TGP : Another Deserted City

Li Amm and the two children had been walking for more than an hour when they finally saw the entrance gate of the next city.

Li Amm looked around. Usually, they were carriages at the side of the gate. They were the workers who wanted to find luck in the middle of the night and earn.

However, there was not even a single carriage at the entrance.

They walked more and enter the city.

Li Amm was stunned. Even it was night, they should be some stalls opened at this hour. And the inns near the entrace of the city should be open and waiting for customers. But not even of one of those inns had opened their lights.

There was no one walking on the streets. The bustling city was nowhere in sight.

Earlier, when she and Xiao Min passed by here, the inns had customers and the vendors were vigorously selling their products on the street despite the cold weather. They even rent a carriage to get in the next city.

But none of the shadows could be seen tonight.

Liamm had goosebumps.

'It was fast.'

The moving had been fast and discreet. Like how they moved the city one way after another. A plague won't affect this city much. If the news of the plague had just reached today, a lot of people won't be able to leave tonight. In this season, people would think twice to travel and abandon their home.

The woman and the children walked in the deserted town.

As they walked Li Amm observed the surrounding. Some homes left their doors opened. Some stalls had not pack fully. The stall where she had bought a roast potato when she passed here earlier even left his two sacks of potatoes. In this winter where food is scarce, who would leave such precious food behind?

Li Amm confirmed it. These people leave in a hurry.

What could have happened? This was entirely different than the other city she had been. At least the people there had been given time to fully pack everything.

'Dugudug'

Loud horse steps were coming in their way. Li Amm's instinct quickly kicked in.

She dragged the two boys to the stall they were near at and hide behind the potato sacks.

After a short while, two horses passed them. The other rider was holding a torch.

The two riders stopped at the entrance then came back again. This time, the two split in opposite directions.

Yun was about to stand up seeing that there's no one around. The children doesn't understand why they were hiding but since the beautiful woman was hiding with them, they followed her silently. However, the ground was too cold for them.

Li Amm quickly pulled him down.

"Not now." She whispered. The sounds of the horse's footsteps came back again. It was the rider who was holding the torch.

Li Amm observe this man.

The rider was wearing a commoner clothes. However, that man had sword on his waist. The sheath of the sword was strikingly familiar. Li Amm had seen them inside the palace. Those were guard swords.

The way the man ride on his horse was not too forced but he look like he was trained. Li Amm have grew up in this world. Only few people had a chance to ride a horse. The man was clearly a military man.

Li Amm quirked her brow.

'A military man disguising as a commoner? Patrolling over a desrtered city? Is it finally happening?'

Li Amm glanced at the two children. It would be bad if they were caught up in something they couldn't afford to face.

"What do you see in your side!" the other man's voice sounded from the other side of the alley.

The man with the torch gave a final glance to the area near them then shouted back to the other man.

"Nothing! How about on your side!" The man move his horse to check the other alley.

"Nothing! Jahin must be confused. There's no one around." The voice of the other man slowly vanished as they went far away from them.

Li Amm helped the two boys to get out of the cold ground. Her legs were numbed and for sure the children felt cold too.

Li Amm looked at the alleys that the two men went into.

Which people are they?

She could not let herself expose and put the children's life at risk just to ask help from people she wasn't sure would help. Who knew if they were given an order to 'shoot to kill' regardless if they were woman and children?

They have to get out of here fast. After this city, was the capital city where the Ren and De household were located at.

But the problem now was how to get out of here?

Li Amm held the children's hand tightly. Based from the conversation of the two men, they have a lookout checking the entrance of the city.

Li Amm's mind quickly ran. The face off must be starting soon. If it started in the dark, anyone in sight was not innocent. They were just enemies or allies. They would be caught. And they would be the first to die.

Li Amm looked down at the two children who looked confusedly at her. They were very behave. They did not ask questions and just followed her silently.

"Yun and Chian. We got a bit of a problem here. I need both of your legs to warm up and ran fast, okay?"

The two sensed the urgency in her voice. They don't know what was happening. But their lives had been in danger many times. They had faced poverty, hunger, illness, the cold, all of it could danger their lives. So they were calm in this situation too. This day would just pass like every other day. The two children nodded.

Li Amm patted their head. Such good children.

She hoped that this two's legs won't give up until they safely crossed this deserted city.