Chapter 358 - 354: Raw Eggs_1

Youyou, who was asleep and curled up in the cave after eating and drinking, woke up, stared at Yingbao for a while in confusion, and then stumbled toward her and nuzzled her.

Yingbao patted its head and began to think about how to fight back if they encountered a Jurchen squad.

Relying on themselves alone, although they have all studied martial arts, they couldn’t defeat an equal number of desperados. They must think of a foolproof plan, preferably one that would scare them off without a fight.

She cast her gaze at the weird divine mask and the ceremonial robe worn during rituals.

If all else failed, she might as well pretend to be a deity.

Yingbao went up to the second floor to pick a lot of flowers, two big baskets full of peonies, roses, chrysanthemums, and so on.

She also prepared a few large gourds.

These gourds were not hollowed out, so they were very heavy, and she could suddenly throw them out when they weren’t expected.

And don’t forget about the big rocks they picked up some time ago.

All of these things could be used to hit people.

As for Youyou…

Yingbao thought for a while, went to pick some red and blue flowers, boiled them in a pot. As soon as it cooled down a little, she took out the flowers and smeared them all over Youyou.

Soon Youyou’s fur turned all red. It looked quite pretty.

The next day, before dawn, Yingbao sprang up.

Zhang Min also woke up, rousing Jiang Wu and Huzi.

The four of them ate some dry food and water in a hurry and hurried to Prefecture City.

But they just watched from a distance and didn’t approach because there were many cavalry gradually converging at the entrance of Prefecture City.

The common people, who had been lingering at the city gate, scattered and fled when they saw this, but were soon caught up by the cavalry and fell to the ground in a pool of blood with the swing of a blade.

“Let’s go back!” Yingbao pulled her brother Jiang Wu, signaled to the senior and Huzi to follow, and they quickly scattered into the forest.

But the forest here was too thin and barely concealed any traces. Soon foreign cavalry were shouting and chasing after them.

Zhang Min looked back while running, saw only five or six cavalry chasing, and his heart started racing.

He really wanted to kill these few and then take their horses.

Though the thought was there, the odds of success were slim.

The Jurchens are brave and a horse-riding nation; these kids are like newborn lambs in front of them.

“Stop looking! Run!” Yingbao saw the men getting closer and closer and hurriedly pulled her brother up the hill.

Zhang Min and Huzi followed Yingbao closely, not slow in their movements.

Although they were fast, they were not as fast as horses. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Jurchens were not skilled at horse riding in the mountains, they probably would have caught up by now.

Yingbao climbed to the highest point, took a look down and saw several Jurchen men with rough beards, strange braids, laughing loudly. They treated the chase as a kind of hunt, and immediately pulled out their bows and arrows and held them at full draw towards the children.

Yingbao’s face was frosty as she swung her arm.

Several large stones flew out and immediately hit two war horses and the men on them.

Both the horse and the men gave a mournful scream and fell to the ground, not getting back up. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The others were stunned, quickly checked on their companions, saw them vomiting blood, and realized they were beyond saving.

When they looked up again, the children had disappeared.

The Jurchen men howled in anger, but they didn’t dare to chase after them anymore.

Meanwhile, Yingbao, leading the others, ran swiftly into a forest and didn’t stop to rest until they couldn’t run anymore.

Huzi and Zhang Min curiously asked Yingbao, “Did you push those stones down?”

The two of them were too caught up watching the barbarian bandits, and had not noticed what was happening on Yingbao’s side.

Yingbao nodded.

She was too tired to say anything more.

Jiang Wu sneaked a glance at his sister but didn’t dare to ask.

His sister had thrown several large rocks out of nowhere, and Jiang Wu was standing right next to her and saw it with his own eyes.

He was absolutely shocked at that moment. If it wasn’t for his sister holding him, he would’ve forgotten to flee.

Zhang Min grabbed a bamboo tube canteen for a few sips and, panting heavily, asked, “Yingbao, where do we go next?”

There’s no way they could go towards the Prefecture City gate, but they could directly enter the city via the waterways.

But, they didn’t have a boat.

All the fishing boats nearby had long since escaped. No one dared to stay behind.

Yingbao thought about it and said, “We will have to find a way to enter the city.”

It had been immensely difficult for the second senior apprentice to reach Jingzhou. There was no way he was going to go back the way they came. They must find a way into the city.

“How do we enter?” Zhang Min asked as he handed over the canteen to Huzi.

Swimming into the city wasn’t possible. Regardless of one’s swimming abilities, the distance was just too far.

Besides, not only were the waterways guarded by soldiers from Daqian, but the area was also swarming with Barbarian Bandits.

Yingbao suggested: “Let’s go to the river bank and see if we can find a boat. It doesn’t matter if we don’t find one, for I still have a Gourd Boat at the cave dwelling.”

After a brief pause, they hurried towards the river bank.

Along the route, they came across several groups of civilians, who, filled with fear, brought their families and ran into the mountain forest, only to find there was no food or water. They eventually followed Yingbao and the others towards the river bank, hoping to find a fishing boat.

However, much to their disappointment, there was nothing to be found by the river.

All the fishermen who usually worked on the river were nowhere to be found.

Yingbao led the group southward, avoiding the crowd.

Upon encountering a large reed field, they exchanged glances before disappearing into the reeds.

They walked for a long time within the reeds before they found a suitable location. They knocked down some reeds and settled down to rest.

Zhang Min took out the dry food he packed and divided it among the group. Suddenly, he realized there was no water left in the bamboo tube.

Yingbao took the bamboo tube with her and stood up. “I’ll go to the river to fetch water. You all stay put.”

Jiang Wu immediately stood up too, “Sister, I will go with you.”

Seeing this, Zhang Min and Huzi wanted to go as well, but Yingbao stopped them: “You two should stay here and rest. We will be noticed if too many of us move around.”

Zhang Min and Huzi had no choice but to sit down.

Yingbao was right. There were a group of cavalrymen conducting a search in the vicinity.

They sat high on their horses, their keen eyes surveying the reed fields like hawks.

As the reed field was vast and thick, they couldn’t see anything clearly from their vantage point, even from the back of the horses.

Yingbao and Jiang Wu were short, and moving through the reeds was as quiet as a breeze.

By the river, Yingbao saw many reeds and thorns.

She fetched several eggs from the cave dwelling and handed them over to her brother. She whispered to him, “Eat some of these now and save some for our senior apprentice and Huzi.”

Jiang Wu, understanding her intention, silently ate the boiled eggs.

Yingbao broke off a few leaves from the reeds and quickly weaved them into a small basket. She fetched another seven or eight raw eggs from the cave dwelling and placed them in it.

She had no other choice. There was no way she could explain where the boiled eggs came from, so they would have to eat raw eggs.

Eventually, she refilled the bamboo tubes with water from the Pupil Spring and set off back with Jiang Wu.

In the meantime, Jiang Wu choked on an egg. Luckily, his sister was there to pat his back and help him wash it down with water.

Zhang Min and Huzi were surprised to see a basket full of eggs: “Are these wild eggs? How come they are as big as domestic chicken eggs?”

Jiang Wu shamefully lowered his head, not daring to meet Huzi’s and Zhang Min’s eyes.

Yingbao solemnly replied, “Perhaps the wild chicken eggs in the reeds are just as big as domestic chicken eggs.”

Zhang Min thought she was right. He picked up an egg and cracked it against a small stone. He carefully peeled away the shell and guzzled it down, savoring the sweet taste.

He was not a stranger to raw eggs, or ‘balut’ as it is called, as he used to eat it while traveling with his master and senior apprentice. So he did not find it strange at all.

But Huzi was not accustomed to it. He felt disgusted watching Zhang Min gulp down the raw egg, the runny yolk trickling down from the corner of his mouth.