In the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain
Ning Huaizhi was frowning as he waited at the door. He had set up a torch there, and an hour had passed since the villagers had finished their dinner and gone home.
Ning Huaizhi, remembering what happened to Jiang Yuwei that day when she returned home late, could no longer wait and hurriedly called out to Ning Wan:
"Wan'er, hurry up and run to the village head's house. Tell him that your mother has not returned since she went up the mountain. Ask him to help find some people to look for your mother. Remember to go and come back quickly. You are a girl and shouldn't stay outside for too long."
Ning Wan was also very anxious at this moment. After hearing Ning Huaizhi's words, she nodded firmly and ran out.
Ning Huaizhi was both anxious and scared. He had never felt this way when he was fighting desperately on the battlefield. He couldn't even imagine what his family would be like if something happened to Jiang Yuwei.
Ning Huaizhi's mind was filled with the image of Jiang Yuwei smiling as she spoke to him, and the way she blushed when he called her "wife."
As he thought about it, endless hatred welled up in Ning Huaizhi's heart. He hated that his legs were unable to walk, that he could not properly protect Jiang Yuwei, and that he could not let her experience the life a woman should enjoy. Instead, since she married him, she had to do the things a man should do every day.
He hated the person who had injured him even more. Just thinking about that person's face made Ning Huaizhi want to tear him to pieces with his teeth. That person only cared about his own honor and disgrace, only thinking about winning military merits, completely disregarding the safety of soldiers and civilians. Now that victory was in sight at the border, that person was afraid that he would steal the credit when he returned to the capital, so he devised a treacherous plan to harm him to this extent.
Ning Huaizhi stared intently at the direction of the mountain, listening to the sounds coming from within. He desperately hoped that Jiang Yuwei would run down the mountain and throw herself into his arms. As Ning Huaizhi was lost in thought, he saw a group of people carrying torches walking towards his courtyard from the direction of the village.
The village head was the first to arrive at the courtyard gate:
"Huaizhi, when did your wife go up the mountain? Why hasn't she come back yet?"
Ning Huaizhi was deeply moved to see that most of the people who came were strong men from the village, so he cupped his hands in greeting to them and said:
"I need to trouble the villagers to help me find my wife today. She came up the mountain from this direction this morning and hasn't come down yet. I'm afraid she might have encountered danger or gotten lost."
Ning Huaizhi thought for a moment and then continued:
"Please split into two groups. The older ones should search along the foot of the mountain, while the younger ones should search for my wife's footprints along the path leading up the mountain. You can form groups of three or two. Do not act alone. Also, bring any useful tools you may have."
Ning Huaizhi finished speaking in one breath, then bowed to the villagers and said:
"I can't move my leg right now, so my wife's life depends entirely on the villagers. I'll stay home and cook a meal while I wait for good news from everyone."
Seeing that Ning Huaizhi was indeed anxious, and thinking that his method was good, the villagers all chimed in:
"Huaizhi, just stay home and wait for our news."
"That's right, don't worry, Huaizhi, we will do our best to find him."
The village headman selected a few team leaders and ordered them to scatter and search for the person.
He then glanced at Ning Huaizhi and said in a deep voice:
“Yuwei is a good girl, and we will do our best to find her, but if she goes into the deep mountains, then... then her life or death is in the hands of fate, and you should be prepared.”
After saying this, the village head sighed and turned to join the search party.
Ning Huaizhi stared blankly at the village head's retreating figure and murmured:
"Is life and death truly preordained, Yuwei? Where are you?"
Little did Jiang Yuwei know that the people at the foot of the mountain were going crazy searching for her; at that moment, she was sleeping soundly against Xiao Jiu's belly, drooling.
Jiang Yuwei didn't feel cold until dawn. When she opened her eyes, she saw a python as thick as her waist hanging from a tree.
Its dark green eyes were fixed on her, constantly flicking its tongue at her. Little Jiu, who had also woken up, was also staring at the python without moving.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei broke out in a cold sweat. She gripped the dagger tightly in one hand, grabbed the basket on her back with the other, and jumped up and ran.
"Xiao Jiu, run, run, catch up, quick!"
As Jiang Yuwei ran, she kept looking back to see if Xiao Jiu was following. She saw Xiao Jiu breathing heavily on the python, and only caught up after Jiang Yuwei had run far away.
Jiang Yuwei felt a little relieved when she saw Xiao Jiu following her, but she didn't dare to stop yet. She was afraid that the python would catch up again, so she kept looking back as she ran. But she tripped over a big rock and tumbled down the hillside.
Jiang Yuwei exclaimed in surprise:
"Ah, I don't want to die yet."
Seeing this, Xiao Jiu ran over quickly. Fortunately, the hillside was relatively small, and Jiang Yuwei rolled for a while before falling onto another protruding boulder.
Jiang Yuwei struggled to her feet and looked down into the abyss below the giant mountain. She felt a sense of relief, realizing how lucky she was. Had she rolled any further, she would have been smashed to pieces.
As Jiang Yuwei was pondering how to climb up, she spotted a cluster of ginseng leaves nestled among the boulders and cracks in the mountainside. Delighted, she eagerly went to dig them up.
Unexpectedly, this ginseng had a well-developed root system, making it very difficult to dig up. But the more difficult it was, the happier Jiang Yuwei became. If she could dig up a thousand-year-old ginseng, wouldn't she be able to cure Ning Huaizhi's leg?
Jiang Yuwei dug until dawn before finally managing to unearth the ginseng. She carefully examined it in her hand and discovered that this wild ginseng was at least a hundred years old. Although it wasn't a thousand years old, Jiang Yuwei was still very happy. As long as it was planted in her space, she believed that it wouldn't be long before it would reach the medicinal effects of a thousand years old.
Thinking this, Jiang Yuwei couldn't wait to plant it in her space, and then watered it with spiritual spring water before leaving the space with peace of mind. Meanwhile, Xiao Jiu on the hillside was already impatient, pacing back and forth anxiously, calling out:
"Meow, meow, meow meow meow"
Hearing Xiao Jiu's cries, Jiang Yuwei quickly called out to comfort her:
"Xiao Jiu, it's okay, I'll be up in a bit, just wait for me!"
Jiang Yuwei looked at the vines growing down the hillside, gritted her teeth and tried to grab the vines to climb up, but the vines were wet and slippery, and she slipped down after only a few steps.
Jiang Yuwei looked at her tattered clothes, tore two strips of cloth from her sleeves and wrapped them around her hands, then took out the dagger.
She continued to climb up the vine, and this time, with the cloth as a barrier, the vine was not so difficult to grasp. However, when she was halfway up, the vine suddenly became thinner, and the vine that Jiang Yuwei was holding suddenly broke without warning.
Just then, Jiang Yuwei swiftly inserted the dagger into the crevice in the rock, and then, using all her strength, she lay prone on the mountainside, trembling and covered in a cold sweat.
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