"Dad, what's wrong with you? Dad, please say something."

When Zhuzi saw his father's expression, he was frightened. He shook his father's arm and called out to him for a long time before old Zhuzi came to his senses.

A line of tears slid down his face. He raised his calloused hand to wipe it away and sighed heavily:

"Yuemin, if you hadn't been so kind to my Zhuzi, I would have taken this matter to my grave."

"Uncle, from what you said, you have seen that wild woman?"

Li Yuemin asked cautiously and tentatively.

"Oh, it's really embarrassing to talk about it. Not only did my uncle see them, but he also got raped by them."

"What? Dad, you, you, what on earth is going on?"

“That was when Dad was young and had just become a mountain ranger.

Your grandfather once told me that there is a place I must not go to, but he didn't tell me why I couldn't go there?

...

...

I was young and curious, so I took the risk to get familiar with the forest.

I didn’t expect that once I entered the forest, I got lost. I wandered around for two days but couldn’t find my way out.”

"Uncle, is there anything special about that forest? Why did you get lost?"

The old pillar shook his head:

“I can’t really explain it, but from a distance I could see that there seemed to be a thin mist covering the forest.

When you go in, the fog makes you a little confused.

Later I was so tired that I sat under a tree and fell asleep in a daze.

I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly found someone taking off my clothes.

I opened my eyes and was immediately terrified. It turned out to be a wild woman with red hair.

The man was naked, and since I had not yet married Zhuzi's mother at that time, I was so embarrassed that my face turned red and my heart was beating fast.

Instinctively, I sat up and ran.

Unexpectedly, he had not run far when he was grabbed back by that wild woman.

She took me without saying anything, and only let me go after she saw that I had fainted.

At this time, another strong woman came out and babbled something to her, but no one knew what they were saying.

Although I had no strength at that time, I was conscious.

I vaguely felt that the strong savage was going to kill me and eat my meat, and the first wild woman resisted with all her might.

Later, the two women started fighting. Maybe the first wild woman had just used up a lot of energy, so she was defeated by the second wild woman.

The strong savage grabbed me under his armpit and dragged me into a cave.

There was a fire in the cave, and another man was being roasted on the fire.

I was totally terrified and held my breath, pretending to be dead.

Finally, it was midnight, and a violent storm broke out outside. The two wild women were sleeping soundly, so I took the opportunity to quietly crawl out.

When I thought I was out of danger, suddenly, there was a thunder in the sky, waking up the two wild women.

The strong wild man immediately chased me out, grabbed me and was about to chop me in half. Fortunately, I was stopped by a wild woman.

She kept gesturing to me to run. That’s how I was able to save my life.”

Zhuzi was shocked after hearing this. He never knew that his father was hiding such a huge secret.

All he knew was that he often sat alone under the old locust tree in the yard and cried.

Li Yuemin was also shocked. What Lao Zhuzi said was basically the same as what was rumored, that he was raped by two wild women.

So, he patted Lao Zhuzi on the shoulder sympathetically and comforted him:

"Uncle, it's all my fault. I reminded you of the sad past."

The old pillar shook his head:

"Yuemin, don't say that. I've been holding this matter in my heart for many years. If I don't speak it out, I'm afraid I'll go crazy.

After speaking it out, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

"Uncle, do you remember where the cave is? And how did you get home from there?"

"I can't tell exactly where the cave is. I just know that from a distance, the forest is covered with a layer of fog.

And I remember very clearly that there were seven tall, thick and strong trees in it. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get out. It was like a curse. My father called it the Seven Killing Forest.

"That's not right, uncle. If that's the case, how did you get out?"

"Well, it was that wild woman who showed me the way. It was dark and I couldn't see clearly, so I just followed the path down.

I don’t know how long I ran, but when I woke up, I was lying on a kang in a family’s home.

A mountain girl was standing by my side, wiping my body.

I then realized that I was saved by a family in the mountains. That village girl was Zhuzi’s mother.”

When Li Yuemin heard this, he stood up excitedly:

"Uncle, is the aunt's family still there?"

“Nephew, I didn’t dare tell your aunt about my encounter with the wild woman. I only told her that I was attacked by a wild beast.

After I got engaged to your aunt, I asked them to move out of the mountain.

The thatched house remained there, and now twenty-five or twenty-six years have passed, and I wonder if it is still there?"

"It doesn't matter if the house is there or not, as long as you can find that place. Following that place, you can find where the wild woman lives."

"Nephew, uncle hasn't asked you yet, why do you have to find those two wild women? Aren't you going to die?"

"Uncle, to be honest, my godfather's son, my biological brother, is missing. I suspect it has something to do with those two wild women. So, I want to go find him."

"Brother, what are you talking about? I am confused."

Zhuzi asked with his eyes wide open.

Li Yuemin recounted the entire story.

When Lao Zhuzi heard this, he sighed for a while and nodded:

"Oh, I see. Nephew, it's late today, you go back first, I'll think about it carefully to see if there are any other details I forgot.

I'll tell you when I think it through."

"Uncle, to be honest, I originally wanted to ask Zhuzi to go to Shangkan Village with me to look for Zhao Laohan. But now it seems that there is no need for that. I will go back first."

"Brother, I want to go with you too."

Li Yuemin stood up, patted Zhuzi on the shoulder and said:

"Of course, but we can't do it alone, we need to find a few more hunting dogs.

It's a pity that Ah Hong and Ah Qiang left me, otherwise with these two wolf cubs, plus Hu Zi, it would be enough."

"Brother, doesn't Zhao Laohan still have several hunting dogs? He will definitely lend them to you if you ask."

"With his dogs' experience fighting against a blind bear, I'm afraid they'll all be useless. No way, right?"

"Brother, that's not true. Last time I heard from Zhao Laohan that there were two wolfhounds that could fight against each other.

Since you are going to ask him about the wild woman anyway, we two brothers can go for a ride and borrow the dog."

Li Yuemin heard it and thought it was right, so he said to Zhuzi:

"Well, wait for me, I'll go over and lead the black dragon horse."

After Li Yuemin finished speaking, he walked out of Zhuzi's yard.

At this time, it was already dark. To take a shortcut from Zhuzi's house to his own home, he had to pass by the straw stack behind the youth center.

Li Yuemin was just thinking about what he should prepare when his shoelaces suddenly came undone. When he bent down to tie them, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the straw stack.

Li Yuemin knew it was not a good thing and was about to quicken his pace and leave, but he heard a man's voice coming from inside:

"Mengyao, you said your father will be able to arrive at the Southwest Military Region tomorrow and drive that old man Yin Jianping out of office? Is that true?"