Chapter 34

Taishi Huan was still tied to the parasol tree. Likely still not recovered from the shock of nearly being paralyzed, he kept his mouth tightly shut and didn’t make a sound.

After watching the excitement, everyone ignored him and went about their own business.

Jiang Beibei sat by the wall, pulling down the white, stringy substance hanging from the clothesline. It was nettle fiber. A wooden wedge had been driven into the wall. After straightening the fibers, Jiang Beibei started a cord on the wedge and began braiding rope.

Her fingers were nimble, her movements gentle. The rope she braided was even in thickness. With a small smile, she greeted Wang Ran and Miao Bing, who were dragging back bamboo poles, asking if the rope was easy to use.

Wang Ran and Miao Bing were talking. Each dragged a small bundle of bamboo back, raising their heads to tell Jiang Beibei that the rope was sturdy. They dragged the bamboo to the front yard. The leafy tips of the long poles stretched all the way to the parasol tree.

Miao Bing chopped off a section of bamboo tube and sat on a stump. Using the blade of his axe, he split the end of the tube without the node, opening it up. He continued splitting it into thin slivers without fully breaking them apart at the base; the end with the node remained connected. He repeated this to separate the slivers even finer, turning them into countless thin, flexible bamboo sticks. The bamboo tube bloomed like a flower.

Miao Bing took a length of rope from Jiang Beibei. He wrapped and tightened it around the node end for a handle, tied it off, and handed it to Yunxiu.

Yunxiu accepted it delightedly. With this bamboo scrubber, washing the wok would be much easier.

Miao Bing started splitting bamboo. Wang Ran collected firewood and made a fire. Miao Bing and Feng Huai had already learned from Zhao Penglai about their plans to build new houses. With a house, furniture couldn’t be left behind. Miao Bing thought, at least he could start by trying his hand at making a few bamboo chairs.

In the men’s side courtyard, Feng Huai was chiseling stones. Beside him was the millstone and stone roller they’d finished the day before, for grinding fine powders. Zhao Penglai wanted to use stone to build the foundation, but they lacked manpower, and Xia Qing hadn’t finished making a handcart yet. Transporting and cutting stone was time- and labor-intensive. So they just had him process as much as he could.

Xia Qing was planing wooden boards. Xu Yin and Zhao Penglai were working a saw together, cutting wood. Mopping sweat from his brow, Xu Yin craned his neck and called out, “Yunxiu.”

Yunxiu leaned out from the kitchen. “Yeah?”

“Bring some water over.”

“Okay!”

Yunxiu took a kettle and bowls over. The four stopped for a moment, drinking water and taking a break.

Yu Muyang sidled over, wanting to try his hand at the pit saw.

Zhao Penglai kicked him. “Scram. Done with the bricks yet?”

Yu Muyang said, “I was just waiting for Brother Wang and Little Liu.”

Wang Ran came over, and Yu Muyang slung an arm around his shoulder, the two of them hobnobbing. Liu Cuo Jin walked ahead of them, the three heading towards the brick kiln. Building a new house, they wouldn’t dare start without preparing ten thousand or so bricks. He couldn’t manage it alone, so he grabbed anyone idle to help.

The scene was harmonious and orderly, making it hard to remember this was desolate, primitive wilderness, more like some idyllic village.

Taishi Huan stared blankly, taking it all in. Realizing he was observing, irritation flared. He didn’t want to watch. These images stabbed at his heart like a poisoned blade. He squirmed against the ropes. Seeing Yan Baiyu come out, his movements froze instantly, going rigid, not daring to move.

Yan Baiyu said to Li Cunxin, “Don’t do any work today. Just rest properly first.”

Li Cunxin silently agreed. Yan Baiyu tilted her head slightly. In the shadow of the eaves, her eyes were like polished jade, having a very gentle luster, yet also the uncanny gleam of seeing through all things.

Li Cunxin looked towards Jiang Beibei’s hands, weaving the rope, fluttering like a flower under the sun. Li Cunxin squinted, unaccustomed to the light. “Be careful.”

“Mn.” Without further words, Yan Baiyu took a rope and a small knife, and left with Alpha.

Li Cunxin watched Yan Baiyu’s retreating back. After a long while, her gaze shifted, briefly scanning Taishi Huan. She went into the storehouse, took a piece of Panax Notoginseng, and went into the kitchen. The sound of chopping bones came from inside.

A moment later, Li Cunxin came out holding something and gave it to Miao Bing. Taishi Huan saw her say something. Miao Bing was taken aback and took the item from her hand.

Miao Bing walked up to Taishi Huan. The two of them stood in relative silence for a long time. Miao Bing offered the thing in his hand to Taishi Huan. “The Village Chief told me to give you this.”

Taishi Huan’s voice was hard and cold. “What is it?”

Miao Bing opened his hand to reveal what looked like a ginger root. Taishi Huan recognized it as notoginseng. Miao Bing said, “She said it’s notoginseng, good for invigorating blood and reducing bruises. You should know that. There aren’t any medicines in this place. With all the falls and beatings you’ve taken, don’t end up with some real problem. What’s the point?”

Having already capitulated once, breaking that ice made surrender seem less difficult. He didn’t retort, just lowered his head and bit the cut piece of notoginseng into his mouth, chewing hard. “Get me a bowl of water. This stuff scrapes the throat.”

Miao Bing went back and poured him a bowl of water. Taishi Huan watched everyone working, starting and stopping, until kitchen smoke rose and the day’s colors faded to dusk. Everyone stopped work, washed their hands, and brought out bowls of dumplings, steaming in the cold air. Some ate in the main hall, others took their bowls back to their rooms.

Yu Muyang came to untie him. Xia Qing threw two roasted potatoes into Taishi Huan’s arms. Taishi Huan felt the potato lumps. His whole body prickled as if stabbed by needles. He bowed his head for a long time, then ate the potatoes, skin and all.

After Taishi Huan finished eating, he was tied up again and thrown into the donkey shed. Everyone was still worried that tying him up outside would freeze him to death.

Taishi Huan heard the sounds of them emptying their foot-washing water, blowing out candles, talking while squeezed together under their quilts.

From the east bamboo room, Xia Qing shouted towards the west one, “Yu Muyang, shut up! Keep your snoring down!”

Taishi Huan huddled in the donkey shed, his two eyes fixed on the black donkey’s rear as it stood in the corner. Their roommates were people; his roommate was only a donkey.

Taishi Huan slept fitfully. He woke when the sky was just beginning to lighten. The ropes binding him weren’t tight and had loosened further while he slept. His heart leaped. He started struggling, but quietly, not daring to make too much noise. By the time the landscape was just barely visible, the restraints on him suddenly slacked completely.

His heart soared. He hunched low and crept out of the donkey shed. Having learned the wolves’ keen senses, he minimized his movement sounds and went back to his own thatched shed. He grabbed his backpack basket, packed his usable tools, and hurried off.

He fled along the path he’d originally taken coming here, occasionally looking back over his shoulder. Walking into the woods, he felt his foot step on something. His hair stood on end. As he looked down to check, a force snatched him up, yanking him off balance.

His head hit the mud-packed ground. He cried out in pain, dizzy and dazed. When he looked up, he realized he’d stepped into a trap. One leg was caught in a rope snare, which had been hoisted up by a bent sapling that had snapped upright.

The snare was tight, the sapling springy. He couldn’t break it by sheer force. Fortunately, he was heavy enough not to be hoisted completely off the ground, and only one leg was trapped. After calming down, he pushed his leg down forcefully and reached up, untying the snare.

Before he could even stand, a wash of firelight fell from above. Looking up, he saw the faces of Xu Yin, Zhao Penglai, Yu Muyang, and Wang Ran. They loomed over him like the Four Heavenly Kings in a temple painting, glaring down wrathfully.

Taishi Huan. “…”

Taishi Huan was tied up and tossed back into the donkey shed.

Day had fully dawned. Yunxiu curiously asked, “How were you all so quick to get back?”

Yu Muyang scoffed, “This idiot stepped right into one of Sister Yan’s hunting traps.”

“Baiyu, weren’t those traps over there only set up yesterday?” Yunxiu quietly asked Yan Baiyu. “Don’t tell me you guessed he’d try to run and did it on purpose?”

Yan Baiyu smiled lightly. “How could I? Even if I guessed he’d run, I couldn’t predict exactly where he’d step.” She had merely made a deduction: Taishi Huan, if fleeing, would likely rely on the familiar path he’d arrived on. She did think that, and so she favored placing the hunting traps on that side. But it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to catch Taishi Huan specifically. She just hadn’t expected him to have such ‘good luck’ to step right in one.

Taishi Huan was tied up for two days. His meals were forever just his own bland, roasted potatoes and a bowl of cold water. That night, everyone else had shredded bamboo shoots with cured meat, stir-fried asparagus lettuce strips, and steamed sausages. The rice steamed in the wooden rice steamer was fragrant and pure. The sausages steamed on top were round, plump, and scalding hot. Fat and lean intermingled, they were sliced and glistening with oil. Taishi Huan saw it all as they were brought out.

Taishi Huan looked down at the roasted potato in his hand. His eyes stung. He bit into the potato. But today’s potato wasn’t flavorless. It seemed dusted with a layer of pepper salt. The crisp surface had a slightly salty, numbing taste. Taishi Huan froze. The needles pricked into his heart again.

That very night, Taishi Huan once again wriggled free of his bindings. This time, he was smarter—he ran in the opposite direction. After putting some distance between them, he broke into a sprint. Only when he was completely exhausted did he stop, slowing to a walk.

He didn’t recognize this path. He walked with some hesitation. By the time the sun rose and the landscape brightened, Taishi Huan saw a stream. He scooped up a handful of water, hesitated, but still didn’t dare drink it raw. Wanting to boil it, he had just taken off his backpack basket.

Whoosh. An arrow thudded into the mud right beside him, the shaft still quivering.

Taishi Huan whirled around. The black donkey, with Yan Baiyu riding it, was trotting over. The three wolves were scouting ahead.

Riding Mei Wenqin, Yan Baiyu still exuded the aura of a Valkyrie. The moment Taishi Huan saw her, his back ached, and chills shot into the very marrow of his bones.

Taishi Huan stiffly stood up.

Yan Baiyu said flatly, “Will you walk back yourself, or should I tie you up and drag you back?”

Taishi Huan was forced to be sensible. He obediently shouldered his backpack basket. Surrounded by the three wolves, he walked back. Yan Baiyu followed slowly, seated on Mei Wenqin’s back.

As if watching a play, everyone saw the fugitive walk back all by himself and go stand under the parasol tree of his own accord.

The fourth day. The fifth day. They continued to tie Taishi Huan to the parasol tree. Taishi Huan was about to go mad. He yelled, “If you’re gonna kill me or cut me, just get it over with!”

But they didn’t kill him, nor did they cut him. They just tied him up. The days seemed to have no end. His bones felt ready to stiffen into knots. The ropes had left deep purple-red welts on his arms.

At dinnertime, Xia Qing tossed two roasted potatoes over. Taishi Huan, giving into despair, said, “I want rice.”

Xia Qing glanced at him, and surprisingly, didn’t curse him out. It felt so strange. When Xia Qing came back, she had actually brought him a bowl of congee.

Taishi Huan hesitated as he took it. “For me?”

“Eat it or don’t.”

Taishi Huan looked at the congee. The rice gruel was sweet and warm, snow-white and thick, with shredded ginger and egg inside. Poisoned? Unlikely. Taishi Huan brought the bowl directly to his mouth and drank it down. He licked the bowl as clean as if it had been washed. He broke out in a sweat, let out a long breath. He felt relieved but also deeply melancholy.

That night, Taishi Huan broke out of prison again. He ran a certain distance first. Once it was light, he found a place to hide.

The ground just wouldn’t warm up; it was like lying on a sheet of hard ice. After an unknown time, something outside the grass pile started rooting around. His sleeve was caught in animal teeth and dragged outward. Then a large hand grabbed him, pulling him straight out.

The wolves’ sense of smell was too keen. Once they had your scent, they could find prey several kilometers away, even further if downwind.

Taishi Huan knew he hadn’t gone far enough.

The consolation was that this time, the one coming to catch him wasn’t Yan Baiyu. But being caught by Yu Muyang and the others wasn’t pleasant either.

Taishi Huan’s hands and feet were tied, and he was strung up on a pole, carried back like hunted game.

Yu Muyang called out towards the adobe house, “Village Chief! We caught a wild boar! Slaughter it tonight for a feast!”

Taishi Huan was thrown to the ground. Everyone at home was already used to this.

Taishi Huan was still tied up. He was getting somewhat used to being tied up. The prickly straw and foul smell of the donkey shed started to seem ordinary. He began thinking about what he might get for dinner. The only thing driving his escape was the biting cold of the drafty donkey shed in the dead of night.

The night after being brought back, Taishi Huan swiftly put his fourth escape plan into action.

Previously, he’d been afraid the deep night was too cold and waited until nearly dawn to move. This time, he ran off while it was still pitch black. He ran without stopping until daybreak. To make sure the wolves wouldn’t track his scent, as an extra precaution, he plastered himself all over with mud. He hid for a whole day, and no one came looking for him.

Taishi Huan, however, wasn’t in a hurry to escape further. He built a simple grass shelter right where he was. At night, the wind howled outside. Although it hadn’t snowed and his clothes were thick enough to keep out the chill, he still nearly froze to death at night. There were fewer wild animals in winter, but the utter loneliness of being the only person between heaven and earth made his sleep uneasy too.

He waited in place for three days. No one came looking for him. He walked outside, looking at the vast, desolate world. He was all alone, tiny as an ant. He said something and didn’t hear an echo for a long while.

He suddenly realized the ropes binding him had been loose enough to escape because that woman named Yan Baiyu had intentionally tied them loose.

His footsteps, without his conscious will, carried him back. The return path was somewhat hard to find, but following the beacon smoke, he found his way back to the original place.

His clothes were filthy, his hair disheveled, looking like a beggar. The people working in the courtyard looked up at him casually.

Taishi Huan asked Yan Baiyu, “Why didn’t you come catch me?”

Yan Baiyu sneered, “Why would we come catch you?”

“Then why did you bring me back those first few times?”

“You stole our pig. That was punishment. As of yesterday, your confinement period was over. You were free to leave.”

Taishi Huan strode over to the parasol tree, sat down cross-legged. “I’m not leaving!”