Wang Shi poured half a bowl of water for Qiu Shi, who then slowly regained consciousness.
The moment she opened her eyes, she instinctively reached into her arms—only to find them empty. She screamed in panic, “My child!”
“She’s here, she’s here. Xu Er Niang is holding her for you,” Tong Shi quickly pulled Qiu Shi, who was trying to stand up, afraid she might collapse again from rising too abruptly.
“Er Niang!” Wang Shi, standing nearby, signaled to Xu Yue and her sister to bring the child over.
Xu Er Niang nodded, walked over, and placed the now awake child into Qiu Shi’s arms. Then she and Xu Yue turned to look at their father, who was protectively guarding the backpack.
Xu Da: “…” Don’t look at me!
Xu Yue and Xu Er Niang sighed helplessly and turned their attention back to Wang Shi.
Wang Shi shot Xu Da a meaningful glance, and only then did he reluctantly take out three taros and a bowl of water—one roasted taro for each family and one sip of water per person.
Qiu Shi and her child, having already drunk water, consciously refrained from taking a share.
The Xu family had secretly eaten along the way while avoiding the others, but Wang Dayou and the rest had genuinely eaten nothing from morning until now.
They looked at the Xu family with gratitude, thanked them, and silently vowed to remember this kindness.
They thought that if they could survive, they would surely repay the Xu family properly in the future.
The bowl of water was quickly finished, and after each had a bit of taro, their exhausted bodies recovered somewhat.
As it wasn’t dark yet, Wang Shi suggested they continue walking.
Everyone glanced at the desolate village around them and nodded eagerly, not daring to stay overnight here.
After a short rest to regain strength, they walked for another two hours.
By then, the sky was completely dark, with a bright moon hanging overhead, casting a faint glow on the ground. There was no need for torches to see the road clearly.
By now, they had passed three villages full of corpses and had moved from the small path onto the broad official road.
A road marker stood by the roadside.
Wang Dahai asked awkwardly, “Is there anyone among us who can read?”
Wang Dayou shook his head. As a blacksmith, he only knew how to swing a hammer and check measurements. As for characters, he only recognized his own name.
Both of them couldn’t help but look toward the Xu family.
Strangely enough, they all felt that this family was so different—they probably could read.
Xu Dalan was the first to step up to the stone tablet. He examined the front, then the back, before standing up and shaking his head at Xu Yue. “No.”
Xu Yue gently patted her brother’s arm, signaling that he shouldn’t feel too bad—illiteracy was common these days.
The original Xu family were all ordinary small farmers, still struggling to make ends meet, so naturally, they couldn’t have studied or learned to read.
Now, it depended on whether the writing of the Great Qing Dynasty was the same as the script from before their transmigration.
The feeling was like buying a lottery ticket—you couldn’t force it; it all depended on fate.
Xu Er Niang and Wang Shi took turns stepping forward to look at the tablet, both shaking their heads.
Xu Da, unwilling to accept this, thought about his previous life where he had studied countless secret manuals and was fluent in various languages and scripts. He waved for his wife and daughter to step aside and confidently looked at the tablet.
What in the world…!
What kind of scribbles were these on the stone tablet!
“Father?” Seeing Xu Da remain silent for a long time, Xu Yue called out to him softly.
Xu Da let out a defeated sigh, stood up, and subtly shook his head at his wife and daughter.
Xu Yue couldn’t believe it. What kind of writing was this that had stumped everyone in the family?
Xu Erniang raised her brows, signaling Xu Yue to take a look as well.
Xu Yue glanced nervously at her family members, who had already given up hope and merely wanted her to go through the motions.
With a resigned shrug, Xu Yue approached the stone stele.
By the moonlight, she could see several lines of text carved on the stele, arranged in an ancient style from right to left and top to bottom.
Realizing she could discern the arrangement, Xu Yue froze momentarily before it dawned on her that she could understand about eighty to ninety percent of the text on the stele.
Because the characters on the stele were traditional Chinese characters!
“How is it?” Xu Erniang asked from behind, thinking Xu Yue’s prolonged silence meant she likely couldn’t decipher it.
Unexpectedly, Xu Yue turned around and nodded with a serious expression.
The entire family was taken aback. Xu Da was the first to react, stepping forward and crouching in front of Xu Yue. He randomly pointed to one character.
Xu Yue examined it—it was the most complex character on the stele, and she happened to recognize it as “Pu.”
Xu Yue glanced at Wang Dayou and the others standing on the periphery, then leaned close to Xu Da’s ear and whispered the pronunciation of the character to him.
Xu Da quickly grasped that it would seem unusual for a young village girl like Xu Yue to be literate in this era. Father and daughter exchanged a swift glance, silently agreeing to perform a coordinated act.
“Hiss, I’ve taken another look, and this seems to be the character ‘濮’ for Puyang,” Xu Da said as he stood up, addressing the group behind him.
Upon hearing this, Wang Dayou and Wang Dahai both revealed expressions of admiration, as if thinking, “Brother Xu truly conceals his depths.” They excitedly crowded around.
“Does that mean this stele indicates we’ve reached Puyang County?” Wang Dahai pressed.
Wang Dayou said uncertainly, “Puyang County belongs to Dong Commandery, which borders our Shanyang Commandery. I’ve heard from village peddlers that it takes half a month to travel from Changyi to Puyang. Could we have arrived so quickly?”
Xu Da subtly glanced at Xu Yue, who quietly relayed the parts of the stele’s content she understood to him.
Xu Da pretended to study the stele for a moment longer before declaring, “The stele points out the destinations of the three paths ahead. Taking the official road west leads to the borders of Dong Commandery in ten li, and Puyang County is only a hundred li away from there.”
“Going east leads to Qingzhou, while heading south takes you back to Changyi. We’ve reached the border area between the two commanderies.”
Hearing Xu Da’s explanation, Wang Dayou and the others felt momentarily lost—where should they go now?
But compared to venturing into the entirely unfamiliar Qingzhou, Puyang County in neighboring Dong Commandery was at least a name they recognized.
Wang Dayou had heard from peddlers that the Grand Administrator of Dong Commandery was a military officer. Perhaps the Red Turban Army hadn’t caused chaos there?
Or maybe the Red Turban rebellion there had already been suppressed, offering a potential chance of survival.
With this in mind, Wang Dayou looked toward the Xu family members, wanting to hear their thoughts.
Xu Da gazed at the bright moon in the sky and the few sparse stars around it, calculating with his fingers. It seemed to reveal a glimmer of hope.
However, just as he was about to speak, Wang Shi had already conducted her own rapid analysis. Combining the Red Turban Army’s route from north to south with potential water sources, she preempted Xu Da and made a choice.
“Let’s head west to Puyang.”
The words “head west” caught in Xu Da’s throat. He looked at Wang Shi in astonishment, wondering whether she had randomly picked a direction or if she, too, possessed divination skills.
Clearly, everything Wang Shi had displayed indicated she was a staunch realist who would never entrust fate to so-called mystical arts.
Perhaps Xu Da’s probing gaze was too intense, coupled with the curious stares from Xu Yue and her siblings, Wang Shi decided to conduct an impromptu lesson on the spot.
She estimated a longitude and latitude corresponding to a planet similar to their original world based on the current geographical conditions and the movement of the sun, attempting to help them integrate this knowledge.
From this, she confirmed that she was still living on a spherical celestial body with gravity.
Building on this, she combined her observations of the surrounding geography to deduce where rivers were likely to flow.
Finally, drawing on her extensive wartime experience and practical considerations, she inferred the probable marching route and objectives of the Red Turban Army, concluding that they were heading to Dongjun.
Xu Da: “I don’t understand a word, but I’m thoroughly impressed!”
Xu Yue was also rendered speechless by her mother’s astonishing display of knowledge, gazing at her with worshipful eyes and nearly kneeling in admiration.
Xu Erniang was completely dumbfounded.
Having lived for centuries, she had always believed her research into the magical world was exhaustive, but Wang Shi’s demonstration felt like a dimensional downgrade attack.
Xu Dalan stared at Wang Shi’s meticulous explanation, a thought drifting through his mind: She seems to genuinely be trying to teach me.