Chapter 93: The Mouse Out of the Hole

Boom, boom, boom—crash!

Qin Xiangnuan, exhausted from a long day's work, finally had a break. She leaned her head against the damp rock wall for a light nap, but was suddenly awakened by a series of rustling noises. She nervously looked towards the source of the sound and saw several men from the general's mansion waving sticks and stones at the snow-covered cave entrance with strange expressions. Some, frantically, raised their heads and kicked the unstable entrance, "Let me out! Let me get out of here!"

"Damn it, how many more days do I have to stay here? I'd rather be killed by those people than be trapped here to death!"

Long periods without seeing the sun, and no way of knowing how quickly time passes, were enough to make people feel psychologically broken. Qin Xiangnuan frowned, about to offer some words of comfort, when Qin Yi approached. "The snow on Phoenix Mountain won't fall forever; it will eventually melt, right? We have enough to eat and drink now, and it's like living a secluded life in the mountains. There's nothing wrong with that."

"You've been digging for too long. It's Feng'er and I's turn to continue. Go get some sleep and rest!"

Qin Yi was at least considered a man of influence and authority in the Qin household. Seeing him appear, the men's emotions finally calmed down a bit, but there was still a dark rage between their brows. It was only temporarily suppressed; if they couldn't find a way out, it would definitely explode again.

Qin Xiangnuan frowned and looked around, trying to find some leverage.

The avalanche had caused more trouble than just what they had seen. Qin Xiangnuan's analysis indicated that not only would the path to the cave entrance be completely blocked, but even if it could be dug through, the path leading down the mountain would be inaccessible. When the snowdrifts had buried her, Qin Xiangnuan had seen the steep path blocked by fallen tree trunks. Even if she could escape, she would have to find another way.

If it were just her, everything would be fine.

But there are so many elderly, weak, women and children in the general's mansion. What should they do? Qin Xiangnuan sighed and unconsciously rubbed her palms with her thumbs, thinking of a solution. While she was distracted, she heard Zou's scream in the corner. She jumped up in fright, shaking her clothes. If there were no other men present, she would have taken off her coat.

Zou's face turned pale and her whole body was shaking like a sieve. She stretched out a finger and pointed at the dark corner of the ground.

Her unusual behavior made everyone else nervous, and all eyes were focused on the darkness. "Second Madam, what's wrong? Did you see something unclean?" In this kind of environment, the most frightening thing is panic. If people can't calm down, they can easily get sick. Qin Xiangnuan hurried over, wanting to step forward to see what it was.

"Don't go! Nuannuan."

Zou tugged at Qin Xiangnuan's arm, her lips already bloodless. She swallowed hard, shook her head, and tried to clear the memory from her mind. "A rat as long as my arm! I've never seen such a scary rat before! Oh my God..."

It is not uncommon for damp and dark places to breed insects such as rats and cockroaches.

Hearing her say this, everyone around couldn't help but sigh in relief. Compared to the fear of the unknown, this kind of known danger, which had been seen before, was not a serious matter. Qin Feng saw his mother's face pale with fear, and immediately picked up the wooden stick on the ground and walked towards the corner. "It's just a rat, just kill it! It must be the smell of our rice and flour that attracted it here."

"We don't even have enough to eat, yet you want a piece of the pie. How can that be justified?"

Qin Feng raised his stick high, about to strike the fat rat, when Qin Yi and Qin Xiangnuan shouted simultaneously, "Stop!" "Hold on!" Qin Feng braked suddenly, nearly flinging himself out. The rat, nibbling on a piece of fat meat, stopped moving at the same chorus of their voices. It stood upright, its tail resting on the ground. Its dark, bean-like eyes turned back to cautiously stare at Qin Feng, who was so close, clearly ready to flee at any moment.

"Just grab it, don't scare it..."

Qin Xiangnuan whispered closer, but the moment she moved, the rat scurried away along the stone wall, disappearing quickly. "Little sister, why didn't you let me kill it?" Qin Feng, a young man living in the capital, didn't have much knowledge in this area. Naturally, he didn't know that in deep pits and underground, rats acted like guardians. Forget killing them; even providing them with a little food wouldn't be excessive.

"The mouse knows this environment best. There's no food in the cave, yet it can survive and grow so fat. It must have a way to get out to Phoenix Mountain to find food. Follow it, find it, and maybe we can find a way out." Qin Yi saw that Qin Xiangnuan didn't answer for a long time, and stared at her with some confusion. "This is what my eldest brother told me when we went out to fight."

"They fell into a trap during their march and couldn't get out of the mountains. They only managed to survive thanks to a few rats who found a depression in the ground and dug a tunnel." Qin Feng nodded in sudden realization after Qin Yi finished speaking. He turned to look at Qin Xiangnuan with curiosity in his eyes and asked, "Sister, you must have heard about this from your uncle, so that's why you stopped me, right?"

No, Qin Guang dotes on his daughter very much, and he would never mention the bloody storm outside to the original owner.

Every time he returned victorious, Qin Guang would bathe and change clothes to wash off the blood and the earthy smell of the battlefield before hugging the original owner. The original owner was timid by nature, so Qin Guang naturally wouldn't tell her about rats or anything like that, fearing that he wouldn't have time to tell her some heartwarming stories. Qin Yi knew this very well, so he didn't speak, just waiting for Qin Xiangnuan's answer. The shrewdness and scrutiny in those eyes made Qin Xiangnuan's mind work rapidly.

She thought of the reason and smiled faintly, "Dad never told me."

"I just feel that we're trapped here, and we share the same fate as that rat. I wouldn't even think of killing it, so I'd consider it a way of accumulating some virtue for us, that's all." Qin Xiangnuan lowered her head, adjusting the ribbons on her skirt with her hands. "Besides, if we kill it, its blood could easily bring about plague and disaster. This is documented in medical books, and it's never a good thing. I don't think as far ahead as my second uncle..."

After Qin Xiangnuan finished speaking, she suddenly looked up at the dark fork in the road, "But we can definitely look for it."

"Except for the two forks in the road, the left and the middle, none of us has ever been to the one on the right!"

Qin Xiangnuan had a premonition that the way out was right there! Her words inspired the people in the general's mansion, and everyone's eyes lit up.