"I’ll go with you."
Lu Tong was stunned for a mont, thinking she had heard wrong.
"Didn’t catch that?" he glanced at her, "I said, I’ll accompany you."
Lu Tong’s brows knitted together.
This year, heavy snows had blanketed Su Nan City, closing the mountain passes, and indeed, the journey to Luoi Peak was dangerous. Li Wenhu’s concerns were not unfounded. Had the situation not been urgent, she would not have set out at this ti.
Pei Yunng often traveled outside and would surely be even more aware of the situation. She had expected him to speak out against her going, but she never imagined he would offer to go with her.
"Are you going to stand there forever?"
Pei Yunng tilted his head, reminding her, "In a little while, once the other dical officers wake up, you won’t be able to leave."
Lu Tong: "..."
His words were, in fact, true.
If they reported her to Chang Jin, he would certainly stop her.
She stared at Pei Yunng for a mont. He nonchalantly let her scrutinize him, and, finding herself at a loss, Lu Tong turned away and headed forward briskly: "Let’s go."
Pei Yunng’s eyebrows lifted, seeming to find great pleasure in her irritated deanor. He leisurely caught up to her and took the carryall and bamboo basket from her hands.
Lu Tong turned back, trying to tug them away without success, "I can carry them myself."
"Doctor Lu." He sidestepped Lu Tong’s hand and lifted his chin, gesturing toward the distant mountain peaks.
"The mountain paths are rugged, the snow deep and slippery, and no horse can make the journey. It looks like you plan to walk up the mountain," he said.
"Carrying all this, do you really think you’re a beast of burden?"
His words seed caring, but they didn’t sound very pleasant. Lu Tong retorted sarcastically, "I am very strong. Even the Marshal knows I’ve practiced killing and burying a corpse."
"All the more reason to save your energy," Pei Yunng conceded smoothly, "we’re not at the point of using force yet."
Lu Tong: "..."
She had nothing to say to this man.
Fortunately, although Pei Yunng had taken a lot of the heavy items, he had not presumptuously taken her dical box. As they were about to pass the Plague Hospital, Lu Tong pulled on Pei Yunng’s sleeve. He looked back, and Lu Tong pointed to another small path not far from the Plague Hospital.
"Let’s take this path," Lu Tong whispered, "to avoid being spotted by others."
Being discovered by the dical officers would lead to another round of wrangling. Li Wenhu was right in a way; it was indeed not a good idea to involve others in a dangerous venture. It would have been even better if she didn’t have this person following her.
Pei Yunng glanced at her and said nothing, allowing her to pull his sleeve and enter the small alley.
That alley was at a distance from the Plague Hospital, so the guards would not notice.
Lu Tong walked on, constantly looking back towards the Plague Hospital and trying to make her silhouette as inconspicuous as possible.
Pei Yunng watched her movents and suddenly chuckled.
Lu Tong was puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"
"Actually, even if we were discovered, if I wanted to take you up the mountain, they wouldn’t stop us," he said with a smirk:
"Instead, it’s your sneaking around like this that’s suspicious. If soone unfamiliar with the situation saw us, they’d think we were eloping behind everyone’s backs."
Lu Tong paused, her gaze falling on her fingers that were tugging at his sleeve.
A man and a woman, with dubious intentions, moving stealthily and cautiously—if seen by others now, they indeed appeared as if they were engaging in a guilty affair without a matchmaker.
But that sounded sowhat familiar to her.
It seed that when they first t at night in the dical Officer Institute, Pei Yunng had said sothing similar to her.
Suddenly, Lu Tong let go of his hand and said coldly, "The Marshal is overthinking it."
He straightened his sleeves, speaking unhurriedly, "After all, I am not yet betrothed, and my reputation matters."
Lu Tong held back her desire to curse, swallowed her words, and turned to continue forward: "Let’s go."
...
Dawn was gradually breaking.
The Plague-Preventing Incense in the dical officers’ quarters had been changed for a new batch, and Lin Danqing rubbed her hands and shrank her neck as she knocked on the door. After a long silence and a firm push, the door swung open.
She entered, calling, "Younger Sister Lu!"
There was no one in the room.
A piece of paper lay on the table. Lin Danqing glanced at it casually, then her expression suddenly changed. The next mont, she burst out of the quarters, holding the paper aloft and shouting, "Chief Physician, Chief Physician is in trouble!"
Chang Jin was on his way to the Plague Hospital when Lin Danqing’s shout startled him: "What’s happened, what’s happened?"
"Doctor Lu has gone up the mountain!" Lin Danqing almost slapped the note on Chang Jin’s face, "Early this morning, she went off by herself!"
"What?"
Chang Jin startled, and upon seeing the note left by Lu Tong, his face turned white with panic, "How could Doctor Lu go to the mountain alone!"
In fact, Lu Tong had previously ntioned the idea of going up the mountain to him, but the locals Cai Fang and Li Wenhu had warned them of the danger of the Luoi snow mountain, with its easy ascent but difficult descent, and repeatedly admonished them not to enter the mountain rashly. Lu Tong had also been present at that ti.
Lu Tong was usually the most rational and calm. Why had she lost her senses today?
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