Chapter 3: Hello Chang’an
**Chapter 3: Have They Escaped?**
On a chilly spring night, the moonlight was cold and still.
In Zhoujia Village, the sound of a donkey cart startled a pack of barking dogs.
The villagers here were different from those elsewhere; even at midnight, when they heard a commotion, some hurriedly lit lamps to check, displaying a peculiar vigilance.
A girl hidden among a pile of funeral paper offerings in the donkey cart looked at the four or five lights that lit up one after another and lowered her voice, saying, “Just drive the cart; don’t look around.”
“That’s Old Shuan’s cart, isn’t it? What’s he doing out at this hour?”
“Don’t you know? Old Shuan has struck it big this time... They say it’s rare and valuable goods.”
“Tsk, Old Shuan has had good fortune these past few years…”
“Just needs a son.”
“Isn’t he raising one? In a couple of years, he can find a wife for him, and once he has a grandson, it’ll be his own!”
Several men huddled together, chuckling, and called out toward the direction of the cart, “Old Shuan! Why are you out delivering at midnight?”
“Yeah, be careful not to run into ghosts on the way! Old Shuan, do you want us to come with you?”
In the darkness, the cart driver’s body stiffened, and his voice trembled like a mosquito: “What… should we do…”
The voice behind the cart urged, “Go, quickly.”
“Mm…!”
The boy, wearing an old lambskin hat and wrapped in a heavy cotton coat to disguise his figure in the night, felt his heart racing and dared only to keep his gaze fixed ahead, urging the donkey cart to go faster.
“What’s wrong with Old Shuan?”
“Why isn’t he responding?”
The men exchanged glances, and their expressions suddenly changed.
“Quick, let’s check his house!”
“Old Liu, you come with me to chase him!”
Soon, the village was filled with the sound of gongs, which usually could only be heard when the water was being drawn.
They weren’t a trained military force, but the principle of “a loss for one is a loss for all” was ingrained in them; their vigilance exceeded that of ordinary people—when personal interests were at stake, especially regarding unearned benefits, the initiative was often strong, requiring no teaching or prompting.
“Quick! Catch up to them!”
Aside from the two who initially ran to chase, others soon rode mules to follow.
Hearing the increasingly loud sounds behind him and imagining the terrifying consequences of being caught, the boy was drenched in sweat, his mind echoing with a single thought—indeed, there was no way to escape!
In the next moment, he suddenly felt a rush of wind behind him.
The girl, hidden among the funeral offerings, suddenly stood up, leaped onto the wooden board beside the boy, seized the donkey reins from his hand with one hand, and with the other raised a whip, said, “Hold on tight; if you fall off, I won’t turn back to save you.”
The donkey cart surged forward rapidly.
The boy clung tightly to the cart board, his eyes momentarily fixed on the girl’s half-tied ponytail flying in the wind and the yellowish-white paper money fluttering off her shoulder.
As the cart sped up, the person chasing on the mule became increasingly agitated.
“What the hell… is this a donkey cart?!”
Running this fast, even a donkey would hardly believe it!
With such a disparity in speed, the person driving the cart deliberately took confusing paths, and after half an hour of pursuit, he finally lost the trail completely.
The sounds in Zhoujia Village grew chaotic, with most villagers already awakened and rushing towards the headman’s house.
“Old Shuan’s house is full of blood!”
“A half-dead young woman… how is that possible!”
“Why hasn’t Old San returned? She can’t have really escaped, right?!”
“I refuse to believe it; no one has ever escaped alive from here!”
“Village head, what should we do?”
“Why the rush? Even if they escape Zhoujia Village, they can’t leave Hezhou?” The man seated in a chair, wearing a robe, looked impatient: “Though it probably won’t be a big deal, this commotion is quite troublesome! Once dawn breaks, I’ll head into the city to make arrangements; each family should contribute ten taels of silver, and Old Shuan will be reimbursed later.”
Among the crowd, while some were unwilling and grumbled a few complaints, they had no choice but to comply.
A nearby limping woman, pouring water for everyone, pressed her cracked lips tightly together upon hearing these words.
...
Did we really escape?
The boy sat in the donkey cart, cold sweat still lingering, staring blankly back toward the direction of Zhoujia Village, now out of sight.
“Did we… really escape?” he cautiously asked the girl, glancing at her seemingly unreal profile.
He hadn’t dared to dream of this for a long time.
As a child, he had dreamed of it, only to wake up injured, always shedding tears in the darkness for a long time.
But he heard the girl, her gaze fixed ahead, say, “Not yet.”
The boy was taken aback.
The girl glanced at the road ahead, assessed the direction, and headed east.
As dawn approached, the donkey cart slowly stopped in front of the city gate.
The girl looked up at the words “Hezhou” inscribed above the city wall—
Initially, when she heard that couple speak, it was with a Hezhou accent.
The grand map of the Da Sheng dynasty was something she had memorized since childhood, and having been to Hezhou before, she could deduce the official road into the city from her memory.
Thus, the world was indeed the same as before, everything in its original form, only she had “died and been reborn” in another body.
After the fifth watch, the city gate opened slowly.
The gate guards yawned as they began another day of inspections.
Outside the city gate had already gathered quite a few people; at this hour, those entering the city were mostly small merchants going to the morning market. A boy and girl, dressed plainly and pulling a cart filled with funeral offerings, did not stand out in the crowd.
The guards waved their hands to let them through, not inspecting the items on the cart.
Hearing the two guards chatting casually, the girl lowered her eyelids.
Although during peacetime or non-critical times, it was not necessary to be overly strict with the common people entering and leaving the city, the guards’ laxity clearly indicated the Hezhou government was too loose, with no semblance of law and order.
No wonder.
After entering the city, daylight broke.
“Go buy ten meat buns.” The girl pulled out a piece of broken silver and handed it to the boy. “I only eat meat buns.”
The boy looked at the bun stall she pointed to, cautiously approached, handed over the broken silver with both hands, and earnestly said, “Ten… meat buns.”
“Here!” When he brought the buns back to the girl, his eyes sparkled with an indescribable joy, as if he had accomplished something incredibly far-fetched and remarkable.
The girl took the water jug from the cart, poured water to wash her hands, and took a bite of a bun.
The buns were steaming hot, and eating one made it clear to her that she was still alive.
Only the living can eat.
Living is truly good.
After devouring five buns, the girl noticed the boy standing there motionless and thought for a moment before picking up another bun, telling him, “This is a bun; it’s something you can eat.”
The boy was taken aback.
It’s not that he didn’t know it was a bun…
“C-can I eat it too?” he asked uncertainly.
Looking into those perpetually cautious eyes, the girl nodded and handed him the bun.
Her fingers were slender and fair, even more delicate than the soft bun in her hand, shimmering gently in the morning light.
The boy gazed at her, stunned for a long time, before reaching out to take it.
While eating the buns, the girl’s companion asked for directions to Liu Ke Alley.
...
“How do we say it? Do you remember everything?”
Suppressing his anxiety, the boy nodded, “I remember.”
Liu Ke Alley had only three households.
The only one without a family name on the plaque outside the gate, with only the words “Quiet Wind Courtyard,” was the only one.
The boy led the donkey cart to the back door of that courtyard, swallowed nervously, and mustered his courage to knock on the door.
(End of this chapter)
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