Once the complaints started, they went on and on.

"In my opinion, this wretched woman is deliberately trying to mess with us. She knows we have no meat to eat and are starving, yet she still risks her life to make us run around here five, six, seven, or eight times. She just wants us to be unable to stand up so she can do whatever she wants to us."

"You wretched woman, have you gone mad? You see everything as food and have been swindling us time and time again. I must have been blind to believe you so many times, making us misunderstand the people of Pingcheng for no reason. You have ulterior motives."

The woman felt utterly wronged; she wished she could kowtow to her forehead and have the word "wronged" branded on it in order to seek justice.

"I'm not crazy, I really saw a pheasant."

"Okay, okay, you saw the pheasant, we're just blind and can't see it."

The man patted his backside, waved, and strode away, muttering to himself as he left:

"She's really a crazy woman. I don't know what evil intentions she has. If I still believe her, I'll definitely become a laughing stock."

The group of tails dispersed in a huff, and the woman, seeing their disappointed and resentful faces, felt ashamed and naturally didn't want to stay there any longer. So she immediately quickened her pace and left this place that had made her lose face.

The others, having wronged Yunling and her companions and unable to find enough food to fill their stomachs, could only slink away and continue their journey.

Seeing this, Yunling, on the day after they left, went with Gangzi and the Fan brothers to hunt a wild boar in the deep mountains to fill their empty stomachs after several days. She wasn't in a hurry to continue her journey, thinking that as long as she could keep a considerable distance from that group of people, she wouldn't be targeted.

So they rested there for five or six days. The men went into the deep mountains every day to hunt pheasants and pigeons, while Yunling led Tang Ling and the others to gather wild vegetables.

The wild vegetables, influenced by Yunling's special ability, grew large and sweet, and were so filling that they helped everyone recover their strength through daily care, allowing them to continue their journey.

**

The group arrived in the Yuecheng region, where it was already late autumn.

Aside from the occasional autumn wind, autumn in Yuecheng feels no different from summer, so there's not much need to wear thick clothes. However, the mosquitoes and rodents here are truly terrifying.

Yun Chu seized the opportunity to get busy, adding insect-repelling and rodent-repelling herbs to each person's sachet in turn, and then said:

"Everyone's constitution is different. If you feel that you are particularly attractive to mosquitoes, you can tell me and I can add more herbs to the sachet."

Old Lady Yun immediately responded:

"Sister Chu, mosquitoes can't bite into the skin of old folks like us. Why don't we give more to the kids so they don't have to go through all that trouble?"

Yun Chu frowned slightly, and Li Yuedi opened her mouth to reply:

"Madam, Yuecheng isn't just known for its mosquitoes. Some mosquitoes are as big as flies, while others are smaller than a grain of rice. Their stings can be deadly. There are also rats, all plump and chubby, climbing trees and darting through streets and alleys without the slightest fear."

Big Black must have heard Li Yuedi's words and was happily meowing at her.

Gangzi said happily:

"Hey, if these rats are plump and chubby, not only will Big Black like them, but we can also catch a few and roast them to eat."

Tang Ling chuckled, but soon felt itchy all over. At first, she suspected there was something wrong with her position, but as she changed her location, the itching only intensified, making her feel uncomfortable.

Do you feel itchy all over?

Li Yuedi smiled and said:

"Don't even mention the itching; if we stay here for a few days, our skin will become quite bad. This is the miasma and dampness of Yuecheng, which is very difficult to deal with."

Yunling nodded in agreement. She also knew how dangerous Yuecheng was. The climate was unpredictable, the water quality was poor, and the dampness and miasma were severe. The dampness here was very different from that in Shucheng. In Shucheng, one could relieve dampness with spicy food, but not here. If one ate spicy food, the heat and fire would cling to them like a little tail, refusing to let go.

Everyone felt a little resentful and displeased upon hearing Li Yuedi's words.

Those young women, after all, all cared about their appearance and worried that their skin would suffer and become less attractive.

As for Sister-in-law Fan and Bingniang, they were more worried about their children than about themselves. They could bear to suffer themselves, but if something happened to their children, it would be terrible.

They then used their own understanding to try and find a more suitable place to live, so as to avoid suffering from the miasma and dampness. But before they could speak, Yunling spoke first:

"Survival is the most important thing. As for where you want to go after the situation stabilizes, I will not interfere."

Upon hearing Yunling's words, the displeasure in everyone's hearts transformed into reluctance and fear. They had come all the way with Yunling's family, and to put it bluntly, they had relied on the Yun family for food, drink, lodging, and transportation.

If they had left the Yun family, it would have been uncertain whether they could have made it this far. Moreover, the current situation was unclear, and if they had fallen behind on their own, they would likely have faced great danger.

Therefore, they all entrusted Yun Chu with the task of eliminating miasma and dampness.

With no objections, they continued to walk forward with great effort. After walking for about ten days, they finally discovered a trace of human habitation. They were overjoyed to see some rice paddies below that had not yet been harvested.

Heaven knows how long it has been since they smelled the aroma of rice. If they could get a bowl of fragrant, hot rice or even just a small bag of paddy, they would be overjoyed.

"I think we should hurry up, lest the birds eat all this rice."

"Why are you in such a hurry? The villagers must have stored rice, which is why they are not in a rush to harvest the rice. We should just think about what we can use to exchange for the rice."

"Good heavens, just thinking about that fragrant rice makes my mouth water. This rice is even tastier than meat!"

"..."

Yunling was naturally happy to hear their words. In the past, when life was more affluent, she always thought about what vegetables and meats to eat every day. Now that she was used to eating wild vegetables and wild meat, a bowl of plain rice had become something everyone longed for.

Yunling was thinking about it, and she seemed to smell the aroma of rice coming from the pot. She quickened her pace down the mountain, prompting Xiaobai and Dahei to follow her like they were sprinting a hundred meters.

However, her expression immediately turned sour after she descended the mountain...