No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 57

Yang Lulong watched Wan Niang and Qiao Lan chatting and laughing along the way. Noticing that Wan Niang no longer seemed angry, she let out a sigh of relief.

Wan Niang and Qiao Lan walked ahead of them, the two of them chatting happily; meanwhile, she and Ma Zhifeng were a pair of few words, hardly exchanging a sentence throughout the journey.

Although Wan Niang was deep in conversation with Qiao Lan, Qiao Lan’s occasional slight sighs still caught her attention.

“Did… something happen?” she asked tentatively.

“No…” Qiao Lan hurriedly forced a smile and shook her head at her.

Seeing that Qiao Lan was unwilling to speak, Wan Niang stopped asking and diverted the topic elsewhere to continue their chat.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the scorching sun climbed directly overhead, hiding into thick layers of clouds as the sky turned somber.

The group found a place to rest; the weather was cold, and even at noon, a whistling cold wind blew against their faces, making them shiver.

After starting a fire, Ma Zhifeng suddenly said she wanted to hunt some wild game to eat and pulled Yang Lulong into the woods.

Only Wan Niang and Qiao Lan were left by the campfire. Unlike their free-flowing conversation on the road, it was as if they had said everything they needed to say; now they sat by the fire in awkward silence.

Wan Niang recalled how Qiao Lan had rebuffed her earlier and worried that bringing up a topic the other didn’t want to discuss would cause annoyance, so she kept her mouth shut.

However, it was Qiao Lan who spoke first. “On the road, you asked me…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” Wan Niang said, though curiosity was still bubbling inside her.

“First, promise me you won’t tell anyone… especially Zhifeng.”

“I promise you.” Hearing her tone so serious, Wan Niang couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

Qiao Lan didn’t immediately say what the matter was; instead, she reached out her hand toward Wan Niang. Wan Niang looked at her, confused.

“Take my pulse and you will know…” She extended her hand again.

This reaction made Wan Niang very nervous, worrying if Qiao Lan had contracted some serious illness, yet she didn’t look any different than usual. Thinking this, she slowly placed her hand on Qiao Lan’s wrist and began to take her pulse seriously.

Wan Niang, whose face had been heavy with concern, suddenly beamed with joy. It turned out Qiao Lan was pregnant. Just as she was about to congratulate her, she saw Qiao Lan’s dejected face, and the words of celebration died in her throat. Her joyful expression turned solemn.

Qiao Lan withdrew her hand, and Wan Niang asked, “You haven’t told Ma Zhifeng yet?”

Qiao Lan didn’t answer, but the slight shake of her head gave the answer.

“Why don’t you tell her? She would definitely be very happy.” Wan Niang didn’t understand Qiao Lan’s worry.

“I know…” Qiao Lan picked at her hands, her voice somewhat unstable. “Even though I knew this day would come, I didn’t expect it to be so sudden. We have no fixed residence and wander around like this; I don’t want the child to live like us. At the very least, there should be a stable home… I know Zhifeng’s temperament. If I tell her, she will of course follow my lead, find a place to settle down, and be trapped in that one spot for the rest of her life.”

Listening to her reasons, Wan Niang seemed to understand the meaning behind her words.

“I can wander with her, travel the mountains and rivers together; but now… being pregnant, I’ve become a burden… I don’t want her to go against her own heart because of me.”

Wan Niang listened quietly. She wanted to tell Qiao Lan that things weren’t as bad as she thought, but as an outsider to their relationship, it wasn’t her place to say much. She could only listen earnestly to Qiao Lan’s words.

“During these days, we’ve been to many places…” Recalling the scenes of the two of them playing happily on their journey, the sorrowful Qiao Lan let out a happy smile. “She was so happy… so free…”

Ma Zhifeng and she were like a pair of happy, free birds that could fly anywhere they wanted together. And now… she could no longer fly, and she didn’t want to force Ma Zhifeng to be like her.

“Then what do you plan to do? As time passes, you won’t be able to hide it.” Wan Niang sympathized with her and understood her point, but hiding it forever wasn’t a long-term solution.

“Wan Niang, I want to ask you for a favor.”

“What favor?”

“Help me abort this child…”

A sharp, pointed wooden branch pierced straight into the defenseless wild rabbit, giving it no chance to struggle—a kill in one shot.

Yang Lulong and Ma Zhifeng were hiding in the bushes nearby. Seeing this beautiful shot, Ma Zhifeng couldn’t help but pat Yang Lulong on the shoulder and praise her, “As expected of you.”

Yang Lulong shook her head shyly. “It was nothing.”

Ma Zhifeng strode over to the wild rabbit, picked it up, pulled out the wooden arrow, and handed it back to Yang Lulong.

“Let’s get one more and head back.” As she spoke, she tied the current rabbit together with the ones they caught earlier; three fat rabbits in total.

While searching for the next prey, Yang Lulong and Ma Zhifeng started chatting.

“Where do you plan to go next?” Yang Lulong asked her.

“To Yan City.”

“Yan City? That’s quite far.” Mentioning Yan City inevitably brought Feng Aoshuang to mind. She wondered if they had reached home safely, though if Feng Aoshuang was running around everywhere with her wife and child, Yang Lulong felt that was exactly something she would do. “If you reach Yan City, remember to check if that fellow Feng Aoshuang is back. She might have gotten angry with her father and run off again.”

Ma Zhifeng was stunned for a moment, then burst into loud laughter. “With that Eldest Miss Feng, it’s a whole other matter whether she even remembers me. Besides, we don’t even know if we can make it to Yan City.”

“Hmm? Why do you say that?”

“My plan is to see as we go. If we find a suitable place, we’ll settle down and stop wandering.”

“I thought you didn’t like that?” Yang Lulong recalled their first heart-to-heart talk when Ma Zhifeng said she preferred the feeling of being free and didn’t like being tied down.

“People change, and one has to consider the future, right?” Ma Zhifeng smiled brightly, then suddenly changed the subject. “I haven’t told Qiao Lan yet, so don’t you mention this to her. I plan to give her a surprise. Find a beautiful spot, preferably by the mountains and water…” She spoke of her beautiful vision for a place to stay.

Yang Lulong was thinking about suggesting Ma Zhifeng and the others come live in their village—wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing for everyone to be neighbors? “Actually, I—” Before she could tell Ma Zhifeng, a bout of fierce dog barking interrupted them.

Both immediately became alert; from the sound, it wasn’t just one wild dog. In the middle of nowhere, a pack of wild dogs was no safer than a pack of wolves. It would be bad if the pack found Wan Niang and the others.

They immediately followed the sound, needing to drive the wild dogs away.

Reaching the source of the noise, they saw a pack of fierce wild dogs surrounding a person. Beside the person was a large black wolf-dog, which seemed to be the person’s own pet. Its owner was injured, and out of a desperate desire to protect its master, it faced off fiercely against the other dogs.

Just as it was about to pounce and fight the pack, wild rabbit meat appearing out of nowhere caught the vicious dogs’ attention. They immediately pounced on it, fiercely fighting over the poor wild rabbit.

“Shoo!!” Ma Zhifeng took a wooden stick and struck the dogs a few times. They were startled and scattered in all directions; one clever dog even remembered to run back and snatch away the remains of the rabbit.

“Thank you.” The injured young man saw people helping and immediately expressed his gratitude. However, the large black wolf-dog thought they were villains and continued to bare its teeth at them.

“Inkwell (Mo Dou). These are good people.” The youth soothed it, stroking its back a few times. The big black dog listened to him and immediately dropped its guard, returning to a harmless appearance.

“Inkwell?” Yang Lulong helped him up, looking at the big black dog.

“I love woodworking gadgets, so I gave him such a name.”

“Do you live nearby?” Ma Zhifeng asked him.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lu Shu, and my home is nearby. May I ask who you two benefactors are?”

“My name is Yang Lulong.”

“Ma Zhifeng.”

“Thank you both for coming to the rescue. I came here to gather herbs, and I didn’t expect to fall and injure my leg, then be surrounded by these wild dogs. It’s truly a bit embarrassing…”

“It’s nothing. I was saved by her once, too.” Ma Zhifeng pointed at Yang Lulong and laughed heartily.

“There are two others with us. Let’s go to the camp to find them first, and then head to your house. It just so happens my wife is a doctor and can help treat you.”

“Then I am truly troubled (grateful).”

Returning to the camp and introducing Wan Niang and Qiao Lan to Lu Shu, the group headed to his house together.

Lu Shu lived by a lake not far away, and his was the only household in the area. When she saw his house, Yang Lulong was stunned. It was a structure nestled against the mountains and water, a two-story wooden house with a protruding balcony facing the lake, decorated with flowers and plants. Such architecture was rare in ancient times; it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call it a modern building.

She couldn’t help but ask, “This house… who built it?”

“I did it myself.”

“What?!” Ma Zhifeng was even more surprised than Yang Lulong. “All… all of it was done by you alone?”

“Not entirely…” Lu Shu said bashfully. “I originally hired woodworking masters to do it. After the frame was finished, they wanted to do it their way. I didn’t agree and insisted they follow my vision, so they quit. I had to do the rest myself.”

“Are you a woodworker?” Wan Niang asked him.

“I studied under woodworking masters for a few years, but they always followed the rules. The houses they built were all much the same. I couldn’t do what I wanted there, so I came out on my own.”

“Did you come up with all of this yourself?” Yang Lulong said in disbelief. This aesthetic could be described as very ahead of its time.

“Some of it was referenced from predecessors, and the rest was done according to my thoughts. That platform—I found many ways to make it stand, otherwise, it would collapse if someone stood on it. But that is my favorite part; you can see the lake scenery, and in summer, it’s a great place to enjoy the cool air.”

Listening to his introduction, Ma Zhifeng’s eyes were practically watering with envy. She absolutely loved this house. It would be wonderful if she and Qiao Lan could live in a house like this.

Qiao Lan, however, was not in such a good mood. She looked heavy-hearted, and only Wan Niang noticed her from time to time.

To thank them for saving his life, Lu Shu invited them to stay. It just so happened that his house had many rooms and could fully accommodate so many people.