Chapter 2: Floating Drifter

The shadows of the sun were dim, and the deep grass reached the ankles.

In the wild forest, one person fled, and four chased, disturbing countless insects.

"Help! There's a ghost!" The thin man's terrified screams echoed in the originally quiet forest.

"Wait! We are not ghosts!" Wang Yang shouted while chasing.

The thin man might have woken up long ago. Wang Yang didn't know how much of their conversation the thin man had heard. He chased the thin man partly to prevent future trouble, and partly to clarify the situation.

Five people fainted around a soul jar, and after waking up, four traveled through time, and one remained unchanged. The thin man might not know how this ghostly thing happened, but at least he should know the starting cause. For example, who were they, and why were they here?

"Stop!" "Who is it?!" Several shouts rang out at the same time.

The sky was already dark, the tree shadows were slanting, and several blurry figures flashed out in front.

"Save... save—ah!"

Wang Yang saw the thin man waving his hands and running fast, but before he could say the word "life", only a "whoosh" was heard!

The thin man's body stiffened and he fell forward.

Whoosh!

Another sharp whistle!

The sturdy man swung his arm and pulled diagonally, blocking the middle-aged man running beside him in front of himself!

The middle-aged man didn't even have time to let out a scream before a long, sharp arrow pierced his throat!

The sturdy man let go and lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his arms still trembling.

The middle-aged man also fell backward, making a dull thud when he hit the grass.

Large amounts of blood flowed from his throat and mouth, and his body twitched constantly.

Bang bang bang bang.

Wang Yang felt his heart was about to hammer through his chest!

This was the first time he had seen death with his own eyes,

No, not just death, but murder!

Everything happened too fast; Wang Yang only had time to lie down, and then watched helplessly as the middle-aged man fell less than two meters away from him.

The middle-aged man was named Xu You, a well-known editor at the provincial publishing house. Although the two had only met at noon today, this was his only "acquaintance" in this strange world he had traveled to. He didn't expect him to lose his life so quickly, and so inexplicably.

"The remaining three, lower your heads and close your eyes, don't move, otherwise you will be shot immediately!"

The indifferent voice was accompanied by the messy sound of stepping on grass, getting closer and closer!

How many people were on the other side?

Definitely more than three...

Wang Yang didn't dare to look up at all.

"This one is dead!"

"This one is dead too!"

After two reports, someone shouted: "All stand up, hurry up!"

Wang Yang glanced at Xu You, who was covered in blood, and slowly stood up. The reason he stood up slowly was that his legs were weak, as if all his strength had been drained.

Nine people on the opposite side came into Wang Yang's view. They wore old gray clothes, two held bows and arrows, aiming at Wang Yang, the sturdy man, and the handsome youth. Five held knives, one held a spear, their expressions vigilant.

The person in the middle had the newest clothes and a knife at his waist, but it was not unsheathed. The black-faced man holding the spear stayed close to the person in the middle, like a guard.

"Don't kill us! We know how to do many things!" The youth's voice trembled and was urgent; this was completely different from the time-travel opening he had imagined.

The person in the middle asked: "How many people are there?"

None of the three Wang Yang spoke.

Because no one knew how to answer this question.

That person suddenly shouted: "Speak! Otherwise, it's death!"

The youth's body shook and he blurted out: "Just the three of us! No more!"

"When did you cross the border?"

"Cross the border? We didn't cross the border!" The sturdy man said anxiously.

"If you didn't cross the border, why did you sneak into Aquilin? I am the squad leader of the Aquilin garrison. I received a dispatch from Luyang yesterday saying that northern spies had infiltrated. Are you them?"

The sturdy man and the youth didn't know what a "squad leader" was, but they could roughly guess it was some kind of officer. Anyway, it wasn't bandits, which made them breathe a sigh of relief. Wang Yang knew that a "squad leader" was a grassroots military officer in the army, leading ten soldiers.

So these people were government soldiers. They didn't wear armor like the soldiers in TV dramas, and their uniforms were not only not neat but even looked a bit shabby.

"No, no! What cup and dish? What is a cup and dish? We are wronged!" The sturdy man and the youth shouted grievances at the same time. Just listening to the sound of the characters, they didn't react to which two characters "northern spy" were.

Wang Yang connected it to "crossing the border," and coupled with his previous judgment of the "Middle Ages" time period, he roughly guessed the meaning of "northern spy" and said: "If it were sneaking, we wouldn't run, let alone shout."

Everyone looked at Wang Yang together, and the youth and the sturdy man hurriedly said: "Right, right! That's it!"

The squad leader obviously didn't expect this answer, choked for a moment, and said: "You might be evading capture!"

Wang Yang retorted: "Running like this, there must be pursuers behind. We have stopped for so long now, where are the pursuers?"

The black man holding the spear looked at Wang Yang deeply.

The squad leader was startled and asked in a rough voice: "Where is your household registration?"

Wang Yang didn't speak. Although he knew the general scope of the current era, for one, geographical names change differently in each era, and if he made it up wrong, it would be easy to expose himself. Secondly, he didn't know where he was.

If he were a local, the household registration address would have to be detailed to a specific location. If he were from out of town, the other party would likely ask him for a "travel permit."

To clear his suspicion as soon as possible, the sturdy man immediately replied: "I am from Lingnan!"

Actually, the sturdy man's reaction was fast. Although he didn't know the current season and geography, he knew it wasn't hot, so it shouldn't be Lingnan. Furthermore, he had heard that Lingnan was considered a remote and desolate place in ancient times. If he said he was from Lingnan, could the other party really verify it? Even if they could verify it, it would take a long, long time, during which he could slowly think of a way.

The youth was crying without tears; he didn't expect that asking about household registration would stump him. He was holding the protagonist's identity card! How could he be so miserable right from the start! Recalling the time-travel novels he had read, a surge of courage welled up in his heart, and he immediately puffed out his chest and said: "I come from the Great Britain overseas!"

Wang Yang looked at the youth and sighed in his heart: You really dare to make things up!

The sturdy man, however, had a thought. Compared to his own fabrication of Lingnan, it was better to fabricate overseas. Overseas could be fabricated at will, anyway, it couldn't be verified.

The squad leader frowned and looked at Wang Yang: "And you?"

Wang Yang said: "A floating drifter."

The youth was confused and didn't know what this meant. The sturdy man thought, this was inspired by the youth. Should he say he was a samurai from an island nation?

A floating drifter, of course, had nothing to do with a ronin from Fusang.

In the Middle Ages, a floating drifter specifically referred to someone without household registration.

"Book of Sui: Treatise on Food and Money" says: "Those without registration, who do not enjoy being registered in prefectures and counties, are called floating drifters."

The squad leader gave a cold laugh and pointed at the sturdy man and the youth: "Since one of you is from Lingnan and the other is from some overseas country, take out your 'travel permit'."

A "travel permit" was a customs clearance certificate in the Middle Ages, generally issued by the local government of the household registration, similar to today's ID card. When traveling away from home, regardless of whether one was noble or commoner, one had to carry a "travel permit," even foreign Hu merchants were no exception.

The sturdy man and the youth looked blank. It wasn't that their minds were too slow, but that they really didn't know what a "travel permit" was. If the squad leader had directly said "ID card," they could have made up an excuse that it was "lost." But now, listening to the squad leader was like a duck listening to thunder, let alone thinking of countermeasures.

The squad leader sneered: "I know you're talking nonsense just by listening. It doesn't matter, we'll grind slowly." After finishing, he glanced at Wang Yang: "As for floating drifters, it's not my business. Go to Lingxi; if you're lucky, you might get some bean porridge."

Wang Yang hadn't heard of the place name Lingxi, but he was very willing to get rid of the situation of being controlled by soldiers.

Seeing this, the sturdy man immediately said: "I am also a floating drifter!"

The youth also followed and said: "I am too! We are all!"

The squad leader scolded: "You two shut up! Full of lies, you're either northern spies or runaway slaves! Or bandits who have wandered over here! Still floating, float your mother's floating! Wuzi, send that real floating drifter away first!"

The sturdy man was anxious and blurted out: "He's fake!"

Wang Yang's heart sank.

The squad leader said impatiently: "What kind of fart are you releasing!"

"If I'm not real, then he's not real either! We are together!" The sturdy man shouted loudly, then looked urgently at the youth.

The youth paused for a second and nodded: "We are together! We have always been together!" His voice was firm.

Wang Yang looked at the youth, who turned his head away, not daring to look him in the eye.

Wang Yang let out a breath, calmed his mood, and said: "I am not with them."

"We are together!" "We are together!" The sturdy man and the youth clamored in unison. At this moment, Wang Yang felt like a crab, finally about to crawl out of the basket, only to be dragged back by two other members of the same kind.

"This is too chaotic!" The squad leader pinched his temples, his expression irritable.

The soldier named Wuzi walked to the squad leader's side and whispered a few words. The squad leader's gaze swept over Wang Yang and the three of them in turn, gradually revealing a smile.

"Since it's unclear, then all stay. Once you fall into my hands, life won't be easy. But the three of you have pretty good looks. Especially this one," the squad leader looked the youth up and down, clicking his tongue: "Handsome like a little lady!" After finishing, he looked at Wang Yang and smiled obscenely: "This one is also okay!"

"What are you going to do!" The youth had a bad premonition.

The squad leader had an evil smile: "What to do? You'll know what to 'do' in a while! Our squad leader likes this kind of thing. You are lucky!"

Holy crap!

Wang Yang's brain went "boom," and his scalp felt numb.

In the Middle Ages, male-male relationships were quite popular. Even Murong Chong, the ruler of Western Yan during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, was captured and made a male pet! How could he have forgotten this!

The soldiers burst into laughter when they heard the squad leader's words, while the three Wang Yang were already pale.

The squad leader waved his hand: "Catch them all! Send the two handsomest ones to the squad leader, and leave the sturdy one for the clerk!"

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Note: Even in the Qin Dynasty, where the household registration system was very strict, ID cards were not popularized among the commoner class. The documents similar to ID cards in the Qin Dynasty were called "yan" or "fu," which were only issued when leaving the household registration place or traveling, and their nature was similar to the "travel permit" of this era. So if Wang Yang and the others had traveled directly into the city and said they were locals when asked, they wouldn't have been asked for "physical" proof of identity. ===== CHAPTER 3 =====