Chapter 75: A life-or-death struggle
"Well, very good. Then help me raise some black carp, Mekong fish, and mandarin fish." Wu Yuetang nodded with great satisfaction. After casually mentioning a few types of fish, the fish pond became visibly lively.
Then he sorted out the things in the space and exchanged half of the inventory for mall points. At this time, the mall points had reached more than 500,000, which could be exchanged for a lot of good things, even one or two solar panels.
After searching the mall, Wu Yuetang didn't exchange anything in the end. She decided to keep it for now in case she needed it urgently in the future.
Then he took out some previously cured bacon and pork jerky from the space, found a basin full of duck eggs, and walked out of the space. Wu Zhiyun watched Wu Yuetang come out of the tent with a basin full of duck eggs, her mouth wide open enough to fit an egg.
"Little sister, where did you get this from?"
"Don't ask so many questions, you'll know when the time comes. Come here, I'll teach you how to make preserved eggs." Wu Yuetang said as she walked out of the cave with the basin in her hand. She found a piece of land with less snow and started digging mud. She smeared it on the duck eggs while digging. Wu Zhiyun also ran over to help.
"We have to knead this mud until it's not sticky anymore." Wu Yuetang added a handful of salt to the mud, her fingertips red from the cold, but she still worked swiftly. Wu Zhiyun followed suit clumsily, mud splashing all over his face, like a loach just fished out of the mud.
"Little sister, do you think this is okay?" He raised his muddy hands and smiled foolishly.
Wu Yuetang was about to laugh when she saw Ye Jingchen coming out of the snowy mountains, carrying two plump hares. The wind and snow were blowing all over him, and a layer of white frost formed on his eyelashes. "You're back?" She looked up.
"I ran into two silly rabbits who bumped into a tree in the snow." Ye Jingchen's voice was tinged with laughter. He sent the rabbits into the cave and glanced at the two newly dug small plots of land in the corner of the cave - the soil there had been loosened and a low wall of stones had been built around the edges, which clearly showed that they had been carefully crafted. He handed the rabbits to Li and turned around to walk out. He saw the mud on Wu Zhiyun's face and couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe it off for him. "Why are you playing in the mud outside?"
Wu Zhiyun chuckled and suddenly pointed at the sky: "Hey! Look at the snow, it seems to be a little smaller."
Everyone looked up and saw that the wind and snow had indeed subsided, revealing the dark green branches of the pine trees. Inside the cave, Li was preparing a rabbit, the blade of his knife gleaming in the firelight. Hearing the exclamations outside, he shouted, "Wait until the snow stops, and have your eldest brother look for wild vegetables nearby. We're getting tired of eating meat all the time."
"I'm going too!" Wu Zhiyun immediately raised her hand, but was held back by Wu Yuetang: "You should knead the mud for the preserved eggs first." She turned to look at Ye Jingchen, "I also prepared some chili seeds. Once the soil warms up, maybe they can be planted."
Ye Jingchen nodded: "I'll go chop some more wood and reinforce the fences around here." He looked at the gradually decreasing wind and snow, his eyes calm - he always felt that something was wrong in the cave these days. The Wang family's eyes became more and more sinister, and the Wu family looked at them with an indescribable weirdness in their eyes, so he had to be on guard.
The fire in the cave crackled and the aroma of barbecue gradually spread.
At this time, in a mansion in a corner of the capital.
"Liuwan Village, Qingshi Town..." Prince Jing Xiao Chengyu gripped the thin file, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. On the rosewood desk lay dozens of files concerning the "Chen Prince's Disappearance Case," the cover of the topmost one frayed.
Qin Feng, the commander of the secret guards, stood below with his head lowered, sweat oozing from his forehead. "Your Highness, that family's surname is Ye, and they are ordinary farmers. Many people in the village know about the boy they found back then, but now the Ye family claims he is their youngest son, but no one knows if that's true or not."
"Picked it up?" Xiao Chengyu sneered, his voice icy. "How could a wounded boy survive in such a desolate village without help?" He stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the pomegranate tree in the courtyard, bare by the cold wind. "Seventh brother was injured in the battle and fell off a cliff, and this jade pendant was all he had with him." He opened his palm, revealing a jade pendant lying quietly, only a piece was missing from the corner. "Qin Feng, tell me, could such a coincidence happen in this world?"
Qin Feng's heart was shocked: "Your Highness means..."
"Prepare the horses." Xiao Chengyu turned around, his dark brocade robe sweeping across the ground, bringing with it a gust of cold wind. "I will personally go to Qingshi Town."
"Your Highness, you can't!" Qin Feng hurriedly dissuaded him, "You are of noble status. Qingshi Town is remote and cold. If..."
"What if Seventh Brother is really there?" Xiao Chengyu interrupted, his eyes sharp as a knife. "If I hadn't insisted on him garrisoning the border, how could he have been ambushed by the enemy? For so many years, I've dreamed of him falling off a cliff every night. If there's even a glimmer of hope this time, I'll go and see." He clutched the jade pendant tightly. "Tell them to take enough men and leave quietly. Don't alert anyone."
Qin Feng didn't dare to persuade him anymore and bowed his head to accept the order. After he left, Xiao Chengyu picked up the file again and his eyes fell on the three words "Wu Yuetang" - the file said that this woman's temperament suddenly changed this year, from being lazy and gluttonous to being smart and capable, and she suddenly took in Ye Jingchen, the second son of the Ye family. Although he was taciturn, he was extraordinary.
"Ye Jingchen..." He whispered the name, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table, "Could it be you, Seventh Brother?"
The wind outside the window blew snow foam against the window frame, just like the night three years ago when the cold wind howled on the river, carrying the regret that he could never make up for, swept through his heart again and again.
Deep in the cave, a muffled sound suddenly emanated from Old Man Wang's tent. Wu Houfu puffed on his pipe, his ears perked up—he heard Old Man Wang cursing "waste," Wang Xiaobin wailing, and the old woman shouting "fire stick."
"What are they going to do?" Liu pulled his arm, her voice trembling.
Wu Houfu said nothing, only looking in the direction of the Wang family's tent. A flicker of fire suddenly shone through the gap in the curtains there, then was quickly covered up. His heart skipped a beat, and he extinguished his pipe: "Oh no! They're going to set fire!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the curtain of the Wang family's tent was suddenly thrown back. Wang Xiaobin was holding a wooden stick wrapped in cloth strips, with a flame swaying in his hand. Old Wang followed behind, holding an axe, and the old woman was holding a broken pottery jar, the contents of which were unknown.
"Let's fight them!" Old Man Wang roared and rushed towards the small cave where Wu Yuetang's family lived.
Wu Houfu's heart tightened, and he rushed over without thinking, but was held tightly by Liu: "Where are you going? Are you trying to kill yourself?"
"That's the boss's family!" Wu Houfu's eyes were red. "They're going to burn people to death!"
Meanwhile, in the small cave, Ye Jingchen was nailing the last wooden stake into the fence. Wu Yuetang, holding the freshly mixed mud, suddenly caught a glimpse of the flames in the distance, and her expression suddenly changed: "Not good!"
Ye Jingchen immediately turned around and followed her gaze, his face instantly darkening. He pushed Wu Yuetang into the cave and said, "Go in quickly! Keep an eye on the house!" He then picked up the spear leaning against the edge of the cave, his eyes as cold as the ice and snow outside.
The wind and snow seemed to pick up again, carrying cries of killing and wailing as they rushed towards the small cave. Thousands of miles away, in the capital, a group of black-clad men and horses set out into the night. The dust kicked up by their hooves held a secret that could overturn everything.
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