Chapter 3: Exile from the Capital

Everyone knew the implication behind those words.

In the past, when medical conditions were adequate, he hadn't woken up; now, on the road of exile, it would be incredibly difficult for him to regain consciousness.

Xin Ruoyu pointed to the person lying in the corner. The family of three—Xin Nian and her parents—exchanged glances and hurriedly squeezed over to crouch beside him and check his condition.

The young master and miss of the Duke’s mansion were both quite good-looking.

However, this fine young man was currently pale, his lips devoid of any color, as if he were hanging on by a single breath.

Xie Ninglan’s heart skipped a beat. She reached out to touch his feverish forehead, then pulled back her "precious son's" eyelids, looking worried. "What are we going to do if this high fever doesn't break?"

If he couldn't wake up, there would be no way to verify if he was truly their son.

The three huddled together, whispering to exchange the information they had gathered.

"I am now the Fourth Master of this family, a notorious playboy. Surname Xin, given name Wenyuan. Daughter, you..."

"I'm the sixth child; the old lady calls me Sixth Girl."

"At least you two received some basic information." Xie Ninglan looked miserable. "I didn't receive anything at all. My head is empty; I know nothing."

Xin Wenyuan comforted her, "The situation is what it is. There's no use in us worrying now. The most urgent thing is to get your brother to wake up first so we can confirm his identity."

As he spoke, he leaned close to his daughter and asked in a voice barely audible, "Daughter, our space..."

Xin Nian made a bitter face at her father, frowning and shaking her head.

She had just tried; she couldn't sense her space at all, let alone open it. She didn't know if it was because she had changed bodies.

Thinking of her ninth-rank spatial ability vanishing into thin air, Xin Nian felt pain beyond measure.

The supplies she had painstakingly collected for over a decade, the fruits and vegetables planted in her space—just pulling out a little bit would have been enough to keep their family of four well-fed and worry-free.

And now... it was all gone!

The three looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

This start was not looking good!

Xin Nian wiped her face and pulled herself together. "I have some news that isn't exactly good, but you should hear it."

"The good news is that I just sensed it, and the natural energy here is quite abundant. The environment is definitely tens of thousands of times better than over there. If we re-cultivate our abilities, energy absorption will surely yield twice the result with half the effort. Eventually, once our ability ranks rise, I might be able to find my lost space again."

"And the bad news..." The couple knew their daughter better than anyone; if she could state this so-called good news, she must have already prepared for the worst.

"The bad news is that if we re-absorb energy, limited by these current bodies, we might not be able to return to our original ability levels." Xin Nian explained with a blank expression. "So, it's very likely we won't be able to recover the supplies we collected before. We need to be fully mentally prepared."

Xie Ninglan sighed, "The other supplies, if they're gone, they're gone. I just regret the special medicine we had stocked in the space. Originally, one shot would have woken your brother up. What do we do now?"

Xin Nian handed the bundle slung over her elbow to the two of them. "The kind-hearted Marchioness of Lin'an left us some medicine. Let's have Brother take one first and see."

The three fed Xin Mochen a pill and sat beside him, staring at the unconscious youth with furrowed brows.

That night, the group of twenty-plus people spent an anxious and restless night sighing, hardly anyone closing their eyes.

Before dawn, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the prison cell.

A jailer whipped the bars of the neighboring cell, accompanied by impatient cursing, "Everyone, behave yourselves!"

"Come out, get out quickly! Don't drag your feet and cause trouble for me!" The keys rattled noisily.

Several impatient bailiffs were handing over duties to the guards on shift, cursing and urging everyone to move.

Xin Ruoyu helped the old lady up and softly called out, "Grandmother."

The old lady sighed, glanced at Xin Wenyuan and the others sitting on the ground, and ordered, "A-Zhong, you carry Third Brother out first."

There wasn't a single capable person in the Fourth Branch; asking them to drag Xin Mochen along would be no different than taking a knife to him right now.

A-Zhong was the eldest son of the old lady’s personal maid, Mother Lu.

Previously, all the servants in the mansion had been detained by the government to serve as official slaves.

Because the old lady had long since removed Mother Lu and the others from the slave registry, this exile didn't actually affect them.

Even so, Mother Lu’s family of four had voluntarily chosen to follow their masters into exile, and the government didn't interfere with such matters.

However, the rations provided to exiles were limited, and those who voluntarily followed their masters had to provide their own food; the guards were not responsible for them.

Xin Nian pulled her mother along, lagging behind the crowd, and whispered to Xie Ninglan, "Mom, looking at this, there are quite a lot of people in this group of exiles."

Xie Ninglan looked at the men waiting to be shackled ahead and was full of worry. "Daughter, I'm afraid your father will have to wear those heavy shackles. He's going to suffer terribly."

The one suffering terribly was A-Zhong from Mother Lu’s family, who would have to carry her unconscious brother the entire way.

Xin Nian tied the two bundles together and slung them over her shoulder, hurrying to catch up.

In this group, the men all had to wear shackles, while the women had it slightly better; their hands were bound with iron chains, five people to a string.

Running was out of the question; dragging along in a line, pulling and tugging at each other, even walking was a struggle.

Vile feudal society—once I get my abilities back, I’ll poke a giant hole in your sky!

Xin Nian cursed and raged in her heart, but on the surface, she remained cute and soft-spoken.

"Hurry up and keep up, don't drag your feet and cause trouble for me." The guard bound the iron chains onto the women of the Duke’s mansion, shouting and urging them on.

Xin Nian was right behind her mother. She took a quick glance and gave Xie Ninglan a look, signaling her to keep up.

Over a hundred people dragged themselves toward the city gate.

It was early summer, and the morning mist was thin and damply cold.

Everyone was wearing only a single layer of clothing, and the chill kept drilling into their bones.

By the time the group reached the city gate, many friends and relatives of the exiles had been waiting for a long time. As soon as they met, they wept and poured out their farewells.

The head guard was full of impatience: "You only have half a quarter of an hour. Once the other group of serious criminals arrives, we depart immediately, no delays!"

Xin Nian rubbed her mother’s arm. "It’s a bit cold, just bear with it for now. It’ll definitely get hotter as we walk."

She then instructed, "Later, I’ll try to see if I can absorb and circulate energy. Wait for my news."

Xie Ninglan nodded. Before she could speak, she suddenly heard someone exclaim, "Why are those people from the Dragon and Tiger Stronghold with us?"

There was some commotion ahead, and everyone was filled with unease.

Xin Nian swept her eyes over and saw a caravan of fifty or sixty people slowly approaching, merging with their group.

In the wooden prison cart at the lead sat a burly man in his early forties, his body wrapped in over a dozen iron chains, binding him from head to toe.

"Is that Zhao Jianghe, the leader of the Dragon and Tiger Stronghold?"

The burly man was dragged out of the prison cart, and as he raised his tiger-like eyes, a chilling aura emerged.

The crowd instantly fell silent.

The head guard stepped forward to complete the handover, waved his hand with a cold face, and said, "Alright, everyone is here. Prepare to move out!"

With nearly one hundred and sixty exiles, plus over forty guards, a massive group of nearly two hundred people lined up to leave the city.

(End of chapter)