Chapter 22: Are You Staying?

Auntie Zhou’s smile froze. “Doctor Xia, you mean…?”

“There’s no feast that doesn’t come to an end. Xiao Rui and I have to leave—we’re heading south to find our relatives.”

“Huh? You’re not staying here with us?”

“No, we have travel permits and can go anywhere. Besides, this was already discussed with our family. We got separated from our parents, and the plan was to reunite with our relatives in Baiyue. If they all make it there but we don’t, our family will worry.”

Xia Mo had made things clear enough—what more could they say?

It was just that, after spending time together, everyone was reluctant to part.

“Doctor Xia, if it weren’t for you, Dogwa and I would probably be dead. You’re leaving now, and I haven’t even had the chance to properly thank you for saving our lives.”

Sun Shi held her newborn child, who had just been born three days ago, and teared up, unwilling to part.

“Sister-in-law Zhou, I’m a doctor. This is what I’m supposed to do—no need to thank me.”

What followed was a flood of gratitude and reluctance from the villagers, each taking turns expressing their appreciation. Xia Mo was the only one dealing with them all, smiling so much that her face nearly went stiff.

Meanwhile, Xiao Jingyuan hid behind his ‘big brother’ like a well-behaved child, looking as if he’d follow whatever ‘big brother’ said without question.

The next morning, as they prepared to leave, the villagers packed dried meat, flatbreads, and other food for them to take on the road.

Though the two of them weren’t lacking in supplies, they couldn’t refuse the villagers’ heartfelt generosity. In the end, they accepted some food to eat on their way down the mountain.

Xiao Jingyuan also left behind two watermelon knives and a machete for the villagers, thinking they might find them useful for self-defense or hunting.

At first, he wanted to leave them a flashlight as well, but Xia Mo explained that it required batteries. Even if he gave Auntie Zhou the flashlight, it wouldn’t last long.

After thinking it over, he gave up on the idea.

Auntie Zhou had two young men accompany them down the mountain, but Xia Mo wanted to give the villagers more supplies, so she called for a few extra people.

Once they descended, they headed toward the nearest town.

But just as they neared it, Xiao Jingyuan stopped the villagers.

“There are patrols ahead,” he said. “You guys wait here for us.”

The villagers exchanged glances.

Xiao Jingyuan glanced at Xia Mo and added, “My fourth brother has something for you. You must wait for us here.”

With that, he and Xia Mo entered the town.

In reality, patrols weren’t stationed everywhere to hunt down spies. Bianzhou was vast—how could they search every inch of it?

They only set up checkpoints in key towns and crossings. As long as one avoided these posts carefully, the villagers could still move freely.

Inside the town, Xia Mo nudged Xiao Jingyuan. “How did you know I had something for them?”

Xiao Jingyuan cast her a sidelong glance. “Why else would you bring extra people? To carry things, obviously.”

Xia Mo: “…”

“Alright, let’s hurry. We need some baskets and sacks.”

“What are you up to?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

They bought baskets and sacks, then found a secluded spot. Xia Mo retrieved bag after bag of rice and flour from her convenience store space.

Xiao Jingyuan had never seen such high-quality rice and flour before—not even the tribute grains reserved for royalty looked this good.

Was this what they called ‘Guanyin Rice’ and ‘Guanyin Flour’?

He sighed inwardly. Heavenly goods were truly different from earthly ones.

Since five villagers had come to see them off, Xia Mo packed five large baskets—one for each. She also prepared a huge sack of coarse salt.

Too much salt was bad for health, but no salt at all was even worse.

Seeing the salt she produced, Xiao Jingyuan was once again shocked.

Even the best salt he had ever tasted wasn’t as fine as the one Xia Mo had just taken out.

She also got them several kitchen knives, figuring they could be used for cooking and self-defense. Better to have a few on hand.

In addition, she packed some medicine for treating wounds. The villagers would likely be hunting in the mountains for survival, and injuries were inevitable.

If they encountered Rong slave raiders, they might even have to fight. It was good to have hemostatic medicine just in case.

“Stop staring. Hurry up and find a cart,” Xia Mo urged.

Before long, Xiao Jingyuan returned with a wooden handcart.

Renting it wasn’t expensive—just ten copper coins—but the deposit was two hundred.

Together, they loaded everything onto the cart, one pulling and the other pushing, and made their way back to where the villagers were waiting.

When the villagers saw them hauling an entire cartload, they were stunned.

“This… You’re giving this to us?”

Xia Mo smiled. “That’s right. Just some food—rice, white flour, a sack of salt, and a few kitchen knives. Take them. These are medicines for injuries. You guys know how to use them, so I won’t explain. We bought all of this in town.”

The villagers were dumbfounded.

Such fine salt. Such high-quality rice and flour. They had never seen anything like it.

These were things only the wealthiest households could afford!

The kitchen knives looked sharp, and the medicine wasn’t cheap either.

“Doctor Xia, this is too generous…”

At this moment, their view of the Xia siblings completely changed.

They had thought the two were refugees, just like them. But now, it was clear—they had to be noble sons from a wealthy family!

“I’ve heard enough thank-yous already. No need for more. Just take these and be careful on the way back.”

There was a saying: Great kindness is best left unspoken.

The villagers were so moved that they simply etched their gratitude into their hearts.

Brother Zhou said, “Once we drive out the Rong invaders, you’ll return home, won’t you?”

Well… Xia Mo wasn’t sure.

“Of course! Doctor Xia must be from a prestigious family. They had to leave because of the war, but once it’s over, they’ll definitely go back.”

Xia Mo could only smile and go along with it.

“Big Brother Yang is right.”

“Great! When you pass by our village again, make sure to visit my home. Doctor Xia, Xia Wu, you remember which village we’re from, right?”

Xia Mo replied, “Of course, of course. I saw your family when you left the village.”

Hearing this, Brother Zhou and the others each carried a basket and left.

Finally, they were gone.

Xia Mo let out a deep breath. “Now it’s just the two of us again. Xiao Jingyuan, are you really coming with me to Baiyue? I think you’d actually be better off staying with them in the mountains.”

After all, he was looking for his uncle. Staying in the mountains and finding a way to contact him would surely be easier than heading to Baiyue.

His uncle was leading the northern campaign but had suffered defeat, being pushed back repeatedly.

It wasn’t that his uncle was incapable—it was that the imposter in the palace wanted to slowly erode Xiao Jingyuan’s power, starting with his closest kin.

If it weren’t for a traitor aiding the enemy from within, how could the northern border, which had been peaceful for decades, fall so easily?

Power struggles always made the people suffer. The cost was too high.

“I said I’m going to Baiyue with you.”

Now that the villagers were gone, Xiao Jingyuan dropped his act. His voice turned cold.