Seeing how sensible her younger brother and sister were being, Lu Jinnian felt relieved as she headed out.
Of course, she went empty-handed; she didn't have any tools with her.
She had memorized the route along the way, so she wasn't afraid of losing the children. As long as she followed the river, she would find her way eventually.
After leaving, she didn't go straight to the city, but went hunting first.
The weather was good today, and little wild rabbits and such were scurrying out.
She took her bow and arrows and went on a shooting spree, successfully securing a "five-kill" streak, then carried her haul into her spatial dimension.
She hadn't had any decent clothes for a month, so she needed to find some.
Ancient clothing was different from modern clothes; she couldn't wear something tattered, otherwise, even if she were carrying a pig, people wouldn't let her into the city.
After searching for a long time, Lu Jinnian finally found a set of Hanfu. However, unlike modern clothes, the size wasn't right, so it would all need to be altered.
Modifying the clothes was simple, but her appearance would also need to change.
She found a place to take a cold bath, then entered the spatial dimension to change.
There were no people around here, so she wouldn't be easily seen, which saved her some worry.
The original owner of this body was very beautiful. Her long, narrow phoenix eyes gave her a cold and aloof aura. Her eyebrows were a bit messy; it would be more fitting to shape them into sword brows.
Her high bridge of the nose was also just right, but her lips were somewhat thin, and malnutrition had left her complexion pale and weak.
Having been fleeing from famine for a long time, she had never washed her face. Now that it was clean, she was truly stunning.
After grooming her eyebrows, she tied up her hair with a hairband.
Because she had pierced ears, she could only leave some sideburns to hide them.
Looking at the delicate young gentleman in the mirror, Lu Jinnian was very satisfied; it was quite decent.
With this thin frame and a height of 1.68 meters, she looked much like a young gentleman who had just reached adulthood.
Once dressed, she headed straight for the city empty-handed. Since she had her spatial dimension, why carry things around all the time?
After walking for about two hours, she finally arrived.
It had to be said that they had walked too far; that was with fast walking. If they had gone slower, it would have taken more than three hours to reach the destination.
As she neared the destination, Lu Jinnian took the rabbits out of her spatial dimension and approached the city gate.
Having changed her appearance this time, the guards at the gate didn't conduct an excessive investigation; they checked her briefly and let her in.
Lu Jinnian noticed a large number of refugees gathered beneath the city walls, but that wasn't something she needed to concern herself with.
It was already difficult enough to sneak into the city; she couldn't manage everyone else's problems.
After entering the city, she found that things weren't all that great. The outermost areas were filled with dilapidated houses, and the further in she went, the more prosperous it became.
This kind of ancient-style architecture was an eye-opener for her.
It wasn't that she hadn't visited ancient cities for tourism before, but those were all restored and weren't much to look at.
Being able to see such authentic architecture really gave it a certain feel.
Gazing at the endless streets, she estimated that this Jin City was quite large.
Vendors were shouting their wares all around, and there were the cries of waiters in front of the large restaurants.
Lu Jinnian looked around, preparing to see if a restaurant would want these wild rabbits.
At that moment, a man in his thirties blocked her path.
"Little brother, you're looking to sell these wild rabbits, right?" His eyes were fixed on the rabbits.
"I am," Lu Jinnian lowered her voice, sizing the man up.
He was wearing coarse, short-cut clothes and looked quite burly.
He looked like someone not to be trifled with, but since it was a business transaction, she couldn't judge a book by its cover.
The man's eyes darted around as he said, "How about five wen for a rabbit? Look, your rabbits are too thin; there's not much meat."
Hearing this, Lu Jinnian laughed directly. She said, "If they are so thin, why do you want to buy them?"
Wasn't he just trying to drive the price down? And so excessively, too. The smallest of these five rabbits weighed over four catties, and the largest was over five.
"Hehe." The man wasn't angry. "I see these rabbits are indeed quite good. How much do you want for them?"
How much?
Lu Jinnian thought about it; she didn't know how much these things sold for. She hadn't seen anyone buying wild rabbits along the way.
But it would definitely be more than the five wen this man was offering; that much was certain.
"How much do you think is appropriate?" She wasn't in a hurry. If she couldn't sell them, she could just keep them in her spatial dimension; she didn't have to worry about them spoiling.
Hearing this, the man frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Then seven wen. That's the most."
"Fine." Lu Jinnian didn't say anything else and nodded in agreement.
The two had reached an agreement, but the man didn't take out any money. Instead, he pointed to a small alley not far away. "Let's go over there to settle the payment. My house is over there, and I didn't bring enough money out with me."
As he spoke, his eyes wandered everywhere; he clearly didn't look like an honest person.
Lu Jinnian wasn't afraid of such shady characters and nodded with a smile.
Trying to play a "black eats black" game, are we?
She wanted to see how this person intended to rob her.
The man was quite surprised when she agreed, but his joy outweighed his surprise, and he followed her straight into the alley.
There were hardly any people in the alley. After walking just a few steps, the man's expression changed.
"Hehe, kid, hand over the rabbits and get lost! Otherwise, once I start moving, it won't be a good thing." A wicked smile played on his face, and his eyes were filled with greed as they stared at the rabbits.
Seeing this performance, Lu Jinnian acted extremely surprised and frightened.
"Ah? You... you can't do this." She said fearfully, "You said you would give me the money."
Hehe, just acting. She loved playing the "pig to eat the tiger"!
The man opposite her gritted his teeth. "Money? You actually dare to ask for money?"
"You said seven wen per rabbit, so thirty-five wen for five. You have to give it to me." Lu Jinnian's face showed a mix of fear and stubbornness as she demanded the money.
The man grew impatient and reached out to grab them.
Lu Jinnian's eyes narrowed slightly, thinking to herself: it wouldn't be too much to dislocate one of his arms, would it?
For someone like this, daring to rob others—in the apocalypse, he'd be lucky if they didn't slit his throat.
Just as the man reached out to snatch the rabbits, a voice rang out.
"Stop!"
Lu Jinnian and the man looked toward the sound. Not far away stood a young lady dressed in noble attire, accompanied by two guards and a maid.
"You!" The man had intended to lose his temper, but seeing the guards behind the lady, he immediately fell silent.
"Still won't stop? How dare you rob someone in broad daylight!" The young girl pointed her finger at the man, signaling the guards to approach.
Seeing this, the man turned and ran for his life, running incredibly fast.
Lu Jinnian blinked and watched as the four people approached her.
The young lady looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a gentle and lovely appearance. She asked with a smile, "Young gentleman, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Lu Jinnian nodded in thanks. Although she could have handled that man herself, the people were acting out of kindness, so it was only right to thank them.
(End of Chapter)