Chapter 1677
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Chapter 1677 Her
Five days later.
Western Regions of the Han Dynasty, near Qingshan County.
In the howling cold wind, a merchant caravan slowly moved across the frozen ground. A man wrapped in thick clothing squinted at the distance. Under the dim setting sun, the outline of a city was drawing closer.
“This damn weather… it’s freezing to death,” the man cursed, holding a heating stove in his arms.
“Everyone hang in there! Qingshan County is just ahead!”
“After this journey is complete, we can all enjoy a few days of comfort – beautiful women, fine wine, delicious food – Qingshan County has it all!”
As the man shouted while quickening his pace toward the city, a voice came from beside him:
“Brother, is that a person lying in the snow over there?”
The man paused, looking in the direction indicated. Sure enough, in the snow not far away, there was a vague figure, motionless, unclear whether dead or unconscious.
“Another beggar from somewhere? In this cold weather, wearing so little and daring to beg outside – it would be a miracle if they didn’t freeze to death.” The man snorted coldly. “A few of you go check if they’re alive or dead. If they’re still breathing, bring them into the city with us – consider it a good deed.”
Several figures quickly ran toward the snow. After one of them checked for breathing, he carried the person on his back and hurried back.
“Brother, still alive. It’s a woman.”
“She’s lucky. Throw her on the cargo cart.”
They immediately placed the figure on the cart, and with the caravan’s bumpy journey, they entered Qingshan County together.
The caravan skillfully navigated the streets, found people for handover, unloaded cargo, and soon emptied the cart, leaving only that figure lying alone on the wooden planks, appearing almost dead.
“Brother, what about her?”
The man clicked his tongue, approached her with his heating stove, and examined her carefully.
The woman wore tattered blue clothing, with frozen scabs of wounds all over her body. Her blood-stained black hair was messily spread across her face, making it impossible to see her features. If not for the faint white breath coming from her nose, she would have looked exactly like a corpse from the wilderness.
The man reluctantly reached out and patted her cheek. Her eyelashes, covered with ice and snow, trembled slightly, weakly opening a small gap.
“Hey, can you move? If you can, walk by yourself.” The man took out some silver pieces from his pocket and stuffed them into her hand. “We’ve done what we could. If you’re going to die, don’t die here. We’re not having an easy time traveling for business either. Don’t bring us bad luck.”
The woman supported herself on the wooden planks and stood up unsteadily, her gaze sweeping around in confusion:
“Where is this?”
“Qingshan County.”
“Qingshan County…” she murmured the name, and a hint of clarity appeared in her murky eyes. “A city? You brought me into the city?”
“Yes, you passed out in the snow outside the city. If it weren’t for my brother’s kindness, you would have frozen to death!” one figure said.
Her brows immediately furrowed as she gritted her teeth and dragged herself toward the city gate. Several silver pieces fell from her clothes, making a crisp sound as they hit the ground, but she didn’t even look down.
“Tsk, are you sick in the head? My brother gave you money out of pity, and this is how ungrateful you are?”
As that person was about to chase after her, the man stopped him with his hand, shaking his head and saying, “This woman is just crazy. Let her be… Come on, brothers! I’m treating you all to drinks at the pleasure quarter!”
“Great!”
The crowd departed amid cheers. After they were completely gone, the woman lowered her head and took out a jade bottle from her clothes, looked inside, and her expression relaxed.
She glanced at the sky again, gritted her teeth, and while supporting herself against the wall, walked toward the city gate without looking back.
As she gradually approached the gate, several figures ran in from the entrance, excitedly announcing:
“The Champion Marquis is here! The Champion Marquis has come from Chang’an!”
Their voices immediately attracted the attention of many people on the street. They quickly gathered on both sides, turning to look toward the city gate, seemingly eager to see what the legendary Champion Marquis looked like.
“Champion Marquis…” the woman murmured.
She grabbed an elderly woman passing by and asked puzzledly, “Madam… who is this Champion Marquis?”
“My goodness, you don’t know about the Champion Marquis?” The elderly woman, carrying a vegetable basket, explained animatedly, “They say the Champion Marquis is a reincarnated military star with miraculous powers. Years ago, he led troops to defeat the Xiongnu. I heard that a few days ago, he displayed divine power in Chang’an, killing many evil spirits and even creating a heavenly abyss…
In short, he is the most powerful divine person in the world today!”
Hearing this, the woman’s eyes briefly lit up, then quickly dimmed again…
“No… there are those things in the human world too… who knows if he’s real?” After a moment of struggle, she sighed.
Just as she was about to leave, two carriages entered the street from outside the city gate. These carriages were marked with the Marquis’s insignia. Upon seeing them, the people on both sides of the street immediately burst into cheers.
But the carriages showed no sign of stopping. The cold wind stirred the woman’s tattered clothes as they rushed past her.
She turned to watch the carriages disappear, shook her head, and continued walking toward the city exit.
“Hey, young lady!” The elderly woman grabbed her hand and asked with concern, “By the looks of it, you haven’t eaten for days, have you?”
“…Yes.”
“You poor thing… why don’t you come with me? I have some food at home that I can share with you.”
The woman stopped, touching her empty stomach, seemingly tempted.
“It’s alright, madam. I need to leave the city quickly…”
“It’s just a meal, won’t delay you too long… You look like you’re traveling. How can you go on without eating properly?”
“Well, alright then.”
At the elderly woman’s sincere invitation, the woman followed her back into the city.
“Young lady, what brings you to Qingshan County?”
“Nothing… I was brought into the city after someone found me.”
“Do you have any relatives or friends in this county?”
“No…”
The elderly woman nodded, “By the way, I haven’t asked your name yet?”
The woman lowered her head, hesitated for a moment, then finally said:
“Jialan.”
…
“After traveling dozens of miles, we finally reached Qingshan County before sunset.”
Inside the carriage, Yan Zhong lifted the curtain at the edge and sighed deeply, “This terrible weather… if we can’t find horses to replace ours and food supplies, we’ll have to take the Marquis’s ‘flying carriage’ again.”
“Flying in this weather would probably freeze the entire carriage into ice chunks that would fall from the sky.” Chloe cupped a ball of fire in her hands, its warm light illuminating the carriage. She glanced at Lin Qiye beside her and asked curiously, “What are you thinking about?”
“…Nothing.” Lin Qiye, sitting in the center, shook his head. “It’s just that since entering this city, my karmic threads seem to be constantly trembling… I don’t know why.”
