amaotonovel Chapter 284 The Little Nun 12
Chapter 284 The Little Nun 12
The civilian labor camp outside the military camp was next to a small river. People came and went here. Men pushed carts to transport various supplies, while women sewed clothes or washed clothes by the river.
Contrary to the impression of the labor camp as a place of bitterness and hatred, the atmosphere here was relatively peaceful, and one could even occasionally hear children shouting and adults laughing and cursing.
"Master, it's done."
Inside a tent filled with the scent of herbs, a little girl dressed in coarse cloth lifted the tent flap and placed a basket of processed herbs in front of Master Jing'an.
Master Jing'an, dressed in a light blue robe, was preparing prescriptions for medicine.
Upon hearing the little girl's words, she put down her work and bent down to examine the medicine in the basket.
"Crush them all." After confirming that everything was alright, she gently gave the order to the little girl.
"Oh." The little girl pouted and carried the basket to the medicine grinder. While grinding, she said, "Senior Sister Lingyi used to do all this. I'm not very good at it yet."
When she uttered that name that neither master nor disciple wanted to mention, the four people in the room froze for a moment.
The two girls, who were slightly older than her and were sorting the medicinal herbs, had tears in their eyes.
Master Jing'an sighed, walked to the little girl's side, and straightened her collar: "Ling Yi is a lucky person, and perhaps when we return, we will find her waiting for us at the nunnery."
Monks do not lie, yet she is deceiving these children.
When will that day ever come?
When the rebel soldiers moved them here, they made it very clear that there were bandits and soldiers in the mountains, and that the secluded place was no longer safe, so they had to leave.
If it's no longer safe down the mountain, what about Lingyi, who has been missing for five days on the mountain and could possibly be missing for even longer?
She has no hope of living.
Master Jing'an knew this clearly. That was the child she had raised herself, so how could she not be saddened by her departure?
But now, all she can do is comfort this child who doesn't yet understand the pain of parting, and try not to make her too sad.
The clever little girl said "oh" and, after her master went back to attend to his own business, she lowered her head and obediently ground the medicine, but tears fell drop by drop.
She's not really stupid; how could she not have noticed her master and two senior sisters' sadness?
She just...
She just didn't want to hear from her master that her senior sister was dead, as if not hearing about it meant that her senior sister wasn't dead.
“Young General, that’s the labor camp.” Master Xu pointed with his whip and assured him, “I will find people for you as soon as possible. If you can’t wait, you can go in and take a look.”
"Wouldn't that be inconvenient?" Ling Yi asked insincerely.
"You are a general in my army. What in the army would be inconvenient for you?"
This old zealot, who trusted the general implicitly, was unusually bold and didn't care at all that Ling Yi was running around the camp.
He has already entrusted the general's life to the person in front of him, so what is there to worry about?
Of course, his general entrusted his life to more than one person.
"Thank you."
Ling Yi gripped the riding whip tightly, feeling a little nervous.
If they can't be found here, then searching further will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
In this world, who knows if the needle will break before she can reach it?
Although Xue Zhen's camp was surrounded by hills, the arrangement of the tents made it impossible to tell anything, which was enough to show that he was still full of prestige.
Ling Yi and her three hundred men were placed next to Xue Zhen's personal guard camp, and the supplementary troops drawn from them were also reserves for the personal guard.
Such favorable treatment attracted countless pairs of eyes.
Whether it was wariness or curiosity, Ling Yi didn't care.
After settling her subordinates in, she couldn't wait to head towards the labor camp.
It was already getting dark, and the laborers were having their meal.
Steam rose from the large cauldrons in front of the cooks' camp, and long queues formed in front of them.
As the laborers waiting for their meal watched a general stroll in leading a horse, the group instinctively split in two to make way for her.
As Ling Yi passed through the line, she saw the laborers carrying their bowls of food as they came out.
A bowl of not-too-dry multigrain porridge with some pickled vegetables and a dark-colored steamed bun.
Such food would be hard for wealthy families to swallow, but for laborers who only did light physical labor and had lost their land and livelihood, it was already a good treatment.
In a normal military camp, civilian laborers would bring their own rations to work, and it was common for them to starve to death if they didn't bring enough rations.
The rebel army's meager rations were, in such a chaotic world, an act of excessive kindness.
Moreover, even the laborers could barely get six-tenths full and still have salt in their food, so you can imagine what the regular army ate.
You'll definitely be full.
Ling Yi mentally gave Xu Fuzi a thumbs up for his logistical abilities, and looked around at the people coming and going, trying to find a familiar face.
But in such a large military camp, where people are packed together, how easy is it to find someone?
In chaotic times, the first thing people learn is how to protect themselves. Therefore, wherever Ling Yi went, a path was quickly cleared, just like Moses parting the sea.
Occasionally, two people would bump into each other, but neither dared to make a sound.
"Master, it looks like some important person has arrived over there." Little Lingxiu stumbled from being jostled and asked curiously.
Master Jing'an helped her up and said helplessly, "Be careful."
She didn't look at the people over there, but instead turned her prayer beads to pray for her disciple's soul.
"It's probably the general's clerk coming to check the accounts again," Lingxiu chattered. "They might find someone embezzling and execute them on the spot!"
The general was extremely strict in managing his troops, and he abhorred things like drawing salaries without working or embezzling the wages of civilians.
His clerks would come down to check the accounts from time to time, and if they found any embezzlement, they would not listen to any explanations or ask who was behind the person.
He grabbed the collar, kicked him with his knee, and chopped him down right in front of the laborers at the cooks' camp.
In the few months she's been there, she's already witnessed two beheadings.
Xiao Lingxiu couldn't understand why these people were so bold, knowing they would die but still trying to provoke the general. Did they think they would be the lucky ones who wouldn't be discovered?
“You…” Master Jing’an opened her eyes helplessly. How could a child raised by a nun be so interested in watching the show?
This person's tendency to go watch people behead at the drop of a hat, and his constant talk about becoming a nun after coming of age, is truly...
"Master, I saw a magnificent horse!" Lingxiu hopped on her master's shoulders, laughing, "It looks just like the general's horse, even its nose is white."
"But its owner doesn't seem to be as tall as the general, she..."
Just as Ling Yi glanced to the side, the little girl who had jumped up landed, preventing Ling Yi from seeing her face.
But the little girl could see her face clearly.
She stammered and coughed in horror, "She...she...she..."
Master Jing'an gently stroked her back.
He said, "What happened? Speak slowly, don't rush."
Lingxiu coughed so hard she felt dizzy, her hands gripping Master Jing'an's arm tightly. In a brief moment, she shouted out what she had seen: "She's my senior sister!"