I m the Farmgirl You Can t Mess With - Chapter 1405: Side Story: Fan Zijin (21)
Chapter 1405: Side Story: Fan Zijin (21)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Despite searching the entire area under his jurisdiction, the constable could not find the two of them. He could not help but frown. “Are you sure they’re still hiding in the city? What if they’ve already left the city?”
A bearded man in a short cloth shirt said, “Our people are lying in ambush at all the city gates. Once they appear, our men will know.”
“What if they’ve disguised their appearances? How can you see through it if you don’t go forward to check?”
As these people were mountain bandits, they could only go forward with knives in the southern district under his jurisdiction. Later, he could just make up a story about them being warm-hearted martial arts practitioners to brush off the county lieutenant. However, they couldn’t be so bold in other districts.
Even if they were self-proclaimed outlaw heroes, it was impossible for them to replace the bailiffs patrolling the streets and guarding the city gate. After putting on makeup, it was very difficult to tell who they were just from looking at their eyes. Hence, searching was still the most effective strategy.
However, the bearded mountain bandit said with a grin, “You think too highly of them. It’s probably those two brats’ first trip away from home. We’ve been watching them for a long time and know them best. If they want to leave the city, they’ll definitely swagger around and won’t think of disguising their appearances.”
They had long been paying attention to these two people. Not only because they were generous with their money, but also because of their childish actions on the way. If not for the help of the refugees along the way, they would’ve long died without knowing why.
They had been following the two youths for nearly half a month, but along the way, the latter had constantly been with a large group of refugees. As long as they encountered refugees, they would give them alms, causing the bandits to not dare to approach at all. Along the way, they had tried to steal and rob from them. Unfortunately, that round-faced youth was so skilled that he could fight against ten people on his own. His martial arts were so powerful that it didn’t matter if they attacked him openly or covertly.
In the past two days, for some reason, they suddenly sped up their journey and stopped helping out the refugees. Only then did they find an opportunity to interact with them.
However, he did not expect the two of them to be so powerful. The drug was supposed to make them sleep until night time, but they regained consciousness so early. They were so close to eliminating future troubles and exchanging the duo’s heads for 1,000 taels of silver.
What a pity!
Just as he was lamenting in his heart, Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin supported each other as they walked out of the North City Gate with their heads lowered. Only when they were far away did Qi Haoran take out a steamed bun from his bag and give it to Fan Zijin. He said, “Eat quickly. After eating, let’s hurry on our way.”
This was the first time Fan Zijin had walked for so long. Before evening, his soles had already blistered.
Not knowing how to deal with it either, Qi Haoran only held his leg anxiously.
Fan Zijin kicked him and said, “Alright, it’s fine now. Fortunately, since we’re already in Xingyuan Prefecture, Xingzhou Prefecture isn’t far away.”
Qi Haoran counted with his fingers. “If it takes two days to reach there on a horse, won’t it take five to six days on foot?” And this was under the condition that they were fast.
Qi Haoran looked at Fan Zijin.
Fan Zijin’s speed was not fast, and it had in fact become even slower with blisters on his feet.
Fan Zijin turned his head away guiltily and pretended not to see it.
“There’s still food.” Qi Haoran touched his stomach and said, “The steamed buns we exchanged can only last us until tomorrow. What should we do after that?”
Fan Zijin pointed at their bags and said, “Exchange for food using our clothes. Didn’t those refugees say that clothes can also be pawned? Let’s go around the city and find some squires or rich families to exchange for some steamed buns.”
Much more cautious now, Fan Zijin said, “Just exchange it for five days’ worth of dry food.”
After calculating the distance in his heart, Qi Haoran stood up and tied all the bags to Fan Zijin. “I’ll walk for half a day and carry you for the other half. That’ll be faster.”
Seeing Fan Zijin’s hesitation, Qi Haoran revealed a look of disdain. “Don’t worry, you’re very light. I’ll just take it that I’m carrying a broadsword and a big luggage.”
Fan Zijin’s expression darkened.
Qi Haoran chuckled and immediately carried him on his back. Utilizing his qinggong, he ran forward.
Fan Zijin said while being piggybacked, “You should save some energy in case we run into an emergency.”
Qi Haoran responded and tapped the ground with his toes. Very quickly, he leaped forward. Feeling more comfortable on Qi Haoran’s back than sitting on a horse, Fan Zijin soon fell asleep.
Not long after they left, a group of people rushed to the direction where they had previously stopped. After investigating for a while, they said, “There were indeed two people who stopped here, but I’m not sure if it was them.”
“Continue chasing in the direction of Xingzhou Prefecture. They told those refugees that they were going to Xingzhou Prefecture.”
“Will they remain in the city?”
“That’s why I didn’t withdraw all our men. Still, we have to be wary of them slipping out of the city.” Yu Niang said with a sneer, “I’m not as stupid as Fifth Brother. People learn from their mistakes. Moreover, that pale-faced young man is extremely intelligent. Could it be that he doesn’t even know how to disguise himself before leaving the city?”
The people following Yu Niang lowered their heads.
Yu Niang continued, “Hurry up. Since they don’t have any money on them, if they want to exchange their things for money, they have to enter the city. We have to catch them when they leave Xingyuan Prefecture. Also, contact Chief immediately and get that group of people to go down the mountain to look for them. Soon, they will enter the territory of Xingzhou Prefecture. The assistant commander of Lizhou West Camp, Qi Xiuyuan, is not to be trifled with. It’s not convenient for us to appear in Xingzhou Prefecture. If they don’t want their target to enter Xingzhou Prefecture, then don’t wait on the mountain and settle this once and for all.”
“If they make a move, can we still get 1,000 taels of silver as a reward?”
“If they don’t make a move and let them escape, we won’t even be able to keep the deposit of 500 taels,” Yu Niang said. Moreover, they were no longer eyeing the 1,000 taels of silver since they had already obtained way more silver from the two youths.
However, she did not know their identities. Why were they being hunted down and had so much money on them?
As Xingyuan Prefecture was not far from here, Yu Niang and the others could arrive before dark if they sped up. Meanwhile, Fan Zijin was even more cautious than she had thought. Instead of entering the city, Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran took a detour around the nearby villages and bypassed Xingyuan Prefecture from the side, heading straight for Xingzhou Prefecture.
Moreover, because it was Qi Haoran carrying Fan Zijin on his back, not only was he fast, but he could also see at night. Even after the sun set, he hurriedly continued on his way. He only stopped when he felt that he only had 20% of his internal energy left and was a little tired. At this moment, they had already passed the prefectural capital of Xingyuan Prefecture and arrived at the northern suburbs.
Having slept for the entire afternoon, Fan Zijin felt refreshed. So, he took the initiative to pick up firewood to start a fire. After taking out the hard steamed buns from his bag, he roasted them until they were soft before handing them to Qi Haoran.
After Qi Haoran finished eating, he sat down and meditated. Fan Zijin sat beside him, thinking of an excuse to exchange clothes for food. From the conversation that Qi Haoran heard, those bad guys had targeted them because they could tell that they were carrying a lot of money on them. Secondly, it was because they had been paid to come after them.
Or the latter should have been placed in front, because they had only noticed them after being hired to come after them, and only subsequently discovered that the two youths had a lot of money on them.
So, who was it that wanted to kill them?
Fan Zijin glanced at Qi Haoran, who was meditating solemnly at the side, and could not help but sigh slowly. He already had a guess in his heart.
Although they often caused trouble in the capital and did not get along with some of their classmates, it was not to the extent that they would hire someone to kill them. Apart from that, their only other enemies were their father’s concubines and their half-brothers.
Although his mother was disappointing, she still had control over the Fan family’s inner estate. Madam Liu still had to follow the rules of a concubine, and Fan Zixiao couldn’t even fork out a hundred taels of silver, let alone hire someone to kill them.
That left Haoran’s side.
However, he wasn’t sure if this was his uncle’s idea or Madam Wu’s.
Fan Zijin thought that perhaps he should not have agreed to take the 50,000 taels of silver from the beginning. Instead, he should have asked Qi Haoran to return the money.
But to go after his son’s life for the sake of 50,000 taels of silver…
Fan Zijin was a little saddened at the thought and did not dare to bring up this topic, afraid that Haoran’s feelings would be hurt.
