Afterwards, due to fatigue from the journey and the sudden force of the mermaid, I was caught off guard and my head hit the ground. My blood was boiling and I lay in a trance. I fell into a light sleep for a while, during which I vaguely heard the sounds of the girls walking around me, and Bai Lu applying medicine and taking my pulse. When I woke up, it was completely dark. Only the area around the campfire was still bright, and the girls were sitting around the campfire, talking and cooking.

I saw a lot of fish, crabs and other things on the wall, and there was even a piranha with its throat bitten apart hanging on the beam. There was also a wild boar that had just died on the ground. Its method of death was also very cruel. Its throat was bitten and it bled to death. There were also many tearing scratches on its body. The wounds were so deep that the tendons and bones could be faintly exposed. Before death, its expression was terrified and it died with its eyes open. It was obvious what a brutal attack it had suffered. Now its stomach was ripped open, and I guess its internal organs would be its dinner tonight.

The most terrifying thing is that this wild boar is a strong adult wild boar, not an old, weak or sick one. It is in its prime, strong and healthy and rarely gets hunted to death. This is not in line with the natural law of survival of the fittest.

Feeling something was strange, I got out of bed and walked to the campfire. Yunwen and Yingchun came over to support me. They were unwilling to give in to each other, so they supported me on the left and right, and immediately put their arms around my waist. The more they could hold, the better. It was the first time I was so popular.

"It's okay, I can get over there by myself. My arms are not okay, but my legs are fine," I said.

"Help me, you don't want it for nothing." Yingchun said.

"You just woke up and your body is still weak. Please support me first." Yunwen also said.

Yingchun glared at Yunwen, and the two were about to fight again. I quickly said, "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. Help me over."

They helped me sit on the Eight Immortals Chair. There was a bonfire in the earthen basin on the ground. Sitting here made me feel much warmer. Then Yunwen poured me some tea. Yingchun immediately grabbed the cup and prepared to feed me. Yunwen grabbed it back again, and the soup spilled all over me. The two of them hurriedly wiped it for me, and then they started to compete secretly. Bailu spoke at this time: "Can you take care of the patient?"

Then it stopped and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I saw Bai Lu washing black fungus, and what was stewing in the pot was probably pig intestines or something, with a smell of Chinese medicine and fish. There was also grilled fish, and it turned out to be piranhas.

"Bai Lu, aren't we making too much? Meat is hard to get, so the black fungus and pig intestine soup will be enough. As for the fish, wait until I get some fine salt and we continue to marinate them and eat them. How about it?" I asked.

"It's okay. We have the ugly monster. It's different from before. We don't need to be so tight on money. After we finish eating, we can let it do it again, right, Yingchun?" Bailu said.

"Yes, Brother Zhou Bo, you, a country kid, have never had a good life. You always think about saving money. Eat when you are hungry and drink when you are thirsty. Don't worry about not having food. We have the ugly monster. You can have as much as you want. Do you see the wild boar on the ground? It was just killed yesterday. These seven or eight piranhas were all caught by it. During the few days when you were away, it gave me whatever I wanted. There was no shortage of food. It didn't matter if I had fish and meat every day." Yingchun said.

"Big fish and meat every day?" I asked.

"Yes, as long as I like it, the ugly monster will do it for me. You hear the squeaking sound outside, right? Isn't the water frozen? I let the ugly monster turn the water wheel for me. It is willing to turn it for a whole day. Now it is turning outside. It will not dare to come in unless I call it in." Yingchun showed off to me proudly.

"But Zhou Bo was pushed by it just now." Yunwen said.

"That's because it thought Brother Zhou Bo was going to hurt me, so it came to protect me. As long as I teach it, it promises that it won't do it again." Yingchun said.

I always feel like something is wrong. What's wrong with this mermaid? Why does she listen to Yingchun so much?

I also thought of that night when Yingchun was angry with me and flew to the gate of the courtyard, but suddenly disappeared. She was not abducted by the red-eyed monster, but was kidnapped and hidden by the mermaid. I don’t know where she was hidden. I haven’t seen Yingchun for two or three days since then.

"Yingchun, I know you are capable, but it's freezing outside now. It's not right to let your mermaid friend stay here and catch the cold while doing meaningless things. Let it come back to keep warm. Besides, every ecosystem has its own balance. You kill so many fish at one time, and these wild boars are not killed for the sick and disabled, but the strongest ones. This will affect the balance of many ecosystems." I said.

"Hey, if it wants to do something to you, just let it do it. There's so much trouble. And hunting is not right. Are you targeting me? If we don't kill these animals, what will we eat? Northwest wind? Ridiculous." Yingchun rolled her eyes at me.

I sighed. Even though I felt it was inappropriate, there was no need to make a fuss about it. Food was scarce in winter, so whatever we had would count.

Afterwards, each person had a bowl of herbal pork intestine soup, accompanied by grilled fish with seasonings, and three grilled fish in total, and some cold-mixed black fungus and some wild vegetable roots that had not changed for a hundred years. Everyone ate with relish. It was a great recharge after the journey. The meal was quite satisfying, with oil dripping from our mouths. It was still more luxurious than the celebration banquet.

But Yingchun never had the intention to call the mermaid in. It was not until we were left with only leftovers that she shouted twice: "Ugly freak! Ugly freak!"

The mermaid then came into the house with a clatter, and Yingchun threw the uneaten fish heads and fish bones on the ground. The mermaid began to chew them with a crunching sound, and didn't mind at all even though they were covered with dust from the ground.

I felt particularly uncomfortable watching it, so I poured a bowl of soup into it, which had some pig intestines in it. It looked at me in confusion, grabbed the pig intestines and started to tear them apart, and gulped them down very quickly, then looked at Yingchun with its eyes, as if it needed her approval.

"This is a reward from Brother Zhou Bo, so just eat it, it's okay." After Yingchun said this, she looked at me again, as if it was a privilege she gave me.

I couldn't stand it. This mermaid did a lot of things, but was treated worse than a dog. How could he be considered a friend?

Afterwards, I planned to go out for a walk under the pretext of taking a stroll after dinner, and Yunwen hurriedly said that she was going to take care of the horses, and followed her. We both tacitly left the house and headed out to the courtyard.

Both of us probably couldn't bear to see that scene, and felt a little bit overwhelmed, but we couldn't stop it, so we decided to go out and relax, to digest the feeling. She held my hand all the way, and we walked under the starry sky, strolling leisurely, as if this could make both of us feel more comfortable.

We were silent all the way. When she arrived at the stable, she fed hay to Sanfu. I strolled around and saw that the wheat was growing well. I thought that a large amount of it would be wasted no matter how long it lasted, but I didn't expect Yingchun to still take care of it. The wheat field is in good condition, and under the cover of white snow, it is a gray-green color.

For winter wheat, it is necessary to frequently pour frozen water on the soil to prevent one seedling from being frozen to death. The frozen water can keep the soil temperature constant and prevent a large number of seedlings from freezing to death. Fortunately, Yingchun often does this during this period, so the growth is good now, and there will be no problem in the harvest next year.

I looked at other places too. The inn had been repaired and patched up a lot. I have to say the carpentry work was really delicate. In addition, a swing was made somewhere in the corner of the courtyard, and there were many wooden carved Hello Kittys around it, which were quite cute. I guess they were used by Yingchun to kill time when she was bored.

I was watching when Yunwen came over. I turned around to face her, but she looked uneasy. She had just come from the stable, so I thought it must be related to this, so I asked, "What happened to Sanfu?"

Yunwen's watery eyes were filled with heartache and worry as she said to my uncle, "It was very restless and didn't want to eat the grass. It kept wandering around. When I touched its back, I found a scratch mark with blood on it."