Qi He was young, and all he had done on the journey was shout commands. He hadn't paid attention to how far they had traveled.
Hearing Jiang Tou'er say they had traveled so far, he was overjoyed. "Grandpa Jiang, does this mean we can save many days and reach Liaodong sooner?"
"Yes," Jiang Tou'er was also happy, even more anxious than Qi He.
As they were settling in the wilderness for the night again, Fu Xin Ci seized an opportunity when no one was looking and slipped a few throat lozenges into Qi He's hand.
"Sister Fu, what is this? Ginger candy?" Qi He looked at the small, medicinal-smelling things in his palm with disgust.
"They are throat lozenges. They're good for your throat if you keep one in your mouth."
Only then did Qi He realize his voice had become hoarse.
"Quickly put a lozenge in your mouth and stop talking."
Qi He wanted to say a word of thanks, but Fu Xin Ci cut him off. "Otherwise, if you become a raspy voice, no one will want to play with you anymore."
Qi He: He didn't care about others. If they didn't want to play, so be it. Who was afraid? But he was afraid Sister Fu wouldn't play with him, so he obediently stopped making noise.
During dinner, Jiang Tou'er kept his promise to Qi He. The congee the Meng clan ate was not only thicker than usual, but each person also received an extra half ladle, making everyone in the Meng clan beam with joy.
Across the many people, Old Master Meng subtly glanced at Qi He again before quietly instructing his family, especially his two grandsons. "You two are about the same age as young Qi. In the future, learn from those few and stick close to young Qi. That's how our family will have a chance to survive."
His two clever grandsons had once been his pride and joy, and he had sent them to school for early education. They had also brought him honor, often receiving praise from their teachers.
But now their Meng clan had been exiled to Liaodong, and the outcome was obvious. Even with all their knowledge, they first needed to ensure their survival.
Old Master Meng sighed again and continued to instruct his grandsons. "Your grandfather is old. I have lived comfortably for half my life under the Meng clan's name and have long lost any ambition. Your father, shamefully, because he was your grandmother's only son, was spoiled by her. He knows nothing of any proper business, only eating, drinking, and having fun."
"..." Old Master Meng's son wanted to argue, especially since his two sons were present and he wanted to save face.
However, he moved his lips but had nothing to say. His father was not wrong. Apart from cockfighting, patronizing restaurants with friends, and frequenting pleasure houses, he couldn't find any other skill he possessed.
Seeing their father hesitate to speak and then give up, the two youths pretended not to notice anything and listened even more intently to their grandfather's advice.
Summer nights were beautiful, though the poets and scholars had not mentioned the insects' persistence towards humans.
Even though Jiang Tou'er had started several bonfires, it couldn't stop the red bumps from appearing all over everyone.
Fu Xin Ci thought: She had mosquito nets and various mosquito coils in her space, but she dared not take them out. It was so distressing.
Alas, if only there were citronella grass.
The thought flashed through her mind, and Fu Xin Ci's eyes widened instantly. This was the wilderness; she didn't believe there was no citronella grass here.
With that thought, she quickly got up from the ground.
Fang Shi, who was next to her, was immediately alerted. "Ci'er, what are you doing?"
"Mother, these mosquitoes are too annoying. I want to find some citronella grass."
"Sister Fu, do you know what that is?"
"Let's try. I'm not sure."
"I'll go with you."
"Xin Ci, I'll go too."
"I'll go too."
Several youths, unable to bear the mosquito bites, wanted to follow when they heard Fu Xin Ci was going to find citronella grass.
"Alright, let's go together."
"I'll go make torches."
"We'll make them together, it will be faster. Let's make more, so it's brighter."
"Okay."
The youths were fiddling by the bonfires. Those who were already restless in their sleep were more than half awakened.
"Qi, what are you guys going to do?"
"Grandpa Jiang, you wait. We're going to find some citronella grass."
"Citronella grass is good! We know what that is, but we don't know what it looks like. If you find some, bring it for us to see. It will save us from being bothered by mosquitoes in the future."
"Sure thing. We'll bring it to you once we find it."
After Qi He finished speaking, he followed Fu Xin Ci into the nearby wilderness, with Meng Qi Shan and the others following behind.
"Sister Fu, where is the citronella grass?"
Qi He's question stumped Fu Xin Ci. Although they had several torches, night was still night, and it was different from the day.
But such a small matter couldn't trouble her. After all, she was now a genuine wood-element ability user.
Fu Xin Ci activated the wood-element ability within her body with a bit of awkwardness. In her consciousness, the wood-element ability felt like a faint wisp of smoke, scattering with the wind and drifting forward.
Fu Xin Ci beckoned to them. "Follow me."
"Okay." The youths bent down and carefully followed behind Fu Xin Ci, afraid of making too much noise with their footsteps.
Fu Xin Ci led the way, a smile playing on her lips.
They walked forward about fifty to sixty paces, turned a small corner, and Fu Xin Ci pointed to a patch of citronella grass ahead. She said triumphantly, "Hurry over, this is all of it."
"There's so much of it!" Hearing Fu Xin Ci say this was citronella grass, Qi He didn't care about anything else and immediately threw himself onto the patch, rolling around.
Meng Qi Tian, Meng Yu Tang, and Meng Yu Luo also became unrestrained, imitating Qi He and throwing themselves onto the citronella grass.
"Rub yourselves quickly, I'm so itchy."
"Me too. Look at my face, I've got several big bumps."
"Me too. My eyelids are bitten like this, look..." Seeing Meng Yu Tang lift his eyelid to gain sympathy, Fu Xin Ci almost burst out laughing.
She never would have imagined that these unfortunate souls, who had been so generously "gifted" by the mosquitoes, were unwilling to get up from the citronella grass even after rolling around on it.
It wasn't surprising that Qi He and the others didn't get up. "Sister Fu, when I lie on this citronella grass, why can't I hear the annoying buzzing sound?"
"I don't hear it either."
"Tch, if mosquitoes dared to fly over, then it wouldn't be called citronella grass."
"That's true. We're sleeping here tonight. We're definitely not going back there."
"I think so too," said Meng Qi Tian, then he looked to Qi He for a decision. "Should we go back and inform the official?"
"We have to inform Grandpa Jiang and Grandpa Meng, otherwise they'll think we're lost." After saying that, Qi He jumped up and ran back. "I'll go inform Grandpa Jiang and Grandpa Meng."
"If so many people come over, will this area be enough for us?" Meng Yu Tang was most concerned about this. He didn't want to be mosquito fodder anymore.