Jiang Yimian looked at everyone, thought for a moment, and then cautiously said, "I have younger siblings at home. They will be afraid to see so many strangers."
Since these people are putting on an act, she'll play along and see who can't hold back first.
Master Song was taken aback, and hesitated for a while before saying, "Don't worry, Miss. My brother and I will only bring one attendant. We'll leave the rest here, okay?"
Jiang Yimian hesitated for a while before reluctantly agreeing, "Come with me."
With that, he took the lead and walked out of the woods.
Master Song was delighted, pointed to a servant, and then took Lin Yan'an and followed.
Zhao Dashu, on the other hand, made an excuse that he still needed to dig for wild vegetables and stayed behind to watch over the other five people in the woods.
Seeing that Zhao Dashu was still there, the five men became anxious. They wanted to find an opportunity to follow him, but Zhao Dashu was watching them, and there were also traps in the forest. They dared not move rashly and just paced around anxiously, fearing that something might happen to their master.
Jiang Yimian led the three out of the forest, but instead of going through the cave, they took a longer route.
They walked and stopped along the way, winding their way through the woods, which had long since ruined their sense of direction.
Seeing that they hadn't arrived yet, Zhao Da, the attendant beside Master Song, couldn't help but ask, "Miss, where exactly is your home? We've been walking for over an hour."
Is this girl planning to lead them on a roundabout route through the woods forever?
If they continued walking, before they even figured out where the girl lived, they would be unable to protect themselves.
Mr. Song was already a bit overweight, and being middle-aged, the climb up the mountain had taken a lot of his energy, leaving him with heavy steps and sweating profusely.
Lin Yan'an was also exhausted. His newly changed red robe was torn to shreds by vines and branches, but he didn't complain of being tired. Perhaps he was just too weak. He sat on the ground to rest without saying a word, and the folding fan in his hand finally came in handy.
Jiang Yimian pretended to be scared and said, "We're almost there. If you don't want to go, I can take you back."
Master Song almost vomited blood on the spot. He quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "What are you saying, young lady? Since we've been walking for so long, let's continue."
He came today to find out this person's identity, so he couldn't give up halfway.
Jiang Yimian nodded and continued to lead the way, but she couldn't help but want to laugh.
It must have been tough on these people. They probably had never walked such a long mountain path before they were born. This is a good opportunity for them to experience the hardships they endure every day.
The second half of the journey was particularly difficult, and the group had to support each other to keep up with Jiang Yimian.
After walking for nearly another hour, they finally arrived at the small depression.
As soon as they stepped off the rugged, winding path, their legs gave way and they collapsed to the ground.
Several times just now, they almost slipped and tumbled off the cliff. Feeling exhausted and scared, they almost couldn't keep going.
Mr. Song disregarded his image and slumped to the ground to rest for a while before finally recovering.
Now, he was in the mood to look at his surroundings. What came into view were tall trees. Although most of the leaves had fallen, he could imagine how lush they would be in the summer.
As I was casually looking around, my gaze was drawn to the thriving wheat in the distance. The vibrant green wheat seedlings stood out starkly against the backdrop of withered autumn landscapes, giving them an exceptionally lively feel.
There were some small green vegetables in the vegetable garden next door. It was obvious that someone had been taking care of them regularly. The vegetables were growing very well and were arranged neatly, which was very pleasing to the eye.
He has been in Qingshui County for almost three months, and this is the first time he has seen an intact farmland.
If there were no war, every piece of land would probably look like this now.
If this place weren't deep in the mountains and quite secluded, it would probably have been destroyed long ago.
"Have you been hiding here since the war began?"
Jiang Yimian nodded, then shook her head, seemingly unintentionally saying, "We only hid here because the bandits discovered us. Luckily, we found this place; otherwise, we probably would have all perished in that wildfire."
Old Master Song was taken aback. He recalled the few dark trees he had seen on the way up the mountain, and then, thinking about how several nearby villages had been burned down, he instantly understood.
Those mountain bandits could burn down villages, so naturally they wouldn't let the people on the mountain go.
These people are lucky. It seems the wildfire was eventually extinguished by the rain, otherwise it wouldn't have only burned a few hilltops; the entire mountain range must have been burned.
He felt a little heavy-hearted and no longer had much doubt about Jiang Yimian's identity.
Just then, Old Liu and his men rushed over aggressively, carrying farm tools. They lined up in front of Jiang Yimian, their eyes fixed on her warily. "Who are you? Why are you in this low-lying area?"
Seeing the men holding farm tools and looking menacing, Master Song and his companions were startled.
Zhao Da also quickly stood up and stood in front of Master Song, his hand resting on the knife hidden at his waist.
Seeing that war between the two sides was about to break out, Jiang Yimian quickly said, "Grandpa, Uncle Liu, they accidentally got lost in the woods and want to ask for a bowl of water."
Old Liu was taken aback and took a while to respond. He was still a little uneasy and whispered in Jiang Yimian's ear, "Coming all this way to ask for water is not as good as finding a small pond to drink some water. Who knows what they are up to? We should be careful."
Zhao Da wanted to refute these words, but he couldn't find any reason to do so. His master's excuse was indeed a bit outrageous.
Jiang Yimian gave Old Man Liu a reassuring look before beckoning the three of them, including Master Song, to walk toward the house.
The others had noticed the situation early on and were a little nervous when they saw three strangers arrive. They only breathed a sigh of relief when Jiang Yimian said that the group had come to ask for water, but they still did not let their guard down.
After Wang Fengqin served everyone a bowl of water, she pulled Jiang Yimian aside and whispered, "Yimian, what are these people doing? Why did you bring them in? What if they're bad guys?"
She had just heard a few days ago that bandits were looking for someone in the mountains, and she was afraid of bringing the bandits in with her.
Jiang Yimian simply reassured her, "Mother, don't worry, they're not bandits."
As for bringing people in, she had given it considerable thought.
Rather than letting them continue to be suspected by these people, she would rather take the initiative and bring these people here to experience it for themselves.
Wang Fengqin was still a little worried, and kept a close eye on the group, afraid that something might happen.
The three men, however, remained calm. They drank water but showed no intention of leaving. They simply looked around, finding everything fascinating.
Lin Yan'an, in particular, went straight over to the chickens and rabbits in the pen. Seeing Jiang Yimian feeding them grass, he asked curiously, "Why are these chickens and rabbits so fat? Do you usually feed them these weeds?"
He used to raise rabbits when he was a child. He fed them grass every day, but they just wouldn't gain weight. In a fit of anger, he fed them a lot of meat, and the rabbit just stretched out its legs and died from overeating.
He has never kept those small animals since then.
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