The rain had stopped.
The day was warm, the breeze gentle, the sky bright; clouds drifted lightly in the faint wind. A ferocious white flood dragon from some remote corner of the Southern Wasteland withdrew her rain-summoning divine art, sat sideways on horseback with a chicken leg bone clenched in her mouth. Yes, sitting sideways was more comfortable.
Crunch, crunch~
She crunched up the chicken bone and swallowed it. Naturally raised chickens were fairly clean these days, and their bones tasted pretty good too.
She looked back at the Pan Family convoy and shook her head. Four had died on the road already; none of the older ones had held on. Such losses were beyond Bai Yujun's protection. Life and death were fate—there was no hiding from them. Pan Xiong led the whole family in digging pits and burying the elders where they had fallen. They did not dare leave gravestones behind; the lone graves were fresh with paper money and newly turned earth.
Fortunately, they were said to be nearly there.
"I'm like some free thug protecting Tang Sanzang on his journey for scriptures. Sigh... But who told me to be a merchant who keeps her word?"
"Move, move~ Hurry and get going~"
The several dozen refugees set out once more. Unlike when they had first departed, when complaints filled the air, everyone now kept their heads down and traveled in silence. Perhaps the Ghost King had frightened them, or perhaps they were simply exhausted.
Amid lush grass, fluttering orioles, and an ancient road stretching endlessly ahead, she escorted the Pan Family north into a range of Majestic Mountains.
Back when Pan Xiong had scraped out a living at the Maohe Chamber of Commerce, he had traveled nearly everywhere north and south of the great rivers. He had encountered