Yin Wudao left, taking their bamboo tube with him!
Although he gave Grandma Jing another five taels of silver before leaving, Jing Yin still felt like she had gotten the short end of the stick when she watched him take away more than half a bamboo tube of their water.
She had secretly added a drop of Spirit Spring Water to that bamboo tube. It was only because Jing Da noticed that this bamboo tube had the least water left that he had handed it over.
She hadn’t expected the other party to take the whole thing.
Still, there wasn’t much left anyway. Let him take it.
At least he had given them some silver in return.
Under normal circumstances, seven taels of silver would be enough for an ordinary family of three to live on for two years.
Besides, he had given them a clear route and specifically told them not to enter Kaitai Prefecture. He must have known about the conflict between Ningtian Prefecture and Kaitai Prefecture, so in a way, he had done them a favor.
Although Jing Yin didn’t fully understand the situation, history tended to repeat itself throughout the ages. With a little deduction, she could figure out the likely outcome.
The current emperor was incompetent and indifferent, completely unconcerned with the lives of the common people.
She feared that Ningtian Prefecture and Kaitai Prefecture would suppress the refugees under the excuse of a rebellion…
Unfortunately, they were already struggling just to survive themselves. They simply didn’t have the ability to interfere with such matters.
…
“Let’s go.”
Although they had changed their route, the road they would take over the next two days remained the same.
However, they hadn’t gone very far when they encountered Yin Wudao again.
At this moment, he was standing beside a carriage, handing the bamboo tube into the carriage.
“Young brother?”
Jing Da approached and chatted with him for a few moments before learning that their carriage had broken down, forcing them to stop there.
Even if the carriage hadn’t broken down, though, they wouldn’t have been able to travel much farther.
The horse pulling it could barely remain standing.
“It doesn’t look too serious. I should be able to repair it.”
Jing Da glanced at the damaged part of the carriage and mentioned it casually.
It wouldn’t take him long, and since the other man had kindly warned them about the route, Jing Da couldn’t just stand by and ignore him when he knew how to fix it.
Fortunately, he had continued carrying some of his woodworking tools from home.
He had almost thrown them away earlier when the family was about to run out of strength, but thankfully, his daughter had received the Fox Immortal’s blessing.
Hearing this, Yin Wudao’s eyes lit up, and he immediately bowed in thanks.
“Thank you, Senior.”
“You’re welcome. If you hadn’t warned us about the route, we might have made the entire journey for nothing. There isn’t much else I can help with, so how could I refuse to lend a hand with something I know how to do?”
Jing Da waved his hand.
Yin Wudao immediately called for the people inside the carriage to come out.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and two women stepped out one after another.
Immediately afterward, Yin Wudao jumped into the carriage and carried out a handsome young boy with a deathly pale complexion.
The boy looked about eight or nine years old. His lips were bluish-black, and he was so thin that he was practically skin and bones.
He was unconscious.
[Ding! A poisoned human has been detected. Treatment mission issued. Host, would you like to accept the treatment mission?]
While Jing Da was helping repair the carriage, the system’s voice suddenly rang out.
Jing Yin glanced curiously at the unconscious boy in Yin Wudao’s arms before immediately looking away.
She didn’t know him and had no idea what was going on.
Getting involved could expose her and potentially bring danger upon herself.
After making her decision, Jing Yin directly refused the mission.
Did this system have nothing else to do all day?
It was either a treatment mission or a crafting mission.
Was it trying to make her play some kind of wilderness survival game?
System: “…”
[Host, successfully completing the treatment mission will reward you with 2 points and 2 pounds of fresh meat~]
The system stubbornly tried to tempt her.
If its host refused to accept missions, where would its share come from?
And what about its performance quota?
Being a system was exhausting.
(Fresh meat?)
Jing Yin’s eyes lit up, but she remained stubborn.
(No.)
System: […Then I’ll add two pounds of flour. That’s the most I can give!]
If it gave her a little more, it could still make some profit, and it would also meet its quota.
(No. What’s the point of having flour and meat without scallions, ginger, and garlic? Dumplings won’t taste good. Oh, and there’s no oil either, so they won’t taste good anyway…)
System: […Fine! I’ll give it to you!]
The system was practically gritting its teeth.
Although it wouldn’t make any profit from this anymore, at least completing its quota was still good.
The mission had only just begun.
It absolutely couldn’t fail right at the starting line!
(Thank you. You’re so good to me.)
Jing Yin happily accepted the mission.
She was worried about exposing herself, but the system was simply offering too much.
Dumplings.
Tsk.
She hadn’t eaten them in so long.
No amount of money could compare.
Just thinking about them made her mouth water.
…
“Third Miss, Dongxue, have some water.”
Yin Wudao gave some of the water he had obtained to the two women.
He then divided the remaining water into two portions.
One portion was fed to the horse, while the other was brought to the unconscious boy’s lips.
The water slipped into the boy’s throat.
After a moment, the boy actually began swallowing unconsciously.
Yin Wudao was startled at first, then overjoyed.
He hurriedly fed the rest of the water into the boy’s mouth.
Unfortunately, there hadn’t been much water in the bamboo tube to begin with.
The boy only received two or three mouthfuls before the bamboo tube was empty.
“Water… water…”
The boy murmured hoarsely and intermittently while unconscious.
Yin Wudao frowned, feeling somewhat desperate to reach the water source.
Jing Yin walked over at this moment.
“Brother Yin, my grandmother’s arm was bitten by a wild dog before. Could I exchange some water with you for a piece of clean cloth?”
“Clean cloth? Sure!”
Yin Wudao didn’t suspect anything.
He immediately turned around and told Dongxue to fetch some clean cloth.
Jing Yin, meanwhile, took the bamboo tube from his hand and walked over to Grandma Jing.
After saying a few words to Grandma Jing, she poured a little less than half a bamboo tube of water into it.
At the same time, she quietly dropped an antidote pill into the bamboo tube.
The antidote pill was colorless and odorless and dissolved instantly in water.
“Brother Yin, here you go.”
Jing Yin handed the bamboo tube to Yin Wudao.
Then she cautiously added, “Brother Yin, we don’t have much water left either. You won’t blame me for giving you so little, will you?”
“No, of course not. Miss, I will never forget this great kindness.”
Yin Wudao accepted the bamboo tube.
Dongxue then handed over a piece of white cloth.
Water was water, no matter how much there was.
Moreover, water was extremely scarce now.
He had traveled dozens of miles earlier without finding a single water source.
“We only have this much. I hope you won’t mind, Miss.”
Jing Yin reached out to take it.
It was fine cotton cloth, soft to the touch and roughly two meters long.
It was enough to make an ordinary person a set of clothes.
“I don’t mind at all. Thank you, Brother Yin.”
Jing Yin happily accepted the cotton cloth and began treating Grandma Jing’s wound.
The Golden Sore Medicine produced by the system was quite effective.
Combined with the nourishment from the Spirit Spring Water, Grandma Jing’s wound had already formed a thin scab after only one day.
Jing Yin poured all the remaining Golden Sore Medicine onto Grandma Jing’s wound, then cut off a piece of the clean white cloth and wrapped it around the injury.
“What a waste of such fine cotton cloth on an old woman like me.”
Grandma Jing looked utterly heartbroken.
Even during the two years when their family had been doing well, no one in their household had ever worn such fine cotton cloth.
And now they were using it to bandage her wound.
What a waste of good material.
While Jing Yin was busy tending to the wound, Yin Wudao also looked over from nearby.
Seeing that Grandma Jing’s hand really was injured, the last trace of suspicion in his heart finally disappeared.
He then fed the newly obtained water to the unconscious boy…