She thought she was going to die.
She did.
But the next time she opened her eyes , she found out that she was living a whole new life, as a little girl who was going to enter a noble household as a maid.
However, a true pearl can never hide its lus...
The last somewhat decent meal and lodging they had was when they were at a small village. The village was hidden behind a shallow river by a small forest, they could only reach it by walking across the stream - while guiding their horses carefully along the slippery stone paths.
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The village was built in accordance to the mountain terrain - there were slopes, twists, and turns throughout the vicinity. Although the village was not impoverished, the building structures reflected the simple lifestyle of the residents.
SongLi and one of the accompanying guards had been to the village once in the past, during one of their past military expeditions, though they had not stayed over back then.
The cluster of small simple residences was as far from civilization as could be. The villagers greeted them with smiles nonetheless, the people untouched by the wickedness of the world.
The village did not have an inn. However, the kind village-head let them used his - thankfully - spacious living room to rest for the night, also providing spare straw-filled mattresses. The village-head and his wife were a couple in their thirties, surnamed Han. The wife cooked some dishes for dinner that night, letting them eat with the family together.
The meals were all vegetarian, the vegetables and herbs were from the family's own small farm. It was probably the most simple meal YuLan had ever eaten in this lifetime - aside from the horrible gruel she had when she first met Meng-momo a long time ago. However the meal definitely tasted delicious in all its simplicity. No complex flavors were involved - just fresh produce of nature with the loving human hands that grew them.
After dinner, the family's three children chattered excitedly around them. The two older boys hovered especially around SongLi and the guards, fascinated with their swords - which SongLi would not unsheathe for safety reasons. He let them touch the hilt of his sword though, and demonstrated a few simple stances and basic movements with his fingers to the mesmerized two boys.
HeShan, SunChen, and JingMo were sitting together - seemingly deciding which route they should take the day after.
HeShan and SunChen were already speaking to each other normally. SunChen could not even stay mad at HeShan for longer than their first day into the journey.
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A few days ago, YuLan had asked SunChen if he was truly alright and that she wanted to apologize for being meddlesome. At her concern, SunChen only sighed heavily and gave her a wry smile,
"YuLan, will you believe me if I tell you that I would have done the same thing that HeShan had decided? That I would have opted to follow you as well?"
YuLan was astounded at his reply, to which SunChen further explained,
"Trust me when I say this: I have grown to love you as my own family. Towards Ji LanBai as well, of course, you both are precious disciples to me. But she has her family protecting her," he frowned, as he leaned his head slightly to his side,
