The rest of the prisoners escaped using the keys handed to them.
In the end, only nine people remained. Skinny Monkey and the burly man who ate the rats raw were among them.
Song Jingchen glanced at the nine people and said, “Follow me.”
Although he wanted to bring Shen Yijia to the town to look for a doctor, he knew that in this current situation, the shops in the town would not be open unless they wanted to be ransacked.
He could only bring the group back to Xiagou Village.
Fortunately, it was already late in the evening. Otherwise, Xiagou Village would have been in an uproar.
This was because Song Jingchen’s legs had recovered, and because the nine people behind him were all dressed in tattered clothes and covered in dirt. Their hair was all clumpy and messy.
Anyone could smell the sour smell coming from them from afar. The nine of them smelled like walking toilets. They were worse than beggars.
The unconscious Shen Yijia couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose and bury her face in Song Jingchen’s arms.
It was unknown how Song Jingchen managed to remain calm.
As for Furball, it had already run ten steps ahead of the nine of them.
Furball leaned towards the door and growled. The courtyard door immediately opened.
Lin Shao stuck his head out and saw that Song Jingchen had returned with Shen Yijia in his arms. He quickly opened the courtyard door and let them in.
He took a wary step back when he saw who was following.
“Let them in,” Song Jingchen said. He carried Shen Yijia and prepared to go to the backyard.
“Brother Chen.” Madam Li walked out of the central room with tears in her eyes.
Seeing that her son was indeed standing, she covered her mouth and sobbed.
She had never thought this day would come.
During dinner, she asked Lin Shao where Song Jingchen and Shen Yijia had gone.
Lin Shao felt extremely guilty and worried that something would happen to Shen Yijia. He could only tell her everything.
At that time, apart from worrying about Shen Yijia, she couldn’t believe that Song Jingchen had really stood up.
Now that she had seen it for herself, she could no longer suppress it.
“Mother, Jiajia is injured. I’ll bring her back to her room first. Please bring some hot water over. We’ll talk about the rest later.” Song Jingchen knew why Madam Li was crying, but he was focused on Shen Yijia and was in no mood to say anything else.
“Right, I’ll go now.” Madam Li looked at the person in Song Jingchen’s arms and realized that she had lost her composure. She quickly wiped her tears and went to the kitchen to boil some water.
Song Jingchen looked at her back and suddenly asked, “Who else knows about me standing up?”
It took Lin Shao a moment to react. He quickly shook his head. “I didn’t tell anyone except Madam Li.”
Song Jingchen nodded and said, “Don’t let anyone else in the family know about this for the time being.”
Madam Li knew how serious this matter was, so she probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.
After saying that, he looked at the nine people. “From tomorrow onwards, I’ll be a person with crippled legs. If anyone dares to reveal this…”
Song Jingchen’s gaze turned cold as he scanned the nine people.
Skinny Monkey and the others felt a chill down their spines and hurriedly lowered their heads in agreement. They were all extremely curious about Song Jingchen’s identity.
To have such courage, but to live in the countryside and pretend to be a cripple, they seemed to have followed an extraordinary person.
At this moment, they did not know that their choice today had completely changed their lives.
All of that would come later.
Song Jingchen took a few steps and wrinkled his nose. “Lin Shao, bring them to take a shower.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the stomachs of the nine people suddenly rumbled.
Song Jingchen paused and said, “Take out some food and let them cook it themselves.”
With that, he ignored them and carried Shen Yijia back to her room.
Madam Li had placed a charcoal brazier in the room in advance. It was warm.
Song Jingchen placed Shen Yijia on the couch. Her lips were dry and her face was red. She was obviously not in a good state.
Song Jingchen reached out and touched her forehead. It was hot.
His heart tightened. Thinking that Shen Yijia’s clothes were drenched, he quickly helped her untie her outer robe.
At this moment, he realized that one of Shen Yijia’s sleeves had been cut open and was stained with blood.
Song Jingchen’s eyes darkened. He tore open the cloth, but there was no wound inside. He thought of something and heaved a sigh of relief.
When he continued to undo her outer clothes, he paused. He felt like he was taking advantage of her.
However, he had no choice. In the end, Song Jingchen thought of a compromise and found a black cloth to cover his eyes.
He couldn’t see with the black cloth around his eyes, but perhaps that was worse than being able to see.
After helping Shen Yijia change her clothes, Song Jingchen was already sweating.
Although he was blindfolded, he could not ignore the feeling on his hands. Thinking of the touch just now, his ears turned red and he did not dare to look at Shen Yijia.
“Water…” Shen Yijia suddenly muttered.
Song Jingchen came back to his senses and quickly helped Shen Yijia to lean against him. He poured a glass of water and brought it to her lips.
However, the person who had just asked for water gritted her teeth tightly and water slid down the corners of her mouth.
Song Jingchen was worried that he would wet her clothes again, so he could only give up on this idea.
Looking at her dry lips, Song Jingchen gritted his teeth and drank the water, feeding it to her using his mouth.
Feeling something cold slide into her mouth, Shen Yijia subconsciously swallowed it.
After a while, the cold thing seemed to want to retreat. Shen Yijia panicked.
She hadn’t drunk enough. How could it run away? She gritted her teeth and tried to keep it there.
Song Jingchen gasped in pain. All his thoughts were gone.
Song Jingchen looked at the culprit, but she wasn’t awake at all.
Song Jingchen smiled bitterly. If he was any slower, he would have gone from a cripple to a mute when Shen Yijia bit his tongue.
While Shen Yijia was smacking her lips, Song Jingchen helped her up and poured her a cup of water.
This time, Shen Yijia finally finished it obediently. Song Jingchen didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or glad.
There was a knock on the door. Madam Li and Lin Shao entered with a bucket of hot water.
After delivering the water, Lin Shao went back to his room to rest. Too many things had happened today, and he had been worried the entire day.
After spending so much time together, he had long seen the importance of Shen Yijia in this family. If anything happened to Shen Yijia because of him, he would probably be blamed.
Seeing Song Jingchen bring Shen Yijia back, he heaved a sigh of relief and was worried that Song Jingchen would chase the siblings away.
After all, he had made a promise in the beginning.
He also knew that he should have taken the initiative to leave, but he really couldn’t bear to. He would miss living here.
Tears came to Lin Shao’s eyes as he thought about it. He buried his face in the pillow, covered his head with the blanket, and sobbed softly.
No matter how sensible and calm he was usually, he was still a twelve-year-old child.
Looking at Shen Yijia, who had become much more haggard after not seeing her for only half a day, Madam Li’s eyes turned red again. She grasped Shen Yijia’s hand and said, “Sister Jia, she…”
