Chapter 25
Chapter 25
When Li Si and Zhu Laosan saw Xiao Jingmo and Jin Bao leave, they immediately climbed down from the tree and followed behind them.
“Brother San, why are we following them? We don’t know what’s going on in these woods. What if the wolf pack hasn’t scattered yet? Wouldn’t we be walking straight into a trap?”
Li Si already felt that going down to help kill the wolves earlier had been absurd enough, but Zhu Laosan had said that if everyone didn’t band together against the pack at a time like this, none of them would survive. That was why he had gone down to help.
Now Xiao Jingmo, not fearing death, was actually heading deeper into the forest, and Zhu Laosan insisted on following him. Li Si truly could not understand it.
“Cousin, I keep feeling that this little girl from the Xiao Family isn’t simple. If we follow her, we probably won’t run into danger. I also want to take a look at the situation. We’ve only just left the capital territory, and already so many of the exiles are gone. We bear some responsibility for that too. This is a good chance to check and see how many survivors there are.”
Li Si said nothing more. He only felt that the whole thing was cursed. This trip was turning out to be a complete waste; he hadn’t even earned much silver yet.
Before Jin Bao and Xiao Jingmo reached the place where the wolves had fought, they had already seen quite a few corpses of Xiao Family members along the way.
Most of the bodies belonged to women and children. There were not many adult men.
Crack.
The sound of a branch snapping came from above Xiao Jingmo’s head. He looked up and discovered several people sitting in the tree. They were members of the Xiao Family.
“Xiao Jingmo, you… didn’t see any wolves?”
Xiao Jingmo finally understood why, all along the way, he had seen so few corpses of grown men.
These people had cared only about saving their own lives, abandoning their wives, children, and elderly relatives.
Xiao Jingmo’s chest rose and fell slightly. He gave the men in the tree a cold glance, said nothing, and pulled Jin Bao away.
“Hey? Xiao Jingmo, say something!”
Jin Bao even looked back at those people, not understanding why Second Brother, who was so good-natured, was ignoring them.
“Second Brother, they’re talking to you. Why aren’t you answering them?”
Xiao Jingmo picked Jin Bao up.
“Little Sister, those people are worse than beasts. Even crows know to repay their parents’ kindness, but those people…”
Xiao Jingmo did not continue. Jin Bao half understood and half did not, but she did not ask again.
After walking for nearly half an hour, the smell of blood grew stronger and stronger.
“Second Brother, put Baby down.”
Xiao Jingmo set Jin Bao down. The little one’s short legs spun like wind-and-fire wheels, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.
“Little Sister, slow down.”
Xiao Jingmo hurried after her.
“Second Brother, hurry! So many big piggies! We have meat to eat!”
When Xiao Jingmo heard Jin Bao’s cheerful shout, he quickened his pace.
After rounding a patch of forest, the view before him opened up.
Everywhere were trees snapped in half at the waist, and the ground was a complete mess.
Wolf carcasses and wild boar carcasses could be seen all over the place.
Leaves and weeds had been dyed bright red, and entrails were scattered across the ground.
A foul, fishy stench filled the air, mingling with the rot of fallen leaves and the dampness of the forest as it rushed straight into his face.
Xiao Jingmo bent over on the spot and began to vomit.
Seeing that Xiao Jingmo was suffering, Jin Bao ran over in a few quick steps.
“Second Brother, what’s wrong? Are you scared? They’re all dead now and won’t bite anyone. Don’t be scared, Second Brother.”
Xiao Jingmo’s stomach was empty, so there was nothing for him to throw up. He only dry-heaved a few times.
Hearing the little one use her soft, childish voice to comfort him like an adult, he forcibly suppressed the nausea and lifted the corners of his lips in a bitter smile.
“Little Sister, isn’t your nose very sharp? Can’t you smell how foul this is?”
Jin Bao twitched her little nose and shook her head. “No. Is it stinky? It doesn’t smell stinky to Baby.”
Compared to the zombies from her previous life, this smell was nothing at all.
Xiao Jingmo opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
“Brother San, come quick.”
Xiao Jingmo and Jin Bao were startled by the shout from behind them. The two turned back and saw Zhu Laosan and Li Si.
“Officers?”
Xiao Jingmo was a little surprised to see them. Then, after a moment’s thought, he realized they must have followed the two of them here. Most likely, they had also come to investigate the situation.
When Zhu Laosan saw the horrifying scene, he could not help frowning. Li Si reacted the same way Xiao Jingmo had, running off to the side and dry-heaving.
Zhu Laosan glanced at Jin Bao, then swept his gaze around the area. He found no sign of danger.
It seemed the threat had already passed.
After a final count, they had sixteen wild boars and thirty-two wolves. The three wolves from that morning must have been ones that slipped through the net. They just so happened to run into Xiao Jingyu; otherwise, they might have survived. Instead, they had walked right into their own deaths. This wolf pack could be considered completely wiped out.
“Officer, could you lend me a dagger? This convict would like to skin a few wolves. The rest can all go to you officers. How about it? We can help you carry them, too.”
Xiao Jingmo was thinking that as they traveled farther north, the weather would only grow colder. Wolf pelts were good stuff: they kept out water and held in warmth.
Zhu Laosan drew a dagger from his waist and handed it to Xiao Jingmo.
“Don’t get any other ideas. Otherwise, I won’t hold back.”
Xiao Jingmo quickly nodded. “Don’t worry, officer. My whole family’s lives are in your hands.”
Seeing that the crisis was over, Zhu Laosan had Li Si gather all the convicts who were still alive and bring them into the cave.
Xiao Jingmo also secretly said a few words to Jin Bao.
Jin Bao blinked her big eyes, then turned and ran back as fast as she could.
Xiao Che and the others had been waiting anxiously by then.
Xiao Jingxing had been gone the entire night and still had not returned. No one knew whether something had happened to him.
“Daddy, Mother, Baby is back! Hurry and come down! Second Brother says everything’s fine now. We can even eat meat, and there’ll be enough for everyone!”
Jin Bao’s clear childish voice echoed through the woods. Before she even reached them, the people up in the trees had already heard her.
Xiao Che was the first to climb down, followed by Xiao Jinghao.
The two of them stood under the trees and helped the women down one by one.
Old Madam Xiao and Madam Liu were both advanced in years. After spending the whole night up in the trees, they were drained and dizzy, their heads heavy and muddled.
Lu Shuangshuang quickly supported them into the cave. Then she went out to search nearby for medicinal herbs to dispel the chill and clear the two elders’ heads.
“My good girl, what is your Second Brother doing?”
Only now did Pei Wanqing have the chance to ask Jin Bao.
After staying in the tree all night, her legs had gone numb. She sat on the ground, gently pounding them while questioning Jin Bao.
“Second Brother is skinning wolves. Second Brother said he’s going to make Baby a wolf-fur jacket.”
Jin Bao had never had a padded jacket for winter. The fact that she had not frozen to death was already a miracle.
Every winter, the older brothers and sisters in the family all had brand-new padded jackets, padded trousers, and cotton shoes. Only she wore an old, tattered single-layer garment, and her little shoes had two holes in them.
“When the time comes, Mother will make it for my good girl herself.”
Pei Wanqing was very happy to hear it. She had been worried that after another two months on the road, the weather might change. She had heard that snow fell every year in September in the Northern Frontier, a full two months earlier than in the capital.
It was already nearly June now. They really did need to start preparing.
“Sigh. I wonder how Xing’er is doing now. He hasn’t come back all night, and there’s been no word at all. It’s enough to make a person die of worry.”
Pei Wanqing held Jin Bao and sighed softly.
Jin Bao blinked. She was thinking about Big Brother, too. She was very worried about him, but for some reason, she had never been able to see any images of him. That made her terribly anxious.
In her heart, Jin Bao kept chanting that Big Brother would be fine. Just then, a vision appeared before her eyes.
At the edge of a cliff, Xiao Jingxing finally caught up with Li Duanjiang.
Li Duanjiang tried to use honeyed words to stall for time and look for a chance to run, but Xiao Jingxing gave him no such opportunity. With one palm strike, he knocked the man off the cliff.
Xiao Jingxing thought Li Duanjiang had fallen, so he leaned over and looked down. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his ankle.
It turned out Li Duanjiang had seized a small tree growing from a crack in the cliff face, so he had not fallen. Using that leverage, he swiftly climbed back up. Hearing movement, he reached out and grabbed Xiao Jingxing.
Xiao Jingxing’s expression changed drastically. Unfortunately, he was standing right at the edge of the cliff. With just a bit of force from Li Duanjiang, his entire body pitched headfirst over the cliff.
But he did not let Li Duanjiang go, either. As he fell, he reached back and grabbed Li Duanjiang’s clothes, dragging the man who had been trying to climb up down with him.
The two of them fell together to the bottom of the valley.