Chapter 26

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Chapter 26: In this world, everything was precious, except for her who felt lowly.

Trapped by the poison and troubles of Jin Kingdom, Du Yinsui’s scent ability seemed to have its own will. It came and went as it pleased, sometimes restoring partially, sometimes not.

Still, she noticed a pattern: eating large amounts quickly might briefly restore her sense of smell. When those questionable mushrooms landed in her stomach, Du Yinsui was overwhelmed by the rich scent of bamboo rats ahead.

Meat… The lingering mushroom taste instantly lost its appeal.

Ma Datou planned to veer right briefly before returning, avoiding the same path while gathering more along the way. After moving right for some distance, he eyed the dense bamboo forest ahead and glanced at their cart. He stopped: "Alright, turn right now. Time to head back."

While others didn’t object, Du Yinsui leaned back and pressed her hand firmly over Jiang Wu’s as he started turning the cart.

"Sir, ever tried bamboo rat? Roasted, its skin turns crispy and the meat tender—so fragrant! The skin crackles when you bite it, and the meat’s softer than roast suckling pig!" Du Yinsui tempted him, pointing toward the nearby bamboo grove. "Since we’re here, why not catch some for dinner?"

Ma Datou followed the gaze of the drooling girl. The bamboo grove stood silent, without even the rustle of wind in the leaves. As for bamboo rats… He scanned the rain-soaked muddy ground—none were visible now.

"Forget it. Think bamboo rats are easy to catch? They’re trickier than rabbits." Ma Datou shot a disdainful look at the frail but eager girl on the cart. "Back when I was young, a whole group of us village kids hunted them. Half a day’s work might net two or three if lucky—or nothing. And we grew up scrabbling for birds and fish! You lot? No chance."

Still, mentioning it made him nostalgic—he hadn’t tasted one in years. With these five burdens, he couldn’t search the grove. Once this job ended, he’d retire to his village and roam the forests all he wanted.

Ma Datou waved dismissively, but Du Yinsui’s hand stayed clamped over Jiang Wu’s.

"Just a quick try—only as long as gathering a few sticks. If we catch nothing, we leave immediately," she urged patiently. "These bamboos are perfect! Imagine stuffing the rat into bamboo joints and roasting it—different from grilling. Crispy skin for one, rich bamboo aroma for the other. Doesn’t that sound delicious?"

"Dreaming of catching two, are you?" Ma Datou’s homesickness flared, but before he could continue, someone interrupted.

"Are you insane? Rats aren’t food!" Li Xiaojuan had just asked Sun Xiniang what bamboo rats were. Horrified, she spat, "Starving enough to eat that filth? Mph—"

Sun Xiniang, holding two branches, moved too slowly to cover her daughter’s mouth. She watched Ma Datou’s face darken.

"Let’s go. We’ll try." Ma Datou ignored the mother and daughter, glancing at the sky. "One attempt. Fail, and we leave."

He marched toward the grove. Behind him, Li Xiaojuan hissed complaints about her mother’s muddy hand touching her mouth.

Ma Datou looked back at the cart. The frail girl’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the grove, eager. Somehow, she seemed less irritating now.

"Sir, how will we split them if we catch any?" Du Yinsui pressed.

"What? Not catching them just for me?" Ma Datou snorted, then admitted frankly, "Tan’s rule has always been to split the catch halfway. But…"

He paused, recalling the strange tension among the guards lately.

"…Fine. If you catch one, you get half. That much I promise." He glanced at the woman pushing the cart.

This Deposed Crown Prince had traded five days’ dinners for the cart. She probably needed the food.

"What if we catch several?" Du Yinsui pressed.

"Small person, big dreams." Ma Datou chuckled. "Half. You keep half of whatever’s caught. I’ll believe it when I see you catch more than bamboo rat fur."

He was still laughing then. Soon, he wouldn’t be.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one struggling to laugh.

“Sir… hurry up! Quick!” Chu Xiulan frantically urged Ma Datou, gripping a wriggling bamboo rat by the neck in each hand, all traces of her earlier respect toward the guards forgotten.

“Fast, fast, fast! Try it yourself if you’re so capable!” Ma Datou snapped, sweat dripping down his forehead. He held a knife in one hand and a rat corpse in the other, with no clean hand to wipe his brow.

“I can’t, I’m not capable…” Chu Xiulan’s voice softened. “Sir, I’m a prisoner. You wouldn’t want a prisoner handling a knife, would you?”

Ma Datou cooled down slightly, inwardly cursing—he’d nearly considered it earlier. As they bickered over the bamboo rats, Jiang Wu arrived with another one.

“…” Ma Datou had just taken one from Chu Xiulan when a new catch appeared.

“Sir! Kill it!” Chu Xiulan cried out, overwhelmed as she struggled to control two live rats again.

“I am killing it! Just hold on a moment!” Ma Datou dodged the biting rat, seized his chance, and slit its throat. He gutted it, chopped off its head and tail, then slapped the carcass onto a nearby rock to drain. Pointing at the nine bamboo rat corpses already there, he declared, “This knife—my lifelong companion—has killed more in this stretch than in all its years before!”

“Sir… this knife hasn’t killed a person, has it?” Chu Xiulan whispered.

“Of course not! Ahem—don’t get ideas. Try to run, and you’ll find it plenty sharp,” Ma Datou glared.

Chu Xiulan waved the rats in her hands. “I just meant… if it touched human blood, eating from it might feel strange.”

“Strange? Stranger than you lot?” Ma Datou glanced at the two still plugging burrows with mud and stones while digging with sticks. “Truthfully—just between us—are they eagles in disguise? Or snakes? The bamboo rats here met with terrible luck running into them…”

But terrible luck wasn’t exclusive to the rats.

Sun Xinang had initially dismissed the maid and guard’s talk of catching bamboo rats as idle chatter, assuming they’d head back soon. She never imagined “soon” would stretch like this…

However she did it, the little maid pinpointed rat holes in the swampy mud with frightening accuracy. Jiang Wu’s digging and catching matched her speed. One located and blocked burrows; the other dug and snatched. Soon, the rock behind the guard was covered in hanging carcasses, and a second rock had been brought over…

Under the guise of gathering firewood, Sun Xinang drifted near the guard’s station. A quick glance revealed nearly twenty bamboo rats.

If the guards truly gave Jiang Wu’s group half, that meant ten rats—each larger than a man’s hand, plump and heavy. If Jiang Wu claimed them, her hardship would vanish. That coarse black bread loaf at night? Replaced by a hefty chunk of meat, right?

No… not just ten. They were still catching more.

And the guards meant to rush them back? Though irritable and sweating, they seemed thoroughly engrossed. At this rate, Jiang Wu leaving with ten—even twenty—was possible. This defeat gnawed at Sun Xinang. How to make Jiang Wu suffer more? How to fulfill… her task? Why had the Second Prince assigned Lianxin as Jiang Wu’s Deposed Crown Princess? Someone duller would’ve spared her this misery.

Sun Xinang’s frown deepened, irritation plain on her face. The busy rat-hunters missed it, but Li Xiaojuan, lounging nearby, noticed.

“Mother, you don’t actually want to eat that, do you?” Li Xiaojuan wrinkled her nose. “I won’t touch it. If you do, don’t sleep near me.”

“I don’t want it!” Sun Xinang shot back. “But Jiang Wu does. She’ll feast on meat. Does that please you?”

Li Xiaojuan paused, then smirked. “Small problem. Leave it to me.”

Sun Xinang doubted her daughter’s cunning and swatted her arm. “Enough talk. Get more firewood. We’ve lingered too long—once darkness falls, we’ll march back without delay.”

The overcast sky darkened early.

Just as Ma Datou hit his bloody stride, fully immersed, the two hunters returned.

"Twenty-two, half for us makes eleven," Du Yinsui handed the last bamboo rat to Ma Datou.

"Why not…" Ma Datou started, intending to suggest they catch more, then realized the sky had grown much darker.

Alright, he’d gotten too caught up in killing.

In such a short time, twenty-two bamboo rats—a number even the old hunters from his village couldn’t match! Though Ma Datou hadn’t caught them himself, he’d helped, and it gave him a strange sense of pride.

"You counted the guards when catching, huh? One for each person, not even forgetting Master Xu," Ma Datou said with a chuckle as he cleaned the last bamboo rat, stretched his cramped legs, and smiled, "What, worried we might not have enough and come to take yours?"

Ma Datou laughed, but no one joined in.

"…" Ma Datou awkwardly stomped his feet, "Got it, got it, I’ll talk to Tan. We won’t take from you."

"Thank you, Sir."

This time they responded together.

"We hadn’t found water on our path; hopefully, the other three teams did, or there was no water to handle these bamboo rats." Ma Datou paused, "They needed hot water to scald them for hair removal. But…"

Ma Datou felt troubled. Usually, after sharing catches on the road, each group handled their own. But the Deposed Crown Prince and the former Crown Prince’s mentor’s families had nothing extra, so they couldn’t boil water without a pot. The guards weren’t kind enough to boil a pot just for them.

If it were like days before by the river, they might have lent a pot for some bamboo rats. But that day at the Mountain Spirit Temple, they didn’t even know where to get drinking water…

"Burning the hair off over a fire and scraping it could work too." Du Yinsui saw Ma Datou’s trouble. She didn’t care much, as long as there was food. With so many rats, others could eat parts without fur, leaving the skin for her.

"True." Ma Datou told them to gather the rat bodies, "Let’s head back now, and keep your eyes open for more firewood. How would you cook without wood? You couldn’t eat them raw, right? Did you collect enough firewood? Small bundles would do…"

"Sir…" Du Yinsui cut in with a real smile, "There was one more favor I wanted to ask."

Ma Datou: "…"

Last time she said this, it was to help kill bamboo rats.

How had it gone… oh, as long as they caught them, he could kill them, as many as they caught.

Looking at the ground full of rat bodies and the bloody knife… he’d been too naive.

Luckily, this favor sounded easier.

While Chu Xiulan and Jiang Wu tied rat bodies into bunches with vines, Ma Datou made twelve bamboo cups and split two bamboo stalks.

"I couldn’t split it thinner; don’t mess with it later. If it’s seen as a weapon that could hurt, there’d be trouble," Ma Datou said seriously, pointing at the split bamboo.

"No more splitting, we planned to use it to simmer the bamboo rat." Du Yinsui looked at Ma Datou oddly, "Didn’t I say that before? You thought I was joking?"

"…" Ma Datou let out a short laugh, "I thought you were dreaming."

Teased hungry again by Du Yinsui’s words, Ma Datou cut two more bamboo stalks, to make bamboo-tube-simmered or skewered-roasted bamboo rat with his group.

They left with empty hands and carts but returned loaded with gains.

Sun Xinang and her daughter each carried and held a bundle, bringing two bundles of firewood for themselves.

The cart held firewood and carried four split bamboo stalks. A sticky pile of Ground Cloud ears filled the last space. The loose edible mushrooms had no place, so they were tucked in Chu Xiulan’s prison clothes.

The bamboo rat bunches could have gone on the cart or hung from the bamboo. With weight from firewood on one end and Du Yinsui’s leg holding it, it would have balanced.

But Jiang Wu refused, so now the two strings of rat bodies were wrapped around his arm as he pushed the cart.

Afraid to dirty the cart, they weren’t placed there. Afraid to break the handle, they weren’t hung on it. Afraid Du Yinsui couldn’t hold it and hurt her bad leg, they weren’t hung on the bamboo ends.

So Jiang Wu bore all the weight himself…

Du Yinsui sometimes wondered if the former Empress had brainwashed Jiang Wu from childhood, making him believe everything in the world was precious except herself, who was worthless. Just as Du Yinsui grew annoyed, someone foolishly provoked her at the wrong moment.

"These rats—give us eight… or half," Li Xiaojuan said as she approached the cart, speaking to Jiang Wu.

She meant to demand eight, but when the little maid on the cart glared at her with open irritation and anger, Li Xiaojuan blanked out and changed her request to half, a number she had considered too low.

Before others could respond, Ma Datou laughed out loud, "Are you dreaming?"

That morning, the Deposed Crown Prince’s wet nurse’s family had gone to see him for unknown reasons, but all three left in silent anger. From what Ma Datou saw on the road, he doubted these families were close.

To the Li family, who could still buy mixed-grain buns, these were just rats. But for the Deposed Crown Prince’s group and the Qin family, who had nothing, they were life-saving meat.

"Maybe not a dream, but a death wish," Du Yinsui snapped, already irritated by the bamboo rats on Jiang Wu’s arm and having no patience for Li Xiaojuan’s nonsense.

"Give us half, or I’ll tell those two brats these are rats," Li Xiaojuan threatened, her face red but confident as she turned to Jiang Wu. "You cut off the heads and tails to trick people into thinking they’re rabbits, right? If they knew the truth, would those brats or that old former official dare eat? Are you hoarding food while they starve?"

Removing the bamboo rat heads was Du Yinsui’s idea, mainly for safety with wild animals. Partly, it was also to avoid deception as Li Xiaojuan guessed.

Still, the threat reminded Du Yinsui of a lesson: in the apocalypse, kids who killed zombies survived better than those who didn’t. Here, exile was harsh, so facing reality early helped. If they couldn’t accept it, they just weren’t hungry enough.

"Go tell them," Du Yinsui dismissed Li Xiaojuan but added, "You’re so annoying. Once my leg heals, I’ll catch more bamboo rats and shove the heads down your throat."

"I had the tails cut off, so what?" Ma Datou glared at her, then at the cart. "Don’t wait for your leg. If we leave late again tomorrow, I’ll ask Tan for another trip."

Li Xiaojuan started to argue, but Sun Xinang quickly covered her mouth before she could spew more hate.

They hurried on. Spotting Chu Xiulan carrying mushrooms while dragging firewood, Ma Datou tossed extra wood onto the cart to spite annoying people.

Back at the Mountain Spirit Temple, it was nearly dark.

They were the last group. The earliest had reported a water source, and even the guards fetching water returned before them.

Ma Datou must have convinced Tan Wang, who looked displeased but nodded after circling the guards.

The eleven bamboo rats were officially theirs!

Wet wood burned poorly; earlier arrivals had fires going.

The guards lit two fires—one by the door and one in the center—for warmth and night watch.

The Liu, Kong, and Wei families each had fires too.

Smoke billowed from the damp wood, but the roof holes prevented suffocation.

By the cart, Jiang Wu handled the fire.

Skilled from flood-survival, he reduced the smoke by drying wood near the flames before adding it.

Around the fire, each held a stick with a bamboo rat, following Du Yinsui’s method: scorch, then scrape. As wood dried, the fur blackened.

Yes, bamboo rats, not rabbits.

Li Xiaojuan ignored the head-threat and rushed to Qin Chongli and the children, announcing the rat dinner.

But the kids weren’t scared, and the old man only frowned.

"Are they all sick?" Li Xiaojuan muttered by her smoky fire, baffled as they scraped charred fur.

"Stop staring," Li Dayong said weakly from the wall, nudging wood. "Why burn so early? Save it for the cold night."

"Everyone else is, so we must," Li Xiaojuan insisted, adding a log. "We’ll toast buns later."

Li Dayong sniffed the meaty scent from the cart. "How’d they catch so many bamboo rats? Did Jiang Wu do it? Is her martial arts that good?"

He believed anyone who blocked him must have trained under a master.

"Rats, not bamboo rats," Li Xiaojuan grumbled. "They’re annoying."

"Who? Jiang Wu or Lianxin?" Li Dayong asked.

"Both, but Lianxin worst. She threatened me! That lowly rat-catching maid betrothed to Jiang Wu—how does she deserve it?"

Li Dayong frowned. "Betrothed to a woman—who else should it be? Li Xiaojuan, don’t tell me you still like Jiang Wu!"

By the cart, Du Yinsui choked on a roast mushroom fed by the little one.

"Eat slowly," Jiang Wu set aside the half-scraped bamboo rat, patting Du Yinsui’s back. "Burned or choked? You had half a cup of river water—I’ll heat it."

Du Yinsui had moved closer to Sun Xinang to eavesdrop, but heard this instead.

"You… no wonder…" she muttered, eyeing Jiang Wu. "You really draw trouble."

Others missed the Li family’s words but caught Du Yinsui’s comment.