At this point, Liu Dong was suddenly enlightened, wearing a proud expression as he said, "Mother, Xiao girl wasn't hurt. You don't know how formidable she is—those people didn't dare come near after she beat them!"
"Really? Sister Xiao'er is that amazing!" Liu Yuxing looked at Gu Xiao with sparkling eyes. He wanted to become that strong too, so he could protect his parents, grandmother, and little sister.
"You really should have looked after Xiao'er a bit more. She's still a young girl after all." Tang-shi shot a glance at her simple-minded husband—there was no logic in watching his niece fight while he stood by.
Song-shi didn't speak, but silently nodded to show she agreed with her sister-in-law Tang-shi's point.
Liu Dong didn't notice anything amiss and continued on his own, "Ask Xiao Feng—Xiao girl didn't need my help at all."
Now it was Liu Feng's turn to be put in an awkward position. Although what his father said was true, saying such things about a girl would make anyone unhappy.
Just as he didn't know what to say, the Village Chief gave the order to set off, rescuing him from the situation.
Everyone knew from what had just happened that the main road was no longer safe, so the group didn't dare linger and headed toward the deep forest instead.
The mountain paths were difficult to traverse, and Old Madam couldn't ride on the cart, so Tang-shi had to support her. Leading the way was Liu Dali, a villager who often escorted goods on long journeys. He was very familiar with the mountain terrain and took paths rarely traveled by people, which were much safer.
They didn't encounter anyone else along the way, but Gu Xiao sensed with her Jingshen Yineng that another group was also heading into the forest—all adults. Could those refugees have followed their trail from behind?
After walking for about two hours, she probed again and found that the group had fallen farther behind. Only then did she gradually relax her guard.
By then, the sky was growing dim, and the towering trees that blocked out the sun made visibility even lower. They chose a sheltered spot and stopped to rest. The Village Chief sent a team to find water.
In the past, Liu Feng would always go along, but Gu Xiao said she wanted to help too, and the little girl also wanted to join.
Although Gu Wan knew her grandmother's family treated them well, she always felt a sense of security only when she was with her elder sister. She was truly afraid of her sister leaving her.
In the end, the three of them went together. The Liu family simply thought the two girls might be feeling playful and didn't restrain them.
Before leaving, Gu Xiao took out a bag of rice, a bag of flatbreads, a clay jar of fine salt, and three rabbits from her basket and handed them to Tang-shi. "Aunt, keep these things. Wan'er and I won't eat from the family's stores for free. Roast the rabbits for dinner—and the rabbit fur can make a neck warmer for Grandmother."
Taking them in was an act of kindness; she couldn't keep consuming others' goodwill, especially when she wasn't without resources.
Tang-shi didn't think much of it, assuming it was just some coarse flour. The little girl was so thoughtful, and since she treated them as family, she didn't refuse and accepted the items.
After the three left, when they opened the items one by one, Tang-shi and Song-shi were stunned. Even in peacetime, white rice and fine salt were precious goods that only the wealthy could afford.
Fine salt especially required connections—even rich households couldn't necessarily buy it.
They had thought they were taking in two little girls, but it turned out they were the ones being helped. Song-shi and Tang-shi looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
In the end, they went to Old Madam for a decision. Although they didn't know where the fine grains came from, the two little girls had done this because they considered themselves part of the Liu family. Old Madam gave the word to accept them.
……
Gu Xiao and Gu Wan followed Liu Feng into the forest. The group split up to search for water, agreeing to return in half an hour.
Although Liu Feng spoke little, he was absolutely a warm-hearted older brother. He kept the two girls behind him the whole time, not letting them wander too far.
Gu Xiao used her Yineng to guide Liu Feng in a certain direction. Her Jingshen Yineng could only detect living creatures, so she decided to "find water through a detour"—catch an animal deep in the mountains and ask if it knew where water was.
When they got close, Gu Xiao sent Liu Feng away. She approached the destination, expecting a rabbit, but it turned out to be a squirrel, which she captured with ease.
The squirrel was like a startled bird, its four legs kicking wildly: "There's a bad person! Wife, run quickly…"
Could this squirrel have become a spirit? It even knew to protect its wife.
Gu Xiao grumbled inwardly and communicated with it through her Yineng: "Don't move. Answer one question and I'll let you go. Do you know where there's water?"
"I do know. If I take you there, will you let me go?"
"You're quite smart—you got it right." This squirrel was incredibly human-like. She even began to entertain the thought of keeping it. If she could make it her pet, finding water in the future would be much easier.
"Alright, but I need to tell my wife first. She must have been scared just now."
Unbelievable. Compared to this wife-doting squirrel, Gu Xiao felt that human relationships were too superficial.
Gu Wan watched helplessly as her sister actually let the squirrel go, and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Sister, aren't we going to eat it?"
"No, we're not. It can lead us to water."
"Really?!" The little girl's face lit up with surprise.
"Mm-hmm, let me tell you a secret—Big Sister got permission from Mother to understand animal speech." Gu Xiao knew she had too many suspicious points about herself. In the past, she only needed to convince the little girl, but now she had to convince the Liu family too. To avoid arousing suspicion, she decided to reveal things gradually.
"Mother? Big Sister, you saw Mother?" The little girl gasped, her voice full of urgency: "Is Mother doing well now?"
So what Father said was true—Mother hadn't died, she'd gone to live in the heavens!
Shen Moxue rubbed her throbbing temples and smiled: "Mother is doing very well now. She was worried that we weren't getting by, so she specially begged the immortals to send the little squirrel to help us."
"Really? Then I want to see Mother too." Sure enough, one lie couldn't cover everything.
She had to patiently explain to the little girl: "Mother can't see Wan'er yet, because immortals aren't allowed to meet people privately. Mother risked being punished to come see Big Sister. Wan'er doesn't want Mother to be punished, does she?"
"Mm-hmm, then Wan'er won't see Mother, so Mother can eat full meals every day." Grandmother often punished Mother by not letting her eat. So it was the same in the heavens too—could Grandmother have also gone to the heavens?!
…
Seeing that the little girl had no more doubts, Gu Xiao let the squirrel go ahead and called Liu Feng over to follow.
Liu Feng thought she wanted to catch the squirrel, so he didn't say much and quietly followed behind, until he discovered a spring with flowing water.
"Water!" Liu Feng's eyes immediately went wide. He couldn't wait to run forward, completely forgetting about the squirrel.
"Cousin, let's fill up water first. You go to the agreed spot to find Uncle Dali and the others. Wan'er and I will wait for you here."
Liu Feng immediately shook his head upon hearing this, saying that if they went back, they should all go back together—he couldn't leave the two of them in danger.
"It's fine, Cousin. I have the ability to protect myself. Go quickly—while it's still daylight and the road is easy to find, everyone can fill up on water."
Seeing Gu Xiao's resolute attitude, Liu Feng had no choice but to hurry off, instructing the two not to run around and that he would return as soon as possible.
Once he was far away, her expression turned serious. She spoke coldly toward the stone wall: "Come out."
This time, she hadn't used her Yineng first. Instead, she'd noticed bloodstains on the ground, and only then did she probe—discovering two people behind the stone wall, one of whom was injured.
Not knowing who was behind there, she needed to screen them first for the sake of the family she'd just found.
"Big Sister, is someone here?" Gu Wan pressed against her in fear, looking ahead with timid eyes.
Gu Xiao pulled the little girl's head into her embrace, comforting her not to be afraid, then continued: "I know you're behind the stone wall. If you don't come out now, once others discover you, they won't be as easy to talk to as I am."