Everyone’s eyes had already followed her movements.
Seeing this, Cheng Shanping and the others exchanged silent glances, unsure what was happening.
Sun Ping quickly stood up and walked over, asking, “Miss, what’s wrong?” After speaking, she also sensed something and tilted her head to listen.
Cheng Shanping and Zhu Shangbiao both paused for a moment, then simultaneously left the campfire, stood up, and went over to stand at the cave entrance, listening.
Xu Fei and Chong’er, curled up on the pile of dry grass, also realised something was up. They slowly climbed to their feet and quietly moved closer.
A strange sound seemed to come from inside the cave, growing clearer and clearer: clang clang clang, clang clang clang, the sound of metal striking repeatedly.
Logically, there was no one else inside the cave, only “A Shi Heng” alone. The noise should be coming from him. But what kind of sound was this? Was he digging a tunnel to escape? No, that did not fit. The sound was getting closer.
Indeed it drew nearer, until finally it was right in front of them. A figure appeared. It was Yu Qing, with his hair tied in a ponytail, face covered, a pack on his back, one hand behind him holding something. The nonstop clanging came from behind him.
The group stared at him in surprise and suspicion, even more eager to see what was making the noise behind him.
Yu Qing’s gaze fell on the wet towel in Tie Miaoqing’s hand. He asked calmly, “What, does the boss lady still not trust me?”
Cheng Shanping was not polite to him. He cut in sharply, “Stop talking nonsense. What’s behind you?”
Yu Qing glanced at him, ignored him, then released his hand from behind. He held out a metal canister that kept emitting crisp clanging sounds and passed it toward Tie Miaoqing. “I have fulfilled my promise. I hope the boss lady will keep hers. Take a look and see whether this is the thing you are searching for.”
Seeing the metal canister meant for holding the fire cricket, with the noise clearly coming from whatever was inside, Tie Miaoqing and the others felt their hearts race instantly. The sense of disbelief was obvious. Hearing his words, their eyes widened at once. Tie Miaoqing hurriedly reached out with both hands to take it.
Once the object was in her hands, feeling the forceful impacts inside the canister, she quickly twisted open the air holes a little. Sparks immediately shot out.
When the sparks died down, she peered through the holes and saw the insect inside, flickering between bright and dim.
After banging around for a while, the insect’s body darkened. After a brief pause, red light surged again along the cracked-looking patterns on its shell, flowing like molten lava. Its two black-gem eyes turned into glowing, dazzling red rubies. It seemed angry. From its mouth came a “kukuku” sound as it spat out bursts of sparks, then it crashed around like flashing light, its big head stubbornly charging forward.
“Fire cricket! This must be the fire cricket. It is the one. It has to be.” Tie Miaoqing’s voice trembled with joy, almost losing control. Her ecstatic gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Yu Qing’s face with an urge to rush forward and hug him.
The people of Miaoqing Hall had rushed about in the ancient deadlands for so many days, tried every possible method, yet failed to catch it. This young man succeeded in one go. How could they not be overjoyed?
Seeing her lose composure like this, Yu Qing’s mind wandered. He wondered whether she would agree if he asked her to repay him with her body.
“Is it really? Miss, let me see.” Sun Ping could not wait. She reached out with both hands, took the canister with sparks still coming from the lid, and examined it.
Cheng Shanping and Zhu Shangbiao immediately leaned their heads in close.
Yu Qing paid them no attention. He walked out from the cave entrance, removed the towel covering his mouth and nose, and said to the expectant Xu Fei and Chong’er, “How about it? They did not make things difficult for you, did they?”
Both master and servant shook their heads. Even if there had been unpleasant moments, they did not dare say so in front of everyone.
Chong’er’s eyes toward Yu Qing held admiration, along with a trace of pride and shared honour.
He was not foolish. He could see that something so many so-called experts from Miaoqing Hall could not achieve, Young Master Shi Heng had accomplished. Look at how excited those people were, acting like they had never seen the world.
Of course, both master and servant also wanted to see what the fire cricket looked like.
Xu Fei especially wanted to ask how it was caught.
Yu Qing glanced back at the still-clustered, excited group, then walked to the swing, sat on Tie Miaoqing’s personal swing, and began to sway gently beside the campfire in the darkness before dawn. He felt much more relaxed and at ease. The captured fire cricket was his confidence, worth more than a thousand words.
Once the excitement settled, Tie Miaoqing’s bright eyes flashed. She left Sun Ping and the other three, walked to the swaying swing, and did not disturb Yu Qing’s moment of relaxation. In her heart she felt fortunate. Fortunately she had stood firm against the others. Otherwise she might have missed the fire cricket entirely.
Obtaining this fire cricket meant the divine signs were all true. Tie Miaoqing no longer had any doubts. She believed Yu Qing’s so-called oracle: he could help her find the fire cricket, and she could help him leave safely.
There truly was a connection between them.
“Thank you.” Tie Miaoqing said with sincere gratitude.
Yu Qing replied, “Same words as before. I did my best. You must not go back on your word. Otherwise retribution will come from the unseen.”
Tie Miaoqing smiled softly, “Rest assured. You did your best, and I will do mine.”
As the swing came back, Yu Qing dragged his toes on the ground to stop it. He turned to look at her. “After being smoked in there for so long, you probably have never tasted this feeling, right? My whole body has turned into smoked meat.”
Tie Miaoqing slightly bowed again in thanks. “You have worked hard.”
Yu Qing said, “Words of thanks are useless. I used my inner energy to resist the smoke all night. I am truly exhausted. Getting some spiritual rice to replenish myself is not too much, is it?”
“Not too much, only…” Tie Miaoqing’s gaze fixed on the spiritual rice sack on his back. “This thing is quite heavy when you carry too much. We did not bring any when we came out. How about using yours first for now?”
Yu Qing had been with them long enough to know they had no spiritual rice. Otherwise he would not have brought it up. Hearing this, he put on a surprised expression. “You mean I risk my life to help you work, and you still want me to pay out of my own pocket?”
Tie Miaoqing waved her hand. “Not that meaning. Just borrow yours for the moment. I will compensate you with money.”
Yu Qing had been waiting for a chance to steer the conversation toward money. He did not expect her to bring it up first. It saved trouble. He immediately put on an intentionally eager look and asked, “How much?”
Tie Miaoqing paused. Naturally she meant to compensate whatever amount was used, but as the words reached her lips, she sensed Yu Qing seemed to want payment. She felt a bit speechless. After a moment of silence, she tried raising the offer. “How about double compensation?”
Yu Qing did not hesitate. He got off the swing at once, quickly untied the spiritual rice sack from his back, held it up with both hands, and offered it all. “I originally planned to use spiritual rice as an offering earlier, but the situation changed and I did not use it. If you do not believe me, count it. Twenty sacks, not one short, exactly twenty jin each. Worth two thousand taels. If you double it for me, that makes four thousand taels.”
No need to count. Tie Miaoqing took the spiritual rice in hand. “Fine. After the matter is done, I will give you four thousand taels.”
After the matter is done? Yu Qing’s face immediately went blank. “If you do not give it to me after it is done, I will have no way to force you.”
Tie Miaoqing gave a wry smile. “If we really had that intention, even if we gave it to you now, we could take it back later.”
Yu Qing replied almost without thinking, “That is not how the saying goes. First, if you do not give it to me, how do I know whether you even have that much money? Second, even if you have it, you surely do not carry four thousand taels in silver coins. It must be silver notes. If you decide to burn the bridge after crossing later, I can just destroy those four thousand taels’ worth of notes. At least that would cause you some loss, right?”
Tie Miaoqing laughed helplessly. “You really think too much.”
“Is it really me thinking too much? Boss lady, I am an honest scholar. You cannot twist black and white like this. You have to speak with conscience!” Yu Qing raised his hand and pointed at Cheng Shanping, letting her recall for herself.
Tie Miaoqing followed his gesture and looked over. She was left speechless. There was no way around it. Cheng Shanping’s attitude toward this fellow earlier had indeed been extremely hostile, even to the point of wanting to kill him.
She could not explain it well, so she did not try. She beckoned Sun Ping over to prepare four thousand taels in silver notes. Since Sun Ping had seen the fire cricket, she gave the money readily.
With the silver notes in hand, Yu Qing immediately tucked them into his bosom and hid them well. Still not satisfied, he made another demand. “Also, my own silver notes and belongings are still with him. Shouldn’t they be returned to me now?” He gestured toward Cheng Shanping again.
Since the money had already been given, Tie Miaoqing did not want to leave a bad impression. She immediately called Cheng Shanping over, explained the situation, and told him to return the items to Yu Qing.
After personally seeing the fire cricket, Cheng Shanping’s gaze toward Yu Qing had become rather complicated. Hearing this, he remained silent for a while, but in the end he shook his head. “Boss lady, it is not that I refuse to give him the things, nor that I covet his few possessions. But he has not finished the job yet. Two more fire crickets are still missing.
At this moment he is so eager to take back his things. It is hard for me not to suspect he has some ulterior motive. Normally I would just give them, but now it concerns our master’s life. We cannot afford to loosen our grip. Boss lady, I cannot hand over the items. Please forgive me for disobeying!”
Seeing him openly refuse the boss lady’s order, everyone felt somewhat speechless.
Sun Ping sighed. “Old Cheng, with so many of us watching, there should not be any problem.”
Cheng Shanping immediately raised his voice sternly. “Sun Ping, we have not found all three fire crickets yet. Can you guarantee nothing will go wrong in between? Can you guarantee that once he gets his things back he will not slack off? Right now we have placed all our hopes on him. If he really plays some trick and delays our master’s life, Sun Da掌柜, can you bear that responsibility?”
“…” Sun Ping was rendered speechless. How could she guarantee that?
Cheng Shanping brought up their master’s life and insisted on not returning the items. No one could forcibly take them from him. Tie Miaoqing frowned for a moment, then hesitated and said to Yu Qing, “I can swear that I will definitely give them to you afterwards. How about that?”
Yu Qing showed no expression, inwardly cursing. Although he had caught one fire cricket, he did not dare guarantee he could catch all three. If he got all his possessions back first, then if something unexpected happened later, he could find a way to escape without loss.
But the current situation made it clear that Tie Miaoqing and the others could not retrieve the items from Cheng Shanping’s hands. If he insisted too much, it would easily arouse suspicion. Once they watched him closely, it would be disadvantageous if he needed to escape later.
Escaping with his life, especially from under the eyes of a group of experts, was something that required extreme caution.
After thinking it over, he could only reply calmly, “If someone insists on judging a gentleman with a petty heart, there is nothing I can do. Fine. Give them to me after the matter is done.”