Chapter 304: Varden 6

"But let’s not be too pessimistic. There are a lot of us, and we have weapons. We won’t be at a disadvantage."

At that moment, Quincy suddenly looked at Taylor Vance. "Mr. Vance, what you gave them wasn’t meat, was it? It was alcohol, right?"

Taylor Vance nodded. "It was sweet potato wine."

"No wonder they were so thrilled."

"From now on, let’s avoid going through villages, lest we run into more people trying to scam us for a toll. Times are tough, and we’re too big a target. Fighting might be officially forbidden, but there aren’t any surveillance cameras. There will always be places the patrols can’t reach."

After speaking, Officer Graham glanced worriedly at Wendy. The thought of what Langley had said about the "moving cars" made him deeply uneasy. When he got back, he had told Wendy over and over again not to leave the group’s sight, not to trust anyone, and not to go off with strangers.

Wendy was older now and understood Officer Graham’s concern. She was mature for her age and very smart, so she certainly knew how to protect herself.

"That’s right. If an elderly person or a child tries to talk to you or asks for help, just ignore them. Scams aside, with how hard things are, human trafficking has probably gotten even worse." Taylor Vance took out his notebook and began to calculate the next leg of their journey.

"We can go to Fairgate. It has a unique geography, right at the border of three provinces. But by then we’ll have left Varden and entered Oakhaven."

"Oakhaven has more mountains, which is better for raising livestock."

Everyone was tempted by the idea after Taylor Vance finished speaking.

"That place sounds great, but it’s still pretty far, isn’t it?"

Taylor Vance nodded. "From here, it should be over nine hundred kilometers."

"Okay, let’s go to Fairgate then. We’ll leave at seven in the morning, the day after tomorrow."

Evelyn had looked at the map. Fairgate was surrounded by mountains on all four sides, so living conditions were average, but for raising livestock, its geography was uniquely advantageous.

"Chief Scott didn’t seem to want to let us leave. Everyone should be careful. He doesn’t look like a good person."

When they came over to talk that evening, Wyatt Vaughn hadn’t covered her face. Chief Scott glanced at her several times, and Evelyn caught him in the act.

"You don’t think they’ll poison our livestock, do you?"

"Let’s all be extra vigilant tonight."

Back in their room, Evelyn added more wood to the heated kang bed, then took out the map and studied Fairgate again.

It was called a city, but it was really just a small county. According to a national geography book, Fairgate’s population was only ten thousand.

Although it was surrounded by mountains, the slopes weren’t steep. It was indeed suitable for raising livestock.

"Alright, let’s sleep. I’m exhausted from chopping branches all day."

Ronan Kendrick gave the little ones some water and then lay down beside her.

"I can’t believe how deep the snow is in the mountains. I fell several times today. My knee is all swollen."

Ronan pulled Evelyn’s leg onto his lap, rolled up her pant leg to check the injury on her knee, and sure enough, there was a large, dark bruise.

"You seem a little upset today."

Ronan looked up at Evelyn. "I’m not."

"Are you sure?"

Ronan pressed his lips together and didn’t speak, so Evelyn just stared at him.

"Those two from this morning... we should have dealt with them."

Evelyn sighed and moved closer to hug him. "There’s no such thing as a truly good person in this world, especially in times like these. Killing someone is easy, but it invites trouble. Even if they couldn’t trace it back to us, making people like that go dig coal is the best punishment."

Evelyn patted his back. "Alright, don’t be angry anymore. I’ll tell you a story later."

Ronan raised an eyebrow. "What story?"

"A story about a simple young boy from the mountains who came to the mortal world and was captured by a demon."

Ronan’s lips curved into a smile. "What did the demon want to do to him?"

"Things you’re not allowed to know."

"Evelyn, are you awake? Come out, quick! The moving cars are here."

Outside the door, Wyatt Vaughn was knocking. Evelyn opened her eyes, her mood soaring as she gazed at the flawless face before her.

She was just about to get up when the arm around her waist pulled her in tighter.

"Ignore her." Ronan didn’t open his eyes. He wasn’t fully awake yet, and his voice was still thick with sleep.

"It’s eight-thirty." ’He never sleeps in. What’s wrong with him today?’

"You spend all day with her. Let her go find Quincy."

"I want to see what the commotion is about."

"The commotion isn’t worth seeing."

"What did you say last night?"

Ronan played dumb. "What did I say?"

"You said my word was law, that you’d do whatever I said and wouldn’t go back on it."

Ronan nodded. "I did. But it’s still early. We can sleep a little longer."

"Everyone else is up."

"Have you also forgotten what you said last night?"

Evelyn blinked. "What did I say?"

"You said you’d spend the day with me."

Evelyn swore she had never said that.

"I never said that."

Ronan looked disappointed. "Quincy was right after all."

"What did he say?" Evelyn was completely baffled.

"Go ask him." With that, Ronan threw off the covers and got up. Evelyn didn’t have time to admire his abs; she quickly got ready and went out the door.

As it happened, Quincy was just coming out of his room, and Evelyn cornered him.

"What’s wrong?"

"What did you say to Ronan?"

Quincy glanced at the room door, then back at Evelyn. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No. He just said to me, ’Quincy was right after all,’ and told me to ask you what that meant."

Quincy suddenly burst out laughing. He then clutched his stomach and squatted on the ground, laughing so hard he started to hiccup.

Evelyn watched him, speechless. Just then, Ronan came out. When Quincy saw Ronan, he was laughing so hard tears streamed down his face.

"Ronan, I’m sorry! I was too late to come to your rescue! Are you alright? Did that beast Evelyn do anything terrible to you?"

Evelyn...

Ronan...

"Quincy, what are you laughing at?"

The others heard the laughter and came over. Quincy was still squatting on the ground, his laughter uncontrollable.

"HAHAHAHA... I’m gonna die."

Ronan grabbed Quincy, tossed him into a room, and followed him inside, shutting the door. Quincy was still on the floor, laughing.

"Ronan, I can’t believe it. A big guy like you, six-foot-three and built, actually got pushed around by Evelyn."

"She didn’t push me around," Ronan retorted.

"Then why do you look so wronged? And the corners of your eyes are red, and your eyes are watery... Ooh..."

"Shut up. Stop laughing. Don’t talk to me anymore, and stop spouting all that nonsense."

Quincy covered his mouth, his stomach spasming with laughter.

"I was wrong, okay? But I honestly didn’t think you’d still be so innocent after all this time with her. But I wasn’t wrong about one thing: women! Once they’ve got you, they take you for granted. Just look at my Wyatt! She never gives me the time of day and won’t even share a room with me."

Ronan’s ears turned bright red.

"You should learn from me and reassert your husbandly authority! I swear, Evelyn’s skin is thicker than a castle wall. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger. You’ll never get the upper hand."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t you dare say a bad word about Evelyn."

Quincy rolled his eyes. "You two really are a match made in heaven. So protective of your own."