Chapter 40: Floating Bridge

Wen Gu spent two days drawing a rough map, including this county and parts of the neighboring county.

Previously, when Wen Gu planned routes, he would deliberately avoid certain main roads.

At this time of year, large families and powerful factions in the South are migrating from south to north one after another, and since his own group is small and weak, they are easily swallowed up if they encounter large teams, or even face murder and robbery.

Now that their numbers have increased, Wen Gu was a bit bolder when planning the route.

Always taking detours and small paths is too exhausting. The roads in this era are quite difficult to travel, so, considering everything, the subsequent journey can choose more routes with main roads or flatter paths. The walking speed will be faster, and the people will be less worn out.

The day before departure, Wen Gu called everyone over.

With more people, they naturally cannot all crowd together, so they were divided into inner and outer circles.

The inner circle, besides Wen Gu and County Lieutenant Zhou, included He Da, Yu Er, and Cheng Zhi.

The others were scattered around the perimeter.

Xiao Liu and Tietou were responsible for keeping watch and staying alert to the surroundings.

Since it made no difference whether they listened or not, they simply took on the guard duty.

In the courtyard, Wen Gu took out the Notebook with the map drawn in it.

"Over these two days, I have formulated three routes based on the information provided by Brother Cheng."

He informed everyone of the advantages and disadvantages of the three routes, letting them participate in making the choice. This was mainly so those in the inner circle would use their brains more.

Of these three routes, the most conservative one is safer, but it also takes longer.

He Da stared at the map on the paper for a while, and seeing that the others were still hesitating, he pointed to the one that took the least time and spoke up first:

"If it were up to me, I'd choose this one; it saves the most time. It's one to two days faster than the other two routes!"

They had scavenged many supplies in the Town, so they had a lot of things to carry on the road.

Saving a day of time means saving a day of energy.

County Lieutenant Zhou also agreed: "With so many of us now, we can handle small dangers, so taking this road is feasible!"

When the others heard this, they all nodded in agreement. With their increased numbers, they could withstand small risks; there was no need to take seven days to arrive if they could do it in five, and they could even save two days' worth of food!

Wen Gu had originally chosen this one too; he waited for everyone to finish speaking and then posed a problem:

"No matter which route we take, we will all face the same difficulty ahead."

He pointed to several arcs in front of the route map.

"Crossing the river!"

The people present were stunned.

"Is that a river ahead?"

"We can't just swim across... hey, no one dares to go into the water to swim now!"

"There should be boats over there, right?"

Wen Gu waited for everyone to discuss it for a moment before continuing:

"That river is quite wide. If it were deep winter, the surface might freeze, and we could walk across directly. But it's still too early for the freezing period, so we need to find a way to cross."

"I also considered this problem when I was planning the routes."

Wen Gu pointed to the very front of the shortest route, where it neared the river.

"This is the County Town of Bailu County, built along the water, and it has a Floating Bridge. A relative of a classmate of Brother Cheng is from Bailu County and once mentioned the Floating Bridge laid there."

He Da glanced at Cheng Zhi quietly.

Cheng Zhi's memory is truly terrifying!

And who knows how his hearing is; if he heard people gossiping behind his back, would he remember it for a lifetime?

From now on, when whispering, one must stay far away from him!

Yu Er asked at this moment: "Didn't we say earlier to stick to Villages and Towns as much as possible and avoid County Towns?"

Especially this County Town built along the river; the county residents draw water from the river, and if their living habits are improper, many must have become possessed.

Wouldn't that just be a monster's nest?

Wen Gu looked at Yu Er with an appreciative gaze, as if praising him for "asking well."

He explained: "Five years ago, there was a plague in Bailu County, and the County Town was also hit. The people there should have more protective awareness and coping experience, and a higher survival rate."

And for a County Town with a high survival rate, either the officials and wealthy families took the survivors north like in Feng County, leaving a few people in the city to fend for themselves.

Or, there are many people in the city, and a closed-off little society has already formed.

"The reason I chose that place is also because there used to be a Floating Bridge."

A so-called Floating Bridge is where beams and planks are laid over boats or wooden crates to form a bridge floating on the water.

"A Floating Bridge requires people to repair and maintain it; if no one maintains it, it will certainly be severely damaged, and the rainy season floods could also wash it away."

"If many people survived in the Bailu County Town, perhaps the Floating Bridge is still there. Even if it has been dismantled now, the components are likely still there, and we can just reassemble them if we want to cross the river. The livestock and vehicles in our team can all walk across."

Wen Gu explained to everyone.

Escaping in such chaotic times, he still hoped that the people in his team would know more, maintain a united front, and not drag their feet.

He Da asked: "If many people survived, the Floating Bridge is still there? Do they need to cross the river too?"

Wen Gu said: "Just in case. If there are many survivors, the person in charge there should have a sense of crisis and keep a path open for heading north. Even if they don't use it themselves, the large families from the South migrating north between late autumn and early spring might need to use it. They could collect a bridge toll."

Hiss—

The people around took a deep breath.

A bridge toll!

They are carrying so many supplies; how much of a bridge toll would they have to pay?

Wen Gu comforted them: "If there is no Floating Bridge and no components, we can think of other ways, like making wooden rafts or bamboo rafts. If there are still ready-made small boats, we can repair them and use them to cross the river. It's just that it would be a bit difficult to load the livestock and vehicles on. Perhaps we might need to give some things up."

The others were silent.

Thanks, they did not feel comforted at all.

He Da's face twisted in heartache. Does that not mean the cargo truck I just got my hands on a few days ago has to be abandoned?

"How about we go take a look first?" he suggested, lacking confidence.

County Lieutenant Zhou also said, "Let's go take a look first; if it really doesn't work out, we can make other choices then."

After crossing the river, the road north is still long, and the livestock and carts will be of great use.

The river must be crossed, and they are also unwilling to abandon the livestock and vehicles.

Almost everyone is praying in their hearts that the Floating Bridge must, absolutely must, still be there!

Wen Gu picked up his brush and marked the route that everyone had voted for:

"Then we shall choose this path. Once we arrive there, if there are many survivors in the city, we must first see how the order inside the city is before choosing whether to enter or not."

Preparing to set off, everyone is packing their things.

Cheng Zhi's mother came out, cradling a divine statue as if it were a treasure.

It was just a two-palm-high, very abstract wooden carving; one could not see clearly what it looked like, and the carving work was quite sloppy.

Qingyi Daozhang glanced over there, let out a scoff, and said nothing more.

County Lieutenant Zhou and Xiao Liu were interested, however.

The Cheng Jia often burn incense, so that wooden carving had already been thoroughly infused with the scent; when moved, it still carried a whiff of incense smoke.

Xiao Liu and County Lieutenant Zhou even wanted to say to put it on our donkey/mule cart.

Unfortunately, the Cheng Jia placed the divine statue on the newly assembled two-wheeled Wooden Board Cart, where the Cheng Jia's luggage and supplies were mainly kept.

After a night of rest, the small team escaping north set off again.

The team now has one more wheelbarrow with a cargo rack and one two-wheeled Wooden Board Cart, and the number of people has increased by five—the four members of the Cheng Jia and the veterinarian Fu Bo.

Important supplies have increased by a fair amount.

A fair amount means that all the carts are piled full, and everyone is also carrying bundles of varying sizes on their backs.

During this stay, in addition to replenishing food and supplies, some weapons and tools were also modified.

Conditions were limited and time was tight, otherwise Wen Gu would have wanted to have the blacksmith Yu forge a few sets of armor.

The good thing is that they found a few pieces of Animal Skin, which can be used to make a few sets of leather protective gear.

The peddler's courtyard was bustling for three or four days in a row, with people going to the Town to scavenge for supplies from time to time.

If there were still survivors hiding in the Town, they would have heard the commotion by now.

Perhaps some people are still hiding secretly, unwilling to come out.

There is no need to force them.

After the Town was cleared, perhaps these survivors feel it is safe enough and are unwilling to leave, lacking the courage. They might even think that even if they left, they wouldn't last much longer, and if they are to die, they would rather die in their own homes, returning to their roots, unwilling to die in a strange land.

Respect their choice.

Wen Gu focused his thoughts on the team.

With carts and livestock to pull them, enough manpower is still needed to protect such important property.

In troubled times, one must guard not only against evil things but also against people.

There are still not enough people!

If there were enough manpower and the animal power could keep up, then a few carts could be specifically set aside to carry bridge-building components.

With more people and increased combat power, there would be no need to specifically probe or avoid; one could simply choose the most convenient path, just like marching, building bridges whenever water is encountered.

Let more people come!

Save me from my "insufficient firepower" anxiety!

Five days later.

They arrived at the location of Bai Lu County as scheduled.

Good news: the Floating Bridge is still there.

Bad news: there are people guarding it.

Good news: the Floating Bridge is outside the city, and there are not many people guarding the bridge.

Bad news: the Floating Bridge is close to the city wall, and there are archers on the city wall.

If we don't pay the bridge toll and try to force our way through, we'll probably be shot into porcupines.

(End of chapter)