PNB Chapter 223 Aleut
Chapter 223 Aleut
The sky was high and the earth was dark; the surrounding fields were silent.
On a desolate, sandy road in the wilderness, a dilapidated carriage with no doors was speeding along. The wheels were already half-damaged from the deafening clanging, yet the driver didn't slow down in the slightest. Several barbarians sat inside, carrying bundles as tall as a person. Only one young girl was fast asleep; the rest were awake with grave expressions—or rather, unable to sleep at all.
"Tyrant! The King of Great Yan is a tyrant!" the burly man with a thick beard suddenly shouted, his large facial muscles trembling violently. "We can't fight anymore! Everyone will die like that! We can die, but we can't die in agony!"
The burly man with big eyes next to him chimed in, "We can give up the land of Great Yan, as long as we can have enough to eat." Several others also agreed.
A skinny man in the corner, his face grim, slammed his fist on the side panel: "None of us want to die, but Madam Ge won't allow it! Who can defy her! You all talk a good game, but Madam Ge makes you speak the Great Yan language, and you don't even dare to speak our language! You don't dare to speak when she's not around!"
The group looked at each other, then lowered their heads and fell silent.
Suddenly, a muffled thud came from somewhere. Just as the group was wondering what was going on, the young barbarian sitting by the door exclaimed, "Aleum is gone!"
"What's going on! Wasn't she sleeping?!"
Did they fall?
"Stop! Stop!"
The horse neighed loudly, and the carriage came to a stop. Several people immediately got off and started calling out, "Alyumo! Alyumo!"
"Look!" The big-eyed, burly man pointed to the dark, barren forest in the distance. "Aleum is running! She's running really fast!"
The skinny monkey stomped his feet angrily: "Why is she running away!"
"Anyone would be terrified to see something like that," the burly man with the thick beard shook his head. The skinny monkey clicked his tongue: "Then how are we going to explain this to the chief!"
The burly man with the thick beard said, "Just say we got separated by accident, and the chief won't punish us."
The skinny monkey said in an unfriendly tone, "That would be best."
“Warriors, let’s keep going.” The big-eyed, burly man interrupted the conversation, his shoulders slightly hunched, looking terrified. “The sun has set; we must hurry back. There are no lights here, and the filth of the night will follow us.”
The young man added, "And we need to get him back as soon as possible." He pointed to the large package in the carriage, "That's our most important task."
The others remained silent, seemingly acquiescing.
The skinny monkey glanced at the burly man with the thick beard. The burly man performed a standard Salamander salute towards the bald forest, muttering, "Alyumo, may the sun god bless you and soothe the fear in your heart... Let's go."
After a short while, the group returned to the carriage and continued their journey.
When Bai Zhi stopped, it was already the next morning. Dragging her trembling legs, she plopped down on the narrow stream, panting heavily as if she were about to cough up her lungs.
She had just woken up last night to find herself surrounded by barbarians. God knows how terrified she was. Without thinking twice, she stumbled off the carriage and quickly used her inner strength and lightness skill to run far away. Luckily, the barbarians only shouted a couple of times and didn't chase her at all, allowing her to run all the way to a barren hill.
But what exactly happened? Where is this? Have we already left Ningzhou? Did the barbarians capture her? Then why aren't they binding her? How did she get captured by the barbarians? What happened...? Bai Zhi closed her eyes and weakly patted her head. Her memories before this were very blurry, as if her brain, like her legs, was powerless. She could only vaguely remember that she had just been saving people at the Infirmary and then opened her eyes to see the barbarians.
"This is terrible," Bai Zhi sighed weakly, "This year is really unlucky."
What does "a year of bad luck" mean?
Bai Zhi struggled to open her eyes and saw a dark-skinned barbarian girl of about ten years old looking at her with a face full of curiosity.
"..."
This is called having a bad year.
Although she should leave immediately, Bai Zhi was utterly exhausted. She didn't move, only managing a forced smile at the barbarian girl, and asked, "Where is your master?"
The barbarian girl blinked: "What sir?"
Bai Zhi asked again, "Did you come by yourself?"
The barbarian girl nodded.
That's alright, a little kid can't do anything to her. Bai Zhi decided quite decisively to continue lying down. If you want to do something well, you must first have the right tools. She still needs to save up her strength before escaping.
The barbarian girl tilted her head, a hint of sympathy on her face: "Are you hungry?"
"tired."
"why?"
"Run away."
Why did you run?
"I want to go home."
Where is home?
"..."
Bai Zhi was already tired, and the barbarian girl's questions were making her even more annoyed, so she simply shut up and didn't answer. Unexpectedly, the barbarian girl, not hearing a response, squatted down and scratched Bai Zhi's face with her finger: "Are you tired again?"
"Tsk." Bai Zhi opened her eyes slightly, looking at the barbarian girl with some impatience. "You're so young, yet you're quite bold. Aren't you afraid of me?"
Why are you afraid?
“I am a person from the Great Yan Dynasty, and I might just capture you.”
The barbarian girl opened her eyes wide and looked at Bai Zhi's face again and again, puzzled, and said, "You look just like me. Do people from the Great Yan look just like me? That's not what Grandpa said."
"How could they be the same?"
"The same."
Bai Zhi slumped to her feet, turning her face to the side: "Looking at it again now, is it still the same?"
The barbarian girl nodded quite firmly: "Same."
"You haven't seen many people from the Great Yan, have you?" Bai Zhi muttered, twisting her body to face the stream, wanting to see what she looked like so the girl would think she looked like a barbarian. "That's why war isn't good for either side..."
Her voice suddenly froze in her throat.
The reflection in the stream clearly showed the face of a barbarian girl!
In an instant, the hairs on her body stood on end. She thought she had seen a ghost in broad daylight and instinctively turned around to look behind her. But all she could see was that barbarian girl with wide eyes; there was no one else.
Bai Zhi looked into the stream again, and there was still the face of that barbarian girl. She swallowed hard, tried raising her eyebrows, making a face, and shaking her head from side to side, and the reflection perfectly replicated it. The more identical it was, the more frightened she became.
This is too bizarre. This situation is too bizarre. How can a person turn into another person for no reason? What exactly is going on?
Could it be that she transmigrated again? Died inexplicably and ended up in another world? Bai Zhi shook her head and dismissed the thought. Impossible. They were just talking about the Great Yan. This should still be the Great Yan she knows.
“Little girl,” Bai Zhi asked the barbarian girl, “do you know about Salam and King Jing?”
The barbarian girl nodded: "This is our Salam's territory. King Jing is a bad person."
Bai Zhi slowly exhaled, relieved.
...But how is Prince Jing a bad person?