FMT 51

Chapter 51 On the Road

The next morning, Liandan quietly put on his robe. He leaned over the bed and watched the sleeping Xiaodan for a while, then he quietly pushed the door and got ready to leave.

Outside the room, Shuangruo stood there, looking at him with a complicated expression.

Liandan felt something was wrong, but he still asked, “Why are you looking at me like this, has your brother gotten up?”

Shuangruo lowered her head and stayed silent.

Liandan suddenly understood. He ran around Shuangruo and rushed to the next room.

Creak, the door opened. Liandan ran inside and saw the bed was neat and empty.

Shuangruo followed him in and said in a low voice, “He left last night. Leng Shan went with him.”

“Why?” Liandan froze there, not moving.

Shuangruo said, “The road to the western border is long. There might be accidents on the way. You are pregnant, he did not want you to suffer that hardship, and also…”

“And also,” Liandan took her words, “he had no hope for this trip. He arranged everything for us very well, then he went alone like an injured lone wolf, waiting for death in a faraway place. He is a coward!”

Shuangruo opened her mouth, but in the end she did not argue, she turned her face away.

Liandan turned and was about to leave. Shuangruo blocked him and said with a choked voice, “He told me to watch you, he did not allow you to leave.”

Liandan stubbornly tried to push her hand away and forced himself to go out. Shuangruo did not dare use too much strength, afraid of hurting him, she almost let him break free. She shouted, “They have already walked through the night, the two of them are fast. Even if I let you leave it is useless, you cannot catch up!”

Liandan’s steps stopped. Shuangruo held his shoulders, pressed her forehead to his to comfort him, and said, “He did not want you to see what he looks like at the end. I beg you, Liandan, let him be. Do not go!”

Liandan stared blankly toward the door. After a long time, a tear slid down his face, and he nodded.

All morning, Liandan lay in bed without saying a word.

Shuangruo stayed in his room with Xiaodan, deliberately talking to distract him, but Liandan did not respond much.

They ate lunch in the room. Halfway through eating, Liandan could not eat anymore. He started to feel nauseous.

He had not felt like this for a long time. Shuangruo had just supported him outside when Liandan vomited.

After vomiting, Shuangruo gave him water to rinse his mouth, then wiped him clean with a cloth.

Inside the room, the two adults had suddenly gone out. Xiaodan called anxiously, “Dad, Dad…”

Liandan took the cloth, sat down on the stone bench under the eaves, waved his hand to Shuangruo, and said, “I am fine. I will sit here and get some fresh air. Go inside and check on Xiaodan.”

Shuangruo looked at him nervously. Inside the house, Xiaodan already started crying. She glanced inside and quickly said, “Then rest a little, I will go look.”

Saying that, Shuangruo hurried into the room. Before going in, she looked back at the stone bench. She saw Liandan holding the cloth in one hand on his lap, with the other elbow resting on the stone table, supporting his forehead, eyes closed.

He was wearing only thin house clothes, without an outdoor robe.

Shuangruo felt slightly relieved and quickly ran inside to look after the child.

Xiaodan sat alone by the table with the dishes. At some point he had knocked over the porridge bowl, spilling it over the table and himself.

Shuangruo hurried over and picked him up, checking if he was burned. Fortunately the porridge had already cooled when it was served. His skin was not red.

Shuangruo coaxed Xiaodan while carrying him to the bed. She changed his small clothes and pants, wiped his face and hands clean, and changed his shoes too. Only then did she take his hand and say, “Come on, let’s go back and eat, finish eating everything.”

The two of them sat back at the table. Shuangruo scooped another bowl of porridge for Xiaodan and cooled it down.

When she saw Xiaodan happily pick up the spoon and continue eating, Shuangruo walked toward the door and said, “Liandan, how are you feeling, should I go to the kitchen and make a bowl of red fruit soup for you?”

There was no reply outside.

Shuangruo stepped out and looked toward the stone table. It was already empty.

….

Liandan had left the house. He went around to the outer wall and picked up the bundle he had thrown out secretly in the morning from under the wall. He took out an outer robe and put it on. Then he quickly straightened himself up, shouldered the bundle, and headed toward the valley exit.

At that time, most people in the house were eating lunch. He moved smoothly without meeting anyone.

After leaving the valley, he relied on memory to find the direction, and went into the eastern forest. He hid behind a low bush.

After a while, several people rushed out from the house gate. Shuangruo was in front. She looked around and said, “He must have gone west, find him!”

She and the others used qinggong to leap away, and in an instant they disappeared.

Liandan did not rush out. He still waited patiently behind the bushes.

Sure enough, after a while, in the eastern forest, a young girl in a light yellow gauze dress jumped back to the same place as before. She suspiciously looked around carefully again, then shook her head, gritted her teeth, and went west to search.

This time, Liandan waited a little longer. When he saw that she would not return, he crawled out from behind the bushes and went west.

Liandan’s belly was swollen, his waist easily sore, and he could not walk fast.

But he was not too anxious. He did not need to catch up with Chen Shuangning right away. He only needed to reach Heishi City in the western border, the place where Feng Xingzhou had appeared. That city was small. Once he arrived, it would not be too hard to find them.

A few days earlier, Liandan had already found books in the study with routes to the western border and studied them.

Chen Shuangning’s body had recovered somewhat, but most likely he could not spend too much time on horseback. He would still have to travel mainly by carriage.

There was also another route that required water travel. They would have to hurry two or three days to reach a ferry and take a boat.

Liandan did not know which route Chen Shuangning had chosen. He decided to take the water route himself, since it was faster.

Afraid of running into Shuangruo, who had also gone west and might suddenly turn back, Liandan walked only through woods and wild land, not daring to take the main road.

His belly felt heavy. After walking a while, his waist became badly sore. But Liandan still did not rest much. He gritted his teeth and pushed on. He had to reach the nearest town before nightfall, otherwise the night would be dangerous.

The weather in mid-August was still hot, but in the forest there was little sunlight. It was damp and cold, with strange animal cries sometimes coming from far away, sometimes sounding close, frightening Liandan and making him uneasy.

When he was too tired to go on, he sat on a stump to rest a bit, drank some water, and ate some dry rations. But he still did not dare relax. He kept his eyes moving around carefully, watching for snakes or insects.

He touched his restless belly to calm the small life inside. When he felt rested, Liandan got up and continued.

As he stood, it sounded like a bird flew over the treetops above him, branches swaying lightly.

Liandan kept heading west. The forest grew darker and darker. He took out the map he had torn from the book and looked at it again and again. He could not stay in the wild paths anymore. He had to reach the official road. Once the sun was fully down, he would lose his direction and get lost.

Fixing his course, Liandan hurried down the mountain, no matter how tired or breathless he was.

The sun set faster than it rose. Just earlier it had hung above the treetops, but after walking a bit and looking up again, only a thin golden film like salted duck egg yolk remained.

Liandan thought he heard wolves howling. When he turned his head, it also seemed like there were ghost-fire-like eyes between the trees in the dark forest.

His heart jumped violently. He stumbled on a stalk sticking out and fell.

Both his palms and knees seemed scraped and burning with pain. Fortunately, he had not fallen on his belly. Liandan did not dare check carefully. He got up and continued running down the mountain.

When he finally came down and reached the official road, seeing the lights of the town not far ahead, his eyes filled with tears.

Liandan did not dare stop long. He hardly had time to breathe as he hurried to the town.

The town was small, with only one inn. When Liandan entered, quite a few guests were eating on the first floor.

A ge’er out alone with a swollen belly drew attention. Almost everyone stared at him.

Even the innkeeper asked, “Oh my, why are you out alone with that big belly, where is your husband?”

Liandan kept his head down and did not dare speak much. He was in a panic, but he forced himself to take out some coins and said, “I want a room.”

The innkeeper, used to many guests, saw right away that something was wrong. He seemed to think of something, suddenly smiled broadly, and said, “Please wait a moment, guest.”

He lifted a curtain and went inside. When he came out again, a middle-aged ge’er followed behind him. He smiled when he saw Liandan, took his hand, and led him upstairs.

The middle-aged ge’er brought him to a room. The bed looked clean and everything was in order. After reminding him of a few things, he still did not leave.

Liandan stood anxiously in the middle of the room and asked, “Is… is there something else?”

The ge’er came closer, held his hand, and said, “You ran away from your husband’s home, didn’t you?”

Liandan felt his gaze was wrong. He mumbled, “…It’s not like that.”

The ge’er sighed and said, “And still with a big belly, it is pitiful.”

As he spoke, he reached to touch Liandan’s stomach. Liandan stepped back to avoid him.

The ge’er did not mind and smiled, “Don’t be afraid. I mean no harm. That innkeeper you saw earlier is my husband. We have run this inn for many years. Our family has some wealth. The only worry is our useless son.”

Liandan did not understand why he said this. The ge’er’s eyes grew brighter as he said, “When he was young, he had a serious illness that damaged his body and also his mind a little. But he grew up straight and sound in looks. If you are willing, I can bring him for you to see. Whether you like him or not doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t worry, we will never mind the child in your belly. He has no ability in that regard. In the future your child will be treated as our own grandson… Hey, where are you going?”

Liandan shook off his hand, grabbed his bundle, and headed for the door.

The ge’er grew anxious and said, “Oh no, where are you going at this late hour? If you don’t want to see him, then don’t. Don’t leave!”

Hearing footsteps close behind, Liandan walked faster, hurried down the stairs in panic, and ran out of the inn without looking back, ignoring the diners’ surprised and curious stares.

Just as he left the door, Liandan ran straight into someone. Startled, he stumbled back a few steps and looked up. Under the lantern hanging high at the gate stood a familiar person.

He was still very young, with handsome features, dressed in black. It was Liu Shuqi.

Liu Shuqi looked him up and down and said, “To make yourself so miserable, why put yourself through this?”

Liandan panted, glanced back at the inn door. The innkeeper and the middle-aged ge’er were peeking through the crack, watching them.

Because Liu Shuqi was there, they did not dare come out.

Liandan looked back at Liu Shuqi and asked, “Will you help me?”

Liu Shuqi nodded. “Of course.”

Liandan let out a breath of relief. Liu Shuqi said, “I will take you to another town nearby. There is an inn run by our people there. It is completely safe.”

Liandan looked at him, knowing he had not finished speaking.

As expected, Liu Shuqi continued, “Tomorrow morning, I will send you back to the house.”

Liandan shook his head, his eyes stubborn.

Liu Shuqi looked at him, sighed, and said, “Go back. He will not see you.”