The sage was determined to die.

Ji Ying was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't reacted yet.

After a while, he finally spoke: "So, you see, habit is a terrible thing, isn't it?"

The girl smiled but didn't say anything.

Ji Ying continued, "Some rats are born in granaries, so they naturally don't suffer from hunger. Other rats are born to fend for themselves in the wilderness, where being able to eat their fill is already a rare treat."

"I never expected you to say something like that."

The girl tilted her head, then suddenly smiled: "You weren't born in the Year of the Rat, were you?"

Ji Ying wasn't angry; she just smiled faintly and said, "Although I wasn't born in the Year of the Rat, don't you think I am?"

"Sometimes I just feel that there isn't that much difference between humans and rats. They struggle to make a living, but in the eyes of big shots, they are insignificant and disgusting, and they would even complain about the dirt on their shoes if someone stepped on them," Ji Ying said with a hint of sarcasm.

The girl didn't speak for a moment, but after a while, she tilted her head and revealed a somewhat childlike side.

"If someone else had said that, I think it would have made a lot of sense."

She hesitated slightly, and her gaze toward Ji Ying held an indescribable strangeness.

"But you...you're a prince, aren't you?" the girl muttered under her breath. "It's really strange that you're suddenly spouting such commoner's philosophy."

Ji Ying responded with a somewhat helpless smile.

"I never realized it before," he said, "but you actually quite like joking around."

The girl slightly curled the corners of her lips and nodded in a good-natured manner.

"Maybe I'm in a good mood today."

……

"You know, this place is so big, how come we don't see any rats?" Ji Bai suddenly asked.

After Yan Ming's summons, a few more people followed behind them, and these people naturally all suffered from sudden angina.

The people around them couldn't be described as having striking features, but they certainly looked like scavengers.

Yan Ming was so tired his mouth was dry, and when he heard Ji Bai's words, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and say, "No food or water. Rats living in this place would starve to death."

Gongsun Yang, on the other hand, was much more composed. Perhaps because he had vomited so much blood, he seemed much more energetic. He even seriously considered Ji Bai's words.

He said very seriously, "Brother Yan is right. When I get home, I might try raising a batch of rats."

Hearing such a brilliant answer from a brilliant strategist, even Ji Bai couldn't help but twitch his lips and say, "Um, isn't that unnecessary..."

Not to be outdone, Yan Ming quickly followed up, "Perhaps there are some mutated rats that we haven't seen before."

The three of them chatted idly, and although they couldn't quench their thirst by just looking at plums, they became even more parched.

"It feels like I've been walking the whole time," Yan Ming couldn't help but complain. "Sigh, I've never walked this many roads in my entire life."

"Speaking so ominously," Ji Bai said, "be careful you don't end up like an old general on the stage."

"Why did the old general have to go on stage..." Yan Ming muttered softly, sometimes really wondering what Ji Bai was thinking.

Having successfully silenced the other party, Ji Bai felt refreshed. Turning around, he noticed a human-shaped obstacle suddenly appearing on the already uneven road.

"What is this thing?" Ji Bai couldn't help but kick it.

"It looks like a person." Gongsun Yang leaned closer for a look. "It's so charred, it looks like it's dead."