The next day, Meng Anci got up before dawn to cut grass. Autumn grass was tough, and he was afraid the foal wouldn't be able to chew it. He searched near home for a long time before bringing back a basket of tender grass.
He held the grass to the foal's mouth and smiled. "Eat up. You have to eat your fill to grow tall."
The foal seemed to understand him and actually lowered its head and began to eat.
Delighted, Meng Anci hurriedly bent down, grabbed another handful, and held it to its mouth. "Good foal."
At last, he could talk to a horse without a care. This was his home, and this was his horse. No one would laugh at him for being a country bumpkin, and no one would laugh at him for being unable to draw a bow.
The bows and arrows at the academy were meant for older children; there were hardly any for children his age. Zhao Zhiyuan was about his age, but he used his own bow and arrows.
How wonderful. He had his own bow and arrows now, too.
As a fish-belly white spread across the horizon, Meng Anzhi got up to use the privy. She rounded the corner of the house and saw her younger brother standing in front of the horse, grinning foolishly.
"Anci, why are you up so early? Isn't today a day off?"
Meng Anci picked up the earthen basket and said happily, "I wanted to chat with Black Grand Marshal."
"Black Grand Marshal?"
Meng Anci pointed at the foal and said with a pleased grin, "I named him that. Doesn't it sound good?"
Meng Anzhi laughed. "Yours is called Black Grand Marshal, so my foal will be called General White."
The two little ones looked at each other and giggled.
By the time Jin Shanyao got up, Meng Anzhi had already warmed the meal. Jin Shanyao sat lazily at the table, cradling her cheeks in her hands as she watched the two little ones eat.
Meng Anzhi frowned. "Auntie, you're skipping another meal."
Jin Shanyao ate very little at each of the day's three meals, and lately she'd cut back from three meals to one. Meng Anzhi was truly afraid she would starve herself sick one day.
Jin Shanyao forced herself to perk up. "You two eat. Once you're done, we'll go up the mountain for a stroll."
So much had happened lately that she needed to go up the mountain and catch her breath. When Meng Anci heard they were going up the mountain, his eyes lit up.
"Auntie, can I bring my bow and arrows?"
"Yes."
"Oh, hooray..." Meng Anci sprang to his feet, spun around twice, and dashed out of the main room. Moments later, he ran back with his little bow and arrows on his back.
He stood in the doorway, coughed lightly twice, and said with feigned composure, "I'm ready. Let's go."
Meng Anzhi's eyes widened. Wait, you're ready, but I'm still eating! Besides, what are you going up the mountain so early for? Boys really do get harder to understand as they grow older.
She wolfed down the food in her bowl in a few mouthfuls, snatched up the bowls and chopsticks, and ran to the kitchen. Jin Shanyao shook her head and laughed.
Once the kitchen was tidied up, Jin Shanyao took the two little ones up White Head Mountain. Each of them carried a bow and arrows on their back.
Meng Anci said excitedly to Meng Anzhi, "I'm going to hunt a tiger today."
Meng Anzhi rolled her eyes at him. "Have you ever even seen a tiger?"
"Hmph, I will today."
"Oh, you. I'll be impressed if you can get a rabbit." Meng Anzhi adjusted the bow and arrows on her shoulder. She had practiced for a long time last night, but her aim wasn't good enough.
Their aunt couldn't shoot a bow either. Between the three of them and their two bows, not one had hit the bull's-eye.
But that did nothing to dampen their spirits. Dahuang and Xiaoli had a rare chance to go up the mountain together, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
Jin Shanyao didn't put the two children down until they were halfway up the mountain. Meng Anci was the first to pull out an arrow and nock it, then he searched his surroundings like a thief.
Meng Anzhi followed his example. She was full of curiosity about hunting now.
Jin Shanyao stood on a large rock by the river, spread her arms and raised them over her head, sank her Qi into her Dantian, and let out a howl.
"I, Jin Shanyao, have returned! Tremble, all you plants!
"From now on, when I say east, you can't go west. When I say west, you can't go north. Wahahaha..."
Jin Shanyao threw back her head and howled with laughter, sending startled birds fleeing in all directions. She took a deep breath. It smelled wonderful! The scent of nature was sweet, unlike the noisy, chaotic streets of the human world.
She took another deep breath. "Wahahaha..."
"Auntie, stop laughing. It's too creepy, and you've scared all the animals away." Meng Anzhi rubbed her arms and shivered, while Meng Anci stared at Jin Shanyao in utter shock.
His beloved arrow fell to the ground. "Auntie," he said haltingly, "what happened to you?"
Hmph... ignorant humans, how could you know how wonderful nature is? This is where I belong. This is my home. She narrowed her eyes.
She edged toward the little ones, step by step, and said sinisterly, "There was a road to the Heavenly Court, but you refused to take it. There was no gate to hell, yet you barged in. How dare you hunt on my turf? Prepare to die..."
"Ah..." With a scream, the two children fled in different directions. Meng Anci shouted as he ran, "Spare me, Your Majesty! This humble one will never dare hunt on the mountain again!"
"Too late! Today I'll tie you up and stuff you into my belly."
"Ahh..." Meng Anci's short little legs had only churned a couple of times before Jin Shanyao caught him. She tucked him under her arm, turned, and chased after Meng Anzhi.
Even as Meng Anzhi fled, she couldn't bear to drop her bow and arrows.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Jin Shanyao put me up to it!"
"Oh... who's Jin Shanyao?"
Jin Shanyao put on a fierce, menacing expression. Meng Anzhi dropped to her knees with a thump and pressed her palms together.
"Your Majesty, Jin Shanyao is a big meanie."
"You're the big meanie!" Hanging headfirst, Meng Anci struggled to lift his head and retort. Even when they were playing, he wouldn't let anyone speak ill of their aunt.
Meng Anzhi hurriedly changed her tune. "Right, right, I'm the meanie."
Jin Shanyao burst into wild laughter. "Too late! Neither of you is leaving today. You'll both stay on the mountain and be my wealth-scattering attendants."
Meng Anzhi hurriedly covered Jin Shanyao's mouth. "Auntie, there are some things you must never say. It's not easy for us to earn money; we can't afford to be wealth-scattering attendants."
Jin Shanyao plopped down on the ground and gathered the two little ones into her arms, laughing heartily.
"Your auntie can afford to raise you. If this mountain is gone, I'll go to the next one. As long as there are mountains, I can afford to raise you. So what if we scatter some wealth?"
The two children exchanged a look and sighed helplessly. Their aunt was boasting again, but for some reason, their hearts always felt warm after hearing her. Could it be that her words were poisonous?
Suddenly, a commotion came from up the mountain. Dahuang and Xiaoli came running down, driving a dozen or so wild rabbits ahead of them. Meng Anci hurriedly picked up his bow and arrows and said excitedly, "I'm going hunting! I'm going to hunt rabbits!"
Meng Anzhi picked up her bow and arrows and gave chase too. Jin Shanyao lay down as though all her strength had drained away. The leaves beneath her back were soft and comfortable, and the breeze brushed her face, carrying the faint scent of plants.
Fluffy white clouds drifted across the azure sky, a sight that filled her with ease.
She turned to look at the two children. Meng Anci's little face was solemn, the arm holding his bowstring taut. Whoosh... the arrow flew toward a rabbit.
Well... it missed. He hadn't hit a thing.
Dahuang and Xiaoli indulged the children too, sparing no effort to surround the rabbits just to make the two little ones happy.
"Ah... I hit one! Auntie, look! I hit a gray rabbit!" Meng Anci hurried over, scooped up the bloody rabbit, and called out to Jin Shanyao.
Meng Anzhi refused to fall behind. After who knew how many arrows, she finally hit a rabbit. Just as excited, she scooped it up and rushed over to Jin Shanyao.
"Auntie, how about we have roast rabbit for lunch?"
Jin Shanyao had come along to play with them in the first place, so naturally she agreed to their request.
"No problem. We'll have roast rabbit."
Meng Anci wouldn't hear of it. "Auntie, I hit mine first. Roast mine."
"Roast mine."
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
For the first time, the two children argued until they were red in the face over whose rabbit should be roasted first.
Jin Shanyao swept her hand through the air. "We'll roast them all. We won't leave a single one out."