Chaotic Times

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A chaotic age.

That year, a great drought struck Zhuqi County in Ping Province, and bandits rose up everywhere.

Ye Qin knelt on the ground, his hands clutching a piece of broken rubble he had scavenged from somewhere. At the base of a solitary, withered yellow tree, he used every ounce of his strength to dig, hoping to unearth the tree roots to eat. The rubble was not sharp, but the prolonged digging had already worn his palms raw.

The sun in the sky was venomous and blindingly bright. The sparse, withered branches of the old tree barely provided any shade against the scorching heat.

After digging for a while, Ye Qin felt exhausted. He had not eaten anything all morning; the hunger in his belly and the thirst in his throat left his thin, small hands with almost no strength to continue.

On the mud to the other side of the old tree lay a farm boy who had fainted from hunger. It was Cheng Daniu, a child from the same village. His hair was a tangled mess like a bird's nest, his body covered only by a piece of tattered burlap, and he was half-conscious, muttering incoherent delirious words.

Ye Qin glanced at Cheng Daniu, licked his dry, cracked lips, and gritted his teeth to keep digging.

He had originally been the child of a hunter's family in a small village deep in the mountains, hundreds of miles away. Years of war, banditry, and heavy taxes had already left the villagers unable to catch their breath. The drought that began early this year had caused the crops to fail almost entirely, and the game in the mountains had dwindled, leading to a massive loss of life.

If the adults could barely survive, let alone the children. As the eldest in his family, he had bid farewell to his parents at the age of eleven this year, leaving home to find food to ease the burden on his parents' rations, so that his younger siblings could have enough to survive. According to the customs of their village, once one bid farewell to their parents to leave home, it meant they were setting out to establish their own life, no longer relying on their parents or the clan.

Ye Qin could hardly be said to be establishing a life, but he was at least out on his own, braving the world.

Fortunately, there were four or five other children aged eight to ten from the same village who had set out together to find food. Among them, Ye Qin was the oldest and had the most experience, so he led the group.

Over the past half-year, they had wandered through the villages and towns around Zhuqi County. Because they lacked sufficient food and faced attacks from wild dogs and jackals in the wilderness, three or four had already died on the road. Only Ye Qin and Cheng Daniu remained alive.

Daniu was a year younger than him.

Early yesterday morning, they were sleeping in a shed in the wilderness. While the two were fast asleep, an old, starving wild dog had crawled in and bitten Daniu's calf. If Ye Qin hadn't woken up in time and used stones and wooden sticks to fiercely drive the dog away, Daniu would have lost his life. No matter what, he and Daniu could not die; otherwise, being all alone would make it impossible to survive in this world.

Ye Qin endured the pain in his hands, digging and thinking. He had dug a foot deep, but he still hadn't unearthed any edible tree roots.

The old tree was already withered and yellow. Whether its roots were edible, no one knew, but they had to try. There were almost no other edible grass roots or tree bark to be found nearby. The half-year drought had scorched almost all the grass and trees to death.

Finally, a section of an old root was unearthed. It was still fresh and held a hint of moisture.

Ah! Ye Qin excitedly used the blunt rubble to hack at the old root. After a long while, he dug out a small piece, bit off a small chunk of the moist bark, crawled over to Cheng Daniu, shook him awake, and fed it to him.

Cheng Daniu smelled the moisture of the bark and opened his eyes in a daze. He actually woke up from his semi-conscious state and managed to chew a little bit of the bark, but he lacked the strength to swallow it.

Ye Qin hurriedly chewed the bark into a pulp and stuffed it into his mouth.

If he didn't eat, he would die.

After eating some of the bark, Cheng Daniu finally caught his breath, regained a bit of spirit, and became clearer-headed.

Relying on this piece of tree root, Ye Qin and Cheng Daniu managed to live for another half-day.

Although eating tree bark caused some pain in their stomachs, it was better than starving to death. The two rested in the shade of the old tree for half a day. When the sun gradually set and was no longer so scorching, Ye Qin helped the limping Daniu as they walked eastward.

Night was falling, and the wilderness was filled with starving wild dogs and jackals. It was not safe; they had to go to a place where people lived.

Ye Qin took Daniu to the shed they had stayed in yesterday. The shed was located beside a post road on a barren slope a few miles to the east.

Merchants and horses often passed by the post road, needing water when thirsty. During the day, a tavern owner from a nearby town would be there, selling tea, wine, and meat to passing travelers.

However, to avoid encountering bandits, the tavern owner would leave every night. The shed would be empty, which was perfect for them to stay in to hide from wild dogs and jackals. They could also pick up a few leftovers discarded by guests to use as dinner.

For the past half-month, Ye Qin and the other boy had stayed there every night.

In the evening, when the sunset glow appeared in the sky...

Ye Qin helped Daniu to the side of the shed and crouched down in a patch of weeds to rest. The shed was a simple structure built of bamboo, with an open-air area at the entrance containing a dozen tea tables and chairs.

The tavern owner had not yet left. The old man and a young waiter were busy serving a dozen men in identical green robes, all carrying sabers. This group of men was noisy and boisterous inside the shed, clinking bowls and cups, drinking and eating meat with gusto, making for a lively scene.

Ye Qin smelled the aroma of wine and meat drifting from the shed and was starving to death, but after just one glance, he shrank back in terror, not daring to look again. These lean, hardened men were all wearing the uniforms of government runners—they were the officials of Zhuqi County.

When he had first left the countryside to find food, he had almost mistaken these men in official uniforms for good people. But after half a year of begging in the county and several villages, he had seen too much evil and was terrified of these people.

If they were bandits, it would be better; if you had no money, they wouldn't kill you for no reason. These government runners were far more ruthless than bandits. If they didn't like the look of someone, they would beat them to death, and after killing them, they would cut off their heads to present as bandit heads to the county to claim a reward.

Ye Qin was so poor he only had a piece of tattered burlap to cover himself; he would rather see bandits than government runners.

Cheng Daniu was so hungry he was delirious. He didn't see that the men were dressed as government runners and wanted to crawl over to beg for food.

Ye Qin was startled and hurriedly pulled him back, pinning Daniu's arm down. Daniu struggled with all his might, wanting to say something. Ye Qin panicked and covered his mouth, signaling desperately for him not to go over and court death.

Daniu was younger than him and injured, so after struggling for a moment without breaking free, he lost his strength and could only lie down in a daze to rest.

The two huddled together in a hidden spot outside the shed, trying their best not to attract any attention from the runners.

Ye Qin looked at the sky; the sun had set. He believed this group of runners, having eaten and drunk their fill, would not stay long in this wilderness. Once they left, he might be able to find some leftovers.

He sighed inwardly. He didn't know when this life of digging for tree roots would ever end.

Under the shed, the boisterous laughter of the men drifted over.

Surrounded by the men, a middle-aged runner with a gaunt, sallow face sat with an air of authority; he was clearly the leader of the group.

The middle-aged runner gulped down a mouthful of wine, wiped the residue from his beard, and said loudly, "Damn this bad luck! That gang of robbers can really run. They fled dozens of miles from Zhuqi County to this godforsaken place, nearly exhausting us brothers. Eat and drink more, brothers; we have to travel through the night to catch that gang as soon as possible."

Ye Qin, hiding in the weeds to the side of the shed, was only a dozen steps away from the runners sitting inside, and every word they said fell clearly into his ears.

The runners vied to curry favor with the middle-aged man.

"This time, it's all thanks to Master Li taking action personally. Otherwise, that gang of robbers would have long since vanished. It doesn't matter if we suffer a bit, but we can't let them escape and waste Master Li's hard work."

"That's right! As long as we catch that gang and cut off their heads to claim the reward, Master Li will surely receive a generous bounty. We brothers will also get to share in the benefits!"

"Master Li is truly the top catcher in our county; he never misses when he takes action. We are all blessed to be following Master Li this time!"

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