Chapter 20: The Beach and the Pass

The caravan set up a fire on the beach, put up wooden racks, skewered large chunks of meat, and started roasting.

This time, there was an extra seasoning.

The young girl was still playing on the beach. She took off her shoes and stepped barefoot onto the sand.

Everything here was strange and new to her.

Before arriving at Anshan Station, she had only seen knowledge of the sea in books. Before arriving at Tianqiao Village, her impression of the ocean also came from books.

Now, actually stepping on the sand, she finally understood what the sea and the beach really were.

The caravan leader couldn’t fully grasp her feelings, but he knew she would like this place.

When an outsider acts like a happy child over a scene that locals are tired of, the locals can’t share that feeling. They can’t understand the joy of novelty raging inside the outsider.

The caravan leader, who was roasting meat, watched the girl and couldn’t help but smile.

He recalled the afternoon of Tianqiao Village’s celebration, when he first saw the girl at the dock.

Since there was no beach there, she just stood by the dock, looking at the sea.

She was lost in thought, gazing into the distance, not focusing on anything in particular.

The leader didn’t disturb her. He walked around the village, and after about the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, he passed the dock again. The girl was still there, looking into the distance, as if she hadn’t moved at all.

That was when the leader suddenly realized: she was just watching the sea, simple as that.

To the leader, the sea was something he had grown tired of. He didn’t see what was so special about it. But the girl seemed never to have seen the sea before, so she was completely mesmerized.

The leader suddenly became aware of something. At some point, he had become impatient, eager for quick results. He had lost the ability to live at a slow pace and hadn’t calmed down to notice the things around him in a long time.

And so today happened.

He brought the girl to the beach near Caozhuang Station. That day, the leader temporarily set aside his status, slowed down his pace. He stopped thinking about the goods, stopped worrying about beating the season and the market, stopped dwelling on family matters.

Today, he just wanted to be an ordinary person.

This sentiment didn’t infect all the merchants. One of them still left the group, saying he was in a hurry to return to Jiangbei.

The others didn’t blame him. Instead, they sent him off with good wishes and comfort.

The remaining merchants stayed, spending a rare slow day at the beach.

The girl must have gotten tired of playing. She returned to the group and joined them for the barbecue.

She took a bite and noticed something odd, a slight sweetness.

The leader took out a cloth bag and showed her. Inside was red powder.

The more she ate, the stranger it seemed. Adding sugar to roasted meat wasn’t bad, but it felt weird.

In contrast, the merchants were enjoying it, seemingly very fond of this flavor.

After the barbecue, the merchants took a stroll on the beach.

The girl found a spot to sit and bask in the sun.

Thus the day passed.

When they returned to Caozhuang Station, everyone was happy.

That happiness lasted only a short while before it ended.

The next morning, the caravan leader had disappeared. Same as before, his luggage and cart were still there, only he was missing.

The other merchants sighed. They could only stay at the civilian inn in Caozhuang Station and wait, wasting another day’s food and lodging expenses.

That evening, the leader did return. He was wearing someone else’s clothes, which he said he bought from another merchant.

When they asked where he had been, he replied that he woke up twenty li away, in the middle of nowhere.

Using the sea’s direction to orient himself, he found a main road, hailed a cart, asked for directions, and hitched a ride back to Caozhuang Station.

This incident cast a shadow over the caravan.

Either the dream-eating beast was still alive, or another one was now targeting them.

In the following days, everyone was restless and anxious. They tried to stay as close to the girl as possible, hoping for her protection.

Three days later, they arrived at a place they had mentioned many times along the way: Shanhai Pass.

The Great Wall cut off Liaodong. To enter or leave the area inside and outside the wall, one had to pass through a pass.

Shanhai Pass was the most famous of them.

Troops had to pass through here when heading out on campaign. Enemies also needed to pass through to invade the Ming heartland.

Beyond this point lay the area under the capital’s direct administration, Beizhili. That alone showed how important this place was.

One could say that if this pass fell, the people in the capital would be unable to sleep or eat. It wouldn’t mean the enemy was at the gates, but it would lose a huge defensive advantage.

As they approached Shanhai Pass, the crowd grew thicker than in Jinzhou City.

There were people exiting the pass, people entering, and refugees blocked outside.

Seeing the refugees begging on their knees, the girl gave them her snacks.

The caravan leader couldn’t stop her in time. He could only watch helplessly as she stirred up a hornet’s nest. As expected, more refugees swarmed over.

“Have mercy, kind soul!”

“Please, I haven’t eaten in two days.”

“I won’t go in, but please take my child inside.”

The leader looked at the girl’s lively golden eyes. Her gaze clearly wasn’t one of annoyance, but hope that the leader would help.

The girl seemed to remember something and suddenly pulled out a pouch.

Seeing this, the leader could no longer hold back. He rushed over and forcefully stopped her, preventing her from doing what she was about to do.

She had actually taken out her money pouch and was about to scatter coins?!

Oh my god, were current Daoist cultivators this lacking in common sense?

Feeling that she was serious, the leader sighed in helplessness, as if he were taking care of a child.

He had no choice but to order everyone in the caravan to take out ten percent of their grain.

But the girl’s golden eyes were still fixed on him.

The leader’s scalp tingled. He decided to give half of the grain.

The girl still stared at him, her eyes as if they could produce water.

He couldn’t hold out any longer. He decided to give all the grain.

With so many refugees, the leader could only thin the porridge on the spot and distribute it. The caravan’s grain did let these refugees have one full meal, but only one.

Some refugees tried to board the carts, hoping to be taken inside the pass.

The leader truly didn’t dare do that. He knelt and begged, hoping the refugees would let him go.

Maybe the porridge had an effect, maybe his kneeling plea worked. The refugees didn’t press him and let him leave.

The caravan limped to Shanhai Pass, preparing to go through.

Seeing them approach, the guarding soldiers kept shaking their heads. “You don’t look like first-time merchants on this route. How could you do such a thing? Aren’t you afraid of getting yourselves into trouble?”

It sounded like both a warning and a reprimand.

The leader sighed and smiled. “Aren’t you the same? Why don’t you drive them away?”

The soldiers smiled but didn’t answer.

A strategic point like Shanhai Pass naturally couldn’t allow civilians to linger for long. Who knew if someone might harbor bad intentions? They had caught too many spies here.

Their superiors had repeatedly ordered them not to let refugees gather here.

The dozen or so soldiers at the gate usually put on a show of shooing them a few times, then let it go.

Driving away the refugees who couldn’t pass through would be as good as killing them. Staying here, they could still beg from passing merchants, and indeed some merchants did give alms.

A complete begging chain had formed here.

…

The soldiers checked the caravan’s credentials, inspected the goods, and then collected taxes according to procedure. They didn’t make trouble.

Only when it came to the girl did they detain her for a bit longer for interrogation, her appearance was too unusual.

Seeing her travel permit stamped by Jinzhou, and having witnessed the group’s actions earlier, they let her through without causing trouble.

After passing through the pass, the leader turned back to look at the soldiers rubbing their hands to keep warm, and the refugees constantly peering in from outside.

The leader sighed.

All living beings suffer.

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