a Golden Pearl.


    The officer took the Golden Pearl in his hand, and his eyes widened. He couldn¡¯t help but put the Golden Pearl in his mouth and bite it. After biting it, he quickly waved his hand. ¡°Since you¡¯ve never seen it before, don¡¯t block the way! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Cheng Ling quickly got back on the carriage and whipped the horse, quickly driving it away.


    Hong Guangyi quickly followed him without a word. He only focused on driving.


    Very quickly, the two carriages had traveled three to five hundred feet. Just as they were about to turn and leave the market street, the officers who had been dazzled by the Golden Pearls behind them suddenly reacted.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s something wrong with that kid!¡± One of them exclaimed.


    Immediately after, the officers shouted, ¡°The kid in front, stop! Stop the carriage and get off the horse, or else you¡¯ll be thrown into jail for a serious crime!¡±


    Since the officer had already said so, how could Cheng Ling stop?


    Not only did she not stop, but she also whipped the horse to increase the speed of the carriage. She reminded Hong Guangyi,¡±Second Brother Hong, quickly follow!¡±


    Hong Guangyi followed closely behind. The two of them rode the carriage and sped through the streets of the city. Cheng Ling took the lead and headed straight for the north gate of Yun An County.


    After exiting the North City gate and walking another fifty miles North, it was said that they would reach the county city of Yunchuan County, which was also known as Red Cloud City!


    The horse carriage galloped, and the officers behind could not catch up with it on foot.


    However, behind the officials, there was another group of people dressed in a variety of clothes. These people looked like idlers on the street, but a few of them were particularly strong.


    ¡°What a good thief!¡± Someone said. Chief Zhang, how about I catch up with him?¡±


    ¡°Hurry up, I¡¯ll put in a good word for you in front of the county Lord!¡± The officer said.


    ¡°Alright!¡± The man laughed, then took a long bamboo pole in his hand and strode in the direction of Cheng Ling¡¯s carriage.


    This person¡¯s speed was terrifyingly fast. Seeing that he could easily leap twenty to thirty feet, this already far exceeded the limits of ordinary people.


    Cheng Ling turned around and saw that he was about to throw the bamboo pole at Hong Guangyi!


    ¡°Mother, arrows!¡± Cheng Ling immediately said.


    Mu Sanniang quickly handed the crossbow to Cheng Ling.


    Cheng Ling pulled on the reins and turned around to shoot an arrow!


    The mechanism was buckled down, and this sharp weapon from the modern era once again stably displayed its power.


    The arrow never disappointed Cheng Ling. It instantly shot out. Whoosh!


    The meteors chased the moon and hit the left leg bone of the person who was chasing after him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The pursuer fell to the ground with a scream.


    Cheng Ling turned around and continued driving.