Soon, two soldiers came over to tie up the four of them.
Shi Ning'an took a step back and said loudly, "Gentlemen, we're just passers - by. We were just curious and took a look. I don't think this has violated any laws, right?"
The leading burly man waved his hand, and the soldiers moved extremely quickly. Yingtao had already drawn out the soft whip from her waist and lashed it out.
The men all took a step back. It was hard to make out their expressions in the dark night.
However, even faster, three or four torches came over. Shi Ning'an glanced over and saw that there were about a dozen men, a small troop.
The man who had been leading them before bowed and said, "General Xiang."
The man called General Xiang didn't step forward. His face couldn't be seen clearly. He just nodded slightly and asked, "What's going on?"
The leading man replied, "We've found these four suspicious people."
Shi Ning'an quickly bowed too and said, "Sir, we are the siblings of the Tu family from Nanling. We're on our way to the capital to seek refuge with our uncle. We were just passing by and got curious. It's our fault that we've disturbed you gentlemen. Please forgive us."
General Xiang didn't say much. He said coldly, "Take them away."
Zeng Haomiao immediately pulled Shi Ning'an behind him.
Shi Ning'an observed secretly. Something was wrong. Ordinary troops wouldn't harm common people, whether it was the Rong family's army or other troops. These people in front of them, although they hadn't attacked them, were reluctant to let them go.
It was obvious that their current actions couldn't be spread.
At this moment, Shi Ning'an secretly regretted her actions. She had been so bold because she was certain that the soldiers of the Great Zhou would never harm the common people even a little bit. But she hadn't expected that if the generals didn't want their actions to be revealed, would they even kill ordinary people?
Probably not.
If they would, the burly man just now wouldn't have sent someone to tie them up. Instead, he would have just drawn his sword and cut them down.
Shi Ning'an felt a bit more at ease. Before she could give any hints to her cousin and Yingtao, she saw Yingtao on one side rush out. The long whip split from both sides, revealing a soft sword inside. The soft sword rushed straight towards the face of the leading burly man.
Outnumbered, Yingtao was no match for that man. She just wanted to protect them so they could escape. A Wu also jumped up and kicked a nearby soldier to the ground.
Zeng Haomiao had come to his senses. He grabbed Shi Ning'an and kept retreating, trying to run out onto a small path on one side.
Shi Ning'an was extremely anxious. Wouldn't their actions just give the other side an excuse? If they were beaten or killed, the other side would have a reason.
The man called General Xiang had already reached Zeng Haomiao and Shi Ning'an in an instant.
Zeng Haomiao pushed Shi Ning'an away and threw the burden on his body forcefully at General Xiang.
Yingtao and A Wu's movements were quite large. The soldiers were caught off guard and kept defending. Some of them ran towards General Xiang. The torches shone a large area of light.
Shi Ning'an fell to the ground. Looking up, she happened to see General Xiang's face clearly. His face looked as if it had been burned. There wasn't a single clean part on his whole face. At first glance, he looked like a soul - taking ghost from the underworld.
"General Xiang."
The soldiers were blocked by A Wu and couldn't come over for a moment. They shouted anxiously.
General Xiang looked up, dodged Zeng Haomiao's attack, and reached out to grab Zeng Haomiao's neck.
It turned out that he wasn't good at martial arts. The soldier knew that his general wasn't good at martial arts, but he thought Zeng Haomiao was as good at martial arts as Yingtao and A Wu, so he got anxious.
Zeng Haomiao was even worse at martial arts. Once General Xiang grabbed his neck like this, he had no power to resist.
In the firelight, Shi Ning'an saw General Xiang's unburned lower jaw. The thin lower jaw looked so familiar.
"San Lang!"
Shi Ning'an exclaimed.
General Xiang was stunned and turned his head to look at Shi Ning'an.
Zeng Haomiao subconsciously asked, "Rong Sui? Is that you?"
It wasn't Rong Sui. Shi Ning'an had just blurted it out in surprise. Immediately afterwards, she realized that this man certainly wasn't Rong Sui. This man looked like a weak scholar, but she didn't know why his face was disfigured and he had joined the army and become this so - called General Xiang. Shi Ning'an didn't know what rank General Xiang was.
Rong Sui was taller. Although he was also thin, his bones were obviously stronger. Even when he had lost so much blood last time and had become extremely thin, he didn't look as small and thin as General Xiang.
Maybe she was seeing things. Maybe she missed Rong Sui too much, which was why she felt that this disfigured side face looked exactly the same as Rong Sui's.
The soldiers quickly subdued Yingtao and A Wu. They rushed over quickly, wanting to tie up Zeng Haomiao and Shi Ning'an.
General Xiang glanced at them and said calmly, "No need. These two can't do martial arts. Just tie up those two."
They led the group towards the village.
Zeng Haomiao was extremely anxious. The soldiers separated them on purpose. Shi Ning'an walked in front of him and didn't look back. His mind was in a mess. If he could get a look or two from his cousin, he might feel more at ease.
After they entered the village, General Xiang whispered something to a man beside him and then got up and walked inside.
Some soldiers took Yingtao and A Wu away. Only Zeng Haomiao and Shi Ning'an were left in a room, guarded by several soldiers who seemed not to care much.
Compared with Zeng Haomiao's extreme anxiety, Shi Ning'an seemed calm. She went to sit on a chair by herself.
There was a teapot on the table, but there was no water.
Shi Ning'an smiled and said, "Brother, we've been on the road and haven't had any water to drink. Could you please get us some water?"
The soldiers looked at each other. One of them scratched his head and shook it, saying, "There's no water here. But don't worry, miss. Someone will take you to your resting place soon. There will surely be water for you there."
Sure enough, not long after, a young woman walked in.
The soldiers were all polite and said, "Madam."
The madam nodded, walked over to look at Zeng Haomiao and Shi Ning'an. Her eyes paused on Shi Ning'an for a while. There seemed to be some hostility in her eyes, but more of it was annoyance.
"Are these the two?"
The soldiers replied, "Yes."
The madam sighed slightly and said, "Follow me."
Zeng Haomiao and Shi Ning'an followed the madam along a long path, around a lotus pond, and then across a single - log bridge over a small stream. It seemed that they had walked to another village before they finally stopped.
Another troop came over. They greeted the troop that had brought them and then continued walking.
Finally, they reached a farm. It was already getting a bit dawn.
Although Shi Ning'an used to like running around in the fields when she was a child, that was all in her past life. Later, when she went to the capital, she lived a life of luxury. How could she have suffered such hardships? There was a lotus pond and a stream. When crossing the bridge, she almost fell into the water.
Zeng Haomiao supported her carefully and they finally got across safely.
The madam took them to their respective resting rooms. Although the rooms were a bit shabby, they were next to each other, so they could take care of each other.
Shi Ning'an asked in a low voice, "Madam, could you please tell us where our younger brother and sister are?"
The madam raised her eyebrows and glanced at her, saying indifferently, "They're fine. They've been locked up."
Hearing the words "they're fine", Shi Ning'an didn't say anything more.
Zeng Haomiao quickly tried to get on good terms with her and said, "Thank you, madam, for leading us here from so far away last night. We're the siblings of the Tu family from Nanling. We..."
"Stop talking," the madam interrupted him. "It's normal to hide your identities when traveling outside. But now that you're all prisoners, why do you still need to cover up like this? I'm not really interested in your backgrounds, whether they're true or not. You'll stay here for these days. An old woman will come to take care of your daily life."
She sized Shi Ning'an up and down again. In the end, she didn't say anything else and turned around to leave.
Zeng Haomiao was quite curious and said, "This madam seems to be very interested in you."
Shi Ning'an felt extremely exhausted after walking all night. Looking at the ordinary bed made of coarse cloth, she felt that if she could just lie down, she would surely sleep for a long time.
She urged, "Cousin, go back to your room and rest. I'm going to sleep."
Zeng Haomiao was worried and said, "Cousin, go to sleep. I'll guard here."
Shi Ning'an paused and shook her head. "No need. If they wanted to do something to us, they would have done it long ago. There's no need for them to treat us politely. Although this place is shabby, it's obvious that they don't live much better than us here. Don't worry. We'll be fine."
Although Zeng Haomiao didn't agree in his heart, he still went back to his room to rest as she said. He thought to himself that he mustn't sleep too soundly. If anything happened to his cousin, he must rush over immediately.
But the moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep without thinking about anything.
When he woke up again, it was already broad daylight. Zeng Haomiao saw some salt and water on the table. He washed up reluctantly and then rushed outside in a hurry to see his cousin.
It was already noon. The sun was shining brightly.
Shi Ning'an had already changed her clothes. She came out and sat under the shade of a tree, fanning herself with a palm - leaf fan. She looked very comfortable.
An old woman walked up to Zeng Haomiao and said, "Come with me to wash up over there."
Zeng Haomiao was confused, but he followed the old woman to a small pond. There was a wooden table there with clean clothes on it, which were similar to what the soldiers were wearing.
After the old woman led him there, she left without saying a word.
Zeng Haomiao was like a thief, looking around nervously, afraid of being seen. When he found that there was no one around, he quickly took off his clothes and got into the pond. He hadn't washed up before going to bed last night, and now he felt sticky and uncomfortable all over. Even this not - so - clean pond water made him feel that he could wash away all the dirt on his body.
However, just as he got in, two soldiers came over from the side. They were chatting and laughing as they took off their clothes and got into the pond too.
Zeng Haomiao's eyes widened and he stammered, unable to say a word.
One of the soldiers saw his expression and asked curiously, "Which troop are you from?"
Zeng Haomiao took a few steps back and leaned against the edge of the pond. He subconsciously covered his exposed shoulders, thinking that these soldiers were so unmannered.
The other soldier saw this and burst out laughing. "He's not from our army. He's the person that General Xiang asked the madam to bring over to be guarded."
The first soldier nodded. Seeing Zeng Haomiao's appearance, he kindly explained, "This is the best condition we have. We can only come here to wash when we're off - duty. Don't worry. This pond is connected to a stream. After you finish washing, pull out the board over there and the water will flow away. Someone will come later to put the board back to store water."
Zeng Haomiao lowered his head and didn't say a word.
The soldier said again, "You've been washing for a while, right? You can go first."
Zeng Haomiao stammered, "No no no, I... I haven't finished washing yet."
The two soldiers looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Then they said, "Okay, we'll go first. Remember to pull out the board later."
They stood up naked, which shocked Zeng Haomiao. He quickly turned around, which made the two soldiers laugh even louder.