“Be careful!”
Li Shu, who had followed closely behind, heard the movement inside the cave. Instinctively, he reached out, intending to pull Li Mai behind him and face the unknown danger himself.
But his outstretched hand met only air, because Li Mai had already stepped forward, raising her head to look into the dark cave.
With her keen hearing, she could sense something approaching, yet its form was concealed by the pitch-black background.
Only when it drew close to the cave entrance did Li Mai finally see clearly in the dim light that it was a mass of flying creatures, clustered together, looking quite formidable.
She immediately tightened her grip on the knife in her hand, preparing to strike head-on.
Li Shu, having realized what it was, recognized at a glance that the cave was filled with bats, and quickly spoke up to remind her.
“Eldest Sister, they’re bats, not very aggressive. We can just smoke them out with herbs.”
“Bats?”
Li Mai had never heard of this name before, and she felt some doubt about the solution Li Shu proposed.
“Bats fear light, they like to hang upside down, and they are active at night. Right now is when they’re most active, using fire and herbs will definitely work.”
Seeing Li Mai’s confusion, Li Shu immediately gave a detailed explanation and took the task upon himself.
“I’ll go pick the herbs right now. I learned this method from Father.”
With that, Li Shu quickly ran back.
When they had just come down the mountain earlier, he had seen quite a bit of familiar mugwort and mint used to repel insects. These two herbs were perfect for driving away bats.
While Li Shu was taking action, Li Mai did not stay idle. Compared to other methods, hers was more direct.
Sensing that the bats inside the cave had only been disturbed briefly before returning to normal, she felt dissatisfied.
She casually picked up a stone from the ground and threw it toward the top of the cave.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
In the next moment, the frantic flapping of wings echoed out, clearly showing how badly the bats inside had been startled.
As a result, quite a few bats, in their panic, instinctively chose to flee outward.
The cave entrance where Li Mai stood became the first choice for most of them, but what they did not expect was that the entrance would become the place of their deaths.
Each time one flew out, the knife in her hand swung once.
Before long, a pile of bat corpses had accumulated at the cave entrance.
Li Shu returned with the herbs he needed, only to be greeted by such a bloody scene.
Even though he had hunted wild animals before, the sight still startled him.
He took a deep breath to steady himself and stepped forward, saying,
“Eldest Sister, your method is still too slow, let me do it.”
As he spoke, Li Shu took out a fire starter from his sleeve, lit some dry branches and fallen leaves, and quickly threw them into the cave.
He then added more flammable firewood, and finally the freshly gathered herbs.
Under the heat of the flames, the herbs were quickly scorched, releasing a strong, pungent smell that spread through the cave, throwing the bats, who had never experienced such torment, into panic.
For a moment, they could not even determine what danger they were facing, and fled in confusion.
Many still tried to move toward the entrance, but as soon as they got closer, they realized the pungent smell was growing stronger and were forced to flee toward other exits.
However, snakes, insects, and crawling creatures did not have such options. In their panic, they crawled out of the cave entrance, making rustling sounds.
Outside the cave, Li Mai stood there, listening to the chaotic noises within.
Gradually, the sounds from inside grew quieter, until they eventually fell silent.
Curious, she covered her nose and leaned forward to look into the cave, even tossing in another stone to probe.
The only response was the hollow echo of the stone hitting the ground, nothing else could be heard.
Realizing that there were no more living creatures inside, Li Mai lifted her foot and prepared to go in and inspect what would be their future residence.
“Wait!”
Seeing what Li Mai intended to do, Li Shu immediately called out to stop her.
As Li Mai turned back, he quickly handed her the torch in his hand and reminded her,
“With a torch, you’ll be able to see more clearly.”
At this point, Li Shu no longer expected her to listen to him, it was better to just offer some help.
Li Mai took the torch and immediately walked into the cave. Looking up, she confirmed that there were indeed no living creatures left. From now on, this cave would belong to them.
Since it was getting late and night was about to fall,
Li Mai and Li Shu quickened their pace, giving the cave a simple cleanup to solve their lodging problem for the night.
Compared to sleeping out in the open, having a place that could shelter them from wind and rain was something worth celebrating for the three of them.
Because of this, Li Qiao was willing, for once, to take out the few remaining wild eggs and cook them for dinner.
When Li Mai heard this good news, the speed of her hands unconsciously increased, striving to eat dinner as soon as possible.
Seeing how hard she was working, Li Shu also sped up his own movements.
In the end, by the time night fell, Li Qiao had already moved the cooking into the cave. The flickering flames outlined the figures of the three of them, causing their shadows to dance along the walls behind them.
Gradually, one shadow grew larger and larger until it overlapped with another.
“Is it ready?”
Li Mai’s voice sounded calm, but in truth she was extremely impatient.
To celebrate this night, Li Qiao not only used wild eggs, but also used the rare white flour, along with tomatoes and fresh wild vegetables.
At a glance, the pot was filled with red, yellow, white, and green, all mixed together. The rich colors and the aroma curling around her nose stirred the craving in Li Mai’s stomach restlessly.
“Almost.”
Li Qiao glanced at the figure who looked as if she was about to bury her head into the pot and replied with a smile.
Her hands did not slow as she continued to pour in the flour bits, stirring constantly with one hand.
Before long, all the dough bits floated to the surface, indicating that it was ready to eat.
Knowing how eager her eldest sister was, Li Qiao quickly served her a bowl.
“Eldest Sister, hurry and taste it, be careful, it’s hot.”
Li Mai quickly took it. Seeing the steam rising continuously from the bowl, she instinctively took a deep breath.
The rich aroma of eggs mixed with the sour scent of tomatoes, layered over the mellow fragrance of wheat, made her already awakened taste buds even more eager.
“Hoo…”
Li Mai felt she could not wait any longer. She quickly blew on the surface, then sucked a mouthful of the dough soup into her mouth.
The silky texture of the broth made her tongue tremble. Before she could savor it fully, the rich wheat fragrance followed, soothing her restless taste buds in a complete and overwhelming way.
The dough pieces themselves were smooth on the outside and soft within. Each bite of a dough piece brought her a new surprise.
The fragrant egg ribbons, the tangy tomatoes, and the fresh, tender wild vegetables further elevated the flavor of the dough.
After one mouthful, Li Mai felt her whole body begin to warm up, a wave of heat spreading continuously from her abdomen to the rest of her body.
This warm sensation made her intoxicated.
Thus, she eagerly took another mouthful. The piping hot dough soup danced between her lips and teeth, and as soon as it reached a suitable temperature, it was quickly chewed and swallowed.
Before long, she had finished an entire bowl, leaving not a single drop behind.
Immediately after, Li Mai moved on to the next bowl.
This entire scene was witnessed by Li Qiao.
Seeing her eldest sister’s support for her cooking, especially the visible joy and satisfaction each time she took a bite, made Li Qiao extremely happy.
At first, she felt delighted, then surprised, and finally shocked. She could not quite understand how Li Mai managed to drink so much dough soup. After all, to celebrate today, she had cooked more than enough for three people, yet her eldest sister had clearly eaten far more than she had expected.
After thinking it through, Li Qiao stopped what she was doing and came to a conclusion:
‘Eldest Sister must have been too tired these past few days, gradually eating more and more, her appetite growing larger, which led to her current intake.’
In the future, when she cooked, she should make larger portions so that her eldest sister would not go hungry.
When she looked up at Li Mai again, she saw that she was sweating profusely from eating, her usually cold face now flushed red, making her particularly eye-catching.
Li Qiao immediately took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, handed it to her, and said,
“Eldest Sister, wipe your sweat.”
Hearing this, Li Mai did not mind at all. She tilted the bowl in her hand to a ninety-degree angle, trying to drink every last drop of the dough soup into her mouth.
Seeing that there was no food left in the bowl, she instinctively licked the rim before lowering it from her face. She let out a long breath, releasing a satisfied sigh.
At the same time, she unconsciously pushed out her slightly protruding belly to ease the discomfort.
Then she took the handkerchief from Li Qiao and wiped her face.
The quickly dampened cloth made Li Mai realize that she had eaten rather messily, but thinking of how delicious the dough soup was, she felt that such a minor flaw was worth enduring.
After wiping clean, she licked her lips and said to Li Qiao,
“Make dough soup again tomorrow.”
At this moment, Li Mai was already anticipating the taste of tomorrow’s meal.
However, Li Qiao smiled awkwardly and explained,
“We probably can’t have dough soup tomorrow. We’ve used up all the wild eggs we picked before.”
“What! I still want to eat today’s dough soup tomorrow, I’ll go find wild eggs.”
Faced with good food, Li Mai immediately made plans for the next day.
Once she decided on something, she would definitely accomplish it. To her, nothing was more important than satisfying her appetite.
Hearing her speak to this extent, Li Qiao glanced at her second brother, then nodded and said,
“As long as Eldest Sister brings back eggs, I’ll make it for you again.”
Then Li Shu also stated his plan for the next day.
“Eldest Sister, you go look for food. Little Sister and I will stay here and tidy up the cave. If it’s suitable, we’ll make beds, so it’ll be more comfortable when we sleep.”
Faced with the choice between sleeping on the ground and sleeping on a bed, Li Mai naturally chose the bed and tacitly agreed to Li Shu’s arrangement.
After days of constant tension, once they had eaten their fill, the three of them quickly fell asleep.
Three different rhythms of breathing echoed in the cave, forming a steady cadence.
But suddenly, the sound of thunder and rain broke the calm inside the cave.
Li Mai used her ability to enhance her hearing. After confirming that there was no danger, she continued to immerse herself in her comfortable dreams.
Hearing the thunderstorm, Li Shu murmured unconsciously,
“Good thing it only rained today.”
After remarking on their good fortune, he drifted into a deeper sleep, accompanied by the sound of rain.