After Ning Huan and Yang Shi led the villagers up the mountain and searched for half a day, they still couldn't find a single person.
One of the villagers said with some concern, "Jing'an's wife, could it be that the four little ones went deep into the mountains together?"
Upon hearing this, Yang's expression changed instantly. The depths of the mountains were a place rarely visited even by villagers, and the village elders said that wild animals roamed there.
Many years ago, a hunter went into the village and never came out again. Over time, no one dared to go in anymore.
So when villagers go up the mountain, they only walk around the entrance to the forest; they never go inside to chop firewood or do other such things.
"Uncle, let's look again. Xiaoshu and the others definitely wouldn't go that way. How could those little ones know the way to the mountains and forests?"
Yang's voice trembled slightly, and seemed to carry a hint of pleading.
Ning Huan frowned. The villagers were right. They had been searching on the mountain for a while. Logically speaking, even if Yang Xiaoshu and the four little ones were deliberately hiding, they should have been discovered by now.
But after searching for a long time, they still couldn't find a single person.
This means that these little guys must be somewhere they haven't looked, but there's only one place on the entire mountain that no one has ever been to.
That was deep in the mountains and forests.
Ning Huan looked up and saw the dark, gloomy entrance to the mountain forest. The trees on the side looked somewhat eerie because they were draped in the cloak of night.
If those little ones are really inside, then she has to go in and rescue them.
She snatched Yang's torch and said, "Sister-in-law, you lead everyone to search around here, I'll go in and take a look."
As she was about to rush into the forest, Yang cried out anxiously, "Sister, it's dangerous in there! Not to mention us women, even the men in the village wouldn't dare to go in. Come out quickly!"
Ning Huan slowly stopped and returned. She looked at Yang Shi and said, "Sister-in-law, if Xiao Shu and the others are really inside, would you go in to save them?"
Ms. Yang seemed very reluctant to hear that her children might be inside. She hurriedly smiled and said, "Sister, didn't I just say that those little ones don't know the way at all? How could they possibly go in?"
Ning Huan said seriously, "If they don't know the way at all, and it's so dark, isn't it possible that they got lost and wandered into the mountains?"
When Ning Huan presented the facts, Yang was speechless.
That's right. If these little guys don't know the way at all, they could very well have wandered in if they got lost in the dark.
Otherwise, how could the villagers have searched for so long without finding her child?
Yang gritted her teeth, looked up at Ning Huan, and said firmly, "If Xiaoshu is really inside, I will risk my life to find him."
Hearing Yang's reply, Ning Huan nodded: "Me too, so sister-in-law, you take the villagers and continue searching on the mountain, I'll go in and take a look."
Then she tucked the grass-cutting knife that a villager had brought up the mountain into her waistband, and walked away without looking back, ignoring the many villagers trying to stop her.
In the mountains and forests swallowed by the night, only the howling wind whistles past your ears.
Ning Huan gritted her teeth and stepped inside. The torches of the villagers behind her moved further and further away, gradually turning into scattered little lights, like stars falling from the sky.
As Ning Huan walked further and further away, the scattered little dots gradually disappeared.
At this moment, Yang Xiaoshu and the four little ones finally walked out of the place where they had just been circling, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
But what to do next left the four little ones in a dilemma.
Yang Xiaoshu thought for a moment and said, "My mother said that the stars in the sky can guide people. We can look up at the stars and then head north, and we'll definitely find our way back."
Then the four little dumplings and Yang Xiaoshu looked up at the sky, but the towering and lush trees in the forest filled the sky, and apart from the tangled branches and dense leaves, they could not see any stars at all.
Yang Xiaoshu's face immediately turned pale, and he even burst into tears the next second, feeling wronged.
"My mom never told me that I wouldn't be able to see the sky from up here! I wish I could grow bigger, taller than these trees, then I could definitely see the stars. We definitely wouldn't get lost!"
The four little ones seemed to have gotten used to it. They comforted Yang Xiaoshu, saying, "It's okay, we'll think of another way."
"When we grow up, we'll definitely be better than we are now!"
A gust of wind blew by, extinguishing the tinder in Da Bao's hand. Darkness suddenly settled around the little ones.
After Da Bao took out a new tinderbox and lit it, Xiao Si Bao and Xiao San Bao hugged each other tightly, while Xiao Er Bao stood stiffly in place, too scared to even speak.
Yang Xiaoshu tried to ease the tension by saying, "Although we're lost, we still have tinder to light our way. If we keep searching, we'll definitely find our way out."
Xiao Erbao nodded: "Yes, if all else fails, we can stay in this forest for the night. We'll definitely find the way after dawn tomorrow."
As soon as Xiao Erbao finished speaking, Xiao Sibao sneezed.
Recently, as the weather has turned cooler, her mother has been telling her that she is weak and needs to wear thicker clothes.
She didn't think much of it when she came out, and went up the mountain wearing only a single layer of clothing.
Xiao Sanbao felt Xiao Sibao trembling uncontrollably in his arms. He shook his head and said, "We can't stay here tonight. Xiao Sibao isn't wearing enough clothes; she'll freeze to death!"
Not only the four little ones, but all the other children were not dressed warmly enough. If they couldn't find a safe place to shelter from the wind, they would all freeze to death in the forest where the temperature difference between day and night was huge.
Da Bao chimed in, "Xiao San Bao is right. We can't spend the night in the woods. And we need to find a way out as soon as possible because we only have two tinderboxes left."
No sooner had they finished speaking than the sound of wolves howling came from afar. This time, the sound was neither near nor far, but it made the little ones' legs tremble.
Da Bao lowered his voice and said, "This wolf howl isn't a safe signal for us either. If we run into a pack of wolves, we're really doomed!"
At this moment, Ning Huan also heard the wolf howling, and her expression changed instantly.
Yang said there are many wild beasts in these mountains. If Yang Xiaoshu and the four little ones are really in the deep forest, they might get lost and run into some wild beast, which would be terrible.
Thinking this, Ning Huan walked faster; she needed to find the little ones as soon as possible.
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