The whole family traveled through time and became doctors, raised children and farmed in ancient tim

The originally smooth dirt road was now a mess with messy horse hoof prints and numerous footprints. The soil was turned up, the grass was trampled all over the place, and some branches were broken. It was obvious that a large number of people and horses had just passed by.

Xie Songlin reached out and gently touched the horseshoe prints on the ground. His eyes grew more serious as he whispered, "These tracks are very fresh. It seems the bandits passed by here not long ago. If the passing carriage hadn't warned us, we might have really run into the bandits head-on."

Xie Dazhong also came closer to take a look and said, "There are quite a few bandits."

Xie Dachun swallowed nervously: "What should we do? Should we go back now?"

Xie Songlin looked up at the darkening sky, thought for a moment and said, "It's getting late now. Let's go back and look for some wild vegetables and weeds in the forest with Xie Shi. Tomorrow we'll try to get to the gate of Xifeng City. If there are any bandits blocking the way, we'll have to find a way around it."

The four of them turned and hurried back along the way they had come. Xie Songlin casually said as they walked, "When I was exploring nearby just now, I seemed to see a few wild fruit vines. The fruits looked ripe. The food we brought isn't particularly sufficient. With so many people hiding in the cave, more food means more protection. You go back and call some people to come look for us in the forest. I'll wait here for you and take a look around to see if there's anything else to eat."

Xie Dachun's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Really? Wild fruits would be great! I'm getting thirsty from eating dry food every day. I'll go back and call a few people to look for them together."

Seeing the figures of Xie Dazhong, Xie Dachun and Xie Songmu gradually moving away until they completely disappeared at the end of the forest path, Xie Songlin hurriedly looked around. After confirming that there was no one else around, he flashed and disappeared from the spot in an instant. He planned to move alone to the city gate to check the situation.

But she didn't expect to see Xie Wanxing the moment she entered the space. She moved a small chair and sat by the spiritual spring, eating an apple. When she saw Xie Songlin coming, she immediately stood up: "Dad, you're here. I thought you couldn't get away."

Xie Songlin: "How did you get out? Did you put away all those ox carts and horse carriages?"

Xie Wanxing tilted his head to signal him to look to the side, and said with a smile: "It's all done, I'll do the work, don't worry. I asked my mother to cover for me, saying that I was sleepy and wanted to go to bed. Then I moved the bedding closer to the inside and stuffed a pillow under the quilt. My mother also lay down with me and helped me keep an eye on the movements outside. I will be out for a while and then go back. No one should notice."

Xie Songlin asked, "Did you go to the city gate to take a look?"

Xie Wanxing said solemnly, "We've seen bandits, and the situation is worse than we expected. There are quite a few of them, and they've captured quite a few civilians along the way. It looks like they're planning to set up camp near the city gate."

Xie Songlin sighed softly and said, "We need to think about this matter carefully. There are bandits guarding the city gate now. If we go there rashly, we will definitely run into them. Then not only will we be in danger, but we must first think of a comprehensive plan to see if we can bypass Xifeng City."

Xie Wanxing bit his lip and thought for a moment before saying, "Dad, how about we hide in this forest for a while and wait until the bandits leave before going to Xifeng City?"

Xie Songlin shook his head and said, "This isn't a long-term solution. We have limited food supplies. Although we can find some wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains, they can't feed so many people. Moreover, the situation is turbulent right now. Although Prince Cheng Ling's army has already gone to Miaozhou, we can't guarantee that the Xiongnu will not come after us. Time is running out, and we must act quickly. After all, the capital is under the emperor's feet and is relatively the safest place, so we still have to find a way to get to the capital."

Xie Songlin looked up at the sky, as if trying to see the outside world through this small world. He said slowly, "I'm also thinking about countermeasures. I have come up with two plans. The first is that we try to find a way out of this forest and bypass West Wind City. But if we do this, there is a big problem. That is, our ox carts and horse carts, as well as the luggage on them, will probably have to be abandoned. After all, it is too inconvenient to move around with all that stuff, and it will be difficult to find a feasible detour in the forest."

"That won't work. Even if we pass Xifeng City, it's still far from the capital. All our food is transported by ox carts." Upon hearing this, Xie Wanxing rejected this plan without hesitation without even thinking about it.

Xie Songlin sighed softly and continued, "Well, I also know that this plan has many problems. Another way is to go to Xifeng City and find the city garrison to see if we can bring in reinforcements. We can then have them send troops to eliminate the bandits camped near the city gate. If they succeed, we can then pass through the city gate smoothly and continue on our way to the capital."

Xie Songlin continued, "But there's a problem. It's no problem for the two of us to sneak into the city, but how can we convince the city's defenders to send troops to help us suppress the bandits?"

Xie Wanxing was silent for a while, then he took out the jade pendant that Chen Zhifei had given him and asked, "Do you think this is okay?"

"We just have to try."

"Let's go back today. Tomorrow I'll find a way to get rid of the others and go into the city." Xie Songlin frowned and thought for a while. Suddenly, he remembered that the excuse he had just made was that he saw wild fruits. He turned to Xie Wanxing and said, "How about we transport some of the fruits in the space? This will also make my excuse more complete. Otherwise, it doesn't seem right to just say that we found traces of wild fruits and then go back empty-handed."

Xie Wanxing raised the fruit in his hand and placed it in front of Xie Songlin, then fell silent.

These fruits are big and round, with bright and juicy colors. Would anyone really believe that these are wild fruits in the mountains?

“…” Xie Songlin also fell silent.

He asked, "Do you have any uglier-looking fruits?"

Xie Wanxing: "Unfortunately, no."

"I think these people are pretty dumb and easy to fool, what do you think?" Xie Songlin said, not giving up. "How about we take out some green apples? At least they won't be too sweet."

Xie Wanxing picked some from the bamboo basket and held up the round green apple in his hand: "Are you sure?"

"..."

Xie Songlin and Xie Wanxing, father and daughter, looked at each other, and finally they did not dare to take the fruits in the space out. They were really far from the appearance of wild fruits in the mountains and forests, and too out of place. They suppressed this idea and started exploring again.

After some searching, they finally found some fruits, but these fruits were completely different from those in the space, and it took a lot of effort. Even if they saw the location from a bird's-eye view, the fruits in the mountains were not as easy to pick as those in the orchard, and most of them were undisturbed wild fruits.

Those wild fruits are all sour and astringent green fruits, not very big in size, and their shapes are all strange. Some are crooked, some are deflated, and most of them are unrecognizable. They are completely different from the common fruits we see in daily life.

Xie Songlin left the space and called over Xie Dachun and others who had come rushing over. He managed to barely get away with the excuse he made up.