The people inside and outside the door locked eyes, recognizing each other from a previous brief encounter. They looked even more disheveled than when they first met.
Old Gu Six: These two are really lucky, so many people couldn't catch them.
The man and woman outside: Is this the fate the fortune-teller spoke of?
No, where on earth is this person going? Based on their previous direction, they should be heading north, so why the hell did they take a turn?
Are they just going in circles for fun?
"Remember to close the door when you come in," Old Gu Six said indifferently as he turned back to his own shed.
The left and right sides of the main hall were occupied, with the eight people who had just entered resting in the front hall.
They had chopped up the Buddha's donation box to use as firewood.
Buddha: This is somewhat lacking in virtue.
The three groups did not interfere with each other. Outside, the fierce wind continued to howl, though the hailstones were becoming smaller and less dense.
Chang'an watched as her Old Six Dad finished his dinner, then devoured a tomato and a handful of dried banana chips.
"Dad, do you know what a greasy old man is?"
"No idea," Old Six shook his head honestly as he chewed on some beef jerky. It was the first time he had heard this term.
"It's okay if you don't know. When you become fat, flabby, and your face is all shiny with oil, look in the mirror and you'll understand."
"Don't worry, daughter. I practice martial arts and exercise. I'll never end up like that. I'll always be your most handsome dad." As he finished speaking, he wolfed down two more grilled shrimp.
Chang'an: ...
You glutton!
This stomach connected to outer space was truly beyond her comprehension. But what could she do? This was her biological father, it's not like she could throw him away, right?
She could only be more diligent in taking things out of the refrigerator to let it restock, otherwise it couldn't keep up with Old Six Dad's eating speed.
Chang'an laid out her bedding and lay down to sleep. Seeing his daughter was about to sleep, Old Gu Six also stopped eating.
He sat cross-legged nearby, closing his eyes to practice his internal martial arts. The shed was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and Chang'an fell into a peaceful sleep.
In such a quiet environment, even the slightest sound could be infinitely amplified. Perhaps the group outside was too confident, as they brazenly began to discuss their affairs.
Though their voices were low, those trained in martial arts had keen hearing, and Old Gu Six heard everything clearly.
A woman's hushed voice said, "We've searched all the places the master mentioned but found nothing. Could the master's information be wrong?"
Another man said softly, "It can't be wrong. The information came from the palace. The Military Command Token must just be hidden too well and hard to find. We'll go to the last house now. If we still can't find it, we'll have to use special methods."
"Is there a possibility that the Military Command Token has been in the palace all along, and the released information was just a smoke screen?"
"Look at how ridiculous the Old Emperor is these days. Does he have the brains for that now? Even if the token was in his hands, it would have been tricked away by treacherous officials long ago."
"We've overlooked someone."
"Who?" Everyone looked at the woman in unison.
The woman coughed lightly, her voice even softer, "The Fifth Prince's maternal family, the former General King, Sheng Qu."
"The Sheng Family was executed down to the ninth degree of kinship ten years ago, not even sparing newborn babies. The Fifth Prince also died of illness at that time. Even if the token was in the General King's hands before, it would have been taken back by the emperor then, or fallen into someone else's hands."
"No, you've forgotten there's still one person related to the General King. He was cast out of the family and later disappeared, so he was overlooked during the execution."
"The third son of the Sheng Family, the notorious playboy of the Capital. It's said he was a cut-sleeve, and the Sheng Family expelled him for tarnishing their reputation."
One of them had also heard of the Sheng Third Young Master and continued, "Strangely, the second month after the Sheng Third Young Master was expelled from the family, something happened to the General King's mansion."
"So maybe the Sheng Third Young Master was intentionally expelled by the Sheng Family, and the Military Command Token might be in his hands."
"We can find that Sheng Third Young Master first."
"Do we have a portrait of him?"
Everyone: ...
"Has anyone seen what he looked like when he was young?"
Everyone: ...
"Forget it, let's go to the last house first. If we don't find it, we'll send a message to the master. The master must have seen that Sheng Third Young Master before."
Their entire conversation fell into Old Gu Six's ears, but he treated it as mere gossip, after all, it had nothing to do with him.
Although he didn't know who their master was, staying away from them was the right move. These people had "trouble" written all over them.
Those hiding in the temple safely weathered yesterday's hailstorm, but those outside weren't so lucky. Many who couldn't find shelter in time were killed by the hail.
The next day, there was no more hail, and it was a bright sunny day. Although it was supposed to be winter, it suddenly reverted to summer overnight.
The weather seemed to have gone mad, as if poisoned.
Chang'an changed into summer clothes. When they left, the eight people in the front hall had already departed.
However, that Lin Fucheng was still following behind them. After experiencing days of freely using their refugee space, suddenly having a tag-along again made the father and daughter quite unhappy.
But they couldn't tell him not to follow. After all, they didn't build this road, how could they forbid someone from walking on it?
Old Gu Six deliberately quickened his pace, trying to shake off the person behind.
However, they seemed to have a special affinity with those two black-clad individuals. On the third day, they saw the pair being hunted down again.
This time was even worse. Blood was flowing freely from their bodies, both were injured, and they were carrying another half-dead person as they ran.
The two parties met again.
The man and woman in black: ...
Old Gu Six: ...
He drove his mule cart past them without a sideways glance, and at high speed, as if afraid they might latch onto him.
These two must have been kicked in the head by a donkey, right? Doing bad deeds in broad daylight, they're lucky not to have been killed.
The two people, carrying a severely injured person, watched as the mule cart kicked up a cloud of dust, speeding past them like the wind.
They were speechless once again.
Old Gu Six reached a three-way fork in the road. Without much hesitation, he chose the path that looked the most appealing and urged his mule to gallop forward at full speed.
Lin Fucheng, who had been chasing them all along, was delayed for just a moment and when he reached the fork, he was stumped. He had lost them.
He thought since they were all heading north on the same road, he should catch up in a couple of days if he hurried.
For some unknown reason, following Old Gu Six made him feel more at ease.
However, he chased and chased, pursuing for a month without catching sight of the father and daughter. Instead, he encountered more and more refugees fleeing northward.
How fast were they running? Didn't they ever rest?
He had no idea that Old Gu Six was actually heading in the opposite direction from them. This time, though, Old Gu Six hadn't taken a wrong turn or backtracked.
Their direction was north too, but they weren't heading to the same place.
This Old Six had nearly taken his daughter out of the country, leaving Chang'an utterly speechless.
"Father, I just want to ask, how come you never get lost when hunting in the mountains?" Chang Le inquired.
Old Gu Six scratched his head, looking a bit sheepish as he replied, "I do get lost in the mountains sometimes, but when I can't find the way down, I can fly up to take a look around. It doesn't matter which path I take down the mountain, as long as I can get home."
"So that time we spent so long walking in the mountains, did you actually get us lost?" She strongly suspected that Old Six had been leading them astray.
"No, didn't you see me frequently flying up to the treetops to check our direction?" This was his last shred of dignity as a father; he couldn't admit the truth.
Besides, if they hadn't gotten lost, how would Chang Le have met the Apprentice of the Divine Doctor? How would Mu and the others have found a place to settle?
