Chapter 1688 - 1688 Staring At Her As If She Was A Sheep Ready To Be Slaughtered
1688 Staring At Her As If She Was A Sheep Ready To Be Slaughtered
To avoid being found by Chu Qi and the others, Ji’er chose a route through the mountains.
She had no idea where she was going or where exactly she was.
She continued roaming, passing mountain after mountain and meeting many people along the way. If she was lucky, she would come across a small town where she could find an inn to stay; if she was not, she would find herself in the middle of nowhere at nightfall and end up spending the night in a tree or the occasional deserted temple.
One day, she arrived in an unknown wilderness. It was getting dark, and there happened to be an abandoned temple nearby, so she decided to spend the night there.
However, when she entered, she realized that it was already occupied.
Three young beggars dressed in scraps were warming themselves by a fire. They were startled to see Ji’er walk in, but when their eyes fell on the cloth bundle she was carrying, a greedy thought occurred to them.
They exchanged glances of tacit understanding. Then, one of the older beggars stood up and moved toward Ji’er, saying fiercely, “Hey you, where did you come from?”
He had no idea how comical he looked. Because of his young age, he did not come off as intimidating and, in fact, looked like a joke.
Ignoring him, Ji’er sat down against the wall. Then, she took out a piece of beef jerky from her cloth bundle and munched on it slowly.
For the sake of convenient traveling, she had dressed herself in men’s clothing and made some changes to her face to hide her extreme beauty.
The beggar’s mouth watered as he watched her eat the beef jerky.
So did the other two.
They used to beg in the city, but there were bullies among the beggars who kept pushing them around and seizing the food and money they obtained.
Unable to stand the oppression, they fled into the wilderness.
They had failed to get any food that day, and they were already starving.
As they watched Ji’er feast on the jerky, they gulped hungrily, staring at her as if she was a sheep ready to be slaughtered.
Hearing them swallow audibly, Ji’er paused for a moment before fishing a pack of beef jerky out of her cloth bundle and tossing it to them.
They immediately scrambled for the beef jerky, and once they grabbed it, they began to devour it.
Ji’er was taken aback when she saw how ravenous they were.
After being to so many places, she had seen all kinds of people, beggars included. However, those beggars had promptly left right after getting food, so it was her first time seeing such famished ones.
How long had they gone without food?
She was stunned.
She had been well-clothed and well-fed since she was a child. Compared to their predicament, she seemed far luckier.
Pursing her lips, she fell into deep thought.
The three beggars made quick work of the beef jerky. Still unsated, they looked at Ji’er expectantly.
After thinking for a while, Ji’er picked up her cloth bundle and walked out of the temple.
The three hurriedly followed.
At first, they had thought of robbing Ji’er of her possessions when she entered the abandoned temple, but the idea had waned at this point.
Ji’er had passed a stream before entering the abandoned temple, and there had clearly been some fish in it.
She sharpened a piece of wood into a spear with her dagger. Then, she flung her cloth bundle aside and walked to the stream, staring at the fish in it with fiery eyes.
Soon, she found her target and thrust the wooden spear in her hand with alarming accuracy.
Immediately, a flailing fish emerged from the water at the tip of her spear.
The three young beggars, who had followed her all the way there, exclaimed in astonishment, ran over to her, and picked up the fish she had tossed on the grass.
“You’re amazing, sir!” they exclaimed, their eyes sparkling with admiration.
They had tried to catch fish there before, only to fail and fall into the water every time.
“Do you know how to butcher a fish?” asked Ji’er.
The young beggars nodded. “Yes.”