C362 – Got It
Posted on May 24, 2019 by AzureOrchid92
On a dry and cracked land, the more cracks there were on the ground, the fewer plants were growing around. In many places, there were even only stones and dry hard soil that were exposed outside under the sun.
The wind blowing at the top of the mountain was getting smaller, while the sun was scorching on their head. Many of the wild rats in the area had begun to feel thirst, but they still had not left. Their claws were only crawling forward, and not back. As they stared at the changing colors of the ears on top of the hill, their necks would stretch, wishing they could have a better position in order to better see what was on top of the hill.
The ears were changing colors, wherein before it was dark gold, then gradually became a little lighter. The dark surface became shiny, not far from looking like actual gold.
“Squeak—”
Who knew which one of the wild rats called out.
But it was like a sign to act. The crowd of wild rats moved in an instant, suddenly rushing forward.
The big wild rats were about to jump up and bite the ears, when suddenly, they heard a whooshing sound. Something came from behind them.
Then, with a “click”, a bad smell was released around them. The wild rats, who had smelled it, began to go into a trance and walked unsteadily.
That was only the beginning. Soon, a dense clatter sounded around in succession, smashing into the huddled group of rats.
Shao Xuan stopped his breath while the smashing of the fruits continued. He quickly rushed to the top of the mountain to guard there, as he dealt with the rushing rat herd.
The old man has stunned over a large number of wild rats with the medicine. Although he could not solve all the wild rats, his actions reduced the pressure on Shao Xuan in a large extent, as he dealt with the rest of the rats easily. After all, these were only wild rats and not a fierce beast. Shao Xuan reached the stalk, then he was holding a broom tied to a branch on one hand, using it to sweep away the wild rats pouncing on him.
In fact, Shao Xuan much preferred to use some fierce weapon. Just that the old man himself made this broom and said it was useful to deal with the wild rats, so Shao Xuan used it.
Sure enough, after being swept by this “broom”, the wild rats acted as if they were contaminated with something they did not like. They hesitated to approach at once.
Before that though, a big rat had jumped up and took a bite off the ears. After smelling its odor, its desire to get a taste of the grain in its mouth increased. It wanted to just sit on the ground and not move its legs, but it could still carry on a little longer compared to the other wild rats. It knew that things had changed. With the grain in its mouth, it run in the distance. Unfortunately, it was caught by the old man before it could get outside the crowd.
The old man used some of the remaining residue from the previous coating he did on the fruits. He put it around a stick, then lit it and extinguished the fire. The smoke rose above, and the smell of the smoke was more pungent, though the effect was far less than the refined powder in the fruits. It was impossible for the poison to take effect faster, but it was more than enough to deal with these big wild rats now.
Seeing Shao Xuan block the mountain top with a lot of wild rats surrounding him, the old man was reassured, so he concentrated on dealing with the rat that managed to sneak away. This one must have bitten grains in its mouths! The rat’s mouth was moving, and it’s staring at what what the old man was about to do now.
When Shao Xuan was finished, the top of the mountain was like it has been poured by large wild rats. It’s like a layer of rat skin rug.
As for those who had escaped the drugging, as they rushed up, Shao Xuan swept them away with the broom.
The old man settled the running rat, then immediately ran towards the mountain top next to the plant. He carefully touched the bundles of ears. Because he was not sure whether this was an annual plant, he dared not chop it nor call Shao Xuan to cut it all off earlier and not stay here to scramble with those wild rats.
He raised his hand then chopped a little harder, and the old man finally had an ear of grain off.
He put the whole grain inside his cloth bag, then the old man called to Shao Xuan, “Let’s go. The rest of the wild rats will leave too.”
Without waiting for the old man to finish his sentence, Shao Xuan already waved his broom as he jumped down. After a few jumps, he did not leave the area, but jumped in the rat circle. Shao Xuan fished a few fat wild rats for his meal later. It was difficult to look for larger beasts in this barren area, hence it was not easy to eat meat regularly. He had to take advantage of this opportunity to catch a few.
“You only took a stalk away. Would those few left still remain here. Aren’t you afraid it’ll be destroyed by the wild rats? It wouldn’t be a problem?” Shao Xuan asked the old man. If the old man didn’t care about those plants and it has no value for research, Shao Xuan would not be so laborious earlier and cut it with a knife without troubling about it.
“Those wild rats wouldn’t be interested in it now. They only wanted to eat these grains. As for the few left there, they were rooted too deeply and would not be easy to dig out so it was not convenient to take away… Forget it. Next time, I’ll bring someone over when I get back.” As long as those trees did not wither before he brought others here, he would transplant them all in his field and study them well.
“Then, if the drugged wild rats woke up, wondering why they fainted, aren’t you afraid they’ll retaliate?” Shao Xuan followed.
As he held the cloth bag with the grains like a baby, the old man raised his eyebrows when he heard Shao Xuan question. “Revenge? Why should I be afraid? The next time I come, I won’t give them a chance to retaliate.” Next time he came over, he must bring more people, so he didn’t fear the wild rats.
Afterwards, they left that mountain, then found a place to sit down to rest. Shao Xuan reached out to the old man. “Take out the grains and let me see. Show me that legendary thousand gold grains you’re talking about, that you would ignore the group of wild rats just to see it.”
The old man hesitated and did not open the bag containing the grains. However, he still took a piece of ear out of the other smaller bag and put it in Shao Xuan’s hand.
Shao Xuan looked at it. One grain was about as big as a soybean, with a golden shell around the grain. Above it, there were teeth marks where the rats bit out.
Although a grain was only this big, he could feel its obvious weight, which was heavier than what Shao Xuan expected.
However, it was just one grain, and Shao Xuan couldn’t tell its importance.
“Well, I share credit for this. Can you give this to me?” Shao Xuan said, pinching the damage ear, as he looked at the old man.
“What do you want this for?” The old man asked as he ordered his stuff.
“Eat it.”
Hearing this, the old man’s eyebrows suddenly raised high up. “Eat it?!!”
“Aren’t these kind used as food?”
“But we haven’t started to grow a lot of this species yet! These intact ones can only be used as seeds, but cannot be eaten!” The old man has a very firm attitude.
“Then, divide it with me, and I’ll go back to my tribe and plant it.” Seeing that the old man was about to decline, Shao Xuan spoke first. “Even if I don’t know how to plant it, our tribe must have someone who could learn it. Don’t be stingy, come on, split it. Anyway, that one has thousands of grains, with still so many stalks on the mountain top. Even if the wild rats take some, you could still get who knew how many tens of thousands of grains. So give me half.”
“Half?!” The old man stared at him. “Impossible, never. I can give you a third, but a half is too much!”
“That one couldn’t be equally divided in thirds with only a thousand grains each.” Shao Xuan said.
The old man choked on his breath. He did not speak, but the wrinkled skin on his old face kept twitching. He seemed to be thinking hard about it.
Finally, the old man gave Shao Xuan 1000 grains. As he cut the ear, his appearance was like his heart was shivering with regret, like he had foreseen that these grains would only be spoiled inside Shao Xuan’s belly in the end.
“If it hadn’t been for… If it hadn’t been for your help in this journey, I wouldn’t have given you one!” The old man said with a bitter face.
“Hey, don’t be so negative. Maybe you can’t grow it, and I’ll be able to instead?” Shao Xuan replied.
The old man only vigorously shook his head. He didn’t believe that would happen in any way.
Not sure if I got the split of the grains right. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
