Chapter 301: Search
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran had painted his exposed skin sallow. He stood at the foot of the mountain outside Zhaohua City with Fei Bai, like two refugees who had been forced to run away from home. Qi Haoran was only 15 years old this year and was still a youth. Wrapped in a wide beggar’s robe, no one could tell that he was strong. As for Fei Bai, he had always been thin. Although he was two years older than Qi Haoran, he looked about the same age. He was wearing tattered and smelly beggar’s clothes as he followed beside Qi Haoran.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to walk normally, but the shoes on his feet were tattered, and the sole of his left shoe was a little damaged. When he walked, it was no different from stepping barefoot on the ground. As there was a lot of gravel on the ground, it hurt too much to walk.
The two of them walked into the mountain without saying a word. At noon, they dug some grass stems from the ground and stuffed them into their mouths to chew.
In the evening, Fei Bai lay on the grass with his arms and legs spread out. Through the gaps between the leaves, as he looked at the white clouds floating across the sky, he felt that he would be the next white cloud to drift away. He was truly famished, having not eaten a single morsel of food since this morning. That is, unless you counted those grass stems as food.
Fei Bai turned around and glanced at his young master. Seeing that he was working hard to dig out the grass stems, he wanted to cry but had no tears. Since when did his young master like to eat these things so much?
However, Qi Haoran was even more silent. After digging up the grass stems, he stuffed some into his mouth and threw the rest to Fei Bai. He looked deep into the mountains and thought for a moment before saying to Fei Bai, “Wait for me here. I’ll go in and find something.”
“Master, no, Little Brother, why are you going into the mountains?” Fei Bai quickly got up and dissuaded him. “Let’s hurry up and walk forward. I can’t take the hunger any longer.” Fei Bai lowered his voice as he said the last sentence.
However, this still made Qi Haoran glare at him. “I’ll go in and look for wild fruits. Lie here and wait for me.”
How would Fei Bai dare to let Qi Haoran go in alone? If Eldest Young Master found out about this, wouldn’t his skin be peeled off?
But in the end, he still succumbed to Qi Haoran’s fierce gaze.
Qi Haoran went into the mountains and only came out after about an hour with some wild fruits wrapped up in his clothes.
However, these wild fruits were sour and astringent. The more he ate, the hungrier he became. Fei Bai couldn’t eat anymore after eating two. He touched his stomach and thought that he might as well not eat.
Qi Haoran stuffed one in his mouth as he glared at Fei Bai. Fei Bai could only continue eating.
Qi Haoran had once heard Mu Yangling talk about the tragic lives of refugees. These wild fruits did not look filling, but eating several could indeed make one feel full. At least it served as some nutrition and they could replenish some moisture. At the very least, one wouldn’t starve to death. Therefore, grass stems and wild fruits were things that refugees would choose to eat.
Qi Haoran had a feeling that he was being targeted. He didn’t believe that after doing so much, the other party would still suspect his identity.
There were more than 40,000 people, old and young. This meant that the other party was kind-hearted. At the very least, he could not bear to see those old, weak, sick, and disabled people starve to death. To a certain extent, Qi Haoran was also considered one of the weak, right?
Mm, he’s only 15 this year.
Qi Haoran walked forward for a while before there was a sudden sound in the grass. He and Fei Bai seemed to be shocked as they widened their eyes and looked at the grass in a daze. Two adults walked out from behind the grass. When they saw the two of them, they burst into laughter and said, “You two brats, you’re lucky we’re not wild boars. Otherwise, wouldn’t you be dazedly encircled by wild boars?”
Qi Haoran stared at them nervously and swallowed his saliva. “We… we don’t have anything to eat.”
The other party’s expression changed when he heard his words. “Someone snatched your food? They even snatched the food of two kids? How inhumane.”
The other narrowed his eyes and sized up Qi Haoran and Fei Bai. He asked, “From your accents, you’re not from Tongchuan Prefecture. Where are you from?”
Fei Bai’s tears were about to fall. He wiped his eyes and said, “We’re from Xingyuan Prefecture. Uncle, if you’re not robbing us, can you give us something to eat?”
Fei Bai’s emotional performance was much better than Qi Haoran’s. After all, he was a servant to begin with. In terms of observation, Qi Haoran was far inferior to him.
The uncle with narrowed eyes immediately took out a sesame seed cake from his pocket and handed it to Fei Bai. Fei Bai’s eyes lit up and he immediately tore off most of the sesame seed cake for Qi Haoran.
Qi Haoran frowned but still took it and slowly stuffed it into his mouth.
The uncle asked with a smile, “You’re from Xingyuan Prefecture? Then why are you here?”
It would have been better if he hadn’t asked. When he did, Fei Bai could only stop eating for the time being. With tears streaming down his face, he said, “My father and mother heard that the grain prices in Tongchuan Prefecture were high, so they collected a lot of corn from our village and planned to sell it to earn some money. Unexpectedly, just as our cart reached Jiangyou, we were robbed by a group of people. In a bid to protect us while we escaped, my father got slashed. We only had a small amount of silver on us and all the things we bought were snatched away. Therefore, we could only leave for Xingyuan Prefecture. Fortunately, my mother didn’t come out with us this time…”
Fei Bai had already practiced this speech many times. So much so he could even recite it backwards.
The two adults asked about his family’s situation in Xingyuan Prefecture. Fei Bai simply described the Mu family’s situation. Coupled with the fact that he had gone to the fields with Qi Haoran before, he sounded savvy when he spoke about planting corn. This caused the two uncles to say enviously, “Xingyuan Prefecture is so lucky to be given corn seeds by General Qi. Although there’s a drought this year, with those corn seeds, at least there’s a way out.”
When it came to praising his young master, Fei Bai was very eloquent. He said gratefully, “My father also said that if it weren’t for the seeds given by General Qi this year, I’m afraid our family wouldn’t have been able to survive. We didn’t even manage to harvest a single grain of rice, and it’s already not bad if we can breakeven on the wheat.”
The two uncles’ eyes were filled with tears as they said hatefully, “It’s all this damn Imperial Court’s fault. Back then, General Qi gave most of the seeds to the Emperor because he wanted the Emperor to distribute them to the commoners. Who knew that the dog Emperor would actually pocket them with the aristocratic families? Instead of being considerate of the commoners, the Emperor only cared about his own interests. The country is not far from perishing.”
Fei Bai’s eyes widened. Even Qi Haoran was stunned. Two ordinary-looking uncles actually were so knowledgeable?
Thinking that they had frightened the two children, the two uncles wiped their tears and said, “Forget it, what’s the point of talking about this? Fortunately, we have a Celestial Master descending to the mortal world to save us. Brothers, why don’t you come with us? Although Tongchuan Prefecture and Xingyuan Prefecture are connected, it takes a long time to walk between the two. Since you don’t have anything to eat and there is chaos everywhere, why don’t you rest here for the time being and leave after things calm down?”
Fei Bai looked at them warily. “Don’t tell me you’re dragging us away to eat us?”
The two uncles laughed loudly and said, “How much meat can the two of you have when you’re so thin? Don’t worry, we don’t eat humans.”
“Then, do you have anything to eat?” Fei Bai swallowed his saliva and asked.
The two uncles looked at the two children sympathetically and nodded. “Yes, I can’t guarantee that you’ll be full, but you definitely won’t starve.”
Fei Bai heaved a sigh of relief and tugged at Qi Haoran. “Then let’s go. We can only work when we have strength.”
The two uncles nodded with a smile and left with Fei Bai and Qi Haoran. On the way, one of the uncles looked at Qi Haoran and asked Fei Bai, “Why doesn’t your younger brother like to talk?”
Fei Bai’s eyes turned red again. He said dejectedly, “At that time, my father pushed me away. When he saw that my younger brother couldn’t get away from the bad guys, he went back to save him and pounced on him. With one slash, he… After that, my younger brother didn’t like to talk much.”
So his temperament had changed drastically after seeing his father die trying to save him. The two uncles nodded to themselves.
Qi Haoran rolled his eyes in his heart, for this was not what they had agreed on previously. But he decided to forget about it and let Fei Bai say whatever he wanted.