Rise of the Poor

Chapter 486: Seeing the Fat Duck Again

It was probably around two in the morning when the quiet of the island was suddenly broken. Outside the cave, restless roars from wild beasts echoed faintly through the darkness, as though the creatures of the forest had all become uneasy at once. Not long afterward, the wind grew sharper, whipping sand and small stones through the air.Then, without warning—

A blinding flash of lightning tore through the night sky like a deadly harpoon hurled from the heavens. A split second later, a thunderclap exploded with the force of a cannon, crashing through the darkness so violently that the entire cave seemed to tremble.

Almost immediately afterward, raindrops the size of soybeans began to fall.

At first there were only one or two drops, tapping against the island, against the trees, against the rocky mouth of the cave. But within moments the rain thickened, turning into countless silver threads pouring down from the sky, as if the heavens themselves were attempting to sew the earth and sky back together with endless strands of water.

“Ahhh—! What’s happening?! What’s happening?!”

Li Shu and the bun-faced maid were jolted awake by the thunder. In their half-asleep panic, they thought the mountain itself was collapsing. Terrified like startled rabbits, they grabbed at their clothes and scrambled off their grass beds, bare feet pattering across the cave floor as they shrieked nonstop in fright.

To be honest, the thunder outside hadn’t startled Zhu Ping’an nearly as much as the piercing screams of the two girls. For a moment he felt as though his eardrums were about to burst.

“It’s just thunder,” Zhu Ping’an said calmly as he sat up from his grass bedding, rubbing his eyes. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Remove AdsBut just as he spoke, another series of lightning flashes split the sky outside, followed by thunder that rolled like collapsing mountains. The cave trembled once again.

“Thunder? That’s so scary…”

The bun-faced maid’s small face had turned deathly pale. She dared to glance toward the cave entrance for only a second before shrinking her head back like a frightened turtle.

“Thunder?”

Even Li Shu’s normally composed face looked thoroughly shaken. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

“I’m most afraid of thunder.”

Zhu Ping’an didn’t quite understand.

It’s just thunder… is it really that terrifying?

He turned his head, intending to offer a few comforting words. Yet the moment he looked over—

His breathing suddenly became uneven.

His nose even felt a little warm.

The fire in the cave’s hearth had not yet gone out. Though the flames were small, they provided enough light that the cave wasn’t completely dark—especially around the fire pit, where the flickering glow made everything relatively visible.

When people are frightened, their instinct is to move toward the light. Li Shu and the bun-faced maid were no exception. Barefoot, they had both hurried to stand near the hearth, trembling as they clung close to the warmth and brightness.

Because they had been sleeping behind a curtain earlier, neither of them had dressed fully.

The bun-faced maid wore only a white inner robe, something similar to a loose nightdress in modern terms. It covered her fairly well, but the fabric clung closely to her body. And the maid herself was quite well-endowed—her figure rising and falling in curves that could rival the actresses from certain… artistic films of distant islands.

The sight was enough to make anyone’s adrenaline surge.

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Yet despite the maid’s tempting silhouette, the person who truly left Zhu Ping’an stunned was Li Shu standing beside her.

He had never imagined that Li Shu—who always carried herself with the proud elegance of a noble young lady—could look so… dangerously alluring.

The contrast alone was enough to make one’s throat go dry.

Unlike the maid, who at least wore an inner robe, Li Shu had apparently not put on hers at all.

Instead, she wore only a dudou, the traditional undergarment of ancient women. It was diamond-shaped and bright red, the color striking even in the dim firelight. Thin ribbons looped around her neck while two other strings tied behind her waist. The lower portion formed an inverted triangle, framing her slender waist and pale skin in a way that only made her figure appear even more captivating.

Her fair, flawless body beneath the red silk seemed as delicate and soft as rose petals.

For a moment, Zhu Ping’an felt as though his entire body had caught fire.

Heat.

Thirst.

And then, strangely, something about the embroidery on the dudou caught his attention. Two plump little ducks stitched upon it seemed oddly familiar—ducks with red webbed feet paddling across rippling water.

Where had he seen that before…?

Almost unconsciously, Zhu Ping’an reached toward the small money pouch at his waist.

Sure enough.

The pouch carried the exact same pair of embroidered ducks.

The same ducks…?

Remove AdsZhu Ping’an froze for a moment.

Before he could think further, another deafening thunderclap shook the night. The sudden blast made both girls shiver violently. A flash of lightning illuminated the twisted shadows of trees outside, casting eerie shapes across the cave walls and making the atmosphere even more terrifying.

The two girls shrieked again and again, their imaginations running wild.

They began muttering things like how thunder was meant to punish evil people—but since there were no bad people on the island, it must be punishing evil ghosts instead. And if thunder punished ghosts, then ghosts must exist… which made everything even more frightening.

Their panicked chatter finally snapped Zhu Ping’an out of his thoughts about the ducks.

“Thunder is just a natural phenomenon,” he explained with a small shake of his head. “There’s nothing supernatural about it. When clouds with different electrical properties collide in the sky, they release electricity—that’s lightning. The loud sound afterward is thunder.”

He tried to reassure them using what little modern science he knew.

But the bun-faced maid immediately shook her head stubbornly.

“That’s not true! Lightning is clearly sent down by the Thunder God and the Lightning Goddess!” she insisted.

The roaring thunder outside made both girls forget entirely about their state of dress. Seeing that Zhu Ping’an seemed calm and unafraid, they instinctively moved closer to him, feeling safer near his presence.

Zhu Ping’an had already been feeling thirsty from the earlier sight. Now that Li Shu had come closer and sat beside him, his throat felt even drier.

Li Shu, apparently still unaware of how little she was wearing, sat down on Zhu Ping’an’s grass bedding just like the maid had.

Outside, lightning and thunder continued endlessly.

The three of them sat together on the bedding for quite some time. Zhu Ping’an began telling stories to distract them from the storm. Though every now and then his attention wandered whenever Li Shu bent forward or shifted slightly, the two girls—especially Li Shu—seemed too focused on the thunder outside to notice his occasional distraction.

As time passed, all three of them gradually grew drowsy. Yet the storm outside showed no sign of stopping.

Returning to their separate bedding area? The girls were too afraid.

Staying on Zhu Ping’an’s bed? That clearly wasn’t appropriate either—after all, men and women should keep proper distance.

After thinking it through, they came up with a compromise that satisfied both concerns.

They moved the two grass beds close together but hung the woven vine curtain between them. This way they could remain separated for propriety’s sake, yet still feel safe knowing the others were close by.

A single curtain divided the two bedding areas. Three people lay down on either side, while the fire nearby crackled softly.

Remove Ads“Don’t peek. Don’t cross the curtain. And don’t…”

From behind the curtain, Li Shu began listing rules for Zhu Ping’an as she settled down to sleep.

“Alright, I know,” Zhu Ping’an replied patiently, agreeing to each one.

“And don’t think improper thoughts either…”

After a moment of consideration, Li Shu added one more rule.

“…Okay.”

Zhu Ping’an answered helplessly.

Having a man nearby gave the girls a greater sense of security. Even though thunder still rolled across the sky outside, Li Shu and the bun-faced maid gradually fell asleep again, their breathing slowly becoming calm and steady.

On the other side of the curtain, however, Zhu Ping’an found it impossible to sleep.

The faint fragrance of the girl beyond the curtain drifted into his nose. His mind kept replaying certain images—the bright red diamond-shaped silk, the embroidered ducks paddling through water, and that flawless, graceful figure like polished jade.

The night stretched endlessly.

He tossed and turned, unable to find sleep.

Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Li Shu listened quietly to the faint rustling sounds of someone shifting restlessly.

A small smile curled at the corner of her lips.

As for the thunder and lightning raging outside the cave…

Remove AdsShe no longer paid them the slightest attention.

After all—

Thunder wasn’t really that frightening.