She paused, looking at Aunt Zhao and the others' inquisitive eyes, and then ended the conversation abruptly, "It just so happened to come in handy at that time. I can't go into details about how it changed, it's just a cooking skill."
The coldness and rejection in her tone were obvious.
She no longer needs to bother explaining anything.
She saw clearly the silence and hesitation of this group last night, and the fleeting glances in their eyes that seemed to want to sacrifice her.
Although she would have chosen the option with the least sacrifice and the greatest gain if the choice had been hers, she simply couldn't accept that this situation had fallen on her shoulders...
She made up her mind to find an opportunity to take Xiao Tao away from the group in the next day or two.
She didn't want to travel with these people anymore.
Aunt Zhao and the others opened their mouths, wanting to ask what kind of "magic trick" could replace such a large bucket of water, but looking at her calm yet distant eyes, the words stuck in their throats, and they were too embarrassed to ask any further.
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
After hesitating several times and not knowing what to say, the three of them turned and left.
Not long after, the village chief sighed and slowly strolled over.
He sat down next to Jiang Chan.
“Jiang girl…” his voice was weary, “Last night… it was all thanks to your wake-up call. If it weren’t for you… sigh…”
He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, "Given the situation at the time... the villagers... had no choice... please don't take it to heart..."
"Mmm," Jiang Chan responded, her eyes fixed on the distance. "May the Mountain God protect us."
The old village chief choked up, the words of comfort he had prepared stuck in his throat.
He rubbed his rough hands together and changed direction. "Everyone... has never seen anything like that before... it was a bit scary... please don't blame me..."
"What's there to blame?" Jiang Chan twitched the corner of her mouth, her tone still calm. "The Mountain God has made the arrangements. Those who are meant to live, live; those who are meant to die, die."
"..."
The village chief was completely speechless.
After hesitating for a long time, he could only pat his knees and stand up, saying, "Then you... rest..." His tone was full of helplessness.
"Wait a minute," Jiang Chan suddenly said.
The village chief turned around.
“The map,” Jiang Chan held out her hand, “let me see it.”
"A map?" The village chief was taken aback, then realized what he was doing and quickly pulled out the old, yellowed, and curled simple map from his pocket and handed it over. "Okay, okay, take a look."
Jiang Chan unfolds the map.
The rough strokes depict mountains, rivers, and a few place names.
She pointed to several small black dots near the mountains and forests on the map.
"This village?"
"Oh, Jingugou, it's deserted now, it's so dry."
"This forest?"
"Wild Boar Slope is densely forested. There used to be hunters there, but now... I guess there are no living creatures left."
"This river? There's water upstream?"
"The Blackwater River has dried up long ago; the riverbed is exposed. Upstream? Upstream is just barren mountains; I haven't heard of any water there..."
Jiang Chan asked very detailed questions, all about remote places.
The village chief answered all his questions, wondering to himself: Why is this girl asking about such a godforsaken place? But he didn't ask any further.
After Jiang Chan finished reading the map, she rolled it up and returned it to the village chief. "Okay, I understand."
The village chief took the map, seemed to want to ask something, but ultimately didn't speak. He sighed and silently walked back to the crowd.
Jiang Chan leaned back against the cart and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.
The whispers around me were like the buzzing of mosquitoes, yet they penetrated my ears clearly.
"...It's really cruel..."
"...It's like he's become a completely different person..."
"...Did she really kill those people? No way..."
“I asked around, no one else was killed… Who else was killed besides her… She was the first one…”
"...That look in his eyes yesterday...it was terrifying..."
"...Stay away from me in the future..."
"...It's the Mountain God possessing him..."
She remained motionless, as if asleep.
Only Xiao Tao nestled beside her, her little hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, completely unaware of the complex and fearful gazes directed at them.
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