While the two were talking inside the house, Ye Xiaojin had already reached the foot of the mountain. The Village Chief, along with two young men and Li Kangping, was waiting for her.
“Xiaojin, I’m not at ease letting you go into the mountains alone. I’ve asked your two brothers to accompany you—they know the mountains well and can guide you.” With that, he pushed his two sons, Li Hao and Li Yun, toward Ye Xiaojin.
“Sister Jin, I want to go too—I know the mountains as well.” Kang Ping hurriedly spoke up, afraid that Ye Xiaojin might not bring him along, though he was only familiar with the outer edges of the mountain.
Ye Xiaojin looked at the people before her and nodded. The Village Chief and the others meant well, and she couldn’t turn down their kindness—it was everyone’s responsibility. She truly wasn’t familiar with the mountains, and having guides would be helpful. And if real danger arose, she was confident she could protect them all.
Without further words, they bid farewell to the Village Chief and headed into the mountains.
Indeed, as Auntie Li had said, there was nothing to eat in the outer reaches of the mountain—even the leaves and bark had been stripped clean. Some withered grass had been turned over, the roots dug up and taken by the villagers to eat. The mountain, which would normally be lush in summer, now stood bare and desolate like winter.
As they continued deeper into the mountains, Kang Ping, being young, couldn’t match the stride of the other three. After keeping up for a while, he began to struggle. Noticing this, Ye Xiaojin slowed her pace slightly and picked up some dried grass by the roadside, twisting it into rope.
After about half an hour, they finally spotted greenery. Going further in, they passed the outer reaches and headed toward the depths of the forest.
Ye Xiaojin took out the cloth strips she had prepared in her backpack and tied them around her trouser cuffs. She then handed the rope she had just twisted to the Li brothers, Li Hao and Li Yun, telling them to tie their trouser cuffs the same way she had. Then she crouched down to tie Li Kangping’s.
Seeing this, Li Kangping quickly said, “Sister Jin, I can do it myself.” He had come to help, not to be a burden.
“Let sister teach you this once—next time you’ll do it yourself.” As she spoke, she tied the rope around Kang Ping’s trouser cuffs. “Tying the trouser cuffs prevents snakes, insects, and mosquitoes from crawling up your legs, but don’t tie them too tight, or it will impede blood circulation. Have you two brothers finished tying yours?”
Li Hao and Li Yun finished tying theirs, imitating Ye Xiaojin’s method, and stood up. “Done.”
“Sister Ye, are we still heading deeper into the mountains? It’s too dangerous in there.” The elder brother, Li Hao, asked.
“We don’t have a better choice. You’ve seen it yourself—there’s no food or water in the outer reaches.” She looked at Li Hao as she spoke. “From what I know, the water in the village well has also gotten much shallower.”
Hearing this, Li Hao pondered for a moment, then nodded. He stepped forward to walk ahead of Ye Xiaojin, holding a sharpened wooden stick in his hand, warily scanning their surroundings. “Sister Ye, you and Kang Ping walk in the middle. Second brother, you take the rear.”
“Alright.” Ye Xiaojin accepted the kindness, took Li Kangping’s hand, and followed behind Li Hao. By her instincts, there was no danger here for now.
They walked deeper into the forest for a while longer when Ye Xiaojin suddenly called for a halt. Her ears twitched, and she swiftly pulled Li Hao, who was walking in front, behind her.
Just as the others looked at Ye Xiaojin in confusion, a snake as thick as a baby’s arm slithered out from the underbrush, blocking their path.
At the sudden appearance of the snake, the others—except for Kang Ping—weren’t particularly frightened. People who spent their lives in the mountains were used to seeing snakes; it was the most ordinary thing. It was just that this one looked rather thick.
The snake also noticed their presence. It raised the front half of its body, staring unblinkingly at the group, its forked tongue flicking in and out with a hissing sound.
The brothers moved in unison to shield Ye Xiaojin behind them, with Kang Ping gripping her hand tightly. “Sister Jin, don’t be afraid—we’ll chase it away.”
Ye Xiaojin noticed Kang Ping’s trembling hand and the corner of her mouth curled slightly. This child didn’t even know who he was trying to comfort.
She patted Kang Ping’s hand gently. “Kang Ping, let go of my hand. You all back away slowly.”
Kang Ping looked at her with concern. “Sister Jin.”
Ye Xiaojin didn’t look at him, her eyes fixed on the snake ahead. “Let go. Trust me.”
Despite his worry, Kang Ping saw Ye Xiaojin’s composed demeanor and felt an inexplicable sense of conviction. He obediently released her hand and slowly stepped back.
Li Hao and Li Yun each held a stick and a fork. Li Hao said, “Sister Ye, follow Kang Ping and back away slowly. We’ll go beat it to death—”
Before he could finish, Ye Xiaojin shouted at him, “Watch out!”
She swiftly drew the dagger from her waist.
The snake across from them pressed its body down and then launched itself upward with force, opening its massive jaws to strike at Li Yun on the right.
Ye Xiaojin rushed forward in a single stride, shoving him aside, then ducked low to dodge the snake’s gaping, reeking maw.
Seeing its attack fail, the snake turned its head and lunged at Ye Xiaojin. With lightning-fast reflexes, she grabbed the snake directly by the neck, slammed it hard against the ground, and in the same motion drove her dagger into its vital spot—seven inches below the head—then sliced downward, carving a long gash that split the snake’s lower body clean in two.
Dead beyond any doubt.
The other three stared at her, dumbfounded. After a long moment, they snapped out of it and hurried to her side. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” Ye Xiaojin gave the dead snake a little shake and smiled lightly. “Let’s take it back and make snake soup for dinner.”
Seeing this, the three let out a collective sigh of relief. At the same time, they were astonished by Ye Xiaojin’s skill. When she’d earlier suggested leading everyone into the mountains to hunt for food, they’d assumed she must know some martial arts—but they never expected her kung fu to be this good, her movements so swift and clean.
If it were a man from their village facing such a snake, several people would likely have to work together just to survive.
Thinking of Ye Xiaojin’s extraordinary abilities, the group felt even more confident about their plan to take their chances in the mountains.
Li Yun placed the dead snake into his backpack basket, and they continued onward.
This time, Ye Xiaojin took the lead. The Li brothers, having witnessed her prowess, raised no objection—though they kept their sticks and forks gripped tightly, their eyes vigilant without a moment’s slack.
There were many wild vegetables along both sides of the path. Kang Ping wanted to pick some, but Ye Xiaojin stopped him. There wasn’t enough time today—the priority was to scout the area and bring back some game to solve their immediate hunger problem.
“Run, run! That big thing is coming again!”
“So annoying. Why does it keep coming around here every day?”
Suddenly, sharp voices of conversation reached Ye Xiaojin’s ears. She was somewhat surprised—besides the four of them, who else could be speaking in these woods?
“Sister Jin, wild pheasants!” Kang Ping’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts. The stone in her hand instinctively flew in the direction Kang Ping was pointing.
“Damn you! Who hit me? My life is over!” Ye Xiaojin followed the sound with her eyes—the source of the voice was the two wild pheasants she’d just struck.
She could understand what the pheasants were saying? Was this a golden advantage from her transmigration, or something the original body had always possessed?
Ye Xiaojin felt some shock inwardly, but she didn’t forget the content of the conversation she’d just overheard—a big thing was heading their way.
She quieted her mind to listen for any movement, and Li Hao had already stepped forward to toss the two dead pheasants into the basket strapped to his back.
Just as he was about to ask Ye Xiaojin whether they should continue onward, he saw her place her index finger against her lips in a “shush” gesture.
She then used her other hand to beckon the three of them to follow, moving lightly and quietly toward the right-hand side. After traveling for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ye Xiaojin suddenly stopped. From the left side directly ahead, a rustling sound came through. Ye Xiaojin had a suspicion and whispered to the three behind her, “There’s a big one up ahead—might be a wild boar. Walk slowly and stay behind me, be careful.”
With that, she looked back at the three of them, and only after seeing them all nod in unison did she turn her head forward again.
Ye Xiaojin swiftly darted toward the direction of the sound. When she drew close, she found that it was indeed a large wild boar.
She pointed to a big tree nearby, signaling the three to hide behind it. Worried that Ye Xiaojin might be in danger on her own, they wanted to go to her side and fight the boar together with her. Ye Xiaojin’s face immediately darkened, and with a sharp sweep of her fierce gaze, the three halted in their tracks and obediently turned to hide behind the big tree.
The three reassured themselves that they weren’t going out because they were afraid of causing Ye Xiaojin trouble—not because they had been intimidated by her stare.
Seeing that the three were hidden, Ye Xiaojin slowly crept toward the boar. The boar was highly alert, and it spotted her when she was still over a dozen meters away.
Seeing that it was only Ye Xiaojin, perhaps thinking she posed no threat, the boar let out a howl and charged straight at her. Wild boars have devastating destructive power and immense strength—if she were hit by that, Ye Xiaojin would probably have her bones shattered.
The three behind the tree all broke out in a cold sweat, yet they dared not act rashly—this time truly afraid of adding to her troubles.
Then they saw Ye Xiaojin, with a light and agile grace, grab hold of a vine, leap upward, and easily dodge the boar’s charge.
The boar slammed straight into a nearby tree as thick as a bowl’s mouth, snapping it clean in half at the trunk, then raised its head and howled at Ye Xiaojin, who was hanging from the vine.
Ye Xiaojin knew that a pig’s brain doesn’t know how to turn, and too lazy to waste energy fighting it, she used the vine to swing over and land on top of a large boulder.