Chapter 5: Very well, good luck

Su Ying not only didn't let go, but she also deliberately rested her hand on his waist. Hmm, his abs were actually quite firm.

Xiao Jin’s body stiffened. A flash of killing intent crossed his eyes, and while Su Ying was momentarily stunned, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and clamped his other hand around her throat.

Caught off guard, Su Ying stumbled and hit the tree trunk behind her. When she looked up, she was met with Xiao Jin’s face, which was twisted with malevolence.

"Su Ying, you’re courting death."

Because of the injury to his leg, Xiao Jin couldn't stand, and this position forced him to press almost his entire body weight onto Su Ying.

"Ugh." Su Ying let out a muffled grunt under the pressure, and looking at Xiao Jin’s face so close to her own, she grew angry too.

"Xiao Jin, don't be ungrateful. If you're so capable, walk on your own." Su Ying grabbed Xiao Jin’s hand in return, surprised that the strength he exerted was far greater than she had imagined.

Xiao Jin tightened his grip, staring at her coldly. "Don't touch me." With that, he released his hold.

Su Ying scoffed, not at all offended. "Fine, suit yourself. Good luck."

After saying this, she pushed Xiao Jin aside and went to Da Bao, picking him up from the ground and securing him to her chest with a strip of cloth.

"Daddy..." Er Bao was so frightened by the confrontation between the two that she nearly dropped the dry rations in her hand.

Hearing Er Bao’s soft, sweet voice, Xiao Jin took a deep breath, bent down, and picked up two arm-thick branches from the ground to use as crutches. The simple movement already had his back drenched in sweat.

"Ling'er, follow Daddy."

Er Bao hummed in agreement, stepping forward with her short legs to dutifully support Xiao Jin, even though her meager strength couldn't really help much.

Su Ying glanced at Xiao Jin. Seeing him putting most of his weight on his arms, she didn't say another word. *You stubborn man, let's see how long you can hold out.*

As exiled prisoners, they were not qualified to walk on the main roads. Fearing they might collide with passing nobles, they traveled through the wilderness the entire way.

Walking within the group, Su Ying noticed that there were very few familiar faces left.

The Prince of Qi had been accused of treason, and the Emperor was furious. He had originally intended to execute the entire Prince of Qi household, but the Empress had wept and pleaded with him, so the Emperor commuted the sentence to exile.

The entire household of the Prince of Qi was to be exiled to the Northern Wilderness—over a hundred people—yet now, there were hardly any familiar faces in the group.

Because the original owner of this body never cared about the lives of others in the household, she only vaguely remembered these people disappearing one by one. She had no clear impression of the specifics; after all, it wasn't rare for prisoners to die on the road to exile.

Su Ying’s brows furrowed slightly. It seemed those people had no intention of letting Xiao Jin off so easily.

In her memories, the capital was thousands of miles away from the Northern Wilderness. It would take at least several months to walk there. Calculating the time, it would be winter by the time they arrived. Although she had a storage space, aside from medical supplies, other resources were limited.

She didn't know the situation in the Northern Wilderness, so she would have to take every opportunity along the way to collect useful supplies.

Su Ying had eaten two meals of dry rations from her space and drank some nutritional supplements. Although her body was still weak, she felt much better than when she had first woken up. However, the prisoners who hadn't been able to eat any rations last night were not doing well.

They had been hungry the entire journey, and having gone without food again last night, the group’s pace slowed down as they walked.

"What are you doing? What is everyone doing? If you keep dragging your feet, there will be no rations for anyone tonight! Get moving!"

"Ah!"

Under the lashes of the guards, a prisoner who had reached their limit collapsed. The guards didn't care about their lives at all. In the Chu Kingdom, once exiled to the Northern Wilderness, you were no longer even considered a citizen of Chu once you crossed the border. There was no chance of ever making a comeback, which was why the guards were so unscrupulous.

"Daddy, Daddy... what's wrong?"

Behind her, Er Bao’s tearful voice suddenly rang out. Su Ying turned back to see that Xiao Jin had collapsed on the ground at some point.

Seeing this, a guard raised his whip and began walking toward Xiao Jin.

By the time the guard reached Xiao Jin, Su Ying had already stepped in front of him.

The guard, who had raised his whip, suddenly met Su Ying’s icy gaze. He subconsciously shrank his neck, glared viciously at Xiao Jin, and then walked toward the back of the group.

"Daddy, Daddy... *sob*..." Er Bao crouched in front of Xiao Jin, her two small hands trying hard to pull him up, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge him at all.

Su Ying snorted and checked Xiao Jin’s leg. There was slight bleeding on the gauze, but fortunately, it wasn't serious. He had simply fainted from exhaustion.

The fact that he had walked so far relying only on his arms and core strength was quite surprising to her.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Su Ying quickly shoved a ginseng supplement pill into his mouth and then hoisted him onto her back.

Even though Xiao Jin was so thin he was barely human, he wasn't light at all. It was a good thing she had an exoskeleton device in her space, or she really wouldn't have been able to carry him.

"Ling'er, don't cry. Daddy is just too tired and fell asleep. I'll carry him, and we'll continue on our way."

Hearing Su Ying say that Xiao Jin was just sleeping, Er Bao stopped sobbing.

Su Ying used some vines she had picked up to tie Xiao Jin to her back so he wouldn't fall off, but she couldn't spare a third hand to hold Er Bao.

She turned away from the crowd, took out a palm-sized water bottle, held it to Er Bao’s lips, and whispered, "Drink some water first. Later, grab onto your brother’s leg and don't let go, understand?"

With Xiao Jin fainted and her brother severely injured, Er Bao had no one else to rely on. At this moment, she had no choice but to trust Su Ying.

"I... I won't run around. I'll be good and hold on tight to my brother."

Su Ying felt an increasing sense of pity for the child. She gently patted her small head and then led the one big and two small figures to catch up with the group.

Su Ying, a small and thin woman, was carrying a grown man and a child while walking quickly without even turning red or out of breath. The others were astonished, and they became even more convinced that she was an anomaly who shouldn't be trifled with.

The sun reached its zenith, and the heat overhead grew more intense, scorching people until they were dizzy and could barely keep their eyes open.

Xiao Jin woke up amidst a wave of heat. As he opened his eyes, he saw Su Ying’s face, which was covered in dirt and grime from sweat.

His eyes darkened as he realized he was being carried on her back.

Xiao Jin’s brows furrowed deeply. He noticed that although Su Ying was drenched in sweat, she didn't seem to struggle at all while carrying him and holding Ji'er. This was something the former Su Ying could never have done.

If she wasn't hiding her true self, then there was only one other possibility.

She was not Su Ying.

Xiao Jin’s gaze dropped to Su Ying’s neck. Because she hadn't bathed in over a month, her neck was covered in grime, but the black mole on her *Dazhui* acupoint was very conspicuous.

This mole was small, and even Su Ying herself didn't know it existed, but Xiao Jin knew.

She was Su Ying.