Chapter 5: That Call of “Brother”…

Both of them were dressed in thick cotton clothes, with small sheepskin jackets, and on their feet were sheepskin boots. These were bought with a good amount of silver when Xiao Jingyuan still had some money, coaxed out of him by the original owner.

Winter was approaching, and these clothes were essential for them to survive the cold, so they couldn’t afford any mishaps.

After checking into the inn, Xiao Jingyuan directly asked the waiter for a large dormitory, which cost ten coins per person, totaling twenty coins for the two of them.

Xia Mo, with a thick skin, bargained for a long time, claiming they were small and took up less space, managing to lower the price from ten coins to eight.

Even so, the two of them still had to pay sixteen coins.

Under the guidance of the waiter, they entered a dim little room, and both of them were stunned.

The small room was cramped, with two rows of large dormitory beds. They had arrived relatively early, so there weren’t too many people yet; each side had four or five men sitting.

There was an old man with a five or six-year-old child sitting in the corner, gnawing on a big flatbread, and the two occasionally glanced at them.

There was also a tidy-looking scholar who kept fussing over the bed, complaining repeatedly.

Anyone who could enter the city had proper travel permits, so their conditions weren’t too bad. Looking at a few well-dressed individuals, it seemed they weren’t unable to afford a room but were uncertain how long the current hardships would last, so they didn’t dare spend money on a private room upstairs.

After all, they were all big men; they could manage to share.

While men could manage, Xia Mo, being a girl, found it difficult to do so.

The imagination and reality were quite different; upon seeing the scene, she turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Xiao Jingyuan hurriedly grabbed her.

Xia Mo was trying her best to endure the various strange smells and the gazes of men of different ages looking at them.

She whispered to him, “Let’s find another place; I’d rather sleep in a woodshed.”

Xiao Jingyuan’s expression darkened; he thought, can you be more dramatic than I am?

Everyone in the room was looking at them with strange eyes.

Xiao Jingyuan lowered his voice and said, “We’ve already paid; can’t you just endure a bit?”

“I can’t endure it.”

“If I can endure it, you can too. Are you saying you’re more delicate than I am?”

Xia Mo: “……”

A pampered little emperor, and now he had to sleep in a large dormitory. Well, he could indeed endure it, but the key was that it wasn’t just a matter of being delicate.

She was a young lady, and sharing a large dormitory with a bunch of rough men was simply…

“Alright, stop messing around, let’s go in quickly.”

Xiao Jingyuan coaxed and pulled her inside.

At fifteen, she was considered an adult, and in the eyes of others, Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan were just a young boy with another boy who was about to come of age.

But why was this big boy not as understanding as the little one? He still needed the little one to coax him.

“Hey, where are you two from?”

As soon as they chose a spot against the wall to sit down, a man dressed like a merchant across from them greeted them.

Xiao Jingyuan didn’t speak; this kind of situation should be handled by Xia Mo as the ‘older sister.’

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Xia Mo replied, “We came from Gubao Town.”

“Gubao Town? Oh, I heard it’s already been attacked; you two left just in time. If you had waited another ten days or half a month, you might have been captured by the people from Beizhou.”

Xia Mo forced a smile, “Yes, fortunately, we left.”

“So where are you headed now?”

Xia Mo glanced at Xiao Jingyuan, who was complaining about the shabby quilt, then turned back to the man and said, “We’re planning to head south to seek refuge with relatives.”

The man across from them smiled, “I’m also planning to head south, but I’m not seeking refuge with relatives. I can’t make a living in the north anymore, so I’m going home. Since we’re on the same road, how about we travel together?”

“No way.”

Before Xia Mo could speak, Xiao Jingyuan had already rejected the offer.

The man looked at Xiao Jingyuan in surprise.

Xiao Jingyuan said, “Brother, didn’t we agree to wait for our aunt and the others to come together? We still need to stay in Tongzhou City for a few more days, right?”

The way he called “brother” made Xia Mo shiver.

She turned to look at Xiao Jingyuan, who had an innocent and harmless expression, and was impressed by how smoothly he told this lie without even needing to draft it beforehand.

“Yes, we have an appointment to meet our aunt’s family in Tongzhou City, and we don’t know when they will arrive, so we probably can’t travel with you, brother.”

The man expressed regret, “Oh, I see. Then never mind.”

The man stopped talking to them and turned to chat with others, eventually approaching the scholar.

“This young man looks quite impressive, like someone with great knowledge.”

Upon hearing this, the scholar beamed with pride. “You flatter me. I’ve studied hard for ten years and only managed to become a licentiate.”

Xia Mo looked at the scholar in surprise.

In ancient times, exams were very difficult, and families that could afford education were at least of a modestly well-off status. He looked to be around seventeen or eighteen; a licentiate at that age was still something to be proud of, so he shouldn’t downplay it.

“Don’t be too modest; how many people study their whole lives and only become a child scholar?”

The scholar smiled and said, “I’m from the capital and preparing to go to the capital for the exams.”

“Weren’t the exams held just last year? Isn’t it a bit early now?”

“I have a classmate who passed the imperial examination last year and stayed in the capital, so I plan to go seek refuge with him.”

“Ah, I see. I’m also heading to the capital, so why don’t we travel together? It’ll be nice to have someone to look out for each other along the way.”

“Sure, then I’ll gladly accept.”

Listening to their conversation, Xia Mo glanced curiously at the two.

The man had just said he was heading south, and now he said he was on the same road as them. When the scholar mentioned going to the capital, he also said he was on the same road. She didn’t know what the map of the world looked like or if they were really on the same path, but it felt a bit strange.

How could he be on the same road with everyone?

Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan had entered after finishing their meal, and Xiao Jingyuan picked the cleanest quilt for himself before choosing a spot against the wall to lie down.

Seeing this, Xia Mo thought it wouldn’t do, so she pulled him up.

“Let’s switch; I’ll sleep against the wall.”

Xiao Jingyuan was unwilling; he didn’t want to squeeze in with those dirty strangers. Allowing Xia Mo to squeeze against him was already his limit.

“No way, I want to sleep against the wall. You sleep here and block for me.”

Coincidentally, Xia Mo thought the same way.

Enduring Xiao Jingyuan squeezing her was already her limit.

“Hey, you said it yourself; you have to listen to me on this journey. I sleep against the wall, and you block for me. Otherwise, I won’t stay here.”

Xiao Jingyuan looked displeased and said, blushing, “You’re the adult, and I’m just a child; can’t you let me have this?”

“No, children should listen to adults.”

If she were a boy, she might have let it slide, but she was a girl, and she absolutely couldn’t compromise on this matter.

In the end, Xiao Jingyuan couldn’t argue with her and, looking dejected, switched places with her, hugging the quilt.

As time went on, more people entered the room.

At first, the two didn’t feel too uncomfortable, but as more and more people packed in, it became impossible to lie down, and their faces turned grim.