Chapter 940 Running Away From Home

A caravan from Yan Territory, loaded with goods, left Fengxin City in the early morning. After traveling west for a day, they finally stopped.

According to the rules of the Prince’s Mansion, any caravan traveling in Jindong had to have their identities checked upon entry, their goods counted and taxed upon exit, and when camping overnight, they had to choose a nearby post station, that is, a fort. Even in extreme weather like heavy rain or wind, they were allowed to set up temporary camps, but they had to notify the nearby fort; otherwise, they would be treated as spies.

The caravan leader personally went to the fort to register with the garrison commandant, while his men began setting up tents and preparing dinner.

Traveling merchants hated Jindong because they had to abide by all kinds of rules here.

Traveling merchants also liked Jindong because everyone had to abide by the rules here.

As for the caravan’s helpers, their most comfortable days were in Jindong. At night, they could rest and sleep without worrying about security. Once they left Jindong, they had to take turns guarding, and even then, they didn’t feel truly at ease.

"Lao Lu, the boss wants you."

"Okay, coming."

Just then,

the lid of a carriage box next to them was pushed open, and a little girl peeked out, then climbed out of the box. Immediately after, a little boy with a red dot between his eyebrows also climbed out.

The little girl was very cute, as delicate as a porcelain doll, with a long, rectangular cloth bag on her back that seemed a little out of proportion to her size.

The boy's expression was somewhat aloof, lacking youthful exuberance and instead giving off a slightly cold and sinister feeling.

"Brother, come and eat."

The little girl jumped down from the carriage. A small pot of food was cooking over the campfire. She stirred it with a spoon and ladled out a bowl of potato and meat stew.

"Brother, here you go, you must be hungry, eat quickly."

The little girl gave the first bowl to her brother.

The boy seemed a little helpless as he took the bowl and chopsticks.

The little girl immediately ladled out a bowl for herself, sat down, and began to eat, truly ravenous.

The boy watched his sister wolf down her food, shook his head helplessly, and turned to the side, half-squatting.

He kept his back to his sister, facing the direction from which someone might come, and didn’t even look at the bowl in his hand while eating.

Before they had eaten for long, the person who had been cooking dinner returned.

The little girl pouted, looking reluctant to part with the food left in her bowl.

The boy held his bowl and chopsticks, turned slightly to the side, pulled up his sleeve, revealing a mechanical launching device strapped to his wrist. Just as Lao Lu turned around to enter, a silver needle shot out and struck Lao Lu in the back of the neck. Lao Lu felt a dizzy spell, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

The boy used one hand to support Lao Lu’s body, then gently placed him on the ground. He then walked to the campfire, picked up the spoon, and added another spoonful to his sister's bowl.

"Hehe."

The little girl smiled at her brother and continued eating.

The boy returned to the spot where Lao Lu had been standing and continued to watch the surroundings.

Finally, the little girl was full, and she felt sleepy.

"Brother, let's go back to sleep."

The boy didn't say anything.

The little girl climbed back into the carriage and into the box.

The boy washed his bowl and chopsticks with the water from Lao Lu’s water pouch, placed his sister’s bowl and chopsticks next to Lao Lu, poured the remaining water in the water pouch into his own waist pouch, and untied the wine skin from Lao Lu’s waist, pulling out the stopper to sniff it.

It was Erguotou produced in Fengxin City…

The boy frowned.

He had been taught that when it came to drinking, it was better to have nothing than something of poor quality. Using inferior wine to make up the numbers was worse than enduring and keeping one's tongue sensitive. Wine, like life, should not be compromised.

The boy sprinkled some of the wine from Lao Lu’s wine skin on Lao Lu’s neck, wetting his clothes, then placed the wine skin in Lao Lu’s arms, using one of his hands to hold it in place.

After doing all this, the boy returned to the carriage box.

The little girl, full and content, had already fallen asleep, her head resting on the long cloth bag.

The boy placed the water pouch next to the little girl, then leaned against another corner.

"Running away from home…"

The boy looked helplessly at his sister, who was sleeping so sweetly, even though she was the one who wanted to run away from home. He wondered why he had agreed to come with her.

She said she wanted to take him to see the free world outside,

and he,

was probably just worried that his sister, who was sweet-smiling but otherwise scatterbrained, would be eaten by stray dogs outside, wasn’t he?

The boy closed his eyes

and sighed:

"Ah…"

…

Lao Lu remained unconscious until the next morning. The pain in his stomach from hunger made him mistakenly believe it was a hangover. Seeing the wine skin in his hand and the smell of alcohol on his body, he said helplessly:

"I must have drunk too much again last night."

The caravan continued to move forward.

The little girl and the boy basically stayed hidden in the box during the day, only coming out to eat at night.

The boy had gradually figured out the routine of the caravan. After all, he couldn't keep targeting only Lao Lu. Silver needles had a strong anesthetic effect, but constantly targeting one person would probably be noticed after a few times.

So, almost every night, someone was chosen to “drink too much and pass out.”

Finally,

the caravan arrived at the Wangjiang River.

The little girl and the boy left the caravan and slipped into a dock under the cover of night.

Jindong's foreign trade scale was getting larger year by year, and the docks along the Wangjiang River were basically operating day and night. Therefore, even at night, they were brightly lit.

Laborers were busy moving goods, tax officials were busy counting accounts, and in the distance, in the center of the river, a large Yan navy warship was stationed as a guard.

Along the coast, there were also many cavalry patrolling, strictly cracking down on smuggling.

When the boy and the little girl sneaked into the dock, they saw a string of heads hanging on the flagpole at the highest point of the dock, in addition to the Black Dragon Flag of Yan and the Double-Headed Eagle Flag of the Prince’s Mansion.

They were members of a smuggling team that had been caught nearby. In Jindong, smuggling was a serious crime, punishable by death.

The two chose a small cargo ship that had just finished loading. This ship was probably not leaving until tomorrow. After the goods were loaded, the laborers began to load the next ship, so this ship was temporarily empty.

The little girl sat on the deck, clutching her stomach; she was hungry again.

The boy placed a bag in front of them, containing non-perishable food that they had collected over the past few days. He also pulled out the stopper of the water pouch and placed it next to the little girl.

"Hehe, brother is so smart, here, let me give you a kiss."

The little girl hugged the boy proactively. Even though the boy resisted such intimate gestures, his sister still kissed him on the face.

After the kiss,

the little girl started to eat.

The boy kept wiping his face.

After she was full, the little girl suddenly remembered to ask:

"Oh dear, brother, is this ship going to Chu or the other side of the river?"

"It's going to Chu. If it was going to the other side, they wouldn't be loading the ship at night. They would use a pontoon bridge or a large ship during the day to transport them to the other side."

"Oh, I see. So, as long as we stay on this ship, we can go straight down the Wangjiang River to Chu, and we can see our great-uncle.

I remember that's how it was drawn on the sand table in Dad's signing room."

Zheng Lin shook his head

and said:

"We still have to pass Uncle Gou's territory."

"Ah, do you think Dad has already sent someone to ask Uncle Gou to wait there and intercept us?"

Hearing this question, Zheng Lin looked towards a dark spot on the shore. He didn't actually see anything, but he didn't believe that the darkness was truly empty.

If nothing went wrong,

a certain godfather should be watching them there.

Godfather Li wasn’t good at lurking, and he was too big;

Godfather Liang was leading troops in the military camp, and he didn’t have time to come and play house with the kids;

Father had gone out on patrol, taking Sister Magic Pill with him;

Mother and Blind Godfather had to manage the accounts of Fengxin City, and they were obviously much busier this year than in previous years.

After thinking it over,

it was either Godfather Ming or Third Godfather who was watching them in the shadows, not bothering to interrupt, just watching them hiding and scurrying around;

Of course, to be on the safe side… maybe Godfather Ming and Third Godfather, and the Master was also with them.

"Brother, we're so amazing, we've run away from home so far, and the moon outside is so round."

Zheng Lin pointed to the long cloth strip in his sister's arms

and said:

"If you carry it, it'll be easy for Dad's people to find us."

"No, Longyuan is very well-behaved. I've told it a secret, and it will carefully hide its aura."

"Okay."

This was not perfunctory. Since his sister said so, Zheng Lin believed her. After all, since he could remember, his sister and Longyuan had been inseparable.

Sometimes, Longyuan could even carry his sister to fly, but not for long, because his sister couldn't give Longyuan enough sword energy at the time, so Longyuan could only rely on the natural energy to store power, and it would run out of energy after flying for a short while.

He remembered one time when his sister insisted on having Longyuan take her and him to fly together, and they fell off the roof after flying to the roof.

When they fell to the ground, he was the one who hugged his sister.

He wasn't afraid of falling, but he was worried that his sister would be hurt. It wasn't because he was afraid that his sister would be in pain, but he was afraid that his sister would be disfigured.

His father had always treasured his sister very much, and if he saw that his sister was disfigured, he would definitely think that he was naughty and had caused his pure sister to mess around and get into trouble, and then he would beat him to death.

As for his mother, not only would she not come to help, but according to past experience, his mother would probably join his father in a mixed doubles beating.

His sister had always been a well-behaved and obedient girl,

but he,

was the opposite.

"When we get to great-uncle's place, we can eat a lot of good food every day, and we don't have to go to class." Da Niu murmured while hugging Longyuan, "Great-uncle will definitely be very happy to see us."

Every year, during the holidays, great-uncle would send a lot of delicious and fun things. For a child, a distant great-uncle was definitely a dreamlike existence.

Zheng Lin said:

"Great-uncle will be happy when he sees you, Sister."

Da Niu corrected, "Great-uncle will be even happier when he sees that you've come too, Brother."

Zheng Lin nodded

and said:

"Yes, he'll be so happy he'll go crazy."

The two children stayed in the cabin all night. The next morning, the cargo ship left the dock and began to sail south.

What followed was a long life on the river, monotonous, boring, and filled with dirty air and cramped space.

Fortunately, both children were able to endure what ordinary people couldn't, and they persevered.

When they heard the sailors on the ship say that they would reach Hengfeng Water Village tomorrow, and then Fancheng in two days, that night, Da Niu suddenly took Zheng Lin's hand and came with him to the deck.

"Brother, we have to get off the ship," Da Niu said.

"Okay."

Da Niu and Zheng Lin got into the water together. Da Niu held Longyuan and floated towards the shore, while Zheng Lin swam on his own.

After the two reached the shore, they found a rocky beach to stop.

Zheng Lin found a lot of straw stacks and dry branches, while Da Niu found a stone and smashed it against Longyuan.

"Bang! Bang!"

After two strikes, sparks flew out, igniting the straw stack and the dry branches.

The two children began to take off their clothes to dry them.

"Brother, are you hungry?"

Since leaving Fengxin City, "eating" had become the top priority.

"Brother, should I grill fish for you to eat?"

"Okay."

Zheng Lin said okay, stood up, walked to the riverbank, jumped into the river again, and after a while, he caught two fish and came ashore.

Da Niu began to scrape the fish scales with Longyuan. The sword that cut iron like mud was very useful at this time.

After scraping the scales, Da Niu strung the two fish together with Longyuan and started to grill them on the fire rack.

Zheng Lin silently sorted out the clothes that the two had dried earlier, first putting his sister's away and putting them on her.

His own didn't matter. He wasn't afraid of the cold, and he hadn't been sick since he was a child.

The fish was grilled,

and the two children began to eat the fish.

While eating, Da Niu said: "It's so hard to eat, Brother, I'm sorry."

"Mm."

This grilled fish was really hard to eat, because it hadn't been cleaned properly and there were no seasonings.

"Dad always brings a lot of bottles and cans when he barbecues. I used to think they were a burden, but now I miss those bottles and cans so much." Da Niu continued.

"Mm."

After the two children each finished their very unpalatable grilled fish, they snuggled together and lay there, looking at the stars.

"Brother, do you regret coming out with me?"

Zheng Lin shook his head and said, "No."

"Brother, you're so good." Da Niu reached out to touch her brother's head.

Zheng Lin turned his head to avoid it, but Da Niu insisted on touching it. After a long stalemate, she finally grabbed her brother's hair with satisfaction.

"My brother is the best."

Zheng Lin lay there, not saying a word.

"Brother, let's go back," Da Niu suddenly said.

"Why?" Zheng Lin was a little puzzled. After suffering so much and enduring so much hardship, they had finally reached this point. He thought his sister had forgotten the way forward, so he reminded her, "Go south along the west side of Mengshan Mountain, and we can bypass Uncle Gou's Fancheng and reach the territory of Chu."

Da Niu pouted and said, "I don't want to go to great-uncle's place."

"Why?"

Zheng Lin found it difficult to understand his sister's way of thinking.

It had to be said that Zheng Lin at this age was still very simple. When he grew up, he would probably find that the way of thinking of every beautiful woman seemed to be so difficult to understand.

"I used to think great-uncle was so far away, so I missed him. Now that great-uncle is so close, I don't miss him so much."

Da Niu suddenly started to cry "woo woo woo".

"Brother, I miss Dad and Mother."

Zheng Lin looked at his sister who suddenly started to cry and felt a little helpless.

Da Niu reached out and tugged at Zheng Lin's hand.

Zheng Lin didn't react.

Da Niu reached out and tugged again.

Zheng Lin still didn't react.

Da Niu cried and pinched Zheng Lin's arm. Even though Zheng Lin had been strong since he was a child, being pinched by a girl in a soft spot with skillful force still made him grimace in pain.

He could only reach out and hug his sister.

His sister reached out and patted her brother on the back:

"Don't cry, Brother. I'm here. Don't cry, Brother. I'm here."

"…" Zheng Lin.

Nothing happened all night.

The next morning,

the two children woke up one after another.

Da Niu looked at the extinguished fire and then at the river in front of her and said:

"Brother, I don't think you want to eat grilled fish anymore."

"Yes, I don't want to eat it."

"Brother, I think you want to eat rice, such as fried rice with egg."

"Yes, I want to eat fried rice with egg."

Da Niu said happily, "Look, I guessed so accurately."

"Yes, you're great, Sister."

"Then I'll take Longyuan to get bird eggs!"

"Okay, I'll go plant rice now."

"It's decided!"

Da Niu hugged Longyuan and headed for the cliff valley in front of her.

Zheng Lin scratched his head, but he didn't really go to plant rice. After Da Niu's figure disappeared from sight, Zheng Lin shouted three times to the surroundings:

"Egg fried rice!"

"Egg fried rice!"

"Egg fried rice!"

After shouting,

Zheng Lin ran after Da Niu's direction.

There were many bird nests in the valley. Da Niu had Longyuan in hand, so even if the diligent birds placed their nests in very steep places, they still couldn't avoid the poison of fate.

Zheng Lin hid nearby, watching his sister "sin" diligently.

He was worried,

worried that his silly sister would fall to her death for no reason.

It was difficult for ordinary children to fall to their death, because only a few wealthy families had high-rise buildings, but his sister was different. Longyuan could fly, so the probability of his sister falling to her death was very high.

Sure enough,

an accident still happened.

Greedy Da Niu fell down.

Zheng Lin rushed out immediately, but during the fall, Longyuan caught Da Niu again and safely delivered her to Zheng Lin, but the bag of bird eggs that was originally hanging on Longyuan was smashed to pieces.

Da Niu cried

and shouted:

"Brother, we can't eat fried rice with egg anymore. Have you planted your rice yet?"

Zheng Lin looked at the pile of broken eggs and mourned for the bird mothers and nodded:

"It should be planted."

"Then I'll make fried rice for you to eat. There are no eggs, right, what about the oil? Fried rice is not good without oil, it'll be like rice crust."

"Don't worry, I also planted rapeseed."

"You think so carefully, Brother."

"Mm."

Zheng Lin accompanied his sister, who still had tears in the corners of her eyes, back to the rocky beach where they had stayed last night, next to the extinguished fire, preparing a pile of neatly arranged firewood, and a pot with a bowl and spoon inside.

Next to it, there was also a bag of rice and a pile of eggs.

Seemingly to specifically explain the origin of these eggs, there was also an old hen tied next to it.

"Ha."

Da Niu ran over very excitedly.

Zheng Lin also walked over

and found that in addition to these, there were also some small cloth bags next to them, containing a series of side dishes and seasonings such as green onions, ginger, garlic, pepper powder, chili powder, and corn kernels.

After seeing these,

Zheng Lin finally realized who had been following and protecting them in the shadows all along,

it wasn't any godfather, nor the Master, or, maybe only they were being not pure.

Because only that person would deliberately bring so many seasonings when going out, with such a delicate pursuit of a refined life.

In the words of Godfather Li,

it was called… a pain in the ass.

There was also a name for it,

called,

his dear old Dad.