Gu Chaobei's heart warmed. In times like these, only being with family could bring a sense of worldly warmth.
Only family truly cared for you.
He steadied himself and calmly said,
"Little Hu, I'm fine. Don't worry, everything is perfectly alright. I'm just taking this opportunity to rest well and slack off a bit."
"Hmph, you're scaring me again!"
Hu Lanfang's voice was clearly tinged with tears.
"I'm really fine, don't overthink it. Ask Qingcheng, wasn't I fine yesterday? You're a doctor's wife, you understand. We doctors are sensitive; we treat even minor issues as significant to protect ourselves and our families. Don't worry too much."
Hearing his words, Hu Lanfang seemed to calm down significantly. She then said,
"Old Gu, if you feel unwell anywhere, you must tell me. Don't keep it to yourself, understand?"
"Alright, I got it," Gu Chaobei said with a chuckle. "I have a task for you. Go tell Qingcheng that we need to leave this area quickly. Once we find the Dapeng and Xiaopeng brothers, we'll leave Jinsha City."
He needed to give his wife something to do.
Indeed, upon hearing such an important matter, Hu Lanfang readily agreed and went to find her daughter.
Before long, Gu Chaobei felt the boat begin to speed up. He looked out through his bedroom window. As expected, the anchored harbor was rapidly receding behind them. His daughter had already steered the boat away at full speed.
Tsk, thankfully they had the system's golden finger. Otherwise, escaping the young prince's control wouldn't have been easy!
At this moment, Gu Chaobei breathed a sigh of relief.
He could feel that the prince's ships hadn't reacted yet. It was likely because they had behaved so compliantly yesterday that the prince hadn't been on high alert.
Of course, the primary reason was the prince's absolute confidence in his own ships, believing it impossible for them to escape and that he could catch them at any time.
But the prince would never have imagined that their ship was far beyond current technology. No matter how fast ordinary ships were, they couldn't compare to mechanical speed.
It wasn't until they had sailed quite a distance that a ship from behind attempted to pursue. But of course, it couldn't match their full-speed escape. That ship was quickly left behind.
Gu Chaobei really wanted to give his daughter a thumbs-up as a reward.
Gu Qingcheng steered the boat towards Jinsha City. Two hours later, she finally found the Dapeng and Xiaopeng brothers in the poplar forest.
The two brothers had been waiting there for a long time. Seeing Gu Qingcheng's boat, they excitedly stood on deck and waved at them.
However, Gu Qingcheng didn't approach them. Instead, she shot an arrow towards them.
The arrowhead was blunted to avoid harming innocent people, and a map was tied to the arrow shaft.
Gu Qingcheng saw many unfamiliar people on the deck of the opposite boat, clearly refugees rescued by the brothers. It seemed the brothers were quite kind-hearted.
Dapeng and Xiaopeng were illiterate. After taking the map, they asked the scholar they had rescued what it said.
The scholar took it and said,
"Two benefactors, this is a map. The sender wants you to follow the route on the map to meet her.
"Alright, we understand."
Dapeng quickly shouted towards Gu Qingcheng,
"I get it, Young Master Gu. You guys go ahead, we'll follow."
Gu Qingcheng paid them no further mind and steered the boat away. Kuaishuge.
Since ordinary wooden boats would have great difficulty keeping up with them and could only travel at their original speed, it was sufficient to send them the direction and let them follow slowly.
The prince wouldn't notice ordinary boats, and it was better for Dapeng and his brother to keep their distance, so they wouldn't be targeted by the prince and endanger ordinary people.
Gu Qingcheng steered the boat away by herself.
However, the map she sent to the Dapeng brothers was about 100 li away from Phoenix Village. She hadn't directly told them their destination, lest they be intercepted by Prince Xia's men on the way and her location exposed.
She now considered Prince Xia a huge trouble and a hidden danger.
The royal family possessed immense wealth and power, capable of doing many unthinkable things. Therefore, it was better for ordinary citizens like them to stay away from him.
She would arrange for people to meet them at the destination where the Xiaopeng brothers were headed. As long as they weren't targeted by the prince by then, they would be safe.
After Gu Qingcheng steered the boat away, she went to the second floor and discussed this plan with her father through the door.
Gu Chaobei fully agreed.
Having observed for some time and finding his symptoms normal, Gu Chaobei was now willing to speak with his family through the door.
As a doctor, he knew well that while there were potent infectious viruses in the world, they were not numerous. For example, the Ebola virus in Africa was very potent.
But that kind of virus was highly virulent. Those infected wouldn't be able to remain as safe as he was for so long. Instead, they would quickly fall ill and die within a few days, with blood flowing from their orifices.
Someone like him, showing no symptoms, was essentially incapable of contracting such a potent virus.
Thus, he slightly relaxed his restrictions and was willing to converse with his family.
Besides, even if he didn't want to talk, Hu Lanfang wouldn't agree. She worried and always wanted to see him.
After chatting with his daughter for a while, Gu Chaobei shared what he had seen on the prince's ship.
Gu Qingcheng also found it very strange and said,
"Dad, it seems it's best for us to stay far away from Prince Xia's family. Things seem to be deteriorating. Prince Xia's illness is not simple. It sounds a bit like vampires or zombies?"
As she spoke these words, Gu Qingcheng suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
"Yes, Prince Xia's illness is indeed unusual. I initially thought it was rabies, but upon observation, he isn't afraid of water or light."
Through his professional judgment, Gu Chaobei felt that Prince Xia's illness was indeed not simple and was beyond his treatment scope.
Doctors are human, not gods. They cannot cure all diseases.
After they spoke for a while, Gu Qingcheng said that the boat had already reached a hundred li outside Jinsha City, and she had even deliberately taken a circuitous route, making it impossible for the prince's men to catch up even if they were sent.
Gu Chaobei was relieved.
His daughter's experiences in the past six months of venturing out were clearly not simple. She had become much more mature than he had imagined. He said,
"I can sleep soundly now. Everything is up to your arrangements."
Having shaken off the prince's men, Gu Qingcheng's journey became much more relaxed.
Following this, their family of four spent their time on the boat eating, drinking, reading, and watching shows.
The boat's automatic fresh air filtration system was running throughout the journey. Otherwise, one could imagine that although their environment on the boat was comfortable now, the surrounding smells would definitely not be pleasant.
As they traveled, they encountered zombie hordes like the one before with increasing frequency.
Sometimes the zombie hordes numbered in the thousands, perhaps an entire village or city's population. Other times, they were scattered, only a dozen or so, drifting together.
But regardless of the number, one could imagine they would emit a foul odor.
Gu Qingcheng's scalp tingled at first. Later, they simply stopped going to the deck to look out. After all, no matter where they looked, there were no living creatures, only the dead, and it affected their appetite for meals.
To avoid the prince's spies, and also to satisfy Gu Chaobei's seven-day observation period, they decided to take a detour on the waterways for a few days and were not in a hurry to head to Phoenix Village.