Su Xiao used the excuse of using the restroom to go back to the tree. She took out some pig trotters with mango juice and ate and after that drank some spring water and immediately felt refreshed and energized. Thinking of the kids frail health she took out some spring water and poured it into the water sack then took the nutrient fluid for Mu Wei and some dried ration for the kids.
She had a sewing machine in her space so she immediately used it and sew a sturdy bag but deliberately made the outside look ragged and patched to avoid attention. After packing everything she went back to kids and began tidying up what they needed. They didn't have much belongings so she fed Mu Wei the nutrient fluid and then gave the children some spring water to drink.
They took small sips each and smacked their mouth in surprise.
It was sweet.
Mu Chen was not the type to control his curiosity so he asked.
"Mother, why is it so sweet?"
Seeing the curiosity in their eyes she answered.
"A kind woman gave me the sugar and a girl gave me the water so I added it together"
The children nodded their head in understanding. Su Xiao knew that she couldn't use this excuse for long and needed to find another reason. The children were still excitedly touching the cart as they balanced on it. She had made up a story on how she made the cart when they asked her and they believed her. She pushed the cart and joined the line as they walked forward.
The sun was blazing hot and soon they felt dizzy. They had not eaten this morning and coupled with the long walk they began walking sluggishly. Su Xiao looked at them and knew they wouldn't hold on for long. Luckily she had a cart with her and others did too which they used to carry the old and sick or she would have been conspicuous.
Thud..
Scream and wails rang in the group as some one collapsed followed by five others. The ballifs checked on him and found three dead and the others fainted due to exhaustion and hunger. He recorded their death and they continued. It could be considered inhumane but that was how exilled people were treated once exilled. Once they cross the border they were now vagrant without an identity so naturally their death and life was no longer important.
They walked for a while before arriving at a broad field where everyone was asked to rest so they could share the food.
"We will rest here for a while. Line up and come collect your food so we can continue before dark".
Su Xiao pushed the cart to a higher ground then parked there. She got into the cart and took out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped they sweaty kids feeling distressed.
"You must be tired and thirsty. Here take this and drink let me got some food".
To avoid attracting attention she joined the queue. When it reached her turn she saw it was coarse bun they were distributing which was ate with water for those that had water. She could feel the hardness and knew the kids couldn't eat it. She returned to cart and took out some white bun from her space and gave the kids to eat. They looked at her in surprise and she hushed them asking them to eat. They ate hungrily as they aroma made them salivate and quickly devoured two bun each before feeling satisfied.
Seeing them look satisfied she turned to check on Mu Wei. He was also sweaty so she wiped him too before looking at the legs which was already bleeding again and re-dressed them again. She feed him some water and then adjusted him comfortably on the cart. Turning to the kids she asked them
"Are you sleepy? Get some rest I will wake you up when it's time to go".
Hearing her words they laid down and closed their eyes. She got a patch from her space and paste it on them. It gave a soothing sensation and made you feel cool all over making you feel comfortable and most importantly negligible. She had already removed the other patch before they woke up so they didn't notice and she plans to do the same now. She sat down and looked around observing what was going on not feeling sleepy.
Some were eating, some sleeping and some resting. There was no conversation as everyone was trying to conserve their energy for the next journey. The children looked emaciated and hungry likewise the adults as they stared at everything like ravenous wolves waiting for the right moment to pounce. After thirty minutes the voice of the bailiffs sounded again waking people up.
"Alright everyone stand up and start moving so we can arrive at a good place before dark"
Everyone sluggishly got up and started packing their stuff. Su Xiao climbed down and started pushing the ox cart towards the other refugees and everyone started moving. It was almost dark and maybe because of the fear of wild animals everyone moved faster than before and soon they were at a hilltop before stopping. It was night already so they had to camp there.
"We will camp here tonight. Make a fire to avoid attracting wild animals and don't go too far".
After giving the instructions he left leaving them to arrange themselves. Everyone rushed to find a good spot and soon the place was crowded. Su Xiao pushed the cart a bit further from them and parked there deciding to camp there. Getting into the cart she saw the kids were awake and gave them water to drink.
"Who wants to ease himself come with me"
Understanding her they climbed down and followed her a bit far from the camp and did their thing. After they were done, she took them back to the cart and gave them some food to eat before checking on Mu Wei condition. He was doing fine and she estimated he should regain consciousness by tomorrow.
Mu Wei was awake and felt someone touching his legs. Knowing it was that woman he kept quiet. She had changed but he didn't know why and suspect she was planning something again as before. Su Xiao's grandfather was a physician so he didn't suspect her medical skills thinking that she had maybe grabbed from him.He didn't care as long as she could treat him so he could be able to take of his kids as they were the most important thing to him now.
Su Xiao knew that he was awake and said nothing too. The original host grandfather was a physician and she was quite close to him before he passed away so her medical skills were not questionable. After checking his wound she lied on the cart with them to rest a bit.