Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Chapter 139 A safe journey

After eating her last meal at home, Meng Liyun took the luggage and money packed by her adoptive mother and set off.

"Go back, no need to see me off." Meng Liyun shook her hand and laughed loudly, "It's not certain yet. If I can't find it or something unexpected happens, I'll come back!"

"Okay, okay..." The foster mother smiled, stopped and waved at her, "It will get cold in a few days, remember to put on more clothes and don't catch a cold..."

"Good good!"

Meng Liyun smiled brightly, responded patiently, nodded repeatedly, and said goodbye to her adoptive father and mother.

When they arrived at the town at the foot of the mountain, Meng Liyun looked at the bustling crowd, suddenly clenched her fists and made a gesture of inflating her fists.

Meng Liyun rolled her eyes, a hint of cunning in her look.

Actually… although it was partly due to Xiao, a big part of it was because she wanted to go out and try her luck for a few years, but she didn't know what reason to use. She just happened to come across this opportunity and said it out.

Meng Liyun looked at the snacks sold on the street. She had been to this town countless times and knew the streets by heart. She bought a bowl of glutinous rice cake soup first, and while walking, she looked for the memo board to see if there were any new notices.

In the memo column, she saw the bounty order for Xiao that the man had mentioned, but the man drawn on it had a cold and indifferent expression, and with the description of some of the things he had done next to it, he looked like a cold-faced devil.

...not like it?

Is this portrait too abstract? Meng Liyun picked up a bamboo stick and stabbed the last glutinous rice cake in the bowl. Thinking of this, she carefully looked for the man's whereabouts.

Disappointingly, this is not recorded above.

I don't know if that guy's information is reliable...

Meng Liyun thought about it and noticed a piece of paper next to her. It said that a group of bandits appeared on the nearby Xiong'er Mountain, and they burned, killed and looted from time to time, so the villagers were asked to stay away from the mountain.

Bandits?

Meng Liyun swallowed the glutinous rice cake in her mouth, drank the sugar water, and threw it into the slag bucket beside her. After thinking for a moment, she decided to go and take a look.

Because the journey there was long, she decided to buy a small carriage and drive there herself. On the way, she met an old lady slumped on the ground by the roadside in the mountains and forests. She said that she was going to a small hill next to Xiong'er Mountain to find her daughter.

Meng Liyun thought about it briefly and decided that it was on the way anyway. Since her legs and feet looked weak and there were bandits in Xiong'er Mountain, she might as well take her there.

After helping the old lady into the car, Meng Liyun suddenly discovered that the old lady was wrapped quite tightly, with gloves on her hands, and nothing except her face was exposed.

Meng Liyun thought about it and asked. The old lady was stunned, then she smiled and explained that she was old and her legs were not flexible. She was out of breath after walking a few steps, so she wanted to wrap it tightly so that even if she accidentally fell, she would not have to worry about bumping into anything.

Meng Liyun nodded, agreeing with her idea, and then thought of something else and asked her, "What's the matter with you going to look for your daughter?"

"I just want to see if she's doing well." The old lady spoke with a heavy accent. Fortunately, Meng Liyun had been working in the fields in recent years and had learned the local dialect, so she could understand.

Meng Liyun nodded thoughtfully: "Seeing that you are so old, your daughter should have children, right?"

"Eh..." The old lady shook her head, "She hasn't married yet."

"Ah?" Meng Liyun was a little surprised, "Really?"

In theory, she was old enough to get married, but because she had never had such intention, her adoptive parents never mentioned it.

"The child doesn't have such an idea, so forget it." The old lady chuckled and squinted her eyes, seeming sleepy.

Seeing this, Meng Liyun thought that the old man didn't sleep much, so she didn't say anything to disturb him.

Considering the old man in the car, Meng Liyun slowed down the speed and let the horse walk slowly.

Because Meng Liyun had already bought food in advance, she walked directly along the woods at the foot of the mountains, along the well-maintained path, looking at the scenery, walking at a leisurely pace.

Meng Liyun bought a small carriage that could only accommodate two people at most. Because the space was small, it was also convenient to decorate it, so she bought a soft blanket and spread it on the carriage, and also bought a few sachets to hang in the carriage.

Meng Liyun sat in the driving position, a faint fragrance wafting into her nose. She squinted her eyes comfortably, swayed on one leg, held in her mouth a dried fish prepared by her foster mother, and leaned against the carriage frame while holding her bag.

On the way, they came across a stream several meters wide. Meng Liyun got out of the car to fill some water and picked a few herbs for preparation. When she got back in the car, she found that the old lady had woken up.

"Would you like some water?" Meng Liyun held out the kettle and asked her.

“No, that’s not necessary.” The old lady waved her hand, seemed a little confused, and squinted her eyes.

Seeing this, Meng Liyun didn't force her and got in the car and continued driving. On the way, the old lady probably finally recovered and started chatting with her.

"Are you going there too?"

"Yes." Meng Liyun nodded, "I heard that there were bandits over there, so I thought about going to take a look."

"Look... look?" The old lady was startled and quickly grabbed her hand. "What are you thinking, girl? Why are you going there when there are bandits over there? It's not a good thing..."

"Aren't you going there too? I'll leave after I give you a ride." Meng Liyun smiled.

"Well, then put me down and I'll go over there by myself. You don't have to go." The old lady thought she was going there because of her, and hurriedly tried to get up, "Little girl, don't do this. I'm a worthless woman, and I'll die if I want to. You can't--"

"Don't say that." Meng Liyun patted her hands and pushed her back. "It's no big deal. We haven't entered the mountain yet. We can just go around from this side. We don't know if we can meet each other."

The old lady stared at her in confusion, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

After Meng Liyun comforted her, she walked until the evening. During this time, the old lady felt that her back hurt from sitting for too long, so she went downstairs to walk for a while.

Meng Liyun found a place to park near a stream, tied the horse beside it to let it eat grass, picked up some branches and took out a tinder to start a fire.

After settling the old lady down, Meng Liyun went to the river to catch a fish, skillfully gutted it and roasted it over the fire.

Meng Liyun also gave the old lady some dried fish.

"This is what my mother prepared for me. It's quite delicious." Meng Liyun smiled and stuffed a few more into her mouth.

"Hmm...very delicious." The old lady took a bite and nodded in agreement, but returned the rest to her, "It's just that my teeth are not good, I dare not use too much force, child, you keep it for yourself."

After hearing this, Meng Liyun had no choice but to put it away again.

After eating and drinking, he prepared to let the old lady get in the car and sleep while he himself kept watch.

Meng Liyun put out the fire, sat on the roof of the car, listened to the faint chirping of insects around her, watched the horses eating, and slowly lay down.

Suddenly, the tip of his ear twitched and he sat up abruptly.

Meng Liyun's eyes became fierce. She reached out and grasped the scimitar at her waist. She stared at a bush and slowly stood up.

The leaves of the bushes trembled, and a dark shadow emerged from them.

Meng Liyun looked closely and found that it was a child.

The child looked about seven or eight years old. He pushed aside the bushes, looked at the ashes of the extinguished fire, scratched his head, and seemed a little confused.

"Why are you here?" Meng Liyun suddenly spoke, scaring the child.

The child looked up suddenly and found that there was a pitch-black carriage not far from him. The dark shadow on the roof of the carriage was staring at him coldly. That look was enough to give him nightmares for days.

"I--" The child opened his mouth, seeming to be frightened.

Meng Liyun narrowed her eyes in question and was about to ask something else when she saw him suddenly burst into tears.

"Mom... Dad!!" The sound of the child's crying was like a sharp knife piercing her eardrums.

Meng Liyun jumped out of the car and was about to run over to cover his mouth when she was blocked by a silver light.

Meng Liyun paused and narrowly dodged it. When she looked carefully, she found that it was a flying knife as long as a palm.

"Who are you? What have you done to my child?!" A man holding a torch appeared in the field of vision and asked sternly.

Before Meng Liyun could answer, the child ran to the man, hugged his thighs and started crying.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you this?" Meng Liyun said unhappily, "It's your child who ran over here. Anyone in this desolate mountain would be nervous, right? And you're the first to complain..."

The man narrowed his eyes, obviously skeptical of her words.

But Meng Liyun didn't have the patience to waste time with him, so she waved her hand to signal him to leave: "Since there is nothing else, please leave."

After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the carriage. Although Meng Liyun was in a relaxed posture, her hand was always on the hilt of the knife, ready to strike at any time.

"What happened?" Another voice came, and at the same time, firelight shone over.

Meng Liyun turned her head and was blinded by the firelight. She raised her hand to cover her eyes and squinted at the woman who came out from nowhere.

The man looked at her, told the woman next to him about this, hugged the still sobbing child in his arms, and patted his back soothingly.

"Um...Miss. Are you alone?" Unexpectedly, the man's companion heard it, turned his gaze to her, and asked softly.

Meng Liyun glanced at the person who was speaking. The woman had waist-length hair, a gorgeous face, and three-dimensional facial features. She didn't look like someone from this place.

"What happened?" The old lady's voice came from the carriage, and Meng Liyun replied, "Nothing."

"You also heard it. I have companions." Meng Liyun looked at them. Not understanding what they were thinking, she did not act rashly.

"Hmm... Looking at the route you're taking, are you heading towards Xiong'er Mountain?" The woman didn't give up and continued to ask, "We're going there too. I heard there are a lot of bandits there, and I thought having more friends would help me. So I wanted to ask if you want to go there. If you do, it's on the way. If we run into bandits... I don't know if we can defeat them, but there's always strength in numbers."

The woman smiled at her kindly, seemingly with no ill intentions.

Meng Liyun's frown eased slightly when she heard this, and she looked at their clothes: "What are you doing there? Is there anyone else besides you?"

"Oh, in addition to our family of three, there is also a couple, a bodyguard, and a ranger." Seeing her attitude soften, the woman's voice became softer, "I think it's inconvenient for you to take care of the elderly, why don't you come with us?"

"We were going to do business far away, and Xiong'er Mountain was the only way we could pass through, so we had no other choice. We met the couple on the road, and not long after that, we met the escort and the knight wandering in the wilderness, and we invited them to join us."

The woman smiled and said, "So I want to ask for your opinions now. I'm afraid that if the bandits catch you two alone, they will attack you, so I want to ask for your opinions."

Meng Liyun scratched her head, blinked, thought for a moment, asked her to wait a moment, got into the car, told the old lady about it, and asked for her opinion.

"Isn't this great?" The old lady said happily without thinking too much, "It just so happens that you and I don't have much ability to protect ourselves. Now that we have met such a kind person, why not take this opportunity to join them?"

Meng Liyun listened and said nothing.

The old lady thought that she was unwilling to give up and wanted to go and see the bandit, so she tried to persuade her: "You are still young, don't be so young and impetuous, or you will fall into trouble."

Meng Liyun didn't mean that at first. It was indeed inconvenient for her to take care of the old lady alone. After hearing this, she thought for a moment and nodded: "I understand."

After saying that, he drove out to agree.

"This kid ran quite far." While walking on the road, Meng Liyun looked around and did not find any other fire around.

"Oh, naughty kid." The woman smiled. The child in the man's arms secretly glanced at her, and when he saw her looking at him, he quickly hid in the man's arms.

Meng Liyun exchanged a few more words with the woman, turned a few corners, and finally saw the fire.

The group of people the woman was talking about were gathered around the campfire. When they heard the noise, they all looked over here.

Meng Liyun glanced at them and found that, as the woman said, there were three men and one woman, with three single horses tied around them and a slightly larger carriage that required two horses to pull it. The young couple sat together, and the girl had fallen asleep leaning on her husband.

Meng Liyun had noticed that the three women were dressed in gorgeous silk and satin, while the couple here were more ordinary, wearing coarse linen clothes, and only the wife's clothes were slightly more colorful, with some patterns; a man in a tight gray suit, sitting on the side with his arms folded, with a cross of scars on his face, heard the noise and glanced over here, his eyes were sharp, and his gaze was like a knife piercing. Meng Liyun frowned uncomfortably.

Meng Liyun saw the seal of the escort agency on the chest of the gray-clothed man, and guessed that he was the escort, so she turned her eyes to the last one. The man was very mysterious, wearing a black suit and a hat. He seemed to feel that she was looking at him, and raised his head slightly, but his face was still hidden in the shadows, and no clues could be seen.

The woman briefly explained to the others. The young husband said nothing but nodded to show that he understood. However, the escort frowned and glanced at her critically. His lips moved slightly as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it in the end.

Meng Liyun had a vague feeling that she was not very welcome, but she was not very interested in these things. She watched the couple who invited her get on the carriage holding their child.

"Are we there yet?" The old lady's hesitant voice came from the car. Meng Liyun responded, walked in, explained the current situation to her, and asked her to rest first.

The old lady was very touched by her action and suggested that she sleep in the car together. Meng Liyun rejected this suggestion, found the quilt she bought from the car and covered the old lady with it, then climbed onto the top of the car and sat on it to watch the people below.

"Are you going to Xiong'er Mountain too?" The escort looked at Meng Liyun and asked.

"Yeah, aren't you?" Meng Liyun raised her eyebrows.

"There have been bandit incidents over there recently. What are you, a weak woman, doing there?" The escort frowned, obviously displeased by her frivolous tone.

"Nothing, just passing through." Meng Liyun didn't want to say more. She glanced at the silent man in black and asked, "What about you? Are you escorting?"

"Of course." Seeing where she was looking, the escort also looked at the man in black, shook his head, and without saying much, introduced himself to her, "I'm an escort from Hengtong Escort Agency. Our destination is on that mountain. The two of them are going to pass by there. The family that invited you is doing business. As for him... he didn't say anything either, just said he was going there."

Meng Liyun turned her gaze to the man again. The man lowered his head, as if he had not heard their conversation, and remained silent.

"My name is Li Heng, and this is my wife Ranran. We are going to Lishan, but the journey is long and we can't find any other route, so we have to pass by Xiong'er. I hope we will have good luck." The man put his arm around his wife's shoulders and sighed.

Meng Liyun nodded: "Then I wish you and your wife a safe journey."

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you."