Officer Li finished speaking, gnawed the last of the beef bone in his hand, then casually tossed it outside the shelter. He dusted off his hands and prepared to leave.
Ye Qin stared blankly as the beef bone arced through the air and landed in the grass several yards away. He fixed his eyes on it, not daring to move. As long as the constables didn't leave, he wouldn't show his face in front of them—not even for a moment.
If even one of the dozen-odd men took a dislike to him and came over to kick him, that would be enough to leave him half dead. His weak little body couldn't take a single blow. One kick might leave him unable to move a finger tomorrow. The day after that, he and Da Niu would starve to death in this wilderness for lack of food.
Half a year of wandering from place to place had taught him never to take that kind of risk.
With Ye Qin no longer pinning him down, Cheng Daniu had come around a little. He poked half his head out from beside the grassy nest again. This time, though, he saw clearly that they were a group of constables. Da Niu knew better than to make a move. He could only sniff desperately at the aroma of meat and wine, trying to satisfy his craving.
Officer Li had eaten and drunk his fill. Without another word, he led the other well-fed constables on their way. Officer Li didn't have to worry about paying for the wine; a few younger constables casually tossed some loose silver onto the table.
The constables shouted to one another, picked up their sabers, found the road, and set off in pursuit of the bandits.
The tavern keeper saw that the silver on the table wasn't enough to cover the bill—it would barely break even. He was too timid to say anything and could only curse his bad luck under his breath before clearing away the tables, stools, bowls, and chopsticks inside the shelter. The waiter busied himself gathering the leftover meat, wine, and tea from the tables, along with the meat bones and scraps on the ground, to take home for the pigs. There was a severe drought that year, and food and meat were scarce. Not a scrap could go to waste, especially for small-time traders like them.
Da Niu watched, practically drooling.
Ye Qin held him back and wouldn't let him go over. They'd been staying here for nearly half a month and already knew that the tavern keeper and the waiter were both miserly. They wouldn't spare so much as a drop of wine or a morsel of meat. If the two of them went over now, the tavern keeper would probably chase them away with a filthy broom.
Luckily, the waiter only cleaned up inside the shelter and didn't go out to the overgrown grass. After loading all their valuable belongings onto an ox cart, the tavern keeper and the waiter climbed aboard and slowly trundled off along the post road.
When Ye Qin saw the cart disappear into the distance, he finally darted toward the tangled grass. He parted the dry, disordered stalks and searched for the beef bone Officer Li had thrown away.
Before long, Ye Qin found a beef bone about half the thickness of his forearm. Bits of ungnawed meat still clung to it, and it gave off an enticing aroma. He leaned down and licked the strands of meat stuck to the bone.
Da Niu slowly crawled over too, his face smeared with mud as he stared pitifully at the bone in Ye Qin's hand.
Ye Qin brought the beef bone to his mouth, then hesitated. He knew that Da Niu needed it more than he did. After being bitten by a wild dog last night, Da Niu had been feeling awful, and today he could barely eat. But now he was craving meat, which was a good sign. Maybe eating some would help his injuries heal. Back in their hometown, hunters who got hurt while hunting in the mountains would eat meat to build up their strength.
He and Da Niu were all that remained of the companions who had left their hometown together. He would never let Da Niu die.
"Here, Da Niu. You got bitten by a wild dog yesterday, so this'll help build you up. I'll see if there's anything else left on the ground."
Ye Qin pressed the beef bone into Cheng Daniu's hands. Afterward, he went into the shelter and searched carefully all over the ground, inside and out, while it was not yet completely dark. Every now and then, he picked up a grain or two from the muddy earth and popped them into his mouth.
Da Niu took the bone, his eyes reddening and his nose stinging.
"Qin-ge!"
He wiped his sore nose with a piece of black, tattered hemp cloth, then hugged the beef bone and silently gnawed at it. This wasn't the first time. The four or five of them had spent over half a year looking for food, and Qin-ge, the oldest among them, had taken care of them almost the whole time. But there was only so much Qin-ge could do, and in the end, several of them had still died.
Da Niu had no idea how many times he himself had nearly died. Often, he'd become a burden and thought he might as well die. But if he died, only Qin-ge would be left. What would Qin-ge do on his own? Qin-ge wouldn't let him die, either. All Da Niu could do was try not to become a burden, get better as quickly as he could, and help look for food.
That night, the moon hung high overhead.
In the crude bamboo hut, Ye Qin laid dry grass over the cold dirt floor. He also firmly blocked the small hole in the corner with a large stone and some branches. That old wild dog had crawled through it last night and bitten Da Niu. After eating the beef bone, Da Niu had felt much better that evening. They found half a bowl of leftover water in the only broken water jar in the hut. Da Niu drank some and had already fallen asleep on the grass mat.
Ye Qin lay on the dry grass, his small hands tucked behind his head, silently thinking about what the constables had said.
"The Herb Gathering Hall in Zhuqi County is openly recruiting a batch of herb-gathering apprentices under the age of twelve!"
He and Da Niu had been to Zhuqi County two months earlier and had stayed there for several days, but they couldn't make it work and eventually fled.
A gang of local beggars had taken over all the good places to beg and every spot where they could make a little money. They were extremely hostile toward outsiders and drove them away.
That much could be endured. If they kept walking, they could always find half a meal somewhere—far better than the wilderness.
But what Ye Qin couldn't stand was that some hoodlums in town wanted to use them to steal goods from wealthy households. He was still young, but he knew that if they were caught stealing, the victims might cut off their hands or hang them up and beat them mercilessly. Left with no other choice, he'd found an opportunity to take Da Niu and flee the county in a hurry, heading for the countryside ten or so li away to look for food.
Ye Qin had heard the county residents mention the Herb Gathering Hall before. He knew there was a powerful, wealthy household by that name in town, but he hadn't paid it much mind.
A great household like the Herb Gathering Hall had more farmland and property than anyone could count, and so many servants and disciples that they filled the streets. They would have nothing to do with little beggars like them, wandering here and there. Even if they were openly recruiting herb-gathering apprentices, surely there'd be no place for the two of them.
But Ye Qin wasn't ready to give up.
Now that he'd heard about it from the constables, how could he pretend he hadn't? If they didn't get chosen, they would only have made a wasted trip. But if they really did get chosen, they'd never have to wander the wilderness and go hungry again. If they didn't go, they wouldn't even have the slightest chance of being taken on.
Late into the night, the bamboo hut still occasionally echoed with the sounds of someone tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Huff! Huff!
The sound of a beast panting came from outside the bamboo hut.
That damned old wild dog, haunting them like a ghost, had come again. Its claws scraped at the stone; it snarled and growled furiously, then gnawed at the branches. In the pitch-black night, the sounds made their hearts pound, and they kept worrying the beast would find its way inside again.
The old wild dog kept at it for most of the night. It wasn't until just before dawn that it finally left, reluctant and dejected.
Ye Qin's resolve to go to the county grew even stronger.
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