Chapter 12: Not Allowed to Eat

Although the children were young, having traveled far and wide with that villain, they had witnessed death in all its forms. To them, while death was certainly fearsome, they did not truly understand what it felt like; however, the feeling of hunger was all too familiar. Although going hungry was a common occurrence they had long grown accustomed to, death seemed distant, whereas hunger tormented them at every waking moment.

Now, there was food to fill their bellies, yet "Mother" said they could not eat it.

"Listen to Mother; we won't eat these," Tian Shu said, as if having made a difficult decision.

"Big Brother, could you ask Mother again? Didn't we wash these? We washed them several times," Tian Ji whispered, trying to plead his case. It was already cooked and ready to eat; throwing it away felt like such a waste.

Tian Shu looked at his younger brother and shook his head. "Mother wouldn't harm us. Dump it—no, throw away the pot, too."

Hearing their eldest brother's words, the other younger ones said nothing more, watching as the second brother dumped the contents of the pot onto the ground. Tian Shu thought for a moment, then personally covered the beans and corn kernels with dirt. He even smashed the chipped pot and buried it.

Turning around, he saw Tian Ji staring down at the ground, looking distressed. He was looking at the makeshift bag he had fashioned by tying the legs of his trousers together, which contained the grain scavenged from a rat's nest. "Big Brother, can I still keep these trousers?"

"Don't. You aren't naked right now; if some kind soul gives us something later, you can pick first," Tian Shu replied, reasoning that since he had discarded his pot, Tian Ji should probably give up those trousers as well. As he spoke, he snuck a glance at Hong Xiaoduo, who was not far away.

"But, but..." Tian Ji remained reluctant to part with the grain, and even more so with the trousers. Winter was approaching, and an extra pair of trousers could help keep out the cold.

"Enough with the 'buts.' Do you want Mother, or do you want the trousers?" Tian Shu whispered a warning, ensuring the voice wouldn't reach her, yet afraid she might notice his brother's reluctance to obey.

Tian Xuan, who had been keeping an eye on them, noticed something was amiss and came over to ask what was happening. Tian Shu explained.

"Are you stupid? Do you not trust Mother, or do you not trust Big Brother? Let me remind you: if you make Mother unhappy, don't even talk about calling her 'Mother' anymore—even if you called her your own ancestor, she probably wouldn't care about us. Besides, would Mother forbid us from eating this without a reason? Since she said so, she must have her own logic. Furthermore, we had a wonderful, filling meal of meat just yesterday; are you still worried about having nothing to eat later?" Although Tian Xuan was a year younger than Tian Shu, he was like a little adult, capable of analyzing the situation.

Scolded and reminded by his second brother, Tian Ji realized he was in the wrong. He quickly called his two brothers to help him bury the trousers along with the contents.

***

There was no need to bury them, but Tian Shu had warned that he feared the villagers might dig them up and eat them.

While the brothers were talking, Hong Xiaoduo had already flicked her wrist and brought down a sparrow. Kai Yang and Yao Guang clapped their hands in delight, scrambling to retrieve it.

Perhaps because of the old man's words the previous night, Hong Xiaoduo was no longer in such a desperate rush to flee with the children. With their short legs, if that villain were truly chasing them, they would have been caught long ago. It occurred to her belatedly that if the villain were fine and had followed them, she should be able to handle him herself—so why run? And if she had accidentally killed him, would running even help if the authorities issued a warrant?

Thus, she strolled along with the children, hunting sparrows. There was no trouble to speak of; she needed to eat, too. Besides, the children had ultimately been obedient and hadn't eaten those beans and corn. She thought back to her plans from the day before: to buy a horse or donkey cart. But before she could even open her mouth, they had been chased away. All of this was the handiwork of those beggars led by the one nicknamed "Old Cat," and she and the children were the ones who suffered for it. Hong Xiaoduo kept a tally of this debt in her mind. She wouldn't go out of her way to find those scoundrels, but if she ran into them, it would be their bad luck.

Although the farmland near the village had long since been harvested, there were still many birds circling in search of food. People said that "the sparrow may be small, but it has all the vital organs," though Hong Xiaoduo felt this was just a metaphor for something being small yet complete; their intelligence was truly worrying. Look: they clearly saw someone throwing stones at them, and saw their companions falling and kicking their legs, yet after the startled flock circled high in the sky, they would return in groups a moment later. It wasn't as if they were coming back to avenge their kin—they were simply foolish.

The younger ones were busy picking up small stones for her and competing to collect the birds she knocked down. The children were happy, and Hong Xiaoduo found herself getting faster and more proficient. When she finally stopped to look back, there was a pile of birds on the ground, and the eldest, Tian Shu, and the second, were busy plucking and cleaning them.

By the time they had roasted and finished their meal, it was already afternoon.

Hong Xiaoduo was the "mother," and when she said it was time to leave, the group set off again, with Yao Guang still riding on her back. Along the way, if there was a forest, they would hunt rabbits and pheasants; if there wasn't, they would hunt sparrows. At night, they would find a ruined temple or some other shelter from the wind to rest.

***

The children’s courage grew slightly, and gradually, laughter began to return.

The only thing Hong Xiaoduo found hard to accept was that she had somehow picked up lice. She had heard of such things but had never seen them before. She had Yu Heng help her look for a long time, and they found one in her collar, but she still felt itchy all over. However, there were no conditions for a bath, let alone spare clothes to change into, so she had to grit her teeth and endure the discomfort. When little Yao Guang saw her itching, she would first hold out her small hands to show her how clean they were, and before Hong Xiaoduo could understand what the little one meant, she was already using her tiny hands to scratch the itch for her.

Finally, at noon on the fourth day, they arrived at a place called Mopan Town.

There was a notice board at the entrance of the town. Hong Xiaoduo deliberately looked at it; the posted official documents were about collecting autumn grain taxes, and she saw no wanted posters for any criminals.

She breathed a sigh of relief and led the children inside.

Standing on the town street, many passersby stared curiously at the group of one adult and seven children. There were also beggars leaning on canes who glared at them with unfriendly eyes, as if to say, "This is my territory, get lost."

However, Hong Xiaoduo glared back even more fiercely, and the beggar instantly understood: this fierce-looking young woman was the leader controlling these seven little beggars. The beggar was resentful, but he dared not provoke her. It wasn't that he was afraid of this seemingly harmless young woman; rather, based on his years of experience as a wanderer, he suspected there must be someone powerful backing her.

The sensible beggar drifted to the side and walked away. Hong Xiaoduo, however, stood still, wondering what to do first. Find an inn? No, she should first find a clothing store, buy clothes, then go to an inn to bathe and change, and only then find an eatery for a proper meal.

Yes, that was the plan.

Hong Xiaoduo had just lifted her foot to move forward and turned to tell the children to stay close and not get separated, but one glance told her that someone was missing.

One, two, three... she counted. Including the little one on her back, one was indeed missing. The sixth, Kai Yang, was gone.

She hadn't intended to keep these seven children forever, but losing one now was absolutely unacceptable.