An hour later, the senior brothers returned to the cave looking somewhat disheveled. By then, Xingxing was already asleep on the dry grass, covered with a long robe.
The senior brothers were not fond of noise, so none of them spoke after they came in. Fu Ge and the others also tacitly refrained from speaking loudly, but instead diligently served the senior brothers meat soup.
"I put ginger in the broth. I originally wanted to make you some ginger soup to drink first, but I thought you're all strong and healthy, and you wouldn't catch a cold just from getting caught in the rain, so I put the ginger in the broth to cook together. How does it taste? Isn't it pretty good?" Zhu Changge teased.
"The meat smells delicious, and the soup is a little spicy. It's very pleasant to drink," Zhu Qiuyu replied with a smile.
"Luckily, it didn't rain heavily again, otherwise, being cold and hungry in the middle of the night, I might have caught a cold tomorrow." Zhu Xichen leaned against the cave wall, holding a wooden bowl, looking rather lazy.
Zhu Chumo didn't want to talk. He lowered his eyes and drank the meat soup by himself. Every now and then, he would glance at Zhu Lin. His junior brother said that he could make medicinal powder, so he gave his junior brother the opportunity to make full use of it, but he would not go over to help and let him do it on his own.
"Give me another bowl." Zhu Yueran quickly finished a bowl of meat soup and handed the empty bowl to Zhou Dafu.
Zhou Dafu smiled kindly at him, took the bowl, and filled it to the brim with many chunks of meat.
It wasn't until the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) that everyone lay down to rest. Zhu Lin had also finished developing the medicinal powder to restrain the silver-tipped snake, and he immediately showed it to Zhu Chumo.
Zhu Chumo's face, which had been slightly gloomy, softened after he finished examining the medicinal powder. He gave his junior brother a deep look and said, "I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to actually know how to make medicine."
"I learned it from you." Zhu Lin said calmly, not thinking it was anything special.
“I remember you’ve hardly ever been to my pharmacy since you were a child.”
Although he would stay for a whole day each time he went there and watch him concoct medicine attentively, he wouldn't be surprised if his junior brother had learned to make ordinary medicines, but in the end, he was able to make such rare and hard-to-find medicinal powders, which really made him want to praise him.
He is indeed a genius.
"Yes, but I have a good memory, so I remember it quite comprehensively." Zhu Lin smiled faintly, his young smile radiant and very handsome.
Even though he was used to the boy's face, Zhu Chumo was still momentarily stunned. No wonder his junior brother always pretended to be aloof; his appearance was truly eye-catching. If he didn't try to hide it, he would cause an accident.
At 3:45 AM, Xingxing suddenly shivered in her sleep, then sat up abruptly, her little face filled with panic, her big almond eyes showing fear.
The boy sitting next to him immediately opened his eyes. "Don't be afraid, those poisonous creatures can't get in."
Zhu Lin knew what the stars had foreseen, for he heard a piercing sound coming from afar, like the hiss of a snake, or the strange cries of thousands of insects.
The night was deep, the rain had stopped outside, but the fog in the forest was so thick that one could not see the surrounding scenery.
Zhu Qiuyu and the others also stared solemnly in the direction of the cave. Fu Ge and the others were awakened by the noise. Although they were all speaking in hushed tones, they were not stupid. After last night's situation, they dared not fall into a deep sleep and remained vigilant.
"Are those snakes here?" Zhou Erfu couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere and had to say something to break the silence.
"So many tiny silver snakes and insects, no, they're snakes crawling towards us, getting closer and closer."
Xingxing's eyes widened as the image of those reptiles with needle-like mouths and bodies that could be hard or soft sent chills down her spine and made the hairs on her body stand on end.
Estimating that the swarm of silver-tipped snakes would rush toward the cave entrance where they were in another quarter of an hour, Zhu Lin stood up and signaled to his senior brothers and sisters that they could make their move.
"What about me? What should we do?" Xingxing asked anxiously as Zhu Lin was about to leave, her voice rising in a high-pitched tone.
The boy curled his lips at her words, "Wu Fu has a few packets of medicine powder. After we leave, sprinkle them at the cave entrance to prevent any stray poisonous creatures from coming here. We'll deal with the snakes. Don't worry, it'll be over soon."
She watched with longing eyes as Zhu Lin and his men left. She frowned, then sat down angrily. This was a critical moment, and she couldn't be unreasonable and hold everyone back. She had to be obedient.
"Sister, your second brother is so sad. Ever since you got together with Brother Lin, you haven't been as close to us brothers. Do you despise us?" Zhou Erfu covered his face and sobbed, half-jokingly.
"Oh dear, Second Brother, stop crying! What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly dislike you? You're my own brothers, not like Brother Lin. You're different, you know?" Xingxing explained in a clear voice.
"How is it different?" Erfu looked at her.
"...Well, it's just different. Why are you so insistent? I can't explain exactly how it's different right now. I'll tell you when I've figured it out. Right now, we can't fight amongst ourselves. We need to unite to resist the danger, or we'll all be doomed." Xingxing said earnestly and patiently.
Why is my second brother acting up now?
"Fifth Brother, take out the powder. Let's go to the cave entrance and sprinkle some powder. How much powder do we have? Let's put some on ourselves too." Xingxing, like a little adult, began to give her older brothers instructions.
Watching the little girl bustling about, Zhou Erfu leaned close to Zhou Sanfu and whispered, "Third brother, you're the smartest. What do you think Xingxing meant by 'we' and Zhu Lin are different'?"
Zhou Sanfu couldn't help but roll his eyes. "What did Xingxing just say? That I'm her biological brother, but Zhu Lin isn't."
Tuesday, Fu Yixi said, "That's why we're the closest to my sister."
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