Chapter 101: Strange Epidemic
For the next two days after leaving Silver Water Town, Anji learned how to set up an outdoor camp. Her brother was mostly useless when it came to camping. Gu Ying did most of the work, from gathering wood for a fire to fishing. He only offered to do night watch duty so Gu Ying could have a few hours of rest. Even Anji was more knowledgeable than her brother when it came to cooking and laundry. Thankfully, they did not need to spend much time setting up a tent because they could sleep in the carriage.
"I didn’t know carriages could be converted into beds," Anji mused when Mingshen removed a mechanism below the bench and opened the door at the back of the carriage so it could lay flat down.
Smirking, Mingshen did not tell his sister how the carriage had more than two doors. In case of any emergencies, the top part of the carriage roof would cave in, and the floorboard on the bottom of the carriage would open like a trapdoor if he reached for the hidden lever near Anji’s seat. It was not the usual carriage as this was designed by him for the Gentleman Club’s use.
"I’ll feed the horses," he patted his sister on the head and left to lead the horses to a water hole so they could drink and graze.
Unlike her brother and Gu Ying, Anji knew little about those gentle creatures. They were very tall, and even their breathing sometimes scared her, even though they were said to be gentle animals.
Camping was fun. Anji enjoyed the cool breeze and stargazing. For the two nights they spent outdoors, she would stay up late and learn more about astrology from her older brother until she fell asleep. Although Anji thought having hot water for baths was nice compared to the cold river water, she could understand why her father enjoyed sleeping outdoors during his younger days as a pugilist adventurer.
On the third day, they finally arrived at a small village. It was not a settlement marked out on their travel map, so Gu Ying went ahead to scout while Mingshen took over the horse reins in the driver’s seat while Anji remained inside.
After what felt like an hour, Gu Ying finally returned. However, her expression was grave. Anji thought the villagers were not welcoming of outsiders. After all, not everyone was kind and friendly. She had been taught that much by her mother and heard many stories of betrayal from Gu Ying and Lizi. Even Doctor He had a tragic background before he accepted her father’s offer to join the Celestial Dragon Sect. Although Anji had yet to meet any truly nasty people, she was not naive enough to think the world was full of only good people. The demonic cult was the enemy of all righteous cultivators. They were the people her parents were working hard to take down alongside the leaders of the Rainbow Alliance.
"What did they say?" Mingshen asked when Gu Ying returned and took back the horse reins.