The captain, seeing everyone's grim faces, suggested they find a shady spot to rest.
The group unanimously agreed.
Fortunately, a few old locust trees with lush foliage stood not far ahead, and an old man was selling melons beneath them.
Watermelons and cantaloupes were spread out on a mat on the ground, with a low wooden table displaying several slices of red-fleshed watermelon.
Looking at the juicy watermelons, Pang Dun'er looked at Fu Xin'ci and weakly said, "Xin'ci, let's go somewhere else."
The captain glanced at him and Xiao Ai. "How much longer can you two hold out?"
Xiao Ai, without even looking up from holding the horse's neck, replied, "Under a tree's shade, without strangers."
"Mm," Pang Dun'er weakly agreed.
"Seriously, you two are something else," Yang Xinjie exclaimed, wanting to applaud the two comedians.
"Go ahead, there should be an open space up front," Fu Xin'ci said, leading the way on her horse.
The old man, seeing the well-dressed young masters and ladies approaching, figured he could sell a couple of big watermelons. However, he had overestimated.
Fu Xin'ci glanced at the village not far away, then continued riding forward. After another two to three li, they spotted a willow tree by the roadside, as thick as two people.
"This is it."
"Captain, there are bugs on this tree."
"It's fine, what haven't we seen in the apocalypse?" the captain said, releasing some of his ability. The group then heard a faint pitter-patter as caterpillars, frozen into ice pops, fell from the branches.
Fu Xin'ci also instantly grabbed weeds from the ground and tossed them into the nearby ditch along with the caterpillars.
Then, she took out straw mats, tablecloths, and food from her space.
Pang Dun'er dived onto the straw mat and had no intention of getting up.
Xu Jiacan: "Hey, Pang Dun'er, could you please shift your backside? Don't shove it in our faces so blatantly."
Pang Dun'er painstakingly adjusted his posture and saw Xu Jiacan's handsome face appear behind him.
"Uh," Pang Dun'er really wanted to say: Big brother, where else could you sit but... heh.
Once Fu Xin'ci brought out all the food they were going to eat, the companions leaned against the big willow tree without any pretense and began to eat.
Fu Xin'ci noticed that her companions hadn't yet adapted to long-distance horse riding and discussed it with them.
"After we finish eating, while there's no one around, I'll take you all into my space."
"How can that be?"
"This is for the best. By using the plants outside, no one can catch up to me. You can also have a good rest in the space."
"I can't rest assured with you alone outside. Let's take turns, me and Jiacan, accompanying you on the road."
"Captain, you really don't need to." Afraid the captain still wouldn't agree, Fu Xin'ci had to explain her strength.
"Captain, I dare say that within the Great Ming territory, no one can catch up to me."
After speaking, Fu Xin'ci pulled her companions into the space in pairs.
While her companions were mesmerized by the scenery in the space, she exited it.
She quickly put away everything that needed to be stored in her space and then rode on alone.
Her speed could be described as lightning fast.
She was extremely anxious. They had been on the road for two days, and she didn't know if Qi He and Uncle Jin had encountered any danger.
It seemed she needed to speed up even more.
If her companions could see her now, they would surely say: she had stepped on the gas pedal.
Fu Xin'ci paid no mind to how many people she startled along the way, simply heading forward on the official road.
She stopped twice to ask for directions, as she encountered forks in the road and was unsure which path to take.
As the sunset painted half the sky red, Fu Xin'ci arrived at the foot of a majestic mountain.
Looking at the steep peaks, Fu Xin'ci had no intention of stopping and urged her horse onward.
Ah, along the way, she had been smugly thinking that anything from her space was top quality.
She hadn't truly seen those legendary steeds, said to travel a thousand li by day and eight hundred by night, but she felt the horses in her space were no less inferior to those.
The mountain path grew increasingly rugged, yet Fu Xin'ci still showed no sign of stopping.
It wasn't until it was completely dark that she saw a huge old tree lying across the mountain path ahead, with figures nearby.
She had seen such a scene in movies and TV shows before the apocalypse: a robbery.
Heh, Fu Da Niu wouldn't give them the chance. She immediately activated her wood-element ability and directly stored the thousand-jin tree into her space.
Then she rode off at breakneck speed.
The bandits ambushing on both sides of the road had received word long ago that a rare and beautiful young lady was coming down this path.
They guessed that perhaps something major had happened at home, otherwise a young girl wouldn't be traveling alone at night.
Oh my, at that moment, the young寨主 (zhàizhǔ - village chief/leader) felt a surge of heroic spirit. He told his father, the old寨主, that he wanted to bring this little beauty, whose courage was bigger than a gourd, back as his wife.
The old 寨主 laughed heartily and agreed, taking his few old followers back to await good news.
The young 寨主 stared intently at the mountain path, occasionally bending down to listen. Oh, he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching and shouted, "Everyone, be alert! Your young mistress will be here soon."
But as soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind roared past, and he shut his eyes in fright.
When he opened his eyes, he found nothing around him?
"Nothing's gone?"
He spun around and then remembered, "Where's our big tree?"
Hearing the young 寨主's reminder, the other henchmen also remembered.
"That's right, where's the big tree?"
"Quick, light me some torches."
"Aye." Someone responded and quickly lit the torches.
One, two, three, four, five torches were lit one after another, illuminating the mountain path brightly. Even the newly grown pimples on Er Gouzi's face were clearly visible, but the large tree they had used to block the road was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the big tree? Where's our big tree!" the young 寨主 asked around again, unwilling to give up.
Then he and the henchmen exchanged confused glances. One of the older henchmen, emboldened, reminded the young 寨主, "Young 寨主, that big tree was moved by all of us."
"Yes, I know, master. That big tree, if there aren't enough people... we can't move it. Not enough people... can't move it..."
The young 寨主, as if possessed, kept muttering this sentence.
"Yes, young 寨主, if there aren't enough people, we can't move it," some of the sycophants chimed in.