The Frail Scholar at the End of Ancient Times

Chapter 40: Floating Bridge

Chapter 40: Floating Bridge

Chapter 40: Floating Bridge

Wen Gu spent two days drawing a rough map, covering parts of his own county and the neighboring one.

Previously, when Wen Gu planned their route, he deliberately avoided certain main roads.

At this time of year, large families and powerful factions in the southern lands were migrating northward. His group was small and weak, and encountering large teams made them vulnerable to being absorbed, or even robbed and killed.

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

Constantly taking detours and backroads was too tiring. The roads in this era were quite difficult to travel. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, he could choose routes with more main roads or flatter paths for the rest of the journey, which would allow them to travel faster and with less fatigue.

The day before they set off, Wen Gu called everyone over.

With more people, they couldn't all squeeze together, so they were divided into inner and outer circles.

The inner circle included Wen Gu, County Lieutenant Zhou, He Da, Yu Er, and Cheng Zhi.Others were scattered around them.

Little Liu and Tietou were responsible for guarding and keeping an eye on their surroundings.

It didn't make much difference whether they listened or not, so they were assigned the task of guarding the perimeter.

In the courtyard, Wen Gu took out his notebook with the drawn map.

"Over the past two days, I have devised three routes based on the information Brother Cheng provided."

He explained the advantages and disadvantages of each route to everyone, inviting them to participate in the decision-making. The core members of the inner circle were expected to think through the options.

Among the three routes, the most conservative one was safer but also took longer.

He Da stared at the map on the paper for a while. Seeing that others were still hesitant, he pointed to the route that took the shortest time and spoke first, trying to impress:

"If I had to choose, I'd pick this one. It saves the most time. It's one to two days faster than the other two routes!"

They had gathered a lot of supplies from the town and were carrying many things.

Saving one day of travel meant saving one day of effort.

County Lieutenant Zhou also agreed, "With so many of us now, we can handle minor dangers. Taking this route is feasible!"

Upon hearing this, the others nodded in agreement. With their increased numbers, they could afford to take small risks. If they could reach their destination in five days, there was no need to take seven, and they would save two days' worth of food.

Wen Gu had also chosen this route. After everyone had spoken, he posed a new question:

"Regardless of which route we take, we will face the same challenge next."

He pointed to several curved lines ahead on the route map.

"Crossing the river!"

Everyone present was taken aback.

"Is that a river ahead?"

"We can't just swim across... Ugh, swimming is too dangerous now!"

"Is there a boat over there?"

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

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

"I considered this issue when planning the routes."

Wen Gu pointed to the shortest route, near the river at the very front.

"This is Bai Lu County Town, built by the water. There's a floating bridge there. Brother Cheng's classmate's friend is from Bai Lu County, and they once mentioned the floating bridge laid there."

He Da secretly glanced at Cheng Zhi.

Cheng Zhi's memory was truly terrifying!

He wondered about his hearing – if he heard their back-and-forth chirping, would he remember it forever?

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

Yu Er asked at this point, "Didn't we say we should try to go through villages and towns, not county towns?"

Especially a county town built by the river, where the residents would draw water from the river. If their living habits were improper, many would surely become possessed by evil spirits.

Wouldn't that just be a den of monsters?

Wen Gu looked at Yu Er with an appreciative gaze, as if praising him for asking a good question.

He explained, "Five years ago, Bai Lu County experienced a plague, and the county town was also affected. The people there should have a greater awareness of protection and more experience in dealing with such situations, resulting in a higher survival rate."

County towns with such high survival rates either saw officials and wealthy families lead the survivors northward, leaving a small number behind to fend for themselves, like in Feng County.

Or, the town was densely populated and had already formed a closed-off small society.

"The reason for choosing it is also because there used to be a floating bridge."

A floating bridge is constructed by placing beams and planks on top of boats or wooden boxes, forming a bridge that floats on the water.

"A floating bridge requires people to repair and maintain it. If no one maintains it, it will surely be severely damaged, and it might even be washed away by floodwaters during the rainy season."

"If many people survived in Bai Lu County Town, the floating bridge might still be there. Even if it's dismantled now, its components are likely still present, and it can be reassembled to cross the river. Our livestock and vehicles can travel across it."

Wen Gu explained to everyone.

In this chaotic time of survival, he hoped that the people in his group would be more knowledgeable, united, and not drag him down.

He Da asked, "If many people survived, the floating bridge is still there? Will they also be crossing the river?"

Wen Gu replied, "As a precaution. If the number of survivors is large, the person in charge there should have a sense of contingency and leave an escape route northward. Even if they don't use it themselves, the wealthy families from the south migrating north from late autumn to early spring might need it. They could charge a bridge toll."

Hiss—

Everyone around took a deep breath.

A bridge toll!

They were carrying so many supplies, how much would they have to pay in bridge tolls?

Wen Gu comforted them, "If there's no floating bridge, nor any components, we can think of other ways, like making rafts or bamboo rafts. If there are any small boats available, we can repair them and use them to cross the river. However, loading livestock and vehicles onto them would be difficult. We might have to make some sacrifices."

The others fell silent.

Thank you, that was not comforting at all.

He Da's face contorted with heartache. Wasn't that saying his newly acquired large truck would have to be abandoned?

"Perhaps we should go and see first?" he suggested hesitantly.

County Lieutenant Zhou also said, "Let's go and see first. If it doesn't work out, we can make other choices."

After crossing the river, the road north was still far. Livestock and vehicles were very useful.

They had to cross the river, and they were reluctant to give up their livestock and vehicles.

Almost everyone prayed in their hearts, hoping the floating bridge would absolutely, definitely be there!

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

"Then let's choose this path. When we get there, if there are many survivors in the town, we'll first assess the order within the town before deciding whether to enter."

As they prepared to depart, everyone was packing their belongings.

Cheng Zhi's mother carefully brought out the idol.

It was just a palm-sized, very abstract wooden carving, its appearance unclear, with very crude workmanship.

Daoist Master Qingyi glanced at it, scoffed, and said nothing more.

County Lieutenant Zhou and Little Liu, however, paid attention.

The Cheng family often lit incense, and the wooden carving was so permeated with the scent that it carried a faint aroma of incense smoke when moved.

Little Liu and County Lieutenant Zhou wanted to suggest placing it on their donkey/mule carts.

Unfortunately, the Cheng family placed the idol on a newly assembled double-wheeled wooden cart. The Cheng family's luggage and supplies were mainly placed there.

After resting for a night, the northward survival team set off again.

The team now had an added cargo rack on a wheelbarrow and a double-wheeled wooden cart. The number of personnel had increased by five – the Cheng family of four and the veterinarian Uncle Fu.

Several important supplies were also added.

"Several" meant their carts were piled high, and everyone also carried bundles of varying sizes on their backs.

During this stop, in addition to replenishing food and supplies, they had also modified some of their weapons and tools.

Due to limited conditions and tight schedules, otherwise, Wen Gu would have wanted Blacksmith Yu to forge some armor.

Fortunately, they found a few pieces of animal hide, which could be used to make some leather protective gear.

The courtyard of the peddler had been bustling for three to four consecutive days, with people occasionally going into town to search for supplies.

If there were still survivors hidden in the town, they had likely heard the commotion.

Perhaps some people still remained hidden, unwilling to come out.

There was no need to force them.

After the town was cleared, perhaps these survivors felt safe enough and were unwilling to leave, lacking the courage to do so. They might even believe they wouldn't last much longer even if they left, preferring to die in their homeland, returning to their roots, and unwilling to die in a foreign land.

Their choice was respected.

Wen Gu focused his attention on the team.

With carts and draft animals, they still needed enough manpower to protect such valuable assets.

In chaotic times, they had to guard not only against evil creatures but also against people.

The personnel were still not enough!

If they had enough manpower and sufficient animal power, they could dedicate several carts specifically to carrying bridge-building components.

With more people and increased combat power, they wouldn't need to deliberately test or evade. They could simply choose the most convenient path and build bridges over water, just like marching troops.

Wish for more people!

To save me from my "insufficient firepower" phobia!

Five days later.

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

Good news: the floating bridge was still there.

Bad news: it was guarded.

Good news: the floating bridge was outside the town walls, and not many people were guarding it.

Bad news: the floating bridge was close to the city wall, and there were archers on the wall.

If they didn't pay the bridge toll and tried to force their way across, they would probably be shot like porcupines.

(End of this chapter)