Chapter 8: Mountain Night Camp
Xiao Jin looked at Su Ying, who was only a palm away from him, and his body stiffened. A hint of disgust flashed in his eyes, and he backed away quickly. freewebnov(e)l
His subconscious reaction made Su Ying extremely annoyed. He would still reek of rotting flesh if it weren't for her. How dare he despise her!
Su Ying glanced at him coldly. Seeing that he was concerned about Ji, she said: "He's still got a low fever, and the swelling hasn't gone down completely. But these are not a big problem.
Xiao Jin reached out and touched Ji's forehead with a worried expression. Although there was still a low fever, Ji's condition seemed better than yesterday's. It was probably Su Ying's medicine taking effect.
Su Ying had wanted to take advantage of this free time to look for supplies in the mountain, but the bailiffs had been patrolling back and forth. It would be too suspicious if she left the group now. She worried that the bailiffs would find trouble with Xiao Jin and the others while she was away, so she could only give up the idea for the time being.
The group rested for about half an hour before continuing on their journey.
"Hurry up. If you can't get down the mountain before dark, you'd better be prepared to deal with wild beasts." The bailiffs shouted from the front and whipped the prisoners who moved slowly.
Everyone was afraid of being beaten. Even though they were too weak to lift their legs, they could only grit their teeth and drag on.
The further the group went up the mountain, the dimmer the light became. The scorching sun in the sky could not penetrate the thick leaves into the forest.
With so many people moving, all the small animals in the forest were scared away. Su Ying didn't even see a wild rabbit along the way.
The sky gradually darkened, but they were still on the mountain. The forest was so dark that they could not see the road ahead. Everyone could only continue to move forward in the dark.
"Boss, I'm afraid we won't be able to go down the mountain before dark. Let's find an open space to rest." One bailiff suggested.
The leader of the bailiffs looked at the deep forest in the darkness and nodded. "Find a large open space, ideally enough for all."
"There's a flat slope up ahead. I've gone to take a look, and it should be able to accommodate a few hundred people."
"Then let's go that way."
Under the order of the bailiffs, the group arrived at the flat slope.
The vegetation here was relatively thin, and faint moonlight passed through.
When they arrived, the bailiffs started distributing the day's rations. Su Ying put the two children down and followed people to get the rations. She didn't need them now, but if she didn't get them, others would wonder where she got food in her hands and cause unnecessary trouble.
She was not afraid of trouble, but she could not ignore the safety of the children. freewebnov(e)l
Although the bailiffs didn't want to give the rations to Su Ying, they still obediently placed them in her hands when they thought of her fists.
Su Ying walked back and heard Ling's delighted cry.
"Brother, you've woken up!"
Su Ying quickened her pace. Under the faint firelight, she saw that Ji had already opened his eyes.
"Ji." Xiao Jin stepped forward and carefully held Ji.
Ji's large eyes looked around weakly. "Father..."
Xiao Jin watched as Ji woke up, and the hostility between his brows faded a little. "It's good that you're awake."
"You're awake. Come, have some water." Su Ying passed him the water bag she had brought with her when she was exiled. It was filled with nutrient solution from her interspace, not ordinary water.
When Ji saw Su Ying, he frowned and glared at her in fear and anger. "You bad, bad woman. Don't come over."
Su Ying looked at the little boy's stubborn expression and didn't go forward. Instead, she handed the water bag to Xiao Jin. "He should be fine now that he's awake. Here's food and water. Let him eat some."
Xiao Jin glanced at Su Ying surly before bringing the water bag to Ji's mouth. "Ji, drink some water first."
Ji opened his mouth obediently. When the water entered his mouth, he widened his eyes in surprise. Why was the water sweet?
Because Ji rejected Su Ying, Xiao Jin became a nanny. After feeding Ji water, he also gave him food.
Ji was still too weak after all. Not long after being fed, he fell asleep again in Xiao Jin's arms.
Su Ying was chewing on some food while her eyes constantly observed her surroundings.
Xiao Jin had said that there were people who had attacked those from the Prince Qi residence all the way along. This meant that there were many who wanted to kill them hidden among these hundreds of people, so she couldn't let her guard down.
Before sleeping, the bailiffs looked around at the prisoners with sharp gazes, whips in their hands.
"Behave yourselves at night. Don't think that you can escape this mountain on your own. Let me tell you, even if you can escape from our eyes, you can't escape the sharp teeth of the beasts. The prisoners who were previously exiled and wanted to escape have their bones chewed up by the beasts. If you don't want to die now, you'd better stay here obediently,"
The bailiffs shouted the warning and walked around the prisoners before returning to their spot for the watch.
As the night deepened, the prisoners who had been on the road for the whole day fell into a deep sleep.
Su Ying was resting against a tree, and when she felt the air around her calm down, she opened her eyes.
Their spot was just hidden enough to avoid the sight of the patrols. She glanced at Xiao Jin and the others. After seeing that Jiang Yang wasn't sleeping but was standing guard, she quietly went into the mountains in the dark.
Jiang Yang watched her leave. He frowned, wondering what Su Ying was up to. However, he didn't dare to follow her because he had to protect Xiao Jin and the children.
As soon as Su Ying left, another figure quietly got up from the group of prisoners. When the patrolling bailiffs passed, he silently ran towards the mountain forest. Even though the mountain forest was dangerous, compared to being exiled to the northern wilderness, some would still try escaping.
After the prisoner left the field of vision of the bailiffs, he ran madly into the forest. He did not know how long he had run for but ran till he was too tired to lift his legs. Then he leaned against a big tree and gasped for breath.
The surroundings were so quiet that one could hear a pin drop on the ground. Only the sound of his heavy breathing was left in his ears. However, when he slowed down his breathing, he found that the panting in his ears was getting heavier.
He opened his eyes wide in shock and looked back stiffly. He was met with a pair of green eyes in the dark...
After Su Ying left the group, she went into the interspace. She used a lot of energy during the day, and that bit of dry food wasn't enough to satisfy her growing desire for meat.
She took a piece of meat from the rack and took a bite. The crispy roasted bear meat instantly made her head spin.
After eating and drinking to her heart's content, she got up and took some anesthetic and a dagger from the shelf to prepare for the hunting tonight.
Su Ying heard a shrill scream in the quiet night sky the moment she exited the interspace.
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