Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 138 Leaving the Village

Before the others could speak, Chai Hu shouted, "Uncle Song, are you going to Lizhou with Qingyue?"

After shouting, he looked completely incredulous.

Gu Qingyue smiled. "What? You don't want to go?"

"No, no, no, I definitely have to go," she said, then realized she was being a little too eager and scratched her hair sheepishly.

He said in a serious tone, "Now that I've accepted you as my master, Qingyue, I'll naturally go wherever you go. Besides, I've heard that Medicine Valley holds a medical skills competition every five years, and next year is the perfect time. I was planning to go and take a look, hehe."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue understood everything.

Xiao Chai Hu also longed for the outside world, although he was even more obsessed with medicine.

"Then it's settled. We'll set off early tomorrow morning. Remember to travel light. Besides wild animals, we might also encounter Nanzhao soldiers in the mountains and forests, so be prepared." Gu Qingyue said decisively, wanting to give everyone a heads-up.

She didn't want to see everyone pushing carts or carrying loads, with hens in tow, on the road tomorrow morning.

Thinking that these people were from the martial arts world and should have some common sense, I could only offer a little advice. It wouldn't be right to let them throw away seven or eight big bundles they had already packed.

In the past year or so, she has witnessed far too many border residents migrating and fleeing.

Wheelbarrows, carrying baskets, bundles, and boxes—even the poorest person would at least have a few chickens or ducks hanging on their shoulders.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, signifying that it was settled.

However, they all remained seated and did not move.

Gu Qingyue looked at everyone with a puzzled expression, then looked at Song Ming with a questioning look.

"Young Master Gu, please forgive me, but I would also like to ask on behalf of everyone: where do you come from? Do you have any credentials for serving as a temporary military doctor in the Lizhou camp? Some of our fellow disciples are a little worried, and we hope you will not take offense!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue understood everything. However, since everyone in front of her was so open and honest about their suspicions, she didn't really care.

She likes straightforward people, and she really likes Song Ming's personality.

Gu Qingyue didn't hesitate and went back to her room, saying she was going to get the token, but actually she was avoiding everyone and took out a bunch of certificates from her spatial storage.

"Here you go, Uncle Song. This is the pass for entering and exiting the Lizhou camp, this is the pass for entering and exiting the medical tent of the Lizhou camp, and this is the jade token for collecting medicines when going on expeditions..."

To be honest, if Gu Qingyue hadn't come to ancient times, she really wouldn't have known that there were so many passes for entering and leaving military camps and various places within them, and that the management was so strict.

It wasn't as she had imagined; once she entered the military camp, she could just wander around freely. Going anywhere required verification of credentials or introduction by someone of the appropriate rank.

After the group examined the credentials and jade token, Song Ming bowed somewhat apologetically, saying, "I apologize for any offense, and I hope Young Master Gu will forgive me."

Gu Qingyue waved her hand: "It's alright, one can't be too careful, I completely understand."

After finishing speaking, Gu Qingyue repeated the platitudes she had previously given to Mu Yun Chu and the others, explaining her background and the origins of her medical skills. Of course, there was some exaggeration about her lineage, which was unavoidable.

After hearing her words, everyone's doubts vanished.

After everyone had gone some distance, Chaihu quickly walked over.

He circled around Gu Qingyue again and again, never expecting that Gu Qingyue was already a military doctor at such a young age.

Seeing those eyes darting all over her, Gu Qingyue couldn't take it anymore and quickly changed the subject.

"Hurry up and pack your medicinal herbs, we're leaving tomorrow morning!"

Upon hearing this, Chaihu remembered that he still had medicinal herbs to pack.

He hurriedly ran into the house to find something to wrap the medicinal herbs.

But just as he reached the door, he stopped and turned back to ask Gu Qingyue, "What about the herbs in my little herb garden?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue's gaze became somewhat unfocused. It was definitely unrealistic for the two of them to move out.

Her original plan was to buy the medicinal herbs and put them into her spatial storage as soon as she left the village. But now that so many eyes are on her, what should she do?

After thinking for a moment, Gu Qingyue said, "It's okay, we won't take it this time. I'll send someone to pick it up when we get back. I guarantee it will still be alive when we get back."

Chai Hu looked at Gu Qingyue with a questioning gaze for a few moments, and finally nodded.

He still believed in Gu Qingyue. After all, she was so young and her medical skills were better than his own. If she said it was possible, then it was definitely possible.

If Gu Qingyue knew what he was thinking, she would tell him, "Kid, don't blindly worship others, or you might suffer a great loss!"

The next morning, everyone gathered at Chaihu's house.

Gu Qingyue glanced around and saw that there were indeed only about thirty people, plus two children who were seven or eight years old.

There were about a dozen men in their thirties and forties, and three women in their thirties and forties, who were probably family members. Among them was Aunt Cui, whom we had seen before.

The rest were young people aged between thirteen or fourteen and their early twenties.

Just as Song Ming said, in order to preserve their strength, they brought out many junior disciples back then. It seems that these were the children from back then, and they have all grown up.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Song Ming nodded to Gu Qingyue.

Gu Qingyue looked around and saw that everyone was carrying only one bundle and nothing else. Gu Qingyue nodded in satisfaction.

She was even more pleased to see that most people were still holding swords.

She said it herself: if such a large sect didn't practice martial arts, it would have been wiped out long ago.

We set off.

As the autumn sun rose, the group set off on their journey out of the mountains.

For the people of the Divine Weapon Tower, this is a fresh start after eleven years; for Gu Qingyue, it is also a new beginning.

Everyone walked with great enthusiasm for most of the day's journey, and happened to arrive at the place where Gu Qingyue and Chai Hu first met.

The group sat down to rest, but only Gu Qingyue knew that the rest of the journey was the most difficult.

When she encountered Chaihu, she was already very deep in the mountains, so the road ahead would be long and full of unknown dangers.

Gu Qingyue looked back at the road she had come from. Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any wild beasts or Nanzhao soldiers for most of the day, and everyone's spirits were still quite good.

But from here on, the high mountains, deep cliffs, shallow beaches, and miasma will be the most difficult to cross.

After thinking for a while, Gu Qingyue found Song Ming.

"Uncle Song, the road ahead is fraught with difficulty. Not only are there wild beasts lurking at any moment, but there's also a high chance we'll encounter Nanzhao soldiers, and..."

Gu Qingyue explained in great detail how difficult the rest of the journey would be, so that everyone could be mentally prepared.

Song Ming listened very attentively. They had been living in seclusion deep in the mountains, entering from the direction of the Nanzhao Kingdom. In the past eleven years, they had never been to the Great Chu.

Looking around, Gu Qingyue continued, "I'd like to ask Uncle Song, how good are our martial arts skills? Is there anyone who doesn't know martial arts or whose martial arts skills are very weak?"

Under the current circumstances, the availability and strength of military force determine the difficulty of the remaining path, and we cannot be careless.

Upon hearing this, Song Ming and the others had somewhat indescribable expressions.

After a moment, he spoke: "To be honest, among us, only a few of the younger ones are good at martial arts. The others, like us old guys, all have martial arts skills, and they used to be quite good, but as you saw, Song San and the others suffered internal injuries for their master, and their skills are not as good as before. As for me, I still have a leg injury."

Gu Qingyue looked at the 'old guys' that Song Ming was talking about. They were clearly only forty years old, yet they were called old guys?

"We've gone off-topic," Gu Qingyue quickly coughed twice and said seriously, "It's alright. It's good that everyone has a foundation in martial arts. Let's discuss who has the best martial arts skills first."