"Bang! Bang!"

After two gunshots, silence fell over the surroundings.

The chieftain turned his head blankly, then fell to the ground with a thud, his eyes, which were gradually losing focus, still carrying a hint of disbelief.

The other bandits were stunned by the gunfire and stopped what they were doing.

Only the bald man, who had been watching the other side, quickly came to his senses, hurriedly stepped forward, kicked away the man who had been killing his mother, carefully supported his mother's hand, and quickly led her to Ye Wenxue's back. Only then did he have a chance to look around and see if his mother was injured.

He choked back tears as he spoke, "Mother, are you alright? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have followed the chieftain up the mountain for a bite to eat, and now you're in this mess..."

The old woman was still in shock and hadn't recovered yet. She just held the bald man's hand tightly without responding.

Ye Wenxue glanced at the bald man and the old woman, ignoring the trembling bandits, and, after putting away her pistol, called to Sui Ye and Su Jiu: "Let's go."

The bandits watched them leave, looking at each other, none daring to stop them.

What... what was that thing making that sound?

It can kill people from a great distance without them even noticing... Could it be a new weapon developed by the imperial court?

Using it to deal with them... isn't that a huge waste of its potential?!

The bald man looked at the messy hillsides, then at his mother whose eyes were filled with terror, and silently carried his mother on his back to follow Ye Wenxue and the others.

Ahead, Suiye stared wide-eyed, hesitant about whether to ask.

If he didn't ask, he would be itching to know. He knew what the latest weapons of the imperial court looked like and had seen tributes from many small countries coming and going, but he had never seen the strange black iron at Ye Wenxue's waist.

If such a powerful weapon could be mass-produced, then the few menacing enemies around us would be nothing to fear!

Ye Wenxue knew what the heavy footsteps behind her were thinking without even looking. Instead of offering a helpful answer, she frowned and changed the subject:

"The makeshift kitchen seems to be nearby."

Su Jiu had arrived a day earlier and had been everywhere except for the area where he couldn't go down the mountain: "Yes, it's just eight hundred paces to the east. You mean...?"

Ye Wenxue nodded, agreeing with his idea: "There's not much salt left at home, and not much food stored either. To make matters worse, my wood-chopping knife is still up on the mountain."

Last night, I left the basket, wood-chopping knife, and bow and arrows in the house by the east cliff, but I forgot to take them when we went out. I'll have to find them now.

Su Jiu wholeheartedly agreed with her, but hesitated, worried about the group of bandits behind them: "What if..."

Ye Wenxue shook her head and gave him a brief analysis: "With the chieftain dead, the bandits are leaderless. They'll all be vying to be the boss, so they won't have time to chase us down or check the kitchen."

“You’re right.” The bald man, carrying his mother on his back, quickly caught up. He knew the brothers in the mountain stronghold better and said hastily, “We can still get to the kitchen now. If they react too late, they’ll probably try to seize the kitchen and warehouse, and then it’ll be even harder to make a move.”

This is also why he carried his mother and fled down the mountain.

Chaos is about to break out in the mountain stronghold. Baldy can't guarantee that all the brothers in the stronghold are good people and won't follow suit and attack their own relatives.

More than the life of a bandit chief, Baldy was worried about his mother's safety.

Ye Wenxue made the decision: "Suiye will protect Sanyuan and Sujiu. I'll go to the kitchen alone and come back within an hour."

Suiye looked disapproving: "No, I want to go with you!"

Sanyuan nodded nervously: "I...I also want to go with Mother."

No matter what his mother used to kill him, Sanyuan believed that his mother would not harm him, and he felt most at ease by his mother's side.

Su Jiu glanced at Sanyuan, then at the bald man who was asking his mother if she was thirsty or hungry, and for some reason felt that the two were a bit alike—both loved to cling to their mothers.

Is she still breastfeeding?

Ye Wenxue decisively refused to let the others follow her. If they all went, how would she store anything in her space?

"There's no need to search the entire kitchen. You guys stay hidden, I'll be back soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Wenxue left without waiting for anyone else's reply.

Helpless, Suiye found a safe and secluded spot to put Sanyuan down and patiently and gently asked, "Are you hungry? Your brother... your uncle will pick some wild fruit for you to eat?"

Having spent nearly half a month with Ye, Sui Ye felt nothing but dread.

It's hard for anyone to accept when an arrogant and haughty person suddenly becomes considerate and caring.

He reached out and touched Suiye's forehead, asking Su Jiu, "Master, come quickly and see if he has injured his head?"

Su Jiu was still counting the things he had taken from the chieftain's house when he heard this and suddenly looked up: "Ah? You're injured? Let me take a look."

Sui Ye stared at Su Jiu expressionlessly and said, "Get lost."

Sanyuan scratched his head and decided to go back and talk to his older brother, telling him not to tease Suiye anymore, as Suiye seemed a bit strange and might have gone mad.

The location of the makeshift kitchen was very conspicuous, and Ye Wenxue arrived at it after walking for a short while.

Upon opening the door, one is greeted by a dazzling array of ingredients, seasonings, and dried goods scattered everywhere.

Considering the limited space, Ye Wenxue found a wheelbarrow behind the house, loaded it with several large bags of brown rice, a small bag of flour weighing five or six pounds, and some radishes, loofahs, green beans, and so on.

As for wild mountain products like mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and chestnuts, I didn't take them.

The wheelbarrow is small and can only hold a limited amount of things.

Ye Wenxue securely tied the dry food and vegetables she wanted to take to the handcart, then buried herself in rummaging through the seasonings. She stored things like scallions, chives, salt, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, pickles, Sichuan peppercorns, and cinnamon in her spatial storage, so she could take them out when she needed them.

Ye Wenxue was stuffing the seasonings with great enthusiasm when she realized after a while that there was no way the space could hold so much stuff.

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