Fish Meat – Chapter 15

The Sixth Year of Shenchu

The lonely boat in distress

The carriage dashed out of the Xie residence, braving the wind and snow as it raced through the streets of Qixian on this early morning.

The coachman relentlessly whipped the reins, causing the horse to run wildly with frothy saliva flying and its mane standing on end. With no obstacles on the deserted road, they quickly arrived at the city gate.

Before dawn, the wind and snow persisted. The towering city walls of Qixian appeared like monsters in the cold mist, their true appearance obscured yet their menacing presence felt.

Torchlights at the city gate danced wildly in the wind as armored city guards, noticing the carriage approaching, stepped forward to intercept.

Ah Xun lifted a corner of the curtain, handing over her token. The guard glanced at it and realized it belonged to the eldest daughter of Prefect Xie.

Xiaoshi’s dagger stabbed into Ah Xun’s back, ready to pierce through her chest at any moment.

Ah Xun subtly turned her head, not glancing at Xiaoshi behind her. Her long eyelashes flickered as she locked eyes with Alai.

Blood seeped from the wound on her neck, dyeing her shoulder’s garment red. Alai noticed she was wearing the leather gloves she gave her yesterday, feeling a pang of guilt in her heart.

Seeing tears in Alai’s eyes, Ah Xun lightly shook her head, as if compassionately distancing her from the adult conflicts.

“Open the city gates!” The soldier commanded, and the heavy red pine doors creaked open slowly. As the coachman took up the reins again, he glanced back at Ah Xun. Ah Xun lowered her eyelids, giving no indication. He understood; this was tacit consent.

The carriage passed through the city gate, and the Xie family followed closely behind.

Xie Suishan saw the gate open, and Ah Xun’s carriage had already left the city. The terrain around Qixian was complex, with not only official roads but also many wild paths among the mountains. Once the carriage entered the woods, it would be even harder to find.

“Chase them! We must bring them back at all costs!” Xie Suishan stuffed two torn cloth pieces from his sleeve into his nostrils, snow covering his eyelashes, almost blocking his vision. As he raised his hand in a gesture, the cold wind whistled through his fur coat, making his sweating body tremble with cold, but his anger knew no bounds.

“Take the path from the south.” Ah Xun heard the howling wind behind her mixed with the muffled sound of hooves. She knew that Xie Suishan and his men were relentlessly pursuing. Seeing the coachman about to continue racing on the main road, she pointed to another path for him.

Xiaoshi remained silent, but the dagger in her hand never loosened.

It was certainly out of desperation and very risky to take Ah Xun and her carriage by force. Although she had used an excuse to obtain Uncle Dong’s talisman to scout the area outside the city several times, the terrain with its mountains and rivers was quite complex. Only after months of personal exploration could she truly understand the intricacies of the land. It was impossible to fully grasp it just by observing it a few times.

Ah Xun and her coachman had traveled around the vicinity for many years, so they were very familiar with the terrain. If they wanted to use some tricks or deliberately let the Xie family catch up, there was no other way for the mother and daughter then to murder them and seize their carriage.

Perhaps Ah Xun had realized this. In order to save her life, she had her coachman drive along a dirt road to the south into a whole grove of withered trees. The branches of the trees intersected, holding thick snow. Ah Xun’s carriage was mostly silver-colored and could be easily concealed in the midst of them.

Xiaoshi had seen Ah Xun’s intention, and the sound of the horse’s hooves behind the carriage gradually faded. She finally retracted her dagger slightly.

Ah Xun finally managed to relax her body, which had been stiff for a long time. After Alai had treated the wound on her mother’s palm, she silently took another piece of hemostatic plaster from her bag and handed it to Ah Xun. Ah Xun took it and softly said, “Thank you.”

Ah Xun had never been so polite to her as if she were an outsider.

Alai’s nose felt a little sour. She did not expect that worldly affairs could be so unexpectedly tortuous. She wanted to leave the Xie mansion also in order to achieve something in the future to repay Ah Xun’s kindness. Unexpectedly, just before she even took half a step, she caused Ah Xun to get injured. Now that they were parting, what kind of mood would Ah Xun be in when she thought of her again in the future? Alai felt extremely guilty.

How could Xiaoshi not know about the sisterly affection between Alai and Ah Xun? The current situation was also beyond her expectations. After temporarily breaking away from Xie Suishan’s pursuit, Xiaoshi could not help but ponder a question: how did Uncle Dong suddenly die? When he came to deliver the ginseng a few days ago, his body was still very strong. He was able to talk and laugh, but just a few days later, he had passed away. According to the Xie family’s servants, Uncle Dong had died of excessive drinking, which made people even more suspicious. Uncle Dong drove carriages all year round on dangerous mountain roads. A little carelessness could endanger his life, so Xiaoshi knew that he rarely drank alcohol. What’s more, the next day he had to travel far to Dongchun. How could he drink himself to death in his room the night before?

“Where do you plan to go?”

Xiaoshi’s thoughts were interrupted by Ah Xun’s question. Ah Xun had applied the hemostatic patch and was no longer seriously injured.

“Go south. When you reach the mountain ahead, please let us off.” Xiaoshi no longer had any intention to kill. Ah Xun asked:

“What on earth happened? Why are you leaving?”

Seeing that her mother did not answer, Alai mustered her courage and proactively told Ah Xun about the refugees and the Xie family’s attitude, which had chilled her and her mother to the bone. That was why they had decided to leave. She also candidly told her about the coincidence of their plan to leave the mansion and Uncle Dong’s death.

“Uncle Dong is dead?” Ah Xun clearly did not believe that Uncle Dong, the Xie family’s most capable coachman, would die from excessive drinking. Her face changed, as if she had thought of something terrible.

“Sister, what did you think of?”

“Umm…” Ah Xun hesitated for a moment. Thinking of how Alai had been so honest and forthright with her, she also spoke her mind. “Uncle Dong’s death is too coincidental. As soon as Sun Mingyi was convicted, someone from the Xie family died, and it was a strange death too. It’s hard not to suspect if it has something to do with Sun Mingyi’s remaining followers.”

After being reminded by Ah Xun, Alai also recalled that when Sun Mingyi was escorted away, his chief clerk had shouted that he would avenge him. She could not help but worry about Ah Xun’s future situation. They were actually able to break through the Xie family’s heavy guards and kill someone without anyone noticing. Perhaps they were martial arts masters from Jianghu.

“Milady,” the coachman’s voice sounded from outside. “The snow mountain is just ahead. The heavy snow has blocked the road, and the carriage can’t pass!”

“Alright, let’s stop here.” Xiaoshi picked up her bag and prepared to get out of the carriage. Since Ah Xun’s carriage could not pass, it would be difficult for Xie Suishan’s horse to pass as well. At this time, she would have to rely on her own crippled legs to escape danger.

“Are you going to enter the snow mountain?”

Xiaoshi did not answer her.

Ah Xun originally wanted to remind them that the snow in the mountains was very deep right now, and it would be easy to get lost if they were not careful. If they could not find their way in the snow mountains, they might be in danger of losing their lives. However, she also understood that the mother and daughter had already decided to leave, and they would not listen to her no matter what, so why bother?

“Then, take care.” Ah Xun glanced at Alai, who was unusually quiet and obedient today. She turned her head and shouted to the coachman, “Stop right here!”

The coachman responded, and the speed of the carriage gradually slowed down. As Xiaoshi grasped her bag and prepared to get off the carriage, she suddenly heard the coachman utter a strange “Ahh!” sound. Then, his body shook, and he fell off the horse. The startled horse galloped wildly in the other direction, out of control.

The ground beneath the carriage wheels was covered with broken stones and snow, causing the carriage to shake violently from side to side. Inside the carriage, the three people were jolted left and right, bumping into each other. With great difficulty, Alai lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out. To her great shock, the horse was galloping towards a cliff!

Alai didn’t have time to say anything more. She pushed Ah Xun, who was sitting in the front, out of the carriage. Ah Xun rolled several times on the ground and hit her head on a tree stump, knocking her unconscious. Xiaoshi and Alai were about to rush out of the carriage when suddenly iron chains fell from the sky and wrapped around the carriage, binding the windows and doors tightly.

Xiaoshi and Alai’s escape route was cut off, and in the blink of an eye, the horse’s hooves had already flown off the cliff and were soaring in the air.

Were they going to die here?

This thought flashed through Alai’s mind.

Instinctively, Xiaoshi hugged Alai and buried her in her arms. In the earth-shaking collision, Alai lost consciousness.

She did not know how much time had passed or where she was. When Alai regained consciousness, she opened her eyes with difficulty and heard the sound of gurgling water.

Frowning and letting out a soft groan, Alai felt as if every bone in her body had been broken. Her head was groggy, and for a moment she could not tell if she was dead or alive.

During the carriage’s fall, she and her mother had been thrown around violently. She did not know when she had fainted. She opened her eyes and before she could see her surroundings clearly, the boat suddenly lurched beneath her feet. She immediately rolled over to avoid danger. However, just as her body left the ground, she felt a sharp tug at her feet, causing her to fall back down.

A searing pain in her left hip made her cry out. The pain jolted her awake, and she finally realized her situation.

She was in a small boat.

The lone boat rocked gently on the river surface, which was covered with a thin layer of ice. Her right leg was tightly locked by a chain, which was securely connected to the bottom of the boat.

What was happening?

Alai struggled with all her might, but the chain, which was thicker than her arm, rattled loudly without showing any sign of loosening. She was anxious and sweating profusely. Every movement sent waves of excruciating pain through her side, as if her ribs were broken. After struggling for a while, Alai collapsed on the boat, panting.

The cold air from the river surface blew against the tip of her nose, which was covered in sweat, causing her to shiver. She recalled how she and her mother had escaped from the Xie family and how the carriage had suddenly lost control and fallen off the cliff. What happened after that?

Mother? Where was her mother? Her mother was gone!

Alai immediately looked around for her mother, but the dim and cold river was shrouded in dense fog. Pieces of broken ice floated past her eyes, and the vast expanse of the river made it almost impossible to see the banks. In the distance, she could vaguely see some withered weeds.

She touched the icy river water. The piercing cold and the pain in her broken bones were so vivid that she knew she was not dead. Although this place was cold, damp, and terrifying, it was not the underworld.

Had someone saved them?

No, that couldn’t be right. If someone had rescued them, how come her mother was nowhere to be seen? And why had they put her in a small boat and bound her with this iron chain? She recalled that before the carriage fell off the cliff, the coachman had been killed and the horses had been startled. Then, she had tried to jump out of the carriage with her mother, but she had been tied up. Who was behind this? Why had they done this? They had even predicted their escape route in advance. Only she and her mother knew that they were going to escape. They had not told anyone else. Moreover, they were just servants of the Xie family. Who would go to such great lengths to deal with them? Or perhaps the other party was actually targeting Ah Xun? Could it really be Sun Mingyi’s men? Where was Ah Xun?

“Mother! Mother! Ah Xun!”

Alai endured the pain and shouted at the top of her lungs, but her voice was quickly swallowed by the thick fog and disappeared over the river.

Looking at the endless river, Alai’s mind was filled with countless thoughts.

Where was her mother now? Was she safe? She could not sit still. She searched the small boat thoroughly, but she did not find a single word or even a long pole.

She took off her belt and wrapped it around her hand. She then reached into the river water with great effort and tried to control the direction of the small boat. At that moment, she saw a large boat sailing towards her from afar.

LP: Sorry for the no update yesterday, just really tired…