“So how is it now? There’s a grain shop just ahead — should we buy some grain first?” Qiao Mu slowed her pace, waiting for Feng Jiu’er behind her.

“Go ask around. If we can buy some, get a little.” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand. “We’ve had it too easy this whole way — be careful.”

“Alright.” Qiao Mu nodded and strode forward.

Feng Jiu’er looked at Jian Yi beside her and said quietly, “Jian Yi, my safety isn’t the concern. You focus on protecting Qiao Mu.”

“Alright.” Jian Yi nodded in response.

Qiao Mu walked into a grain shop, took a turn around, and grabbed a handful of rice from one of the sacks.

“Shopkeeper, give me two shi of rice.” Being new to the area, Qiao Mu didn’t dare ask for too much.

But unexpectedly, the shopkeeper came over and stared at her. “What did you say? How much?”

Qiao Mu set down the rice in her hand and looked up, noticing something off in the shopkeeper’s gaze.

She gave a light cough and said flatly, “One shi. Give me one shi of rice.”

“One shi? Why so much? Which town are you from?” The shopkeeper eyed her warily.

“What’s the matter? Don’t want to make money off me?” Qiao Mu frowned.

“The county magistrate said each person can only buy one jun of rice per visit this month. You want a whole shi? Could it be you’re not from this county?”

The shopkeeper’s voice carried, drawing over two young men from inside the shop.

Sensing trouble, Qiao Mu quickly caught herself. “Oh? You said one jun? I thought you said one shi?”

“There are eight mouths to feed at home, one jun won’t last long, but — well, if the magistrate says one jun, then one jun it is. I’ll come back in a couple of days.”

“My husband didn’t explain it clearly to me — there’s quite a difference between one jun and one shi.”

Qiao Mu met the shopkeeper’s gaze, offering an apologetic smile. “Sorry! I didn’t hear you right.”

“If it weren’t for my husband being busy, I wouldn’t have had to come out myself. One jun it is then — please wrap it up, that’ll last a few days at least.”

With that, she turned and walked further into the shop.

“Along this whole road, your shop’s rice has been the best. I was hoping to get more, but I didn’t realize there was a limit.”

Seeing Qiao Mu’s calm demeanor, the shopkeeper relaxed.

He looked at one of the young men and waved a hand. “Go on, pack one jun of rice for this lady.”

“Yes, sir.” The young man nodded and went to fetch a cloth sack.

Qiao Mu walked around the shop, and by the time she came back out, a young man was already filling the sack with rice.

“By the way, shopkeeper, do you know why the magistrate set this limit on buying rice this month?”

“I heard some Japanese pirates got into the city. To keep them from making off with our grain, the magistrate set this rule.” the shopkeeper said quietly.

“And the magistrate also ordered that anyone who comes in wanting two or three shi of grain at once is to be arrested on the spot.”

“I imagine the magistrate’s hoping to flush out and drive away the pirates quickly on one hand, and on the other, our rice harvest this year might not have been great either.”

“I see, that makes sense.” Qiao Mu nodded. “Then can I still get some flour? Is there a limit on that too?”

“Flour’s capped at one jun too, can’t get more than that.” the shopkeeper replied.

“Alright, I’ll take one jun then.” Qiao Mu waved a hand and grabbed a handful of dried noodles as well.

“Shopkeeper, give me one jun of noodles too. Ugh, my husband hurt his foot, so these days it’s mostly me running around, what a hassle.”

“Sure thing.” the shopkeeper nodded.

After about a quarter of an hour inside, Qiao Mu came out carrying two large cloth sacks.

Rice, flour, beans — anything that could fill a stomach, she’d gotten it all.

Qiao Mu glanced ahead and saw Jian Yi standing guard not far off, and walked over to him.

“Where did Jiu’er go?”

Jian Yi glanced back, his gaze settling on the street ahead.

As he started to move, Qiao Mu said quietly, “The magistrate’s limited how much grain people can buy — one jun per person per visit.”

“I’ve already bought a bit of everything here. It’s not convenient to keep going forward with this, so I’ll bring this load back to where we landed first.”

“You go watch over Jiu’er. I can manage going back alone.”

Before she’d even finished speaking, Qiao Mu had already turned back.

“This little bit won’t go far in filling so many of the brothers’ stomachs.”

Qiao Mu muttered to herself, continuing on, when she suddenly noticed someone following behind her.

She caught a faintly familiar scent of breath and the sound of footsteps, and glanced back. “Why didn’t you stay with Jiu’er?”

“She told me to protect you.” Jian Yi said quietly.

Seeing his expressionless face, Qiao Mu knew immediately that he wasn’t following of his own will.

“I don’t need your protection. But with Jian Yi gone, Zhao Yusheng should still be fine.”

“If you really must follow me, go buy some grain too — that’ll save me a trip.”

Jian Yi nodded, glanced aside, and walked toward the grain shop.

“Did you bring money?” Qiao Mu asked quietly.

Jian Yi said nothing, not even slowing his pace.

Qiao Mu felt a flicker of impatience but there was nothing to be done — she’d just come out of that very shop herself, and going back now wasn’t an option.

She wasn’t sure if Jian Yi understood what she meant, but she hoped he wouldn’t let anything slip.

Fortunately, Jian Yi didn’t disappoint her. In less than a quarter of an hour, he came out carrying even more grain than Qiao Mu had.

What’s more, there was no one suspicious trailing behind him.

Standing by the road, Qiao Mu raised an eyebrow and turned to walk on.

Jian Yi paid it no mind and followed a short distance behind her.

The two of them, like strangers passing on the street, soon left the busy avenue behind.

Feng Jiu’er and Zhao Yusheng walked the entire length of the bustling commercial street without finding anything amiss, and had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Zhao Yusheng had used the method from the book to modify the compass — as long as the formation was within a mile’s radius, the compass would sense it.

It was a slightly better method than searching blindly for a needle in a haystack, though it still wasn’t very practical to use.

But for the sake of getting the brothers something to fill their stomachs, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep searching.

Past noon, Feng Jiu’er’s stomach began to rumble.

Zhao Yusheng glanced back, and out of the corner of his eye spotted a food stall nearby.

“Why don’t we go in and get something to eat first.” he said, withdrawing his gaze. “I know the brothers are all going hungry.”

“But they wouldn’t want the person they respect most to go hungry too. Let’s go in, we’ll just take a little time.”

Zhao Yusheng gave Feng Jiu’er no chance to object, taking her hand and leading her into the food stall.

Soon, a waiter came up to greet them. “What would you two like to order?”

Zhao Yusheng had Feng Jiu’er sit down and took a seat himself, ordering a few dishes Feng Jiu’er liked that were also easy to prepare.

The waiter left, and Zhao Yusheng set down the compass, pouring Feng Jiu’er a cup of tea.

“Drink up. The waiter said it won’t be long now.”