6 - Baiting a transmigrated person

Two months after Jiushu transmigrated … 

"Why are the guards so excited?" Prince Mo Xinglong casually questioned the eunuch serving him.

"Ah.. It seems the inn is serving the rock snake dishes tonight, your grace." eunuch answered easily. 

"What's so great about a few new dishes, that they are this excited? One would think I feed them with chaff or something." the prince commented sarcastically. 

He is not a foodie unlike many of his subordinates are. 

"Indeed your grace treats them very generously. However, the rock snake is a very rare delicacy and supposed to be especially good for men. After we have come to this village, soldiers' meals have become rather monotonous." the Eunuch explained. 

"Is it that rare of a delicacy? Then why don't we have our hunters hunt for them?" Prince asked. 

He could not digest the notion his soldiers are going gaga over a little snake meat. 

What's so great about it? 

"It's supposed to taste like the highest quality eel, without the fishiness. They are weak creatures, but their nests are usually atop pillars of eagle range. On top of that, it is said no nest ever has fewer than thousand rock snakes. Thus hunting them is very hard." Eunuch answered him. 

Xing long frowned. His hunters are supposedly best in the country. Yet, some random local hunter is better than his own? It is said that a local snake is more powerful than a dragon, but this is a mere hunter. How could a single hunter do what all of his hunters together can not? 

No, it does not make sense. 

Mo Xing long added the point to investigate thoroughly later. 

In the evening, the inn arranged for a giant grill, where skewers are grilled and delivered directly to the table.

He would have thrown the owner in jail if one of the capital restaurants asked him to sit in the hall because the skewers couldn't be delivered to his room. However, this is a country town with only a single inn. 

Thus, he yielded, and sat down along with his guards to grab the dinner. Only, he realized, the rock snake proved to be every bit of delicacy it is advertised to be.

He is not someone who pays particular attention to good food, however, even he can tell how tasty it is.

It tasted like a bit of wood smoke, nutty and sweet, at the same time chewy. Even the highest grade eels are not half as good. On top of that, rock snakes seem to be fat and plump, unlike the skinny eels. 

Hmm… he sighed in appreciation. 

He slowly immersed himself in enjoying the food on the table, listening to conversations going on around the table. There seem to be a lot of local trivia passing around.

"Hey.. I did say that. I swam from south of dragon mountain to north in ten minutes. It's true." one of the men was insisting. 

"Ha! You braggart! I will cut off my limbs if you could swim upstream, then enter bowl lake and swim to the north end in ten minutes." another man was countering him. 

"Hey.. I never said I swam uphill." the braggart replied smugly. 

"Then are you telling me you flew … where are the wings?!!!.. Unless you are an immortal who could fly, you can't go to the north end in ten minutes." the same man protested. 

"How about you bet your rock snake, I'll tell ya how I swam there…" The braggart replied. 

"Fine. I'll bet ya my rock snake. Tell me how." the snippy critic shot back. 

"I swam down the dragon's whisker.." the braggart answered proudly.

All the people around him gasped. 

"You …. You … you are brave… I will give you that.." a passersby commented. 

"Did you truly go down the whisker ? " another passers by asked curiously. 

"Aye. T'was three years ago. My mum wanted to dry out the quilt by the dragon lake.. You know that big rock, don't ya? " the man paused to make sure he has every one's attention before continuing. 

"Then all of a sudden the wind started howling, by the time I went to the lake, it was raining cats and dogs. You know the whisker tunnel starts a few feet after that big rock don't you?

First I saw the water wasn't high, so I got down to get the quilt out. Only the lake filled up so fast." 

the man paused again to let the information sink in. 

the mountains are located alike three points of a triangle. the monkey mountain is soft, makes a soft curve at top full of trees.

Eagle mountain's flat ledge rests atop it, the eagle mountain overhangs some of the lake, then the flat ledge leans on the dragon mountain, forming a wide and slanted slope.

The tunnel they are talking off is located half way up the lake, between the dragon mountain and eagle mountain, it twists around the dragon mountain, then joins river at opposite side of monkey mountain, twists some more,  joining a swamp adjoining a rocky beach. on opposite side. 

The catch is where the dragon mountain meets monkey mountain, instead of flowing in to the beach, it could form a whirlpool. there is a delicate balance of water when it does and doesn't form a whirlpool.

By walk, it takes two days to reach between two points. 

"Before I knew, the quilt was down the whisker tunnel. So I went down along with it. I went all the way to black flat, and walked back for two days with a wet quilt." the man had more to say about the experience.. Prince Xinglong got stuck on one point.. 

Dragon Whisker.. 

It seemed to be a stream that only flows when it's flooding.. 

On the day Shen concubine had an accident, there was a rain storm. Could it be the children went down the tunnel?!

"Find a few men secretly, and have them search from the place called black flat for the missing children. Retrieve all the jewelry or items they had with them. Be discreet above all. " he ordered the Eunuch and his guard captain in a whisper. 

The guard captain and the eunuch nodded discreetly. 

The very next day, Jiu Shu's fake sister turned from peasant girl to lost princess, then from princess to dead princess directly. Jiushu never knew how very near to death she came to death that day. 

The imperial guards found the corpse of the princess floating face down in one of the southern villages. no one wondered why the daughter of capital's number one beauty looks this ugly. they buried the body, and moved on. 

They returned to the capitol, now that their search is concluded. 

Prince Mo Xinglong went to his next destination on the list, the black dragon temple. The temple is supposed to contain the most filled out codex among the Taoist monasteries. 

Only, it was locked in the library, never to be touched by anyone other than the head monk. 

Life carried on as usual with no one more aware than other except for the emperor. 

                                                                    ▬ ● ◘  ◘ ● ▬ 

A hundred days later, Jiushu started the first steps of her journey, starting with the summit of the heavenly dragon mountain. 

For Chi Jiushu, first order of business after completing morning prayer is to check her inventory.

Rather than go back to the Gingko hollow, Jiushu walked upwards the mountain, collecting firewood, wild vegetables and berries.

When she was hungry, she hid behind a random tree and entered her space.

The field was empty.

The spilled water vanished who knows where, while the damage caused by the water remained.

She checked granary first. She had five hundred catties of rice grain. She smiled out of relief.

When she first saw the field, she thought of the farm game she played. To imagine that it worked exactly the same..

She went to the field and touched the border randomly. She chose to plant rice.

Yesterday, the rice was only planted sparsely, not even exceeding a quarter of the field.

Today it was dense and fully planted. It has taken thirty two catties of grain. When she saw the remaining grain, Jiushu couldn't stop smiling. She will never lack for food. 

Three cheers to a trip around the world by foot. 

Her enthusiasm fizzed out when she realized though she has grain, she has no rice. She needs to go to a mill or private house to get it shelled.

Even if she is an urban kid, she has lived long enough in the village to know she needs a stone mill for shelling rice. She looked longingly at the downward slope.

Looking at the position she is at, it is just as much time to go down as it is to go up.

She could get rice if she goes down, she could only eat wild berries or some random wild vegetables if she keeps moving up. Jiushu sent a longing glance down the mountain.

'Forget it' she thought as she turned and trod upwards to mountain peak decisively.

She wanted to go up the mountain since the day she arrived, however, she did not have time or leisure.

She could bear hunger. Anyhow, there are enough berries on the road to keep her going. Soon, she could see the smoke going up the chimneys and hear the sound of water.

Mountain villages can never be established without a good water source.

Jiushu moved towards the sound of water, and soon she came upon the water collecting station. Unlike her first village, this village's water station is more naturally formed.

There's a rock with a spiral shaped suppression in the rock. Water curved along the spiral, fell down the small jutting tip. 

She quenched her thirst and continued to the village.

Jiushu hoped to find a rice mill in this village. She planned to process her rice grain and cook her rice at one of the villager's places but every rice mill in the village is occupied.

On top of that, there are only three rice mills, there are at least four people waiting on each house's mill. She just loitered around the village, looking towards the people milling rice.

'Mom, I am so sorry I was too lazy to eat the rice cooked for me' she internally offered an apology to her mother.

The rice mills stayed busy. Finally, one of the villagers noticed her. the villager suggested to go up the mountain, where there's another rice mill. Jiushu wondered why everyone else was not going.

"Aya! You don't know. Those Fa house people, their house is half the way up the mountain. It's not like we are starving without rice. We can wait half a day." the village woman told her easily.

It's at least half as much distance as the distance between the first village and this village, but Jiushu has no choice. Thus, she dragged her tired ass up the mountain, again.

A little ways off, a boy appeared suddenly in front of her, and started walking. Had she been a girl of faint heart, she would have fainted or ran down the mountain screaming her head off. But it's Jiushu, so she only ran towards the young man.

"Master, Please stop" she shouted as she ran towards the figure.

The boy ran away fast and turned to behind a tree. When Jiushu arrived, there was nothing there.

She lifted her head by instinct. There was a flying blue cloth just around the corner, which disappeared immediately.

"Great Daoist, Please wait for me" Jiushu screamed, as he ran to the corner. Nothing in the corner either.

She ran up the mountain path, for she is sure this great master is around somewhere and watching her. There it is again, a flash of blue pants , then all is normal again.

"Senior brother, Please, this younger sister only wants to talk with you."

There is no response. Jiushu stopped for a moment and considered her dialogue. The boy is here, but leading her on a wild goose chase. It means if she stops chasing, the boy will stop running.

Thus, she stills herself even though she has seen suspicious blue pants flash in a certain direction. What can she say to entice the person to come talk with me?

What? What ??.. she kept wondering meanwhile.

Cakes? Cola ? or maybe straight out money? .. but first, let's try something cheaper.

"I will marry you. Just come and talk to me, please!" Jiushu said.

There is no response. However, Jiushu spied on a little white under pants exposed in dirt, he is standing behind a tree. Jiushu figured she is probably not as enticing a beauty as she herself assumed.

Hey wait.. That needn't be the only reason. What if, really, on the rare occasion ; what if the person was like her? She doesn't need marriage, and she will not respond to any of the above titles either.

However, telling him she had a power is a stupid idea. What will she do if he were a Demon. Thus, Jiushu chose the only way she could be sure this guy is from her time. She could see the blue clad person was turning away from her in distance. Jiushu screamed before she can over think this.

"Free Iphone."

Her voice reverberated in the forest. There was another movement, this time jiushu rushed towards splash of color. 

The young man was not there.

Jiushu started walking dejectedly. She must be wrong.

She might be the only one here.

"Just now, what did you shout?" a voice sounded from behind her.

Jiushu turned in surprise.

"Wha..? .. YOu… How did you get there?" Jiushu asked in surprise.

"Just now, what did you shout?" the young man repeated his question.

"Free Iphone." Jiushu told him easily.

After all, it is the test she is setting.

"Do you really have an Iphone?" the young man asked.

"No." Jiushu answered truthfully.

She has never been good at making deals. Transmigrating does not suddenly bestow communication/human resources skills needed to become a winner in life. This is the reason she has chosen sciences in the first place.

They guarantee an income even if she is a textbook repeating idiot. Only, she has chosen computers, most useless of science for ancient living. Life always screws you in unexpected ways.

"Then why did you say it?" the boy was pissed with her.

"To see if you are another transmigrated person like me." Jiushu answered truthfully.

"What if I am? What if I am not? " the boy doesn't seem to belong to the same 'fails at negotiation' club like her. Though It is already game over since he got hooked at the word Iphone.

"If you are, I want to be comrades with you. If you are not, then, I wonder, do you have a blessing of some sort?" Jiushu asked.

The boy moved before she could so much as blink.

A knife is rested at her throat, which she had no doubt he will use if she moves. Jiushu touched her bracelet and vanished into space.

Mo Qiu picked up the bracelet that fell in front of him.

He looked at the bracelet intently.

"Come on out. I will not kill you. Let's discuss this peacefully." Mo Qiu told her.

Jiu shu came out.

"So you have a blessing. Do you know men can kill and take away the blessing very easily? You shouldn't be going around announcing it." Mo Qiu told her.

"But you have one of your own." Jiu shu answered stupidly. For some reason, she assumed one person can hold only one blessing. That's usually the setting to balance out.

"Demons can hold more than one blessing at the same time." Mo Qiu told her wondering how stupid she could get.

Jiushu got irritated at his patronizing tone.

"So, what's your power?" she demanded.

"What makes you think I have one?" Mo Qiu asked lightly.

"You couldn't have gotten away that fast without power." Jiushu answered back.

"I am just that good of a martial artist. More than that, your eyes are that weak." Mo Qiu evaded.

It's not an impossible proposition. Jiushu scanned from top to bottom. The boy is wearing pants and an open vest. He has an eight pack, which is clearly visible. Jiushu strongly resisted the urge to check if it's true. She had a feeling she was being conned, but she could do nothing.

"I don't believe you, but I will not ask you what your power is either. I just ask you to keep mine secret." Jiu shu asked belatedly.

"Denied. If you are stupid enough to advertise, being hunted is your just desserts." Mo Qiu snarked back.

They are both still walking upwards. Jiushu searched his face to see if he was telling the truth. It's not that she can find out if he is telling the truth with her meager skill. So she gave up.

Mo Qiu waited uneasily. Isn't she supposed to say something? He practically made a death threat.

"Aren't you supposed to say something?" Mo Qiu urged her.

"What's your name?" Jiu shu asked.

"Fa Mo Qiu." he answered back.

"Mo Qiu. You are not wrong in saying if I am stupid enough to reveal this easily, I may deserve being hunted. There is nothing to say because I agree with you." Jiu shu answered.

She reacted involuntarily. Moreover, there is nothing she can do to rectify it now. Just admitting her fault is the best way.

Mo Qiu was surprised again. The girl looked somewhat cool. Yet, unreliable, he concluded. After all, she has revealed her powers too easily. They walked in silence. ..

Wait.. why is she going to their house?

"Hey.. ! there's only our house on this way. Why are you going to our house?" MoQiu asked curiously.

"Our house? You mean there are more people like you?" Jiushu asked surprised.

"What is that tone of 'people like me'? Our family lives there." MoQiu answered.

"You mean, your mother, father and siblings? Real mother, Real father and real siblings?" Jiushu asked.

"Yes, real father and real mother. I am an only child." MoQiu answered.

"You… ! aren't you transmigrated?" Jiushu asked.

Aren't they all supposed to be stranded like her? The setting needs to be uniform… doesn't.. It? She questioned doubtfully in her heart.

"Yes, I am. Well, they are real parents of this body." MoQiu answered her.

"Oh! … Good for you." she exclaimed.

"Why? Did you not live with your parents?" MoQiu asked.

"No." Jiushu answered easily.

"Where are you from, by the way?" Moqiu asked.

"Ürümçi. You?" Jiushu asked back.

"Wow.. That's far. I am from hong kong." Mo Qiu admitted. There's no problem being a transmigrated person. He only needs to hide, he has power.

"Oh..what power do you have?" Jiushu asked.

"What power do you have?" Mo Qiu returned back.

"Some kind of farm system." Jiushu answered.

"Hey.. softer… what are you going to do if someone overhears it?" He admonished.

"Die miserably, Probably. I am alone in this world, I was admitted into Xinjiang university with a scholarship. If I can return, dying is not all that bad." Jiushu admitted.

"We are already dead in our world. The last thing I remember is a truck heading towards me. I doubt you are any different." he said.

"What!? I.. I was hoping I could go back." Jiushu admitted softly.

"Sorry!" Mo Qiu said after some time. After all, he did break dreams of this girl.

"It's not your fault." Jiushu answered easily, but she did not feel like speaking up again.

"Oh, That's our house." Mo Qiu piped up suddenly.

"Ah.. " Jiushu turned towards it. It's a pretty neat house.

"Oh! Why are you coming to our house? You did not say.." Mo Qiu asked her as they reached the house.

"Ah.. To mill the rice. I have only grain.. So .." Jiushu ended awkwardly.

"I don't see any on … " you , was what he was going to say, but it died out.

"You mean you have a space power too?" he asked excitedly.

"Hush! Softer." Jiushu admonished him.

Him knowing is fine on the account she wanted his help, and he is a fellow transmigrated soul, but Jiushu did not want his parents knowing. She originally wanted to hide the power, had it not been revealed so thoroughly, she wouldn't have told Mo Qiu either.

Mo Qiu nodded his head.

"How much grain do you have to mill?" he asked, opening the door.

"One or two catties.." Jiushu answered.

He stopped in his tracks. He turned back and looked at her awkwardly.

"This…" he said before thinking better of it.

He greeted his parents and explained to them she is here to mill rice, but only a cattie or two. Their expressions turned similarly awkward. Jiushu looked at him, her face full of question marks.

"You will understand better when you see the mill." Mo Qiu answered, leading her to a separate shed.

It's a water powered mill that could be used for the entire harvest rather than stone mills like other villagers. Jiushu understood their awkwardness now.

"I will use it. I don't have money, can I pay in grain?" she asked.

"Oh! But you said.. " Mo Qiu looked at her in surprise, before comprehension dawned on him. She has space power.

She must have thought it's a stone mill like others, thus only told him the planned amount she intended to use it for rather than the whole amount she has. 'Not bad, little girl' he thought as he looked at her.

It's not that she did not possess vigilance, she lowered it only for him on the account of him being transmigrated.

"Ten percent of the grain, usually, but I will give you a discount because you are our first customer." he told her.

"Thank you. Now, where do I pour grain?" she asked, looking at the complex looking contraption..

She did not make him an ally, but it's not a bad harvest over all. She added the processing method to her system, she made enough rice to last her for six months, and she had a really good meal with meat because Mo Qiu's mother insisted on dinner.