Chapter 3: Grandfather
Ling JinSui felt a slight itch on her face. Reaching up to touch it, she found her face was already wet with tears. It seemed the original owner’s obsession still had a significant impact on this body.
She didn’t feel scared at all. Instead, she felt a sense of companionship.
What was certain was that Grandpa Ling was heading Northward Journey to Yandi, and she could likely catch up by riding her donkey if she hurried a few days after his departure.
In this era, there were no convenient transportation tools like in later generations, nor so many roads. There was only the Official Road, and the ferry crossings were fixed.
She was confident she could resolve the original owner’s obsession and allow her to pass on peacefully.
As for finding her own way home, the hope was slim.
The bonfire had died down, and the sky was turning a pale grey. She was so hungry her stomach was sticking to her back.
Hunting was out of the question. With her physical condition, she couldn’t even catch a rabbit running right past her.
Fortunately, wild vegetables were abundant in the mountain streams in early spring. She picked some she recognized and washed them in the stream.
She placed them on the scorching hot stones to roast briefly. After eating some, her hunger pangs lessened, and she immediately set off.
She didn’t dare enter the town when she passed by. She took out a small piece of silver and bought six coarse grain cakes and a bag of radishes from a stall outside the town.
The latter was for supplementing her vitamins and rewarding the Big Green Donkey. The cakes were incredibly unpalatable, hard as stones, and mixed with salt mud.
The donkey kept moving forward. When the Big Green Donkey didn’t want to walk, she tempted it with radishes.
She traveled until dark again. She was already a hundred li from Jiang Family Village and passed another small town, where she finally dared to enter.
She didn’t dare to stay overnight. She bought a thick blanket and some herbs from the pharmacy, mixing her own powder to repel snakes and insects.
She fed the hard, salty mud cakes to the Big Green Donkey, as she couldn’t eat them anymore. She bought some black steamed buns herself and continued to sleep in the wilderness.
With the blanket, she didn’t freeze, and the crying that seemed to come from her soul no longer sounded.
She traveled like this for three days, leaving Shencheng’s territory. Only when she was sure there were no pursuers behind her did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Passing through another unknown small town, she boldly entered the town’s only inn. If she didn’t wash up, she would have been disgusted by her own stench.
She carefully observed the innkeeper’s reaction and found nothing unusual. It seemed that neither the connections of the matchmaker nor the government’s notices had reached this small town.
She slept the most comfortable sleep since her transmigration, even though the bed was hard and smelled of mold, and the room had bugs and rats.
In the morning, as she was eating a simple noodle soup in the lobby, two constables suddenly entered, and then the honest-looking innkeeper pointed at her and said:
“It’s her. An orphan, and without a travel permit.”
Ling JinSui was shocked. “You thick-browed, big-eyed innkeeper, how could you be so wicked, calling the constables for not having a travel permit!”
Was the tip of a piece of silver I gave you last night not enough? You didn’t even remind me!
Only then did she notice the greed mixed in the innkeeper’s seemingly honest eyes.
He was certain she was alone but had silver and a valuable Big Green Donkey, and had developed wicked intentions!
She looked at the doors and windows, heard the Big Green Donkey’s cries from the backyard, and estimated that repeating her old escape trick wouldn’t be very successful.
Constables were not as easy to deal with as Jiang Youzhi and the matchmaker.
She decided to strike first. She immediately stood up, bowed to the constables, and said tearfully:
“Esteemed officials, my grandfather is ill. I just wanted to enter the town to get medicine for him. I didn’t know one needed a travel permit to enter a town!”
The constables didn’t scold her, only saying:
“It wasn’t required before, but the higher-ups just issued an order that all solitary individuals, regardless of gender, entering the town without a travel permit must be sent to the county town.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be released immediately after verification.”
Ling JinSui wasn’t sure if they were arresting her, but she definitely couldn’t go to the county town. Her identity couldn’t withstand scrutiny.
Her hand slipped, and two pieces of broken silver from her sleeve fell into her palm. She quietly slipped one into a constable’s hand, pleading:
“Please, sir, let me go home. My grandfather is waiting for me to take care of him!”
Then she saw greed and suppressed joy in the constables’ eyes. Her heart sank. She had been careless; wealth should not be flaunted!
To them, the Big Green Donkey and the silver on her person were a windfall.
Indeed, although the constables accepted her silver, they said righteously:
“How can we disobey the orders from above! Come, we’ll discuss everything at the county town.” With that, they reached out to grab Ling JinSui.
One plan failed, so another arose. Ling JinSui clutched her stomach and cried out:
“Please let me use the latrine. The food in this inn is not clean.”
Perhaps because of the two pieces of broken silver, the constables allowed it.
The latrine was in a different direction from the backyard. The intelligent Big Green Donkey would have to be abandoned for now.
While observing her surroundings, she inwardly cursed, “Since transmigrating, I haven’t met a single good person!”
The innkeeper, with his honest appearance but wicked heart, followed her to the outside of the latrine. He only left in a hurry when more customers arrived in the lobby.
He even shouted, “Hurry up! The constables are waiting.”
Ling JinSui quickly agreed. After he left, she immediately climbed over the low wall outside the latrine, crept along the wall like a cat to a corner, and climbed over the courtyard wall by stepping on a woodpile.
She walked briskly out of town without stopping, not daring to run for fear of attracting more attention.
Once outside the town, the number of pedestrians gradually decreased, and she dared to sprint. She ran until she was exhausted and hid in a small forest to catch her breath.
She couldn’t use the main road anymore and had to take mountain paths.
Dusk fell again, and luckily, she spotted an Earth God Temple. It seemed she would have to spend the night here.
Without the blanket and the donkey, she feared she would freeze to death if she stayed in the wilderness.
Inside the temple, there was only a clay statue of the Earth God and an offering table. She managed to hide beneath the offering table to shelter from the wind, preparing to sleep haphazardly and buy some clothes and food from a nearby village tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, she was suddenly awakened by cries and laughter. She jolted awake and saw flickering firelight in the temple. In the small, old temple, at least a dozen people were talking.
Ling JinSui was fortunate that none of them lifted the old blanket on the offering table to look, or she would have had nowhere to hide.
She cautiously lifted a corner and peeked out. She saw three burly men, carrying large sabers, eating roasted meat and drinking strong liquor.
Behind them was a line of bound people, young and old, apparently captured on the road.
The bound people continuously begged, saying they would offer money if they were released.
The three burly men ignored them, as if capturing them wasn’t for money.
One of them said with a regretful laugh:
“It’s a shame we didn’t catch any women, or tonight would be more fun.”
Another suddenly swung his saber towards the crowd, scaring them into a huddle. His blade pointed at an old man in a tattered Taoist robe, saying:
“You old Taoist, you must know some magic tricks, right? Perform a few to entertain us.”
Ling JinSui couldn’t see the Taoist’s appearance clearly, but she heard his deep, resonant voice say, “This old Taoist only knows how to pray and divine, not magic tricks.”
The burly man laughed heartily, “Pray and divine! Didn’t you foresee this calamity today? You charlatans!”
Ling JinSui could no longer hear what they were saying because she recognized the old Taoist’s voice.
The tremor deep within her soul, the excitement from another soul, made her certain that this was Grandpa Ling, the one she was looking for.
