Chapter 56 - 56 Human Tracker

56 Human Tracker

It was not easy to even have a bite to eat on the way to escape. Cui Lingyi’s team only had this bit of food in total, and almost all of it was given to them.

No matter how they refused, Cui Muzhi refused.

It would be so disappointing if she insisted on not accepting his sincerity and eat.

Everyone in the team looked at Bai Wutong, who was holding a bowl. Bai Wutong met Cui Muzhi’s sparkling eyes and sighed. “Then what are you going to eat?”

Cui Muzhi smiled brightly and said, “Let’s go pick some wild vegetables again. I saw a pond in front just now. Later, I’ll bring someone to catch a few big fish for Madam Bai to eat.”

Bai Wutong had also seen the pond just now. It was clearly a pool of stagnant water. It was impossible for there to be fish.

Moreover, it was getting dark. If they searched for wild vegetables in the dark, how many would they be able to find?

Courtesy demanded reciprocity. Moreover, they had specially waited here to inform them that there was danger ahead. Bai Wutong said, “It’s almost dark, and you won’t be able to find many wild vegetables. Why don’t you have a simple meal with us?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Cui Muzhi’s eyes lit up and he replied without hesitation, “Sure.”

No matter how simple the meal Bai Wutong described as, they were still food that was filling. Looking at the rice porridge cooking in the pot, Cui Muzhi was so touched that tears flowed out of his mouth.

He had been raised in Qinghe wildly. He could eat delicacies and wild vegetables, but he had been out for almost a month. This was the first time he had eaten fragrant food for so long.

The fragrance of the stewed bamboo shoots that Madam Yang had stir-fried in a large pot wafted for five kilometers. Cui Muzhi could not help but exclaim. Giving all the wild vegetable soup to Bai Wutong and the others was simply the wisest move of his life.

The others in their team also swallowed their saliva like Cui Muzhi.

Cui Lingyi coughed lightly in embarrassment. Cui Muzhi came back to his senses and jumped up again with a whoosh. He opened his mouth and said self-righteously, “Cousin, you want to drink, right? When the bandits came, I specially protected a bottle of top-notch Daughter’s Red for you. I’ll go get it for you now.”

Cui Lingyi’s reprimanding words immediately turned into, “Hurry up.”

Cui Muzhi ran faster than a rabbit. In a moment, he brought the wine over.

Cui Lingyi lifted the lid and sniffed, a look of enjoyment forming on her face. “Nice wine.” She looked at Bai Wutong. “Shall we have a drink?”

Before Bai Wutong could speak, Chu Tianbao interrupted, “Wife, you said that drinking is not good for health. You can’t drink.”

Cui Lingyi raised her eyebrows and looked at Bai Wutong, as if to say, as a woman, do you really want to listen to a man’s nonsense?

Chu Tianbao immediately stood in front of Bai Wutong. If Cui Lingyi dared to let Bai Wutong drink, he would teach her a lesson.

Cui Lingyi stared at Chu Tianbao with a meaningful look and suddenly smiled. She raised her daughter’s red and poured a big mouthful into her mouth. “It seems that I’ll have to enjoy the wine alone tonight.”

Cui Muzhi leaned over. “Cousin, give me a mouthful too.”

Cui Lingyi pulled a face. “Why would a child drink? It’s not good for your health. Didn’t you have ears to hear just now?”

Cui Muzhi pursed his lips. He was already 15 years old that year and was about to get married. What kind of child was he?

If she wasn’t going to give it to him, so be it. Why did she have to make so many excuses?

Cui Lingyi drank extremely boldly. In a short while, she finished a bottle of the wine. It was very different from her usual noble and polite appearance.

Bai Wutong was surprised. Cui Muzhi smiled at her and said, “Do you know what my cousin’s nickname is?”

“What?”

Cui Muzhi smiled wickedly. “A wine barrel!”

Bai Wutong was stunned. Cui Muzhi continued, “She won’t get drunk even after a thousand cups. She drinks like water. She can even drink sorghum.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Muzhi felt a blow on his head. “Brat, you talk too much.”

“It’s not what my cousin said. Honesty is the foundation of a person.”

“I didn’t ask you to talk so much!”

The siblings joked familiarly, and Bai Wutong couldn’t help but laugh.

The siblings had a good relationship.

After Cui Lingyi and Cui Muzhi finished eating, Bai Wutong asked, “Which of us did the officials at the checkpoint draw up?”

Coincidentally, Cui Lingyi was a meticulous person. Afraid that they would not believe her, she specially got Lan Jingbai to replicate the drawings.

Bai Wutong took it and looked at it. Other than the key characteristics, such an abstract painting was almost not human.

Bai Wutong asked Cui Lingyi in surprise, “You really recognized us?”

Cui Lingyi pointed to the portrait. “The artist’s technique is a little clumsy, but with so many of you together, they can still guess it.”

Bai Wutong understood. If so many of them were to travel together, even if they were in disguise, it was very likely that they would be stopped.

If they did not want to split up, they could only take the path where the soldiers were not stationed.

Cui Lingyi looked at Bai Wutong. “What are your plans, little phoenix?”

Bai Wutong was stunned. “Little phoenix?”

“A phoenix lives in a Wutong tree. Who are you if you’re not a little phoenix? Isn’t that a nice nickname?” Cui Lingyi laughed. “You can call me by my name too, Qing Jiu.”

In any case, it was just a form of address, so Bai Wutong tacitly agreed. She said, “I plan to take the mountain path without soldiers.”

Cui Lingyi said, “How does Little Phoenix know which mountain road is empty?”

Bai Wutong suddenly smiled and said, “Naturally, I have my ways.”

The next day, the team set off. For the first time, Huang Zhong sat on the horse and walked at the front of the team.

Cui Lingyi’s team moved alongside them. “What about the method you mentioned?” she asked curiously.

Bai Wutong thought that she was very good at reading people, so there was no harm in telling her. She looked at Huang Zhong and said, “He is the solution.”

“?”

Bai Wutong met her puzzled expression and smiled. “His nose is very sharp. He can smell anything for miles. He can determine how many people and what location they are based on their scents. He can help us avoid a search.”

As soon as she said this, Cui Lingyi’s calm face revealed obvious excitement.

She took out a jade pendant and placed it in front of Bai Wutong with trembling hands. “If he smells the scent of the jade pendant’s owner, can he determine the person’s location?”

Bai Wutong thought of how Huang Zhong could often rely on his nose to find ginseng on the road and nodded. “I think so.”

Cui Lingyi’s eyes lit up as she pleaded, “Little Phoenix, can you ask him to help me find my father’s location? His whereabouts are unknown now. We asked along the way, but there’s no news.”

Bai Wutong nodded and immediately called Huang Zhong over to help Cui Lingyi determine Prime Minister Cui’s current location.

Huang Zhong was very happy that he could be of use. He held the jade pendant and carefully sniffed the faint smell on it. After a while, he firmly remembered this smell in his mind. He closed his eyes and sniffed. Immediately, all kinds of smells in all directions were sucked into his mind like a vacuum cleaner.

Cui Lingyi watched him expectantly.

After a long time, Huang Zhong suddenly opened his eyes and pointed in one direction. He said to Bai Wutong, “Master, the rain has washed away the smell. I can only smell the traces of his passage.”

Prisoners sent to the borders would be tortured along the way and might even die on the way. Cui Lingyi got a rough direction. Afraid that her father could not wait any longer, she thanked Bai Wutong and hurried on with her people.