Lin Yan quickly cupped his hands toward Pei Heng in greeting.
“Young Master Pei, my name is Lin Yan. My son and I arranged to meet our family outside Yiyang City. May I ask which direction you two are headed?”
Pei Heng returned the greeting with a slight nod.
“My name is Pei Heng. We’re also going to Yiyang.”
“Young Master, we should leave quickly. This place isn’t safe to stay in.”
Pei Guang scanned the surroundings warily.
The sky had already begun to brighten faintly.
“Do either of you know how to ride horses?” Pei Guang asked Lin Yan.
Father and daughter both shook their heads together.
“Then ride in the carriage.”
After saying that, Pei Heng boarded the carriage first, and Lin Yan hurriedly followed with Lin Zhiyue.
Outside, Pei Guang drove the carriage. Before long, it exited the forest and returned to the official road.
“Tiezi, thirsty?”
Inside the carriage, Lin Yan pulled out the water pouch from his robes.
Lin Zhiyue accepted it and weighed it in her hand.
There was still a little more than half left.
“Dad, stop calling me Tiezi.”
Lin Yan awkwardly glanced toward Pei Heng, but the latter didn’t seem surprised at all.
Pei Heng’s gaze lingered thoughtfully on the water pouch in Lin Zhiyue’s hands.
After pondering for a while, he finally spoke.
“Mr. Lin, would you be willing to sell me some of that water?”
Before Lin Yan could answer, Lin Zhiyue immediately replied,
“Young Master Pei, this water can save lives. We’re not selling it.”
Pei Heng shifted his gaze toward Lin Zhiyue.
He had already realized she was actually a girl, but he didn’t find it strange at all that she could make decisions for her father.
“One thousand taels.”
Pei Heng looked directly at Lin Zhiyue as he spoke.
Lin Yan knew there was still plenty of spiritual spring water inside his daughter’s space, so he wasn’t in a hurry to speak and simply let her negotiate.
“Well… but we need this water too.”
Pretending to hesitate, Lin Zhiyue turned toward Lin Yan.
“Dad, our family needs money too, right?”
“We do need money. Whether to sell or not is up to you. But Young Master Pei also saved us last night.”
Lin Yan answered cooperatively.
Lin Zhiyue shifted slightly before turning back toward Pei Heng, as though finally making up her mind.
“Young Master Pei, you know this water is extraordinary. My father and I survived this entire journey because of it.”
“One thousand taels can buy at most half a pouch. And we have one condition.”
“Go ahead,” Pei Heng said, his eyes fixed on hers.
They were very beautiful eyes—clear and lively.
Pointing outside, Lin Zhiyue said,
“Can your guard escort us safely to Jiangzhou?”
“Agreed.”
Pei Heng answered without the slightest hesitation.
At that moment, the carriage slowly stopped by the roadside.
The sky was now fully bright.
“Young Master, the gates of Yiyang City are just ahead,” Pei Guang reported.
Pei Heng lifted the curtain and instructed him,
“Go into the city first and find Pei Xing. Bring one thousand taels and come back for me.”
“As you command, Young Master.”
Pei Guang left immediately.
Lin Zhiyue lifted the curtain beside her and looked outside.
Occasionally, refugees passed by on the road.
Some pulled handcarts, others drove mule carts.
From time to time, several horse carriages passed as well, likely belonging to wealthy families, accompanied by numerous servants.
Since they were already close to Yiyang City, there were no robberies or killings along the road.
Everyone was too busy hurrying onward.
A quarter of an hour later, Pei Guang and Pei Xing returned, each riding a horse.
“Young Master.”
After stepping forward respectfully, Pei Xing pulled a thick stack of banknotes from his robes.
“This is one thousand taels. The carriage will stay with you as well.”
Pei Heng accepted the notes and handed them to Lin Zhiyue.
After speaking, he cupped his hands toward Lin Yan in farewell, then turned and stepped out of the carriage.
He mounted one of the horses and instructed Pei Guang,
“You stay behind and escort them safely to Jiangzhou.”
Before Pei Guang could even react, Pei Heng had already spurred the horse forward.
Pei Xing hurriedly mounted his horse and chased after him.
“Young Master! Young Master! Don’t leave me behind!”
Pei Guang stood there dumbfounded.
He ran forward a few steps only to end up with a mouthful of dust.
Earlier, while waiting, Lin Zhiyue had already divided the spiritual water with Pei Heng.
His carriage had tea cups and extra water pouches prepared inside.
Holding the banknotes tightly, Lin Zhiyue casually clasped her hands behind her back while Pei Guang was still stunned and secretly stored the money inside her space.
Watching the banknotes vanish from his daughter’s hand, Lin Yan silently marveled again.
Having a storage space really was convenient.
Lin Zhiyue climbed down from the carriage and waddled over to Pei Guang on her short little legs.
Originally, she had planned to stand beside him and pat his shoulder comfortingly.
Unfortunately, she was too short.
Looking at the tall man still frozen in shock and completely oblivious to her presence, she could only helplessly pat his thigh instead.
Tilting her head up, she called out,
“Guard Pei, stop staring. Let’s go.”
Pei Guang lowered his head to look at her.
Just what kind of trick had this little brat used on his young master?
“What scheme did you use? Why would Young Master order me to escort you all the way to Jiangzhou?”
Pei Guang truly couldn’t understand.
His young master had just abandoned him behind.
He felt rather wronged.
“A scheme? We gave your young master half of our spiritual water. Did you think he was just spreading kindness out of charity?”
Lin Zhiyue’s face turned cold as she continued,
“If you’re unwilling, go ask your young master to return the spiritual water. Honestly, if you people hadn’t saved us last night, I wouldn’t even want you coming along.”
She needed to make this clear—it was a transaction.
If Pei Guang planned to slack off along the journey, then she’d rather not have him accompany them at all.
After hearing that, realization dawned on Pei Guang.
Ah, so that was why.
Then he spoke awkwardly,
“Well… that spiritual water really is pretty valuable, huh.”
Seeing Lin Zhiyue ignore him completely and turn around toward the carriage, he hurried after her.
“Hey, don’t be angry! I’ll definitely escort you safely to Jiangzhou. I’m absolutely worth the price!”
Watching the little girl struggle with her short legs as she climbed into the carriage without sparing him another glance, Pei Guang could only shut his mouth helplessly.
Silently, he sat at the driver’s seat and slowly drove the carriage toward the gates of Yiyang City.
Inside the carriage, Lin Zhiyue continuously observed the scenery outside.
Groups of refugees passed by in clusters of three or five.
Most were entire clans or villagers traveling together.
Very few lone families remained.
Probably because anyone traveling alone wouldn’t have survived long enough to reach this place.
They would’ve already been robbed or killed along the road.
“Dad, do you think Grandpa and Grandma are here?”
At the opposite window, Lin Yan stared outside expectantly.
“There shouldn’t be any accidents. They should be here. Let’s look carefully.”
“Brother Lin, there are too many people ahead. The carriage can’t move forward anymore.”
Outside, Pei Guang called into the carriage while steering toward the roadside.
It was now noon—the hottest, harshest part of the day.
Father and daughter had only drunk some water.
Perhaps because they were too anxious to reunite with family, neither felt hungry.
The carriage finally stopped behind an ox cart.
Ahead of them were over a hundred people packed together, likely from the same village.
“Daughter, stay in the carriage. I’ll go ahead and look around.”
As Lin Yan spoke, he prepared to get off.
But Lin Zhiyue immediately grabbed him.
“Dad, wait. I’m coming too. Take this.”
She pulled out a dagger and handed it to him.
“Alright. Together.”
Thinking about the dangers they’d faced before, Lin Yan accepted the dagger and tucked it away.
The moment they stepped down from the carriage, they both sucked in cold breaths.
From here to the city gates stretched several hundred meters packed densely with refugees sitting or lying everywhere.
An endless sea of people.
All of them yellow-faced and emaciated, lacking any spirit.
Voices of conversation, arguments, scolding, crying, and sobbing rose constantly from the crowds.
Pei Guang knew they were searching for family.
He wanted to offer to accompany them, but someone needed to stay behind and guard the carriage.
Lin Yan picked up Lin Zhiyue and scanned the surroundings carefully.
After confirming he didn’t recognize any familiar faces, he slowly began moving forward through the crowd.