Just as I was thinking this, I felt a drop of water fall on my face, followed by another drop.
It looks like it's raining.
Jiang Yimian was overjoyed. Without even looking at the burning fire, she leaped to the ground and ran towards the small hole.
Old Liu and the others hadn't noticed the rain yet, and were still pacing back and forth at the cave entrance with worried expressions, extremely anxious. When they saw Jiang Yimian run back, they were even more startled.
Could it be that the fire is coming over here?
As everyone was thinking the same thing, they heard Jiang Yimian excitedly say, "It's raining, let's hurry into the cave."
The group was still in a daze when Jiang Yimian rushed into the cave first, and they reacted and shouted excitedly.
"It's raining! It's raining! Thank goodness! We're saved!"
"It's alright now, you won't be burned to death."
Old Liu stood at the cave entrance, looking up at the sky, until raindrops fell and stung his face. He then wiped away what he couldn't tell was rain or tears, bent down, and went into the cave.
Hearing the cheers and jubilation behind her, Jiang Yimian quickened her pace and took out everything from her spatial storage as soon as she entered the cave.
As soon as she took it out, Wang Fengqin rushed over and hugged Jiang Yimian tightly, ignoring Xiao Ye and Xiao Nuan'er who were following behind her.
Her voice trembled with tears, "Yimian, thank goodness, we're alright, it's raining heavily."
She thought she would definitely be burned to death here tonight.
Hearing the sound of the heavy rain outside, Jiang Yimian smiled and hugged the other person back, "Yeah, it's okay, it's raining."
The others were also incredibly excited, pulling each other up and down like a group of jubilant children. Occasionally, a few sobs could be heard, but they were eventually drowned out by laughter.
*
It was raining heavily outside the cave, but drizzling inside.
Several women quickly brought pots and pans to catch the water, afraid of wetting the ground.
Although they were in a flurry of activity, the smiles on their faces were clearly visible—the joy of surviving a disaster.
Because of the rain, the cave was cold and damp. The group hadn't slept all night and sat with the grain on the two-meter-long rock, listening to the pattering rain outside with smiles on their faces.
The rain was heavy and torrential, as if it were trying to extinguish the wildfires, accompanied by bursts of thunder.
The rain lasted for three hours until dawn, when it turned into a light drizzle and finally disappeared. The dark, cloud-covered sky was then filled with the golden rays of the sun, which struggled to break through the darkness and bring light.
Jiang Yimian and the others stood on the hillside, looking at the extinguished fire in the distance, and the heavy weight in their hearts finally lifted.
The muddy ground beneath my feet still bore the scorch marks left by the flames, and the surrounding green trees had lost their branches and leaves, standing bare with only a single trunk remaining, dark and gloomy.
Old Liu stared in the direction of the shack for a long time before saying, "Go and set up some memorial tablets for them."
Although the body was gone, he felt that a memorial tablet was still necessary.
He died just like that, without even a body. He didn't want those people to go down there and have no one to burn incense or visit them.
Liu Dayong responded and hurriedly went back to get the axe.
The others helped by finding some pieces of wood that hadn't been completely burned, and made two memorial tablets which they stuck in the ground.
One from the Sun family, and one from the Li family.
After doing all this, the group bowed to the memorial tablet again before returning to the cave.
Having not slept a wink last night, the fear and joy in their hearts had vanished, and drowsiness overcame them. They casually lay down on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up again, it was already afternoon.
The group didn't sit idle either. After eating, they went to the small depression to cut down trees, intending to build a house for the Jiang family first.
Although the cave was not small, it was a bit crowded with three families crammed in and their belongings piled up inside.
Old Liu and Liu Dayong often helped people build houses in the village. The two were very skilled. After determining the area needed for three houses, they took their axes and went to clear the trees.
The women weren't idle either. Wang Fengqin and Zhao Xing'er were responsible for clearing the bushes and weeds on the ground, while Liu Xiaoyun, who was pregnant and unable to do heavy work, was responsible for cooking for everyone.
Jiang Yimian was responsible for moving the felled trees to one side.
The little girl skillfully dragged the thick log away all by herself, which really surprised the group.
Later, I thought that if he wasn't strong, how could he have killed nine young men at once? So I wasn't surprised anymore.
While feeling sorry for Yi Mian, Wang Fengqin also thought her daughter was really amazing. She had no doubts whatsoever, assuming that she had been bullied in the Jiang family before and that's why she had developed such strength. She secretly thought to herself that she must take good care of Yi Mian in the future.
Gou Sheng wanted to help Jiang Yimian, but was ruthlessly driven away. He had no choice but to take a few children to the woods to collect the prey that had been burned to death.
As dusk approached, Gou Sheng led the little ones home laden with their spoils.
Old Liu stared at the baskets filled with rabbits and pheasants on the backs of the group of people, and his jaw almost dropped in astonishment.
"Are these the things that were burned to death?"
Gou Sheng nodded smugly, dumped the skinned meat from his basket into the cave, and said with a smile, "How about that? Aren't I amazing? This much meat is enough for us to eat for a long time."
He was just trying his luck, and after digging through a few rabbit holes, he actually found quite a few rabbits that hadn't managed to escape and had been burned to death.
These were only found in the woods near the cave; if we go to other places, we're sure to find more.
Old Liu nodded repeatedly, only to say with a smile, "You're not entirely useless, kid."
Gou Sheng immediately straightened his back proudly, "I'll go to other places first thing tomorrow morning and bring back all those burned prey."
Seeing his energetic appearance, everyone burst out laughing.
That evening, thanks to the game that Gou Sheng had brought back, everyone had a rare treat of meat and ate their fill.
The children, their bellies bulging from the food, were led by the two women to digest their food outside the cave.
As Jiang Yimian looked through her family's seeds, she pondered how much rice she could plant. Before she could figure it out, she saw Liu Xiaoyun clutching her stomach and leaning against the stone wall, her face deathly pale.
There were only the two of them in the cave, along with Chen Tiezhu, who was lying on the dry grass with his eyes closed.
Seeing that she was in great discomfort, Jiang Yimian quickly put down the seeds and went over to take her pulse.
Liu Xiaoyun managed a weak smile and said, "I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired from the past few days and also frightened."
Actually, she had been experiencing abdominal pain from time to time for several days, but she didn't think it was serious and didn't pay much attention to it.
Unexpectedly, these past few days have seen refugees coming up the mountain and people fleeing and encountering wildfires, which frightened her greatly and exacerbated her abdominal pain.
Jiang Yimian frowned and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
The other person was extremely weak. If she hadn't discovered it in time, the baby in her womb would have been lost sooner or later, and it would have caused great harm to Liu Xiaoyun's body.
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