Chapter 31 The next morning, the two left the town…
The next morning, the two returned home after selling steamed buns in town.
Zhu Mingyue specially bought needles and thread and sewed a shoulder bag for herself using scraps of fabric. It was a bit ugly, but very sturdy.
It contained a water bag and lunch rations, making quite a grand setup, much like a school field trip for elementary school students in later generations.
The mountains and forests, just entering spring, had not yet completely shed their desolate appearance. A spring rain had fallen last night, and the ground was covered with damp, withered leaves that had not yet had time to decompose, rustling underfoot. Zhu Mingyue treaded lightly to avoid splashing her cloth shoes with the seeping water.
He followed closely behind Xie Pei, climbing up the mountain path until he reached the halfway point, when Zhu Mingyue could no longer go on.
Zhu Mingyue, leaning over and supporting herself on her thighs, said breathlessly, "How about we take a break?"
Xie Pei stopped and stood sideways beside the tree trunk, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
Zhu Mingyue found a relatively clean spot, squatted down casually, and took out a water pouch from her small shoulder bag: "Would you like some?"
Xie Pei shook his head and refused.
Zhu Mingyue drank almost half of it in one go before she felt better.
This mountain was completely different from what he had imagined. There wasn't even a proper path; the trails they were on were ones Xie Pei had painstakingly carved out over the years, making the journey arduous and strenuous. The surrounding thickets of thorns were endless, and he was now thankful that he was sensitive to the cold and had worn thick clothes on the way. While he felt a brief pang of distress when his clothes tore, he felt both heartache and physical pain when his skin was scraped.
Having rested enough, he prepared to get up and continue his journey, but as soon as he stood up, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and everything went black.
Oh no! This damn low blood sugar! He instinctively groped for anything around him to support him, but was grabbed by a pair of hands that appeared out of nowhere.
Xie Pei's hands were rough but strong, covered with thick calluses and cracked old wounds, which pricked one's palms slightly, yet inexplicably made one feel at ease.
The dizziness came and went quickly; in no time, Zhu Mingyue regained her senses and sheepishly let go of her hand.
"Thank you!" Zhu Mingyue said gratefully to Xie Pei.
No sooner had she finished speaking than a gray shadow swept past from behind the thickets with lightning speed, catching Zhu Mingyue's eye out of the corner of her eye.
He pointed to the spot and said nervously, "Xie Pei, it looks like something ran past from that direction."
Turning his head, Xie Pei had clearly already noticed, gripping the axe tightly, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's as he stared at the spot he was pointing to.
Zhu Mingyue didn't dare to disturb him, so she immediately fell silent and stood still.
A faint rustling sound came from the bushes; he couldn't hear it clearly, but it was probably the noise made by that thing.
Xie Pei finally moved, pulling him back a few steps and whispering, "Don't run around. No matter what happens, wait for me here."
Zhu Mingyue nodded obediently, having promised Xie Pei that he would obey him in everything on the mountain.
After giving the order, Xie Pei rushed into the bushes without looking back. Zhu Mingyue watched his voice fade into the distance, put her hands in her pockets, and was in a good mood. She was wondering what Xie Pei would bring back later.
It should be a gray rabbit! Zhu Mingyue thought about it more and more and it seemed to make sense, after all, it was gray and it moved incredibly fast on the ground. It could also be a roe deer, but the robe didn't seem that small.
Rabbit is fine. I'll stir-fry some spicy rabbit cubes with lots of seasoning tonight. It'll be delicious. He hasn't had it in ages.
He was standing at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Xie Pei, just enough to vaguely see the other's back. Seeing that Xie Pei seemed to have stopped moving again, he was a little puzzled and wanted to take a few steps forward to take a look. Just as he was about to move his foot forward, he remembered what Xie Pei had said to him, and decided it was better not to move.
He was standing at first, but after a while his legs started to ache unbearably, so he sat down against the tree roots behind him. After sitting for a while, he started to feel sleepy and began to doze off with his head down.
Half-asleep, Zhu Mingyue seemed to hear footsteps approaching from afar. She groggily opened her eyes and saw that Xie Pei had returned. She quickly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and got up to greet him.
Xie Pei casually tossed the bag on the ground and held out his hand to him: "Water."
Zhu Mingyue handed him the water, but her eyes lit up as she stared at the burlap sack on the ground: "Is he still alive? Can I take a look?"
Xie Pei wiped the sweat from his forehead and calmly replied, "He's dead. You can go see him if you're not afraid."
"I'm not afraid at all," Zhu Mingyue quickly retorted.
Afraid? What would he be afraid of a rabbit? He wouldn't be afraid of a dead one, or even a living one. You really underestimate him. He's no longer a delicate flower in a greenhouse; why would he be afraid of a rabbit? Besides, little rabbits are so cute!
"Little bunny, open the door..." Zhu Mingyue hummed a cheerful nursery rhyme, smiling as she untied the rope at the top of the sack and bent down to peek her head into the bag.
"I won't open it, I won't open it! Mom hasn't come back, I won't let anyone else come!" Zhu Mingyue's tone suddenly changed, and she screamed so hard that her voice cracked.
"What's wrong?" Xie Pei quickly stepped forward and snatched the sack from his hands. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the snake in the sack was completely dead and did not reflexively attack anyone. At the same time, he looked at Zhu Mingyue with a puzzled expression.
Zhu Mingyue staggered back a full three feet before finally stopping, seemingly stunned into a daze, muttering "Holy crap" repeatedly.
"Didn't you say you weren't afraid of the Qi snake?" Xie Pei asked helplessly. He had tied the bag tightly beforehand, but Zhu Mingyue insisted on seeing it and even said that she wasn't afraid. Could it be that he was hallucinating?
Zhu Mingyue finally escaped from fear, but when he looked up, he saw Xie Pei staring at him with a look of confusion on his face.
A wave of overwhelming shame washed over her, and Zhu Mingyue lowered her head, covering her face. Sobbing sounds escaped from between her fingers.
Xie Pei: ...Why are you crying again?
Xie Pei kicked the bag, his tone revealing a barely perceptible panic and helplessness: "This snake is really dead."
Does it matter if the snake is dead or alive? In his imagination, the little gray rabbit turned into a coiled five-step snake. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have almost reached in and had a close encounter with the snake.
He has been terrified of snakes since he was a child. When he was six years old, he once faced off against a snake that was about to cross the road for several tens of minutes. The snake stood upright and stared at him. In the end, Zhu Mingyue was so scared that he peed on the ground and the snake crawled away on its own. Since then, snakes have become his lifelong trauma.
Now you're telling him that this shadow is so close to him and it's also highly poisonous, who wouldn't be devastated if they saw it!
Most importantly, Xie Pei saw his pathetic state and, though he didn't say anything to his face, he was definitely laughing at him for being a coward!
Zhu Mingyue cried even louder when she thought of this.
Half an hour later,
Xie Pei’s slightly weary voice rang out from the woods: “So all you wanted was a gray rabbit, nothing more?”
Zhu Mingyue said matter-of-factly, "Yes! I just wanted a gray rabbit to make spicy rabbit stew for dinner. Actually, I'm not that afraid of snakes. It's just that it didn't meet my expectations, you understand, right?"
No, he didn't understand. Even Xie Pei, usually so composed, twitched his lips slightly. He could never fathom why Zhu Mingyue was crying—it was because he hadn't caught a gray rabbit.
The Qi snake is a valuable commodity; just one sold to a pharmacy is worth two months' wages for an average family. Unless you're incredibly lucky today, you'd rarely encounter one. In comparison, rabbits aren't rare; they're everywhere, and with enough skill, you can usually catch one.
He thought he would be very happy after such a fruitful trip, but he didn't expect her to still cry...
After understanding the reason for the matter, Xie Pei said no more, got up and walked into the depths of the forest, saying, "I'm going to catch a rabbit."
Zhu Mingyue sniffed and forced a smile: "I want the gray one."
Xie Pei paused for a moment, then walked away without looking back.
Gray rabbits are better at hiding than white rabbits. After Xie Pei caught two white rabbits, he finally spotted a gray rabbit. With a swift stroke of his knife, the gray rabbit instantly became a victim of his axe.
Zhu Mingyue wasn't idle either. While wandering around the area, he discovered a patch of ground covered with dense, creeping lichen.
He had eaten this twice. Every time after the rainy season, there would be scattered roadside vegetable vendors selling it. They didn't sell much and it was very cheap. If he was lucky enough to come across it, he would buy some to stir-fry with eggs. It tasted extremely delicious, but it was not easy to prepare.
The ground was covered in mud and weeds, and it would take a lot of effort to clean it to a edible state, so he hesitated.
But then I thought, since we can't eat this every day, it's still worth picking a whole basinful to try.
Just then, Xie Pei returned with the rabbit. He waved from a distance of more than ten meters, signaling the other party to come over quickly.
"Xie Pei, look! There are so many wild vegetables here!"
Xie Pei looked at the ground, frowned, and asked, "Can this be eaten?"
"Sure! Let's pick some and take them home to fry with eggs tonight."
Xie Pei had doubts about whether the dense, dark patch of grass was edible, but ultimately chose to trust Zhu Mingyue.
Zhu Mingyue was squatting on the ground picking lichen when a sudden thought struck her and she asked, "Xie Pei, have you ever seen mushrooms when you go up the mountain?"
Xie Pei picked off the broken leaves, leaving only the clean lichen, and threw it into his basket. Then he said truthfully, "I've seen it. Some are edible, some are not. A family in the village ate it by mistake and lost it all." After saying that, he gave Zhu Mingyue a meaningful look, as if advising him to give up the idea as soon as possible.
Zhu Mingyue felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. This place was indeed different from later generations. While there were similar sayings about dying from eating poisonous mushrooms, advanced medical care meant that with timely medical treatment, few people actually suffered serious consequences. But here, eating something bad was practically a death sentence.
Well, there are so many other things to eat, he won't be greedy for that one bite.
After picking the lichen, the two rested for a while before heading down the mountain after noon. Zhu Mingyue wanted to go to the other side of the mountain, but Xie Pei said that the other side was shady and infested with poisonous insects, and that if they were not careful, they would be bitten, which could result in rotting flesh or even death.
Zhu Mingyue thought of the five-step snake and knew that Xie Pei was not threatening her, so she was successfully persuaded to back down.
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