Mu, Chang'an, and Old Gu Six were waiting outside, while the others had all gone into the town to buy grains.
Because their clothes were tattered and they smelled quite unpleasant, the shopkeeper at the grain store almost didn't sell them grains, thinking they were beggars coming to cause trouble.
After hearing that they were refugees fleeing the famine, the shopkeeper finally didn't drive them away.
The shopkeeper asked them, "Where are you all heading?"
Mu smiled and said, "We're going to the northern lands."
"Phew!" The shopkeeper gasped, looking at Mu as if he was joking.
"Shopkeeper, we really are going to the northern lands," Yang Poxiao handed the money for the grains to the shopkeeper, confirming that they were not joking.
The shopkeeper frowned and asked solemnly, "Do you know about the northern lands?"
They nodded, and Mu said, "We've heard a little about it."
"Heh, I advise you not to go there, or else you've evaded the famine for nothing."
"What do you mean by that, shopkeeper?"
"Not to mention the issue of farming, most of the people living there are court criminals exiled as punishment. It's a place to punish criminals. What are you going there for? Do you think you'll die too slowly?"
"It can't be that serious, can it?" They were a little worried, as their group of more than ten people, except for Old Gu Six, were all weaklings.
"Don't think I'm trying to scare you. Over the years, how many upright court officials have been wrongfully exiled to that place? Most of them didn't live more than a year. Look at you, you're not much better than those scholarly weaklings.
Our town may be small, but the people are kind and honest, and we never bully outsiders. The village chief is an upright and benevolent person. Why don't you consider settling down here?"
"This... we need to discuss it. Thank you, shopkeeper. If we decide to settle down here, please help us meet the village chief."
"Sure, sure," the shopkeeper bowed and saw them off cheerfully.
Watching the group leave, the young assistant asked puzzledly, "Shopkeeper, why did you invite them to settle down in our Autumn Leaf Town?"
For a hundred years, no outsiders had ever settled down in their town, and they had so few people.
"Jin Niu, we're in business. Year after year, it's the same few people coming and going. When will we ever earn enough silver to see the outside world?"
Jin Niu's small eyes lit up as he understood.
He smugly said, "Of course, the more people in Autumn Leaf Town, the better business will be."
"Exactly, you've got a sharp mind. From now on, if we see any refugees fleeing the famine, we can try to sell our town to them. You watch the store, and I'll go talk to the owners of the inns and restaurants."
"Got it, shopkeeper. You can go, I'll take care of the store."
Mu and the others were indeed a little tempted. This was a nice place with green hills, clear waters, and vast fields.
They hesitated for a moment, but Yang Poxiao still spoke up, "Old Six, what do you think of this place? Should we settle down here?"
As soon as he spoke, Old Gu Six knew what they were thinking, but they still wanted to seek his opinion.
Old Gu Six patted his shoulder and said calmly, "If you all like it here, and the locals are willing to accept you, then you can stay."
"But you're not staying?" Mu hurried over, a little flustered.
"No, we still want to walk a bit more. But this is indeed a good place, suitable for settling down."
This wasn't the place he had in mind, and it didn't match his vision.
The first to make the decision was Older Tong's family. "We plan to settle down here. We didn't intend to keep heading north anyway, and this place seems suitable."
Yang Poxiao's brother and their wives all signaled to their husbands that they also liked this place - it was peaceful, quiet, and not too crowded, which was good.
They looked back at their wives and children, gritted their teeth, and decided to settle down here as well.
"Old Six, we won't go with you anymore. They say the people in the northern lands are rough and rugged. We're just ordinary folks, and we fear that we might become a burden to you later on."
Only Mu was left hesitating, with everyone looking at him.
He fell silent for a long while. Initially, he had wanted to stay with Old Gu Six, but as Yang Poxiao said, once they reached the northern lands, they might become a burden to Old Gu Six, which would harm him.
With reddened eyes, he said hoarsely, "I'll stay too. Old Six, may you have a safe journey!"
He gave Old Gu Six the ten pounds of aged rice he had just bought and his last half tael of silver. "This is all I have. Let me pay you back first. When the world is at peace again, I'll find you and pay back the rest, alright?"
Old Gu Six took the half tael of silver but not the rice. "Just take back this half tael for now. You can pay back the rest later." One could be without silver, but not without grains.
Then he turned and left with Chang'an, leaving only the two of them on this journey of fleeing the famine, which was fine.
They hadn't planned on bringing others along from the start.
Mu and the others stood and watched as Old Gu Six and his daughter disappeared into the distance, their figures becoming two black dots before vanishing at the end of the road.
Those who decided to stay picked up their belongings and returned to the town to find the grain shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper smiled and took them to meet the village chief, having contributed to adding new residents to the town and gaining more than a dozen potential future customers.
Chang'an and Old Gu Six stopped in a forest, moving all their belongings from the mule's back into the spatial pocket. They put the empty basket back on the mule, adding two days' worth of grains.
Now it was just the two of them, father and daughter, with hardly anyone else on the road, so they could use the spatial pocket as long as they were careful and made sure no one was around.
The vegetables and fruits from the refrigerator in the spatial pocket could finally be eaten.
She hadn't bathed for several months and was almost suffocated. That night, she let her father guard the campfire while she went into the spatial pocket and scrubbed herself from head to toe, then soaked for half an hour before coming out, feeling like she had shed dozens of pounds.
"Dad, you should go take a bath too. You really stink," she took out clean clothes and soap from the spatial pocket for Old Gu Six and filled a large bath tub with water, setting it about thirty meters away in the woods.
Hearing his daughter say he stunk, Old Gu Six froze, lit a torch, grabbed the clean clothes and soap, and dashed towards the direction she had pointed.
They hadn't had a chance to bathe on the road, right? After the famine, they had only found one suitable water source, a flowing stream, where they had bathed once.
Afterwards, they encountered only mountain springs, and the water flow was not large.
Everyone subconsciously thought they were now fleeing famine, so why would they get so clean just to be slaughtered? They hadn't bathed for two months by now.
In this sweltering heat, two months without a bath, can you imagine how sour and refreshing that smell must be?
The mule lay behind Chang'an, allowing her to lean against it. It must be said that this mule had become sentient. Ever since they threw away the carriage, it had been exceptionally obedient, acting on its own initiative without Chang'an's direction.
It would often make gestures to curry Chang'an's favor, as if afraid that she would also discard it.
From the woods on the right came rustling noises. The mule's long ears twitched, and then it nuzzled Chang'an's back, alerting her that someone was coming.
Chang'an stroked its mule's head, indicating that she knew.
Two figures in black robes emerged from the dark forest, a man and a woman. The man seemed injured, and the woman in black was supporting him.
It so happened that Old Gu Six also returned at this time. Seeing his somewhat disheveled appearance, he must have realized outsiders were present and hurried back.
