The sun was high in the sky, and the warm March sun was still quite strong.
Fresh wild grass sprouted anew on the fertile land that had been soaked by rain overnight. The crystal-clear water droplets on the leaves were baked by the sun and evaporated into steam, and an unbearable heat and humidity suddenly rose from the entire wasteland.
Inside the damp, narrow pit, the huddled dark figure had fallen asleep sometime earlier, vaguely feeling as if he were placed in a steamer basket filled with steamed buns, stuffy and hot.
With a sudden "whoosh," he took a deep breath, the damp smell mixed with the stench of earth jolting him awake.
All he saw was darkness. After a moment, he realized where he was. He slowly turned around, and blinding light shone through the cave entrance, making his vision go black.
He licked his dry, chapped lips, swallowed hard, and felt a stinging pain in his throat from the dryness of his mouth.
A wave of nausea rose in his stomach. He hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days. If he didn't go out to find food and water soon, he would surely die quietly in this damp, hot pit.
The gunfire outside seemed to have stopped long ago; the only sound outside the pit was the rustling of wild grass stretching its branches and basking in the sunlight.
During the daytime, he cautiously crawled out of the pit little by little, first peeking out half of his head, looking left, right, up, and down, but there was no one in sight.
Then he quickly crawled out of the hole and ran wildly toward the boundary of the territory.
He was glad that the territory was vast enough, otherwise the lord would have surely discovered their presence.
Last night, he tried to leave, but kept running into walls made of mutated plants as if he were in a maze. He secretly prayed that it was just a coincidence that he lost his way at night, and that if he ran in a direction he had never been before, there would be no more green walls.
Unfortunately, there is no room for luck in reality.
Another green wall appeared in front of us, not only taller than the one we saw last night, but also with much more active green thorny vines that twined around it.
As soon as they caught a whiff of his scent, the branches snapped up and stretched out toward him with a seemingly slow but actually rapid motion.
Seeing this, he almost collapsed to his knees in despair.
However, his survival instinct compelled him to muster the last of his strength, turn around, and run.
To his utter surprise, as soon as he turned around, two dark gun barrels appeared in front of him, pointed directly at him.
"Hello!" Meng Er raised an eyebrow and greeted him.
Meng Dabai glanced at his younger brother and said sternly, "If you don't want to die, take off all your clothes, cover your head, and lie face down on the ground."
A man covered in mud, his green hair tangled in filthy strands, and sporting a stubble-covered face, slowly raised his hands, his eyes innocent as he said:
"I was just a hunter who accidentally chased a mutated bird into this territory. The moment I realized I had stepped into someone else's territory, I was ready to retreat. I didn't expect to encounter that green wall of mutated plants, which is why I couldn't leave in time."
As he spoke, he shrugged his shoulders, and two dull black feathers drifted down.
The monkey sister stepped out from behind the two brothers, picked up the two feathers, and squeaked twice in surprise.
It glanced at the man suspiciously, then hopped back and said to Zhao Xiaoxiu: "It really is bird feathers, he wasn't lying!"
Zhao Xiaoxiu took the two feathers that Sister Monkey brought back, tilted her head and looked at the two Meng brothers. The two of them frowned, seemingly caught in self-doubt.
Even though there was only this green-haired stranger in front of them in their territory, and he just made a casual excuse, the two brothers actually started to doubt themselves and wonder if they had arrested the wrong person.
Zhao Xiaoxiu then looked at Sister Monkey, who was gesturing to her and asking if she wanted to search the hillside behind the mountain.
Finally, the gaze passed through the Meng brothers and landed on the green-haired man who was still pitifully arguing and looking innocent, trying to get the two brothers to take him out.
"He's lying, Uncle Meng, Second Uncle Meng, can't you tell?"
The two brothers turned to look at Zhao Xiaoxiu together, "What?"
Even Sister Monkey scratched her cheek and looked at Zhao Xiaoxiu in confusion, "Squeak squeak!" That person is lost.
Zhao Xiaoxiu took a deep breath and shouted, "He's lying!"
"Both of these feathers are dry; they're definitely not freshly plucked feathers from a mutated bird from the last couple of days!"
Upon hearing the roar, the Meng brothers and Sister Monkey were startled and suddenly realized that they might have been subjected to some kind of mental suggestion. The two brothers slapped themselves and immediately came to their senses, then rushed towards the green-haired man together.
The green-haired man, who hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days, knew he had no strength to resist. Seeing the situation was dire, he retreated while anxiously explaining:
"I'm really not a bad person, it's all a misunderstanding, please let me explain... Ouch!"
Meng Er kicked him to the ground and then pinned him down.
Soon, Meng Er stripped the green-haired man naked, leaving him only in his underwear. His hands were tied behind his back, and Meng Da bound him tightly with a belt.
Monkey Sister gathered up all the things she had stripped off his body, angrily yelled at the green-haired man, "You big liar!" and spat in his face.
Zhao Xiaoxiu jumped onto Monkey Sister's shoulder, raised her chin at the Meng brothers, and said, "Take them away!"
Only then did the green-haired man realize whose innocent, childlike voice had come from. He suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed excitedly, "It's you! I've seen you before! I've seen you before!"
Zhao Xiaoxiu turned around and glanced at him strangely. He was unshaven, his hair was dirty, and he wasn't wearing any clothes. It was really hard to look at him.
Make a face at him and have Uncle Meng gag him. Why are you shouting so loudly? Are you afraid that the people outside the territory won't hear you?
"Dad, we're back!" Zhao Xiaoxiu jumped off Monkey Sister's shoulder and shouted as soon as she entered the door.
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