After staying in the space for about an hour, Su Wanxing finally exited it. Returning to the side room of the ancestral hall, her two younger siblings were still sleeping peacefully. The candle had already burned more than halfway down, its flame still faint. She walked to the bedside, gently tucked the thin quilt around them, then sat beside the bed and began thinking about what to do next.
Although she and her siblings had escaped from Su Yuan’s family, they had no money at all—only a few worn-out clothes. The ancestral hall could not be a long-term solution. She had to quickly find a legitimate way to earn money: to buy food, cloth, and even a house of their own so her siblings could live in peace.
Su Wanxing recalled the original host’s memories. The area around Su Family Hollow was surrounded by mountains. On those mountains grew many wild vegetables and fruits, and there were also wild rabbits and pheasants. If one was lucky, they might even dig up medicinal herbs like ginseng or lingzhi. All of these could be sold for money at the market in town.
“Up the mountain!” Su Wanxing made up her mind. Early tomorrow morning she would take Wan Feng up the mountain to dig wild vegetables and gather wild fruits. That would solve their food problem and also allow them to try selling the surplus in town to earn their first money. Besides, the deep mountains were sparsely populated, so she could secretly take some items from her space and disguise them with ancient-style packaging without raising suspicion.
With that thought, Su Wanxing felt much more at ease. Leaning against the wall, she looked at her siblings’ peaceful sleeping faces and a faint smile appeared on her lips. Although the road ahead would be difficult, she had the space, the supplies she had stockpiled, and the determination to protect her siblings. The three of them would surely survive well in this world.
The night grew deeper, and the wind outside the ancestral hall gradually grew stronger, rattling the old window frames with soft noises. Yet Su Wanxing was not afraid at all. Guarding her siblings, her gaze firm, she quietly waited for dawn to arrive.
When the sky had just begun to brighten, a pale glow appeared in the east. Roosters crowed outside the ancestral hall one after another, piercing through the morning mist and waking the sleeping village.
Su Wanxing opened her eyes. In the faint morning light she looked to her side—Su Wanfeng was still holding the corner of her clothes while sleeping deeply, his little brows slightly furrowed as if he were still having uneasy dreams. Su Wanyue was curled into a small ball, her little face buried in the straw, breathing softly and evenly.
She gently pulled her clothes free from Wan Feng’s grip and carefully stood up, afraid of disturbing them. Walking into the courtyard, she took a deep breath of the morning air. It carried the damp freshness of mountain grass and trees, washing away the remaining fatigue. She had to earn their first money as soon as possible so her siblings could completely leave behind their wandering, unstable life.
She then entered the space and took out a white flour steamed bun wrapped in oil paper from the ancient area, along with a small clay pot filled with warm spring water. She placed the food on a stone by the side room door before softly waking Su Wanfeng.
“Wan Feng, wake up,” Su Wanxing said gently.
Su Wanfeng opened his eyes groggily. When he saw it was his sister, he immediately sat up straight, his eyes turning clear at once. “Sister?”
“Yes. Sister is going up the mountain in a while.” Su Wanxing nodded, handing him the bun and clay pot while carefully instructing him. “I’m going to look for herbs that can be exchanged for money. Stay home and watch your sister well. Don’t let her run around. This is breakfast. Eat half first, and when your sister wakes up, share the other half with her. Remember—just play in the courtyard. Sister will definitely come back at noon.”
Su Wanfeng took the food and nodded firmly, his little face full of seriousness. “Don’t worry, Sister! I’ll take good care of our sister. I won’t talk to strangers, and I won’t run around!”
Although he was only eight years old, the recent upheavals had made him unusually sensible. He knew his sister was working hard for their family.
Su Wanxing rubbed his head, tucked the thin quilt around Su Wanyue once more, then turned and rummaged through the pile of junk in the ancestral hall until she found an old bamboo basket. Into it she placed the oil-paper packets she had prepared in the space—containing gauze, hemostatic powder, and disinfectant—as well as a small hatchet. After locking the ancestral hall gate, she followed the path from memory toward the mountains outside the village.
Su Family Hollow lay against a chain of green mountains. The mountains were not particularly steep, but the vegetation was dense and mist lingered there year-round. The mountain path in the early morning was still covered with dew, making it slippery. Su Wanxing stepped on the thick fallen leaves, walking deeper step by step, with only birdsong and the rustling of leaves in the wind in her ears.
She did not rush into the depths immediately but began searching carefully at the foot of the mountain. According to the original host’s memories, villagers often brought cattle to graze or gathered firewood here, so there should be plenty of wild vegetables and herbs.
However, after searching for half an hour, she only found a few leftover dandelion plants that had already been picked. She did not even see decent shepherd’s purse or bitter greens. Su Wanxing was not surprised. In these difficult times, villagers’ lives were hard. The edible wild vegetables and saleable herbs near the villages had long been picked clean.
Wiping the light sweat from her forehead, she looked toward the deeper mountains. The forest there was denser and rarely visited by people—surely there would be unexpected gains.
After walking deeper into the mountains for about two quarters of an hour, the surroundings gradually changed. Tall ancient trees blocked out the sky, and sunlight filtered through the gaps between branches, casting mottled shadows on the ground. The air was filled with the rich fragrance of vegetation and the damp smell of decaying leaves.
Su Wanxing slowed her steps. While watching the path beneath her feet, she used her hatchet to push aside thorny branches and carefully examined the plants around her. She had studied traditional Chinese medicine and clearly remembered the appearance and growth habits of common medicinal herbs.
“Found it!” Su Wanxing’s eyes lit up.
On a sunlit slope she discovered a thriving patch of bupleurum. The leaves were bright green and the stems thick, meaning the roots must be full as well. She crouched down and carefully dug around the roots with her hatchet to avoid damaging them. Then she gently pulled the plants out, shook the soil off the roots, and placed them neatly in her bamboo basket.
With a harvest in hand, Su Wanxing felt even more motivated. Searching further along the slope, she soon found several platycodon plants with thick roots and light purple flowers, a patch of mint with plump leaves and a refreshing fragrance, and several coptis plants whose yellow rhizomes were excellent for clearing heat.
These were all commonly used medicinal herbs in pharmacies. Although a single plant was not worth much, accumulating enough of them could still exchange for some silver.
Just as Su Wanxing was focused on digging up a coptis plant, she suddenly heard a low whimper coming from the nearby bushes. The sound was full of pain and vigilance—intermittent, yet very clear.
She instantly became alert, tightening her grip on the hatchet. Slowly standing up, she looked toward the direction of the sound.
About ten steps away, the grass had been pressed into a shallow hollow. Inside lay a snow-white wolf.
The wolf was not small. Its fur was thick but looked rather miserable. Its left foreleg was tightly caught in a rusty iron trap, the metal teeth deeply embedded in the flesh. Blood flowed from the wound, staining the surrounding grass and its white fur.
The wolf’s ears were pressed tightly back against its head. Its amber eyes stared fixedly at Su Wanxing while a threatening growl came from its throat. Yet because its leg was trapped, it could not move at all.
“A white wolf?” Su Wanxing was slightly surprised.
A wolf with completely snow-white fur was extremely rare, and their temperaments were usually fiercer than ordinary wolves. She did not approach rashly. Instead, she slowly raised both hands to show she meant no harm.
“I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help.”
The white wolf seemed to sense that she had no intention of attacking. The ferocity in its gaze softened slightly, though it remained highly alert, its body tense like a drawn bow.
Su Wanxing cautiously stepped forward two steps, her voice becoming even gentler.
“That iron trap has injured you badly. If it stays there any longer, your leg will be ruined. Let me open it for you, alright?”
As she spoke, she slowly approached until she was only three steps away before stopping.
The wolf’s breathing was rapid, and blood still seeped from the wound. It was clear that it had endured pain for a long time.
Su Wanxing took a deep breath, took out an oil-paper packet from the bamboo basket, and first removed a clean leaf. Then she scooped a spoonful of spring water from her space onto the leaf. She remembered that the spring water had anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects—perhaps it could help this wolf.