After finishing the bandaging, Gu Shiyi slowly stood up from the rock and limped over to a pine tree.
She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, raised the knife in her hand, and struck hard at a branch.
With a sharp crack, a branch snapped off.
She trimmed away the smaller twigs, leaving only a sturdy main branch.
Then she shaved one end flat, turning it into a simple crutch.
Leaning on the crutch, Gu Shiyi struggled toward the cave entrance higher up the mountain.
Ever since her mother passed away, she had never come here again. She couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.
She didn’t know if her father had still been leaving food here from time to time, like he used to.
With every step, the pain in her ankle made her gasp.
This damn foot—it was such a burden!
She cursed inwardly, but there was nothing she could do.
After finally climbing halfway up the mountain, Gu Shiyi felt her strength nearly exhausted.
She had no choice but to stop and lean against a large tree to rest for a while.
At that moment, barking sounds came from ahead—Ah Hui and Ah Hua were barking loudly.
Gu Shiyi’s heart tightened. The sound was unusual; it seemed they had discovered something.
Ah Hui and Ah Hua ran off in the same direction, barking continuously.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Only Xiao Hua stayed behind with Gu Shiyi.
Even Xiao Hua looked tense, as if sensing something was wrong.
Gu Shiyi’s heartbeat quickened. She gripped her crutch tightly and stared in the direction the two dogs had gone.
Could there be wild animals?
All kinds of frightening thoughts flashed through her mind. She silently prayed that it wasn’t anything large or dangerous.
Although she had a black belt in taekwondo, she didn’t have much real combat experience.
Worse still, her foot was injured. She would be at a complete disadvantage against any large beast.
Just as she was worrying, a sudden flurry of movement came from the forest ahead, followed by silence.
It sounded like a wild chicken, not a large animal.
Sure enough, not long after, Ah Hui and Ah Hua returned, each holding a wild chicken in their mouths.
They placed the chickens on the ground in front of her. One was already dead, while the other was still alive.
Seeing this, Gu Shiyi finally relaxed and quickly stored both chickens in her space.
But Ah Hua continued tugging at her clothes, trying to pull her toward the forest.
At the same time, Ah Hui picked up the bamboo basket and walked decisively in that direction.
“Ah Hua, is there something else in the forest?” Gu Shiyi asked, puzzled.
Of course, Ah Hua couldn’t answer.
After a moment’s hesitation, Gu Shiyi decided to follow them and take a look.
The two dogs wouldn’t act like this without reason. Maybe there really was something valuable in the forest.
Still, she felt uneasy.
She silently prayed that they wouldn’t encounter anything too dangerous.
With the three dogs leading her, Gu Shiyi limped slowly into the forest.
Ah Hui led the way, clearly familiar with the area. Every so often, he would stop to sniff the ground before continuing.
Finally, he stopped in front of a patch of grass.
He gently placed the basket on the ground and sat down, waiting.
Gu Shiyi slowly approached, her injured leg making her steps unsteady.
As she reached the grass, Ah Hui used his paw to push it aside, revealing a wild chicken nest.
Gu Shiyi stared in surprise—there were more than a dozen eggs inside.
She carefully picked one up, held it to her ear, and shook it lightly. There was no sound.
“Mm, they’re fresh,” she said with satisfaction, nodding as she praised the dogs. “You’re amazing!”
As she spoke, she collected all the eggs and placed them into the basket.
These eggs were valuable—they could provide essential nutrition. She had to be careful not to break them.
Dragging her injured foot, Gu Shiyi searched the surrounding area, hoping to find more edible things.
Not far away, under a pine tree, she spotted some pine mushrooms.
There weren’t many, but enough to make a delicious chicken stew with mushrooms.
Happily, she gathered them and put them into the basket.
“Today’s harvest is really great!” she muttered to herself. “Wild chicken eggs and mushrooms—tonight’s dinner will be quite a feast. It seems heaven hasn’t treated me too badly.”
The sky was getting dark, and it wasn’t safe to stay in the forest too long.
She decided to head back to the cave as soon as possible to avoid any danger.
With that in mind, she slowly made her way back with the three dogs.
Along the way, she spotted mushrooms in the grass and picked them up as she went.
As she gathered them, she sang softly, “Red caps and white stems—eat them and we’ll all lie down together. Lie down, eat again, and the whole village lies down…”
As she walked, she came across several hawthorn trees, heavy with bright red fruit. The branches were bent low under their weight.
Delighted, she walked to the nearest tree and picked a ripe hawthorn.
After wiping it on her clothes, she took a bite. It wasn’t too hard, slightly sour, but overall quite tasty.
Some branches were already close to breaking under the weight of the fruit.
Without hesitation, she used her knife to cut off those fragile branches and stored them in her space, planning to pick the fruit later.
She went to several other trees, cutting off the heavy branches and storing them as well.
As for the remaining fruit, she decided to leave it for another day.
Hawthorn was considered a medicinal ingredient here. Once dried, it could be sold at a pharmacy for money.
Right now, she only had a little over a hundred copper coins. If she wanted to survive here, earning money was essential.
After a long trek, Gu Shiyi finally reached the base of the cave entrance.
To get inside, she first had to climb the large tree in front of it.
The cave entrance was surrounded by dense trees, their branches and leaves forming a natural cover. One large tree stood directly in front of it.
Standing beneath the tree, Gu Shiyi looked up at its height, a wave of exhaustion washing over her.