Chapter 52
Chapter 52: I’ll Do It!
Seeing Xie Changqing’s blank expression, Qiaoba laughed: “You didn’t dare before, but now you really can practice.”
“Wrestling! Like this, see?” Sangtu raised his hands, demonstrating the stance with Qiaoba.
Xie Changqing thought about it and suddenly understood: it was wrestling.
“Oh right! Haha, I knew you couldn’t not know.” Sangtu slapped his thigh and took a bite of beef: “Mm, this beef is good… Later, ah, when the weather gets better, I’ll teach you some techniques. Your build is too weak—you can’t use brute force all at once…”
Qiaoba nodded, saying seriously: “You can learn properly from Uncle Sangtu. He has a complete system for stance, footwork, and grappling techniques.”
After all, wrestling mainly used basic movements like grabbing, pulling, yanking, pushing, pressing, and swaying to try to throw the opponent down.
It required comprehensive use of hands, feet, waist, and thighs—it was a dual test of strength and technique.
Often, it was about winning through skill.
So just being strong wasn’t enough—you needed to be strong and powerful, but also have brains.
Xie Changqing listened seriously, thinking it over in his mind: “I see…”
“Right, right.” Batu jumped up excitedly, gesturing: “Aha, it would be great if you could become a champion! Then you could wear the five colors!”
The champion’s collar was actually made of five-colored silk ribbons, symbolizing a wrestler’s strength and honor. The more victories, the more colorful ribbons on the collar.
Sangtu grabbed him and sat him back down with one hand, laughing and scolding: “Don’t talk nonsense. Getting through one round the first time would be good enough.”
Don’t put too much pressure on Xie Changqing by aiming for championship right from the start.
As they chatted and laughed, everyone had basically eaten their fill.
Qiaoba stood up and stretched: “Mm, the Sixth Pasture people should have left already. Shall we set out too?”
They had agreed last night to go collect livestock today.
“Actually…” Xie Changqing frowned, saying hesitantly: “These dead livestock, if the blood wasn’t properly drained, will be hard to eat.”
Especially if wild animals had gnawed on them—who knew if they were safe.
Even if they brought them back and cleaned them with water, it would waste firewood and water, and over-washed meat wouldn’t taste good—it would probably be like eating cotton.
“Hm?” Qiaoba turned to look at him and smiled: “We’re not collecting the dead ones. You don’t know—there are definitely some that are injured and can’t move. They won’t bother with those.”
Perfect—they were close by, so they could just collect them directly and give them a quick end with one stroke.
Xie Changqing got dressed and ready, nodding: “I see…”
Then there was no problem.
Before leaving, Xie Changqing brought plenty of ointment, all made by himself.
“Oh right, bring more of that herbal medicine.” Qiaoba walked to the door, then turned back to look at him: “Qiqige said she could help make medicine powder. Let her try.”
Coming to the pasture, she couldn’t just eat for free.
They weren’t the Tenth Pasture—they didn’t have Zhuolige’s peculiar habits.
“Mm, I brought it all.” Xie Changqing nodded, pointing to the cloth bag Sangtu was helping carry: “Look, a whole bunch.”
To determine how much Qiqige knew, he had picked some of each type.
If Qiqige really knew how to process medicinal materials, it would indeed save him a lot of effort.
When they went outside, the Sixth Pasture people had indeed all left.
The tracks were still quite clear, with drag marks where Chaolu had fallen.
Obviously, although Idel had come over, he hadn’t been very polite to Chaolu.
In fact, he had probably dragged him directly onto the horse…
“Oh my…” Sangtu’s mouth twisted in a sarcastic smile: “Looks like Chaolu isn’t having a good time at the Sixth Pasture either.”
Qiaoba snorted and shook his head: “Being your own master versus groveling at someone else’s place—how could it be the same?”
So unless absolutely desperate, no pasture would want to merge.
He mounted his horse and sighed: “We need to hurry. This snow is getting deeper and deeper. Tomorrow we probably won’t be able to leave at all.”
Now the horses were already having some difficulty walking.
Xie Changqing was doing relatively well because Lightning was very strong with long legs.
Therefore, he was the fastest runner.
When they reached Sangtu’s house, he first went to check Haierte and Suhe’s wounds.
To his pleasant surprise, Qiqige had done quite well—she had not only changed the dressing but also cleaned the wounds.
“Mm? This is good.” Xie Changqing nodded with satisfaction, re-bandaging them properly, looking at Qiqige with approval: “Alright, I’ll leave their medication to you from now on. If there’s any festering, tell me immediately and I’ll handle it.”
“Okay.” Qiqige nodded vigorously, and the huge weight in her heart finally lifted.
She was so nervous her breathing was a bit rapid, looking at Xie Changqing eagerly: “I’ll take good care of them, but the ointment is running out…”
What Qiqige feared most was being sent back again.
She was very afraid of being useless, and was somewhat hesitant to speak: because besides changing dressings, she couldn’t find any other work to do here, which made her extremely anxious.
“Oh, I brought ointment.” Xie Changqing took out the powder from his medical kit and taught her how to mix it: “This can be stored longer.”
With the snow getting deeper and deeper, he couldn’t possibly come deliver ointment every day.
“Oh, and this.” Xie Changqing took all the medicinal herbs from Sangtu’s hands and had her process them: “Be careful with this set of processing equipment—I don’t have extras.”
Hearing him say this, Qiqige felt even more secure, and her face showed a hint of a smile: “Okay, okay…”
She wasn’t afraid of hardship or exhaustion—she was just afraid of being sent back to Zhuolige.
After giving instructions, Xie Changqing and the others set out again.
This time, they brought lots of rope.
“If there are any live ones, we’ll drain the blood on the spot, then cover them with snow to avoid the bloody smell attracting wild animals while dragging them back.”
Hairi was very excited, clenching his fists: “I can carry them directly and put them on horseback.”
But once the wind picked up, they couldn’t talk anymore.
Because the wind would whip up the snow and stuff their mouths full.
Following the Sixth Pasture’s tracks, they indeed found livestock by the roadside.
Every time they encountered one, Sangtu would dismount to check.
“This one’s no good—already dead.”
“This one’s frozen solid—completely dead.”
“What a pity, this one didn’t bleed out—don’t know how it died…”
Of course, even if they didn’t want them, they would drag the dead ones away to prevent attracting wolf packs.
Xie Changqing sighed, gazing into the distance: “This weather… it’s hard.”
As they continued, Sangtu finally called out with delight: “Haha, here’s one that’s alive! Quick! Get the knife!”
Hearing this, Hairi immediately jumped down from his horse: “I’ll do it!”