After all the commotion, the sun had sunk to the west, leaving only a last wisp of light shining through the clouds, passing through the layers of trees, and casting a glow on Weiluo's face, body, and the yellow dust road behind him.
Wei Luo picked up a branch from the side of the road and used it as a crutch, taking one step at a time to move forward.
Time flew quickly, when Wei Luo's front was still a dense forest, without seeing any houses, the sky had darkened and the sun had completely sunk below the horizon. A thin layer of fog spread between the trees and on the official road.
That night, all sorts of insect and animal sounds seemed particularly jarring, especially desolate.
Wei Luo's body twitched and her feet moved a bit faster. Unfortunately, her foundation was too poor, so although this movement was slightly faster, it was only a change from snail pace to ant pace.
Time passed bit by bit, and before one knew it, the last ray of light in the sky had also gone. Gradually, that shallow white crescent moon in the sky began to show its presence and brighten up.
Wei Luo looked up at the crescent moon, gazing at the faint shadows in the moonlight. As she looked, her mind wandered and she seemed to return to many years ago when she was still a little girl, yearning to fly to the moon to figure out whether those shadows were really osmanthus trees or not. Gradually, Wei Luo found that as long as she kept looking at the moon while walking, the insect calls and animal howls in her ears didn't seem so frightening anymore.
As Wei Luo gazed at the bright moon, her spirit wandered afar when another burst of noisy hoofbeats faintly came.
Is someone else coming?
Wei Luo couldn't tell whether she was happy or shocked, and hastily turned her head back to look.
A row of flames like a long snake appeared in her eyes on the official road covered by the distant forest!
The flames flickered and danced for several miles, piercing through the dense forest and entering her eyes one by one. Every time the wind blew, a faint murmur of human voices would enter her ears. Wei Luo carefully observed that the procession was not moving very fast.
Too good!
It seems that a large group is coming, and it's definitely not bandits. A bandit gang wouldn't be so big, nor would they move so slowly.
Wei Luo opened her eyes and smiled as she gazed at the firelight, thinking happily to herself: This group of people is large and powerful, if I can travel with them together, then tonight I won't have to be afraid.
Weiluo's heart was filled with anticipation, and she didn't continue walking forward. She walked to the side of the official road, found a stone and sat down. As soon as she sat down, Weiluo turned her head to look back at the forest behind her, which was pitch black and eerily quiet, making her feel like something would suddenly jump out and bite her on the back.
Wei Luo thought for a moment and then moved the stone to the middle of the road and sat down. Indeed, after sitting down like this, he felt more at ease.
The procession drew nearer and nearer, the noise of it growing more distinct, till at last it became a deafening din. Amidst this din were heard the rumbling of wheels, the shouting and laughter of men, and the braying of donkeys and mules, making altogether a most lively scene.
As the convoy drew closer, Weiruo's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
The procession gradually entered the official road where she was, and the winding dragon lanterns also appeared clearly in front of her.
Wei Luo raised his head and looked around, taking a deep breath in the darkness. He thought to himself: Judging from this fire dragon, this convoy is at least two or three miles long. I don't know what kind of team this is, but there are so many people!
The team is getting closer and closer, and gradually, Wei Luo can see the horse-drawn carriage in front of her. The first thing that appears in her line of sight is a rectangular flag, which is surprisingly pink in color. No, on each of the horse-drawn carriages behind it, there are identical pink flags inserted.
Not only were the flags pink, but Wei Luo also found that those carriages were painted particularly bright and bold, in deep red, light red, and pink. They formed a row of red colors, which looked exceptionally good at first glance.
But it was night, perhaps I didn't see clearly myself.
Wei Luo saw the convoy getting closer and closer, so she bent down and moved the stone back to the side of the road.
As she arranged the stones and stood back in the middle of the road, a knight rode out from the convoy and galloped straight towards her.
A few hundred meters away, the knight arrived in a flash. He was a man in his thirties with a faint mustache on his chin, a square face, and a smile in his eyes when he looked at people, giving off an extremely kind impression.
The knight caught sight of Weilo standing in the middle of the road, small and frail.
There was a little boy blocking the way, and the knight frowned slightly, saying suspiciously: "Little one, why are you blocking the road?"
Wei Luo revealed a shy smile and, with a hoarse throat, clasped his hands together and said: "This big brother, I am a lone Yue person who got separated from my companions. Alone in this place, on a dark and windy night, I was overcome with fear when I saw your caravan, and overjoyed, I walked into the middle of the road. Please don't blame me, big brother."
The knight stared intently at Weilo, it was unclear whether he had heard her words or not.
After staring for a while, he raised his head and looked around. It was pitch black all around, what could he see by looking around?
Wei Luo looked at the knight expectantly, feeling that this person didn't trust himself one bit. Could it be that he thought she was a decoy sent by bandits or something? However, having finally encountered such a team, she had to travel with them no matter what, and best of all, join their team.
The encounter with the bandits just now still left Weiluo with a lingering fear, she didn't know if tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, she would meet robbers again. Moreover, she no longer had much money to use, at this time, her only thought was to join a team and muddle along, even if it meant doing odd jobs.
At this moment, neither of them spoke, and the convoy was getting closer and closer.
Before long, a young man's voice came from the team of cars, "Brother Lou, who is this?"
Knight Building Big Brother heard this and waved his hand behind him, saying in a loud voice: "A thin and weak lonely child."
He said this and pulled on the reins, turning his horse around to return to the troops.
Seeing him about to leave, Wei Luo hastily made a deep bow with both hands and said loudly: "Lao Da Ge, in the dark of night, tigers and wolves are fearful, I beg Lao Da Ge to take me in."
She said to this point, seeing Lou's figure paused for a moment, then raised her voice again and said clearly: "I can read and write, I am good at arithmetic, I come from a good family, now I only ask for a place to settle down, not to fall into the mouth of beasts, please have mercy on me, Lou." She spoke eloquently, with a clear and pleasant voice, listening was asking for help, but observing her demeanor and facial expression carefully, there was no humble appearance.
That big brother didn't turn around, but instead turned his horse's head and looked back at Wei Luo seriously.
At this moment, a soft and pleasant female voice came from the carriage team about 30 or 40 meters away. "Loushu, this young man is elegant in speech and demeanor, and seems to be a good family background as he said. You can take him in."
Lou Ju's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he listened, and he carefully sized up Wei Luo. In the darkness, Wei Luo's pupils were black as ink dots, clear and transparent. After sizing him up for a few moments, Lou Ju nodded and said, "Alright."
As soon as he said "it's okay", Wei Luo couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, his body going limp, almost falling to the ground.
