To avoid revealing too much, Song Xiaoyu could only respond with an awkward smile.
Her entire family had surrounded her in a tight circle, staring at her with excitement and curiosity. Their eager gazes swept over her again and again, making her feel more than a little uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Zhou Rong was quick with her words. After a brief explanation, she told everyone about the dream and the immortal who had appeared in it.
“Little Sister has a destined connection with the immortals,” Song Wu declared proudly. “She was personally guided by a deity. Let’s see who dares call my sister a fool again!”
“That’s right!” Song Wen chimed in. “My sister is the prettiest girl in the entire village. I knew she had to be a fairy descended from heaven!”
The two brothers showered her with praise, circling around her as they looked her over from head to toe.
Song Xiaoyu felt increasingly embarrassed.
Finally, Zhou Rong smacked both sons on the backs of their heads.
“Move aside, you two. Stop crowding around your sister and frightening her.”
Song Beichen nodded solemnly.
“Xiaoyu was born under a lucky star. She is the blessing of our family. From now on, all of you must take even better care of her.”
Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.
Song Xiaoyu was the only daughter in the household, and she had always been cherished by her parents and brothers.
Feeling their sincere affection, warmth spread through her heart.
“All right, enough standing around.”
Zhou Rong clapped her hands.
“Everyone, start cleaning the house. Otherwise, we won’t even have a place to sleep tonight.”
With that, Song Wen and Song Wu immediately entered the thatched hut to begin clearing out the abandoned grass, dust, and spiderwebs that had accumulated over the years.
“Father.”
Song Xiaoyu crouched beside Song Beichen.
“Your bones weren’t set correctly. I need to break them again and reset them properly.”
The entire family froze.
Song Beichen, Zhou Rong, Song Wen, and Song Wu all stared at her in shock.
“Very well.”
Song Beichen forced a smile.
“Father trusts you. Go ahead.”
After speaking, he turned his head away and clenched his jaw.
No matter how brave he was, anyone would be afraid of having broken bones snapped again while fully conscious.
Still, his daughter had finally recovered, and she had supposedly inherited the medical skills of an immortal.
As her father, he could not bear to discourage her.
Crack!
Crack!
Two sharp sounds rang out.
Sweat instantly poured down Song Beichen’s face.
His features twisted with pain.
Even so, he stubbornly refused to cry out.
As the head of the family, he would not show weakness in front of his wife and children.
“Father, I’m going to set the bones now.”
His face was already deathly pale.
Unable to speak, he merely nodded.
Then another series of cracking sounds followed.
Before he could even react, Song Xiaoyu had already reset both legs with swift, practiced movements.
“Eldest Brother, find two long wooden boards.”
“Second Brother, bring me two lengths of hemp rope.”
“Got it!”
The brothers answered in unison.
Song Wen quickly found an old abandoned table inside the hut and broke off two long planks.
Song Wu searched around and eventually found a bundle of hemp rope hidden in a corner, which he split into two pieces with a knife.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Song Xiaoyu secretly retrieved a bottle of highly effective medicine from her medical space.
After applying it to the injured legs, she used the wooden boards as splints and secured them tightly with the hemp rope.
Bandages would have worked better, but they would have required spending money.
At the moment, their family could not even afford a few copper coins.
“It takes a hundred days for bones and tendons to heal,” Song Xiaoyu explained.
“Although my medicine is very effective, Father still needs to rest properly for at least a month.”
“Yes, yes.”
Song Beichen nodded repeatedly.
“Father will listen to everything Xiaoyu says.”
His precious daughter’s words were law.
Seeing that her mother and brothers were still busy cleaning, Song Xiaoyu quietly picked up a bamboo basket and headed toward the door.
“Father, Mother, I’m going out to gather some wild vegetables for dinner.”
“Xiaoyu, have your brothers go with you.”
Song Beichen immediately looked toward his sons.
“We can’t let a young girl wander around alone.”
Song Xiaoyu waved her hands hurriedly.
“There’s no need. Brother Wen and Brother Wu still have to clean the house. Mother can’t do everything herself.
“I’ll just look around near the fields. Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere dangerous. I’ll be back soon.”
Before anyone could object further, she slipped away like a fish through water.
If she did not leave quickly, her two overly protective brothers would certainly insist on following her.
By the time Song Wen and Song Wu rushed outside and looked around, there was already no sign of her.
Meanwhile, Song Xiaoyu was carrying her basket straight toward the back hill behind their new home.
As she entered the foothills, she happened to pass several villagers who were returning from gathering wild vegetables.
She greeted them casually.
The villagers stared at her as though they had seen a ghost.
Frozen in place, they could only watch her walk away.
Song Xiaoyu paid them no attention and continued humming softly as she headed deeper into the mountains.
The villagers were thoroughly bewildered.
The village fool could suddenly speak normally?
That alone was shocking enough.
Yet she was also heading into the deep mountains.
Clearly, they concluded, there was still something wrong with her head.
After all, ordinary people avoided the deeper parts of the back hill.
The terrain was dangerous and easy to get lost in. If someone fell into a ravine or pit, they could scream until their throat bled and no one would hear them.
Venomous snakes, poisonous insects, and wild beasts also roamed the area.
Throughout the entire village, only Village Chief Wang’s son and Song Beichen regularly ventured deep into the mountains to hunt.
Hunters were highly respected because few people possessed such courage.
The deeper Song Xiaoyu went, the colder it became.
She wore only a thin, tattered cotton jacket covered in patches.
As evening approached, the winter wind grew sharper and harsher.
Her cheeks turned bright red from the cold.
Icy gusts slipped through every hole in her clothing, making her shiver uncontrollably.
“This weather is absolutely brutal.”
She stuffed her hands under her arms and trembled.
“It’s freezing.”
She could already imagine how difficult winter would become.
The family’s cotton clothes were in terrible condition.
The old quilts they had received during the separation were even worse. The cotton stuffing inside had hardened into scattered lumps and provided almost no warmth.
The most urgent priority was making money.
They needed silver not only to survive the winter but also to deal with the Li family’s demand for compensation.
At the thought of Li Erniu, Song Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes.
From what she had heard, the injury was nothing more than a scrape on his head.
Yet the Li family had demanded twenty taels of silver.
That was blatant extortion.
Once she earned some money, she fully intended to settle the matter properly.
Before leaving, she had secretly taken the family’s firewood axe and hidden it in her basket.
The axe had been used for years, and the blade had grown dull.
Finding a flat stone, she spent some time sharpening it.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Each step sank deep into the snow.
After walking for a long time, she still had not found any suitable prey.
Her body gradually grew tired.
Finally, she closed her eyes and spoke silently in her mind.
Enter the space.
In the next instant, her figure disappeared.
She reappeared inside her medical space.
The place looked exactly as it had in the apocalypse.
It resembled a hidden paradise isolated from the outside world.
At the entrance stood two jujube trees laden with bright red fruit.
The sight alone lifted her spirits.
At the center of the courtyard was a spiritual spring.
Clear water flowed endlessly from the well.
Song Xiaoyu grabbed a wooden bucket and drew up half a bucket of water.
Scooping some into her hands, she drank several large mouthfuls.
A refreshing coolness flowed down her throat.
The exhaustion throughout her body vanished instantly.
Fresh energy surged through her limbs and bones.
“This spiritual spring really is a treasure.”
Several wooden cabins stood nearby.
Song Xiaoyu walked into the storage cabin, where countless medical supplies were neatly arranged.
Then she suddenly froze.
A massive transparent screen had appeared inside the space.
Displayed across its surface was an enormous map.
The map clearly marked the locations of various resources.
Song Xiaoyu’s eyes widened.
“A treasure map?”
The corners of her lips slowly lifted.
“Wait…”
“This thing actually shows the locations of resources?”
Her heart pounded.
Good heavens.
She now possessed a living treasure-hunting map!