Chapter 285: Sudden Change in Weather
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Giddyup!” Mu Yangling told Blackie to speed up. Seated under the shaft of the carriage, she looked up at the sky worriedly.
“Miss, do you think it will snow?” Zhang Liu sat at the side and exhaled. He looked up at the sky with anticipation and resentment.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I want it to snow or not.” It was almost the new year, and the first snow since winter was about to appear. How tragic that they had to be on the road at a time like this.
Butcher Qin kept his promise and brought two friends over in the morning.
Those two people were the butchers who monopolized the mutton supply in West City with him. Mu Yangling had not expected these were the two people he mentioned yesterday.
Because the price had already been negotiated, they directly weighed the sheep. In the end, 139 sheep were sold for 689 taels and 468 copper coins. Mu Yangling rounded down the total and only charged them 689 taels.
After the transaction, Butcher Qin and the others had just herded the sheep away when Mu Yangling put the things into the carriage and left. She even ate lunch in the carriage.
She did not even inform the landlord, merely mentioning that she had something to do in the city. Now that all the sheep had been sold, everyone entered the city together.
As the landlord came late, he didn’t see Xiuhong and the others packing their things, nor did he see Mu Yangling put her things on the carriage. He also didn’t go into the house to check, so he didn’t know that Mu Yangling and the others had left.
After getting into the carriage, Blackie ran forward happily. It had been suffocating to walk slowly behind the flock of sheep for the past few days.
Mu Yangling was also elated. She felt that at this speed, it would not be a problem to reach Three Springs County before dark. Hence, they could stay in the county and their safety would be much more guaranteed.
However, the heavens begged to differ. After traveling for less than 45 minutes, the weather became colder and colder, and the wind became stronger and stronger. A rare dark cloud appeared in the sky. An hour later, the dark clouds fully covered the sky.
If Mu Yangling hadn’t confirmed that it was only two in the afternoon at most, she would have believed it if someone told her it was six in the afternoon.
As the weather became colder and colder, and the wind felt like ice shards on their faces, Mu Yangling knew that they would not be able to reach Three Springs County today. Not to mention the humans, even Blackie could not stand this weather.
Mu Yangling asked Zhang Wu, “Do you know if there’s a village nearby? We have to find a village to settle down and see how it goes tomorrow.”
Zhang Wu looked at the road outside in a daze and tried his best to recall the village he had heard of. Finally, he said, “Miss, how long will it take us to reach Three Springs County?”
“At this speed, we should be able to reach there in two hours.” However, at this speed, Blackie would also be frostbitten after two hours. Considering Blackie was still young, it was already a little hard on him to drag a carriage full of people along, let alone in such weather.
In the carriage, Bowen and Xiuhong couldn’t take it either.
“Miss, I remember that there’s a place called Big Tree Village about four hours from the village outside. The maiden family of someone we knew of in our village lives there.”
As Blackie was fast, the journey from Three Springs County to Xingyuan Prefecture which would have taken them a day on foot, took them only four hours by carriage.
Mu Yangling did some calculations in her heart and felt that they should be able to reach the place Zhang Wu had mentioned in another 30 to 45 minutes.
Zhang Wu pushed Zhang Liu into the carriage. Seated on the shaft of the car, he widened his eyes. “The reason why Big Tree Village is called Big Tree Village is because there’s a huge tree at the village entrance. It’s humongous. As long as you see it, you can’t mistake it.”
Hence, Zhang Wu looked at the trees on both sides energetically. Mu Yangling said helplessly, “That day, we didn’t see any big trees along the way from here. This means that the village isn’t next to the main road.” She recalled carefully and said, “There are a total of five forks along the way from Three Springs County to Xingyuan Prefecture. One of them is relatively large and should lead to Chuangui. The other four are relatively small. We’ve already passed by one just now. According to the speed you mentioned, it’s most likely the two in the middle.”
Fortunately, the two paths were on both sides of the road, so Mu Yangling asked, “Did the people in your village say if that village was on the right or left?”
“Right.” Zhang Wu was originally thinking hard about how many forks they had encountered on the way, but when he heard Mu Yangling’s words, he suddenly understood.
Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. “Then it’s not far. It’s just ahead.”
‘How did you know?’ Zhang Wu swallowed his words.
Indeed, less than 15 minutes ahead, they saw a small forked and bent path. Mu Yangling let Blackie go that route without thinking.
Zhang Wu opened his mouth but couldn’t help but ask, “Miss, what if we go the wrong way?”
“If the speed and direction you mentioned was correct, then there can’t be any mistakes.” She had been trained and had been on high alert on the way here. Not to mention the few forks on the road, she could even estimate the distance between the forks.
If she could not even do this, her investigation training in her previous life would be in vain.
Just as Zhang Wu was feeling uneasy, a huge tree came into view. It was truly humongous. At least, Zhang Wu had never seen a tree bigger than this in his life.
The branches extended over two to three acres of land, and there was a branch at the top thick enough for someone to lie on it and sleep.
Mu Yangling also felt that this tree should be very old. In fact, an adult could lie down on a branch and place their arms by their side without them sliding down.
Xiuhong and Bowen poked their heads out of the carriage and asked, “How old is this tree?”
“I don’t know, but it must be at least 400 to 500 years old, right?”
“More than that, I think. Even if the branches of a banyan tree are big, it shouldn’t have grown so big in just 400 to 500 years.”
A gust of cold wind blew over, making Mu Yangling shrink her neck. No longer in the mood to look at the tree, she headed straight for the village.
Mu Yangling and the others were received by the village chief’s family.
The story they came up with was that the five siblings were going to Xingzhou Prefecture to visit their relatives. However, after walking here, the weather changed and they had no choice but to find a place to rest.
Zhang Wu said worriedly to the village chief, “I originally wanted to rush to Three Springs County, but who knew that the weather would change so quickly? In another two hours, we’ll probably freeze into ice. It’s useless even if we reach Three Springs County.”
The village chief looked at Xiuhong and Bowen, who were standing at the side with their necks shrunk. Nodding, he said, “Considering you even have children with you, it’s definitely harder on you.”
Zhang Wu quickly agreed. “That’s why we came to the village. We wish to stay for the night and leave when the sun rises tomorrow.”
The village chief naturally had no problem with it. In this era, people were only glad to help others, so he firmly rejected the copper coins Zhang Wu offered him.
There were very few outsiders who came to their village, so they naturally did not run a business of renting out houses. Visitors would simply stay there when they arrived, and the host would warmly serve them the best food.
This time, it was Mu Yangling and the others’ turn to feel embarrassed.
