Chapter 12: County Town

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: County Town

Ancient Wen Heng looked at Jin Qianqian sincerely. "Well, Jin Qianqian, it looks like I’m really going to have to rely on you from now on."

Jin Qianqian looked smug. "In that case, you’d better be extra nice to me. I guarantee I’ll fatten you up."

Ancient Wen Heng reached out to pinch her nose, but Jin Qianqian dodged away with a look of disgust. "Have you not noticed how badly we stink? We should hurry and clean ourselves up."

Ancient Wen Heng shook his head. "We can’t do that. Everyone’s in the same boat. If you suddenly show up all fresh and clean, people are bound to get suspicious."

"Just bear with it a little longer. I’ll figure something out when we get to the next town."

Jin Qianqian knew Wenheng was right. With so many people outside enduring hunger and thirst, she couldn’t get past her own conscience either.

She sighed and quickly thought of another problem. "We won’t always be able to find a spot this secluded. Don’t you think we should take some things out to use as cover? After all, no one knows what anyone else really has."

Thinking of their previously limp, empty sacks, Ancient Wen Heng frowned. "Your things are far too out of place. We should wait."

At the same time, he was strategizing. ’We can’t just follow the group blindly. The disasters recorded in history always end in tragedy. If we don’t want to get lost in this crowd, we have to break away from this predicament first.’

’But that’s something that requires long-term planning. Fortunately, our timing wasn’t too bad. This flight from disaster has only just begun, so the truly vicious side of human nature hasn’t reared its head yet. We can still escape this human tide.’

Worried that she didn’t grasp the inherent dangers, Ancient Wen Heng carefully laid everything out for her, adding at the end, "From now on, we’d better go everywhere together. Neither of us should ever be alone, got it?"

Jin Qianqian was already left dumbstruck by her crush’s explanation. Besides, she wasn’t some naive idiot. She may not have experienced it firsthand, but she’d seen glimpses in history books and films.

And those few words Wenheng had implicitly mentioned just now terrified Jin Qianqian even more.

As panic set in, her first thought was to grab her self-defense tools. The pepper spray, the taser, and even the gun she had managed to acquire back in the Beautiful Country were all laid out between them.

With each item she produced, Ancient Wen Heng’s eyes lit up as he took it and inspected it.

’Here, after all, he was just a useless scholar-slash-farmer. Relying only on a few years of taekwondo training, he had no real confidence he could fend off truly vicious thugs.’

’But now it was different. With these life-saving items, they had an extra layer of security.’

"It seems our Qianqian really is a girl full of surprises. I’ve found a real treasure." Ancient Wen Heng picked up two cans of pepper spray, placing one in each of their cloth sacks. "Put the other things away for now. We don’t need them at the moment."

By the time they finally dawdled back to the resting spot, the men on night watch were already glancing in their direction repeatedly. Seeing the two of them return in the dark, one couldn’t help but chide, "Hurry up and get some rest! We have to be on the road again tomorrow."

As for why the two had been out for so long, they had their own guesses. They exchanged a meaningful glance and then continued their patrol.

&

After several more days on the road, the city walls Ancient Wen Heng had been longing for finally appeared before their eyes.

Faced with the high walls and the Government Officials standing guard with greatswords at their hips, the ragged refugees only dared to watch from afar.

A few of the leading village chiefs, holding their household registrations and road permits, cautiously went over to ask for information.

Seeing the village chiefs walk back with grim expressions, everyone’s heart sank.

"The county has issued a notice," Gu Sanbu said, shaking his head as he relayed the news to the villagers under his charge. "Anyone who wants to enter the county seat has to pay 100 coins. We’re also not allowed to stay the night out here. Those Lord Officials told us to move back and not crowd this area."

"This is just cruel! They could at least let us in to resupply, even just to buy a little salt. We have no water and no grain. If we don’t even have salt, how will we have the strength to keep going?" Some of the less-prepared families began to complain bitterly.

"But it’s not all bad news," Gu Sanbu said, quickly trying to pacify the crowd before it descended into chaos. "A benefactor distributes alms out here every morning. Tomorrow, everyone can have a bowl of hot rice porridge."

"Really?" Li Cuicui’s eyes lit up as she squeezed her way to the front. "Third Cousin, so we really get to eat rice porridge tomorrow!"

Gu Sanbu sounded a little hesitant. "That’s what the Lords said. It can’t be wrong, can it?"

"Whether it’s true or not, we’ll find out tomorrow," Li Cuicui said, turning to glare at her family. "Listen up, everyone save your appetite. Don’t waste any more of our grain."

Ancient Wen Heng and Jin Qianqian exchanged a look, then found an empty corner to confer in hushed tones.

"How many copper coins do you have on you?" Jin Qianqian asked, not holding out much hope. After all, the two of them were desperately poor.

Ancient Wen Heng fumbled around in his sash for a long while before finally pulling out three copper coins with great difficulty.

Jin Qianqian’s mouth fell open. "You’re the head of the household, and this is all you have in reserve?"

Ancient Wen Heng felt a pang of secondhand shame for the body’s original owner. Staring at the three copper coins, he thought for the first time, ’I really am poor.’

"Hey, that has nothing to do with me! I was tall, rich, and handsome, you know. I just couldn’t bring my assets over."

Seeing him get defensive, Jin Qianqian found it endearing. ’So my crush has a cute side to him,’ she thought for the first time.

She couldn’t dare to imagine what would have happened without her magical inventory space. ’The two of us probably wouldn’t have even survived a single day.’

’Sometimes you just have to help a man save face.’ She quickly stuffed two gold bars into his hand—something she had specifically purchased from a jewelry store just in case.

"I don’t have a huge stash of these either. Keep them with you for emergencies."

Ancient Wen Heng grabbed her hand, closing her fingers back over the gold. "Put this away, quickly. Don’t forget who we’re supposed to be right now. These are way too conspicuous."

It dawned on Jin Qianqian, but her heart sank a little. "My other gold and silver jewelry has such intricate craftsmanship, so bringing that out is even more out of the question. Does that mean we have to let this opportunity go?"

"Find two small, plain mirrors," Ancient Wen Heng said. He’d had a plan for this all along. "To people of this era, those things are a novelty. And they’re small and easy to sell."

"But we don’t know anyone here, and we don’t know the place," Jin Qianqian argued. "What if we run into a crooked merchant? We’ll be the ones getting ripped off."

Ancient Wen Heng leaned in and whispered into her ear. By the time he finished, Jin Qianqian was looking at him with pure admiration. She suddenly felt that her greatest asset in this world wasn’t her inventory space, but the man standing before her.

The two discussed for a while longer, then walked towards Li Cuicui with determined steps.