Seeing the bloodsucking leeches about to crawl onto his shoe, Li Huowang lifted his foot and stomped the one at his side to death. Then, with an uncharacteristic hint of pity, he looked at the young Yang boy.
"Do these things latch onto your legs often?"
"When you're tilling the paddies, it's unavoidable. The water's full of those things that make oxen's crotches rot. As long as it's not a water snake, we're fine. They can suck our blood, but it doesn't matter since we have hands to pull them off. But it's a problem if they get on an ox. An ox doesn't have hands to get them off, so it just has to let them suck away. Why else would they be called 'ox-rotters'?"
Li Huowang gazed at the young, innocent face before him. If this child lived in the modern era, he'd probably only be in sixth grade. But here, he's already as grown-up as an adult.
