Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 694 - 647: Mu Family of the Beiyang Imperial Family (1)

Chapter 694: Chapter 647: Mu Family of the Beiyang Imperial Family (1)

"Boss, who is this kid anyway?"

"Boss, why does he call you Xiao Shan?"

"How would I know?" Xiao Shan snapped softly at his men.

"Xiao Shan, are you interested in testing whether my leopard’s teeth are sharp?" Mu Yuanxiu stroked the leopard’s fur, smiling slightly.

At that moment, the big leopard opened its mouth wide for a yawn, revealing sharp white teeth.

Xiao Shan’s group was so frightened that all their faces changed.

"Boss, why not agree with them first?" One of the men whispered to Xiao Shan, "Look for an opportunity to catch the leopard, a kid plus two brats and two young girls, we have nothing to fear. They want us to give them a place to stay; aren’t they stepping into our territory?"

"Boss, fourth’s idea seems good." Another person chimed in.

Xiao Shan squinted and started scrutinizing Mu Yuanxiu ahead of him.

The young man before him, dressed in a grey fox fur robe, looked sixteen or seventeen, tall and lean, with features like a woman but sharp eyes and a sneering smile.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall having seen this young man before.

Why did the young man look at him as if they were acquainted?

Too bizarre.

"As they say, meeting is fate. You’ve come from afar, and as the local host, I should prepare accommodations for you. May I ask how to address you, young brother?" Xiao Shan clasped his fists and gave Mu Yuanxiu a slight smile.

"My surname is Mu, and my full name is Yuanxiu," Mu Yuanxiu replied loudly, also clasping his fists in return.

Xiao Shan was slightly startled; this kid is surnamed Mu? Every man resembling women in the Beiyan Royal Family has the surname Mu.

No, this kid has a southern accent, how could he be related to Beiyang?

"Oh, so it’s Brother Mu, hahaha, shall we address each other as brothers?" Xiao Shan laughed again.

Mu Yuanxiu said, "If Brother Xiao wishes to call me brother, I am very grateful. Brother Xiao’s Sky Wolf Village isn’t far from here, right? Why not rest at Sky Wolf Village tonight?"

On the hillside, Li Yuzhu watched Mu Yuanxiu and the bandit leader conversing back and forth and felt completely baffled.

Judging by Mu Yuanxiu’s tone, he seemed familiar with these people.

How did someone who lived long-term in the Southern Land’s Zhen An Prefecture get acquainted with bandits from Liangzhou, four thousand miles away?

When Mu Yuanxiu called out Xiao Shan’s full name, Xiao Shan was already very shocked, and hearing Mu Yuanxiu mention his residence now made him even more alarmed.

Could this traveling youth be guided by someone for a specific reason?

Xiao Shan dared not be careless towards Mu Yuanxiu and said with a friendly smile, "If you don’t mind, feel free to stay. Please, Brother Mu?"

He gestured to Mu Yuanxiu invitingly.

Mu Yuanxiu turned to the hillside and waved to Li Yuzhu and Zhou Zhaodi, "Come down; we won’t stay in the mountain cave tonight. We’ll go to Sky Wolf Village."

Li Yuzhu, having traveled through, held secret weapons, feared neither heaven nor earth, and Guoguo and Baili Rui, the two little brats, unafraid like newborn calves, seemed indifferent to bandits, their expressions calm.

Zhou Zhaodi, who grew up with little exposure and was from the village, had already turned pale at the sight of the fierce men brandishing knives.

She secretly tugged Li Yuzhu’s sleeve, "Third sister, are we really going with them? They have knives."

Li Yuzhu turned and noticed her face was pale, and her voice trembled, understanding she was frightened.

Li Yuzhu softly comforted her, "Don’t be afraid, Zhaodi. I brought you out, and I’ll definitely bring you back home safely."

Upon hearing Li Yuzhu’s reassurance, Zhou Zhaodi felt a bit calmer.

The two of them protected the children and descended the several feet of hillside.

Mu Yuanxiu had already turned the mule cart and horse carriage around, with the leopard standing guard beside it, resembling a watchful guard.

"What a good kitty," Guoguo walked beside it, smiling as he patted the leopard’s head.

The leopard closed its eyes slightly and began licking Guoguo’s hand, making Guoguo giggle.

Meanwhile, Xiao Shan and his men all watched, dumbfounded and reluctant to approach the leopard.

Li Yuzhu got Guoguo and Baili Rui into the cart as Mu Yuanxiu urged Xiao Shan, "Brother Xiao, lead the way?"

"Follow me." Xiao Shan cast a glance at the leopard next to the mule cart, waved to his men, and rode ahead.

The leopard quickly chased after them, maintaining a distance of one yard.

They sped up, and so did the leopard; they slowed down, and the leopard kept pace.

Xiao Shan wanted to ditch Mu Yuanxiu’s group but couldn’t shake them off.

The close distance made it unsuitable for him to use his bow. Before he could discreetly draw his bow, the leopard separated by just a yard would pounce up.

Unable to do otherwise, Xiao Shan had no choice but to lead Mu Yuanxiu’s group into Sky Wolf Village.

The two gatekeepers were surprised to see Xiao Shan returning with two carts and horses.

One of them asked, "Brother Xiao, who are they?"

Then, seeing the big leopard following behind the carts, the little girl inside bantering with the leopard, the gatekeeper’s face turned ashen white, trembling in fear.

Just what kind of people have come?

"They are travelers seeking shelter. Arrange for them to stay in the two rooms at the northeast corner," Xiao Shan gestured to one of the gatekeepers.

The person nodded, took a glance at Mu Yuanxiu, and ran off holding a torch for illumination.

Xiao Shan led Mu Yuanxiu and the others, following behind as they headed toward the northeast corner.

The Northern Land spends more than half a year in freezing cold weather.

To prevent the incessant cold winds from blowing away the houses, and to save charcoal, the houses are built low and sturdy.

From September to March in Liangzhou City, charcoal fires are needed daily to fend off the severe cold; here, charcoal is far more expensive than grain in the south.

A person can survive three days without food.

But in days so cold that water freezes instantly, if there’s no charcoal fire for one night, a person would freeze to death by the next day.

All the houses in the village are surrounded by high piles of wood.

This not only protects the walls from the wind but also allows the people inside to easily come out and add wood to the stove.

Xiao Shan pointed to the two rooms in front and said, "You will stay here tonight."

Mu Yuanxiu expressed his gratitude with a "Thank you."

Xiao Shan glanced again at the two carts, then left with his people. The leopard was quite intelligent and docilely followed them the entire time.

Mu Yuanxiu pushed open the door of one room, lit a candle and took a look around before calling Li Yuzhu and the others to enter the house.

Li Yuzhu and Zhou Zhaodi each brought a child into the house. The house was as low as she had imagined, with a ground fireplace and an old copper stove on top.

The room also had two shabby beds and several crooked chairs.

Since they were merely borrowing it for shelter, Li Yuzhu didn’t mind, as long as it was warmer than sleeping in a cave or the carriage.

The carriage had thin boards, and no fire could be lit inside; it could be tolerated during the day, but it was bone-chilling at night. A cave might allow for a fire, but without a door, it was colder than being inside a house.

Mu Yuanxiu lifted a dusty chair, dusted it with his sleeve, and let Li Yuzhu and the two children sit and rest.

He then went outside, brought in some firewood, and started a fire.

With the charcoal fire inside, the room quickly warmed up.

Guoguo and Baili Rui, smiling cheerfully, stretched out their hands to warm them by the fire.

Zhou Zhaodi picked up a copper kettle and found it leaking, so she discarded it and went to fetch a good one from the cart outside.

With no nearby well, Zhou Zhaodi gathered some clean snow, put it into the kettle, and set it over the fire inside the house to boil.

Next, she found five small wooden bowls and several spoons, and when the water boiled, she poured five bowls of water.

Mu Yuanxiu cooled one bowl by blowing on it and handed it to Li Yuzhu.

Li Yuzhu smiled, "You drink first; you’ve had a tiring journey, I’ll drink later."

She was busy looking after the two children.

The two little ones, their eyes brightened at the sight of the hot water.

But they weren’t good at cooling it; they needed help from others.

Quick-thinking Zhou Zhaodi found an old clay basin in the corner of the room, filled it with snow, and placed Guoguo’s and Baili Rui’s small bowls on it to cool.

"It’ll cool down soon," she said with a smile.

Li Yuzhu praised her, "Not bad, not bad, this is a good idea."

The bowls, wrapped in snow, were stirred with a spoon, and the hot water quickly cooled.

Li Yuzhu took the bowls out, placed them on the table, and the two children, grinning, held the bowls themselves and drank the warm water.

Mu Yuanxiu smiled as well and drank his water.

Everyone had some hot water, ate some dried food from the carriage, and warmed up. Together, they tidied up the house and rested.

The two small beds were in poor condition; Li Yuzhu dared not use them, fearing they might collapse in the middle of the night and cause her pain.

Li Yuzhu, with Zhou Zhaodi, took the old brooms from the room and swept the area around the fire until it was dust-free. Mu Wuxiu brought a woolen blanket from the cart and spread it on the floor.

A simple yet warm bed was made.

Mu Yuanxiu and Baili Rui shared one, while Li Yuzhu, Zhou Zhaodi, and Guoguo shared the other.

After a whole day of traveling, everyone was exhausted, and under the warmth of the ground fireplace, they quickly fell asleep.

.

In another part of the village, the bearded Xiao Shan spoke to the other brothers about Mu Yuanxiu.

"The guy with the surname Mu? Brother Xiao, could he be from Beiyang?" a middle-aged man exclaimed.

"Unlikely, he has a Southern accent," Xiao Shan shook his head.

"Then how does he know our big brother? How does he know our brother’s surname and about our Sky Wolf Village?" another person asked.

Many in this Sky Wolf Village came from Beiyang.

In recent years, chaos has been rampant in the Beiyang Capital, with many nobles facing persecution. Their servants, after their masters were imprisoned, fled to the Southern Land with their masters’ money and belongings to escape disaster.

These people fear the pursuit of Beiyang people most, and even more so dread the Beiyang Royal Family’s reckoning.

Even a slight disturbance makes them jittery.

Hearing that Mu Yuanxiu’s surname is "Mu," even if he is a Southerner, everyone became nervously tense.