Chapter 188

Fan Xiaoxiao and Uncle Wang crouched low and slowly approached the bushes.

The area was mostly covered with waist-high shrubs, so they were pretty sure that there wasn't anything big in the bushes.

Uncle Wang gave Fan Xiaoxiao a wink and pressed his palm down, signaling her to wait for him where she was.

Fan Xiaoxiao knew that Uncle Wang had been hunting for many years and was naturally very experienced, so she nodded.

But the thing behind the bushes seemed to have sensed something, and after another violent commotion, a pheasant flapped its wings and flew out.

However, the chicken's wing seemed to be injured, and seeing that Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were quite frightened, it raised its neck and let out a piercing scream, which immediately scared it into running away in all directions.

Fortunately, Uncle Wang was prepared and pounced on the chicken the moment he saw it fly out.

"Girl! Quickly find some straw rope and tie it up!"

"Okay!"

Fan Xiaoxiao quickly stepped forward and tied up the chicken's legs and wings. In no time, she had the chicken properly taken care of. She didn't know what the chicken ate to grow up, but it was much bigger than the ordinary pheasants she had ever seen.

And judging from its markings, it's actually a hen.

"Judging from its wings, it must have been scratched by thorns. Girl, you can take it back and raise it. It can lay eggs for Xiaobao and the others to eat later."

"Hey!"

Fan Xiaoxiao nodded with a smile and put the chicken into the basket. But the chicken's wings felt a little damp, perhaps because they had some dew on them.

But Uncle Wang had already taken out his machete and started walking forward again, so Fan Xiaoxiao had no choice but to put the chicken away and follow him.

The two walked for a while longer, but found nothing.

Uncle Wang wiped the sweat from his face, turned around and shook his head at Fan Xiaoxiao: "Girl, we can't go any further. If we go in, we might encounter some wild beasts."

“I’m a bit thirsty too. I’ve been hearing the sound of flowing water for a while now. It must be the stream near our house. Let’s go back along that stream.”

Fan Xiaoxiao was already quite exhausted. They had walked for so long, and getting just one pheasant was already a good result. She just wanted to get back as soon as possible.

The sound of water wasn't far from them, and Fan Xiaoxiao and Uncle Wang found the gurgling water source without much effort.

After seeing the scene before her clearly, Fan Xiaoxiao was completely dumbfounded.

This is not a stream at all. This place, which is about seven or eight acres in size, is clearly a steaming hot spring pool!

She took a twig, put it in and stirred it a couple of times, then took it out and found it was very hot to the touch.

"Girl, there's a hot spring here! I've heard the old folks in the village talk about these kinds of pools before! They say soaking in them is good for your health!"

This was the first time Uncle Wang had ever seen such a pool, and he found it quite novel.

Fan Xiaoxiao's astonishment slowly turned into surprise; she hadn't expected such a big unexpected gain on this trip up the mountain.

"Uncle, let's go down this path and see how far it is from our home!"

"You want to bring this water into the yard?"

Fan Xiaoxiao nodded. Hot spring water is a good thing, and the water is too hot right now. If they divert the water down the mountain, it will help lower the temperature a bit.

After discussing it, the two prepared to descend the mountain below the hot spring.

But shortly after Fan Xiaoxiao and the others left, a number of birds began to rustle and emerge from the woods on the other side of the hot spring.

They chirped and flew away from the woods, looking quite panicked, as if they were fleeing some danger.

From inside the woods, something wobbled and walked towards the hot spring pool.

The thing looked enormous, and every step it took felt like the earth was shaking.

It could smell something different in the woods from afar, and it looked up and sniffed hard at the unfamiliar scent carried on the wind.

Then, it lowered its head, drooling, and let out a soft growl. Even in the not-too-cold weather, its breath was clearly visible.

...

"Godfather! Slow down a bit!"

Holding onto the tree branch she had picked up, Fan Xiaoxiao struggled down the mountain. She was unsure whether the decision she had just made was the right one.

When they were climbing the mountain, the path was still covered with trees. But now the path was very steep, and she had to be careful every step of the way to avoid falling flat on her face and tumbling all the way down from the mountainside to the bottom.

"Girl, I think I hear the sound of water again. Hurry up a few steps! Let's go see if it's the hot spring again."

Uncle Wang was leading the way with a machete when he heard Fan Xiaoxiao's cries of pain. He turned around and smiled helplessly at her.

"The sound of water?"

"Close your eyes, don't let them distract you. Listen carefully, there's the sound of water in the woods!"

Fan Xiaoxiao raised her head with some confusion, tilting her ear slightly to listen to the surrounding sounds, just like Uncle Wang.

The wind rustled through the trees, interspersed with the chirping of unknown insects.

Then... Fan Xiaoxiao heard a faint gurgling sound of water.

"It really is there! It's just a little bit lower down!"

Uncle Wang smiled and nodded, his blade flashing even faster.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two finally got to see the true nature of the water.

"This...is not warm water."

Before them was just an ordinary stream. Fan Xiaoxiao and Uncle Wang exchanged a glance, then shook their heads with a smile.

But just as the two were about to continue down the stream, Fan Xiaoxiao caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the fruit of some plant settling at the bottom of a bend in the stream.

She went over and scooped it up; it was covered in sharp spikes.

The entire fruit was a dark brown color, as if it had been soaking in this stream for a long time.

But this didn't stop Fan Xiaoxiao from beaming with joy when she saw it.

"This is... a chestnut!?"

"Huh? It really is!"

Uncle Wang walked over and took the fruit from Fan Xiaoxiao's hand.

He looked up at the stream and sure enough, there was a huge chestnut tree not far away! The tree was covered with many fuzzy, ball-shaped fruits, but because it was still early in the month, they were still green.

Fan Xiaoxiao gazed at the fruit tree from afar, reflexively swallowing hard. Her mind immediately conjured up images of roasted chestnuts, boiled chestnuts, chestnut rice… and braised chicken with chestnuts!

"Godfather, let's go get some fruit and go back."

Fan Xiaoxiao rolled up her sleeves, feeling all the fatigue from her earlier work vanish.

Uncle Wang didn't reply. Instead, he stared intently behind her, his whole body tense, sweat trickling down his face.

Fan Xiaoxiao waited a while for Uncle Wang's response, then turned her head and looked at him with some confusion: "Godfather?"

Uncle Wang's facial muscles twitched slightly, and he quietly raised the crossbow in front of him, pointing it at Fan Xiaoxiao.

Fan Xiaoxiao was slightly taken aback and subconsciously wanted to turn around, but Uncle Wang called her back in time.

"Girl...can you climb a tree...?"

"Oh? Yes! What's wrong?"

"It's good that you can climb trees! I'll count to three, and we'll climb the tree!"

"Huh? Why!?"

"one"

"two……"

"Three...climb the tree!!"

(End of this chapter)