She crouched down and heaved with all her strength. The bluestone slab slid aside, revealing a pitch-black opening. A rich aroma of grain rushed out to greet her.
As for the other smells coming from the cellar, Ye Qing chose to ignore them.
Didn’t smell a thing!
Using the footholds carved into the walls, she carefully climbed down, alternating left and right steps.
The cellar wasn’t very deep, but it was spacious, about a person’s height from floor to ceiling. Ye Qing took out a fire striker and lit it. By the flickering light, she bent down and looked around.
A broad grin immediately spread across her face.
Along the wall stood wooden shelves piled with more than a dozen sacks of grain marked with the official granary seal. She walked over and rummaged through them. Ten bags contained fine rice and white flour, while the others held unhulled rice and wheat.
There were also four bags of other coarse grains and beans, neatly sorted into piles. Just looking at them made her heart bloom with joy.
This was truly a case of someone bringing a pillow just as she was feeling sleepy!
What a wonderful person!
In the corner stood two large water jars, each nearly as tall as she was, covered with bamboo lids. She lifted one and found it filled to the brim with clear, sparkling water.
Unlike the muddy-tasting water she’d been drinking lately, this water was sweet and refreshing. She gulped down several large mouthfuls before finally stopping.
“Genuine mountain spring water. I wonder where these people fetched it from? If I can find the source, I’m taking all of it.”
Looking to the side, she spotted two large chests.
She opened the first one and found it filled with all kinds of silk and satin fabrics. The material felt smooth and delicate to the touch—obviously top-quality goods.
Picking up a piece of shimmering cloth, she held it against herself. It was so beautiful that even in her previous life, she’d never seen anything like it. The patterns seemed almost alive.
But in times like these, no matter how beautiful the fabric was, she didn’t dare wear it. She understood the principle that wealth should not be flaunted.
“If I sold these, I could probably trade them for quite a lot.”
Unfortunately, her hands were too rough, and she’d accidentally snagged one of the golden threads. Ye Qing looked at her hands and clicked her tongue.
“Sigh… Serves you right for being so careless. There goes another bowl of rice.”
She then opened the second chest. The top layer contained antiques and paintings. She had no idea who the artists were and casually flipped through them.
Then she felt around underneath and discovered a smaller box hidden inside.
The moment she opened it, she had to squint against the dazzling light.
Inside were gold, silver, and jewels. Most eye-catching of all were two fist-sized luminous pearls. The instant she picked them up, they emitted a soft white glow, illuminating the entire cellar. She no longer even needed the fire striker in her hand.
This level of wealth was definitely not something an ordinary rich family could possess.
Ye Qing thought to herself, These bandits are really audacious. They must have robbed some government official’s family. Well then, I’ll gladly accept all these stolen goods on their behalf!
The row of items beside the treasure looked much less impressive, but they were exactly what she needed right now.
A line of cured meat hung on the wall, and several sacks of dried vegetables sat piled in the corner, filled with mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, wild greens, and the like.
There were also several jars of pickled vegetables, a large roll of tanned leather, two jars of oil, and atop one of the oil jars sat a bamboo basket containing five jars of fine salt.
These were obviously the kinds of things hunting families used every day. The bandits had certainly looted them from villagers.
She just didn’t know where the owners of these things had gone.
Had the bandits piled everything here while waiting for others to transport it away, or had they intended to keep it for themselves?
Ye Qing frowned.
“This definitely isn’t a place to stay for long. Once I’ve packed everything up, I need to leave as quickly as possible.”
She listened carefully for a moment and, after confirming there was no movement outside, focused her thoughts.
In the blink of an eye, everything vanished without a trace, all of it stored inside her dimensional space.
She replaced the bluestone slab, carefully spread the hay back over it to conceal any traces, dusted off her hands, then returned to the house for one last inspection, erasing every sign she’d left behind.
As she traveled, she meticulously cleaned up after herself. For at least ten miles around, she couldn’t allow anyone to discover that she had come here alone.
Following the chaotic footprints left by the women and children who had escaped earlier, she chose a confusing direction and plunged into the dense forest.
Now that she possessed so many valuable things, she could practically be considered wealthy.
Her heart bubbled with delight.
“I’ve struck it rich! Those bandits sure knew how to hide their treasure. Too bad it all ended up benefiting me!”
With food and water secured, she no longer had to struggle to find water sources during her journey. And all that gold and silver were hard currency. Once she reached a city, she could exchange them for supplies and then go wherever she pleased.
If the Great Yan Dynasty wanted to descend into chaos, let it.
What did it have to do with her?
She was just an ordinary person at the very bottom of society, her life as insignificant as an ant’s. She neither possessed the ability to become another empress like Wu Zetian and change the world, nor the compassion to become some savior of the suffering masses.
In these troubled times, using all her strength just to protect her own life had already exhausted her completely.
Human lives were as worthless as grass. Court struggles, famines, and wars—none of those were things she could possibly involve herself in.
Rather than foolishly dreaming of accomplishing the impossible, it was better to guard her own life and her stockpile of food, living peacefully one day at a time.
Grand ambitions and boundless compassion both required one thing first: staying alive.
All she wanted now was to avoid being swept up by the chaos of the age, to have enough to eat and wear, and to live safely and peacefully.
That alone would be the greatest blessing.
Without having to worry about food or drink anymore, Ye Qing ate her fill at every meal. The changes in her body became visible to the naked eye. Her hair had grown black, shiny, and smooth, reaching her neck.
Her body, once nothing but protruding bones, had finally gained some flesh. Even the special ability that came with her transmigration was becoming stronger and stronger. She could now easily lift a boulder as large as an iron cauldron with one hand.
At last, Heaven had shown a little generosity toward this poor soul!
After traveling for three consecutive days, she didn’t encounter a single person.
Taking out her map and looking at it, she was startled.
Good heavens—she had wandered deep into the mountains!
Along the way, she had worried about running into people like Hei Wa again and drawing trouble by appearing unusual. So every day before setting out, she smeared dirt over her exposed face and hands, leaving only her bright eyes visible.
Combined with her coarse clothing, she looked exactly like a poor boy who had accidentally strayed into the mountains.
She looked around.
The area was surrounded by mountain ranges. Unlike the outer forests, which had withered from drought, this place still retained patches of greenery as far as the eye could see.
Peaks rose in every direction.
She spent an entire day comparing several locations before finally choosing a cave halfway up a mountainside with excellent concealment and slipped inside.
The cave sat high above the ground and was sheltered from the wind. Inside, one cavern connected to another. Even if she cooked and lit fires, the smoke wouldn’t easily escape, so there was no need to worry about being discovered.
What delighted her even more was that at the deepest part of the cave, there was still a spring that had not dried up.
Perhaps because it lay deep within the mountains, the drought had not yet spread this far.
However, judging from the traces left behind, even this pool of water had shrunk considerably.