Everyone looked at Wang Shi. After yesterday’s fight with those refugees from another village, they knew she was a woman with ideas.
The horizon began to turn fish-belly white, and dawn was approaching. With all the commotion, no one could sleep anymore, so they simply gathered around the Xu family’s campfire and asked Wang Shi to come up with a plan.
Xu Yue and the others had been awakened by the noise. Though not truly children, the matter concerned precious water sources, making it impossible for them to fall back asleep.
Xu Da signaled for them to stay calm—if the sky fell, there would be taller people to hold it up. He suggested they try to rest a little longer.
The three siblings shook their heads. Xu Da didn’t press them and got up to join the circle around the campfire, eager to hear what brilliant ideas Wang Shi might have.
If it were up to him, he’d say if those people came back, they should just kill them and be done with it!
While the adults were discussing matters, Xu Yue and Xu Erniang crept closer, only to be immediately shooed away like misbehaving children.
The two sisters exchanged helpless glances and decided to find something to do instead.
Xu Erniang mysteriously asked, “Little sister, did you bring the waterskin we took from the old neighbor’s house?”
Xu Yue nodded. “Yes, I did. Do you need it, sister?”
Xu Erniang hummed in affirmation and gestured for her to fetch the waterskin. The two of them then made their way to the pond.
While the adults huddled around the campfire discussing how to deal with those cannibalistic scoundrels, and the women tended to the children, no one noticed the two sisters by the pond—except for Xu Dalan, who kept a watchful eye on Xu Yue.
Xu Yue pulled out the old, well-worn waterskin from her waist and handed it to Xu Erniang. Since she had just filled it with water, the waterskin was quite heavy.
Xu Erniang pulled out the stopper and poured out the water inside. Then, she sneakily glanced around to make sure no one was watching before raising an eyebrow at Xu Yue, signaling her to pay close attention.
Xu Yue watched her sister curiously, unsure what trick she was about to pull but guessing it was something secretive. She shifted slightly closer to Xu Erniang, shielding her from view.
Xu Erniang knelt on the ground, placed the waterskin flat on her knees, and pressed her small hands together in front of her chest. She began to chant a lengthy incantation with devout concentration.
A miraculous scene unfolded: a ball of white light appeared in Xu Erniang’s palms, seeping through the gaps between her fingers.
The light wasn’t too bright, as if she were holding a handful of fireflies.
Then, she suddenly stopped chanting and began moving her fingers nimbly and swiftly. Soon, a pale blue hexagram array materialized above the waterskin.
With another flick of her fingers, the hexagram condensed into a stream of light and merged into the waterskin.
A faint glimmer flashed, and everything returned to normal.
But Xu Yue knew that the seemingly shabby waterskin had undergone some kind of change.
Xu Erniang was even more impatient than her. She immediately crouched by the pond and began filling the waterskin with water.
The sound of “gurgle, gurgle” bubbles rose as the water seemed to be sucked into a massive container, flowing “whoosh, whoosh” into the waterskin.
Previously, it had taken Xu Yue over ten seconds to fill the waterskin, but now, half a minute had passed, and it still didn’t seem full.
“Is it a space array?” Xu Yue exclaimed in surprise.
Xu Erniang shook her head. “No, it’s a water condensation spell. I just thought of it suddenly.”
As for something as advanced as a space array, she hadn’t had the opportunity to study it yet.
Xu Yue asked curiously, “Did you compress the water?”
Xu Erniang nodded. “You could say that.”
As they spoke, the commotion in the water gradually subsided. Xu Erniang pulled out the waterskin and handed it to Xu Yue, confidently gesturing for her to pour it out and see.
Xu Yue nodded eagerly, feeling a little excited as she encountered magic for the first time.
She held the waterskin in her hands. Despite the extra water it now contained, she couldn’t feel any increase in weight—it was truly marvelous.
Cupping the waterskin with both hands, she poured the water into the pond. A gushing stream flowed out, and it took Xu Yue a full minute to empty it completely.
“How many liters is this?” Xu Yue asked in astonishment, turning to Xu Erniang.
Xu Erniang made a rough estimate and replied with dissatisfaction, “About ten liters.”
That was a full twenty catties of water—ten times the original capacity!
Xu Yue was utterly speechless with amazement. She recalled how her mother had been worrying about water containers earlier, but now it seemed they only needed seven more waterskins.
Glancing at the rabbit skins her cheap father had stripped and left in their makeshift shelter, Xu Yue tentatively asked, “Sister, do you know how to make a waterskin?”
Xu Erniang curled her lips. “No.”
“Oh.” Xu Yue felt a little disappointed but quickly perked up again. “What about bamboo tubes?”
Xu Erniang: “No.”
“An earthen pot?”
“No!”
“Leaves?”
“No!”
Xu Yue sighed. “Then we’ll just have to try making more waterskins. We have to give it a shot—I’ll go talk to Mom!”
Xu Erniang shrugged and let her go.
Wang Shi had already reached a decision with the villagers of Dawang Village, deciding to continue the “fight and flee” strategy. Just as she finished arranging the morning defenses and prepared to take half the group hunting, she saw Xu Yue running toward her.
The little girl approached but, seeing that Wang Shi was still giving instructions, obediently stood to the side and waited.
Wang Shi waved for Wang Dahai and the others to start preparing. Once the crowd dispersed, she looked down at the little girl beside her and asked curiously:
“What is it?”
Xu Yue beckoned for her mother to lean down and quietly whispered in her ear about Xu Erniang’s development of the Water Condensation Art, handing over the filled waterskin.
“Look, Mom—it holds a full ten liters of water,” Xu Yue whispered, barely containing her excitement.
This was a pleasant surprise. Wang Shi weighed the waterskin in her hand and glanced over at Xu Erniang, who playfully winked back, her eyes brimming with pride.
Wang Shi shook her head with a helpless smile, returned the waterskin to Xu Yue, and patted her little head. “I know what to do. Wait for me to come back.”
She already knew? Xu Yue was a bit confused.
Wang Shi didn’t explain further—they would see when the time came. She crouched down and asked Xu Yue:
“Do you know how to weave thin ropes?”
Xu Yue nodded affirmatively. Wang Shi instructed them to gather more thin vines to weave into ropes or find vines that could be used directly as cords.
After giving these directions, Wang Shi set off into the forest with Wang Dayou and seven others, without even eating breakfast.
Xu Da, Wang Dahai, another male villager, and the women all stayed behind. With the hidden combat strength of Xu Dalan, the well-fed group could hold their own even if they suddenly encountered the bulging-eyed man and his gang, at least until the main force returned.
Besides, Wang Shi and Wang Dayou’s group wouldn’t venture too far.
Since the pond was deep in the forest, there were plenty of wild game to hunt nearby.
Following her mother’s instructions, Xu Yue took a taro from her cheap father and then went with her brother and sister to search for vines suitable for making ropes.
The mountain was rich in resources, and it didn’t take long for her to find several paper mulberry trees.
These trees were common in the countryside—their bark was easy to peel, highly flexible, and came off in long, intact strips.
When Xu Yue was a child, she would follow her grandmother to chop firewood in the mountains. Her grandmother would cut two branches from the paper mulberry tree and use the stripped bark to bundle the firewood.
The elders in the village also said that in the old days when people were too poor to afford clothes, they would weave garments from this kind of tree bark.
Xu Yue thought to herself, she would take some back to study with her cheap father. Perhaps they could make a pair of bark shoes to wear.