"I didn't say I wanted to travel with you," Ah Jiu smiled faintly.
Originally, they intended to rely on each other. Seeing the situation, Ah Jiu felt it would be good if her own belongings weren't snatched from them.
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
Murmurs started: "They have watermelons."
"Indeed."
"Jiu'er, why don't you want to travel together anymore? This road is not safe." Grandma Sun smiled with extreme kindness.
The Deng Erfu brothers, who were unaware of the situation, were stunned. Several people back and forth were persuading the Meng family to travel together.
Ah Jiu remained silent.
Cai Lihua knew what her daughter meant and pretended not to hear.
"Exactly, your horses are almost done for. How will you continue your journey if you don't travel with us?"
"Yes, let's travel together. We are all family and can look out for each other."
Even Deng Dafu's wife joined in the persuasion.
Deng Dafu was stunned and pulled his wife aside: "Are you crazy? That girl has such venomous snakes on her. What if something happens? Why are you still talking to them?"
Deng Dafu's wife told him about the watermelon incident and pointed behind the horse:
"Look, Meng Jia Jiu'er is feeding watermelons to the horse. She probably has a lot more in the carriage. If we can travel together, we won't have to worry about food and drink."
"Really?"
"Yes, if you don't believe me, ask Granny Sun and the others. We all got a small piece."
Ah Jiu looked at Deng Dafu from the crowd: "Dad, I'm going back to the carriage. Call me when the horse gets better."
"Go ahead, Dad will watch over it." He prayed silently countless times, hoping the horse would be alright.
As soon as Ah Jiu got into the carriage, the bound Li Yuanwai on the ground twitched and made muffled sounds.
Ah Jiu took out her water skin and tossed it onto the basket containing watermelons. She then pulled the sock out of his mouth.
"What did you want to say?"
Li Yuanwai's mouth was dry from the gag; the saliva had been absorbed by the sock.
"Can you give me something to eat? You don't want this old man to starve to death, do you? I'm worth five hundred taels of gold."
Ah Jiu said, grabbing a peach and offering it to Li Yuanwai's mouth: "Don't expect me to untie you. If you try to attack me, and I can't beat you, what if you run away?"
Ah Jiu grabbed another peach for herself and started eating.
Li Yuanwai ate like a glutton, having no time to speak. The sweet and delicious peach soothed his throat and washed away the taste of the sock.
"This old man... this old man hasn't eaten such good food in a long time. Quick, give me another bite."
After swallowing, Li Yuanwai gasped in admiration.
Ah Jiu slowly offered another peach, Li Yuanwai's mouth opened wide like a bucket.
At that moment, the wooden door of the carriage was pulled open.
Deng Dafu held up a torch and peeked inside, immediately spotting the watermelons in the basket, and also peaches. His eyes lit up.
"It's fine if you don't want to travel with us, just leave these for us."
"We're all family, no need to be strangers. Take what you want yourself," Ah Jiu nudged with her chin. "I didn't put a stopper in the water skin."
Unexpectedly, the little earth dragon cooperated so well, its front half popped out of the water skin.
Deng Dafu's eyes widened in fright and he stumbled back. Perhaps forgetting where he was, he fell down with a plop.
"Heh heh, serves him right," Wang Shi, who was on the lid, chuckled.
"That... that's a... Ah... snake!" Li Yuanwai also saw it, his mouth gaping in terror. The unchewed peach fell all over him.
"It's not going to bite you, why are you so scared?" Ah Jiu said leisurely.
Ah Jiu's words came too late. Who knew Li Yuanwai was so easily scared and fainted again.
Footsteps approached from outside.
"Sister Ah Jiu, did this person bully you? Zhao Kun, beat him."
Before Ah Jiu could speak, Tuoba Yan gave the order.
A series of punches and kicks followed: "Master, rest assured, there will be no blood."
Now, all the villagers who were watching the horses gathered around.
Ah Jiu saw that the situation was not good and got out of the carriage: "Zhao Kun, stop hitting him. If things escalate, we can't defeat so many of them."