As the sky was about to darken, her worried expression was obvious, but she was muttering to the little tiger cub in her arms.
“You two little things truly have bitter fates, losing your mother right after birth. Although you’ve been taken in by kind old me, right now! This Young Lady is lost!”
Ye Qingcheng frustratingly sat down where she was, carefully wrapping the two fragile little tiger babies. Just as she was about to search the Medicine Garden Space for some medicinal materials the little tiger babies could eat to survive, she sensed a person standing in front of her.
“Does the Young Lady need to go down the mountain? I will escort the Young Lady!” Mo Li truly couldn't bear to watch anymore. With his martial arts skills, his hearing was several times better than ordinary people's. He had listened to Ye Qingcheng’s rambling, and although he didn't understand what 'mother' meant, he knew this Young Lady wasn't just wandering aimlessly; she was lost.
He, who was usually quiet and reluctant to interact with others, hadn't realized Ye Qingcheng was lost at all, and had foolishly followed her around for nearly one Shichen.
“You are one of the people from the cave! How are you here?” Ye Qingcheng looked up, recognized the person belonging to that wretched Master from the cave, and asked doubtfully.
“The Master ordered me! To escort the Young Lady safely down the mountain!” Mo Li didn't want to explain further, but he couldn't say nothing, so he said this. Approaching closer, he noticed the bear paw the Young Lady had chopped off was gone.
He raised an eyebrow. He had been following her the whole time and hadn't seen where she put it. When did the bear paw disappear?
“Fine! Let’s go quickly!” Ye Qingcheng immediately got up, not forgetting to carefully wrap up both little tiger babies.
Mo Li said no more, walking ahead, his meaning clear: Ye Qingcheng should follow him.
Ye Qingcheng dared not delay for a moment and quickly followed. What a joke! If she didn't keep up, and he decided to leave her behind, she would have to live on this mountain!
What Fairy Mountain? Devil Mountain would be more fitting. Walking this whole way, she hadn't found a single edible fruit, not even enough to quench her thirst.
Ye Qingcheng hurried along following Mo Li while complaining, not daring to fall behind.
It wasn't that she feared any danger, but rather that if she fell behind, she wouldn't be able to find the way out.
It wasn't until they reached the entrance of Taoli Village that Ye Qingcheng called out to the person walking quickly ahead.
“That’s enough! You’ve brought me to the village entrance!” Ye Qingcheng spoke without any politeness whatsoever.
After all, they sent a Subordinate to escort her down the mountain because she saved their lives! What was there to be polite about!
“I bid farewell!” Mo Li clasped his hands in a salute.
“Go on, go on!” Ye Qingcheng waved her hand and headed straight toward Taoli Village.
Mo Li actually didn't leave; he secretly followed her again after Ye Qingcheng walked away.
He followed her until she entered a fenced courtyard and took a look inside.
The yard was enclosed by a picket fence, and the house was very old, but the yard itself was quite neat and tidy.
There was also a peach tree in the yard, with a stone table and four stone stools arranged beneath it.
Ye Qingcheng actually knew the other party wouldn't leave so easily, but she had nothing to gain—her home was bare, except for the two hungry little tiger babies she currently had.
Following her memory, she entered the house and went to the west room where she lived.
The main house wasn't large; there were two bedrooms on the east and west sides, a main hall in the middle, and the kitchen was outside.
The east room was where Emerald used to live, and the west room was hers.
Ye Qingcheng quickly entered the room, placed the two little tiger babies on the bed, and covered them with a blanket.
Although it was the height of summer, the two tiger babies were premature and had been through so much trouble with her; they were already struggling a bit.
Ignoring her own dirtiness, she rummaged through the wardrobe and found her old clothes.
These clothes were indeed quite old because when they left, they had packed away all the better ones and discarded the rest.
She put on an outer garment and ran out.
She remembered that Granny Hua next door had two ewes, and when they left, one ewe had just given birth to lambs. She was going to borrow some goat milk.
When she ran to Granny Hua’s house next door, there was no candlelight inside. Granny Hua would go to sleep as soon as it got dark, so she must have been asleep long ago.
“Granny Hua! Come open the door!” Ye Qingcheng gently knocked, afraid of startling the Old Madam.
“Who is it?” A somewhat aged voice sounded from inside, followed by the rustling sound of someone putting on clothes and getting out of bed.
After waiting for a while, Granny Hua finally opened the door.
“Granny Hua, I have an urgent matter, sorry to disturb your sleep…” Ye Qingcheng quickly spoke up.
“Ye girl? Didn't you leave? Why are you back?” Granny Hua asked doubtfully.
Granny Hua was present the day they left. They had said someone came to pick them up and they were returning to the Capital City.
They had also left some food and grain for her.
“Granny Hua, it’s a long story. Let’s not talk about that first. Can you squeeze some goat milk for me? I have two little ones to feed; they are starving!” Ye Qingcheng said anxiously.
However, her words caused Granny Hua to misunderstand. She thought the little ones Ye Qingcheng mentioned were human, assuming Ye Qingcheng had brought back two infants. Not daring to delay, she turned around, grabbed a small wooden basin, and went to squeeze goat milk.
The ewe had given birth to two lambs, but one had died, so there was leftover milk. Granny Hua squeezed about one jin of milk for her.
“Ye girl, this goat milk is quite gamey. Take it back and boil it before giving it to the child!” Granny Hua handed the goat milk to Ye Qingcheng, not forgetting to instruct her.
“Huh?” Ye Qingcheng wasn't paying attention and almost strained her back. What child?
But then she realized—the two little tiger babies were her children now, weren't they?
“I understand, Granny Hua!” So she agreed.
“Ye girl, wait a moment! Granny will get you some food! You two gave all your grain to Granny Hua when you left; you must not have anything to eat now, right?” Granny Hua said, turning back again and taking out a few steamed buns from the pot. It was clearly enough for two people.
She didn't know Emerald was dead, only thinking Emerald was at home looking after the children! These two girls had it tough; she would help them as much as she could.
“Granny doesn't have any vegetables, so eat these steamed buns for now. Come over to Granny’s house for a meal when it’s light!” Granny Hua packed the buns and handed them to Ye Qingcheng.
“Thank you, Granny!” Although Ye Qingcheng was a meat-loving foodie, even a wolf would eat cabbage when starving! She needed these steamed buns the most right now, so she didn't stand on ceremony.
“Hurry up and go! The babies can’t go hungry!” Granny Hua waved her hand.
After Ye Qingcheng turned away, Granny Hua shook her head, her face full of worry, and went back inside. She was an old woman living alone, and she locked her doors once it got dark.
Ye Qingcheng ran home and quickly found a disposable syringe from the medicine rack in the Medicine Garden Space. Luckily, she usually kept medical supplies like beakers and disposable syringes for her research; otherwise, she would have been stumped, having no idea how to feed the tiger babies with a wooden basin.
She didn't have time to boil the goat milk and fed it directly to the two tiger babies.
After feeding the tiger babies, there was still quite a bit of goat milk left, which she quickly put away into the Space.
Only then did she recover a bit of energy. She smelled terrible all over. Although Ye Qingcheng was exhausted and wanted to lie down and sleep, the smell on her body was too pungent. So, she got up, boiled some water in the kitchen, washed herself thoroughly several times, and then found some old clothes to put on.
Looking at her transformation from a wealthy Miss to a village girl in an instant, she couldn't help but laugh a few times, then quickly covered her mouth. It was the middle of the night; if someone heard her, it would be a sin to frighten them.
After bathing, she comfortably returned to the room and found the steamed buns had gone cold. There was no way; she was too lazy to move, so she just gnawed on two cold steamed buns, saving two for tomorrow.
She secretly vowed in her heart that she must have a grand meal tomorrow. Although she was short on Silver right now, how hard could earning Silver be? She had the Space.