Xiao Xitian gazed into the distance and saw a dilapidated small village not far away, with only seven or eight households...
Small fishing boats were moored by the riverbank, with fish baskets of various sizes placed on them.
The surrounding mountains were dense and verdant, with no farmland or crops in sight.
"This must be a small fishing village!" Xiao Xitian murmured.
Since there was a village, there must be a way to reach Dashui Village...
The two little buns were overjoyed. After wandering for so long, they finally saw a glimmer of hope.
"Big brother, let's dock!" Xiao Xitian said.
Xiao Jinheng also fumbled for a bamboo pole, trying to stop the small, broken boat.
The man shook his head, "Landing now would be equivalent to harming these villagers..."
Those guys were ruthless killers. If they knew that three people had docked here, they would surely skin these villagers alive.
Xiao Jinheng paused in his action of grabbing the bamboo pole, a worried expression appearing on his face.
That's right, the man was correct. Those black-clothed figures were relentlessly pursuing them. If they stopped the small boat here, the villagers would definitely suffer...
But if that was the case, would the small boat never dock?
"Where does this river lead?" Xiao Jinheng asked.
The man glanced at his arm, feeling dizzy as if he might faint at any moment.
He replied hoarsely, "It leads to the prefectural city..."
"Prefectural city?" Xiao Jinheng exchanged a look with Xiao Xitian, "Shuo'an City?"
The man grunted and then lay on his side on the small boat, passing out with a muffled groan.
The arrow was indeed poisoned.
Seeing this, Xiao Xitian dared not delay any longer. She quickly made an incision at the site of the arrow wound and removed the arrowhead...
Then she began to clean his wound.
Xiao Jinheng helped her on the side.
"He's poisoned!" Xiao Xitian said.
"Then what should we do? We can't just drift to Shuo'an City, can we?" Xiao Jinheng looked worried.
"Little village girl, can't you take out anything? Take out a carrier pigeon and send a letter home, asking Commander Kong to bring people to find us..."
Even the usually steady Xiao Jinheng was a little panicked now.
Xiao Xitian gave him a helpless glance.
Although there were no shortage of carrier pigeons in her space, untrained pigeons would fly aimlessly if released, and the letters would never reach Dashui Village...
"No, let's save him first!" Xiao Xitian took out a syringe and a bottle of antidote, and gave the man an injection.
This medicine was actually for large livestock.
Some deer and cattle would eat poisonous herbs, which would cause them to lose their appetite, have diarrhea, or even faint.
She wondered if this medicine would work on the man...
After the injection, Xiao Xitian bandaged his wound. After a long day of work, the sky had already darkened.
"I hope he can make it!" Xiao Xitian wiped the sweat from the man's forehead.
For some reason, she felt a natural sense of closeness to this person.
She just couldn't dislike him...
"We don't even know his identity, there are ambushes on the way, many pursuers behind us, and we don't know what dangers await us ahead!" Xiao Jinheng was troubled.
Xiao Xitian had a good attitude and wasn't as pessimistic as him, "Don't worry, the cart will find its way when it gets to the mountain. Everything will pass!"
"Hmph, I hope so!" Xiao Jinheng lay down, looking at the stars in the night sky, "If the river really leads to the prefectural city, then it's not necessarily a bad thing..."
The prefectural city had Governor Qin, and also his uncle's subordinates. As long as they spoke to them, anyone could send them back to Dashui Village.
"Little village girl, why don't we just go to the prefectural city?" Xiao Jinheng said with a serious expression.
"Huh?" Xiao Xitian blinked her big eyes, "That's too far..."
The farther she was from home, the more uneasy she felt.
It would be better to just stop the boat somewhere and walk back slowly.
"Although the prefectural city is far, once we get there, we'll be safe!" Xiao Jinheng said.
No matter how powerful those people were, they couldn't fight against the officials.
When he met Governor Qin, he would definitely ask him to thoroughly investigate this matter and apprehend those villains...
And also find out the identity of this man.
Xiao Xitian took out a few wild apples from her space and gave them to Xiao Jinheng.
"If we go to the prefectural city, we won't be able to send a letter home early!" Xiao Xitian said while eating.
She knew her parents' temper. From the moment she was swept away by the flood, her parents would definitely try every means to find her...
It didn't matter if she returned home late, but she wanted to let her parents know she was safe in advance.
Xiao Jinheng ate a wild apple and felt as if his teeth were loose, making him feel涩涩 and uncomfortable.
He patted Xiao Xitian's shoulder and comforted her, "Don't worry, there might be an post station ahead. When we stop the boat and dock, we can write a letter back to Dashui Village..."
"That's no different than stopping the boat and going straight home!" Xiao Xitian rolled her eyes.
Why go through all the trouble to go to the prefectural city?
As long as this man was alive, those people would never give up. Going to the prefectural city was useless.
Xiao Jinheng propped his chin and stared intently at the man, "Do you think he stole something from someone, which is why those people are chasing him so relentlessly?"
Xiao Xitian also looked at the man curiously, "But besides the wine gourd and that sword, he has nothing else on him..."
Xiao Jinheng shook his head, "Some things don't necessarily have to be displayed openly!"
He planned to search the man's inner pockets, where something unspeakable might be hidden.
"Don't move!" Xiao Xitian stopped him, "His arm is injured, don't touch his wound."
"I won't!" Xiao Jinheng reached for the man's chest.
Xiao Xitian puffed out her cheeks indignantly, "You're still not allowed to move..."
Xiao Jinheng paused, "What's wrong?"
Was the little village girl not curious about his identity?
The sooner they found out, the better they could prepare their countermeasures.
"Let him tell us himself when he wakes up!" Xiao Xitian said.
It was not good to rummage through someone's pockets while they were unconscious...
Xiao Jinheng twitched the corner of his mouth.
The little village girl was quite principled.
"Okay, I won't touch him then!"
At the same time, the bailiff sent by Prefect Chen galloped all the way to Shuo'an City.
It was late at night, and the streets of the prefectural city were deserted, with no pedestrians.
Near a pile of garbage, a few stray cats were meowing and scratching at each other for food.
The bailiff rode his horse to the Prefect's Mansion and knocked on the gate...