Chapter 64: Heading to Dongwang Village

Tuo Tuo’s shouting was useless. Ma Daming tied a strip of cloth around his mouth with a fierce look on his face, making sure he could not say a single word.

After dealing with Tuo Tuo, Ma Daming casually picked up the rabbit leg the madwoman had just dropped, blew the dust off it, and began gnawing on it with relish.

Tuo Tuo glared with his eyes wide, making muffled whimpering sounds. This bad human—how could he treat him like this? He would definitely make him pay!

The little sparrow perched on the beam had watched the entire process of Tuo Tuo getting beaten. It could not help admiring Tuo Tuo in its heart. In order to disguise himself as an ordinary human, Lord Tuo Tuo had sacrificed so much! In order to maintain Yunling Temple’s incense offerings, Lord Tuo Tuo had made a tremendous contribution. Once it returned to the mountain, it would definitely tell all the little demons on the mountain about Lord Tuo Tuo’s sacrifice and contribution.

A sound came from outside the ruined temple door. Ma Daming made a shushing gesture, signaling for the madwoman and Hei Pi to keep quiet.

“Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Hei Pi, it’s me, Liu Wu.” Liu Wu knocked on the door, looking around as he lowered his voice and called out.

“Great, Liu Wu is here.” Hei Pi jumped up, opened the door happily, and let Liu Wu in.

Tuo Tuo lay on the ground, glancing sideways toward the doorway. He saw that the newcomer had a pair of upturned eyes and fleshless cheeks. He looked every bit like a bad person.

Liu Wu quickly swept his gaze around the ruined temple and said to Ma Daming, “Big Brother, we need to leave quickly. They’re checking too strictly in this town. We have to leave town through one of the surrounding villages.”

“We already asked around. We can get out of Anping Town if we go through Dongwang Village.” Ma Daming pointed at Tuo Tuo, who was tied up like a rice dumpling. “This kid is from Dongwang Village.”

“Then let’s go quickly. The sooner we leave town, the sooner we can relax. Young Master Wen is waiting for this batch of goods.” Liu Wu walked over, grabbed two children, one in each hand, and dragged them outside.

Tuo Tuo went, “Mmph, mmph, mmph.” Aren’t you asking me to show the way? Take the stinky cloth out of my mouth. How am I supposed to give directions if I can’t talk?

The little sparrow spread its wings and flew out through the broken window. It was going to inform the great demons.

Tuo Tuo lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, watching as the children were dragged out one after another. He was the last one.

Hei Pi struggled to stuff him into the carriage, then shoved backward hard with his bottom.

Sixteen children had been forcibly crammed into the small carriage. Apart from Liu Wu, who was driving, the other three adults were also doing their best to squeeze inside.

Tuo Tuo’s swollen right cheek was pressed against the carriage wall, rubbing back and forth against it as he was squeezed. It burned with pain. The other half of his face was being tormented by Hei Pi’s bottom, which kept squeezing back and forth against him. He felt as if he were about to be flattened into a meat patty.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph.” Tuo Tuo tried to use his sounds to get Hei Pi’s attention, hoping he could give him a little more space.

But he was not the only one being squeezed in the carriage. The children piled together behind him were also making sounds of dissatisfaction. The group of children whimpered and wailed, sounding exactly like noisy piglets in a pigpen.

Ma Daming turned around with difficulty and slapped the head of a child behind him. His face was vicious as he roared angrily, “What are you shouting for? If you shout again, I’ll throw you onto the mountain to feed the wolves.”

The children shrank back in fear. No one dared make the slightest sound again, all of them on edge, afraid of being singled out by Ma Daming.

Only Tuo Tuo refused to give up even though he was tightly tied up. He twisted back and forth on the wooden pole, going, “Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.” Move aside a little. He was so cramped it hurt.

Ma Daming looked at Tuo Tuo, who was wriggling and making noise, and lowered his voice to roar at Hei Pi, “Don’t let him keep mmphing and wailing like that. If someone notices us later, we’ll all be in trouble.”

Hei Pi, squeezed against the side of the carriage, tried hard to thrust his bottom forward. This little kid had been squirming under his butt the whole time. He turned around, stretched out his hand, and slapped Tuo Tuo’s arm with a sharp smack, whispering anxiously, “Don’t make a sound.”

“Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.” Hurry up and move your butt. It’s squashing my face.

Tuo Tuo’s nonstop noise made Hei Pi very anxious. Imitating Ma Daming, he struck Tuo Tuo hard on the head and said viciously, “Stop shouting. I’ll throw you onto the mountain to feed the wolves later.”

Tuo Tuo’s skyward topknot was knocked crooked to one side, and his forehead bumped against the carriage wall with a small thud. He turned his head and shouted even louder, “Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.” Then throw me onto the mountain. Throw me! Throw me! Why did you hit me again?

The cloth strip was bitten between his teeth. Tuo Tuo worked hard to open his mouth wide, secretly used a spell to make his mouth bigger, and while Hei Pi turned back around, bit Hei Pi hard on the bottom.

“Aow!” Hei Pi clutched his bottom in pain.

“What are you shouting for?” The madwoman hit Hei Pi twice and said in a suppressed voice, “Keep it down.”

Hei Pi complained aggrievedly, “Sister-in-law, he bit me.”

The madwoman turned her head and saw Tuo Tuo properly biting down on the cloth strip. She looked at Hei Pi reproachfully. “What nonsense are you talking about? All of you behave. You keep quiet too.”

When they were on the mountain, Xi Jue had led them east, so Ma Daming had Liu Wu drive the carriage east.

When they reached a fork in the road, Liu Wu stopped the carriage and cautiously looked around. After making sure no one was there, he asked quietly toward the carriage, “Big Brother, there’s a fork. Which road do we take?”

“Little fatty, hurry up and look. Which road do we take?” The madwoman pinched Tuo Tuo’s chubby leg hard.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.” Tuo Tuo, squeezed between the carriage wall and Hei Pi’s bottom, shouted. Let me look at the road!!! How am I supposed to point the way if I can’t see the road?

“What’s the use of just asking him?” Ma Daming shoved the madwoman impatiently. “You get down first and let that fat kid come over to recognize the road.”

After being dragged to the side of the carriage by Ma Daming, Tuo Tuo felt that his face had finally loosened up. Once the cloth strip in his mouth was untied, he immediately shouted in dissatisfaction, “Why did you tie me up so tightly? I’m not going to run. The carriage is too crowded. I want to lean outside.”

“Why do you have so many demands?” The madwoman viciously pinched Tuo Tuo’s chubby face. “I’m asking you which road to take.”

Tuo Tuo screamed, “It hurts! It hurts! Use less strength, use less strength. Left! Take the left!” This job should have been given to Xiao Cong. Xiao Cong had armor plates on him. If someone pinched him like this, it definitely would not hurt.

“Wouldn’t that have settled it if you’d said so earlier? You’re not big, but your mouth sure has a lot to say.” The madwoman let go. Ma Daming tied the cloth strip around Tuo Tuo’s mouth again and pushed him back into the carriage.

This position was a little better than before. He could lean straight against the person behind him, and his face no longer suffered. Tuo Tuo thought, once they reached Dongwang Village, he would definitely make them pay.

In the village, Hua Qi held Yun Shan while he and Xiu Niang watched Xi Jue, Dou Ming, and Qiu Sheng head up toward Yunling Mountain.

Xiu Niang looked worriedly after them as they walked farther away. Only when they could no longer be seen did she prepare to return home.

“Oh, when did the water buffalo come over?” Only then did Xiu Niang notice that her family’s buffalo was standing not far ahead, eating grass. When she looked again at the wasteland, it had still been full of weeds the day before yesterday, but now the grass had already been pulled clean from roughly five mu of land.

Xiu Niang asked Hua Qi in surprise, “Who in your family works so fast? At this speed, they can keep up with five days of work from an entire household.”

“Is... is that so?” Hua Qi looked past Xiu Niang toward the open ground beside the water buffalo. He had already told the little demons to work less, but he had not expected that in human eyes, this was still abnormal.

Hua Qi smiled and pushed the matter onto Xi Jue. “Xi Jue and Dou Ming did it. The two of them are strong and hardworking. These past two days, they’ve been wanting to come out to work before dawn.”

Xiu Niang said, “That’s really good. I think your family will be able to plant all fifty mu of fields.”

Seeing Yun Shan burrow into Hua Qi’s arms, Xiu Niang knew Yun Shan wanted milk, so she took him and headed home. “Yun Shan will go home with Auntie. We’ll wait at home for Brother Tuo Tuo.” She turned her head and said to Hua Qi, “I set aside the food left for Tuo Tuo. It’s in the kitchen cupboard.”

“I’ll tell him when he comes back.”

That morning, each person had also had one duck egg. Since Tuo Tuo was not there, Dou Ming had eaten his share of the duck egg and had also finished all the pickled vegetables at home. When Tuo Tuo came back, there would only be plain congee to drink.

In the courtyard, Xiao Cong sat beside Chun Hua’s cradle, carefully sewing the small red garment in his hands.

After Xiu Niang returned, she opened her clothes to feed Yun Shan. Xiao Cong immediately turned away, his back to Xiu Niang and his face toward the main gate.

“I’ll make some chili sauce later. Dou Ming likes eating it, so we can save it for him to spread on flatbread.” Xiu Niang discussed the day’s tasks with Hua Qi. “Then we’ll pickle some cucumbers to eat tonight.”

“All right.” Hua Qi answered and went into the vegetable plot in the courtyard, picking several large cucumbers. Then he asked Xiu Niang, “Do you want green peppers or pointed peppers?”

There were two different kinds of peppers planted in the field. One kind was green, thick, and not very spicy. The other was long, thin, and pointed, and this kind was much spicier. When Xiu Niang cooked, she usually used the two kinds of peppers together.

Xiu Niang answered, “Pointed peppers.”

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” The little sparrow flew over.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” The bad people are driving the carriage toward Dongwang Village.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” Lord Tuo Tuo has been tied up.

“Come tell me again when they’re almost at Dongwang Village. Have Tuo Tuo lead them past the new house,” Hua Qi transmitted with a spell as he picked peppers.

Having received the order, the little sparrow hurriedly flapped its wings and flew away.

Yun Shan finished drinking milk and lay contentedly in Xiu Niang’s arms, rolling his eyes around as he looked everywhere for Hua Qi.

“Waaah—” Chun Hua cried softly from the cradle, drawing Yun Shan’s attention away. He turned his head again, searching for the direction of the sound.

Xiu Niang placed Yun Shan in the cradle and picked up Chun Hua to feed her. “It’s all thanks to your family’s Xi Jue and Dou Ming being able to hunt. We have meat at home every day. Since I’m eating well, I’m willing to produce milk. Otherwise, how would I have enough milk to feed two children?”

“It’s been hard on you,” Hua Qi said. This was the first time he had learned that women had to eat well to be willing to produce milk. He had originally thought milk came as long as the little cubs suckled.

“Pfft, pfft, pfft.”

Xiao Cong, who was watching Yun Shan, covered his nose and jumped away. Only after the sound beneath Yun Shan’s bottom stopped did he return to the cradle.

“Did he poop again?” Hua Qi asked Xiao Cong, who had already lifted Yun Shan’s diaper. He casually pulled a diaper down from the clothesline.

“You just finished picking peppers. You mustn’t touch the diapers.” Xiu Niang laughed at him. “Did you forget what happened last time when Yun Shan suffered because of the peppers?”

Hua Qi immediately threw the diaper in his hand into the basin specially used for dirty diapers and said gratefully, “Good thing you reminded me.” He could not let Yun Shan suffer from peppers again. “Xiao Cong, come get the diaper yourself.”

He thought to himself that if he cut peppers later, he would definitely wash his hands properly before holding Yun Shan again.

Xiao Cong ran under the clothesline full of diapers, stood on tiptoe, pulled one down, and hurried back to Yun Shan’s side.

Xi Jue led Qiu Sheng north up the mountain. After they climbed over one mountain, the sun in the sky had already shifted toward the south.

Qiu Sheng casually picked up a stick to support himself and asked, panting, “You two came all the way out here to hunt this morning? After walking so far, how did you make it home in time for breakfast?”

“We usually hunt on the rear mountain. There were fewer prey on the rear mountain today, so we went a little farther north,” Dou Ming said. “Uncle Qiu Sheng, you walk too slowly. If we hadn’t been waiting for you, the two of us would have arrived long ago.”

“This... this is slow?” Along the way, he had insisted on not resting and had been following Xi Jue and Dou Ming the whole time. Qiu Sheng felt that he was not walking slowly.

“Slow,” Dou Ming said. “You can’t catch prey if you’re this slow.”

A yellow oriole landed in the tree above their heads, perched on a branch, and let out a melodious cry.

Dou Ming and Xi Jue heard the bird say that Lord Tuo Tuo was being tied up by bad people and taken toward Dongwang Village.

Listening to the oriole’s song, Qiu Sheng could not help admiring it. “This kind of birdcall is what sounds nice. Not like sparrows, chirping all day long. There’s no bird noisier than them.”

Now that they knew Tuo Tuo was already headed toward Dongwang Village, they did not need to go to the ruined temple anymore. Seeing that Qiu Sheng was quite tired, Xi Jue gave Dou Ming a look. “This was around where we left this morning, right?”

Dou Ming blinked, froze for a moment, and then said uncertainly, “It... it was, right?”

Xi Jue said, “Then let’s split up and look for Tuo Tuo.”

Dou Ming and Xi Jue knew perfectly well there was no need to search. Tuo Tuo was not here at all. They planned to find a cool place to lie down and sleep for a while, then go home together when Qiu Sheng wanted to return.

Dou Ming was the first to dive headlong into the woods.

Xi Jue walked east, but unexpectedly, Qiu Sheng leaned on his branch and followed closely beside him.

Xi Jue looked at Qiu Sheng in confusion. “Aren’t you going to look for Tuo Tuo? Why aren’t you looking?”

“How would I dare wander around the mountain by myself? What if I run into wolves? I don’t know how to hunt.” Qiu Sheng spoke as if it were only natural.

Xi Jue stared at Qiu Sheng for a moment, then asked curiously, “Then what did you come up here for?”

Qiu Sheng was choked speechless by his words and did not know what expression he should make for a while. Xi Jue’s words were unpleasant to hear. He had followed them because he wanted to help. But in reality, it did seem like he could not help at all. Thinking this, Qiu Sheng suddenly felt somewhat dejected. Not only could he not help, he was even holding them back.

Keenly sensing Qiu Sheng’s low mood, Xi Jue asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qiu Sheng said, “Nothing. Let’s hurry and look for Tuo Tuo.”

At this moment, Tuo Tuo was still sitting in the carriage.

Gradually, he felt that the area under his bottom was a little wet, as if he were sitting on water. At the same time, a strong stink of urine spread through the carriage.

“Which little brat peed? It stinks so bad.” The madwoman covered her nose in disgust.

Ma Daming fanned the air by his nose with his hand, turned back, and angrily glared at the children behind the carriage. “If you need to pee or poop, hold it in first. Once we’re out of town, I’ll let you go by the roadside to your heart’s content.”

Tuo Tuo shifted his bottom in disgust, wanting to move away from this puddle of urine. How could he run into this kind of thing too? So disgusting. So disgusting. But there were people on both sides. No matter how he squeezed, he was still sitting in that spot. So he became unhappy. “Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.”

Ma Daming’s head hurt as soon as he heard his voice. “You little bastard, what is it this time?”

“Mmph, mmph, mmph.” I want to change places. His pee is right under my bottom.

Ma Daming held his head and sighed. “Stop mmphing. Just hearing your noise makes me angry. Once we’re out of town, I’m going to give you a proper beating and let you shout as much as you want.”

“Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph.” Tuo Tuo did not understand. What had he done wrong? Why did he have to be hit again?

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” The little sparrow’s voice came from the roof of the carriage: Lord Hua Qi says to go behind the new house.

Tuo Tuo could not worry about all that right now. He only wanted to move places quickly. He tried hard to straighten up, but his upper body was tied to a wooden pole, and there was not that much space inside the carriage, so he could not get up no matter what.

He shifted his feet, exerted some strength, used a bit of spellwork, and kicked Ma Daming, who was sitting in front of him, straight out of the carriage.

Once Ma Daming had made space, Tuo Tuo immediately twisted his bottom and moved over.

Fortunately, Liu Wu was driving the carriage and sitting in front as a barrier. Otherwise, that one kick would definitely have sent Ma Daming flying out. He angrily lifted the carriage curtain and glared at Tuo Tuo with a vicious face. “Was it you, you little bastard, who kicked me?”

Tuo Tuo immediately shook his head, making the skyward topknot on his head sway back and forth.

“If not you, who else could it be?” Ma Daming roared furiously. “You were the one sitting behind me!”

Tuo Tuo shook his head, refusing to admit it.

“This is rebellion. Absolute rebellion.” Ma Daming raised his hand, preparing to teach this kid a lesson. But the back of his hand bumped into the madwoman’s face.

The carriage was too cramped. There was not even enough space to swing a slap. Afraid that Ma Daming would hit her, the madwoman hurriedly grabbed his hand and advised, “Endure it a little longer, endure it a little longer. It won’t be long before we can leave Anping Town. Then you can deal with this little bastard however you want.”

Ma Daming lowered his hand and growled at Tuo Tuo, “Move!”

Tuo Tuo tried hard to turn sideways, wanting to make some space for Ma Daming. He was not going to the back. If anyone was going, it would be this human.

“Who can sit in this much space?” Ma Daming pushed Tuo Tuo backward. Tuo Tuo kept burrowing his head into Hei Pi’s arms, refusing to go to the back.

“Hei Pi, keep a close eye on that kid. I’ll sit in the back.” The madwoman did not want trouble and did not want Ma Daming causing a ruckus. She took the initiative to say she would sit in the back.

But the moment she moved to the back and sat down, her bottom immediately felt damp. The madwoman wondered strangely, where did water come from inside this carriage? Then, smelling the stench of urine, which was even stronger than before, she suddenly realized that this was not water. This was urine!

Ignoring everything else, she stretched her legs forward, wanting to stand up, and just happened to kick Ma Daming, who had only just sat down in front, out of the carriage again.

“Damn it, why did someone kick me again?” Ma Daming, whose eyes were red with rage, lifted the curtain and asked the madwoman furiously, “What’s wrong with you? Did that spot grow nails? You can’t sit there?”

Seeing his man-eating expression, the madwoman was afraid and replied quietly, “There’s urine here.”

“Then sit there even if there’s urine!” Ma Daming glared viciously at the madwoman. “Kick me one more time, and I won’t let you off!”

Next Chapter >