“Little sister, it’s right up ahead.”
Lin Guozhi pointed forward, revealing several fruit trees in the distance.
The fruit trees were covered with wild pears. Although the pears had not yet turned yellow, the fragrance of the fruit could already be smelled in the air.
“Little sister, you wait here. I’ll go pick a couple for you to try.”
Seeing this situation, Lin Guozhi knew that this time he could not pick too many.
After all, unripe pears did not taste very good.
But he still wanted to pick a couple for his little sister. If they did not taste good, he would eat them himself.
These days, there was no such thing as wasting food.
As long as it could be eaten and fill the belly, it was something good.
Whether it tasted good or not did not matter.
“Second brother, wait.”
Lin Jiaojiao had originally been very happy too, but just as Lin Guozhi was about to approach those fruit trees, she suddenly felt a chill down her back.
It was a kind of premonition.
“What’s wrong? Little sister?”
Lin Guozhi subconsciously stopped in his tracks and looked at Lin Jiaojiao in confusion.
He did not know what his little sister wanted. Pears could be picked anytime, but taking good care of his little sister was more important.
“Be careful.”
“The moment I got here, I felt all my hair stand on end, as if a pair of eyes were watching me in secret.”
“Second brother, I’m a little scared.”
Hearing his little sister’s words, Lin Guozhi also became alert.
It was said that women’s sixth sense was very strong, and he did not ignore his little sister’s feeling.
“Little sister, second brother is here.”
“No matter what danger we encounter, I will protect you well.”
Lin Guozhi came over to comfort his little sister, then shifted his gaze to those fruit trees.
With this careful observation, he really did discover something unusual.
On the tree in the middle, how did an extra section of tree trunk appear?
There had not been one before either.
Even if it had just grown out, it could not have grown so thick all at once.
Once doubt arose in his mind, he observed even more carefully.
With this look, he discovered that the tree trunk could actually move.
Although the movement was very slight, it was definitely not because of the wind.
Only at this moment did Lin Guozhi remember that although there were no overly ferocious wild beasts in this mountain, there did grow a kind of earth-yellow snake.
This kind of earth-yellow snake had very strong venom. Once bitten by it, a person would die within a few hours.
What was on that pear tree was no tree trunk at all? It was clearly that kind of earth snake.
This discovery gave Lin Guozhi quite a fright.
He slowly moved his steps backward while lowering his voice.
“Little sister, it’s not safe here. Come leave with your brother.”
Seeing Lin Guozhi’s behavior, Lin Jiaojiao knew that her second brother must have discovered something.
So she did not fuss over what the danger was, and simply followed him in backing away.
But before they could run to a safe range, they saw a tree trunk suddenly fall from the tree.
No, how was that a tree trunk?
That was an earth-yellow snake.
This time, even Lin Jiaojiao could see it clearly.
“Run!”
Lin Guozhi said, then pulled his little sister and ran backward.
Behind them came the rustling sound of a snake crawling.
Which made the two of them not dare pause for even a moment.
Fortunately, after running for a while, the sound behind them gradually disappeared.
It was probably that the earth snake saw it could not catch up to them, so it gave up.
“Little sister, we can stop and rest now.”
Only after repeatedly confirming the surrounding environment did Lin Guozhi pull Lin Jiaojiao to a stop.
“Oh my god, I was scared to death.”
“Doesn’t this snake live on the other side of the mountain? How did it come over here?”
Lin Guozhi patted his chest and let out a sigh of relief.
This type of snake had a strong sense of territory and had always lived on another mountain.
It rarely came over here, and even when it did, they were just young snakes that hadn’t fully grown.
Although the young snakes were also venomous, as long as the antidote was found in time, there was a good chance there wouldn’t be any danger to one’s life.
Not like the big snakes, whose venom was so potent that one bite would almost certainly cost you your life.
He needed to go back and tell his father about this, so that his father could warn the people in the brigade—if there was nothing urgent, they absolutely must not go running up the mountain.
And they needed to use things like snake-repellent powder.
If snakes made their way into the village, who knew how many chickens they’d wreak havoc on.
“Second Brother, the mountain really isn’t safe.”
“We should head home early.”
Lin Jiaojiao was a bit frightened—she had never seen such a thick snake before.
She’d always heard the old folks say that snakes eat people, snakes eat people.
Now, she truly believed it.
A snake this big eating a person wouldn’t be surprising at all.
It was truly terrifying.
“Let’s go!”
He hadn’t expected to encounter something like this the very first time he brought his little sister up the mountain.
Lin Guozhi felt a bit regretful.
But he also felt the mountain wasn’t safe and they needed to head back early.
The siblings were in complete agreement and both headed down the mountain.
Only, as they walked, Lin Jiaojiao felt that chilling sensation on her back again.
She swept her gaze around but didn’t see the big yellow snake.
Maybe it was just her imagination.
“Little sister, are you tired?”
After walking another ten or so minutes, Lin Guozhi stopped and looked at his sister.
Worried that she might be tired, he thought about resting for a bit before continuing.
“Second Brother, I’m not tired.”
Even if she were tired, she wouldn’t say so—she’d keep going regardless.
Lin Jiaojiao thought there was nothing that could make her stop.
But the very next second, her second brother’s delighted voice broke the calm.
And it also slapped Lin Jiaojiao right in the face.
“Little sister, look—there are mushrooms over there.”
Lin Guozhi followed his gaze and pointed his finger, and the two of them saw mushrooms poking their heads out from under a few big pine trees.
“There really are mushrooms.”
“Second Brother, can these mushrooms be eaten?”
Lin Jiaojiao quickly walked over and carefully counted—there were about a dozen or more.
“They can be eaten. These mushrooms are extremely delicious.”
“Whether you make mushroom and egg soup or stew chicken with mushrooms, they’ll make you want to swallow your own tongue.”
As Lin Guozhi spoke, he had already crouched down and started picking them.
Lin Jiaojiao also went over to help.
One after another, the two of them picked with great delight.
Just as they finished picking the mushrooms on the ground, they discovered more not far ahead.
The two instinctively walked toward the mushrooms.
Gradually, the distance between them grew.
Completely absorbed in picking mushrooms, neither of them noticed this at all.
They only thought about quickly finishing picking the mushrooms so they could head home.
They had already cast the matter of encountering the big yellow snake to the back of their minds.
It wasn’t until Lin Jiaojiao finished picking all the mushrooms within sight that she looked up and realized she couldn’t see her second brother’s figure.
Just as she was about to shout in panic, she noticed a piece of wood lying across the ground.
But that earthy yellow color—how was this wood? It was clearly the same kind of big snake from before.
Lin Jiaojiao was so frightened she lost her voice and couldn’t make a sound at all.
And that snake was rapidly slithering toward her.
So this was the big yellow snake that had been following them in secret all along.
It had never intended to give up from the very beginning—it was only waiting for these two humans to let their guard down before taking them all in one fell swoop.
Just then, Lin Jiaojiao wanted to turn and run, but in her haste she didn’t see what was behind her and crashed right into a large tree.
Seeing that the giant snake was about to bite her, Lin Jiaojiao, unable to react in time, could only close her eyes in fright.