Hurrying forward, Ziling pushed through the crowd and saw that the people being whipped were an older man and a younger man.
The moment she realized it wasn’t her own family in trouble, she quietly let out a breath of relief.
She recognized the pair.
They were a family of four—a husband and wife with a son and daughter. The younger man being beaten now was their son.
Ziling had noticed them before. The two men were unbelievably lazy. Whenever the guards announced a rest stop, they simply sat around waiting for food to be distributed.
Twice before, Ziling had personally witnessed the moment black buns were handed out: before the woman and little girl even took a bite, the father and son had already snatched and eaten everything themselves.
When the woman tried to save half a bun for the little girl, the man had slapped her twice across the face.
Turning to another prisoner nearby, Ziling asked,
“What happened?”
The man glanced at her while chewing on a blade of grass.
“These two tried to run away earlier. The guards caught them.”
Ziling frowned slightly.
Those two were usually too lazy to move at all. What would drive them to suddenly attempt escape?
“Please stop beating us, Officer! We won’t dare again!”
The older man knelt on the ground, his clothes already shredded by the whip.
“We only wanted to survive! We haven’t had water for two days. Without water, we’ll die!”
The younger man also knelt beside him, trembling and not daring to move.
The guards had likely grown tired from whipping them—or perhaps feared truly beating someone to death in front of everyone.
Though these people were prisoners, killing someone publicly could easily provoke unrest among the others.
“Anyone else who runs will end up the same way!” one guard shouted viciously. “We’ll beat you until you learn obedience!”
After cursing a while longer, the guards returned to continue eating.
Ziling returned to her family’s resting place.
Secretly, she let her family drink a little water and eat another small pastry before the guards began urging everyone onward again.
Walking beside the wheelbarrow Gong Hao was pushing, Ziling spoke softly to Gong Mohan.
“You heard the guards beating people earlier?”
“Mhm.”
As always, Gong Mohan answered briefly.
“Everyone’s already gone two days without water. If this continues, we won’t even dare drink openly anymore. Once people discover we still have water, some of them may do absolutely anything just to survive. We’ll be in danger too. We need to think of a solution.”
Gong Mohan quietly looked into her eyes.
This was undeniably Ziling’s face.
Yet somehow… it also didn’t feel like the same person.
The Ziling he once knew in the Marquis Manor had been timid and fearful, constantly bullied by her stepmother and stepsister.
How could that girl possibly remain this calm and analytical while facing danger like this?
After a pause, Gong Mohan finally said,
“A hundred li ahead lies another town. If we continue on the main road, it’ll take around ten more days to arrive. And this entire stretch is drought-stricken.”
“Then do you have any ideas?” Ziling asked immediately.
She herself knew nothing about this world’s geography. Right now, despite having food and rice inside her space, she didn’t even dare cook porridge openly.
After a long silence—so long that Ziling thought he wouldn’t answer—Gong Mohan finally spoke again.
“About ten li ahead there’s a mountain. If we abandon the official road and take the mountain path instead, we could shorten the journey by nearly seven days. Perhaps then people might still have a chance to survive.”
Ziling’s eyes instantly brightened.
“Then I’ll go ask Guard Zhang Meng whether we can switch to the mountain route!”
Before he could respond, she had already run toward the front of the convoy.
At the head of the line, Zhang Meng’s mood was extremely foul.
Earlier that day, prisoners had attempted escape. If water still couldn’t be found soon, things would only grow harder to control.
And even the guards themselves were nearly out of water now.
Forget the prisoners—at this rate, even they wouldn’t survive long enough to reach the next town.
“Officer Zhang, I need to discuss something with you.”
Zhang Meng was already irritated, but seeing it was Ziling—and remembering how generously she always handled things—he restrained himself from immediately chasing her away.
“What is it?”
“Officer Zhang, I heard there’s a mountain ahead. Wouldn’t taking the mountain route get us to the next town faster?”
She lowered her voice slightly.
“We have no water now. If we continue on the official road, everyone may die of thirst.”
Zhang Meng frowned thoughtfully.
“I’ve considered the water issue too. But mountain roads are dangerous—not only difficult terrain, but wild beasts appear there often.”
Ziling quickly replied,
“Officer Zhang, although the mountains are dangerous, we could reach the next town seven days earlier. But if we stay on the main road, everyone will die from thirst anyway.”
She pointed toward the distant mountains.
“And if vegetation still survives on the mountain, there may be water sources there too. We might actually find water.”
Zhang Meng’s expression visibly wavered.
At that moment, several nearby prisoners also gathered around. Hearing there might be a chance to reach water faster, they all eagerly agreed to risk taking the mountain route.
Finally, Zhang Meng gritted his teeth.
“Fine. We’ll take the mountain path. But if wild beasts appear, don’t expect us to protect everyone.”
Soon, the guards began reorganizing the convoy and redirecting everyone toward the mountains.
Ziling hurried back beside Gong Mohan, unable to hide her excitement.
“It worked! We’re taking the mountain road!”
Gong Mohan gave a faint nod, a trace of approval flashing through his eyes.
“Hopefully,” he said quietly, “the mountain path will truly let everyone survive.”
Then, beneath the blazing sun and growing exhaustion, the exile convoy slowly advanced toward the mountains—while unknown dangers silently awaited them ahead.