Other than Old Madam Lin and Old Master Lin, Pei Guang stood there staring blankly at the entire Lin family lined up before him.
How should he teach them?
Where should he even begin?
When he first started learning martial arts, how had his own master taught him?
Did it start with horse stance training?
A string of questions flashed through Pei Guang’s mind, leaving him momentarily unsure where to start.
Seeing him scratching his head helplessly, Lin Zhiyue immediately understood and suggested,
“Guard Pei, why don’t you start by teaching defense first?”
“On the refugee road, the most important thing is learning how to protect ourselves. We can’t become martial arts masters overnight anyway, so there’s no need to use the same training methods you went through.”
After hearing that, Pei Guang suddenly understood.
“Right! Little Miss Lin is correct. I was still wondering whether I should make you practice horse stance or start running first.”
Pei Guang swept his gaze over the lined-up family members.
“Ahem. Eldest Lin boy, step forward.”
Lin Zhishu stepped out.
“Take the blade and slash at me from the front.”
Pei Guang unsheathed his saber and handed it over.
Lin Zhishu accepted the weapon and slashed directly toward him.
Pei Guang casually tilted his body aside and lightly kicked toward Lin Zhishu’s waist.
“If your opponent is around your height, you can counter like I just did. If you’re smaller, crouch down quickly and kick toward their ankles instead.”
“Now attack me from behind.”
Lin Zhishu moved behind him.
“Punch from the side.”
“Kick from the front.”
Pei Guang demonstrated one by one how to neutralize attacks coming from various directions while also explaining how to counterattack.
After finishing the demonstrations, he let everyone practice on their own and slowly figure things out.
At first, Lin Zhiyue sparred with Lin Zhixing.
After a quarter of an hour, she switched to sparring with Lin Zhishu instead.
“Old man, look at Yueyue and Second Brother’s boy. Their movements are very agile.”
The clumsiest one by far was Madam Li.
Old Master Lin had already noticed.
Ever since his little granddaughter stopped being foolish, she had become exceptionally intelligent.
Though only seven years old, she understood many things and spoke clearly and logically, almost like a tiny adult.
Truthfully, Old Master Lin had long sensed there was something unusual about Lin Zhiyue.
But since the previous Lin Zhiyue had always been a little fool with almost no reaction to the outside world, there was no past comparison after her recovery.
Perhaps…
If his little granddaughter had never been foolish in the first place, she would naturally have been this clever all along.
The sky gradually darkened.
Lin Zhili collapsed onto the oilcloth, panting heavily.
“So tired… so hot…”
Old Madam Lin took out the remaining meat buns.
“Good timing. We can finish these buns tonight. Yueyue, come quickly.”
Lin Zhiyue took out the water pouch and wooden bowls, placing them on the oilcloth before pouring everyone a bowl of water.
Pei Guang stared at the bulging water pouch.
Was this the miraculous spiritual spring water?
There was still so much left?
Lin Zhiyue handed him a bowl.
“What are you thinking about? This water’s diluted. There’s only a little spiritual water left anyway—not even enough to get stuck between everyone’s teeth.”
“Hehe, even diluted, it’s still precious. Thank you, Little Miss Lin.”
Pei Guang accepted the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
He’d been thirsty for a long time already.
Mm.
Sweet.
Even his exhaustion seemed to lessen slightly.
Though the effects weren’t as obvious as pure spiritual spring water, he could still clearly tell this water differed from ordinary water.
For the past two days, the Lin family had all been drinking diluted spiritual spring water prepared by Lin Zhiyue.
Meanwhile, Pei Guang had continued drinking his own ordinary water.
That was why only Pei Guang clearly noticed the difference.
Before reuniting with Lin Yan and his daughter, the Lin family had already suffered from thirst for days.
Even when they did have water, they only dared take tiny sips, never drinking freely.
Only after reuniting had they finally been able to drink properly again.
Since then, all the water they drank came from Lin Zhiyue, so they never noticed anything unusual.
After dinner, Lin Zhili immediately became lively again.
Dragging Lin Zhixing with him, the two began mock fighting once more.
Each held a dead tree branch, attacking and defending back and forth.
From time to time, Pei Guang tossed out pointers.
At that moment, Madam Li and Old Madam Lin quietly approached Lin Zhiyue.
“Yueyue… do you need to go?”
Madam Li whispered awkwardly.
“Auntie, don’t worry about me. I’m not in a hurry yet.”
Lin Zhiyue answered with embarrassment.
“Xingxing, stop practicing and come here.”
Madam Li called Lin Zhixing over before heading off with Old Madam Lin to find a place to relieve themselves.
Suddenly remembering something important, Lin Zhiyue hurriedly pulled her father aside.
“Dad… um… about bathroom issues…”
“What bathroom issues?”
Lin Yan asked in confusion.
“I mean… when you all, um… go… how do you handle it?”
“Oh, we use toilet sticks. Though with the water shortage right now, it’s definitely troublesome.”
Seeing Pei Guang and Lin Zhishu also heading off together into the distance, Lin Zhiyue glanced toward the now-empty carriage.
Before anyone returned—
“Dad, stand outside the carriage. If someone comes back, cough once.”
Lin Zhiyue climbed into the carriage and immediately entered the space.
Inside the space, she quickly handled her bathroom needs, washed up properly, and then grabbed a roll of toilet paper before exiting again.
“Dad.”
She called softly, and Lin Yan climbed into the carriage.
“This is toilet paper. Don’t use toilet sticks anymore—it’s unhygienic.”
As she spoke, she placed the roll inside one of the carriage compartments.
“Dad, let everyone use it. Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Auntie—they’re all so good to me. I don’t want them getting sick or anything happening to them.”
In ancient times, medical care and medicine were already scarce.
Even a small illness could easily take someone’s life.
Especially on the refugee road.
If someone got seriously ill over something as simple as poor bathroom hygiene just because they feared exposing the secret, it would truly be a terrible loss.
Lin Yan gently rubbed his daughter’s head.
“Yueyue, Dad will handle it. Don’t worry. Once things settle down, we’ll tell the family.”
“Mhm.”
Lin Zhiyue nodded firmly.
Such a wonderful father.
Her father.
Lin Zhiyue suddenly felt that perhaps growing up without parents in her modern life had all been so she could meet this father in this era.
If that was true—
Then every hardship she had suffered before was worth it.
In this era, paper already existed.
However, poor families mostly used toilet sticks.
Wealthier people sometimes used silk cloth, and a very small number used paper instead.
Paper itself was scarce.
Scholars especially viewed written paper and books as sacred, not daring to defile them with impure uses.
Only a tiny handful of noble families used paper in place of toilet sticks or cloth.
“Daughter, is there more? Take out another roll.”
Lin Yan glanced outside the carriage window.
Pei Guang still hadn’t returned yet.
With a thought from Lin Zhiyue, another roll instantly appeared in her hands.
She tore open the edge slightly, causing the paper to loosen and roll free.
Taking it from her, Lin Yan climbed down from the carriage and walked toward Old Master Lin and Lin Dian.
“Big Brother, put this on the mule cart.”
Lin Dian stared blankly at the object his younger brother handed over.
“This is… paper?”
He touched it curiously.
Soft.
Then he tugged slightly.
“Huh? Why did it tear so easily?”
Holding the torn strip of white paper in one hand, he stared in shock.
Old Master Lin took the torn piece and asked doubtfully,
“This paper is so soft. You can’t write on it, can you?”
“Dad, this paper isn’t for writing. It’s used instead of toilet sticks.”
“What?!”
Lin Dian cried out in horror.
“Second Brother, you’re a scholar! How can you treat paper like this?”
Although his own studies had never been as good as his brother’s, Lin Dian deeply respected scholars.
Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were sacred and precious in his eyes.
Before Lin Yan could respond, Old Master Lin smacked Lin Dian on the head.
“This obviously isn’t writing paper. Why are you yelling?”
Then Old Master Lin turned toward Lin Yan.
“A-Yan, where did this paper come from?”
“I traded water for it along the road. Dad, don’t ask too many questions—just use it. And explain it to Mother too.”
“And Big Brother, tell Sister-in-law to use this too. Don’t keep using toilet sticks or dirt clods. It’s unhygienic and can cause illness.”
“Oh, and one more thing—the paper’s limited, so don’t let Guard Pei use it. Don’t let him see it either.”
After rapidly giving all his instructions, Lin Yan turned and fled before either of them could ask further questions.