One of the guards tossed a water pouch to Jiang Fengyu. Just as he was about to hand it to Jiang Kun first, Jiang Qingshu swiftly snatched it away.
“I want water.”
The whole family knew she had been born lacking part of her soul and mind, so no one argued with her. Jiang Fengyu even reminded her gently to drink slowly.
After grabbing the water pouch, Jiang Qingshu clutched it like a treasure and immediately turned her back toward the others before drinking from it.
Not long afterward, the pouch had been passed around all fifteen members of the Jiang family until not a single drop remained.
“Mother, I’m so hungry…”
Mier, Eldest Brother’s six-year-old daughter, whimpered pitifully.
Eldest Sister-in-law Tang Shuangshuang pulled her two children into her arms, her eyes reddening with heartache.
“Here.”
Without warning, Jiang Qingshu suddenly handed Mier a chicken drumstick.
“Th-this…”
The family members beside her all stared in shock, while the children swallowed hard one after another.
Turning around, Jiang Qingshu pulled out a bundle from beside a rock.
When she unfolded it, there was an entire roast duck inside, four chicken drumsticks, red date cakes, peach pastries, and other snacks.
“This is for Father, this is for Big Brother and Sister-in-law…”
She immediately began distributing food to everyone.
The already stunned Jiang family became even more bewildered.
“Shu’er, where did all this come from?” Jiang Kun asked in astonishment.
“Elder Sister, I thought secretly hiding a few bean cakes made me impressive already, but you’re the real hidden master!” Jiang Luoyou exclaimed, her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
“Shh, keep your voices down~”
Second Sister-in-law Qin Sining quickly glanced nervously toward the nearby guards.
Unfortunately, she was too late.
Just as the Jiang family prepared to quietly share the food, a sharp-eyed guard spotted them.
“What are you hiding there? Hand it over!”
And just like that, the food that was practically at their lips was confiscated by the guards.
“Give it back!”
Jiang Qingshu looked anxious on the surface, but a cold glint hid deep within her eyes.
Soon, the pile of food was set before the guards.
However, they didn’t eat immediately.
The lead guard ordered someone to return one chicken drumstick to Mier and handed pastries to the other children as well.
They weren’t being kindhearted.
They were simply cautious and afraid the food might be poisoned.
The children were starving and naturally knew nothing about the schemes and suspicions of adults. The moment they received the food, they devoured it hungrily.
Seeing that the Jiang family adults neither stopped them nor looked nervous, the lead guard finally returned to the campfire.
Half an hour later, when the children still showed no signs of poisoning, the guards finally relaxed and divided up the precious feast amongst themselves.
Yet less than the time it took for half a stick of incense to burn, the guards began collapsing one after another.
Soon, only five low-ranking lackeys remained standing, too unimportant to have received any food.
They stood frozen in confusion.
Before anyone else could react, Jiang Qingshu had already seized the perfect opportunity and snatched the key ring from the soldier carrying it.
After unlocking the shackles on her own feet, she immediately tossed the keys toward the most skilled fighter among them—Eldest Brother Jiang Fengyu.
Jiang Fengyu wasn’t stupid.
The cangues had already been removed temporarily, most of the guards were unconscious, and this was the perfect chance to escape.
If they didn’t run now, when would they?
He instantly reacted and unlocked his own shackles at top speed.
Just as the remaining guards rushed over to stop them, he punched them down one by one.
Within moments, all five guards had been beaten to the ground, completely unable to resist.
By the time the fight ended, the rest of the Jiang family had also freed themselves from their shackles.
While everyone was still struggling to process their sudden freedom, Third Brother Jiang Chengyu had already figured out why the guards had collapsed.
“It was knockout drug powder.”
“That’s strange,” Second Sister-in-law Qin Sining said in confusion. “The guards were poisoned after eating Fourth Sister’s food, but why are the children fine?”
Everyone turned simultaneously toward Jiang Qingshu.
“This isn’t a place to stay and talk. We need to leave first,” Jiang Kun suddenly interrupted.
“That’s right. Lock these people up and take anything useful,” Sun Yuluo added while supporting the injured Jiang Kun.
Thus, the three Jiang brothers used the cangues and shackles to bind the unconscious guards instead.
Meanwhile, the women gathered together the guards’ food, money, and useful supplies.
Before long, the entire family vanished into the dark mountain valley night.
Though utterly exhausted, they had regained their freedom.
No matter how tired they were, they now had the strength to keep moving.
Under the cover of darkness, Jiang Qingshu secretly took out a bag of glucose powder from the mall space and mixed it into the water pouch for the family to replenish their energy.
She lied and claimed both the water pouch and sugar had been taken from the guards, so no one thought much of it.
After recovering a bit of strength, they hurried onward.
They walked for another two hours straight.
The injured Jiang Kun and the children had nearly reached their limits.
By moonlight, they finally spotted a nearly dried-up river ahead, beside which stood a pitch-black forest.
Pointing toward the cracked riverbed, Jiang Kun said,
“We’ll rest here for two hours. Once dawn arrives, we move again.”
“Mm.”
Sleeping outdoors in early winter was far from wise.
Without a campfire, they had no way to fend off the cold, and the children could easily fall ill.
“I’ll look for dry firewood nearby,” Eldest Brother Jiang Fengyu said before heading toward the forest.
“I’ll go too,” Jiang Yifeng quickly followed.
The eldest and second brothers went to gather wood for a fire, while Third Brother and Sixth Brother patrolled the surroundings.
The sisters-in-law sorted through supplies and cared for the children.
Jiang Kun’s old injuries had flared up again, and the beating on his back had left his flesh torn open. He desperately needed rest and medicine.
Sun Yuluo and Jiang Luoyou helped him toward a relatively flat rock to rest.
Just as he was debating whether to lie face-down, Jiang Qingshu suddenly walked over carrying a moisture-proof sleeping mat and two thick cotton quilts.
The mother and daughter—and even Jiang Kun himself—were utterly stunned.
All three stared at her in disbelief.
“Shu’er… where did these come from?” Jiang Kun asked, frowning.
When they had taken supplies from the guards earlier, there certainly hadn’t been any quilts.
Jiang Qingshu knew that if she wanted to protect her family throughout this journey, she would have to rely on the resources inside her space.
But those supplies needed an explanation.
After thinking it over repeatedly during the journey, she had finally come up with a story that would both protect the secret of her space and allow her to provide supplies whenever necessary.
Whether they fully believed her or not was secondary.
The important thing was using the supplies.
“These quilts, and even the drugged food from earlier, were all left beside the road ahead of time by people sent by my master.”
“Master?”
The entire family looked both shocked and confused.
“There’s more than that. There’s also medicine to treat Father’s wounds.”
As she spoke, Jiang Qingshu pulled a bottle of medicinal powder for external injuries from her sleeve.
Looking at the medicine bottle she handed over, Jiang Kun suddenly realized something.
“Shu’er… the way you speak now…”
He stared at her in shock.
Her behavior, speech, and mannerisms were all completely different from before.
Not just him—
Everyone had noticed the change.
Facing the gazes of her family, Jiang Qingshu knew there was no longer any way to hide the fact that she was no longer a fool.
Besides, the Jiang family had treated both her and Lin Bao extremely well.
She had no reason to continue pretending.
Other than the secret of the space itself, she had already prepared an explanation for how she had “recovered.”
Jiang Qingshu’s expression remained calm as she spoke evenly:
“Father, Mother… my illness has already been cured.”
“What?!”
That single calm sentence exploded in the Jiang family’s ears like a thunderclap.
At that exact moment, the eldest and second brothers returned carrying piles of firewood.
The instant they heard Jiang Qingshu’s words, the bundles of wood slipped from their hands and scattered all over the ground.
Yet Jiang Qingshu remained perfectly composed, displaying the professionalism of a truly skilled actress.
“This all started half a year ago…”