Song Qingchao wanted to bend down to pick it up, but Bai Youan grabbed her hand.
"I'll do it."
His voice was tired, but he still firmly pulled Song Qingchao up.
"It's Ma Lide."
Bai Youan grunted, "He should be fine."
"But..." Song Qingchao was still uneasy.
"He'll reach Feng County tomorrow, so it's good for him to have some psychological preparation now."
Song Qingchao frowned, "Don't we need to find him?"
"Find him to beat him up?" Bai Youan squatted, collecting the fragments into his hand. "Don't worry, he won't say anything."
After he dealt with everything, he pushed Song Qingchao back into the carriage to rest.
After Bai Youan helped her into the carriage, Song Qingchao, still worried, lifted the curtain and stuck half her body out. "I still think we should find him."
Bai Youan raised an eyebrow, then put on his mask. "I'll go."
"Hey!" Song Qingchao wanted to call him again.
Bai Youan turned his head, smiled with a curve of his lips, "What else do you want to do?"
"Be careful." Song Qingchao touched the tip of her nose, then spoke softly.
"Okay."
"Clack!" Bai Youan's fan hit Song Qingchao on the head.
Song Qingchao was stunned by the hit, but then froze at Bai Youan's smile.
"You too."
Bai Youan moved closer again.
The overwhelming scent of medicine flooded Song Qingchao's senses.
"Promise me, don't enter Feng County. Wait for me at the city gate."
Before Song Qingchao could speak, Bai Youan withdrew his body.
"Did you hear me?"
Song Qingchao shot him a glare, "I heard."
Then she let down the curtain and awkwardly retreated inside.
Bai Youan smiled helplessly outside, holding his fan.
When the curtain was lifted again.
Bai Youan was nowhere to be seen.
The sun chased the moon, gradually occupying Song Qingchao's field of vision.
She got out of the carriage, feeling that the entire team had changed yet seemed unchanged.
That strange atmosphere still lingered.
She went through her usual routine: washing, eating, and delivering medicine.
But the thing she feared still happened.
Ma Lide and a group of people had disappeared.
When she found Shou Hou, Shou Hou was methodically counting his men.
He was about to send out nearly half of his men to capture Ma Lide.
"You seem to have been prepared," Song Qingchao said, standing beside him.
Shou Hou nodded, but the whip he held tightly revealed his very angry mood. "Mr. Bai spoke to me yesterday. I sent two people, but I didn't expect him to gather so many people to run away."
Song Qingchao looked down at the bandage on her finger, "Is the man who caused trouble yesterday still here?"
"Yes."
Shou Hou paused, "Master, you don't need to worry. Even if they ran, they won't get far."
Song Qingchao understood, of course.
Unfamiliar with the terrain, having been hungry for so many days, and still sick, the initial few people might stick together, but later on, various conflicts would arise due to unequal distribution of benefits.
It wasn't that she thought too badly of people, but it was human nature.
If there was a reasonable leader, it would be fine, but Ma Lide was definitely not that kind of person.
After Shou Hou sent his men out.
The remaining people in the team became even more panicked.
People supported each other, walking with their heads down.
But this oppressive atmosphere soon erupted.
The false illusion finally shattered, and they had to face reality.
The city before them looked like a dead city.
There were only scattered soldiers patrolling the gate, wearing face coverings.
After Shou Hou presented his token, the guard glanced at it and returned it.
"Exiled people, except for those purchasing supplies, are not allowed to enter the city. This is the rule, don't you know?"
Shou Hou spoke very respectfully while slipping some silver into his hand. "Someone here is sick, and we want to find a doctor in the city."
The guard initially ignored Shou Hou.
But when he saw the heavy silver ingot in Shou Hou's hand, he sized him up, then slipped the silver into his sleeve, and whispered to Shou Hou, "For this, I advise you not to go in. It's a dead city inside."
He pursed his lips, "Even finding something to eat will be difficult if you go in now."
Shou Hou couldn't help but frown and asked tentatively, "Can't I buy it even with a lot of money? To be honest, eighty percent of the food we restocked in the last city was soaked by the rain and is inedible."
The guard gave Shou Hou a direct look. "They are prisoners, to be escorted to the harsh lands of Mobei for exile. What they eat on the road, how many people died, and how they died, what business is it of yours? Why are you worrying about that?"
He gestured with his sleeve as if counting money, his eyes darting around. "Getting this is what matters. By then, only one person will be left in your group. As long as you reach Mobei, your task will be over. Why torment yourself?"
Shou Hou maintained a smiling face. "That's what they say, but I can't let people starve to death. We are all human, and I can't push people to their death, can I?"
The guard pointed behind Shou Hou at the yellow-faced crowd supporting each other. "They are no longer human! It is only in Da Yuan that they are left with some dignity. If this were in Beiman, they would have tattoos on their faces, and they would carry shame into the afterlife even in death. Starvation and illness are already the best outcomes for them!"
He said this without lowering his voice.
Everyone heard it.
Everyone's expression changed.
Some desperate people in the crowd threw down their belongings and charged forward, swinging their arms.
"Say that again, you motherfucker!"
The guard also became angry. They were already unhappy guarding here, and now their kind words were met with such hostility.
For a moment, the atmosphere between the two sides reached a stalemate.
"Calm down! We won't go in!"
Shou Hou tried to manage his group while appeasing the guards of Feng County.
"Why shouldn't we go in!" people in the group yelled. "We've walked for so many days, and this is the result!"
"They're all liars!"
"We must have angered the mountain god, and only then would the mountain god descend divine punishment!"
"The mountain god is punishing us!"
The crowd finally began to erupt.
Curses, wails, and accusations filled Song Qingchao's ears.
But Bai Youan had told her not to interfere.
He wanted her to wait for him.
Song Qingchao tightly grasped Song Qingmu's hand and observed the development of the situation from the window.
"Didn't the mountain god want her as a sacrifice? How did she come back?"
But it was someone who shouted this question.
Everyone twisted their stiff necks and stared at her with red eyes.
Like leopards that hadn't eaten in a long time staring at a piece of fatty meat, greed and longing mixed with infinitely amplified desire.
"It's her!"
"As long as we sacrifice her, the mountain god will spare us!"
"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!"
Song Qingchao's nerves were taut. Her five fingers gradually clenched, she hugged Liu Zhe'er in her arms, and shouted to Ying Zhong outside, "Run!"