Chapter 3: The Arrangement for Fleeing

As they made their way along the mountain road, the scorching sun beat down overhead, having killed all the trees; the heat burned their skin painfully, making it hard to endure. Everyone was exhausted, and with the time getting late, tired and hungry, Uncle Liu said to Tian Dabiao, “Boss, let’s find a place to rest and arrange for the night!”

Tian Mi was exasperated. “We are law-abiding citizens!”

Do you think it’s glorious to be bandits?

“Uncle Liu, don’t call me that; if someone hears, it could cause trouble.”

Uncle Liu retorted, “Tian Mi is right!”

Tian Dabiao threw the two bags of grain off his back, sat down heavily on the ground, and was thoroughly exhausted.

Since they started fleeing un the morning, they hadn’t eaten anything. Tian Mi’s stomach hurt from hunger, but when she felt her belly full of fat, she thought she didn’t deserve to be in pain. After drinking a few sips of well water from her space, her stomach pain eased, but she was still hungry.

Everyone else sat down as well, feeling dizzy and unwell. After resting for a bit, they decided to search for a hollow in the mountains where they could cook without being easily spotted. The women would be responsible for starting the fire and cooking, while the men would look for food for the livestock and see if there was any water available. They needed to replenish their supplies at all times; otherwise, they’d be in trouble if the water ran out.

Tian Mi didn’t plan to fill up water for everyone right now; there was still plenty, and the oxen were exhausted. She planned to fill up when they only had the capacity left for one ox to pull.

There wasn’t much food to be had while fleeing; they could only cook a large pot of congee and steam a batch of buns, making sure to prepare enough buns to eat on the road tomorrow.

Tian Mi also helped; after a long day of travel, she decided to cook the congee and quietly swapped out the water for well water from her space so everyone could regain some strength.

After being out in the sun all day, she was worried about them getting heatstroke and falling ill.

Habitually, she wanted to wash the rice, but Aunt Feng suddenly grabbed her hand.

“Oh, my dear ancestor! If you pour out that water, we will have a problem with you!”

Tian Mi could not stand not washing the rice, so she said, “Aunt Feng, this water after washing is for the livestock; otherwise, they will die, and we can’t carry all this stuff.”

Aunt Feng then said, “You can only wash it once.”

Tian Mi nodded. Sigh! She was being closely monitored the whole time!

Aunt Feng then called her sister-in-law and Aunt Wu to make buns, while the three daughters-in-law gathered firewood, which was now easy to collect.

Aunt Wang came to help Tian Mi, who asked her to watch the children, especially Aunt Feng’s granddaughter, who was only three years old.

Everyone was tired along the way, and several little kids sat on the ground in silence, lacking energy to say anything.

Before long, the three sisters-in-law returned with a pile of firewood and started a fire to cook.

Tian Mi carried the water she had just used to wash the rice to feed the livestock. Besides the bucket of water that was set down, the other livestock were still loaded with grain, all resting on the ground.

Tian Mi took the water bucket and a wooden scoop to feed the livestock, secretly adding well water from her space into the bucket. When the livestock saw water, they immediately perked up with excitement. Tian Mi extended the scoop towards them, and they drank up cleanly, even calling out to her in what seemed to be joy.

Such obedient animals immediately softened Tian Mi’s heart, and she added some more well water for them to drink their fill.

This water tasted exceptionally sweet and refreshing.

Worried that everyone might notice something odd, she took the initiative to say, “Look, just a bit of rice washing water for them to drink, and they can live; they can help us carry things in the future.”

Aunt Feng said, “That’s right; this little bit of water can save lives now.”

Tian Mi felt a bit uncomfortable hearing that. Could she find a way to bring out more of the river water from her space to save more lives?

If she could guarantee her safety while saving others, she would be willing, but first, she had to ensure her own safety.

She looked up at the sunset stained red by the sun. “Heaven, did you bring me here and give me this precious space to save more lives?”

Soon, the water boiled

This group consists of four families. Tian Dabiao has two daughters. He is an orphan who has been strong since childhood. The old master of the escort agency took a liking to him and adopted him, raising him in the agency. After the old master passed away, the current boss treated him very well, like a son. After growing up, he married the daughter of the medicine shop owner.

Uncle Cui and Aunt Feng are one family with two sons. The eldest son, Cui Dahu, is married to Sister Wang and has a three-year-old granddaughter named Xiaohua. The second son, Cui Erhu, is sixteen and still unmarried. Uncle Cui also has a younger brother, Uncle Cui Er, who is married to Auntie and has two sons: Cui Daniu, who is seven, and Cui Erniu, who is five.

Uncle Chen and Aunt Wu are another family. Their eldest son, Chen Menglin, just got married last year to Sister Tang. Their second son, Chen Maolin, is only ten years old.

Uncle Liu and Aunt Wang have only one son, Liu Mingrui, and his wife, Sister Lin. They have a nine-year-old daughter, Liu Nianqing, and a six-year-old son, Liu Niansheng.

At dinner time, it was almost dark, and the men came back from various directions carrying a lot of dry grass and old vegetables, all sighing that the congee cooked today was really fragrant.

Aunt Feng asked, “Did you find any water?”

The men all shook their heads dejectedly.

They fed the old vegetables to the livestock and gave them some dry grass, spreading the rest on the ground. They planned to sleep on the ground at night; with the moon high in the sky, it wouldn’t be a problem to sleep outdoors by the fire.

After a long drought, even the little bugs were scarce.

Aunt Feng served a bowl of congee and a bun to each man, and the women got a bowl of congee and half a bun.

Tian Mi also received a bowl of congee and a bun, but she only asked for a bowl of congee since she had prepared food in her space. She didn’t want to take it out but could still eat quietly on her own without taking too much from everyone.

“Aunt Feng, I need to lose some weight; I’m exhausted from walking.”

“What do you mean lose weight? After such a tiring journey, eat quickly; we have a long way to go.”

Cui Erhu said, “Sister Tian Mi, don’t lose weight; your strength can match two men. In this time of fleeing, that’s very useful.”

Cui Dahu and Cui Erhu grew up with Tian Mi, like siblings, and spoke without any reservations.

“Erhu, wait until your sister loses some weight; then she can match a man.”

“Aunt Feng, I’m hungry; I’ll take more later; I really don’t feel like eating now.”

Aunt Feng nodded, and everyone started eating heartily, drinking as well. Just a bowl of congee and a bun made them feel as if they were devouring meat and drinking wine. They even saved the steaming water from the buns in their water skins for tomorrow, and Aunt Feng scraped the little water residue from the pot with her fingers and sucked it off.

Tian Mi felt a bit sad; before fleeing, these people had lived quite well.

After dinner, Uncle Liu discussed with everyone, “We can’t travel during the day anymore; the sun is too strong. Adults can’t take it, let alone the children. We should travel at night when the moon is bright, and during the day, we can find a shady place to rest.”

In the end, everyone decided to sleep for two hours before setting off; they were too tired today, and without rest, they couldn’t continue.

This meal! It was life! After eating, they felt revitalized, and the dizziness vanished; they collapsed onto the hay and fell asleep.

Tian Mi lay in the hay, her stomach growling. A fat person’s stomach really can’t stand hunger! It had been less than half an hour since eating, and she felt hungry again. Aunt Feng immediately sat up.

“Mi’er, are you hungry? Aunt will get you a bun!”

Aunt Feng was definitely a roadblock on her weight loss journey.

“Aunt, I’m not hungry; let’s sleep! I’ll come to you when I want to eat!”

Aunt Feng then said nothing more and lay down to sleep.

She thought of her sister and brother in another world, wondering how they would feel when they learned she was gone. Would they still urge her to get married? She hoped they would come to terms with it and just think of her as having married out.

At nightfall, Bai Mucheng rushed to the military camp, furious as he ordered two cavalrymen to ride