The river meandered, with shallow beaches along its banks. The two walked downstream for more than two hundred meters and saw that the entire river was cut off by a cliff, with the water rushing down the cliff.
Jiang Xi didn't dare to get too close, but found an angle to peek down.
She was so shocked that she couldn't speak at first glance.
Then you see the river cascading down, forming a waterfall on the cliff. Over the years, it has formed a pool at the bottom of the cliff, surrounded by reeds and cattails.
Even from some distance, you can see that the ecological environment is excellent.
The water in the pool continued to flow downstream, eventually being cut off by a cliff.
Further ahead, the river disappeared from sight, but Jiang Xi could see that the lake where they used to fish was located beneath these two cliffs.
Looking at it, Jiang Xi sighed, "If only there were a road leading to the lake, we wouldn't have to travel all the way around the canyon to fish."
After listening to her, Yan Zheng suddenly thought of the path that Yan Jing'an had led him on before.
There might actually be a shortcut.
It's not a good day to go too far. Once the immediate danger is resolved, he'll take Yan Jing'an on another trip.
After watching the scenery with Jiang Xi for a while, Yan Zheng cautiously observed their surroundings and said, "Let's go back. Don't stay outside for too long, or Yan Jing'an will start to worry."
Jiang Xi nodded, and the two returned along the same route. Along the way, Yan Zheng collected a lot more firewood.
From afar, you could see Yan Jing'an moving bricks at home. The bricks that had been fired earlier had been stored in the pottery kiln room to cool, and today he finally had time to take them all out.
Yan Zheng put down his firewood to help.
Jiang Xi kept some of the mushrooms she picked today for immediate consumption, and put the rest on a flat drying rack to dry.
Around mid-afternoon, after moving the bricks, Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an went to the forest to cut timber. This time they didn't go too far and cut nanmu trees from the surrounding area of the forest.
Most of the selected timbers were 20-centimeter-thick Phoebe zhennan wood, with some 10-centimeter-thick pieces used as auxiliary beams. The tools used were saws found in the blacksmith's shop. Two big men stood on each side to pull the saws, but Yan Zheng still had an injury on his arm, so Yan Jing'an did most of the work.
The two men worked from dawn till dusk for three days to clear and tidy up more than a dozen logs.
During this time, Jiang Xi took care of logistics for the two of them, occasionally bringing them water, cooking meals, tending to the vegetable garden in the field and yard, and feeding the rabbits and ewes in the morning and evening.
If she had a spare moment, she would also learn from Yan Jing'an how to sand wood.
When cleaning up the pottery kiln last time, Jiang Xi found a lot of broken pottery jars. She tidied up these jars and planted wildflowers that she had dug up from the fields and forests.
There was a plant that looked like an orchid, about knee-high, that produced purple or yellow irises. Jiang Xi especially liked it and transplanted several pots of it to the yard.
With Yan Zheng's hand injured, most of the heavy work fell to Yan Jing'an.
When it came time to build the house, even Jiang Xi joined in, working alongside Yan Jing'an to hammer and bang on the walls. The plan for Xiao Lu's house was to build a half-wall with a door on the side, which would be covered with a wooden door and window in the winter.
This way, it won't be too hot in summer or too cold in winter.
With just one less laborer, building the house became a major problem.
Yan Jing'an and Jiang Xi were busy working, and Yan Zheng would occasionally hand them something with one hand. It took them four whole days to build the deer's nest.
Jiang Xi thought to herself that it was fortunate that their house did not need to be rebuilt, otherwise, with their current tools and speed, it might not be possible to finish building it in two or three months.
With a few dozen bricks left, Jiang Xi, concerned that the house didn't have an oven, asked Yan Jing'an to build a bread oven at the kitchen entrance.
After drying for two days, the first meal made in this bread oven was pizza. Jiang Xi used mashed sweet potato as the pizza base and topped it with slices of porcini mushrooms and diced cured meat.
She confidently placed the dish on the table, eagerly watching the two people eat.
Yan Jing'an ate two pieces and finally gave his evaluation: "It tastes pretty good, but it doesn't have much flavor."
Jiang Xi was speechless for a moment. Wasn't it just that it didn't taste good?
These words dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Xi's dream of becoming a chef, causing her to refuse to enter the kitchen for the following week.
For the next few days, the three of them had pretty much the same routine every day.
That morning during training, Yan Zheng was teaching Jiang Xi how to shoot arrows, and she could clearly feel the sluggishness in his arm strength.
Jiang Xi felt uneasy. Logically speaking, Yan Zheng's injury had been recuperating on and off for a month, but he was always restless, wanting to do this and that.
In addition, the wound is deep, and although it looks like it has recovered on the surface, the tendon has not actually fully healed.
That evening, Jiang Xi stewed the last piece of cured beef rib for the three of them to nourish their bodies.
Little Blackie, who had already smelled the aroma, sat eagerly at the table waiting.
Yan Zheng specially picked out two bones and threw them to it.
"Go ahead, take it and eat it."
The little guy was happy and obediently took the bone to a corner to gnaw on it slowly.
It had been drinking goat milk for a month and had grown exceptionally strong, with a body length of over 30 centimeters. At first glance, it looked like a tiger with a fierce appearance.
Relatively speaking, it is quite affectionate. On ordinary days, if there is any disturbance in the yard, it acts like a little housekeeper, checking and managing everything.
Yan Zheng put in a lot of effort to train it to follow people. He would take it with him when he went to feed the rabbits and sheep. Its small body would waddle along behind people.
These past few days I've taken it with me when I go to the fields. Sometimes when it goes into the field, it can catch a couple of field mice.
Even Yan Jing'an mocked him, saying, "The leopard does all the things a cat does."
Everything was proceeding smoothly. Jiang Xi calculated the days and realized it was already mid-February.
The panic caused by the footprint during the last rain seems to have passed.
That day, Yan Zheng called the two of them together to discuss the matter.
He said, "Hiding in the yard all the time isn't a solution. The wild bear is dead. The one left is either a human or an immature bear."
"The fact that there has been no movement for so long means they probably know they are not confident and dare not make a move."
Yan Jing'an snorted: "They think they're so powerful, but they're just small fry. Without their thugs, they're probably scared to death and won't dare to show their faces."
Yan Zheng continued, "We still have to go into the forest to hunt. We won't feel at ease until we meet and see whether it's a human or a ghost."
It's the lean season, and the vegetables in the garden are still small. The three of them can only eat some wild vegetables and root vegetables from the mountain every day.
Jiang Xi's arms have become visibly thinner.
He knew that this was not a good sign if things continued this way.
Jiang Xi, who was listening nearby, objected: "No, your arm isn't fully healed yet."
As she spoke, she put down her water glass and glanced at Yan Zheng's arm: "One week, take another week off, and then go into the mountains again."
She was unusually resolute, and Yan Zheng couldn't bring himself to offer her words of comfort.
So the three of them reached an agreement to go into the mountains to hunt and find food a week later.
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