Locked in space

Jiushu went through all the items in her storage, before deciding on wheat. Rice, she is not sure other party knows what it is. From what she remembered, wheat or something similar is farmed throughout the entire known world. So, any one will definitely recognize it. Even if the local varieties differ, they will be able to recognize and buy this crop.

She placed her bushel of wheat on the single circle.

She waited for a moment.. The options popped up slowly. A leaf full of what looked like berries. Jiushu used appraise on the berries. They are black berries. They looked quite ugly, wildly different from what she used to see. Another little basket full of what looked like apples, only, they are far too small. Jiushu tried to appraise them. They are crab apples.

She doesn't know the difference, but she vaguely remembered something about them in a food show. So most probably, they are not inedible… if they need to be cooked to be eaten, then she just has to ask William for the recipe. He must know at least the basics, right? Even if men did not cook, western cooking is simple enough. At least at peasant level. She assumed in this age and time, they are still hunters and foragers… an average peast boy surely must know what to do with wild ingredients.. Yes.. she just has to ask william. He will know.

She bought berries, crab apples and some unknown fish.

However, once has finished buying, she has come to a dilemma.

How does she call for william? ….

He ran away, and in this tunnel, Jiushu is sure if she left this place, she is never coming back here with her direction sense. She must stay put in a single place.

At this moment, Xiao xing ran out of the hut to come hug her legs.. She is still holding berries.

She smiled at him, placed the stuff in storage.

"Did you have a good time with your friends?" she asked.

Xiao Xing nodded excitedly.

"Go wash your hands and feet." Jiushu ordered.

Xiao Xing ran quite happily to the bathroom, washing not just his hands and feet, but also his face.

He came back to look at Jiushu excitedly. His expression clearly said 'I am such a good child. Praise me'. Jiushu laughed at his eager expression, and patted his head and praised him.

She washed the berries, squished them with hand to make juice, and gave the juice to her brother. He has been eating nothing but porridge and milk, time has come for him to taste things greater than porridge and soup.

Xiao xing fell in love with juice. Meanwhile, Jiushu painstakingly extracted seeds and planted them in the field.

"Sister.. Can I have more?" he asked hopefully..

"Let see..if they are available to buy." she said as she walked towards the drums.

She led her brother to the half spheres.

"A'Xing, this is the shop. This is where we buy and sell our stuff. This is the circle drum. We place what we are selling here. This is the star drum. We pick what we want, then put it in the center. " Jiushu said, pulling another pile of berries to the center. When she first bought, there were only a handful of berries.

Now, there's a vine basket full of berries, another with mushrooms, and a skinned fat rabbit, lean meat of a boar and potatoes. For god's sake there are potatoes… Jiushu stared at them in astonishment. She exchanged a gourd of peas for berries. Then she pulled potatoes first, then exchanged two bok choys, and hand full of eggplants.

Then she pulled the fat rabbit, she poured in wheat in exchange for it. The exchange went through. Jiushu almost jumped in joy. She took the lean meat of pork, after some thinking, she exchanged shelled rice for it. She is not quite sure if the other party knows rice or not, but she still hasn't finished sorting out the vegetables after the first season of wild growth. She needs to set time aside to analyse and separate the seeds and vegetables according to taste and survivability.

As she was buying them, her little brother sneaked one berry after another. These are picked at the height of their season, thus very sweet, all the more addictive for children.

"A'xing.! You can't eat too many of those." Jiushu scolded automatically.

"Put them aside." she ordered her little brother.

He put them away with a pout, looking like a kicked puppy.

"Just a few more days… Okay.. let's wait just a few more days for you to get all better, then you can eat more than today.." Jiushu promised him.

She kept her words no matter which way she said them, thus, she never said you can have as much as you want. Xiao Xing really might go all out then.

She prepared warm water for bath, thankfully, her little brother had not hated bath time, though he did hate the wiping with a towel part. She thoroughly washed off the mud he was caked in, and dressed him in new clothes.

"Ah.. your highness… looking cute and smart to day as well." she praised him.

Xiao Xing giggled in response.

"Okay, go out and greet auntie." she sent him out, clearing remaining water.

She will take a bath after, she most certainly will not remain as muddy as she is now.

Xiao Xing returned with tears in his eyes.

Jiushu went along with him to check out why..

She is surprised to see there are two windows in her house's wall, not just one.

Only, the window recognized as Xiao Xing's , by the virtue of thumb ring on handle, is barred shut with a wooden plank.

'Damn.' she swore.

This is the worst case scenario.

She always wondered what would happen if she or Xiao Xing entered the space in the middle of a city and left their bangle or ring right in the middle of the road. Will someone pick them up and lock them in a cabinet? After all, one can not blame someone for picking up jewellery on the road and hiding it away. She probably would not be so pissed if she herself were the victim.

However, Xiao Xing being the one locked away made Jiushu angry like a roaring bull.

"Tonight, we will have dinner here. Don't be sad." she consoled Xiao Xing.

She started working on porridge, while Xiao Xing sat down and practised Taoist Talismans nearby. As soon as she set the pot with rice on a nicely burning stove, Jiushu picked up a log and went to the window of Xiao Xing. She set the log adjacent to the wooden plank. She felt satisfied just imagining the chaos the fire might create.

Who told them to be so over reaching as to lock out her brother?

Then, she started making porridge happily.

She went and checked after they ate, and she sent Xiao Xing for his nap.

The other side is noisy as expected.

Even Jiushu could hear the words being spoken.

"You brought a cursed ring into the village." an old man is shouting at someone.

Then, aunt Fa's voice came through.

"Did you say all you want to?" Her voice is exceptionally cold, like a strict teachers voice.

"Why do you think the ring is cursed? I said a jade ring, I never said a cursed jade ring." aunt Fa added equally coldly.

"In the first place, if you had misappropriated others' belongings. When they came asking, you lied saying you do not possess it. This is clearly considered stealing." she added.

"You.. YOu call me a thief..?" someone screamed.

There was a commotion sounding..

"Stop where you are." Another strong voice billowed. Jiushu recognized this voice. It's old man Shi, the previous owner of the orchard. He met aunt Fa once when they both were dealing with formalities for the orchard.

Jiushu's anxiety reduced. Aunt Fa is too scholarly, and she has been worried villagers will bully her in the past. However, Old man Shi is both feared and revered, so they will not try much.

"Old Gu! I always thought you have sticky hands, it seems like your wife is better. She throws the child, steals the jade and still thinks she is not a thief. Ah… Technically, that's a bandit. Mountain bandit.." Old man fanned the flames.

Aunt Fa obviously knows about their abilities, so she is not anxious about their whereabouts. However, it makes no sense to see a child's jewellery and not ask what they have done to the child. Jiushu felt a chill down to her spine. They almost got found out… thankfully, it's only villagers, if there's a truly sharp one among them, they will surely figure over time.

All the same, aunt Fa at least seems to catch the drift.

"Just so. The ring is the gift of a kind Taoist to Xiao Xing. It is a beacon that brings disasters till wrongs done unto Xiao Xing are righted." she added.

'Nice assist, auntie' Jiushu praised.

"Tell us where you left the child." Aunt Fa insisted.

"What child..? " the woman still tried to insist on her innocence.

"Don't tell me… you killed him?" Aunt Fa's voice contained the right amount of incredulity, anger and sadness.

Villagers seem to remember Xiao Xing is not around. The woman who was barely holding on, folded under the pressure.

"There is no child.. I just picked up the ring under the big tree." she shouted at Aunt Fa.

"So you were lying." Aunt Fa answered with disdain.

"Give it back." she ordered the woman.

"Nobody wants your cursed ring." the woman screamed at her, and threw the ring at her.

Aunt Fa caught it neatly.

"Brothers and sisters.. You guys probably should consider re-electing your village chief, or one day, she will come over to pick things up in your own homes." aunt Fa said to them all.

The crowd seemed to be fired up.

They started scolding the chief's family, and started calling for a new election.. So on.

Jiushu tuned all that out.

It seems aunt Fa left with the ring, she went straight to the big tree.

She held the ring, avoiding villagers eyesight. She turned around a corner, placed the ring on a flat surface, and directed villagers to other side to search.

Jiushu, who's watching from the beginning to ending, got the clue.

She picked up Xiao Xing who's sleeping, and placed him there after some struggle.

The moment Xiao Xing left the space, the window vanished as if it never existed.

However, Jiushu is not worried.

Aunt Fa will find him.