Shi Yin walked forward at a measured pace. The surrounding onlookers subconsciously backed away, automatically parting to open a path for her.
The moment the woman caught sight of Shi Yin, she bared her fangs and claws, preparing to pounce forward. But upon catching a glimpse of the crossbow in Shi Yin’s hand, cowardice took over, and she shrank back.
Her eyes darted about, and she simply threw herself onto the two bodies on the ground, slapping her thighs as she wailed shrilly:
“My husband— My young brother— Open your eyes and look at this calamity wrought by someone who isn’t even human!! When midnight comes, make sure to drag her down to hell with you—”
Shi Yin did not care in the slightest. Unhurriedly, she raised her foot and kicked her own fence gate flat to the ground.
“This door actually isn’t needed. From now on, my door stays wide open like this.”
Having said this, she turned around to face the crowd of onlookers:
“I, Lady Shi, have spoken: the door is open, but if anyone enters the house without my permission…”
Shi Yin raised her crossbow without a moment’s hesitation and fired an arrow straight at the wailing, hysterical woman.
The arrow pierced her body. Blood spattered on the spot as the woman collapsed straight onto the two men, bereft of breath.
“This is the end.”
“Ah—”
Among the onlookers, there were still some who were timid. Seeing such a blood-soaked scene at such close range, they couldn’t help crying out in horror.
Shi Yin felt a bit curious—wasn’t this supposed to be their daily routine on this island? Why were they so cowardly?
Sweeping her eyes across them, she saw that the few who had cried out shrank behind others.
They looked familiar—they had all come on the same ship.
That made sense. The original islanders were long accustomed to it; the law of the jungle was their rule of survival. Only those who had just arrived on the island would cry out in shock.
*Clap, clap, clap—*
From within the crowd, Jiang Song walked out, clapping his hands.
“Good! What a woman, Lady Shi! I, Jiang Song, am thoroughly convinced.”
With that, he turned to look at the onlookers: “From today onward, our Jiang family stands shoulder to shoulder with Lady Shi. If any of you harbor petty, thieving tricks toward this place, do not blame my Jiang family for knocking on your doors to demand reckoning! If a single grain of wheat is missing, we will make up for it house by house! You all should still remember my Jiang family’s rules!”
After sweeping his gaze across the crowd, Jiang Song softened his tone: “Zhou the Skinflint’s gang has already been uprooted by Lady Shi. You should count your blessings that no one will exploit your salt quotas in the future.
Disperse, all of you. Hurry off to your drying salt pans and get busy. Don’t forget tomorrow’s spring tide and ruin your livelihoods.”
The surrounding crowd scattered in an instant.
Looking at the three corpses on the ground, Jiang Song said helplessly, “Lady Shi, by my count, this is already the third time in a row I’ve cleaned up your mess. You mustn’t forget this favor.”
Jiang Song laughed it off casually, and Shi Yin naturally wouldn’t brush off his goodwill.
“Of course, after all, we are now comrades standing shoulder to shoulder.”
Shi Yin’s words were clear: from this day forward, she was bound together with the Jiang family.
Hearing this, Jiang Song grew pleased as well: “Straightforward! Tomorrow happens to be the spring tide, so I’ll have my wife take you to see the drying salt pans.
Although Zhou the Skinflint used to live off exploiting salt quotas, they still held several prime drying salt pans in their hands. Now, those places all belong to you.”
Shi Yin accepted without ceremony: “Naturally, then I’ll trouble Sister-in-law tomorrow.”
Jiang Song waved his hand, first helping carry the grain sacks back into the house. Looking around the empty room, he mentioned casually, “At the east end of the village stands a thatched hut where an old carpenter lives. I remember Sun Da exchanged two fine pine logs from a ship earlier; you can go find that carpenter to build some tables, cabinets, and furniture.”
“Thank you for the guidance. I was just fretting over having nothing but bare walls,” Shi Yin bowed her head in gratitude.
Jiang Song waved his hand again: “Exchanging thanks back and forth—Sister Shi is being too polite.”
Hearing this, Shi Yin no longer stood on ceremony.
“Brother Jiang, may I address you this way from now on?”
“Then, Sister Shi, from now on, our two families won’t stand on ceremony.”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Shi Yin said no more, leaving the open doorway behind as she turned around to head up the dirt slope to find the two children.
The rest of the Jiang family had gone to the drying salt pans, leaving Jiang Song here alone to clean up the courtyard with practiced ease.
“Mother!” Catching sight of Shi Yin from afar, Rong’er happily paddled her little legs and pounced over.
Shi Yin caught her in her arms, spun her around twice, and then gently set her down: “My Rong’er is so good.”
“Hehehe.”
“Mother, Jiang Song is still tidying up in our courtyard,” Chengzhou had seen clearly from up here.
Shi Yin looked at the courtyard from a distance: “From now on, you may call him Uncle Jiang.”
Chengzhou understood instantly, nodding as he said, “Understood, Mother.”
Black Mountain Island was quite vast in territory. If one compared the entire island to the shape of a human foot:
The place where they lived in a cluster happened to sit slightly ahead of the arch, near the ball of the foot.
The entire sole was a rising hill, while the toes corresponded to the gentle, flat terrain facing the northern sea cliffs.
As for the section stretching from the arch to the heel, it was a wide, open plain overgrown with grass and trees.
The entire island’s elevation was roughly as high as a fifty-story building above sea level. In the middle of the southern cliff face were two or three layers of sea-eroded platforms, none of them small in area.
As for the northern side, Shi Yin had never seen it with her own eyes in her past life either.
Shi Yin walked for a long time with the two children before finally reaching the northern cliff.
About ten meters below the cliff sat a sea-eroded platform covered in vibrant, crimson seepweed.
From there downward lay a bottomless abyss of a cliff.
Across the entire cliff and its reefs roosted black-tailed gulls, the most common seabirds in the north.
In her past life, this northern area had been a protected reserve closed to outsiders, and Shi Yin had only seen video footage of it in introductory materials.
Black-tailed gulls were local resident birds that did not migrate south even in deep winter, dwelling on this sea island for generations.
With dark grey feathers across their bodies, bright yellow beaks, and a band of deep black staining the tips of their tail feathers, they were extremely easy to recognize.
What was even more precious was that the down of these seabirds was naturally resistant to salt, alkali, and moisture, making it resistant to mold and decay.
The sea island suffered from fierce sea winds and heavy moisture; if their down could be stuffed into quilts or clothing, it would be more than suitable.
It was just that the black-tailed gulls were entrenched on the precarious cliff face, so the amount of down blown upward was limited.
Rong’er, however, was delighted, hopping about everywhere to pick up the greyish-white feathers.
Shi Yin stopped the merrily running Rong’er, cupping her tiny face as she said solemnly:
“Rong’er, remember this place. From now on, without Mother or Brother accompanying you, you must never come here alone.”
Rong’er looked around and nodded heavily: “Rong’er won’t come.”
Having received Rong’er’s promise, Shi Yin released her, letting her stand farther back with Chengzhou while she went to gather the scattered feathers herself.
Below the cliff were countless black-tailed gulls, and plenty of feathers were blown up by the wind. In no time, Shi Yin gathered half a basketful.
This stuff was light, drifting away whenever the wind blew.
Shi Yin cut some grass to weigh it down before heading back.
Returning to the depression between the dirt slope and the back mountain, she cut a large quantity of reeds here as well.
Once dried in the sun, these reeds would make fine bedding straw.
Shi Yin thought of cutting more—not just for laying on the bed, but to weave into a mat once she gathered enough, to be used on top of the kang bed later.
When they returned to the small courtyard, the sun was directly overhead.
The courtyard had been cleaned thoroughly, leaving no trace of blood, and the crossbow arrows had been placed atop the grain inside the house.
The mother and her two children harvested only a thin layer of feathers from this trip, alongside a basket packed full of reeds.
What had originally appeared to be nearly half a basket of feathers turned out to cover only a shallow layer at the bottom of the basket once pressed down by the straw.
Shi Yin could not help sighing softly in her heart: *Collecting bit by bit like this, how many feathers will I have to pick up to assemble a single down quilt?*
Yet having down alone was not enough; the quilt casing was also a problem.
She could not afford silk fabric for the casing, and linen fabric would definitely leak down feathers.
In comparison, cotton was still the best option.
*Aah, where on earth is cotton right now—* Shi Yin cried out helplessly in her heart.