Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 46

Volume 02 Chapter 46: There Are Still Things That Have Not Been Taken Out

"Oh, oh, yes, they run fast. They were running quite fast just now. How are you going to eat these ants? Are you going to cook them using limepowder?"

Li Xun tried his best to suppress the shock in his heart and asked another question. In fact, he still wanted to ask whether they could share some of it with him. He was also hungry so he didn't care anymore whether or not there was their saliva on the ants.

Zhang Xiao'bao looked up at the sky, and he touched the sun-dried sand again.He nodded to Wang Juan, and they both took another thing out of their backpacks.

Li Xun now felt that Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's backpacks were magical treasure bags because they were always able to take out strange things to use during the outdoor survival training. At this moment, he assumed that he was already accustomed to these kinds of things.

"We're going to roast them. I wonder if Young Childe Li would like to eat with us?" Zhang Xiao'bao gestured at the item in his hand and asked Li Xun.

"Sure, I'm hungry too. How are you going to roast it? Did you bring firewood?" Li Xun couldn't keep up with their train of thoughts.

"We don't need to use firewood. Let's go, we need to stay away from these ants. Let's move forward." Zhang Xiao'bao called out to them and led the way.

Wang Juan followed behind, and Li Xun also followed suit. There were originally other children, but while Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were squatting there, they didn't have the patience to keep waiting and left first. There were only three of them left in addition to the parents and guards at the back.

In the desert, there were more than one path. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan deliberately took the long path. They had no idea whether there were children on the road behind them or not.

After walking forward for an eighth of an hour, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan stopped. They touched the thing they had taken out, and they nodded. They flipped it over and placed it on a spot on the sand where the sun shone onto.

"Yes, it's an iron sheet. It's used for roasting the ants. We can begin eating in just a bit. This side is painted with black ink." Zhang Xiao'bao introduced the item to him, and then he took the ants out and put them on the iron sheet to let the sun shine on them. He turned and flipped the ants around from time to time. When it was done, they led Li Xun over to a shady place again.

The four boxes of ants were divided into three portions, and they handed a portion to Li Xun. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan each grabbed a handful of them and stuffed them into their mouths. They chewed really slowly and thoroughly as if they wanted to bite the tiny crumbs into several smaller parts.

Li Xun now copied everything they did. Whatever Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan did, he did the same exact thing. He stuffed a handful into his mouth and chewed carefully. He even occasionally smacked his lips. He felt that the taste of ants was not too bad.

"It's good to eat ants. In particular, ants soaked in wine can be used to cure some diseases." After Zhang Xiao'bao finished chewing the ants, he introduced the benefits of eating ants to Li Xun.

If someone else told Li Xun this, Li Xun would definitely think that the person was lying to him, but when the words came out of Zhang Xiao'bao's mouth, he could only choose to believe it. He assumed that the capable person behind Zhang Xiao'bao told him this.

When they finished eating, Li Xun thought that they would continue advancing forward, but Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan took out a folded shovel from their backpacks and started digging a hole.

Without waiting for Li Xun to ask, Zhang Xiao'bao told him,

"We're not going to go now. We're digging a hole to sleep in. If Young Childe Li wants to go on, then go first."

"I won't go too. Lend me your shovel for a while, and I'll dig a hole too." Li Xun didn't know why the two didn't leave, so he decided to not leave either. He was going to cling onto these two people. He believed that they absolutely have their reason to do this, and that capable person must have told them something.

Soon, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan finished digging the hole and they handed the shovel to Li Xun. They took out the blanket from their backpack and spread it out inside the sandpit. They wiped their faces with a wet towel, laid down inside, and buried themselves with sand with just their head sticking out. They left the wet towel on their forehead, and slept with their eyes closed.

"Fortunately, I also brought a blanket." Looking at the appearance of Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, Li Xun muttered to himself. He dug a hole, laid inside and buried himself.

Li Xing rushed over here with two people, and they saw that the three of them were lying there and sleeping. They didn't dare to disturb them, so they could only stand on the side. From time to time they drank water and were glad they brought a lot of water with them.

The environment of the desert was harsher than the grassland. Older people were more energetic in the grassland. With the shining sun, even if they hid in the shade, it was still equally hot and unbearable. The heat emitted from the surface made the place feel like it was steamer, and it made their bodies sweat profusely.

The three children laid down at the Wei hour, which was one o'clock in the afternoon, and they slept until four o'clock in the afternoon or four quarters after the Shen hour. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan slept comfortably, and Li Xun also had a rest. When Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan crawled out of the sand, Li Xing woke up the Young Prince.

"What are you doing? Oh, we need to keep going. This was so comfortable. I didn't expect that sleeping in the sand would be so comfortable." Li Xun stretched his back, yawned again, and looked around in a daze. He knew that he had to keep going. He patted away the sand on his body, and walked behind Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan.

The desert was still hot at this time, and the temperature was not much lower than earlier, but the three of them were more energetic than before they slept. When lying in the sand, the moist sand helped improve the condition of the skin on their body. Children had strong heat energy, so they weren't scared that eating too many ants, which were strong in cool energy, would cause an imbalance in their bodies.

Li Xun originally thought that they would be the last ones to arrive since they slept for three hours, but after walking for another two hours, he discovered that the children were still staying at the large water station up ahead. No one was willing to keep going. There were some stones there, and the stones were used to build a pool filled with water. All of the children ran into the pool to play because it was way too hot.

The three people replenished their water. They did not play like the other children, and they continued on their way. When it was getting dark, they saw a few people who were inching forward in the front.

"Young Childe, someone from ahead came to report just now---no one has reached the place yet. Now there's only three li1 away from there." Li Xing reported to Li Xun at this time.

"Huh? No one has arrived yet? Where are all the people?" Li Xun was surprised and happy.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan also heard them. The two nodded and speeded up. The other people watched them pass by, but they weren't able to do anything about them because they didn't have much strength left. Those children had all participated in the grassland training last time, so they knew that if they sped up right now, they would never make it to that place.

When night almost fell, the three people were only half a li away from the destination, and the figures of the other three appeared vaguely ahead.

"Run." Zhang Xiao'bao shouted, and he ran forward with Wang Juan.

Li Xun gasped for breath and gritted his teeth and ran. He was really convinced this time. These two little children still had strength in them right now. With one person behind the other, they moved at the same pace and swung their arms in the same rhythm. Watching them move made an indescribable feeling surface in his heart.

When the last tent was only a dozen zhang1 away, Zhang Xiao'bao and the two others passed by the three people who were pretty crawling on the sand right now. When they reached the entrance of the tent, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan plopped onto the ground at the same time. By the time they got back up, Li Xun happened to pass by, and was the first one to arrive.

Li Xing was so tired he couldn't think straight anymore. He took a few sips of water and stuttered, "My Young Childe is indeed better than others. He's the first one to arrive. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were out of energy when they saw the place and they fell down."

"Yes, yes, Young Chllde Li is the most amazing one. Juan'juan and I don't have any energy left in our bodies. We were just forcing ourselves." Zhang Xiao'bao untied the backpack and gently put it aside. While he and Wang Juan washed their hands to get ready to eat, he spoke to Li Xun, who was lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back.

Wang Juan nodded sharply while standing next to Zhang Xiao'bao, "Yeah, I really have no energy left. I want to eat quickly so that I can regain my strength."

As the two talked, they sat down at the table, and began to eat and drink.

"Xiao'bao, look, this thing is good---this is deer meat. Taste it, it's delicious. It was marinated with our broad bean chili sauce4, and then roasted. It smells so good. Hurry, we can each have a piece---this is the deer lip. "

Wang Juan looked at what was on the table and immediately discovered the good dish. She picked up two pieces of the single portion of deer lips, which were cut into four pieces, with her chopsticks and split it between herself and Zhang Xiao'bao while she talked.

"Let's eat, I'm starving. Look at this shrimp. It's four cun5 long and cooked in salt water. I like this the most. I'll peel one for you."

Before Zhang Xiao'bao even swallowed the food in his mouth, he reached out and grabbed two shrimps and peeled one for Wang Juan.

Li Xun laid there, watching Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan eating and talking. He really didn't know what to say. He knew that they gave him the first place position. What do they mean that they were so tired that they ran out of energy? He was the exhausted one. Those two were perfectly fine right now. They ate and drank normally, and they didn't seem tired at all.

"I can't believe it. Time was spent eating lunch, sleeping for three hours, yet they still arrived here first. Now I understand that it is not always good to be the first one to leave."

Li Xun endured being drenched in his own sweat and he muttered to himself as he laid there. Li Xing was also sitting beside him. Although he could barely keep his eyes open, he still praised his Young Prince.

"What our Young Childe has said is correct. What our Young Childe is doing is called strategizing. Our Young Childe knew ahead of time that things would turn out this way, and indeed, our Young Childe was the first one to arrive. Others cannot not even be compared to our Young Childe."

Li Xun's face turned red because of Li Xing's words. He waved his hand to tell him to stop talking. The two people who let him win were still sitting there and eating.

"Zhang Xiao'bao, are there any good things left? Don't forget to leave me a piece of the deer lips." Li Xun turned his head and asked Zhang Xiao'bao again. He felt that there must be other good things that Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan didn't take out yet.

Translator's Notes

1. Three li

This is about 1.5 km.

2. One li

This is about 500 m.

3. One zhang is about 3.33 m

4. Broad bean chili sauce

This is a spicy and savory suitcase made fermented broad beans, chili peppers, salt and flour. This sauce is the soul behind a lot of delicious Chinese dishes such as mapo tofu, Szechuan hotpot and a variety of meat dishes.

5. One cun is about 3.33 cm.