Chapter 10: Jinsui
The journey ahead was so arduous that Jinsui had no more time to think about those Beggar Children.
Nearly a hundred miles around Luocheng, it was as if the entire area had been washed by floods. The mud in the mountain streams was as deep as a person, and the Official Road was completely impassable.
Every step felt like wading through a mud pool.
The first time Grandpa Ling saw people doing Forced Labor to clear the mud, he quickly told Jinsui to grab some mud and dirty her clothes.
In fact, their clothes were already dirty enough, but they were still too conspicuous compared to these laborers.
When Grandpa Ling saw that there were women and children among the laborers, he was so anxious that he got sores on his lips, and he tried every means to get a look.
Thinking that his daughter-in-law and Grandson might also be doing this hard labor, digging mud slowly, and would be Whipped by the Constables for any slight delay.
With clothes that barely covered them and eating bran, Grandpa Ling felt immense heartache.
Jinsui’s ‘Amazing Calculations’ banner was already being used by Grandpa Ling as a walking stick. She placed the Certificate of Conversion on her chest, ready to pull it out at any moment to show the Constables.
They encountered Constables with fierce eyes several times on the road, clearly intending to conscript people to dig mud.
Fortunately, people in this era respected Buddha and Dao. When they met easy-going Grandpa Ling, he would say a string of auspicious words. When they met difficult ones, a few pieces of Silver were inevitably offered.
They finally reached the outskirts of Luocheng, but the City Gate had long been closed, strictly prohibiting citizens from entering or exiting.
Grandpa Ling tried every means to enter the city, but it was Jinsui who reminded him:
“If Mother and Younger Brother are truly in Luocheng, they would definitely be doing hard labor too, not necessarily inside the city.”
The two then focused on inquiring about prisoners from Chang’an. They spent a full two days, giving food and a tael of Silver to an old Constable multiple times, before finally getting a bit of information.
“That batch from Chang’an, they were originally exiled to Yandi, but Luocheng happened to need people, so they were transferred here.”
“These prisoners dig mud and clean all day, so they are hard to find. Wait until it gets dark and look for them in the camp outside the city. They are all housed there, perhaps you can find out something.”
The two immediately went to look for the camp. People were not allowed to approach the soldiers’ camp. Seeing the messy Refugee Camp, they squatted nearby for a day and a night but didn’t see any prisoners.
They then realized that the camp where the prisoners were housed was even worse than the Refugee Camp! It was also harder to get into, and the soldiers watched strictly.
Grandpa Ling, an old hand, used his experience and originally wanted to sneak in with the night soil transport team. However, this camp didn’t need night soil removed; people just relieved themselves anywhere in the Wilderness.
Jinsui was greatly alarmed upon hearing this. After a major disaster, a major epidemic would surely follow, and the government here seemed to have no epidemic prevention strategy at all.
No, they did have one: they isolated the Main City Area. They simply didn’t care about these Refugees and prisoners.
Finally, the two mixed into a team transporting goods and split up to inquire in various parts of the camp.
After another two busy days, they still hadn’t found any news.
They couldn’t help but wonder if Mother Ling, Jiang Shi, and Younger Brother Ling Jin’an had not gone to Luocheng but to Yandi instead.
It wasn’t until they saw the Flames and Black Smoke rising in the Wilderness that the Constables led people to pour quicklime on the ground. All the citizens who died in Luocheng were cremated collectively in this manner.
A thought that chilled their hearts arose.
Perhaps Jiang Shi and Ling Jin’an were already gone, just like the Original Owner, quietly passed away.
Jinsui dared not tell Grandpa her guess, but seeing Grandpa Ling’s expression, which aged ten years in an instant, Jinsui knew that Grandpa thought the same as her.
She could only comfort him, “We haven’t searched everywhere yet. Mother and Younger Brother must still be alive.”
When Grandpa Ling wanted to sneak into the team responsible for carrying and burning corpses, Jinsui thought of a place they hadn’t searched:
“Grandpa, we haven’t searched the patient area yet.”
Grandpa Ling seemed to see a ray of light in the darkness and busied himself asking where the sick were housed.
When they heard that anyone who fell ill, whether with fever, chills, diarrhea, or dysentery, was all housed in caves, and the government barely managed them, letting them live or die as they pleased.
That place was already called the Ghost Cave by the Refugees. Anyone could go there, but no one could leave.
This time, Grandpa Ling very seriously told Jinsui not to go in and to wait outside.
Jinsui still replied, “Wherever Grandpa goes, I go.”
A flicker of emotion that she couldn’t understand flashed in Grandpa Ling’s eyes. Besides affection, there was also a hint of respect.
Even at this point, she hadn’t noticed anything amiss, even thinking that she was playing the Original Owner quite well.
Jinsui took a mask and alcohol from the Laboratory in advance, and she wanted to make up a lie, but Grandpa Ling didn’t ask where these things came from at all.
She also packed Energy Bars, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Medicine, and Clear Water on her back, in case they found Jiang Shi within that hour but couldn’t get medicine and food.
The Grandfather and Granddaughter walked arduously through the mountains. Fortunately, the mountains near Luocheng were not high, and the cave was not difficult to find.
What made their faces solemn was seeing several Corpses along the way, all in tragic states.
In this era, in the face of natural disasters, humans were as insignificant as Ants.
And with the government’s inaction, the common people at the Bottom Level were truly as worthless as Grass.
Before reaching the cave, Grandpa Ling began to call out “Jin’an!” and “A Qing!”
He told Jinsui to call out too. Jinsui moved her lips, calling out “Mother!” and “Xiao An!”
As if in a dead silent valley, mournful responses echoed from time to time. Some people also came out from caves or from among the trees, but none of them were Jiang Shi.
It wasn’t until they found the deepest cave, and Grandpa Ling’s voice was hoarse from calling, that he called out once, and suddenly heard a “clang!”
A stone rolled down from the mountain. The two followed the stone’s trace upwards and saw a dirty eight-year-old boy standing at the entrance of a cave high up.
The boy must have heard the noise and thought they were villains, so he tried to use the stone for defense. But upon seeing the appearance of the people, he couldn’t help but drop the stone from his hand.
“Grandpa!”
The boy rushed down from the height, his voice sounding even more like a Calabash Brother than the Original Owner, and he threw himself into Grandpa Ling’s arms.
If Jinsui hadn’t supported Grandpa Ling in advance, the two would have definitely fallen to the ground due to the momentum.
Grandpa Ling’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. The old man and the child hugged each other and wept bitterly. The sorrowful emotion brought tears to the listeners.
Jinsui knew how arduous Grandpa Ling’s journey to find his Grandson had been, not to mention almost being beaten to death by Bandits.
Even when he traveled with Jinsui later, enduring hardships and crossing mountains and rivers, Grandpa Ling still had old injuries.
Seeing this Grandfather and Granddaughter finally reunited, both Jinsui herself and the lingering Obsession of the Original Owner in her body felt a warmth.
Her eyes welled up. The hardships of this journey were all worth it at this moment!
Just then, many people heard the noise and came to watch, like a horde of doomsday zombies, extending their hands for food and Clear Water.
Jinsui quickly helped Grandpa, who was hugging Jin’an and crying, up: “People are coming, let’s go back to the cave first.”
Looking at the approaching crowd, Jinsui tightly guarded her bag. She didn’t dare to give away even one flatbread now.
In a place like this, if you dared to take out food, these people would go crazy and lose control.
Jin’an quickly took Grandpa’s hand: “Only Mother and I are in this cave. Grandpa and this older brother, come in quickly.”
Even in such a critical situation, Jinsui couldn’t help but retort:
“What do you mean ‘this older brother’? I’m your sister!”
Jin’an looked her up and down with disbelief, then looked at Grandpa Ling as if asking for confirmation.
Grandpa Ling quickly said, “You siblings haven’t seen each other for three years, and you’re dressed like this, so Xiao An didn’t recognize you at first.”
Of course, Jinsui didn’t argue with a child. She stroked her Younger Brother’s messy hair and said:
“You’ve suffered a lot, haven’t you? It’s okay now, Grandpa and sister will be here for everything from now on.”
