"Why?" the man holding the torch asked, bewildered.
Meng Shaode's scalp tingled. He stepped forward, snatched the torch, and stomped it out with a few kicks. Then, pulling Ah Jiu, he crouched on the hilltop, looking down.
"They don't look like soldiers, more like guards," Meng Shaode murmured.
"They look like guards for some big shot," Guang Wenqiang beside him whispered.
Ah Jiu recognized their attire but wondered who this "big shot" was.
"It's because this big shot showed up that we were driven out of the mortuary. The ones left are patients who couldn't run," Guang Wenqiang added.
So that was it.
Ah Jiu squinted at the convoy of over twenty guards escorting a carriage. Behind it was a prisoner cart.
Suddenly, she spotted Zhao Kun, imprisoned in a cage with wooden planks, and Ah Jiu was about to stand up.
At that moment, the scent of lamp oil in her nostrils vanished. The smoking torch flared up again in the wind.
"Who?"
The guards at the foot of the mountain became alert, and five or six of them rushed up hastily.
"What do we do, daughter?" Meng Shaode had no idea why Ah Jiu was being targeted and no time to find out.
"Brother, what are you afraid of? We're just common folk. Even if they're officials, what would they want with us?"
As Guang Wenqiang spoke, a group of fellow patients chimed in: "Yeah, we can't be conscripted for the battlefield. We're so poor we only have half a life left."
"Hey, hey, hey, Miss Meng..." They were just getting into their self-deprecating remarks.
Ah Jiu and Meng Shaode got up and ran, disappearing into the darkness.
"Mom, Grandma, let's hide in the valley."
Ah Jiu said this while packing. The light from the torches was coming from Guang Wenqiang and the others. Those guards would surely go there first. They still had time to pack.
"What's going on?"
Cai Lihua was in the middle of eating a peach.
"I'll explain later." Ah Jiu was flustered. Meng Shaode was not idle; he simply took off his vest and scooped up the remaining fruit.
Wang Shi was the first to pull out the ginseng, shove it into her embrace, and slip into the valley.
Meng Shaode, pulling the bewildered Cai Lihua along, followed swiftly.
The path down the mountain was very steep. Ah Jiu had a clear view of the valley. The open space was clearly a dried riverbed, surrounded by mountains and dense forest.
"Crack!" Rumble.
"My watermelon!" Meng Shaode watched the rolling watermelon in despair, crying out in heartache.
Even in the dark, he knew it had shattered.
"Still running?"
A torch, as bright as daylight, enveloped them.
Ah Jiu maintained her position, sliding down on her back. Cai Lihua clung to Ah Jiu's hand, lying prone. Wang Shi stood stiffly on the slope.
Slowly, Ah Jiu looked up. Five people, each holding a torch, stood at the summit, looking down.
"Jiu'er, what exactly is going on?" Cai Lihua squeezed out her doubts between clenched teeth, her heart aching.
Ah Jiu dared not move. Two of them had already drawn their bows. "It's about the ginseng. They demanded it from me, and when I refused, they wanted to kill."
"What? Ginseng?" Wang Shi's neck stiffened. She put her hands on her hips and turned back:
"Are you bandits or soldiers? How dare you covet my ginseng!"
As she spoke, the two archers aimed squarely at Wang Shi.
"Grandma, don't say anything more. Why don't you take out those two ginseng roots and give them?" Ah Jiu hadn't had any before, but she had grown two tonight. It wasn't worth risking their lives for this.
"Why should I?" Wang Shi was counting on these two ginseng roots to get her through.
"Grandma..." Ah Jiu looked distressed. At this crucial moment...
"Ginseng? Our imperial court already has it; we don't need it anymore. Now, we suspect you of colluding with demons and wanton murder. Bring them up!"
"Yes!"
As the leader spoke, two men arrived. The first one dragged Ah Jiu up.