"Fifth Aunt, what's that sound?"
Chun Di shook her head, looked around, and found no suspicious signs.
"I don't know what that sound was, maybe it was a leaf falling from a tree..."
Song He'er didn't believe it. How big must the leaf be to make a dull thud when it landed?
"It doesn't sound like it to me..."
Chun Di's face looked rather pale. "Don't scare me like that. Never mind, He'er, let's go back..."
"Fifth Aunt, we haven't found anything to eat yet. Are we going back empty-handed? Or should we observe the situation a little longer?"
After being rejected by Song He'er, Chun Di didn't say anything more, but instead cheered up and continued to look for something to eat.
The two walked further and further away, and finally, deep in the forest, they discovered one wild mushroom after another, with green plants that looked like shepherd's purse growing nearby.
Song He'er was momentarily surprised. If there was food in the forest, and it was easy to find, why were there so many people who froze and starved to death ahead? Could it be that they couldn't find this place?
"He'er, this looks like a mushroom to me, is it edible?"
Song He'er quietly plucked a mushroom, brought it to her nose, and smelled it. "It's a wild mushroom, edible. Look ahead, there seem to be many more over there..."
After thinking for a while, Chun Di suddenly said, "Isn't this too much of a coincidence? We just got here and found so much food. If we can find it, then others can too. Everything here would have been taken long ago. Why would we be left here?"
Song He'er carefully recalled what the women had cooked in their pots. Besides wild vegetables, there were indeed other unidentifiable things mixed in, indicating that they had also been here and obtained the food from here.
"Fifth Aunt, I suspect there are their people guarding this place, so the weaker ones can't get into this forest at all and just starve to death..."
Chun Di's face grew even paler. "That's true. If others can't get in, how did we get in?"
Song He'er sensed something was wrong and jogged towards the source of the sound...
Sure enough, in a depression not far away, a pool of glaring blood was discovered.
"He'er, wait for me!"
Chun Di caught up from behind, following Song He'er's gaze...
"Blood! How could there be blood here?" As she spoke, Chun Di picked up a long, thick tree branch from the side and gripped it tightly in her hand.
Song He'er slowly squatted down, reached out her hand, and touched the sticky bloodstain with her fingertips. It was still warm, so it must have been left not long ago.
Could it be that the muffled sound just now was someone falling down?
Just then, Song He'er looked up at the treetops above her...
"A tree trunk has been broken..."
Chun Di followed Song He'er's gaze upwards and saw that among the crisscrossing tree trunks, one was indeed broken.
"Oh, I know! It must be the person who was bleeding. They were hiding in the tree, and when they saw us coming, they accidentally fell down and landed in this dent, leaving a pool of blood..."
Chun Di was much smarter than Chun Rao. After a simple observation, she was able to figure out the key to the matter, which was why Song He'er was willing to come out with her.
"Fifth Aunt, there must have been a fight here before, which is why the people guarding this place are gone, and that's why we were able to walk in smoothly."
"Fight? But who would do that for us? Could it be your brother? Your father?"
Song He'er was speechless for a moment, then shook her head. "That selfish guy, how could he agree? Even if he unintentionally helped me with a small favor, he would want to set off firecrackers so that people ten miles away would know that he is a righteous and responsible father!"
Chun Di sighed and stopped talking.
Song He'er decided to put that problem aside for the time being. The most important thing was to hurry up and bring all the wild mushrooms and vegetables back. These other things could be thought about later...
It took the two of them about the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn before they had cleared everything out of the woods.
These wild mushrooms grow very quickly; a new batch will sprout every two days, and they can be harvested in about ten days.
To make it grow more, Song He'er even broke off some roots and left them under the damp trees.
Chun Di had also gathered the wild vegetables, and the two of them, carrying the sacks on their backs, happily headed back the way they came...
"He'er, you have to walk behind me later. If those people see that we've found something to eat, they'll definitely come and snatch it, especially those crazy women, they're all like poodles!"
Song He'er nodded without saying anything.
The two walked quickly and soon arrived near where Zhang Xiue had set up her tent.
They thought the group of women around them would definitely rush over and snatch it like crazy, but the reality was the opposite of what they imagined.
The madwomen all kept their heads down, not daring to look in this direction. Even the men beside them, who had inexplicably sustained injuries, were now secretly glancing this way.
"He'er, something's strange..."
"Yes, I noticed that too."
"Among those people who can't fight, are they one of them?"
"I don't know, let's hurry up and go, Fifth Aunt, it's not too late to talk about it when we get to Third Aunt's side!"
As Song He'er spoke, she quickened her pace and hurriedly walked to Zhang Xiu'e's side, then unloaded her belongings.
When Zhang Xiue saw them return, she quickly came out to greet them with a beaming smile, "How were you? Tired?"
Chun Di shook her head. "I'm not tired, we brought back a lot of wild mushrooms and vegetables... enough to eat for seven or eight days..."
"Really?" Zhang Xiue said, squatting down and untying the sack to check.
"So many? That's unlikely. How did you manage to bring them all back? Didn't those women cause you any trouble?"
Song He'er shook her head. "No, that's why my fifth aunt and I found it strange! Could it be that someone is secretly helping us?"
Zhang Xiu'e smiled and immediately rejected Song He'er's idea, "Impossible, who would help us? Your father? He's probably long gone and hiding somewhere, why would he care about our lives?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaoniang's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Just mentioning this man made her feel nauseous.
"Forget it, let's just keep an eye on things secretly. If we keep guessing like this, we'll never get to the bottom of it."
After listening for a while, Song Xiaoyu finally replied, "What you said is absolutely right. We should be more careful in the future. If someone really helps us, we should thank them properly. The worst thing is if that person has ill intentions..."
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