Ch 25: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Mu Xing squatted there a bit too long, and Mu Jiafeng, “on orders” to watch his little brother, called over: “Xiaobao, what are you doing? Are you tired?”

Mu Xing was almost certain it was ginseng, but Mu Xiaobao couldn’t possibly recognize it.

So he put on a very happy face and shouted loudly, “Mother, Big Brother, Second Sister, Third Brother, this flower is so pretty!”

Zhang-shi was chopping firewood with a hatchet. She smiled when she heard him. “Pretty? Then Xiaobao should pick it and wear it on your head.”

Mu Jiafeng grinned. “Xiaobao looks like a little girl—he’d definitely look good with a flower.”

Mu Xing: “…”

Third Brother, don’t blame me for always setting you up—just with a mouth like that, Mother’s right, you deserve a beating!

He thought for a moment, then picked the flower and ran straight to Zhang-shi, holding it up. “For Mother to wear.”

Zhang-shi wiped her sweat and turned with a smile. “Oh my, Xiaobao even knows to pick flowers for Mother to wear… Huh?”

The flower seemed familiar, though she couldn’t place it for the moment.

She took it from Mu Xing and looked at it carefully, but didn’t recognize it as a ginseng flower—happily tucking it into her hair.

Mu Xing waited hopefully for a while, but when she simply wore it, he was dumbfounded.

He hadn’t expected that Zhang-shi wouldn’t recognize a ginseng flower.

He’d have to think of another way.

He went over to Mu Jiafeng, who was gathering sticks, and helped him.

Since it wasn’t safe for small children to use knives, Mu Jiafeng and Mu Jiajia picked smaller branches, stacking and bundling them for later use.

Listening to the two chatter excitedly about how the wild fruit in the mountains would ripen soon and how tasty it would be, Mu Xing suddenly had an idea.

“Second Sister, are wild fruits tasty?”

“Of course they are!” Mu Jiajia replied.

Mu Xing clapped. “Then we can pick lots and have Father sell them for money!”

“Sell them?” Jiajia scratched her head. “You can’t sell them.”

“Why not?” Mu Xing tilted his head like a curious child.

Jiajia didn’t really know the reason and made something up. “You just can’t. They’re only for picking and eating yourself. If you could sell them, Father would have done it already.”

Mu Xing then ran over to Zhang-shi and asked, “Mother, why can’t wild fruits be sold for money?”

She laughed. “Because they aren’t worth much.”

“Then what is worth money? Let’s go pick that!” Mu Xing said with innocent eagerness.

Amused, Zhang-shi replied, “What’s worth money? Mountain herbs are worth money, but they’re hard to find. A few years ago, the Wu family in our village struck it rich when they dug up a ginseng root. That thing is really valuable! But ginseng isn’t so easy to come by…”

She trailed off, suddenly freezing mid-sentence.

Suppressing her excitement, she quickly put down her hatchet, pulled the flower from her hair, and examined it closely.

She had thought it looked familiar. When the Wu family found their ginseng, they’d proudly shown it off to the whole village, and everyone had gone to see what the legendary plant looked like.

This flower—wasn’t it exactly the same as the one she’d seen back then?

Her breath quickened. “Xiaobao, where did you pick this flower?”

Relieved, Mu Xing pointed to the spot where he’d been earlier. “Over there.”

With an innocent look, he asked, “Mother, do you want to pick more flowers? But I looked—there’s only this one.”

She stroked his little cheek, forcing herself to stay calm. “Xiaobao, take Mother to see.”

Mu Xing led her back to the spot, and the more Zhang-shi looked, the more excited she became.

These leaves—they were exactly the same as the ones she’d seen at the Wu family’s house.

She took a deep breath and called to her eldest son: “Jiawang, bring me your hatchet.”

Puzzled, Mu Jiawang quickly ran over.

Not knowing the exact position or depth of the root, Zhang-shi began digging a wide circle around it, slowly working her way down.

The children all gathered around, asking, “Mother, what are you doing?”

She didn’t answer, just kept carefully digging—more meticulously than she’d ever turned soil in her life.

Layer after layer of earth was removed, until at last, between the clumps of dirt, a patch of white came into view…

*

Zhang-shi’s heart was pounding. Forget chopping firewood—she stuffed the treasure into her basket, covered it with wild vegetables, and hurried home with the children.

Along the way, she repeatedly told them not to tell anyone what had just happened.

Mu Xing was now on Mu Jiawang’s back—Zhang-shi was in a hurry, and his little legs couldn’t keep up.

Halfway home, Mu Xing’s nose twitched.

There was the scent of blood.

It was faint—if his senses hadn’t been getting sharper lately, he might not have noticed at all.

He focused, and then heard a faint groan.

A person.

Judging from the smell and the sound, probably someone injured.

Mu Xing tugged at Mu Jiawang’s clothes. “Big Brother, I think I just heard someone calling for help.”

Mu Jiawang looked puzzled. “Really?”

He stopped to listen carefully. “I don’t hear anything—you must’ve imagined it.”

Mu Xing shook his head firmly. “I heard it. It’s over there.”

He pointed toward a patch of tangled woods to the left of the mountain path.

Seeing them stop, Zhang-shi turned back and asked what was going on.

Mu Jiawang said, “Little Brother says he heard someone calling for help over there.”

Zhang-shi hesitated.

She wanted to hurry home without delay, but hearing someone might be calling for help—if someone was in trouble, she couldn’t just ignore it.

She asked Mu Xing, “Xiaobao, are you sure you heard it?”

Mu Xing nodded.

She asked where, and Mu Xing pointed to the left.

Zhang-shi put down the basket on her back, instructed the eldest, Mu Jiawang, to watch over the others carefully and not let them wander, then picked up her hatchet and headed in the direction Mu Xing had indicated.

Not long after, Mu Xing saw Zhang-shi emerge from the woods carrying an elderly man with graying hair on her back.

The old man’s clothes were stained with blood, and he appeared to have fainted.

Mu Xing glanced at the fabric of the old man’s clothing—it was clearly not something worn by mountain farmers.

Zhang-shi obviously realized this as well. “I don’t know where this elder is from… if I just take him back to the village without thinking…”

The man lying on the ground suddenly coughed twice, waking from unconsciousness.

Though his age was advanced, his eyes were bright and piercingly sharp.

Looking at the village woman and the children in front of him, then at the fact that his position had changed from where he’d fallen, Xie Wang gave a weak smile. “Xie thanks this madam for her help.”

Zhang-shi had never in her life been called “madam” before, and was suddenly flustered. “Elder, you’re too polite.”

Xie Wang coughed twice more, and Zhang-shi took some water from her basket for him.

He thanked her, took two sips, then said, “Xie is gravely wounded. Unless there is some rare medicine to sustain my life, I will certainly die within the hour.”

At the words “rare medicine,” Zhang-shi’s palm involuntarily clenched.

Xie Wang thought for a moment, then pulled out a money pouch and removed a piece of white jade from his waist, handing them to her. “Madam is kindhearted—please, return here in an hour. If I have passed by then, I ask that you bury me, so that I am not left to rot in the wilderness. Here are several dozen taels of silver; the jade pendant is worth a hundred gold—take them as my thanks.”

When Zhang-shi heard “several dozen taels of silver” and “a hundred gold,” she was stunned.

She looked at the items on the ground, not daring to touch them.

Even when the Wu family sold their ginseng back then, she didn’t think it had fetched that much money.

Mu Xing, seeing her frozen in place, tugged at her clothing. “Mother…”

He was just about to say something when his vision suddenly went black, and his consciousness was pulled once more into that pitch-dark place by the strange ball of light.

Mu Xing felt a bit annoyed, but the light ball was even more agitated than he was.

“Why has the Mu family’s fate changed? And who is this old man?”

The light flickered rapidly, as if unable to comprehend. “Why is everything different?”

It asked, “Mu Xing, why aren’t you following the path I told you? What’s the point of struggling through life in the Mu family? The marquis’s household is where you belong.”

Mu Xing lowered his gaze. “I think the Mu family is quite good. Life’s getting better now—we live in peace and happiness.”

It’s exactly because life is getting better that it’s wrong! the light screamed inwardly.

It wanted to do something to Mu Xing, but aside from speaking, it could do nothing at all.

Mu Xing’s mind cleared, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in Zhang-shi’s arms.

The elderly man, seemingly close to death, was straining to press his fingers against Mu Xing’s pulse.

His voice was filled with both astonishment and regret. “This young one’s bones are one in ten thousand—if he could train in martial arts, he would surely be a talent of extraordinary brilliance. But alas, his constitution is weak from birth, bearing the mark of an early death…”

He shook his head. “If Xie could live a few more years, I would be interested to see if it could be nursed back to health. Unfortunately…”

But Zhang-shi’s eyes suddenly lit up.

She asked urgently, “Elder Xie, are you saying there is a way to save Xiaobao’s body?”

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