Chapter 171: Chapter 95: Catching a Rabbit

When Juhua saw them all chasing after the rabbit, she felt a mix of excitement and anxiety, then suddenly realized she was all alone. A glance around revealed sparse woods, overgrown thickets of withered grass, and a silent, empty landscape. Not daring to look any longer, she scrambled after them. ’If a wolf shows up, I’ll be helpless. The wolves around here really do eat people.’

After running for a bit, Zhang Huai remembered her and stopped. Turning around, he saw Juhua catching up and quickly reached out to take her hand. He led her onward, their steps sinking unevenly into the ground as they slowly made their way up.

When they reached the top of the hill, they saw Qingmu hurrying back toward them. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the two, then glanced at Juhua to make sure she was okay before smiling. “Yangzi caught it,” he said. “The kid’s ecstatic.”

Juhua pulled her hand out of Zhang Huai’s. A strange terror seized her heart. ’Just now, when I saw Zhang Huai reach out for me, I actually rushed forward with elation. I let him take my hand and run up the mountain as if it were the most natural thing in the world, like we’d done it a thousand times before.’

She stood rooted to the spot, searching her mind for an explanation, but found nothing out of the ordinary. And yet, as she replayed the moment, she couldn’t deny the feeling. It had been pure joy, intimacy, and affection—emotions that were absolutely not her own.

A chill ran down her spine. It was as if she could see a little girl cowering in a corner, hiding from her scrutiny like a child who had done something wrong.

’Did that little girl really die?’

’I don’t understand the mysteries of the soul, but the fact that I have the original Juhua’s memories must mean our souls have fused. And my everyday thoughts and actions have always shown that I am in complete control of this body. So why did that just happen?’

As she stood there in a daze after pulling her hand away, Zhang Huai saw her expression and his heart sank. He thought she didn’t want him to touch her, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

He forced a smile and asked Qingmu, trying to hide his disappointment, “We didn’t hit the rabbit that hard. How’d he manage to catch it?”

Qingmu chuckled. “He never lost sight of it. He’s a clever one. When he saw he couldn’t catch up, he just threw his stick and hit it.”

Qingmu’s voice finally snapped Juhua out of her daze, and she pushed the unsettling thoughts aside.

She shot Zhang Huai a complicated look. ’Well, I’m alive and conscious, and that’s what matters,’ she thought. ’Maybe that was just an involuntary impulse. After all, I do have her memories, so it’s not that strange if I act like the original Juhua sometimes. Strictly speaking, the original Juhua isn’t dead—she’s just fused with me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have her memories.’

Hearing what Qingmu said, she asked, “Didn’t that smash it to bits? That poor rabbit.”

Just as she said that, Zhang Yang came running out of the woods, panting for breath and grinning from ear to ear. He proudly held up a gray rabbit and said to the group, “See? Told you I’d catch it!”

Juhua quickly took a look. The rabbit was large, probably two or three pounds, but very thin; it must have lost a lot of fat over the winter. Its legs were still kicking as it trembled, not quite dead yet, with blood seeping from its belly. The poor thing. Juhua quickly looked away and smiled at the others. “Well, at least we aren’t going home empty-handed.”

Zhang Yang laughed. “Of course not! It’s spring now, so there’s plenty of game in the mountains. Just you wait, Juhua. Those three traps might be empty today, but I bet they’ll have something tomorrow.”

Juhua then asked, “If you dig a bunch of traps, what if someone accidentally falls in?”

Qingmu said, “Didn’t you see the pile of dirt next to it? People can recognize that as a sign and walk around it, but an animal wouldn’t know any better. And once we catch something, we fill the hole back in.”

Seeing it was getting late, and feeling her legs go a little weak, Juhua plopped down on the grass. She had worked up a sweat earlier, and now that she had stopped moving, she felt a slight chill. It was only then that she realized how ill-prepared she was. Unlike Qingmu and the others, who had come dressed for activity and weren’t wearing padded jackets, she was beginning to feel the chill set in after sweating.

Qingmu took a small cloth bundle from his back basket, opened it, and said to Zhang Yang and Zhang Huai, “You must be exhausted. Here, have some puffed rice candy.”

Zhang Yang’s face lit up. “I really am hungry!” he laughed. “It’s funny, I didn’t feel tired while we were running around, but now that I’ve stopped, I feel exhausted.” He grabbed a piece and stuffed it in his mouth.

Your appetite is always best after some activity. Chewing on a piece of puffed rice candy, Juhua silently praised her own foresight. Before leaving, she had thought of the trip as a sort of outing and figured it would be good to bring snacks, so she had grabbed a handful of the candy to take with her.

After they had been sitting for a while, Zhang Huai was the first to get up. “We should get going, nice and slow,” he said. “Rest too long and you won’t want to move at all. Juhua, are you exhausted?” He was wondering if he should ask Qingmu to carry her.

Juhua said, “I feel much better after that little rest. Should we head back? We’ll be home just in time for lunch.”

Qingmu shouldered his basket. “I’m afraid they’ve probably eaten already,” he said. “It’s getting pretty late.”

Having roamed all over the mountain, their spirits were high despite catching only a single rabbit. Zhang Yang even started singing at the top of his lungs. Standing on the summit and looking down at the Little Qing River, which snaked below them like a jade belt, he began to recite in a theatrical tone, “The Master, standing by a river, said, ’It passes on just like this, not ceasing day or night!’”

’You’re just a kid,’ Juhua thought. ’What could you possibly know about time flying by? This little brat sure knows how to act all profound.’

Hearing this, both Zhang Huai and Qingmu couldn’t help but laugh. Zhang Huai said, “You’re really turning into a pretentious Scholar.”

Once they got down the mountain, Zhang Huai and Zhang Yang headed home. They insisted that Juhua keep the rabbit, saying it was a good-luck charm for her.

When her grandmother, Mrs. Wang, saw that she hadn’t returned empty-handed, she said with a beaming smile, “Excellent! You’ve gotten off to a fine start. Hurry and eat, the food’s still warm.”(To be continued. If you like this work, please consider supporting it with recommendation votes and monthly passes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep