Chapter 15: You ‘Big Man’ Are So Effeminate

Xia Mo delivered medicine to the injured villagers and returned to Xiao Jingyuan, secretly slipping him a piece of beef jerky to replenish his energy.

As Xiao Jingyuan chewed on the jerky, he wiped the blood off the watermelon knife.

After cleaning it, he gestured with it a few times.

Xia Mo tilted her head back and silently pushed the knife blade forward.

“Be careful; knives and swords have no eyes.”

“Hmph, coward. I didn’t expect you to be so timid.”

Xia Mo: “…”

“I was counting on you to protect me, but I didn’t expect you, such a big man, to be like those women. Really pathetic.”

Xiao Jingyuan recalled how, when the bandits attacked earlier, Xia Mo had actually hidden with the two daughters-in-law of Old Zhou and complained about it.

To him, as an adult man, he should at least be like those villagers, ready to fight even without weapons.

Xia Mo blushed at his criticism; she wasn’t stupid, and she had noticed that not only did Xiao Jingyuan look at her strangely, but the villagers also looked at him oddly.

“I’m a doctor,” she said, fortunate to have some leverage. “If I get injured, who will treat you?”

“Tsk.” Xiao Jingyuan shot her a disdainful glance and continued fiddling with his watermelon knife.

“Hey, Xia Wu.”

A few villagers came over to them.

“Xia Wu, I saw your knife skills just now; can you teach us? Next time we encounter those reckless bandits, we can fight a bit easier.”

Xiao Jingyuan replied indifferently, “Mm, you all go ahead; I’ll be there in a moment.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you by the river.”

Xia Mo couldn’t help but laugh and whispered to Xiao Jingyuan, “They all say I have a violent younger brother and that we don’t look like siblings at all.”

Xiao Jingyuan snorted, thinking to himself: that’s because we’re not.

“Here.” Xia Mo took out a box of milk and handed it to him. “Drink more to replenish your strength.”

Xiao Jingyuan didn’t refuse; he quickly drank it and returned the empty box to Xia Mo.

“By the way, if there’s a town nearby, I need to go to it.”

“Why?”

“I’ve already taken out quite a bit of medicine from my bag, and I noticed they were looking at it suspiciously. I need to restock at the pharmacy to avoid being seen as a monster.”

“Alright, next time we come across a town, I’ll go with you.”

After saying that, Xiao Jingyuan took the watermelon knife and went to the river to gesture with the villagers.

……

Xia Mo didn’t take any more food out of her bag; the two of them had become reliant on the hospitality of others.

With one of them being a healer and the other a violent child, they had not been shunned by the villagers.

However, everyone was a bit puzzled; while the others looked pale and emaciated from fleeing, how come that ‘brother’ pair looked plump and healthy?

The younger one seemed to have grown quite a bit.

“Doctor Xia.”

The villagers had changed how they addressed her, from “young man” and “Brother Xia” to “Doctor Xia.”

“Could you take a look at my wife when you have time? She was startled earlier and seems unwell.”

“Sure, I’ll check on her.”

Old Zhou’s daughter-in-law was already over seven months pregnant, and fleeing with the family during this time was indeed difficult. If it weren’t for the miscarriage-preventing medicine Xia Mo had given her, she might have gone into premature labor by now.

Xia Mo went to the shop to take a look. On the shelf where the medicines were kept, besides a pile of hemostatic drugs and bandages for treating wounds, there was only one type of miscarriage-preventing medicine, which was exactly what Old Zhou’s daughter-in-law was taking.

A clever housewife can’t cook without rice. Other than continuing to have her take medicine, there was no better solution.

“Keep taking the fetal-protection medicine, remember to relax, and make sure to pad the donkey cart well. This is just how things are on the road while fleeing. I don’t have any better solution either.”

“Thank you, Doctor Xia.”

“You’re welcome.”

…

The group continued forward and had reached the border between Tongzhou and Bianzhou when they were stopped by soldiers at the checkpoint.

“Halt! What are you people doing here?”

Auntie Zhou stepped forward to negotiate. “We are ordinary commoners from Tongzhou. The Rong barbarians have invaded, and Tongzhou is no longer safe. We can’t survive there anymore. Please, Officer, let us go south to seek refuge.”

“Do you have travel permits?”

Auntie Zhou’s expression changed. Travel permits required official stamps from the government office—where would they get those?

“No, we don’t.”

“No? Then you’re not allowed to pass. Go back.”

“What? We can’t go through?”

The crowd immediately grew restless.

“How can this be? I heard the Rong barbarians have already taken over Tongzhou City—we can’t go back!”

“That’s right, Officer! Our entire families have fled south. There’s no way back for us now.”

The leader of the guards remained firm and utterly indifferent.

He raised his spear and said, “That’s your problem, not mine. All I know is that the order from above is clear—no one without a travel permit is allowed to pass.”

“This… Oh no, what should we do now?” Aunt Zhou slapped her thigh, her face full of worry.

Everyone had thought that as long as they reached Bianzhou, they would be safe. But unexpectedly, Bianzhou wasn’t letting them in at all.

Winter had already arrived. Though the past few days had been sunny, judging by the sky, the clear weather wouldn’t last much longer. If it snowed and they had nowhere to take shelter, they would freeze to death.

“Move along, or you’ll all be shot on the spot as spies for the Rong barbarians!”

As the guard captain finished speaking, a row of archers behind him drew their bows, aiming straight at the ordinary refugees.

To prevent Rong spies from sneaking in and causing trouble, every border checkpoint was heavily guarded—not only keeping out the enemy but also abandoning innocent Da Zhou citizens.

In the group of refugees, women and children had already started crying.

Auntie Zhou, their leader, was growing increasingly anxious, completely at a loss.

They had risked their lives to get this far.

Over the past ten days, they had fought off bandits, cared for the wounded, and struggled along for nearly twenty days just to reach the Bianzhou border.

Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan exchanged a glance. They had travel permits and could pass through without issue. But after spending almost twenty days together with these villagers, they had formed bonds with them—she couldn’t just abandon them to save herself.

Xia Mo looked at Xiao Jingyuan. The cold and indifferent young emperor still had an expressionless face, but inside, he was no longer the same as when they first met.

When he had first encountered this group, he had tried to eat to his heart’s content, scaring the Zhou family into wanting to drive him away themselves.

But after facing life-and-death situations together, it was clear that, just like her, he was no longer willing to leave these people behind so easily.

“Auntie Zhou, come here for a moment.”

Xiao Jingyuan pulled the panicked Auntie Zhou aside.

Auntie Zhou was merely a village head, a position no more significant than a tiny official in the grand scheme of things. But having lived for so many years, he had a sharp eye.

After witnessing Xia Xiaowu’s performance during the skirmish with the bandits in the valley, he had started seeing the young boy in a new light, believing that he would achieve something extraordinary in these troubled times.

So when Xia Xiaowu called him over, he followed without hesitation.

“Xiaowu, do you have a plan?”

His skills were just so-so, and in his hesitation, he stepped on Xia Mo’s hand multiple times.

Xia Mo frowned, enduring the pain as she gripped the knife tightly.

Before long, the rope around his feet came loose. The children and the two young women nearby all turned to look at him.

Fortunately, no one was foolish enough to make a sound.

They proceeded to free their hands in the same manner, removing the cloth stuffed in their mouths.

Once Xiao Jingyuan was free, he turned around to untie the ropes binding the girl next to him.

Xia Mo’s eyes widened. That little bastard—shouldn’t he untie himself first?

“Mm! Mmm—!” She protested.

But Xiao Jingyuan acted as if he didn’t hear her, completely ignoring her.

The young girl beside him, now freed, whispered her gratitude.

“Thank you, little brother. If I can make it back to my parents, I’ll be sure to repay you.”

Xiao Jingyuan didn’t acknowledge her either. Instead, he continued freeing the rest of the children and young women in the room.

Xia Mo rolled her eyes in frustration.

Ungrateful brat. All that effort along the way was wasted on him.

Finally, Xiao Jingyuan walked up to Xia Mo, holding the knife.

But instead of cutting her ropes immediately, he looked at her for a moment and said flatly, “Do you know what it feels like to fall into the hands of human traffickers? This is just the beginning.”

Xia Mo glared at him in fury.

What was that supposed to mean? Was this little brat planning to turn on her now that they were free?

Just as she was about to explode, Xiao Jingyuan crouched down and swiftly cut through the ropes binding her.

Xia Mo immediately spit out the cloth in her mouth and snapped, “Enough already, you ungrateful brat! I told you, I didn’t sell you!”

“Do I look like an idiot?”

Xia Mo: “……”

Okay, fine. Technically, she really had sold him. Anyone with half a brain would know that.

So no matter how much she tried to explain, her words were meaningless—he had never believed her from the start.

So annoying.

Why did she have to transmigrate right after the ship of friendship had sunk?

A timid yet pretty young girl stepped forward and hesitantly said, “Um, whatever misunderstanding you two have, maybe you can sort it out later? We should focus on figuring out how to escape first.”

The two of them exchanged glares but finally let it go.

“There’s only one guard outside. Leave him to me. Fourth Brother, once I take care of the guy at the door, you’re in charge of getting everyone back to town. As long as you hand them over to the town guards, they’ll be safe.”

Two of the young women were around fourteen or fifteen years old, while the three children were about six or seven. Including Xia Mo, that made three teenage girls leading three kids—it should be manageable.

But what was Xiao Jingyuan planning to do?

“And after you deal with the guy outside?”

At this moment, Xiao Jingyuan’s face was dark with murderous intent. “That’s none of your business. Just wait for me in town.”

Xia Mo was still fuming and thought to herself, Fine, I won’t care. If he gets hacked to death, so be it.

That’s what she told herself, but she still picked up a watermelon knife for him.

She deliberately crouched in a corner.

“Huh? There’s a knife here!”

Xiao Jingyuan took two steps forward. “Oh wow, really?”

The two of them coordinated seamlessly, making it look effortless. The others watched in shock, staring at the large knife.

That massive blade had been lying in the grass, and none of them had noticed?

“Well, with this, we’re all set. Fourth Brother, take them back when it’s time.”

“Got it. You be careful too.”

And just like that, they were back to being all buddy-buddy again.