Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 20 Rat Killing (6)
Ma Shiqi frowned, thinking about it.He threw a big ball of rat meat out of the hole, then took off his gown and crumpled it into a ball, blocking half of the rat hole, and asked two hamsters to grab the rat meat outside the hole to eat. I'm going to be hungry again.This trick really worked wonders, the two hamsters saw that there was a large group of rat meat to eat outside, and they all scrambled to get into the hole desperately.But the rat hole was more than half blocked, and if the two hamsters wanted to get out smoothly, they had to bite the rat hole to the side desperately.After doing this several times, the mouse hole was two or three times larger than before, and it was already as big as the mouth of a bowl.

On the seventh day, Ma Shiqi drank some rat blood and ate some rat meat to fill his stomach, but kept the two big hamsters hungry.It was estimated that in the afternoon, he did the same thing, throwing a lump of rat meat outside the hole that was more than half blocked with clothes.

The two hamsters were very hungry. In order to eat the rat meat first, they bit the coffin desperately, trying to make the hole bigger so that they could get through.The fine sawdust flew down like snowflakes, and the rat hole widened a bit.The two hamsters didn't want to be left behind, and they got into the hole at the same time, but they didn't want to, but they got stuck in the hole together, squeaking, in a dilemma.In order to get out, he had to turn around and bite the wooden board on the coffin wall desperately.

After a while, a hamster finally took the lead, got out of the hole first, and ate the rat meat.And the rat hole naturally expanded a lot.Ma Shiqi went forward and tried it, and it was enough to get a human head out. If this continues, within two days, he will be able to break out of the coffin and be reborn as a human being.

5
The tired birds return to the forest, the birds are noisy, and it is evening again.

The two hamsters worked all afternoon, Ma Shiqi told them to retreat to rest, but he himself took two big iron nails that fell from the gap in the coffin lid, and forced them into the coffin wall with all his strength. A few large pieces of wood were poked out by the iron nail, and the mouse hole expanded a small half circle.He was overjoyed for a while, he didn't expect that the big iron nails would get twice the result with half the effort, better than rat teeth.

At this moment, a strange noise was suddenly heard from outside the tomb.He couldn't help being taken aback, stopped his hands hastily, and listened carefully, there was a sound of tapping footsteps, from far to near, walking straight to his grave.Since he was buried underground, not only his eyes have adapted to the surrounding environment, he can see things in the dark, even his ears have become particularly sensitive.He could always feel alertly when there was any noise outside the tomb.After a while, the footsteps stopped in front of his grave.

"Master, my apprentice is here to see you." A familiar voice sounded from outside the tomb.

Ma Shiqi heard the voice of his good apprentice Yao Waquan, and couldn't help beating wildly. He was surprised and annoyed at the same time. The surprise was that the apprentice came to save him after all, and the anger was that the boy had dragged on for so long. It took a long time to save him, if it wasn't for his great fortune, he would have starved to death in the coffin long ago.

He was about to knock on the coffin wall with the big iron nail in his hand to send a message, but suddenly Yao Waquan sneered sinisterly, and called him by his name in a different tone: "Ma Shiqi Oh, Ma Shiqi, you must die with peace in mind, right? You must have never dreamed that your good apprentice would actually do a fake show and starve you to death in a coffin, right? In fact, I have no choice. How could I get your 'Rat King'? More importantly, if you, an old fellow, don't die, how could a beautiful girl like Wanmei who is as proud and arrogant as a flower fall into my hands? Obediently agree What about being my wife?"

When Ma Shiqi heard this, there was a loud noise in his head, and he froze immediately.It turned out that after he was buried alive, Yao Waquan deliberately delayed the time to save himself, he wanted to let himself starve to death in this coffin.He couldn't help shivering, this bastard, his intentions are really sinister!He squatted in the coffin, trembling with anger, but he didn't dare to make a sound, for fear that if he accidentally made a noise, Yao Waquan would know that he was not dead, and it would be troublesome if he came up with some poisonous plan to deal with him.

I only heard Yao Waquan say outside again: "Master, today is your old man's first seven years old. It is reasonable to say that a filial son will complete your grave, but you have no son, so I have to feel wronged and treat you as a filial son." I'll pull out these birthday sticks for you. When I inserted these bamboo poles, I didn't want to leave ventilation holes for you. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to let you suffocate to death in the coffin? But the mourners Too many, if you go all out before you die, yelling desperately in the coffin, kicking, and being heard by people outside, my plan will fail. So I had to take a few hollow bamboos for you to breathe Kong... But it doesn't matter whether you stay or not, air can't be eaten, and in the end you're still starving to death in a coffin..."

Ma Shiqi became more and more angry as he listened, his teeth were chattering loudly, and he squatted in the coffin and panted heavily.He really never dreamed that Yao Waquan would take advantage of Zhu Dapeng's visit to seek revenge to design and frame him in order to occupy his daughter and a mouse.He gritted his teeth and cursed secretly: "Beast!" He really wished he could break out of the coffin immediately and insert the two big iron nails in his hand into his throat.But he knew that now was not the time to be impulsive.He clasped the two big iron nails tightly in his palm, and forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.

"Master, you can rest in peace. I will bring Wanmei to worship you every Qingming Festival. Hahahaha!" After a burst of smug laughter, Yao Wa finished the grave, took the birthday stick, and walked away again. up.

"Bastard!" Hearing that he had left, Ma Shiqi couldn't bear it any longer, and grabbed two big iron nails and slammed them into the coffin wall. A large piece of cypress wood was pried off, and the rat hole expanded a bit.His eyes were red, he was holding an iron nail in each hand, and he was crazily piercing the wall of the coffin. He only had one thought in his heart, that is to break out of the coffin as soon as possible, so as to seek revenge on this beast named Yao.The two hamsters also seemed to understand the urgency of their master, and they ran forward together, showing their sharp teeth, and gnawed hard on the sawdust next to the mouse hole...

On the morning of the eighth day, under the concerted efforts of humans and mice biting nails, the hole in the coffin wall had expanded to a radius of more than a foot, barely enough for one person to pass through.

Ma Shiqi didn't care to catch his breath, and stretched out his hands from the coffin to dig out the soil covering the outside.Because it is a new grave, the soil is still loose, so it is not troublesome to dig it up.He scraped loose soil into the coffin to make room for it, and then dug outside.Due to the haste of digging, the skin of the ten fingers has already been worn out and bleeding, but they didn't care about it.

When he finally dug the passage from the opening of the coffin wall to the outside of the tomb with his hands, and got out of the tomb covered in mud, it was already midnight on the eighth night.

There was no star or moon in the sky, and the earth was pitch black, but Ma Shiqi could see everything in front of him clearly.Only then did he know that his grave was originally located in a forest on the mountainside east of Xiulin.This is a cemetery, and there is a grave piled under almost every big tree, and a person is buried.That owl was hiding on some tree, screaming like a ghost. Although he just climbed out of the coffin just now, he still couldn't help but snort in such an environment. I shuddered, and my whole body was terrified.

He originally planned to seek revenge on Yao Waquan immediately after he came out, but when he really crawled out of the grave and breathed the fresh air outside, his mind calmed down instead.He suddenly realized that there was one thing that was more important and urgent than taking revenge on that beast, and that was healing.

After his face was bitten and disfigured by rats, the wound was already inflamed and festered because he did not take medicine in time.When staying in the coffin, because there was only one thought in mind to escape, other things were ignored.Now that I have escaped, I feel severe pain on my face. If I don’t apply medicine quickly, the skin and flesh will rot, and I’m afraid that even the cheekbones will be exposed, and my life may be in danger.

Right now, finding a place to recuperate well is the most important thing.Moreover, he had just narrowly escaped death, his body and mind were injured, and his body was still weak. Even if he found Yao Waquan at this time, he would not have the energy to take revenge.Besides, now that the Japanese are in power, if he wants to sue the officials, there is no way to sue. For revenge, he can only rely on himself.As a helpless old man, he had to plan carefully and come up with a perfect plan for how to avenge the young, strong and ruthless Yao Waquan.

Thinking of this, he turned around again, filled up his tomb as it was, and restored it to its original appearance.Otherwise, the next time Yao Waquan came to the grave and saw a big hole dug out of the grave, he would know that he was still alive.With a guarded heart, it is much more difficult for him to take revenge.

He filled the tomb, walked out of the woods, and came to a gurgling stream. He drank a few sips of water, then jumped into the water and took a refreshing cold bath. There was a "squeak" sound, and then I remembered that I still had two hamsters tied to my trouser belt.Thinking that they had helped him a lot, he didn't want to embarrass them anymore, so he untied their belts, patted their heads and said, "Thank you two brothers for helping me, from now on, you don't have to follow me." I'm gone, let's all go." The two hamsters seemed to understand what he said, "squeaked" twice at him, "chucked", burrowed into the grass by the roadside, and disappeared soon.

Ma Shiqi took out the water bottle he carried with him, filled a pot of clean water in the creek, then looked around, and after a little identification of the direction, he strode away and walked towards the back of the mountain.

To the west of Xiulin Mountain, there is a steep cliff with wild vines hanging on it, so green that few people can climb it except birds.There is a deep cave on the cliff. The entrance of the cave has been covered by green vines and green grass for many years, so few people know about it.Ma Shiqi knew a little about medicine and often went up the mountain to collect herbs.Once when I went up the mountain to collect herbs, I found this cave by accident. After several investigations, I found out that there is actually a winding secret path that can go around the cliff and lead to this cave.Since then, every time he went up the mountain to collect herbs and was tired, he would go into the cave to sit and rest.

He has already made up his mind to go to this cave to heal his facial injury and recover his energy, and then go down the mountain to find Yao Waquan for revenge.

The sky was gradually brightening, and Ma Shiqi took advantage of the morning light to collect some healing herbs such as Seven Star Sword, Star Anise Lotus, and Licorice, as well as some wild fruits to satisfy his hunger, and then came to the cave through a secret path. Settle down in this cave.

He pounded a handful of herbal medicine and applied it to his face, found a large flat rock, and was about to lie down and have a good rest, when he suddenly heard a cheering "creak creak" sound from outside the cave.He got up from the stone in shock, ran to the entrance of the cave to have a look, and saw the two big hamsters he sent away last night, each leading more than ten small hamsters, running in happily, surrounding his feet. After that, "Zhi Zhi" cheered and kept spinning.

Ma Shiqi saw these two hamsters wandering around him with a group of companions and refused to leave for a long time, so he couldn't help being stunned. Thinking of what his good apprentice had done to him, he couldn't help but think to himself: How could the rats So affectionate and righteous, but why is the human heart so sinister?

He bent down, patted the heads of the two big hamsters, and said with a chuckle: "Since you two don't dislike me, a bad old man, then stay here, and when you want to leave, you can leave at any time." The rats seemed to understand what he said, sniffing around his toes, screaming, jumping, and the quiet cave suddenly became lively.

From then on, Ma Shiqi took this group of rats and lived in this cave.While collecting herbs and healing himself, he trained and trained the group of rats.Humans and mice live together happily.

Peaceful days always pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month has passed.Ma Qiqi has a little bit of medical skills, he can be regarded as half a doctor, after his own treatment, the injury on his face has gradually healed, and the wound is covered with blood scabs, and it is no longer as painful as before.In the past, I changed the dressing every day, but now I only need to apply herbal medicine on the face every three to five days.He had seen his own reflection in the stream, although his face was full of bumps and holes, his appearance was completely disfigured, and his appearance was hideous, but fortunately, he was treated in time and finally saved his life.It is estimated that in a few days, the blood scab on the face will fall off and new muscles will grow, and then I can go down the mountain.

It's early winter, and the weather is getting colder.Fortunately, Ma Shiqi had already prepared some hay and spread it on the stone bed, so he didn't feel cold when he slept at night.That night, God suddenly changed his face, and it began to rain.In the middle of the night, Ma Shiqi was awakened by a burst of "bang bang bang" gunshots. He ran out of the cave and saw a few flashlights on the mountainside not far away. He was pointing his gun, screaming strangely, searching for something in the waist-deep weeds, and a wolfhound rushing to the front barked viciously from time to time.

He frowned, knowing that the Japanese soldiers were catching the anti-Japanese elements again. Fortunately, the cave where he lived was on a cliff and covered with weeping vines, so it was very concealed. It would be difficult for the Japanese soldiers to find this place. Go back to sleep.Guns fired and dogs barked on the mountain, and the noise didn't stop until the middle of the night.

The next morning, the wind stopped and the rain stopped. When Ma Shiqi got up, he heard the hamsters surrounding the entrance of the cave and screaming non-stop.Walking over to take a look, he saw that the ivy at the entrance of the cave had been torn apart, and a big man was lying on the ground, with his upper body lying in the cave, but his lower body was still outside the cave. There were two shocking gun holes on his back, and his blood had already killed him. His clothes were stained red.

Ma Shiqi thought of the group of devil soldiers and the sporadic gunshots on the mountainside last night, and couldn't help shivering. He hurriedly looked out and saw that there was no one on the mountain. Drag it into the cave and carry it to your own stone bed.When he turned the man's face away, he couldn't help being startled, and saw that the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes and a full beard was Zhu Dapeng who wanted to fight him desperately because of a mouse.

Ma Shiqi's heart skipped a beat: How could it be him?It's really a narrow road!If he hadn't given him a throwing knife to keep the card, he wouldn't have been tricked by Yao Waquan and ended up in today's end.Unexpectedly, this enemy and enemy would fall into his own hands one day.

He sneered, suppressed the hatred in his heart, and glanced at Zhu Dapeng, and saw that although the two gunshot wounds on his back were not fatal, they had lost a lot of blood. If they were not rescued in time, they might die immediately Yu.But if he was rescued, he brought up the old matter again, and still wanted him to compensate for the loss of the chipmunk, or asked him to fight a duel, then what should we do?
Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard "Ouch", Zhu Dapeng was moved by him, dragged into the wound, woke up in pain, and muttered: "Water, water..." Ma Shiqi hurriedly picked up the water bottle and poured it into his mouth. Filled with some cold water.

Zhu Dapeng opened his eyes weakly, glanced at him, grabbed his shirt with one hand, and pleaded in a weak voice: "Grandfather...save me..." Before he could finish his sentence, he tilted his head, and then Passed out.

Ma Shiqi was stunned for a moment, touched his face, and suddenly realized that he had already changed beyond recognition, so Zhu Dapeng naturally couldn't recognize him.In other words, even if he saved him by himself, he wouldn't bother him if he didn't know that he was Ma Shiqi.Thinking of this, he glanced at Zhu Dapeng again, and sighed secretly: Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda, no matter what, let's save him first.

He found a thin piece of stone and ground it into a knife shape. After washing it, he used the stone knife to open the wound on Zhu Dapeng's back, picked out the bullet deeply embedded in the flesh, and washed the wound with clean water. After cleansing, apply some herbal medicines such as ground root, elderberry, and yangjiaoao to stop bleeding and promote muscle growth, and finally tear off a piece of cloth to bandage the wound.After finishing all this work, Ma Shiqi was already sweating profusely from exhaustion.

(End of this chapter)