Strict

This time, the black cat was much more cautious. It was not enough for Pan Yun to agree; it wanted a contract.

Both the black cat and Pan Yun knew the spell for forming a pact.

They communicated with Heaven and Earth, using their own spiritual power and souls as intermediaries to inscribe the contract. Whoever violated it would suffer Heaven's wrath.

It was like raising one's hand to swear that breaking an oath would bring such-and-such consequences, except the latter might not come true, while the former certainly would.

The girl and the cat formed their contract. From this moment onward, whenever Pan Yun cultivated, the Three Jade Spirit Realm within her Mud Pill Palace would automatically seize the share of spiritual energy due to it.

Pan Little Black finally relaxed. It sprawled out its limbs and rolled halfway onto its back, exposing its belly. It let out a long "meow," sighing without end.

Life as a spirit was hard~~ Was this perhaps Heaven's trial for it?

Pan Yun gathered more firewood nearby, moved the burning bonfire aside, and swept the ashes away as well. Then she shifted the branches and leaves spread nearby onto the warmed ground. She took her quilt from the Spirit Realm Space and lay down on the branches and leaves, now toasty from the fire, letting out a satisfied sigh.

Since leaving the Pan family until today, she had finally gotten a peaceful night's sleep.

"You keep watch."

Pan Little Black did not refuse. It was not sleepy to begin with. Half its body burrowed beneath the quilt, its head resting against Pan Yun's as it stared blankly up at the stars.

Because they had formed a contract, Pan Yun was certain the Spirit Being would not—and could not—return to its original body at this time. She also trusted it to guard the night well.

As a well-traveled Spirit Being, it ought to be capable of at least this much.

So she allowed herself to fall asleep. Not until the next day, when sunlight spilled down and chirping birds sang by her ear, did she open her eyes.

Pan Yun sat up and stared blankly for a while before putting away the quilt and stuffing it into the Spirit Realm Space. She asked, "Can physical bodies enter that world of yours where souls can exist forever? If that place is a world unto itself, does it have food and water? Or is everything virtual, like data?"

Pan Little Black could not answer. If it knew, would it still be here talking nonsense with Pan Yun?

It would have broken the seal long ago and gone roaming freely across the world, wouldn't it?

Seeing its blank expression, Pan Yun knew it had no idea.

Sure enough, everything was an illusion. Only saving her father and her brothers was real.

Pan Yun touched her empty stomach, buried the embers with dirt, dusted off her hands, and stood. "Let's go. We're heading to Datong."

Pan Little Black held out its paws. Pan Yun scooped it up into her arms and headed north.

She had gained a little cultivation, but she was still far from Grain Abstinence. After walking all morning, she was starving.

Because her body was weak, the lack of food immediately turned her face pale and her lips somewhat white. She was clearly suffering from deficient qi and blood.

When she spotted the city gate in the distance, her eyes lit up. Holding Pan Little Black, she quickened her pace.

Not far from the city gate stood a tea stall, a thatched shed supported by several tree trunks. Besides tea, it sold plenty of flatbreads, noodles, steamed buns, and mantou.

Pan Yun clearly could not wait until she entered the city to eat. She hurried over with Pan Little Black in her arms, found a table to the side, and sat down. "Shopkeeper, two steamed buns and a bowl of noodles."

"Coming right up," the shopkeeper answered briskly. He quickly picked up two buns, placed them on a plate, and was about to bring them over when he looked up and realized the customer was a child. Her face was filthy, her hair somewhat messy, and her clothes looked as though she had rolled through the grass. The bundle on her back seemed light as a feather; at a glance, she did not look like someone who could pay. His movements paused.

But after only a moment's hesitation, he still smiled and brought over the buns. "Enjoy, little customer. I'll go cook your noodles right away. We have plain noodles, egg noodles, and meat noodles."

Pan Yun did not want to wrong herself, but Datong was still far away. She had little money on her, and to travel faster, she would need to hitch a ride or hire a cart later. There would also be food and lodging along the way. Suppressing her craving, she said, "A bowl of plain noodles."

The shopkeeper agreed and went to cook them.

Pan Yun rummaged through her bundle, though in truth she took out a bowl she had used for medicine and tea in her old room from the Spirit Realm Space. She broke open a bun, ate half herself, and placed the other half in the bowl for Pan Little Black.

The shopkeeper saw her feeding the cat from her own bowl. His open mouth closed again, and he silently continued cooking the noodles.

Pan Little Black crouched on the table to eat. It held down the bun with its paws and ate with great care, neither disheveled nor wasteful in the slightest.

As she ate, Pan Yun said to it, "See? I told you I'm kind. What I hate most is sneaking and concealing things. If you treat me with sincerity, I will return it with sincerity. As long as I have a bun to eat, I'll definitely give you half. I'll split my noodles with you too."

"Meow—"

Pan Yun contentedly stroked its head.

The shopkeeper brought over the cooked noodles. Seeing the huge, brimming bowl, Pan Yun glanced over the other tables and slightly raised her brow.

This shopkeeper was rather kind. He had actually cooked extra noodles for her.

Pan Yun did as she said and gave Pan Little Black quite a lot of noodles.

The girl and cat ate carefully. Pan Yun even drank down the last mouthful of noodle soup.

The five grains nourished her body, and color slowly returned to Pan Yun's face. Her stomach felt comfortable, as did her heart, and her whole person grew cheerful.

She glanced at the price list hanging from a wooden board nearby, took out some copper coins, and paid. "Shopkeeper, the bill!"

Standing at the city gate, Pan Yun could not help but sigh, "Sure enough, the finest thing not to disappoint is good food."

Beaming with delight, she headed toward the city gate. She casually glanced at the two characters above it: She County.

A line had formed at the gate, split into two queues. She casually chose one and took her place, curiously looking ahead.

Everyone entering the city took out a piece of paper for the gate guards to inspect before they could enter. Those carrying a lot of luggage also had their belongings searched.

Pan Yun fell silent. After a moment, she turned to ask the person behind her, "You need a travel permit just to enter the county seat here?"

The person behind her was taken aback. Instinctively, he first looked past Pan Yun toward the person in front of her. Seeing that person did not turn around, he could not tell whether she was asking on behalf of some official, so he answered, "We've always needed one in She County lately. Did your elders forget to bring it? Or are you not from She County?"

Pan Yun did not answer his question and continued glumly, "What if people outside the city want to come in to buy things or sell vegetables and such? Do they need a travel permit too?"

"They only need to bring their household registration page. People from this county don't need travel permits; only when they leave the county seat do they need them." The young man asked curiously, "Don't the places outside require travel permits to enter and leave cities?"

Pan Yun thought carefully over the scenes of entering and leaving cities along the way. Naturally, no permit was needed to leave a city. They were not carrying large quantities of goods, and only two cities had inspected them upon entry. But the three of them had traveled together, so the gate guards merely glanced at Tao Ji's travel permit and did not inspect hers or Xuan Miao's.

Things had been so lax all the way that she had thought she could slip in and out without trouble. But looking ahead, she saw adults bringing children into the city, and even the slightly older children had their household registration pages brought along by their elders.

Where was she supposed to get household registration or a travel permit?

No, she did have them—the two traffickers' documents. But... the descriptions did not match.

Perhaps seeing how troubled she was, the young man kindly explained, "Human traffickers have been rampant lately. Cases of Child Mutilation often occur among the people, so our county seat checks things very strictly. Not only are travel permits and household registration required to enter the city, they're also required to leave.

"Even those leaving the city to farm must carry their household registration pages with them."

All right, this County Magistrate was strict.

Pan Yun observed for a long while. Once she was certain she could not sneak in, she decisively turned and left the queue.

The young man behind her opened his mouth wide as he watched her leave. Once she had gone far away, he patted the shoulder of the person in front of him. "Brother, wasn't that your child?"

The man in front turned around, looked once, and said, "What child? I don't have any children."

Pan Yun had already gone far away and returned to the tea shed.

She considered whether it would be possible to take a small path around She County and continue north.

She sighed. It seemed she would have to sleep in the wilderness again tonight.

Pan Yun calculated her own appetite and Pan Little Black's, then told the shopkeeper, "Pack me ten large steamed buns."

The shopkeeper already knew she was not unable to pay, merely scruffy. He happily agreed, took out two paper bags, and packed ten large buns for her, five in each bag.

Pan Yun accepted the bags, paid, and asked, "Shopkeeper, if I head toward the northern outskirts from outside the city, is it quicker to go east or west?"

After blanking for a moment, the shopkeeper said, "Going through the city is fastest."

Nonsense. Did she not know that?

Pan Yun said, "I'm not going into the city. I came to seek refuge with my aunt. My mother is gone, my father took another wife, and my stepmother can't tolerate me. But I don't remember where my aunt lives. I only heard her mention that it's halfway toward the northern outskirts from the city gate, near the north gate."

The shopkeeper: ...Who gave directions like that?

After hesitating, he asked, "Young girl, is your aunt reliable? Why not enter the city and find the county office? Have the yamen runners take you to find someone. There are so many human traffickers outside these days. Don't let yourself get snatched away."

Pan Yun asked, "Are there a lot of human traffickers here?"

"A lot. Several children went missing over in Anyang. I heard two children went missing in our She County last month too. Their parents cried themselves half to death." Seeing that though she was dirty, her face was pale and tender, and her hands were fair and soft as well, the shopkeeper could tell she was clearly cherished at home.

So he advised, "Your father must love you. Maybe he just isn't good at saying it. If you ask me, you should go home. If the adults can't find you, how worried will they be?"

"I know," Pan Yun said. "I'm only trying to scare them. I'll stay at my aunt's house for a few days, then go back when my father comes looking for me."

Pan Yun insisted on asking for the closest route to the northern outskirts, so the shopkeeper could only point it out to her. "There, follow that road west. You'll have to walk a long way, then head north. There's a river there, the moat. Follow the river, and when you see a city gate, that will be the north gate.

"But the villages are all far from the moat. I'd guess you remembered the address wrong."

Pan Yun insisted, "I didn't remember wrong. Thank you, shopkeeper."

She left carrying the paper bags of buns.

Just as she reached the side of the small road, she encountered constables driving a crowd of people out of the city.

She could not help stopping to watch.

A group of raggedly dressed people were shoved and driven out by the constables. The leading soldier stood with his hands on his hips and cursed, "If you dare sneak into the city again, next time we'll haul the lot of you to the mines to dig ore!"

Standing amid the crowd, Pan Yun heard people discussing it. "I heard an imperial censor from the Capital City is here on an inspection, so the county won't allow a single beggar inside."

"Sigh, but once these people are driven out, how are they supposed to live? There are so many children among them."

"They'll have to go from village to village, household to household. If they meet kind families who give them a bowl of rice, they can endure and survive somehow."