The young girl pushed forward by the woman shyly looked at Old Gu Six, showing no sign of unwillingness.
Chang'an thought: Another day of "what the dog?!"
Big sister, is something wrong with your brain? Why are you acting shy towards an old man? Even if he is good-looking, he's still an old man.
"Are you sure you want to sell your daughter to my father?" Chang'an rolled her eyes dramatically.
Old Gu Six's gaze remained fixed on his daughter. Seeing her roll her eyes, he found it adorably endearing.
The woman nodded firmly. One look at this family and she could tell they were well-off. If they could establish a connection through marriage, her son could benefit greatly.
Chang'an took a sip of water and said, "My father is simply inhuman. He likes to beat women. My mother was beaten to death by him. He's always unreasonable. After killing his wife, he even takes it out on her family. My grandparents and uncles were all buried alive by him.
If you think you can handle his temper, you can sell your daughter to be his eighth wife. I'll even acknowledge her as my stepmother.
Yes, you heard right, the eighth. He kills one every year. The deaths of the in-laws weren't all from being buried alive. Some were beaten to death, some were burned alive, and others were thrown to the wolves in the mountains."
The woman stared in disbelief, her eyes wide. "The... the eighth?"
"That's right. If she marries my father, she'll be my eighth mother. So, do you want to make the trade or not?"
The people around them fearfully backed away, keeping a distance of ten zhang. What kind of monster was this?
Old Gu Six's mouth twitched. His daughter was earnestly ruining his reputation, but he didn't stop her. If this 'good' reputation spread, they might have some peace on the road.
They had been truly annoyed lately, with people frequently approaching to bother them.
He even played along by kicking the woman's son and slapping her husband twice, portraying the image of a short-tempered man with violent tendencies.
The young girl and her mother turned pale with fright. They quickly helped the son (brother) up and left without a word. This man looked decent, but who knew he was capable of such atrocities.
They'd better find a normal person to trade meat for their son. Having meat is useless if you're not alive to eat it.
The Lin family of three looked at Chang'an and Old Gu Six as if they had learned something new. They didn't believe what Chang'an said, treating it as if she was speaking nonsense with a straight face.
This series of wild actions had a good effect; no one dared to approach and bother them anymore.
Chang'an was curious about how these people had escaped to this place. How did they avoid being conscripted by the Jing King along the way?
"The Jing King's fief is in internal strife. We took advantage of the chaos to slip through," Lin Fucheng felt that life had become unbearable. They thought escaping from the south would make things better, but they didn't expect the outside to be just as chaotic.
Chang'an looked up at the gloomy sky. "Father, let's find a place to rest."
The weather was getting colder. It looked like it would either snow or rain, neither good for traveling.
Old Gu Six also glanced at the sky. "Daughter, hold on tight," he said, then cracked his whip on the mule. The cart no longer moved leisurely but galloped forward.
Fortunately, others intentionally avoided them, so they could move quickly.
This place had no villages or inns nearby. If they didn't hurry, they might end up getting caught in the rain.
Lin Fucheng followed them, feeling that this father-daughter pair seemed like experienced refugees. Following them couldn't be wrong.
An hour later, they found an abandoned, dilapidated temple. When the main door was pushed open, it made a dull creaking sound. The Buddha statue standing in the center was covered in dust.
The main hall of the ruined temple was vast, able to accommodate fifty to sixty people. On the left and right sides stood or sat over a hundred bodhisattvas whose names Chang'an didn't know, all covered in a thick layer of dust.
"How could such a large temple be abandoned?" Lin Fucheng found it unbelievable. He could understand small temples being abandoned due to lack of incense offerings, but building such a large temple would have required significant manpower and resources. How could they bear to let it fall into ruin?
"When the incense offerings dwindle, it naturally falls into disrepair."
That made sense. People who worship believe that crowded places with thriving incense offerings are more efficacious, regardless of the temple's size.
Their voices echoed in the main hall, making it seem particularly empty.
A "pitter-patter" sound started on the roof. Chang'an walked to the door to take a look.
"What the...? It's actually hailing?" Hail in winter? This was her first time experiencing it.
Like small stones, hail fell densely from the sky. The heavens seemed unconcerned about potentially killing people, and the hailstones were getting bigger as they fell.
Old Gu Six went out to lead the mule into the main hall. Lin Fucheng followed suit, also fearing his donkey might be killed by the hail.
Chang'an saw that the hailstones were now as big as her fist. She looked up at the roof, expecting that the dilapidated temple's ceiling would likely be smashed into a skylight.
The howling wind blew hail into the main hall. Chang'an, standing at the doorway, was hit by a large hailstone.
Luckily, her clothes were thick, otherwise, she would have been bruised. They all worked together to close the main hall door.
"Father, let's set up a tent inside the main hall using our rain covers."
They had two pieces of rainproof cloth. To be safe, they made a three-layered canopy, with the four supporting points on the roof beams. They had plenty of hemp rope, and Old Six Father's lightness skill made it easy for him to climb up to the beams.
As Chang'an had predicted, even the hail was abnormal in this year of disasters. The roof was smashed by dense hailstones the size of a grown man's fist, and broken tiles came clattering down.
They took shelter in the tent, temporarily safe.
Of course, the Lin family had set up their own tent on the other side of the main hall, keeping to themselves.
The doors and windows of the main hall were in danger of being blown open by the strong wind. Old Gu Six and Lin Fucheng together lifted the heavy incense table and propped it up against the main door. They also moved large bodhisattva statues to block the windows on both sides.
Lin Fucheng clasped his hands and said, "Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha speaks of universal salvation. Please help us overcome this difficulty first. Don't take offense."
By the time he finished his muttering, Old Gu Six had already blocked two windows.
Outside, the sky was pitch black. Once all the windows were blocked, the main hall was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Chang'an took out two prayer candles and lit them. Not hearing any commotion from Lin Fucheng's side, she assumed they also had some form of lighting, so she didn't ask Old Six Father to do a good deed and send them candles.
Not knowing what time it was, Chang'an felt a bit hungry. It must be around dinnertime.
Her space was stocked with firewood, but it wouldn't be wise to use it without reason, especially with strangers present.
Old Gu Six understood immediately. He grabbed a candle and strolled through the main hall, dismantling two small incense tables to use as firewood.
He gave some to Lin Fucheng as well. Their family knelt and bowed before the Buddha statue, murmuring, "Please forgive us, Bodhisattva."
Chang'an entered her space to cook, while Old Gu Six started a fire with the wood he'd brought back. It certainly wouldn't be enough to last the night, so Chang'an tossed out some more from her space.
In the space's freezer, there were wild chickens and rabbits that Old Gu Six had hunted before. Chang'an prepared a stewed wild chicken with mushrooms, a pot of rice, and a dish of stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork.
Old Gu Six pulled down the curtains of the shelter to prevent the aroma from wafting out.
They had just finished dinner, with dishes and utensils still on the table, when the main hall's door was pounded with a loud 'bang bang'. Faint shouts could be heard from outside.
Old Gu Six calmly moved the incense table aside and opened the hall doors. Outside stood seven or eight black-clad men, battered by the large hailstones and looking like wet dogs.
