Chapter 138

Chapter 138

The quiet forest was filled with life by the arrival of the group.

Man Cang led a bunch of guys to clear the surroundings, forcing snakes, bugs, rats, and ants to scram from their homes in the dead of night. The grass rustled nonstop, full of complaints no human could get.

Old Man Zhao was mobbed by a crowd, listening to them jabber about how damn tiring and dangerous the trip was—how crossing mountains was no big deal, but getting chased like a chicken by those soldiers was the real nightmare. Lots of folks had barely left their village in their lives and never faced that kind of scene; their legs were jelly, and if someone hadn't dragged them along, they'd have dropped on the spot.

"It was Dashan who was sharp, seeing the trouble and telling us to run into the mountains, which saved us," said the guy who'd been yelling Dashan was nuts for not letting them rest, now praising him happily.

The others nodded fast.

It was too damn hot to bother with a campfire, so they just stuck some torches in the clearing, free of leaves and trees. The firelight lit up a bunch of wrinkled, tired faces. A few village elders sat cross-legged on the ground, drinking the half-bucket of water the Shi family had brought back.

Half a bowl each, which solved Old Man Zhao's big problem of not knowing how to hand out the water.

Ain't it true that smart folks are lovable? They had good eyes. The Shi family was still bustling around, helping the folks from Wanxia Village get settled—picking leaves, moving rocks, digging latrines, and all. They worked hard, didn't talk much, and smiled at everyone.

"Da Gen, that family over there?" Zhao Shanao couldn't help asking.

Old Man Zhao was focused on their journey's story, which was way more twisted than he'd thought, explaining why they took so long. He got a chill listening to it. At that, he just said, "We met 'em yesterday when we stopped to rest. Their surname's Shi. Two brothers, with their wives and kids, heading to Fengchuan Prefecture to crash with relatives."

Since they were all his own folks, there was nothing to hide. He told how Shi Dalang brought his niece to offer sugarcane and asked to travel with them.

Li Laiyin sighed. After all he'd been through, he'd long dropped his sneaky tricks and roundabout ways. Instead, because they were all farming folk, he felt a bit of sympathy: "These times are tough for everyone, man."

"Let Da Gen call the shots; we'll do what you say," said Zhou Fugui, not daring to take more than a sip, just wetting his lips from the clay bowl.

Wang Tiegen didn't say a word, just nodded in agreement with Da Gen.

The village elders nodded, and Old Man Zhao didn't add much. They exchanged accounts of their recent experiences, and seeing the elders' droopy eyelids and nodding heads—they were old, and after such relentless travel, they were beat enough to crash right there.

Back where they'd tied up the donkey, a few straw mats were already laid out, and the daughters-in-law and grandkids were asleep. His old lady was fanning their daughter with a palm leaf fan. Old Man Zhao walked over, kicked off his straw shoes, took the fan, and started fanning the mother and daughter. Even though his heart hurt, his words came out harsh: "Why ain't you sleeping at your age? What strength you got to fan? Your breeze is weaker than a mosquito's wing."

Wang Shi smacked him on the arm, too lazy to argue back, and lay down beside her daughter, enjoying the cool breeze, which calmed her down a bit.

"You hungry? Feet sore? Want me to rub 'em?" When she didn't answer, Old Man Zhao got annoyed, his lips itching to say something. "The trip was rough on you. If I'd known, I'd have made you come with us; riding the donkey cart would've been easier."

"What's so hard about it? I ain't some delicate flower. Ain't I walked enough roads in my life?" Wang Shi glanced at him sideways. "Just fan. What's there to rub? At our age, what would people think if they saw?"

"Heh, let 'em see! What's it to 'em if I rub my own wife's feet?" Tossing aside the fan, Old Man Zhao shifted, picked up his wife's feet—whose calluses were thicker than straw shoes—placed them in his lap, and started kneading and pressing to relax them.

To be honest, they didn't smell great. Having hurried along the road, she'd worn out two pairs of straw shoes, and her clothes had been soaked by sweat and dried by the sun, over and over. Her feet were muddy, sweaty, dirty, and a bit stinky, but Old Man Zhao didn't mind at all. He pulled out a hand towel from his chest and carefully wiped between her toes, feeling much better afterward.

When they'd split into two groups, he never imagined they'd run into so many troubles. If he'd known, he'd have insisted she come with them, no matter what, and not let her suffer like this.

Fortunately, everything turned out safe. No one from the family was lost, and no one from the village was left behind—a blessing in the midst of misfortune.

It wasn't until nearly dawn that the lively forest quieted down. Every household had found a spot they liked and settled in.

Surrounded by familiar faces, with his dad nearby, Zhao Dashan, who'd been tense the whole trip, finally relaxed completely. His snores shook the air, as if making up for all the sleep he'd missed.

Zhao Xiaobao woke up early. She had a regular sleep schedule, and when she'd been half-asleep in the middle of the night, seeing her brothers and sisters-in-law had felt like a dream. Opening her eyes in the morning to see her mom's face, she rubbed her eyes until they were red, opening and closing them repeatedly to confirm it was real, then tears streamed down her face.

"Mom, Mom, Xiaobao missed you so much," she whispered, afraid to wake her mom.

She carefully snuggled into her mom's arms for a while, until she felt several pairs of eyes staring at her eagerly. Then she slowly got up.

Wu Gu Feng Deng Xi licked his dry lips, his eyes shining like a wolf seeing meat, almost drooling. Tears flowed along with the saliva. The youngest, Zhao Xi, cried as he spoke: "Little Aunt, I missed you so much. I missed you so much I couldn't sleep at night."

Zhao Xiaowu, who'd also been eager, couldn't help laughing, reaching out to pat his little brother on the head. Glancing around, the clever Zhao Deng reached under his little aunt's armpits and lifted her into his arms. The brothers exchanged sly looks, grinned, and carried her into the forest.

Zhao Xiaobao was dazed as her nephew carried her away. When they were alone, at their urging, her little hands got busy—pulling out flatbreads, steamed buns, and occasionally ladling water and handing out fruit. With five nephews and five mouths, she only had two pitiful hands and couldn't keep up.

"Little Aunt, I missed you so much, the most," Xi'er said, his cheeks stuffed full like a little hamster, acting coy.

"I missed Little Aunt even more. Little Aunt, I dreamed of you, calling your name in my sleep," A Deng said, holding a wild pear in one hand and a meat bun in the other, eating nonstop.

The other three nodded, wanting to speak, but their mouths were so full that even their throats were blocked.

Hungry and thirsty the whole way, they'd kept going only because there was a carrot called "Little Aunt" dangling ahead. Once they found her, they wouldn't go hungry anymore.

Who could blame them? Little Aunt doted on them the most.

And Zhao Xiaobao truly did dote on her nephews. Being called "Little Aunt" over and over made her heart bloom, her cheeks flushed pink. She pulled out food with practiced ease, as if she'd done it countless times.

When Qing Xuan found them, he saw a circle of sturdy backs, with Zhao Xiaobao in the middle like a little white rabbit surrounded by a pack of wolves—pitiful and helpless. He was about to speak when the little white rabbit in his eyes looked up, patted the heads of those "hungry" wolves, and all five heads turned in unison, wiping their mouths at the same time.

"..." Qing Xuan paused. "What are you all doing?"

"Brother Qing Xuan, these are Xiaobao's nephews," Zhao Xiaobao said, her eyes darting around. She tugged Zhao Xiaobao up and introduced them: "This is Xiao Wu, Xiaobao's eldest nephew."

Then she pulled the others in turn: "This is Gu Zi, this is A Feng, this is A Deng, and this is Xi'er."

She puffed out her little chest proudly, always proud of having five nephews. Seeing the shock in Brother Qing Xuan's eyes, she was satisfied.

Qing Xuan pretended to be shocked, and seeing her tail practically wagging, he curled his lips slightly. He already knew she had three brothers and five nephews. Not seeing her early in the morning, he'd asked Old Man Zhao and followed the direction to find her, only to see a few sneaky figures huddled together doing something.

A faint scent of food seemed to linger in the air. His senses were sharp, and he caught a whiff of something meaty.

It smelled a bit like... meat buns fresh from the steamer?

Well, he glanced around discreetly. Nothing but trees and leaves. Probably his imagination.

"He's Brother Dao Tong, named Qing Xuan. You, you can call him Uncle Qing Xuan," Zhao Xiaobao said, biting her finger, looking troubled. "But what do we do? Brother Qing Xuan is about the same age as Xiao Wu, but Xiaobao calls him brother. Xiao Wu is Xiaobao's nephew, so he's a generation lower. By seniority, they should call him uncle..."

Calling him uncle felt a bit unfair to Xiao Wu and the others, but calling him brother would be unfair to Brother Qing Xuan. Zhao Xiaobao was in agony. Having always been the "elder" in the village, she took seniority very seriously and didn't know how to settle it.

In the end, unwilling to let Brother Qing Xuan's status be lowered, she decided: "Everyone calls him Uncle Qing Xuan!"

And so, Qing Xuan gained five nephews, two of whom were about his age.

Zhao Xiaowu and the others had no objections. What did it matter what they called him? It was just a title. Their family didn't hide things from them, and they vaguely knew that this newly recognized little uncle might have some connection with their good brother Jinyu. Even if not, the matter of the ashes alone was enough for them to hold goodwill toward all the Taoists from Qingxuan Temple.

Boys easily hit it off if they saw eye to eye.

Qing Xuan was eager to fit in, and with Zhao Xiaobao boasting about how amazing Brother Qing Xuan was—how he had great skills and could even "fly"—the boys were awestruck. They pestered him about how he flew, whether it was like the immortals in stories who could ascend to heaven and dive into the earth.

Learning it was just martial arts, making him lighter on his feet, not as grand as the tales.

"It's not that exaggerated. Taoists are ordinary people too," Qing Xuan said, sweating under the fiery, admiring gazes. "...If you want to learn, I can teach you."

"Little Uncle, we want to learn!" Zhao Xiaowu was the first to respond. "Can you wield a staff? Can you teach me to wield one?"

"I want to too, I want to learn. I want to fly," Xi'er demanded ambitiously. "I want to ascend to heaven and dive into the earth."

"Do you want me to send you to heaven right now?" Zhao Deng shoved aside his troublemaking little brother, threatening darkly. Then, looking at Qing Xuan, he twisted his fingers shyly and asked, "Little Uncle, I want to learn how to sneakily ambush people. I like being a sneaky guy."

"..." Though the other two hadn't spoken, their eager expressions made Qing Xuan feel a bit overwhelmed. He quickly shot a pleading look at Zhao Xiaobao. Why did her nephews have so many ideas? Were they really just ordinary farming folk?

Zhao Xiaobao herself didn't like practicing horse stance, but she was happy to see her nephews striving for improvement. Seeing this, she squeezed in, pulled out the surrounded Qing Xuan, and put her hands on her hips, saying, "What's this about crowding around an elder?! Haven't your little aunt taught you any manners?"

"Hmph, the eldest sister-in-law runs the kitchen—we eat whatever she makes. Same logic: whatever Brother Qing Xuan teaches, you learn. And you're picking and choosing? Look at you, being so picky!"

She waved her little hand, acting like a seasoned master: "As punishment, you'll practice horse stance every day—half an hour, no, make it at least an hour to start!"

Your aunt has been through it herself, so her first move was to rip up her nephews' umbrellas.

Zhao Xiaobao thought to herself, I'm doing this all for your own good!

Among her five nephews, surely at least one had good potential, right?

Why work hard myself when I can make my nephews do it? Her parents said she only needed to sit back and enjoy life—farming was for her brothers, and the hardship of learning skills was for her nephews.

She, Zhao Xiaobao, had plenty of folks to do her bidding!