Her guards

Chapter 4 The Ability to Predict the Future

"So you actually knew in advance that your family was going to suffer a calamity?"

Mo Zheng placed the wild rabbit on a bamboo pole by the roadside, squatted down, and looked at Yang Luo, asking questions.

Yang Luo was about to sit down with his knees bent, but Mo Zheng tapped him with a bamboo stick and reminded him, "Boys don't sit like that."

Yang Luo quickly changed her posture and squatted down like him.

"Yes," she answered Mo Zheng, taking a deep breath as if only then could she recall, "I told my mother that I wanted everyone to escape first, but my mother didn't believe me..."

He paused here, seemingly hesitating about something.

Mo Zheng said calmly, "Hey, tell me all the other secrets you have now, so you don't keep bringing them up later."

Yang Luo snapped out of her daze, looked at him, and shook her head.

“No, no, I just thought of it,” she said, tears welling in her eyes, her voice trembling slightly. “My mother didn’t believe me, and she didn’t listen to me and leave home, but she prepared horses and servants for me, and sent me out before those bandits arrived… Last time…”

Her last sentence was somewhat unclear, and Mo Zheng didn't hear it clearly, so she asked, "Last time what?"

Yang Luo took a deep breath to hold back her tears and looked at him: "I mean, my mother rarely lets me go out. The last time was when it was my birthday."

Mo Zheng responded with an "oh," and although she didn't believe her, she didn't ask any more questions. She simply tapped the bamboo pole lightly, and when someone passed by, she would call out, "Want some wild rabbit?"

Then I asked more questions.

"So you also knew of my existence beforehand?"

Yang Luo glanced at him and nodded: "I knew you would save me."

"Oh, I see," Mo Zheng suddenly realized. No wonder he always felt that the girl's expression was a bit strange when she looked at him; it turned out they "knew each other."

Mo Zheng flicked the bamboo pole in her hand, hanging the wild rabbit up, and then stood up and walked forward.

Why did he leave again after we were talking? He still doesn't believe me? Yang Luo was a little anxious and helpless. She knew that what she said was hard to convince people, but she really had no other choice. This was the most believable explanation she could give.

"You see, I've never seen you before, and you've never seen me before, yet I can guess your name," she said hastily, tears streaming down her face. "Am I wrong? Isn't your name Ah Sheng?"

Mo Zheng turned to look at her and hummed in agreement: "You're right, my name is indeed Asheng."

Through her teary eyes, Yang Luo saw that the corners of his mouth seemed to curve slightly. Was it a smile of belief, or a smile of mockery? Then she saw the hunter boy continue walking forward.

"That……"

Why did he leave?
"Didn't you say the authorities would close the case as fake bandits in two days?" Mo Zheng said, turning to look at her. "I haven't verified it yet."

Since he was sure that Yang Luo believed him, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her pace to catch up with him: "Okay, I'll go with you. You'll see then that I wasn't lying."

……

……

It wasn't far from Baima Town to Lu County, but they didn't enter the town until dark.

Because Yang Luo couldn't walk, Mo Zheng had to stop and wait for her from time to time. From this, Mo Zheng could confirm that Yang Luo was indeed a pampered young lady who had never left home.

Fortunately, they met a kind old man with an oxcart on the road. Mo Zheng said some nice things and let Yang Luo ride on his cart. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have made it before dark.

However, they arrived in the county town before dark, but then faced new problems.

Sitting on the side of the street to rest, watching several children playing on the mounting stone, Mo Zheng and Yang Luo's gazes involuntarily fell on the steamed buns the children were holding.

Yang Luo's stomach rumbled a few times.

Mo Zheng was alright; her stomach didn't growl, but she couldn't help but swallow hard.

Perhaps because the two people's gazes were too blatant, the children quickly hugged their steamed buns and ran away.

Mo Zheng sighed and looked at Yang Luo: "Miss, do you have money?"

Yang Luo smiled wryly: "My family is indeed rich, but I escaped in the middle of the night without taking anything with me."

They had no money, not even jewelry.

She looked at the young hunter with expectant eyes: "You're so skilled, you must have a lot of prey, so... you must be very rich, right?"

Mo Zheng spat out a dry blade of grass that she had plucked while squatting by the roadside waiting for Yang Luo to ease her foot pain: "Miss, I'm an orphan. If I'm hungry today, I hunt to earn money to eat. If I'm hungry tomorrow, I'll worry about it tomorrow. Where would I get any extra money?"

Yang Luo sighed, looking at the wild rabbit in his hand.

There is prey, but it's dark now, the market has closed, and there's nowhere to sell it.

Besides, how much can two wild rabbits fetch? Is it enough for a meal? Also, where are we staying tonight? Inns are all very expensive.

Yang Luo looked at Mo Zheng with a helpless expression; she had never faced the problems of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

Mo Zheng seemed unable to bear being looked at like that, so she stood up and picked up the wild rabbit: "Let's go, let's use them to exchange for some food and a place to sleep."

How do we change it? Yang Luo asked, puzzled, and quickly followed him.

……

……

Lu County town is not small. There is a dry bridge in the town. As night falls and the crowds disperse from the streets, there are still fires burning under the dry bridge and a lot of noise.

Two wild rabbits were turned around on the campfire from time to time, their oil dripping and sparking, filling the air with a fragrant aroma. The beggars around them swallowed hard, wishing they could grab them and eat them right away.

"Go away, don't steal it."

An old beggar with one eye blind is waving a stick in his hand.

"Everyone can have a bite, and after they finish eating, they can still gnaw on the bones."

After saying that, he looked at the two boys sitting next to him.

The blind eye swept over Yang Luo and then stopped on Mo Zheng.

"Thank you so much, kind sir, for giving us meat to eat." He thanked you with a smile.

Mo Zheng smiled and cupped his hands in thanks: "It is we brothers who should thank you for taking us in, sir."

Yang Luo huddled beside Mo Zheng, not daring to lift her head, listening to Mo Zheng chatting and laughing with the beggars...

She never imagined that she could exchange food and lodging with a beggar. She couldn't describe her feelings at that moment. Just as she was in a daze, she heard the old beggar greet her warmly.

"First, give the guest a bowl of hot soup."

Then a little beggar handed over two tattered bowls. Under the flickering campfire in the night, the soup was dark and murky, with a few vegetable leaves floating in it.

Yang Luo shrank back again, while Mo Zheng beside him took the drink and drank it in big gulps.

Looking at the other beggars, they didn't even have bowls. They were guarding a wooden bucket, scrambling to scoop up water with spoons.

"Aren't you going to drink?" The little beggar holding the broken bowl asked anxiously, looking at his companions scrambling for it. If he was late, he wouldn't get any.

Yang Luo wanted to refuse, but her stomach wouldn't cooperate, so she could only reach out and take the bowl, peering closer at the soup inside. She could almost smell the sour odor emanating from it...

Yang Luo couldn't help but gag, and the bowl in her hand was about to fall, but Mo Zheng caught it in time.

"Let's eat meat later," he said, pausing for a moment. "I'll also get you some clean hot water."

After saying that, he was about to drink the soup in the broken bowl, but Yang Luo reached out and grabbed him.

Under the light of the campfire, the girl raised her hand to wipe her face, revealing a face even more mottled with a mixture of ashes, tears, and dirt.

"No need," Yang Luo said. "This is fine."

She's no longer some pampered young lady; she's willing to do anything to survive.

After saying that, he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and drank the soup from the broken bowl.

Mo Zheng's thin lips curved slightly before she looked away.

(End of this chapter)