Chapter 10: CH 10

The next day, Xia Yi started sowing the seeds. 

He divided the land into two sides, farming fennel on one side, farming onions on the other. He had finished farming that 25 points of land within an hour. Brushing off the soil on his hands, he planned to go back to make lunch and send it to Gu Wen Zhu’s land. 

Right when he was turning around, he saw Mr. Wang from the village running towards him from afar, followed by a bunch of kids. Mr. Wang stopped nearby, said to Xia Yi breathlessly, “Gu… Gu Wen Zhu has been taken… by the authorities.” 

Xia Yi felt a chill rising from the bottom of his foot. He shouted uncontrollably, “Gu Wen Zhu was taken by the authorities? Why? Are you sure that’s Gu Wen Zhu?” 

Mr. Wang was still panting, those kids around him started adding remarks into the discussion, “Yes, it’s Zhu. The authorities chained him and took him.” They then made gestures of their hands being cuffed. 

“Where have they taken him to?” Xia Yi’s pitch had altered due to his anxiety.

“The officers brought him to the government office.” 

“Do you know the charge?” 

“No. The officers just said something like picking quarrels and beating people.” 

That’s not too bad. It’s not some big deal such as killing or robbery. Xia Yi collected himself and ran towards home. 

Once he entered the house, Kirin came up to him affectionately. Xia Yi did not have the mood for it though. He dashed into the room directly, pulled out a cloth for packing and began to stuff things in. 

“We need to pack in the money bag. My money is not enough. Zhu has some money in the box. Take all of them. It may come in handy if we need to buy some officers over.” Xia Yi was packing and murmuring to remind himself not to panic.  

Gu Wen Zhu had never avoided being seen by Xia Yi whenever he put money into the little box using his keys. Therefore, Xia Yi knew where to fetch the money. There were some silver and plated copper inside, as well as a few whole silver ingots. Xia Yi simply threw them all into the baggage. Then he packed in a set of clothes for changing. He asked Mr. Wang, who had followed him back home, to look after Kirin, then carried the baggage and went out. 

“Bring some food and water as well.” System gave him the reminder. 

Xia Yi brought with him several steamed bread and water, taking the wooden stick that was with him in his fleeing days. He closed the door and headed towards the city. 

“Gu Wen Zhu has kidnapped girls and hid them in his basement. He has robbed a few boxes of gold from the rich and has killed two servants. He is wanted by the authorities!” As soon as he exited the village, 179’s sharp voice rang in high pitch, with a hint of excitement. 

Xia Yi was flabbergasted, “Who said that?” 

“Those women washing clothes along the stream.” 179 answered. 

Xia Yi was irritated: …Could you please not add to the chaos right now? 

After travelling for some time in anxiety, Xia Yi looked in front of him and began to think: There are still miles away from the city. As we don’t have any means of transportation except a pair of feet, who knows how long it’s going to take. If we don’t get there in time to pay the officers, Gu Wen Zhu might get beaten. 

Xia Yi looked around, then he remembered the hill Gu Wen Zhu carried him through to go fish-catching. He decided to take a shortcut. 

Climbing up the mountain, the forest was all silent, only the tweeting of the birds and the rustling of the leaves could be heard. Xia Yi supported himself with the wooden stick, carrying the baggage with him, sweating and advancing the mountain trail. 

Even though it was called a mountain trail, it was just a side road opened up by the woodmen, only visible here and there, getting narrower and steeper on the way and extremely hard to climb. Xia Yi had never walked roads like this before and, not long after, could no longer move on. He leaned on a big tree, out of his breath. 

“179, this body is too weak. It can’t even withstand walking this much. Before this, I could run a few 800 meters without panting.” 

He rested for a while, having some strength restored. Looking at the tortuous road up the mountain top, Xia Yi let out a long breath and prepared to go all the way uphill. 

He was going to leave the tree that he was leaning on. At the moment when he was holding tight to the wooden stick to straighten himself, the rock under his foot became loose, then he tripped down all of a sudden. Xia Yi staggered, failing to hold his stance, he fell onto the slope and lost his wooden stick. He panicked and extended his hand to grasp something unsuccessfully, he slipped and rolled downhill along the slope with the rocks. 

“Ahhhhhh…179…” 

“Ahhhhhh…Host…” 

Xia Yi screamed. He rolled down with a few rocks for around twenty meters. Then the rolling finally stopped. When his feet reached the solid ground, Xia Yi, still in shock, immediately stood up to check around him. 

It was a deep gorge, one side was surrounded by the walls of the hill, which was more than ten feet tall. There was a cliff in front of the gorge. Although the walls of the hill were slopes, they were too slippery with wet moss growing on them and there were no other things attached to these walls. 

Xia Yi tried to mount the walls and gave up. The walls were slick and Xia Yi could not hold onto it. He could not even move up a bit. 

He started to shout out for help, “Anyone? Help…” There was only his own echo among the empty valleys. 

Xia Yi cried out for some time. The sound he produced decayed. Then he sat down in frustration, “179, what should I do? I can’t get out. I am stuck here. What would happen to Zhu? Will he be beaten?” 179, do you have a way to help me out? I can do extra missions for it.” 

“Host, I have no way to get you out.” 179 sounded depressed as well. 

Xia Yi held his knees with his hands, dazing into the sky. What should he do? 

You are reading story Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate at novel35.com

… 

Time glided past. The sky darkened. The cawing crows were flying back home. Xia Yi buried his head between his legs, unmoved. He had been keeping this position for a really long time. 

“Host, let’s eat something.” 179 reminded him. 

Xia Yi slowly shook his head, “I don’t want to.” He had already tried multiple times. The moss covering his body and hands. If there were no one up there to save him, he could only keep being stuck down here. 

This damned farming world. I can’t even use a phone to call 911. 

… 

Xia Yi had been woken up by a wave of thunder. He was somehow asleep, and he was not sure how long he had slept. When he opened his eyes, it’s already pitch dark. 

Right after that, drops of rain swirled down. They touched the leaves and the grass and made rustling sounds, followed by even heavier rain. The valley was full of the tapping sounds of the rain. The temperature lowered drastically in the valley. Xia Yi had become all wet, his clothes sticking onto his body. A breeze of wind passed by, making Xia Yi’s teeth chattered. 

He had only had breakfast today. Now his stomach was beginning to gurgle. He was so hungry that he felt as if his chest was going to touch his back. Xia Yi opened the baggage, trembling, he fumbled to find the steamed bread. The steamed bread was soaking in water and had become gooey. He then used his fingers to hold the gooey substances and ate it with the rain. 

“179, if no one ever comes, will I starve and die trapped here?” Xia Yi leaned on the walls of the hill and murmured. 

“Host, you have to hang on. Someone will come for us tomorrow.” 179’s robot voice sounded a little concerned. 

“Is that so? No one knows I fell here. They all think that I’ve gone to the city to find Zhu.” Xia Yi closed his eyes, resting his head on the wall, “I wonder what’s going on with Zhu. When he’s out and finds that I and the money is missing, how would he think of me? He might think that I am stealing all his money and ran away after he was arrested.” He slided down along the wall and sat on the ground. Then he held his knees. 

“179, if I die, will I go back to my world?” Xia Yi stared at the dark sky afar with dull light in his eyes, “If I die, I hope Zhu can find me quickly, then he will know I haven’t run away.” Then he shook his head, “Never mind, he will feel sad when he finds me dead, just let him think that I ran away.” 

“Host, the woodmen and the hunters will pass by tomorrow. Don’t give up.” 179 consolated Xia Yi. 

“But Zhu will be punished tomorrow… I don’t even know how bad they will beat him.” Xia Yi closed his eyes in the rain. 

… 

“Host! Host! Someone’s here!” 179 suddenly shouted, “Quick, quick, quick, quickly get up, someone’s here.” 

Straightly after that, he heard someone calling from above, “Yi… Xia Yi…” 

Xia Yi looked up quickly. It’s Zhu! It’s Zhu’s voice! Zhu has not been taken and came for him. 

“I am here… Zhu, I am here…” Xia Yi’s voice was hoarse. It was so dry as if he had swallowed a handful of sand. He coughed, then responded loudly. 

Not long after, a rope dangled from the wall of the hill beside him. With a lantern hanging on his back, Gu Wen Zhu slid down slowly. 

As soon as he reached the bottom of the gorge, Gu Wen Zhu wiped off the rain from his face. He stared at the miserable looking Xia Yi. Gu Wen Zhu’s chest was moving slightly up and down as he breathed. He walked up and held Xia Yi in his arms. 

Xia Yi stretched out to hold Gu Wen Zhu’s back, choking with sobs, “I heard that they have taken you… I went to find you…” 

“I know I know, Mr. Wang said you came for me.” Gu Wen Zhu held Xia Yi tightly, with a hint of uneasiness after great shock, mumbled, “I am fine.” 

Xia Yi had Gu Wen Zhu in his arms, feeling his warmth and strong arms, making him feel safe and downhearted at the same time. Sobs had been added to his voice while speaking, “I am cold and hungry and worried about you. I didn’t know when someone would pass through. I thought I was going to die down here.” 

“You are not going to die. I’ll find you no matter what.” Gu Wen Zhu said with his husky voice. 

What he did not tell Xia Yi is that when he was told that Xia Yi had come for him and no one had met Xia Yi on his way back from the city, he became extremely anxious. When he saw Xia Yi’s lost wooden stick lying on the trail, he was down in the dumps, feeling cold and lost, until he heard Xia Yi’s voice shouting back from the gorge. 

The rain stopped at some point. The two of them climbed back up from the gorge to go back home. Seeing Xia Yi’s legs trembling, Gu Wen Zhu carried him on his back. 

“I am starving.” Xia Yi lied on Gu Wen Zhu’s firm and warm back. He could not hold back his complaints anymore. 

“Let’s quickly get back home and make you something to eat.” Gu Wen Zhu gently comforted Xia Yi. 

“My knees got rubbed by the walls of the hills. It hurts.” Being cared for by somebody felt so good. 

“We will see if they are bleeding. If so, we will use some herbs on them.” Gu Wen Zhu accelerated his pace. 

“My legs feel so tired.” Xia Yi stretched the nasal sounds in a slightly affectionate tone. 

“I’ll help massage them when we get back.”

You can find story with these keywords: Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate, Read Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate, Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate novel, Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate book, Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate story, Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate full, Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate Latest Chapter