Chapter 16: A Girl’s Troubles Begin

The villagers were now used to calling Xia Mo’s younger brother “Xia Wu,” and even Xiao Jingyuan had gotten used to it.

His current name was Xia Zhihua, with the nickname Xia Wu.

“They won’t let us pass. You don’t need to beg them anymore. If we anger them, it’s entirely possible they’ll shoot a few people as a warning,” an elder surnamed Zhou said, turning to look at the rows of archers. Their bowstrings were taut, as if ready to release at any moment.

“What do we do then? There’s no way for us to turn back now.”

Xiao Jingyuan said, “We don’t have to go through the checkpoint. We can take a detour through the mountains. It’ll be tough, though—we’ll need to walk two extra days.”

Auntie Zhou suddenly understood and quickly nodded. “Two extra days is fine, as long as we can reach Bianzhou.”

“Alright, then gather everyone and tell them there’s another checkpoint to the west.”

Auntie Zhou was sharp and immediately caught the meaning behind his words.

He turned around and shouted to the group, “Follow me! We’ll enter from the western checkpoint.”

Seeing how confident Auntie Zhou was, no one thought too much about it. They assumed the western checkpoint was a viable option and followed him.

Meanwhile, the guards at the checkpoint scoffed, thinking, Let them go. They’ll just hit a dead end at the western checkpoint.

The group of over a hundred people set out westward.

After walking for about an hour, they reached a hill they had seen earlier.

Auntie Zhou stopped the group and ran over to ask Xiao Jingyuan, “Xia Wu, where do you think we should enter the mountains?”

Only then did the group realize that Auntie Zhou hadn’t actually been leading them to the western checkpoint—he was planning to sneak through the mountains.

Before Xiao Jingyuan could respond, a middle-aged man stepped forward.

“Auntie Zhou, I know a small path through the mountains.”

“You do?”

“Yes. A few years ago, some friends and I secretly came here to hunt.”

The people in their group were originally from Tongzhou. Crossing into Bianzhou required official travel permits, so he had to sneak in to hunt.

The mountain marked the border—heading south would take them out of Tongzhou and into Bianzhou.

Xiao Jingyuan was happy to let someone else take the lead and said, “Then we’ll be counting on you, Brother Da Yang.”

“No problem, but I’ll say this upfront—the path isn’t easy. If we reach a spot where the carts can’t pass, everyone will have to help carry them.”

“That’s fine! With so many of us, we can manage.”

Seeing hope of crossing the border, everyone was eager to move forward. Carrying carts was nothing—if needed, they’d even wade through rivers.

And so, the group set off into the mountains.

However, they soon realized they weren’t the only ones taking this route. Before long, they encountered other refugees—families dragging their belongings as they headed into the mountains.

In these chaotic times, lone travelers couldn’t survive. Many strangers had no choice but to band together, forming groups to flee south.

Da Yang said his path was a shortcut—it would cut their travel time in half.

One less day on the road meant one less day of worrying about food. Without hesitation, the group chose the shortcut.

By now, it was getting late. Soon after entering the mountains, night fell.

Xiao Jingyuan used a flashlight to help Da Yang and Auntie Zhou find a suitable place to camp, while the others gathered firewood and started preparing dinner.

Xia Mo suddenly felt a dull ache in her stomach.

It wasn’t too bad, and she could bear it.

The villagers asked her to check on the injured, so she quickly got to work.

She was so busy she forgot about herself.

After tending to the wounded, she grabbed a few bites of food. She figured she could sneak a proper meal later.

Not long after, Xiao Jingyuan and the others returned. They had found a large cave up ahead, spacious enough to accommodate over a hundred people.

“That’s great! We should stay there for the night,” someone said.

Auntie Zhou frowned. “It’s a good place to stay, but it’s not close. It’s about five li (roughly 2.5 kilometers) from here.”

“Five li?”

“Yes, and while it’s nothing for the younger ones to walk, our group has elderly folks, children, livestock… Five li on a mountain road is no small distance. We might not get there until midnight,” Da Yang explained.

Auntie Zhou looked at Xiao Jingyuan. “Xia Wu, what do you think?”

Xiao Jingyuan crossed his arms. “It’s all the same to me. We’ll go with whatever Auntie Zhou decides.”

After a long day of traveling, everyone was exhausted and reluctant to move.

Xia Mo clutched her stomach. The pain was getting worse. If she wasn’t mistaken, this body was probably having its period.

Just her luck.

But she had no time to worry about that now. She hurried toward Auntie Zhou and the others.

“We can’t stay here overnight. Auntie Zhou, look at the sky.”

It had been clear for a long time, but starting at noon, the sky had turned dark and overcast. Now, there were no stars or moonlight.

Auntie Zhou sighed, gripping his walking stick. “Looking at the sky, I’d say it’s going to snow.”

Around this time each year, the first snowfall usually arrived.

“We must find shelter before it snows,” he decided firmly. “We have to reach that cave before the storm hits.”

If it started snowing, the mountain road would become even harder to traverse.

More importantly, this open area wasn’t suitable for camping in the snow. They had no protection against the cold.

Of course, not everyone agreed. Some of the exhausted women protested.

“It might not snow. The sky is dark, but that doesn’t mean anything. Auntie Zhou, it’s already night. How can we walk now? There’s no moonlight—we could fall into a ditch and die! Why not rest here and leave in the morning?”

“Exactly! We’re too tired to go any farther.”

One of the older women had already started setting up a makeshift shelter with her daughters-in-law.

Even the livestock were exhausted. Someone tugged at their stubborn donkey, but the animal refused to budge.

Auntie Zhou’s face darkened. He snorted coldly. “And what if it does snow? If we don’t find shelter before the storm hits, who will take responsibility when people and animals start freezing to death?”

The woman who had just protested fell silent.

Auntie Zhou pointed at the people setting up camp. “If you want to stay, no one will stop you. Go ahead and sleep here.”

Then he turned to the man with the stubborn donkey. “If your donkey won’t move, then slaughter it. And don’t forget to share some donkey stew with me.”

Everyone: “…”

Xia Mo watched as Auntie Zhou argued with the villagers.

It seemed like they would be ‘discussing’ this for a while.

Holding her stomach, she quietly slipped away to find a secluded spot.

Xiao Jingyuan, noticing her hunched posture out of the corner of his eye, had a thought. Without a word, he followed after her.