Chapter 226: Filial Piety (Part 1)

After making the chicken noodle soup, Qin Huai didn't even have time to eat.

He wanted to see Qu Jing's dream too much.

Other people's dreams and memories were either several segments or 0/?, but only Qu Jing's was 0/1, clearly showing that there was only one dream segment.

And the side quest also explicitly stated that upon completing the quest and watching the dream, Qu Jing would be able to wake up.

"Oh, my stomach hurts, I'm going to the bathroom first. You guys eat first, don't wait for me!" Qin Huai left this sentence and slipped away.

His pace was fast, he ran very urgently, as urgently as Master Zheng Da getting off work every day.

With a flash, Qin Huai was gone.

Tan Weian held his noodle bowl, very moved: "Qin Huai is in such a rush, yet he still had to finish making the noodles before going to the bathroom."

Truly too moving!

Tan Weian felt that he couldn't slack off either; he had to practice the hundred-fruit filling well. Work hard quietly and give everyone a surprise.

Qin Huai didn't know that his simple sentence could make Tan Weian imagine so much. He walked straight into the bathroom with quick steps, hesitated for two seconds, chose the middle stall, went in, closed the door, and clicked on the game panel.

【A Dream Segment of Qu Jing】.

According to the normal process, Qu Jing's side quest was completed, and the dream was in hand. Qin Huai should notify Luo Jun and Chen Huihong immediately to tell them the good news, and then the three of them would go to Luo Jun's house to eat some nuts and fruit, hold a meeting to discuss it, and finally watch the dream.

What? You say this is the process for watching Luo Jun's memories.

It doesn't matter, this process can be used for anyone.

But the situation was urgent now, Luo Jun and Chen Huihong were not by his side, and Qin Huai really wanted to watch it. In an emergency, one must act according to the situation; Qin Huai skipped the process and watched it first.

Click 【A Dream Segment of Qu Jing】.

Select Yes.

【Dream loading—】

What met his eyes was a lush green.

The trees couldn't be called towering trees, but they were lush and leafy. Because no one pruned them, they grew wantonly; some were straight, some were crooked.

The ground was the most primitive land that hadn't been developed by humans. It had just rained, the soil was moist, and the lush green grass seemed to have been stepped on, crawling on the ground.

Qu Jing was easy to recognize.

In this deep mountain forest, within a radius of a hundred meters, Qu Jing was the only living person.

Qin Huai looked at Qu Jing, unable to judge for a moment whether Qu Jing was a powerful divine beast who was bold because of her skills, or a grass-and-wood spirit who didn't know anything and was just giving up and choosing blindly.

At this very moment, Qu Jing was in the form of a child about 10 years old.

You must know that whether it was Luo Jun or Chen Huihong, the form they chose for their first life was an adult.

For most spirit creatures, coming to the human world to undergo tribulation was a dangerous thing. Seniors often told spirit creatures who hadn't undergone tribulation yet how dangerous the human world was: war, hunger, plague, refugees... As powerful as Bi Fang, of course, could be fearless, but most spirit creatures were weak. In a dangerous environment, whether it was a child or an old person, they were absolutely the weaker party.

Even a grass-and-wood spirit like Chen Huihong, who had no common sense, knew that when taking on a form for the first life, one should choose an adult who looked relatively strong.

When Chen Huihong underwent tribulation in her first life, she also punched refugees and stepped on robbers. If it weren't for the fact that the era of adults had changed and she was shot by horse bandits, Chen Huihong might not have died so early.

Now, Qu Jing's appearance was actually a thin girl of about 10 years old. Qin Huai really didn't know for a moment whether to say Qu Jing was bold because of her skills, or ignorant and fearless.

The clothes on Qu Jing were very dirty and messy, and also very thin. The clothes were filthy, probably because she had been in the wild for a few days and couldn't clean them. Moving through the forest, it was inevitable to be scratched by vegetation and tree branches. Qu Jing's clothes were full of tiny scratches, and there were many small cuts on her exposed arms and ankles, looking very disheveled.

Looking at the environment on the mountain, Qin Huai felt that it should be early spring now. It wasn't cold, at most it was a bit cool at night, so Qu Jing's thin clothes weren't outrageous.

In the memories of the first-life spirit creatures Qin Huai had seen, Qu Jing's appearance could already be considered the most normal.

Chen Huihong buried herself in the soil to sleep, and Luo Jun was a gangster storm, full of blood and rain. Compared to these two, Qu Jing's normal wilderness survival was very rare.

Qin Huai followed behind Qu Jing.

He discovered that Qu Jing might really just want to run into the deep mountains, and spirit creatures, even in the form of a child, had quite good physical fitness. The child's body was smaller and more flexible, and the rugged mountain road wasn't too difficult for Qu Jing to walk with her hands and feet. Sometimes Qin Huai even had to trot two steps behind to keep up.

With the experience of the dry-land marathon in Chen Huihong's memory before, Qin Huai was still adaptable now that the map had changed to the deep mountain forest. He followed Qu Jing silently, thinking in his heart what kind of spirit creature Qu Jing was.

Qin Huai was more inclined to think she was a grass-and-wood spirit.

He remembered that Chen Huihong seemed to have mentioned that although the tribulation method of grass-and-wood spirits was generally quite confused, the most cowardly way was to find a deep mountain forest to nest in, hide for a few years to figure out the situation outside, and then slip out to undergo tribulation.

Compared to this kind of grass-and-wood spirit, Chen Huihong's kind, who was afraid of contact with crowds, so she buried herself in the soil and didn't approach the main group, only looking for stragglers to bump into luck, was considered a radical.

Qin Huai followed Qu Jing for a whole day.

Qu Jing wasn't familiar with the environment in the mountains either. She wanted to run into the deep mountains but took a detour, ran outside for a while in the middle, and spent a lot of time looking for wild fruits to eat along the way. The progress of coming and going canceled each other out and returned to zero.

By the time night fell and she couldn't see the road clearly, Qu Jing could only hold a few fruits she hadn't finished eating, find a tree, and climb up to sleep lightly.

After a day, the number of steps Qu Jing walked in the mountains could dominate the social circle. She didn't say a word, not even the simplest self-talk.

She kept silent while looking for the road and food, looking very desolate.

A lone wolf.

This was Qin Huai's impression of Qu Jing.

Qin Huai stood by the tree, and could vaguely see the person on the tree by the moonlight. Qu Jing didn't sleep; she sat on the tree and seemed to be thinking about something. She thought for an hour or two before leaning against the tree trunk and falling into a light sleep.

When the morning light was faint on the second day, Qu Jing woke up. She nimbly climbed down the tree, gnawed on fruit, looked for fruit, and was no longer obsessed with running into the mountains, but looked for things to eat first.

At this time, Qin Huai realized that although Chen Huihong's ability wasn't powerful, it was very practical.

Qu Jing still had to look for food all over the mountains and plains, while Chen Huihong only needed to pluck some tree bark from herself.

Qu Jing searched for fruit all morning and didn't find much, but discovered small fish the length of a finger in the stream. After trying to catch fish with her bare hands to no avail, Qu Jing started looking for tools, found a few long and thin tree branches to use as simple fishing rods, and lay on the side of the stream to fish.

This appearance was very much like a kitten fishing with its tail.

There was no extra emotion, all of it was a desire for food.

While Qu Jing was fishing with full concentration, a faint sound came from not far away.

The sound was so light that even Qin Huai didn't hear it, but Qu Jing quickly became nervous, entered a state of alert, hid behind the tree closest to her, quietly poked her head out, opened her eyes wide, and looked in the direction the sound came from.

It was a hunter.

He looked like he was already advanced in age, his hair was a bit gray, he looked very old, his skin was dry, his arms were strong and powerful, but his eyes weren't turbid.

Through his eyes, one could tell that the hunter's actual age wasn't as old as he looked, about 50 years old.

The hunter carried a hunting rifle on his back and a long knife in his hand. After seeing the hunter's appearance clearly, Qu Jing was so nervous she held her breath, didn't move, and her whole body stiffened as she hid behind the tree, very afraid of being seen by the other party.

The hunter was also very cautious, his pace was light, and his moving speed was very slow. If it weren't for the thin, short tree branches Qu Jing had broken to fish on the ground, and the hunter stepping on the tree branches and making a slight sound, I'm afraid he would have walked behind Qu Jing and Qu Jing wouldn't have discovered him.

The two of them were in a stalemate like this, and even Qin Huai, who was watching from the side, became nervous. In Qin Huai's view, Qu Jing was a bit too cowardly.

She was so cowardly, yet she had to choose the form of a child. Qin Huai really couldn't understand for a moment whether Qu Jing was carefully prepared or just undergoing tribulation blindly.

The two of them were in a stalemate for about 10 minutes.

Finally, Qu Jing didn't stand firm, swayed slightly, and the sharp-eyed hunter discovered the tree she was hiding behind.

"Who?" The hunter raised his gun vigilantly.

Qu Jing opened her eyes wide in nervousness, the fear in her eyes didn't look fake, her whole body was stiff because she was too afraid, she didn't dare to move or come out, just stood there stiffly, and didn't make a sound.

The hunter stepped forward quickly, pointing his gun at Qu Jing. After seeing clearly that the person in front of him was a little girl with tattered clothes, a thin figure, messy hair, and two small fish that were no longer jumping in her arms, who looked like she had been in the mountains for several days, he was stunned. He lowered his gun, looked at Qu Jing in surprise, and soon understood.

"What a sin. To raise a girl until she's this big and then throw her into the mountains—is it just for these few mouthfuls of food?" The hunter shook his head and sighed.

Seeing that Qu Jing was still looking at him in terror, the hunter softened his tone, didn't move forward again, and asked: "Little girl, which village are you from?"

Qu Jing didn't speak.

"Did you accidentally run into the mountains yourself, or did someone bring you in? It's dangerous in the mountains, how about you come out with Grandpa?"

Qu Jing still didn't speak.

No matter how the hunter asked, Qu Jing didn't speak. After asking seven or eight questions in a row, seeing that Qu Jing had no response at all, just hid behind the tree in fear, looking at him in terror, the hunter sensed something wrong.

"Could it be that she's mute?" The hunter muttered, and imagined some tragic past again, "No wonder."

"Truly a pitiful little girl."

The hunter, who had already finished imagining Qu Jing's tragic identity, didn't hesitate anymore, stepped forward, grabbed Qu Jing's wrist, and regardless of Qu Jing's struggle and resistance, was going to take her down the mountain directly.

"Little girl, there are tigers and black bears on this mountain. Last year, tigers came down the mountain and bit several people to death. It's too dangerous for a little child like you to stay on the mountain. Come down the mountain with Grandpa first, Grandpa will help you find your home."

The hunter was undoubtedly a man of action. He said he would take Qu Jing down the mountain, so he took Qu Jing down the mountain. He didn't even want the rabbits in the basket not far away, he didn't even want the basket, he just pulled Qu Jing and walked down the mountain.

Qu Jing tried to slip away, but to no avail. In the end, she could only follow the hunter down the mountain obediently with a face full of resignation, as if she wasn't going down the mountain, but to the execution ground.

The hunter led Qu Jing to the village at the foot of the mountain. At noon, there were many people in the village. Seeing the hunter leading a little girl, they greeted him one after another and asked whose little girl this was, and why she looked like she was fleeing from a disaster.

The hunter said simply that he had picked her up on the mountain, and headed straight for the village chief's house.

At the village chief's house, the village chief's wife led Qu Jing into the room, fetched a basin of clean water for Qu Jing to wash her face and hands, and helped her wash her hair. Qu Jing originally wanted to resist, but the village chief's wife handed her a small boiled egg and gave her half a corn cob.

Qu Jing didn't resist anymore.

With eggs and corn to eat, why resist? These things were much better than fruit and raw fish.

Qu Jing had a look on her face as if to say, "Even if this is my last meal, I accept it," and gnawed on the corn with bulging cheeks.

The village chief's wife was amused by Qu Jing's appearance. Afraid she would choke, she handed her a cup of water and took the remaining corn that Qu Jing hadn't finished gnawing from her hand.

Under Qu Jing's incredulous gaze, which was filled with "You won't even let me finish my last meal," the village chief's wife smiled and said: "Lower your head, wash your hair first. There are sweet potatoes in the kitchen. After washing your hair, we'll eat sweet potatoes."

Qu Jing lowered her head obediently.

Outside the house, the village chief listened in shock as the hunter told him how he had picked up Qu Jing: "You just picked up a little girl on the mountain like that?"

"Raised until she's this big and someone still throws her away?"

"Whose family has no conscience? Which village? Throwing away a child this big, and throwing her into the deep mountains at that."

After speaking, the village chief frowned again: "But I haven't heard of any family in the nearby villages whose girl can't speak. This girl can't speak, so how can we check who threw her away?"

The hunter indicated that he wasn't the village chief and didn't know.

The village chief continued to frown: "Logically speaking, having raised her until she's this big, unless they really can't make ends meet, they wouldn't throw her away directly, and throw her into the deep mountains at that, giving her no way to live."

"I heard that Chen the Deaf in the next village became deaf due to a fever when he was a child. This girl is probably the same. She became mute due to illness, so her family threw her away."

"If that's the case, it's difficult. It might not have been thrown away by a nearby village, so we can't find them."

The hunter listened quietly.

"A ten-year-old girl, raise her for a few years and she can be married off in exchange for a dowry. If she can work, being mute doesn't affect her getting married. I don't know if anyone in the village is willing to raise her. It's just giving her a mouthful of food, it's not a loss."

The hunter frowned as he listened.

The village chief continued to nag: "I'm just afraid that besides being mute, she has other illnesses. Otherwise, if she just can't speak, why throw a girl this big into the mountains."

"I picked up the girl, if no one raises her, I will," the hunter said.

The village chief nodded: "You can afford to raise her, one person eats and the whole family is not hungry. But you've never raised a girl, do you know how to raise one? The first thing you did when you picked her up wasn't to send her to me?"

"If you want to adopt a child to support you in your old age, adopt a boy. Girls can't be relied on."

The hunter:...

"Keep her at your place for two days, I'll bring the grain later." The hunter threw down this sentence and left angrily.

The village chief's wife heard the commotion in the room and pushed the door open helplessly.

"You've been urging Old Qu to adopt a child for so many years so he'd have someone to perform the funeral rites for him in his old age, but he's never listened to you. He finally picked up a girl on the mountain and had a connection with her, and you provoked him like that. Can he raise her?"

The village chief smiled meaningfully: "He's bringing grain later, do you think he can raise her?"

"Later, let the eldest and second eldest go to every household to spread the word. If asked, say conditions are difficult and we can't afford to raise her. You go find some old clothes San Ni used to wear for this child to change into. Later, let Old Qu send more grain."

"San Ni and Er Ni's previous clothes are all prepared, keep them for Old Qu to exchange with grain."

The village chief's wife:...

Qin Huai:...

Qin Huai glanced into the room.

Qu Jing's hair was still wet, water dripped down from the tips of her hair, and her clothes were already wet, but she didn't care.

Because Qu Jing was seizing the time to gnaw on the corn.

Qin Huai didn't know for a moment whether to say "6" to the village chief or "6" to Qu Jing.

In short, they were all very "6".

Even if she was a grass-and-wood spirit, Qu Jing must be the one who was having a miserable time, right?

Just how many days had she been hungry in the mountains that she was almost stuffing the corn cob into her mouth?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 227 =====