Taking advantage of Liu Chunxia and the others going to town to sell wild greens, Shen Song slipped off into the mountains on his own.
Lately, with all the wild green digging, there was little left to find outside, so everyone was searching deeper into the mountains.
The energy Shen Song had sensed before—he felt it again now that he had entered the mountains once more.
He was truly curious, and he figured that with his supernatural ability, even if he ran into a fierce beast, he could hold it off long enough to escape.
So, unable to resist his curiosity, Shen Song followed the energy fluctuations deeper and deeper into the mountains.
He didn't know how long he had walked, but he noticed the light around him had grown much dimmer. Looking up, he saw the trees were so dense they blocked out the sunlight.
Shen Song's mental energy detected no danger, so he kept going.
The unknown energy fluctuations grew more and more distinct, and Shen Song finally stopped.
Around him there was nothing but trees and grass. Occasionally he saw a few rabbits hopping by, and in the distance there were the shapes of running animals, though he couldn't tell what kind.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Shen Song was tired from walking, so he sat down cross-legged to rest.
His hand, resting on the ground, touched something. He looked down—it was something growing out of the soil.
It looked like a small tree root.
He sensed it carefully and discovered that the unknown energy was emanating from this "small tree root."
Having gained experience from digging wild greens, Shen Song dug carefully and found that this root was actually quite thick and long. Compared to other roots, it was remarkably smooth, with many little tendrils along its body.
Its whole body was a pale color.
Shen Song couldn't quite describe what color it was—anyway, it was much lighter than the soil, lighter than ordinary roots.
He held it up to his nose and sniffed. Besides the smell of earth, he could detect a faint delicate fragrance—the kind of scent that only came from plants with strong spiritual energy.
Shen Song wanted to take a bite and taste it, but he was afraid it might be poisonous. Though he had a supernatural ability, his ability couldn't cure poison.
And there was no healing-type ability user here, so it was better not to take the risk.
Shen Song tried absorbing the energy from it, but found he couldn't.
What a strange little tree root.
But he didn't want to throw it away. He had worked hard to find it, and it was a native plant that gave off spiritual energy fluctuations even without the boost of his ability—it was surely something good.
It didn't matter that he didn't recognize it; he could take it back and ask his family.
If his family didn't know either, he could go to town and ask Brother Zhou.
Last time with the Five-Step Viper, it was Brother Zhou who recognized it and told him how to sell it, earning him quite a bit of money.
Shen Song tucked the forearm-length root into his shirt, humming a song in the Interstellar language, and happily headed down the mountain toward home.
By the time he came out of the deep mountains, the sky outside was already pitch black.
Shen Song was startled to realize how quickly time had passed. Had he really walked that far in the mountains?
His mother must have returned home long ago. Shen Song hurried home, afraid his family would worry.
Just as he reached the gate, Shen Song stopped mid-call. He heard sounds of grief-stricken wailing coming from inside the house.
Something had happened!
Shen Song quickly pushed open the bamboo fence gate. The main room was dim, the door standing wide open. Since his supernatural ability had awakened, all five of his senses had sharpened, and by the moonlight he could make out the scene inside.
Eldest Brother lay on a wooden board, and Eldest Sister-in-law was sprawled over him, crying until she nearly fainted. Yi'an and Erkang, the two nephews, knelt to the side, also weeping.
Sanqiu held Wuxi by the hand, and Wuxi was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.
His elderly parents sat on the long bench. His mother covered her face and wept, while his father wore a grim, wrinkled expression, the lines between his brows carved deep as knife marks, his eyes vacant as if lost in thought.
Shen Song's gaze fell on Shen Jing's right leg.
The leg was wrapped in white cloth, blood seeping through. Shen Song could smell the faint scent of blood from the bandages.
"What happened to Big Brother?"
Hearing his voice, Liu Chunxia looked up and asked hoarsely where he had been, why he hadn't been at home.
Shen Song said he'd gone into the mountains.
If it had been before, Liu Chunxia would surely have had more to say, but right now she truly had no strength left.
The whole family was gathered—they needed to discuss something important.
Something that concerned the entire family.
The Shen family members sat or squatted around, leaving the space by the door open so the moonlight could shine in and provide some light.
There were no candles in the house, not even an oil lamp.
Shen Song sat cross-legged beside his eldest brother, his eyes fixed on the injured leg.
Shen Dashu, the head of the household, remained silent for a long while before speaking in a raspy voice: "Everyone's here. We need to figure out what to do about eldest's leg."
Everyone stopped crying and listened quietly.
"Second Brother asked the doctor at the Pingshun Medical Hall. The doctor laid out two paths. To save the leg, the break must first be set, with medicine taken daily and ointments applied. Once the external wounds heal, treatment with medicinal plasters and acupuncture must follow, and he'd need to stay at the medical hall or find lodging in the county town. Three to five years at the shortest, over a decade at the longest—but the leg would be saved."
"The other path: go back to the medical hall and amputate below the knee, preserving everything above the lower leg. Otherwise, given enough time, the whole leg will be lost."
Without a moment's hesitation, Shen Song said, "Of course we have to save Big Brother's leg!"
The leg could clearly be saved—there was a way to save it. Why would Father even present it as a choice?
After he spoke, no one in the family made a sound.
Xu Hongmei glanced at Shen Song and wept even harder.
"Save the leg," Shen Zhun said gravely after Shen Song finished.
Zhou Gu nudged Shen Zhun, but he didn't move or react. He just continued, his face wooden: "Big Brother was injured pushing me out of the way. As long as I live, I'll pay for his treatment."
Zhou Gu couldn't take it anymore and cried out, "Easy for you to say! Where's the money going to come from? Are you counting on the ten taels of silver from Shen Song’s snake sales? Or the thirty-four wen a day you earn working yourself to death?"
His voice took on a sobbing tone as he went on, "There are eighteen people in this family, old and young! Are we just supposed to stop living?"
No one knew Shen Zhun better than Zhou Gu.
Shen Zhun was a man of his word. He rarely spoke, but once he did, he always followed through.
It was precisely because he knew this that Zhou Gu spoke up desperately to stop him.
"Father, Mother, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, nephews, nieces, and little brothers, don't blame me for being heartless. I married into the Shen family as a husband and gave the family two ge’er sons. Shen Zhun and I have been married for eleven years. I’ve lived with the Shens for over a decade; I can endure the hardship and the poverty. But if we want to save Big Brother's leg, it means throwing money into a bottomless pit for at least three to five years! Can our family really afford that?"
"Yes, Big Brother got hurt pushing Second Brother out of the way. If I have to, I'll raise Yi'an, Erkang, and Wuxi as my own children—I'd even empty Big Brother's chamber pot without complaint. Even if I had to give a leg of my own, I wouldn't blink."
"But the one thing I cannot allow is for my own children to have no future—no way to get by."
By the time Zhou Gu finished speaking through his tears, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Shen Song felt that even the evening breeze blowing in couldn't dissolve the thick, sticky air in the room—it was so oppressive he could barely breathe.
Money.
What exactly was money?
In the Interstellar Era, money to Shen Song was just a string of numbers. Here, money to him was round coins, silver stones.
But without it, people could be driven to death, unable to survive.
He knew this all too well.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been driven to tears when he first arrived, nor would he have racked his brains every day since, thinking of ways to earn money.
"Second Brother-in-law, I'll go into the mountains to catch snakes and dig wild greens. I want to treat Big Brother's leg." Shen Song still voiced his thoughts. He believed that as long as a person was alive, money wasn't the real problem.
After a moment's thought, Shen Song comforted Zhou Gu. "Second Brother-in-law, don't cry, and don't be afraid."
He could sense that when Second Brother-in-law spoke, his voice was trembling beyond recognition.
Asking a loved one to give up hope was a very, very, very difficult thing to do.
Zhou Gu's tears burst forth like a broken dam. How could he possibly want to be the villain!
Big Brother was good to everyone, always thinking of the family, shouldering and carrying everything on his own back.
Making him say those words, his heart was wracked with anguish too—he felt like he wasn't even human.
But what could he do?
The family still had to get by, after all.
They had finally, finally seen a glimmer of hope… and then this life-threatening matter came up. That thieving heaven was deliberately not letting them live!
Zhou Gu cried so hard he couldn't speak, and Xu Hongmei couldn't stop crying either, mumbling indistinctly, calling out "Song-ge’er."
She wanted to thank them, to say she wanted her husband's leg treated, but she couldn't get the words out.
She was Shen Jing's wife, but she was also the children's mother.
She didn't blame Zhou Gu for his choice. When she first heard Zhou Gu object, for a moment she had resented him. But as she listened further, she no longer blamed him.
She even understood.
What could be done? Was the whole family supposed to stop living just because of one leg?
Xu Hongmei didn't dare take any stance. If she chose her husband, she would wrong her children; if she chose her children, she would wrong her husband.
All she could do was cry, cry until her tears ran dry, and then leave it to fate.
Apart from the sound of weeping, the room fell into an eerie silence once more.
Shen Dashu opened his mouth, at first unable to make a sound. Only after trying twice did he manage to speak. "Second Brother, his husband, and Xiao Ba have made their positions clear. What about the rest of you?"
Shen Chong's voice was neither loud nor soft. "Father, Mother, I also want to treat Big Brother's leg. If there were no hope at all, I wouldn't choose this way. But with even a little hope, as his younger brother—having received Big Brother's care all these years—I cannot just stand by and do nothing."
As soon as he finished, Li Maizi said very quietly, "I'll go along with Fifth Brother."
Shen Jue and Shen Lie spoke in unison. "We choose to treat the leg."
Shen Jue said, "Our family has many people. If we work a bit more and save a bit more, Big Brother's leg can definitely be treated."
Shen Lie nodded too. "That's right. Worst case, I'll carry more heavy loads. I'm young and strong, full of energy."
Now only the elderly couple and the younger children hadn't spoken.
Shen Dashu asked the children to speak too.
Yi'an, Erkang, and Wuxi didn't take a stance, only crying silently.
Sanqiu and Siping both said to treat the leg.
Liurui was only two years old, and Qitian was one—they understood nothing. They only knew that everyone in the family was unhappy, and they were too frightened to make a sound.
When Shen Dashu asked if they wanted the leg treated, they nodded nervously. When he asked if they didn't want it treated, they nodded nervously too.
Terrified that shaking their heads would make the adults even unhappier.
The hardest choice of all belonged to the elderly couple of the Shen family.
They were all her children—how could she possibly choose?
In the end, Shen Dashu said in a hoarse voice to treat it, while Liu Chunxia, weeping, shook her head and said not to.
"My son, your mother has failed you."
Liu Chunxia's heart ached so badly she could barely breathe. Her withered, tree-branch hands clutched at the hemp tunic over her chest, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
The household descended into chaos once more.
No decision had been reached about Shen Jing's leg; it all ended with Liu Chunxia's collapse.
Shen Jing's leg injury was severe—he couldn't be moved easily and needed space, so he was left by the doorway.
The brothers wanted to treat their eldest brother's leg, which meant they would have to keep working. They went to sleep for a while first, to rest up before heading back to the county to work again.
Xu Hongmei told the children to go to sleep as well, while she kept watch over Shen Jing.
Shen Song took Sanqiu and the others off to bed, glancing back once at Shen Jing, who had been asleep the whole time.
His mind was actually a bit of a mess, because their mother had given up on their eldest brother's leg.
He could feel his mother's pain.
Shen Song felt a heavy weight in his chest. Even back when the family had no money from selling wild greens and was so poor they cried, he had never felt this suffocated.
Late at night, the Shen household was silent.
Shen Jing opened his eyes.
He had been awake for a long time.
He simply hadn't wanted to open them.
Opening his eyes would only make the family suffer more, make the choice even harder.
With his eyes closed, Shen Jing had shed who knew how many tears in the darkness.
The sounds of everyone else's weeping had masked his own barely audible sobs. As the eldest son, it was his fault for putting the family in such a difficult position.
He had heard every word everyone said.
Shen Jing had always believed that the eldest son of a family should share his parents' burdens, look after his younger siblings, and care for and protect the younger generation.
He should be lightening the family's load, not being a burden.
The Shen family could no longer withstand any more blows.
To be a burden to the Shen family—better to die.
Shen Jing gritted his teeth and sat up. Xu Hongmei noticed immediately.
Just as she opened her mouth, Shen Jing raised a hand and gently covered it.
"Hongmei, help me."
Xu Hongmei looked at the resolve in Shen Jing's eyes, and tears burst forth.
Shen Song lay in bed, unable to sleep. As he turned over, he felt something digging into him.
He pulled it out—a long, whiskered tree root he didn't recognize.
It hadn't even been crushed…
He had been planning to come back and ask his family if they knew what it was, but there had been no chance to ask at all.
Just as he was studying the root in his hand, Shen Song heard a noise from the main room.
He immediately set the root down and got up to look.
His eldest brother and sister-in-law were both gone from the main room.
Shen Song looked out the door and spotted them in the courtyard. His sister-in-law was weeping, pressing down on his eldest brother's shoulders as he sat on the ground, a sickle in his hand.
The sickle was raised high, about to come down on his right leg.
Shen Song burst out the door, screaming in terror, "Big Brother! No!"