The bug child was just a little book boy. How could he know about these complicated schemes of his? He only felt that Young Master Shihengs gaze towards him was a bit strange. This made him feel somewhat shy and uneasy. He held the bowl he had finished drinking from with both hands and gently placed it back on the table.
As soon as his bowl was set down, the bone that Yu Qing had finished gnawing clean in his hand was also tossed into that bowl with a clatter.
Right at that moment, the metal jar at Yu Qings waist suddenly started ringing again with a series of clangs. The sound was quite intense.
Eh! Yu Qing exclaimed curiously. He lowered his head to look at the jar hanging at his waist. The little creature inside had been listless for a long time because it had not eaten. It had not been this fierce for quite a while. Why had it suddenly become so stubborn again?
Could it be that it had drunk its fill of water?
Could this little creature originally drink water?
He thought about it again and felt something was wrong. In the past the little creature would neither eat nor drink. He had given it water before but it did not drink.
Feeling puzzled, he unfastened the jar from his waist and directly unscrewed the lid.
As soon as the lid was moved aside, the fire cricket shot out with a whoosh.
Ah! The bug child cried out in surprise. The meaning was that it had run away. In the next instant he froze again. He discovered that the fire cricket had been tied to the jar with a silk thread and could not escape.
The fire cricket did not seem to have any intention of running either. After darting out and flying around wildly for a bit, it suddenly dove down and directly rushed into the bowl that the bug child had just drunk water from.
To be precise, it landed on the rib bone that had been gnawed clean of meat.
Crunching and cracking sounds of chewing rang out.
Yu Qing and the bug child were both stunned at the same time. They both bent down at the same time and brought their heads close to the edge of the bowl. The two of them could smell each others breath. They both widened their eyes and stared at the fire cricket on the bone. They confirmed it and saw it clearly. The fire cricket was indeed hugging that bone and gnawing on it furiously.
They observed it for a good while and also confirmed that the fire cricket was indeed swallowing the bone fragments it had gnawed off into its stomach.
There were large gaps gnawed out on the bone and there were no bone fragments in the bowl. It had indeed swallowed them into its belly.
The two of them looked at each other across the edge of the bowl. Yu Qing suddenly turned his head. He looked at the rice and dishes that the bug child had eaten from earlier but had not finished. Then he looked at the bug child.
The two of them did not say a single word. Yet it was as if they had a tacit understanding. The bug child nodded repeatedly. He immediately ran to bring over the rice bowl. He used chopsticks to pick out some dishes and place them on the table. He also picked out a clump of rice and placed it on the table.
Yu Qing pulled the thread and lifted the fire cricket up. The little creature however refused to let go of the bone. It actually grabbed the rib bone that was several times larger than its own body and lifted it together. Even while being pulled by the neck it continued to gnaw furiously. It ate desperately as if its life depended on it.
Yu Qing clamped the rib bone with one hand. Then he pulled the thread hard and finally separated the little creature from the bone. He tossed the bone back into the bowl.
The little creature seemed unwilling to give up. It flapped its wings and flew towards the bone in the bowl again.
Yu Qing swung his hand hard. With precise aim he directly smashed the fire cricket down beside that clump of rice. It was clear that he was making the little creature eat.
The fire cricket however refused. It shot up again with a whoosh and rushed towards the bone in the bowl once more.
Yu Qing waved his hand and swung again. He smashed the fire cricket onto the picked out dishes. He let the little creature choose once more.
The little creature did not know what was good for it and did not appreciate the kindness. It shot up again with a whoosh and pounced desperately towards the bone in the bowl once more.
This time Yu Qing did not stop it anymore. He allowed the little creature to pounce on the food like a hungry wolf.
With a clatter, from the excessive impact the fire cricket flipped the bone in the bowl over. Yet it still held on tightly. It hung upside down below the bone and continued to gnaw and crunch nonstop.
After watching for a while, the bug child tried asking, Young Master Shiheng, does the fire cricket eat bones?
Earlier on the journey back he had also seen the process of Iron Miaoqing and the others worrying about feeding the fire cricket. He had personally witnessed how anxious a group of people had become. It would not eat anything at all. They all thought that this thing dug up from underground had a strong temper. They thought that after losing its freedom it was going to starve itself to death.
Yu Qing wanted to speak but stopped himself several times. He bent down again to observe closely. After confirming that it was still eating, he could not help scratching the back of his head. It really is eating bones! Along the whole journey it would not drink water, would not drink any juice, would not eat meat, would not gnaw grass, and would not touch fruits either. It refused all the good food and drinks. Yet it could act like a mad dog for a piece of bone? Iron Miaoqing probably could not even dream of this. He also did not know whether those three fire crickets that were not eating or drinking could hold on until they rushed back to Youjiao Port. Even if they wanted to inform them now it would be too late.
The little creatures teeth were indeed sharp. It gnawed on the bone very quickly. Before long it had gnawed away nearly half of the rib bone that was several times the size of its body.
Both Yu Qing and the bug child were somewhat stunned as they watched. They really did not know how the fire crickets stomach could hold food that was larger than its own size.
Watching with their own eyes as the fire crickets belly became round and bulging from eating, and then seeing it continue to eat, even Yu Qing became afraid. He feared it would eat itself to death. He pulled the silk thread. Big Head, Big Head, that is about enough. Let go. I will pick up bones for you to eat another day.
However the little creature would not let go. It continued to gnaw furiously with crunching sounds.
The bug child beside him had bright eyes that suddenly flashed. He tried asking, Young Master Shiheng, did you name it Big Head?
Yu Qing scoffed. I saw its head is big so I called it that casually. How could it have any real name? He turned his head to look at her. The rice has gone cold. Go eat your meal.
The bug child was still quite obedient to him. He was about to pick up the bowl with both hands when his gaze suddenly fell on the table. It landed on the rice and dishes he had picked out earlier. So his slender hand reached over. His fingertips scraped up every single grain of rice without missing any. He mixed them together with the dishes on the table and silently put them into his own mouth.
Yu Qing was stunned. He stared blankly at him. Do you have to go that far? This has been touched by the fire cricket. Are you not afraid that the fire cricket is poisonous?
The bug child realised that his appearance while picking up rice grains to eat did not look good. His face flushed red all at once. He felt a bit embarrassed. He silently shook his head. He picked up the rice bowl and went to the corner again. Lowering his head he slowly ate his own meal.
Yu Qing who turned back to gaze at him felt very speechless. He thought about that bowl of water he had tricked the bug child into drinking to test for poison. He felt a bit like he had acted like a petty person for nothing.
By the time the bug child had eaten all the rice and dishes without leaving a single grain, the fire cricket in the bowl had also gnawed the entire rib bone clean. Its originally cone shaped little belly that was half the size of a thumb had now bulged out like an egg. Its big head instead looked rather small.
Good thing you did not eat yourself to death. Yu Qing lifted the little creature up by the thread again.
He was just about to put it back into the jar when a shocking scene suddenly appeared.
Puff…
A long fart sound suddenly rang out. The bug child widened his eyes. He saw black smokeå–· out from the fire crickets backside.
The black smoke sprayed for about ten counts before stopping. In an instant the room had become hazy and grey.
The door opened. Yu Qing and the bug child escaped from the room. They urgently closed the door again.
Looking at the fire cricket still held in his hand, although it still looked like a hanged ghost, its aura was already different. It had the feeling of having eaten and drunk its fill and being too lazy to move.
The key point was that the bulging big belly from overeating had returned to its original state.
It got better after farting? The two who had fled outside the door looked at each other speechlessly. They felt they had really opened their eyes wide.
Yu Qing looked at the corridor outside. He quickly put the hanged ghost he was holding back into the jar.
After the smoke and dust inside the room had settled, the two opened the door and went in again. The table, the floor, and the bedding already had a light layer of grey.
The table and floor were still fine to talk about. It was indeed inappropriate to dirty the place where people slept. The two looked at each other again.
I will clean it up properly. The bug child immediately rolled up his sleeves ready to work.
There is no time. Yu Qing hooked his neck over with one pull and half embraced him shoulder to shoulder. This immediately made the bug childs cheeks flush with red clouds. It is not just a bit of dust. There are many holes burned into their mattress by sparks sprayed out by Big Head. That… when they come back and see it, just say that Xu Fei accidentally did it.
The bug child let out an ah sound. He looked up at him with a face full of difficulty. He shook his head, indicating that he could not frame his own young master.
Yu Qing said, Have you not seen it yet? Your young master is now a big shot. A group of exam candidates all want to fawn over him. If he says it was his own mistake, everyone will definitely be very tolerant. It is different for me.
But… but… The bug child lowered his head and shook his head again with great difficulty.
Yu Qing said, I am not asking you to wrong your young master. You go find Xu Fei right now. Quietly tell him the situation. Just say that I said so. He will agree to you saying it this way. Understand?
The bug child breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.
Yu Qing let go of him. He raised his leg and gave him a kick on the butt. Go quickly.
The bug child who staggered two steps had his face turn red again. He first ran to the side and quickly tidied up the food box. Then he hurriedly left…
In a small hall at the post station, a long table had been pieced together. More than ten exam candidates had gathered.
Those pushing cups and changing drinks were almost all those ranked high in the provincial exam results, including the top scorer Zhan Muchun.
There were exceptions, for example Xu Fei, and for example the four including Su Yingtao whose provincial exam results could not even enter the top twenty.
But exceptions naturally had their reasons. This was originally a calming feast to entertain Xu Fei. As for the four including Su Yingtao, they were the ones organising the gathering. Although it was under the name of Zhan Muchun hosting, in reality the ones paying were the four of them. Half a host naturally had the qualification to be present.
During the banquet, everyone asked Xu Fei about his experiences these past days.
Xu Fei could only smile bitterly and did not know what else to say. He used the excuse that some matters he could not speak about casually without the consent of the escorting officials.
Everyone clearly knew nothing yet instantly put on an expression of complete understanding. They thought they really understood the implications inside.
After a few cups of wine, when their interest rose, Su Yingtao finally asked about the matter that everyone was interested in. It was about Iron Miaoqing who had ridden away with great elegance outside the post station.
Xu Fei still pushed and refused to say more. He also did not want to bring trouble upon himself. Saying that he had not even seen Iron Miaoqings true appearance, everyone would not believe it either. He could only be punished with wine.
That night, people came one after another to visit Xu Fei in his room, making the room quite lively.
Yu Qing who was nestled in the corner of the communal bed leaning against the wall also heard some recent news about the exam taking group.
It was said that the number of escorting personnel had decreased and the defence had also become lax.
It was said that the imperial court had sent people to comfort everyone. They said that the mastermind behind the attack on the exam candidates had already been dealt with by the Sinan Prefecture. There would be no similar dangers on the road ahead.
They only said that the Sinan Prefecture had solved the problem. They did not say that the matter had been caused by the Sinan Prefecture.
The most important thing was that in order to calm everyone, the imperial court announced a major piece of good news.
Considering that the candidates from Liezhou had been frightened and this might affect their performance in the metropolitan exam, His Majesty the Emperor had shown special grace and additionally given five opportunities for Liezhou candidates to have their names on the golden list.
Defined as supplementary admission in order, this was personally approved by the Emperors imperial brush.
That meant that after the metropolitan exam results came out, if the imperial courts admission quota was the top one hundred names, then five Liezhou candidates would be specially admitted from the supplementary rankings after the one hundredth place.
This meant that among this batch of Liezhou candidates, even those who ranked one hundred and fiftieth, or even two hundredth or three hundredth or lower, all had the chance to have their names on the golden list. After all, it was impossible for the Liezhou candidates to exactly occupy the first five places after the one hundredth. They would definitely be separated by the rankings of candidates from other provinces.
Therefore the significance of these five spots was extraordinary. It gave many people a chance. It was truly a piece of heavenly good news that made the Liezhou candidates wild with joy. They all praised His Majesty for his wisdom!