“Run! The enemy army is here!”
Someone’s voice rang out above the chaos, shouting at the top of their lungs.
The fleeing refugees reacted instantly.
Pushing carts, carrying bundles, and dragging whatever possessions they could manage, everyone broke into a desperate run.
The already overcrowded road descended into complete disorder.
Many people were shoved to the ground.
Terrible stampedes followed.
Dust billowed into the air, obscuring everyone’s vision.
“Mother! Father! Waaaah…!”
“Old man! Wan’er…!”
The desperate screams of the elderly and children echoed through the crowd.
But nobody stopped.
Nobody looked back.
Those who fell were trampled underfoot and died where they lay.
In only a few moments, the road became littered with abandoned belongings and the mangled bodies of old people and children.
The thick stench of blood filled the air.
Lin Xiazhi pulled out a face mask and put it on, then handed one to Mu Zheng.
“Girl, the enemy army is coming! We need to run too!”
Shen Jianping and Shen Jianhua came rushing over after abandoning the ox cart, panic written all over their faces.
They urged Lin Xiazhi to leave immediately.
Lin Xiazhi nodded.
“I’ll clear the way. Just keep up and don’t get separated.”
Then she raised her voice toward the carriage.
“Everyone in the back, hold on tight!”
Xu Fenlan and the others immediately hugged the children and pressed themselves firmly against the carriage walls.
“Mother.”
Lin Qingbei sat beside Shen Ying, carefully shielding her with his body.
Lin Xiazhi tightened her grip on the reins.
Then she brought the whip down hard on the horse’s hindquarters.
“Hyah!”
The black horse cried out in pain, reared up with a loud neigh, and surged forward.
The carriage shot ahead like an arrow released from a bow.
Lin Xiazhi and Mu Zheng each controlled a rein with one hand while swinging their whips with the other, forcing aside obstacles and clearing a path for the ox cart behind them.
“Move!”
“Everyone move aside!”
Shen Jianping and Shen Jianhua hurried onto the ox cart and chased after the carriage.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, an ox could never match a horse’s speed.
Before long, they were left far behind.
The gaps were quickly filled by other refugees pushing their way forward.
As the horse carriage gradually disappeared from view, Shen Jianhua began to panic.
“Brother, what do we do? We can’t keep up!”
“Stay calm!”
Shen Jianping continuously whipped the ox, but its speed barely increased.
The more he tried, the more anxious he became.
Seated behind them, Shen Shi hurriedly comforted his sons.
“There won’t be any forks in the road for another ten li. As long as Xiazhi doesn’t change routes, we’ll meet up again.”
“But what if she does change routes…?”
The hearts of all three men sank instantly.
They could only pray that Lin Xiazhi stayed on the original road.
Otherwise, they might never see each other again.
As evening approached, the setting sun painted the entire sky crimson.
The glowing clouds looked peaceful and gentle.
Yet beneath that tranquil sky unfolded scenes of unimaginable horror.
Bodies littered the ground.
Blood flowed across the earth.
Slaughter and death spread everywhere.
“Xiazhi, your uncles haven’t caught up!”
Xu Fenlan sat closest to the carriage opening. Peering outside through a gap, she searched desperately for her sons.
But she couldn’t see them anywhere.
Panic immediately gripped her heart.
Wang Qiutao’s voice trembled.
“Where did Jianping and the others go?”
Deng Hehua clutched her son tightly and burst into tears.
“I don’t know… If they’re really lost, what are we supposed to do? Waaaah…”
Her crying made Xu Fenlan even more agitated.
“Stop crying! Whenever something important happens, all you know how to do is cry!”
Deng Hehua turned her head away and sobbed quietly.
“Mother, Sisters-in-law, don’t panic.”
To everyone’s surprise, Shen Ying suddenly pushed herself upright.
The sudden movement startled everyone inside the carriage.
Xu Fenlan immediately forgot her grief and rushed over to support her.
“Yingzi! Why are you sitting up? Lie down quickly! Does anything hurt?”
Shen Ying looked down at herself in astonishment.
“I… I think I can move!”
Wang Qiutao and Deng Hehua stared in disbelief.
“That’s incredible…”
Lin Qingbei’s eyes filled with tears of joy.
“Mother, you’re going to recover soon!”
Shen Ying smiled warmly.
“Yes. I’ll be better soon.”
Hearing the conversation from outside, Lin Xiazhi curled her lips into a smug smile.
Once someone took her medicine, even if their bones had been shattered and held together by only a few tendons, they would recover completely within ten days.
As for Mu Zheng’s injuries…
There was no need to waste her enhanced medicine on him.
He could recover the slow, ordinary way.
At that moment, their carriage had already pulled far ahead of the main refugee group.
The journey had become relatively smooth.
With some free time on his hands, Mu Zheng unfolded the route map and studied it.
“Five hundred meters ahead, there are three forks in the road. We need to take the far-right path.”
He paused before continuing.
“But your uncles still haven’t caught up. Should we wait for them?”
Lin Xiazhi frowned and glanced behind them.
She could see countless ox carts and donkey carts.
But there was no sign of her uncles.
Getting separated at a time like this was extremely dangerous.
As they reached the fork in the road, Lin Xiazhi guided the carriage onto the narrow path to the far right and stopped.
She stared calmly toward the road behind them.
“One quarter of an hour.”
“If they don’t appear within fifteen minutes, I’m leaving.”
Mu Zheng’s expression turned serious.
“Understood.”
Inside the carriage, Xu Fenlan and the others immediately opened the window and stretched their necks toward the road.
One ox cart after another raced past.
Ten carts.
Then more.
Yet none belonged to Shen Shi and his sons.
As time slipped away, the three women grew increasingly anxious.
Xu Fenlan couldn’t stop glancing at Lin Xiazhi.
Watching the girl’s expression become colder and more indifferent with every passing moment, the sorrow in her heart grew overwhelming.
For the safety of the entire family, she couldn’t beg Lin Xiazhi to wait longer.
“Time’s up.”
Lin Xiazhi walked to a nearby tree and quickly carved the character Lin into the trunk.
Then, expressionless, she jumped back onto the carriage and snapped the reins.
The carriage rolled away.
Xu Fenlan’s body went limp.
The last thread of hope she’d been holding onto vanished completely.
Silent tears streamed down her face.
Wang Qiutao and Deng Hehua had never experienced a separation like this before.
Unable to control themselves, they clung to the window and cried hysterically.
“Jianhua!”
“Jianping!”
Again and again they shouted their names.
As though their voices might somehow reach the men behind them.
Seeing their grief, Shen Ying felt no better.
Those men were her father and her brothers.
Yet despite that, the person she relied on most was still her daughter, Lin Xiazhi.
“Mother, Sisters-in-law, believe in Father and my brothers.”
She tried to comfort them.
“They’ll catch up. They definitely will.”
But the three women were drowning in sorrow.
Not a single word reached them.
The carriage continued for another hour.
Only after the surrounding area had become completely quiet did Mu Zheng finally speak.
“It’ll be difficult to travel safely in the dark. We should find a place to rest.”
Lin Xiazhi had no desire to stop.
But the horse had been running all day and needed water and feed.
Reluctantly, she activated her x-ray vision ability and searched for a safe location.
Eventually, she found a secluded patch of forest.
Guiding the carriage off the road, she drove deep into the woods and concealed it among the trees.