Chapter 4: The Gift Of Prophecy
“So you actually foresaw in advance that your home would face a calamity?”
Mo Zheng placed the bamboo pole with the wild rabbit roadside and squatted on the ground looking at Yang Luo as she asked.
Yang Luo was originally about to bend her knees to sit down, but Mo Zheng tapped with the bamboo pole as a reminder: “Boys don’t sit like that.”
Yang Luo hurriedly changed her posture and squatted down mimicking her.
“Yes.” She answered Mo Zheng, taking a deep breath as if only then did she have the strength to recall, “I told Mother and wanted everyone to escape first, but Mother didn’t believe me…”
She paused here, seeming to hesitate about something.
Mo Zheng said indifferently: “Hey, just spill all the secrets at once, don’t remember one bit later.”
Yang Luo came back to her senses and looked at her, shaking her head.
“No, it’s not that, I just thought of it.” She said, tears swirling in her eyes, her voice somewhat murmuring, “Mother didn’t believe me and didn’t listen to me to leave home, but she prepared horses and a servant, and when those fierce bandits arrived, she sent me out the door ahead of time… last time…”
Her last sentence was somewhat vague; Mo Zheng didn’t hear clearly and asked: “Last time what?”
Yang Luo took a deep breath to hold back her tears, looking at her: “I mean, Mother rarely lets me go out; the last time was when I celebrated my birthday.”
Mo Zheng let out an “oh,” though she didn’t believe her words, she didn’t ask further, just lightly tapped the bamboo pole, and when someone passed by, she called out, “Want a wild rabbit?”
Then she continued asking.
“So you also foresaw my existence in advance?”
Yang Luo glanced at her and nodded: “I knew you would save me.”
I see, Mo Zheng was somewhat enlightened; no wonder she always felt this girl looked at her with a somewhat strange expression—it turned out she “knew” her.
Mo Zheng flicked the bamboo pole in her hand, hanging up the wild rabbit, and stood up to walk forward.
How come she was walking again while talking? She still didn’t believe? Yang Luo was somewhat anxious and somewhat helpless; she knew her words were too hard to believe, but there was really no way—this was already the most believable version.
“Look, I’ve never seen you before, you’ve never seen me, yet I could figure out your name.” She said hurriedly, tears falling pat pat, “Am I not accurate? Aren’t you called A Sheng?”
Mo Zheng turned her head to glance at her and hummed: “Accurate, I am indeed called A Sheng.”
Through tear-blurred eyes, Yang Luo saw the corners of her mouth seem to curve up—was that a believing smile or a mocking one? Then she saw the hunter youth continue walking forward.
“Then…”
Then why was she still walking?
“Didn’t you say two days later the government would use fake mountain bandits to close the case?” Mo Zheng said, looking back at her, “I haven’t verified it yet.”
Willing to verify meant she believed; Yang Luo breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her steps to catch up: “Good, I’ll go with you; then you’ll know I didn’t lie.”
……
……
From White Horse Town to Lu County wasn’t far, but they didn’t enter the city until nightfall.
Because Yang Luo couldn’t walk, Mo Zheng had to stop from time to time to wait for her; from this, Mo Zheng could confirm that Yang Luo was indeed a young lady who had never gone out.
Luckily, they encountered a kind ox cart old man on the road; Mo Zheng said some nice words to let Yang Luo ride and hitch a lift, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have made it before dark.
However, they did reach the county town before dark, but faced a new problem.
Sitting street side to rest and watching several children playing on the mounting stone, Mo Zheng and Yang Luo’s gaze involuntarily fell on the steamed buns in the children’s hands.
Yang Luo’s stomach even growled a few times.
Mo Zheng was okay, her stomach didn’t growl, but she couldn’t help swallowing saliva.
Perhaps their gaze was too blatant; the several children hurriedly hugged their steamed buns and ran off.
Mo Zheng exhaled and looked at Yang Luo: “Young lady, do you have money?”
Yang Luo gave a bitter smile: “My family does have money, but I escaped in the middle of the night and brought nothing.”
No money, not even jewelry.
She looked at the hunter youth, eyes expectant: “Your skills are so good, you must have lots of prey, so…”
Very rich, right?
Mo Zheng spat out the withered grass she had pulled roadside while squatting waiting for Yang Luo to ease her foot pain some unknown time ago from her mouth: “Young lady, I’m an orphan; when I’m hungry today, I hunt today to exchange for money to eat my fill; if hungry tomorrow, we’ll talk tomorrow—where would I have extra money?”
Yang Luo sighed, looking at the wild rabbit in her hand.
There was prey, but now it was dark, the market had dispersed, and there was no place to sell.
Besides, how much could two wild rabbits sell for? Enough for one meal? And where to stay tonight? Inns are all expensive.
Yang Luo looked at Mo Zheng, eyes helpless; she had never faced problems of food, clothing, housing, and transport.
Mo Zheng seemed unable to bear being looked at with such eyes, stood up and picked up the wild rabbit: “Let’s go, use them to exchange for a meal and a place to sleep.”
How to exchange? Yang Luo was puzzled and hurriedly followed her.
……
……
Lu County county town wasn’t small; there was a dry bridge in the city, and as night fell and the street crowds dispersed, under the dry bridge there was firelight and noisy voices.
Two wild rabbits on the campfire were turned from time to time, with oil dripping and splashing firelight, also letting the fragrance waft everywhere. The beggars surrounding them all swallowed their saliva, wishing they could grab and eat them right away.
“Go away, go away, don’t grab.”
An old beggar who was blind in one eye waved the stick in his hand.
“Everyone can have a bite. After it’s eaten, you can still gnaw the bones.”
With that, he looked at the two youths sitting beside him.
His blind eye swept over Yang Luo and stopped on Mo Zheng.
“Thank you, kind young man, for giving us meat to eat.” He smiled and thanked her.
Mo Zheng smiled and cupped her hands: “It’s us brothers who should thank you, old man, for taking us in.”
Yang Luo shrank beside Mo Zheng, not daring to raise her head, listening to Mo Zheng chatting and laughing with the beggars…
She hadn’t expected that one could trade with beggars for food and a place to stay. She couldn’t describe her current mood. While she was dazed, she heard the old beggar enthusiastically calling out.
“First give the guests a bowl of hot soup.”
Then a young beggar handed over two bowls with chipped rims. Under the flickering campfire in the night, the dark soup had a few vegetable leaves floating in it.
Yang Luo shrank back again, while Mo Zheng beside her had already taken it and started drinking it in big gulps.
Looking at the other beggars again, they didn’t even have bowls. They guarded a wooden bucket, scrambling with spoons to ladle and drink.
“Aren’t you going to drink?” The young beggar holding the broken bowl was a bit anxious. Looking at his companions scrambling over there, if he went late, there wouldn’t be any left to drink.
Yang Luo originally wanted to say she wouldn’t drink, but her stomach wouldn’t cooperate. She could only reach out to take it. Bringing it close to look at the soup in the bowl, she seemed to smell the sour stench emanating from it…
Yang Luo couldn’t help but dry heave, and the bowl in her hand was about to fall. Mo Zheng beside her timely caught it.
“Wait a bit and eat the meat.” She said, pausing, “I’ll find some clean hot water for you later.”
With that, she was about to drink the soup from the broken bowl, but Yang Luo reached out and grabbed it.
Under the campfire light, the girl raised her hand to wipe her face. Her small face, mixed with grass and wood ash, tears, and dirt, became even more mottled.
“No need.” Yang Luo said, “This will do to drink.”
She wasn’t some young lady now; now she needed to survive. She dared to do anything, could do anything.
With that, she tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and drank down the soup from the broken bowl.
Mo Zheng’s thin lips curved slightly, then she looked away.
