Noon…
The group set up camp in a flat stretch of forest. They had traveled all through the previous night, so they planned to rest today and continue their journey tomorrow morning.
Fires were lit around the campsite, and everyone gathered around them roasting meat. To conserve water, everyone chose to roast their food, only Qi Yanxuan was extravagantly stewing snake soup, made with spirit spring water.
Along this journey, Qi Yanxuan never missed an opportunity to strengthen the constitutions of the Shen father and sons. The road ahead would only get harder, so building up their bodies was essential.
An hour later, the snake soup was ready. Everyone stared at Qi Yanxuan’s pot, drooling the roasted meat they’d just eaten suddenly didn’t seem so delicious anymore.
At least this group had roasted meat to eat. The several hundred people at the rear of the procession could only listen to their stomachs rumbling as the aroma of meat drifted everywhere.
Even the dozen or so women following behind the Kaoshan Village group had a good meal, thanks to the snake meat they’d picked up.
They had been so unbearably hungry that they could only search nearby for something to eat.
……
The sky was dense with stars, the night seductive, tonight’s sky was as beautiful as a painting.
Qi Yanxuan and Shen Yanqing sat on the branch of a large tree, not far from the people gathered around the fires keeping watch and chatting.
Qi Yanxuan leaned against his boyfriend’s chest, admiring the beauty of the night sky, savoring this rare and wonderful moment.
Shen Yanqing’s eyes held only the person in his arms, his gaze brimming with tenderness that couldn’t be dissolved. He was looking at the scenery, but in his eyes, the only scenery was him!
It wasn’t until the moon hung at its zenith that the two returned to their tent and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The Next Day
The group passed by a small stream that wound its way through the mountain range, its waters babbling. The fish swimming back and forth in the water had never been disturbed by people before, so they showed no fear at the sight of humans.
Everyone, however, had been traumatized by the giant python from before and had learned their lesson, they stayed put unless the leader moved. Even when they spotted the water source, no one dared act, fearing that in this dangerous jungle, even a small stream might not be safe.
Shen Yanqing led the Kaoshan Village group upstream, and seeing this, the others scattered to fetch water as well.
Qi Yanxuan walked over and discovered that the stream bank was covered with water fern, glistening green.
“Brother Shen, go catch a couple of fish. We’ll have a good meal at noon!” Qi Yanxuan said, turning back to Shen Yanqing as he picked the ferns.
“Alright!” Shen Yanqing immediately took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and waded in to catch fish.
A few aunties fetching water by the stream saw Qi Yanxuan picking the ferns and ran over to ask.
“Yanxuan, why are you picking that? You can’t eat that!” a rather plump auntie said anxiously.
The others chimed in as well. “That’s right! The kind we eat is the brown one. This green kind can’t be eaten.”
Hearing the aunties say this, Qi Yanxuan realized that people in ancient times had never eaten this variety. No wonder not a single person among so many had picked any, he’d thought everyone just wanted to catch fish first!
“Auntie, this is water fern. It’s also a type of fern shoot, and it’s edible, its texture is even better than the brown kind!” Qi Yanxuan replied with a smile.
“Is that so! Then we’ll go tell the others!” With that, they went off together to inform the other women of the village.
This sparked a frenzy of fern-picking. When it came to edible food, no one was picky.
After finishing picking the ferns, Qi Yanxuan went over to Shen Yanshan’s side. Shen Yanshan had set up a simple stove as soon as he saw Shen Yanqing catching fish, just waiting for them to bring back the ingredients.
“Uncle! We’re in for a treat today. You knead the dough, and I’ll do the stir-frying!” Qi Yanxuan said.
“Great! We’ve been eating nothing but meat these past few days, I’m actually craving something vegetarian,” Shen Yanshan said as he began kneading the dough.
While Qi Yanxuan was stir-frying the second dish, Shen Yanqing returned with the cleaned fish.
“Xuan, let me do it. Take a rest,” he said, taking the spatula from Qi Yanxuan’s hand.
“Okay!” Qi Yanxuan gazed at Shen Yanqing’s profile with a blissful smile, occasionally wiping the sweat from his brow.
Shen Yanshan had finished kneading the dough and was about to ask whether they wanted noodles or flatbread for lunch, but when he looked up, he saw the two of them smiling at each other. His heart skipped a beat something about that look wasn’t right!
He quickly shook his head. Impossible. He’d been letting his imagination run wild all day. He was just too idle, he muttered to himself.
Then, pretending nothing was amiss, he walked over. “Xuan, do you all want noodles or flatbread for lunch?”
Shen Yanqing glanced at Qi Yanxuan, silently letting him decide.
“Let’s have noodles! Fish soup noodles for lunch!” Qi Yanxuan said.
“Alright!” With his answer, Shen Yanshan began pulling the noodles.
The other families were all preparing lunch as well. Wisps of cooking smoke rose here and there children played nearby, elderly folks chatted in small groups, the men carried food back home, and the women prepared meals for their families. Everyone’s face was lit up with a happy smile. It was a warmth of everyday human life they hadn’t seen in a long time.
Everyone by the stream briefly forgot their troubles, cherishing this hard-won moment of leisure.
After lunch, they made some dry rations to eat along the way, then put out the fires and continued on their journey. Happy times always pass especially quickly, and who knew what dangers lay ahead.
Fortunately, the next three or four days passed without incident. There was plenty of water in the mountain range too they drew from smaller streams so at the very least, they wouldn’t lack water before leaving the mountains.
That day, the group walked into a forest of ancient trees. The trunks were covered in climbing vines, moss grew at the roots, and the ground beneath the trees was no longer covered in dead leaves but in thick, lush grass.
Qi Yanxuan took a deep breath. The scent of the forest made him feel wonderfully at ease.
Ever since entering this mountain range, his wood-element ability had been slowly growing. This range was the richest in wood-element energy of anywhere he’d been since coming to this world. The deeper they went, the more clearly he could feel it his wood-element ability was showing faint signs of breaking through to the seventh tier.
“We’re cutting through this ancient forest! The vegetation here is much denser than before, and who knows what dangers might be lurking. Everyone stay alert!” Shen Yanshan called out loudly to the people behind him.
“The carts can’t get through here. Carry only the essentials on your backs!” Shen Yanqing said, cutting down a number of vines and weaving them into baskets.
The others looked reluctant, but they had no choice but to comply.
Shen Yanqing and Shen Yanshan finished weaving their baskets within a quarter of an hour. They loaded the smoked meat from the carts and the rice and flour they’d traded with the others into the baskets, each carrying one.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, everyone had finished packing. They abandoned the carts and continued on foot.
The group marched in force into the ancient forest. Towering trees reached for the sky, and sunlight filtered through gaps in the branches, falling dappled across the grassy forest floor. The wind swayed the treetops high above, sending slow waves of rustling through the leaves.
The dim light weighed on everyone. The men walked ahead of their families with weapons in hand, the women supported the elderly who leaned on walking sticks, and the children clung tightly to their mothers’ clothing, stumbling forward step by step.