In the room, Chang'an and Old Gu Six exchanged a glance. They quickly stowed away the unfinished steamed dumplings into their secret space and opened the window to air out the room.
Sure enough, a knock soon came at the door. Old Gu Six instantly slipped into character, adopting the appearance of a weak, helpless individual.
Chang'an's naturally deceptive appearance, with its innate innocence and naivety, required no acting at all.
They didn't have to pretend, but compared to the hassle of being hunted down for the rest of their journey, a little acting for now wouldn't hurt.
The door opened to reveal two people dressed in black. Old Gu Six understood immediately—their pursuers had been eliminated by a third party, and now these newcomers were searching for the killers.
The men in black were cautious and didn't dismiss their suspicions despite the father-daughter duo's appearances.
One of them, with a sharp gaze, coldly asked, "Did you see anyone when you passed through the forest ahead this afternoon?"
"Yes, when we passed by, there were many people lying on the ground. The blood had stained the earth red. My daughter was so frightened she cried."
Old Gu Six's eyes timely displayed fear and terror, his face turning a shade paler.
The man continued, "Did you see anyone alive?"
"No," Old Gu Six replied. What a stupid question, he thought.
The two men in black stared at him for a long while before leaving. Old Gu Six's phoenix-like eyes narrowed slightly. He had a bold idea but needed to discuss it with his daughter first.
Closing the door, the father and daughter put their heads together. "Daughter, we'll need quite a bit of money to settle down in the future. How about we rob the rich to help the poor... and ourselves?"
"How exactly do you plan to do that?"
"The masters of those two men we just saw must be wealthy. How else could they afford such skilled bodyguards?"
"But we need to know which family they belong to, don't we?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll find out. Just tell me if you're in or not?"
"I'm in. It's faster than setting up a barbecue stall."
The pair's smiles gradually turned manic.
Those people didn't seem like good folks anyway. Anyone who could train guards to kill even innocent passersby couldn't be a decent person. There was nothing wrong with them making a little profit off such people.
Old Gu Six finished the remaining dumplings. Two quarters of an hour later, a waiter came up to clear away the bowls.
Feigning nonchalance, he asked the waiter, "Young man, those two men in black knocked on every guest room door. Aren't you worried they might disturb the guests?"
The waiter sighed helplessly, "We have no choice in the matter. We can't afford to offend them."
"How so?" Old Gu Six raised an eyebrow.
"They're from the Prefecture Governor's Mansion. Commoners can't fight against officials. Besides, with the world in chaos now, the governor wants to declare himself king. We're living on his territory, so even if we have complaints, we have to keep them to ourselves."
"Thank you, brother," Old Gu Six said, giving him ten copper coins as a tip.
The waiter accepted without hesitation, bowing and scraping as he said, "If the guest has any more questions, as long as I know the answer, I'll tell you everything without holding back."
"You can go about your business now. I'll call for you if I need anything."
"Alright then," the waiter flicked his cloth and left with the bowls and chopsticks.
Chang'an stroked her chin thoughtfully and said, "This governor's family must be quite wealthy. If we pull this off, we could live comfortably for a long time."
"We could buy a couple of oxen for plowing, purchase seven or eight mu of land, and still have money left over to hire farmhands," Old Gu Six squatted on the chair, planning their future.
The more he thought about it, the more appealing it became. Robbing the Prefecture Governor's Mansion seemed like an essential step towards their fortune. This could be their key channel to wealth.
"How ambitious! With money, you could marry several wives and have eight or ten children," Chang'an patted Old Six's head, not minding having a few stepmothers. After all, no woman could beat her in a fight.
Old Gu Six suddenly jumped up, looking at Chang'an in disbelief. "You, you, you want to sell me off?"
Chang'an: ???
"I'm your real father. How could you have such thoughts?"
Chang'an: ???
"The money I rob—I mean, earn through hard work, why should I spend it on other women? And have eight or ten children? What kind of good life would I have then?
I could originally live an easy and relaxed life, but just because I married a few more women and had a few more kids, I'd have to work hard and strive for success, toiling like a dog to earn money to support them.
Only a fool would make such a losing deal."
Chang'an: As expected of Old Six, his train of thought is truly unique.
"If you don't want to marry, then don't. As long as you're happy."
"You shouldn't have such dangerous thoughts in the future. Be careful, or your mother might come to find you at night and beat you for being an unfilial daughter."
Chang'an rolled her eyes. If her mother could really come at night, she certainly wouldn't be the one getting scared.
Old Gu Six thought to himself: Heh, you might not believe it, but your mother is right there in your space, listening to your unfilial comments.
That night, a heavy snow fell, covering everything outside in silver. It concealed all evil beneath its pristine whiteness, making everything appear pure and unblemished.
Chang'an and Old Gu Six stayed in the small town for two more days, gathering information about the location of the Prefecture Governor's Mansion and getting a general idea about the governor himself.
To sum it up, he was a nasty 60-year-old man who refused to accept his age, ambitious to compete for the world. Even before establishing his regime, he had started acting like an emperor, raising taxes and increasing corvée labor.
He was even imitating the emperor by holding large-scale selections for concubines.
Chang'an thought: So in this messed-up world, there's not a single good person left, is that it?
Does the Heavenly Way want to save the world or destroy it? The population is already small, and with these natural and man-made disasters working in tandem, even if the world doesn't collapse, it will be in ruins.
Under the bright sun, Old Gu Six checked out of the inn and left the small town with Chang'an.
The winter sun seemed to have no warmth, and it was too cold outside. Chang'an simply went into her space to prepare food.
She made more beef jerky and roasted shrimp, as Old Six loved these.
In the cold weather, some ginger tea with brown sugar would be perfect to warm the stomach. She only had three jin of brown sugar left, but fortunately, it was stored in the refrigerator and could be replenished. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have sugar to eat.
She took a thermos, wrapped it in coarse cloth, and poured the prepared ginger tea with brown sugar into it for Old Six.
Old Gu Six had become quite nonchalant about Chang'an's occasional production of novel items. He had perfected the art of playing dumb and deaf, believing it best not to inquire too much into the affairs of immortals.
Chang'an busied herself in her space, preparing Sichuan-style fish in sour soup. Luckily, she had ready-made seasonings; otherwise, if she had to make the seasonings from scratch, this dish would probably remain a dream.
The Prefecture Governor's Mansion was located in Linyun County, the largest county in Xuantu Commandery, about three hundred li away. At their current pace, it would take them three or four days to get there.
The father-daughter duo had been so focused on fleeing that they had become confused about their primary goal. Originally, their main task was to escape, but unexpectedly, that had become their side job.
Now, they were thinking of crossing boundaries, robbing the Prefecture Governor's Mansion, and making their dreams of getting rich come true.
In the snowy landscape, a large grey rabbit hopped down from the mountain, its eyes meeting Old Gu Six's in a moment of mutual surprise.
The big grey rabbit startled, its ears shooting straight up as it turned to flee.
Perhaps in its panic, it didn't bound far before crashing into a tree and knocking itself out. Old Gu Six stopped his cart and went over to pick it up, hefting the rabbit to gauge its weight - about four or five jin (2-2.5 kg).
He hadn't intended to hunt this rabbit; it was too cold to bother with dressing game.
But to his surprise, it had knocked itself out, and it would be a shame to waste perfectly good meat that had practically delivered itself.
As it was about time for lunch anyway, he found a spot to clear away the snow. He called out towards the cart: "Daughter."
Chang'an emerged from her spatial pocket, bringing along two folding stools - it was too cold to sit on the ground in this weather.
If they had stools, they couldn't do without a table. Conveniently, she had a folding laptop desk in her spatial pocket from her previous life.
After setting up the table and stools, she laid out bowls, chopsticks, and dishes.
As soon as the food appeared, Old Gu Six tossed the rabbit he'd been holding onto the ground. What was a rabbit compared to a good meal?
