Three nights lodging in a cool pavilion

  Li Da Guan finished speaking and gnawed on the beef bones in his hand, then casually tossed them outside the awning, clapped his hands, and prepared to leave.

  Ye Qin stared blankly at the beef bone that drew an arc in mid-air and fell into a grass thicket several meters away from him. He stared rigidly at the meat bone, not daring to move. As long as this group of officials didn't leave, he was determined not to show half his face in front of them.

  Otherwise, if more than a dozen men have an eye on him, one of them will come over and give him a kick, which is enough to kick him half to death. His current weak body can't withstand any blows. If he gets kicked, tomorrow he may be in so much pain that he can't even move his fingers. The day after tomorrow, he and the big cow will both starve to death in this desolate wilderness because of lack of food.

  Half a year of wandering around made him realize that this risk could not be taken.

  The big cow was no longer oppressed by Ye Qin's pressure, and it became a bit clearer. It poked out half of its head from the grass nest again. However, this time it saw clearly that it was a group of officials. The big cow knew it was in trouble and didn't dare to move randomly. It just sniffed desperately at the smell of wine and meat, relieving its hunger.

  Li Da Guan led the officials who had eaten and drunk their fill to set off on the road. He didn't need to worry about the wine and water expenses, as a few young officials casually tossed some loose silver coins onto the table.

  The officials and soldiers shouted and brandished their swords, searching for a path to pursue the robbers' trail.

  The old man of the wine house saw that the silver on the table was not enough, and he could barely make a profit. He dared not speak much, and could only secretly scold his bad luck in his heart, then put away the tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks in the cool shed. The waiter was busy collecting the remaining wine, meat, tea and water on the table, as well as the bones and scraps of meat on the ground, to take back and feed the pigs. In this year of severe drought, grain and meat were scarce, and not a single bit could be wasted, especially for small business owners like them.

  Almost drooling while watching the big cow.

  Ye Qin pulled the big cow and didn't let him pass, they had been here for half a month, and knew that the old man of the wine house and the little servant were both petty ghosts, not willing to give them any wine or meat. Now that the two of them are passing by, they're afraid that the old man of the wine house will immediately sweep them away with a broom and drive them out.

  Fortunately, Xiao Er was only cleaning inside the awning and didn't go to the weeds outside. All the valuable family belongings were moved onto a cow cart, and the old innkeeper and Xiao Er drove the cow cart slowly along the post road towards the distance.

  Ye Qin saw the ox cart go far away, and finally rushed to the messy grass heap, opened the withered grass clump, and searched for the piece of beef bone that Li Da Guan had discarded.

  Soon, Ye Qin found a cow bone as thick as half of his small arm, with some unchewed beef fibers stuck on it, emitting an enticing aroma. He licked the meat fibers stuck on the bone.

  A big cow slowly crawled over, with a muddy face, pitifully staring at the piece of meat in Ye Qin's hand.

  Ye Qin brought the meat bone to his mouth, hesitated. He knew in his heart that compared to himself, Big Cow needed this piece of meat more. Big Cow had been in a lot of pain since he got hurt last night and today he could hardly eat anything. Now he really wanted to eat meat, which was a good sign, maybe after eating the meat, his injury would get better. In the past, when hunters from their hometown went up the mountain to hunt and got injured, they would always eat meat to nourish their bodies.

  The only fellow townsman left was him and Big Cow, he would never let Big Cow die.

  "Give it to you, Big Cow. You were bitten by a stray dog yesterday, so it's just right to nourish your body. I'll go see if there's anything else left on the ground to eat."

  Ye Qin stuffed the meat bones into Cheng Daniu's hand. After finishing, he went to the cool shed and took advantage of the fact that it was not yet completely dark to carefully search for food on the ground inside and outside the shed. Occasionally, he picked up one or two grains of rice from the muddy ground and put them in his mouth.

  Cheng Da Niu continued to gnaw on the bones, his eyes slightly red, and his nose a little sour.

  "Brother Qin!"

  He wiped his sour nose with a piece of blackened burlap, and silently gnawed on the beef bone. This wasn't the first time. The four or five companions had been out foraging for food for half a year, and it was usually Qin Ge, the oldest, who took care of them. But even Qin Ge couldn't take care of everyone, and in the end several of them died.

  He didn't know how many times he had died. Many times, he became a burden and thought it would be better to just die. But if he were to die, only Qin Ge would be left, and what could Qin Ge do alone? Qin Ge wouldn't let him die either. He could only try his best not to become a burden, to recover from his injuries quickly, and help find food.

  At night, the moon is high in the sky.

  Ye Qin spread a layer of dry grass on the cold mud floor in the simple bamboo house. A small broken hole in the corner of the bamboo house was also firmly blocked with a large stone and branches. It was through this small hole that the old wild dog had sneaked in last night, biting the big cow. The big cow ate some beef bones and felt much better in the evening. In the only broken water tank inside the bamboo house, half a bowl of leftover water was found, and the big cow drank some and fell asleep on the grass mat.

  Ye Qin lay on the withered grass, a pair of small hands propped behind his head, silently thinking about what those officials had said.

  "The Medicinal Herb Hall in Zhuge County is publicly recruiting a group of medicinal herb-picking children under the age of 12!"

  Zhugou County Town, two months ago he had been there with Big Cow and stayed for several days, but couldn't stay any longer and escaped.

  Because there is a group of local beggars in the county town, they occupy all the places where food can be begged and have oil and water, and are very hostile to outside beggars, driving them away.

  It's okay, as long as you walk a bit faster, you can always find something to eat, which is better than being in the wilderness.

  But what Ye Qin couldn't bear was that there were still some rascals in the city who wanted to use them to steal from rich families. Although he was still young, he also knew that if he was caught stealing, he would be punished by having his hands cut off or being beaten severely. He was forced to flee and took the opportunity to escape with Big Cow, hastily leaving the county town and searching for food in the countryside more than ten miles away.

  Ye Qin had also heard the name "Caiyao Hall" from the townspeople, and knew that there was such a wealthy and powerful family in the county town, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

  The grand entrance of the Medicine King Hall, with numerous fields and properties that can't be counted, many servants and disciples walking all over the streets. They won't have any connection with these wandering beggars. Even if they were to publicly recruit some medicine gathering children, it's unlikely that those two would even get a chance.

  But Ye Qin was somewhat unwilling to accept it.

  Since I heard about this from the official's mouth, if I don't go and try, how can he pretend that nothing happened? If I'm not recruited, it's just a wasted trip. But if by chance I am recruited, then in the future I won't have to wander around outside and starve. If I don't go, then I won't even have the chance of being recruited.

  In the dead of night, the bamboo house still occasionally transmitted the sound of someone tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

  Ah! Ah!

  Outside the bamboo house came the sound of beasts panting.

  That damned stray dog with a lingering evil spirit is back, the sound of its paws scratching against rocks, angry low growls and strange howls, the sound of it biting tree branches, making one's heart panic in the pitch-black night, always worried that this beast will sneak in again.

  After a long struggle, until nearly dawn, the old stray dog reluctantly left with its tail between its legs.

  Ye Qin's idea of going to the county town became even stronger.