On the following days of exile, the entire group was as silent as stagnant water. In just over ten days of travel, eight people had already died.
Among the four who had previously attempted to escape, only the family of Qian Ling'er had survived. Later, another child and four more adults died one after another.
There were still more than two thousand li left before they reached their destination, and many were growing increasingly uneasy, afraid they might be the next to fall.
After the last widespread cold outbreak, Wu Yu had the constables buy extra rain cloaks in the next town, and Physician Yuan also took the opportunity to restock many medicinal herbs.
Of course, these extra cloaks weren't handed out for free. If anyone wanted one, they had to pay with silver or trade valuables.
For example, a family of four across from Sun Juanfang exchanged a family heirloom jade pendant from the husband in return for rain cloaks.
There were also more covert methods—like offering a woman from the household to spend a night with a constable willing to pay.
As for such "consensual" exchanges, Wu Yu turned a blind eye. After all, this sort of thing takes two; as long as his subordinates weren't forcing women, he didn't interfere.
It wasn't that he was some paragon of virtue—he simply had a daughter himself, which is why he placed that one restriction on his men.
But human nature is often far more evil than what mere rules or words can contain.
Qian Ling'er's earlier generosity had caught the attention of those with ulterior motives. A new constable named Liu Er set his sights on her.
Though Liu Er knew about Wu Yu's rule, he was a crude man who scoffed at such things.
In his mind: These people are already criminals—what value does a woman's chastity have? Isn't her life more expendable?
So, when Qian Ling'er went to relieve herself, Liu Er secretly followed her.
He thought it was a great opportunity—to indulge in pleasure and rob her of her silver.
In short, this man was calculating both lust and profit.
Just as Qian Ling'er was about to undress in the grass, Liu Er suddenly pounced on her from behind.
That moment of violence made the almost-marriageable young woman immediately aware of the evil about to occur.
But Qian Ling'er stayed calm—she knew it was her only chance to survive. When she caught sight of the dagger on his belt, an idea quickly formed.
She feigned submission and, when Liu Er was distracted and lustful, she plunged the dagger into his chest.
"You… you dare…" he gasped.
Seeing that he still had the strength to call for help, she pressed the blade harder. A few seconds later, Liu Er stared forward, eyes wide open in death.
Only then did Qian Ling'er dare to cover her mouth and cry softly. She didn't dare wail aloud, fearing someone might hear.
She had barely escaped. The way that man groped her body—that lecherous look—would haunt her forever.
But thankfully, she succeeded. She quickly composed herself, washed the bloodstains off in the river, tore off the stained clothes, and buried them.
Everyone's clothes were already ragged, so she didn't stand out.
As for Liu Er's corpse, she—being a weak girl—couldn't drag it away. It was her first time killing someone, and she was too terrified to even look at him again.
After she hurried off, Sun Juanfang appeared at the spot with the sleeping Ting-jie'er in her arms.
In fact, Qian Ling'er had only managed to silently kill Liu Er because of Sun Juanfang's help.
When Sun Juanfang first sensed what was happening, she cast a soundproof barrier around the area. When she saw that Qian Ling'er wanted to fight back herself, she chose not to interfere.
But later, she added force to the finishing blow. Otherwise, someone as delicate as Qian Ling'er couldn't possibly have killed Liu Er so easily.
"Host, why did you help that girl? You rarely help strangers," the system asked.
"I helped her because I hate beasts in human skin. Besides, she was willing to resist. If she hadn't…"
The system didn't quite understand, but it could tell something in that girl had touched its usually cold-hearted host. Otherwise, she wouldn't have secretly helped.
Afterward, Sun Juanfang approached the body. After making sure no one was nearby, she ordered Bi'er to burn the corpse—along with the scrap of clothing clutched in Liu Er's hand.
Without her cover, the sounds of their struggle and the evidence Liu Er had might have ruined Qian Ling'er's reputation and sealed her fate.
The next morning, the group realized Liu Er was missing. Wu Yu sent a few men to search, but of course they found nothing.
He could only list Liu Er as a missing person and report it to the court at the next town.
Qian Ling'er was confused. She hadn't had time to dispose of the body—had a wild animal taken it?
Qian Lanyue, who had witnessed the whole thing, was also puzzled. This wasn't how it went last time—Liu Er only got injured before.
Did Qian Ling'er also get some kind of lucky encounter? How else could she escape such a desperate situation unscathed?
As for the other constables, while they found Liu Er's disappearance odd, they didn't dwell on it. He was new and hadn't formed close ties.
Besides, this kind of thing happened before. Some newcomers fled due to hardship, others wandered into the woods and got dragged off by beasts…
Still, after this incident, Wu Yu clearly tightened discipline, ordering all constables to move in pairs and never act alone.
For the past few days, it had been raining non-stop. With the autumn rains came colder temperatures, which made things even harder.
Author's Note:
The heroine in this world is only 21 years old, and her daughter is obedient and sensible.
Whether there should be a male lead "background board" is up to your votes!
The first few worlds didn't have a male lead—I was afraid you'd get tired of it. So this time, you decide.
As for Qian Mingwu—spoiler alert—he won't live to reach the Northern Wastes. He won't be there to disgust the heroine further.