Chapter 6: Becoming Her Guard
“Young Lady, although they say if you’re going to save someone, see it through to the end and send Buddha all the way to the West.”
Mo Zheng looked at Yang Luo, her expression helpless.
“But you can’t keep sending this Buddha forever. First it was White Horse Town, and in the blink of an eye it became the Capital City. I’m just a small hunter; I don’t have that ability.”
“I’ve saved your life, but I really can’t handle the other matters. I need to go back hunting.”
With that, she turned and strode toward outside the city.
Yang Luo hurriedly chased after her.
“I know my requests are too much,” she said. “You’ve saved me, and I haven’t repaid your great kindness yet, but I’ve troubled you again and again—”
Tears fell from her eyes with patters, and she knew her own requests were excessive and couldn’t continue speaking; she just followed Mo Zheng.
But at this moment, it wasn’t an uninhabited mountain forest. On the bustling street, a youth with a grim face walked ahead, while a young youth cried and followed behind, drawing many gazes. Some even laughed: “Did he get beaten?”
At this time, they couldn’t attract too much attention, so Mo Zheng stopped, pulled Yang Luo to the street corner by the wall.
“Young Lady, you’re really being unreasonable now,” she said in a low voice. “You said it yourself: the government will notify Duke Ding’an’s Mansion, and people from Duke Ding’an’s Mansion should come. Can’t you just wait here for them?”
Yang Luo shook her head with tears flowing: “Even if people from Duke Ding’an’s Mansion come, as long as I appear, those people will know I’m not dead, and while traveling on the road, they’ll ambush and kill me halfway. Those people can collude with the government and will frame it on the mountain bandits at that time.”
Mo Zheng was somewhat helpless: “This is another thing you foresaw?”
Yang Luo said choking back sobs: “I know you don’t believe me, but everything I say is true.”
Mo Zheng sighed: “How did saving someone turn into being blackmailed? If you keep this up, I won’t dare to casually save people next time. You’re trying to force a good person like me into a bad one.”
Not knowing if it was the refusal or something else, upon hearing this, Yang Luo’s tears flowed even more. The look in her eyes toward Mo Zheng became complicated again. She clenched her hand, seeming to have made some resolve: “If you escort me to the Capital City, it will also benefit you.”
Mo Zheng laughed in disbelief and raised an eyebrow: “Are you saying that by then Duke Ding’an’s Mansion will give me a lot of money? Young Lady, do you know how far it is to the Capital City? Money that’s far away at the edge of the sky—I’ll lose my life before I even get there…”
“But if you stay here, you’ll die too,” Yang Luo interrupted her, saying with a choked voice.
Mo Zheng’s expression was odd: “I’ll die?”
To flatly say someone will die out of nowhere—the other party either won’t believe it or will get angry thinking it’s a curse. Especially now, she needed something from her. Because she wouldn’t agree, to say she would die was even more like a threat. Yang Luo looked at Mo Zheng, tears sliding down.
“I know, what I’m saying sounds like crazy talk, like being unreasonable, like repaying kindness with enmity…” She cried while cursing herself.
Mo Zheng gave a wry smile: “Alright, you’ve already cursed yourself out. What more can I say?” She paused. “That I’ll die is also something you foresaw?”
Yang Luo raised her hand to wipe away tears, avoiding her gaze, and said: “In short, it might be because I dragged you down. My fate is bad, with calamity. You’ve saved me, so your fate has become bad too, with calamity…”
She was either talking nonsense or didn’t want to tell her the truth. Mo Zheng smiled, pondered for a moment: “Let me say this first: I’m just a hunter. I haven’t traveled such a long road before…”
Before her words finished, Yang Luo let out a sob of joy, threw her arms around her, and burst into weeping sobs.
Mo Zheng was caught off guard and stumbled back a step from the impact, hurriedly reaching out to grab Yang Luo’s collar and pull her away.
“Hey, men and women shouldn’t be physically close,” she said.
Yang Luo let out an “oh,” wiped her tears, and sniffled: “I’m your little brother now.”
But she didn’t pounce again, instead paying respects solemnly.
“Thank you, thank you.”
Mo Zheng shook her arm: “Don’t thank me so quickly. I can’t guarantee safely escorting you to…”
Yang Luo interrupted her again: “You can. You definitely can. A Sheng is very capable.”
Mo Zheng glanced at her: “If I’m so capable, why would I die?”
Yang Luo seemed stumped for a moment, looked at her, her gaze somewhat complicated: “Maybe it’s precisely because you’re too capable.”
Mo Zheng let out a “ha”: “Then I’m still not capable enough.”
She looked toward the street. At this moment, two beggars ran past from nearby, spotted Mo Zheng and Yang Luo. Having mixed in the beggar pile for two days, everyone knew each other.
“A Sheng, the government is recruiting menial laborers to clean up White Horse Town, with meals provided. Come on, quick.”
They called out enthusiastically.
Because White Horse Town was mentioned, Mo Zheng called them back to ask what was going on.
It turned out White Horse Town had almost been wiped out, so they needed to clean up and bury the dead. The officers and soldiers didn’t want to do this work, so the government was recruiting menial laborers.
In the city, only beggars and drifters would take such menial labor jobs.
As long as there was food to eat, it was fine.
With that, the two beggars hurried off anxiously, fearing they’d be late and miss the job.
Eating was a big deal.
Mo Zheng rubbed her belly and looked at Yang Luo.
“But even if I agreed, it doesn’t mean we can really set out. Going to the Capital City isn’t simple. What about clothing, food, lodging, and travel?”
In Lu County, the two had still relied on beggars’ aid to survive. Were they supposed to beg all the way to the capital?
“Can you travel? What about food and drink? I do have hunting skills, but it’s not like there are big mountains along the way for me to hunt.”
Bewilderment also appeared on Yang Luo’s face. She was a young lady who had faced life-and-death crises but never issues with clothing, food, lodging, and travel.
Mo Zheng muttered: “We can’t just go rob or steal…”
As soon as she said it, Yang Luo hurriedly grabbed her: “No, no. Don’t do those things. Absolutely not!”
Seeing her reaction, it was as if she had already gone to steal and rob. Mo Zheng was stunned for a moment.
“I mean we can’t do that. What’s wrong?” Her voice slowed, and she narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at the terror in the girl’s gaze. “…Did you divine that I die because of stealing and robbing?”
This hunter youth had never left the big mountains, simple and kind-hearted, but sometimes clever to the point of being overwhelming. Yang Luo’s expression was a bit awkward: “My divination isn’t that accurate. I can only know there’s danger, not what causes it.”
Luckily, this youth seemed to have asked casually. Hearing this, she pursed her lips and didn’t pursue further.
To avoid him thinking randomly again, Yang Luo hurriedly said: “I’ve thought of a way. Those killers were just pretending to be mountain bandits; they won’t really rob. My home was burned, but my mother hid money underground. No one has surely found it yet…”
Mo Zheng looked at her: “So we…”
Yang Luo shook her head again in fear: “You go get it. I’ll tell you where. Those people might still be watching. If I go and get recognized, it’ll be bad.”
This young lady was truly terrified. Mo Zheng said nothing more and turned to walk toward the county office.
Yang Luo didn’t react for a moment and followed, still trying to persuade: “A Sheng, I know the murder scene is hard to enter. You’re skilled, at night…”
Mo Zheng turned back to look at her: “You said yourself the murder scene is hard to enter. The soldiers must have it surrounded. No matter how skilled I am, I can’t get in at night. Too dangerous.”
Yes, she herself was afraid of danger and wouldn’t go, so how could she let Mo Zheng take the risk. Yang Luo’s face showed shame…
Mo Zheng smiled and lightly bumped her arm.
“So, we’ll go in openly.”
She pointed in the direction of the government office.
Yang Luo’s eyes lit up as she remembered: just now the beggars had said the government office was recruiting menial laborers to clean up White Horse Town.
