Chapter Fifty: Yao Youjiao Has Come Down from the Mountain!

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Zhao Zheng swept up every last hornet larva.

Then, deep inside the nest, he discovered a queen hornet of enormous size.

As long as the queen remained alive, the nest was not destroyed, and given enough time, it could breed another immense swarm.

Besides, hornet nests were edible.

They were supposedly even used in traditional medicine. But when Zhao Zheng looked at the pitch-black nest, he felt not the slightest desire to eat it.

They were nowhere near as appealing as honeybees.

Ding. A wild hornet nest: two hundred copper coins per pound, undried. Total value: sixteen thousand copper coins...

Ding. A wild hornet: three and a half copper coins each. Total value: one thousand seven hundred and fifty copper coins...

Ding. Wild hornet larvae: two hundred copper coins per pound. Total value: six hundred and forty copper coins...

Zhao Zheng drew in a sharp breath. The hornet nest was actually worth more than the hornets and their larvae?

If that was the case, then once dried, a pound of nest would be worth four hundred copper coins, would it not?

Good heavens. It was astonishingly expensive!

After some thought, he took half the nest and left the rest for the queen.

Of the hornets and larvae, he planned to keep only a third, selling the remainder to Yao Yingxiong.

After restoring the nest, Zhao Zheng finally left.

By the time he reached home, dusk had fallen.

As luck would have it, Yao Yingxiong had just led the main party down from Pig’s Mouth Mountain.

The results, however, were far from satisfactory.

Not only had they failed to hunt a tiger, they had not even managed to take a single blind bear.

Worse still, they had encountered both a wolf pack and a herd of wild boar.

The boar king, weighing well over a thousand pounds, went berserk and charged into the crowd. Its body was coated in thick mud, so dense that even arrows could not pierce it.

With a single thrust, it gored a middle-aged man from neighboring Great King Village to death.

In the end, it took the sacrifice of three men to drive the boars away.

After three days, their gains were meager, while their losses were heavy.

Yao Yingxiong’s face was black as the bottom of a cooking pot.

Fortunately, although several people from the little mountain village had been injured, no one had died. It was the one blessing amid all the misfortune.

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Still, although they had failed to hunt a tiger or a bear, they had brought down a spotted deer, several wild boars weighing around a hundred pounds each, and a few pangolins.

The handcarts alone filled four loads.

The tiger was probably no fool. With so many people entering the mountains in such a grand procession, it would hardly wait around to be slaughtered.

To capture this much game was already remarkable, considering how densely populated Pig’s Mouth Mountain was with prey.

“Officer Yao, have a meal in the village before you leave,” Xu Youde said warmly.

“No need. I still have to return to the county office and report,” Yao Yingxiong replied perfunctorily.

They had failed to hunt a tiger, and a villager had died. Although he was not responsible for the man’s death, he would certainly be reprimanded. It might even affect his career.

At the thought of this, he grew irritated. How could he have any appetite to stay for a meal?

He immediately led his men away from the little mountain village.

Seeing this, Zhao Zheng hurried after them.

“Officer Yao, please wait!”

Yao Yingxiong frowned and looked at him, assuming Xu Youde had sent him.

“Does your village head have something else to say?”

“No. I have something to offer you, Officer Yao!”

Zhao Zheng set down his bamboo basket and took out a clay jar, a cloth sack, and several large pieces of pitch-black hornet nest.

“These are a hornet nest, hornet larvae, and hornets steeped in wine. Please accept them, Officer Yao!”

Yao Yingxiong’s interest was piqued.

“Who told you to gather these things?”

Zhao Zheng delivered the story he had prepared in advance.

“I had a dear brother named Ma Laizi. Sadly, he died last night.”

“Oh? What happened?” Yao Yingxiong asked, frowning slightly.

“It was all because of these hornets.”

Zhao Zheng recounted what had happened the previous night, then continued, “He was my closest friend. We grew up together, started families together, and were inseparable. When he was killed by the hornets, I could not sleep a wink. I decided to fulfill his dying wish, so I wiped out the entire nest that killed him.

“That way, he can rest in peace.”

Yao Yingxiong had a broad, dark-complexioned face that made him look older than his years, but in truth he was only in his thirties. Hearing this, he could not help praising Zhao Zheng.

“You are a loyal and righteous fellow!”

Zhao Zheng forced himself to squeeze out two tears and sniffed.

“You flatter me, Officer Yao. My thoughts were simple: avenge my brother and fulfill one of his wishes.”

Yao Yingxiong sighed.

“I’ll take these things. How about I give you one tael of silver?”

To be honest, one tael of silver was far more than these goods were worth.

But there were influential people in the city who enjoyed such things. Catering to their tastes would not be a loss.

He glanced at the hornets in the clay jar. They were enormous, and obtaining them had been no easier than risking one’s head at one’s waist.

“I don’t want money,” Zhao Zheng said, shaking his head. “Both my sons died in battle. Money is of no use to me.”

Yao Yingxiong’s expression changed again.

“I never expected you to be the father of fallen soldiers.”

The people around them looked at Zhao Zheng with a trace of respect.

They had thought he was merely an old man trying to curry favor with Officer Yao. They had never imagined that he was such a loyal and affectionate fellow.

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Zhao Zheng’s image instantly grew grander.

He was willing to risk his life for a brother, had raised sons who died serving their country, and regarded wealth as mere dirt. These were all admirable qualities!

“What is your family name, old friend?”

“I wouldn’t dare call myself your equal. My surname is Zhao, and my given name is Zheng. Officer Yao, you may simply call me Old Zhao.” Zhao Zheng adopted an extraordinarily humble posture.

“Very well, Old Zhao.” Yao Yingxiong continued, “You must accept this money. I cannot take your goods for nothing. If you ever find any other rare delicacies or game in the mountains, come to the county office and find me. I guarantee you will not be cheated!”

That was precisely what Zhao Zheng had wanted to hear. After a moment’s thought, he nodded.

“In that case, I’ll give half the money to my brother’s family. The loss of a husband is no different from the sky collapsing for a woman. Since my brother is gone, I have to help them somehow. I cannot let his mother, wife, and children suffer.”

Was Zhao Zheng truly kindhearted?

Not a chance!

He and Ma Laizi had merely been drinking companions and wastrels together.

But with those words, Yao Yingxiong’s opinion of him rose considerably.

If you had to choose, would you rather trust a man who valued loyalty and affection, or one who was glib and slippery?

Even your toes could make the right choice.

It was only half a tael of silver. If Ma Laizi had not pointed out the location, Zhao Zheng would never have found the hornet nest in the first place.

In this age, anyone who wished to rise above the crowd could not do without a carefully crafted image.

Landowners might live by exploiting and bleeding the common people dry, but who among them was not showered with gratitude?

“Old Zhao, you...” Yao Yingxiong said. “You are truly remarkable!”

He had never expected a little mountain village to produce someone like Zhao Zheng. If Zhao Zheng had been younger, he would even have wanted to take him along and cultivate him personally.

Old Zhao was someone worthy of trust and friendship.

Of course, Yao Yingxiong did not believe Zhao Zheng would dare deceive him. Even if he did, he could only get away with it once, could he not?

“On behalf of my brother, I thank you for your great kindness, Officer Yao. May you rise steadily through the ranks and achieve ever greater success!” Zhao Zheng said.

Yao Yingxiong nodded, then patted Zhao Zheng heavily on the shoulder once more.

“I’ll remember you, Old Zhao. If you find anything good, be sure to come to the county office and look for me!”

With that, he had his men load the goods onto the carts and left without looking back.

Zhao Zheng remained standing at the roadside. Only after the group had vanished from sight did he turn and return to the village.

He went straight to Ma Laizi’s home. Amid the astonished expressions of everyone present, he took out half a silver ingot and handed it to Ma Laizi’s elderly mother.

“Auntie, this is the money I earned selling the hornets. It is a small token of my feelings. You must accept it!”