“Eldest Sister, where are you going!”
Li Shu had only just managed to catch up, yet what he saw was Li Mai bending over, preparing to push through a thicket. He quickly called out to stop her.
Li Mai paused mid-step, about to explain the situation, when the sound of prey fleeing rang out again in her ears.
“Rustle, rustle.”
At that moment, nothing was more important to her than the prey.
She immediately took large strides toward the source of the sound. With a wave of her hand, she hacked open a passage through the bushes that was just wide enough for a person to pass.
In the next second, her figure darted inside, leaving behind only a rapidly disappearing silhouette.
Seeing this, Li Shu hurried after her.
Although he did not know what had happened, it clearly seemed urgent.
He casually tied the reins to a nearby tree trunk, then ran in the direction where Li Mai had disappeared, worried that something might go wrong.
But before Li Shu had gone far, he saw that Li Mai had already stopped. In her hand, she was holding a snow-white living creature.
When he moved closer, he realized it was a rabbit that had not yet fully grown, with traces of blood still remaining on its leg.
“A rabbit? Eldest Sister, this rabbit is a bit small, there is not much meat.”
“Can it be eaten?”
But to Li Mai, those words were automatically interpreted as something else.
At his question, Li Shu’s slightly open mouth twitched uncontrollably. He nodded and said,
“It can be eaten. But right now it has more bones and less meat, it is not worth it.”
When it came to food, Li Mai did not think that way. As long as it could be eaten, that was enough.
However, hearing Li Shu’s words, she picked up on a different meaning and asked,
“Then when does it taste best?”
Since they were not short on food for the moment, she could afford to be more patient.
As she spoke, Li Mai tightened her grip on the rabbit’s two ears, lifting it up and shaking it lightly in front of her eyes. She watched the rabbit’s legs flail continuously as it struggled. The blood on them flowed more and more, until the lower half of one leg was completely dyed red.
“Take it home and raise it for a month, that will do. Rabbits only need to eat grass, it does not take much effort.”
Li Shu glanced at the surroundings and noticed that there were several other rabbits on the ground. They were not injured, they had simply been overwhelmed by the frightening aura emanating from his eldest sister, lying submissively on the ground without struggling.
“Alright.”
Li Mai looked at the rabbit’s hind leg, which had only been grazed by an arrow, and stuffed the rabbit into Li Shu’s hands with dissatisfaction.
She still found it hard to believe that her archery had regressed after just one day. She would have to practice more.
Thus, for the rest of the time, the birds surviving on the mountain suffered. They became moving targets for Li Mai’s archery practice.
Every arrow she shot would injure a bird.
Li Shu stared at the scene in stunned amazement, unable to believe that someone could hit every shot without fail. Without realizing it, he became the one responsible for picking up the prey, helping to carry them.
The strong smell of blood frightened the rabbits in his arms so much that they trembled violently, as if they would not live much longer.
But the two of them, immersed in their abundant harvest and shock, had no mind to pay attention.
If it were not for the sky growing dark, neither of them would have been willing to come down from the mountain.
Li Qiao waited anxiously at the foot of the mountain. Compared to when she used to wait at home for their father to return from hunting alone, she was even more anxious now.
If something happened to both her eldest sister and second brother, she did not know whether she could survive alone in the deep mountains.
When she saw the donkey cart moving down from the mountain, she jumped up excitedly and quickly climbed upward, preparing to meet the two of them.
“Eldest Sister! Second brother! You finally came back!”
Li Qiao’s excited shout instantly startled Li Shu out of his daze.
He hurriedly looked toward the foot of the mountain and saw his younger sister climbing up. He quickly called out to remind her,
“Don’t come up, we will be going down soon!”
But Li Qiao was not someone who would obediently listen. Her anxious heart was still pounding wildly, and only seeing the two of them would put her at ease.
Soon, the two sides met halfway up the mountain.
Li Shu looked helplessly at his younger sister who had climbed up and asked,
“Did you not hear what I just said? Climbing up is very tiring, it is just a waste of time and energy. We were about to come down.”
“So what? You two were gone for so long. I was scared staying in the valley all by myself.”
Li Qiao pouted unhappily and glared at Li Shu.
Seeing this, Li Shu quickly raised both hands in surrender. He was afraid that if he continued, his younger sister would start crying.
At that point, he really would not know what to do.
“Alright, alright! It is all second brother’s fault. Next time I will come back earlier.”
“No, you have to take me with you.”
Li Qiao was still dissatisfied and immediately stated her demand. At the same time, she carefully looked both Li Shu and Li Mai over.
In the dim light, she widened her eyes as much as she could to clearly see their condition.
When Li Shu’s body, covered in bloodstains, came into her sight, her heart instantly sank to the bottom. She shouted in panic,
“Second brother! Where are you hurt? Is it serious?”
As she spoke, Li Qiao immediately reached out to feel his body, trying to find the injured spot.
The sudden action threw Li Shu into a fluster. He quickly stopped her wandering hands and explained,
“I am not injured. With Eldest Sister here, how could I possibly get hurt? This is all blood I accidentally got on me while picking up the prey she shot. Look! We got so many birds today.”
Hearing this, Li Qiao’s worried heart immediately settled.
Her eyes followed the direction Li Shu pointed. As she withdrew her hand, it accidentally brushed across his chest.
The sudden sensation made her jump in fright, and she cried out uncontrollably,
“Ah!
Brother! What is that on your chest?”
Li Qiao stared fixedly at Li Shu’s chest, her eyes wide in shock as if they might pop out of their sockets. Her small face turned pale, and the hand pointing at him trembled uncontrollably.
But Li Shu curled his lips into a smile, quickly reaching into his chest and pulling out a ball of snow-white fur, then swiftly handing it to his younger sister.
The sudden appearance of the unfamiliar object made Li Qiao instinctively shut her eyes. Her trembling eyelashes cast faint shadows beneath her eyes.
At the same time, she unconsciously took a step back, nearly falling down the mountain.
Li Shu quickly grabbed hold of her and explained,
“This is the rabbit Eldest Sister caught. Its hind leg is injured, but it is still alive. I was worried it would run away if I put it on the donkey cart, so I stuffed it inside my clothes. It is not something scary.”
“A rabbit…”
Li Qiao’s voice shifted through several tones, her face lighting up with joy as she looked at the rabbit handed over by her second brother.
One hand gently took it, while the other naturally reached out to stroke it.
The soft touch of the rabbit’s fur made the paleness on her face instantly disappear, replaced by a rosy glow of happiness.
She loved cute little animals like this the most. When their father used to hunt, he had once brought her a rabbit as well.
However, it had soon ended up in her stomach, becoming nothing more than a memory.
Now, she had a rabbit again, and her joy overflowed.
Thus, Li Qiao looked at her eldest sister, who had caught the rabbit, with sparkling eyes and said excitedly,
“Eldest Sister, you are amazing! I like cute little rabbits the most.”
“Then you raise it.” Li Mai glanced at the excited Li Qiao and made the decision at once.
“Ah? I can really raise it?”
At that moment, Li Qiao’s eyes were filled with excitement and happiness.
Li Shu immediately recalled a scene from the past and quickly added,
“Eldest Sister means for you to raise the rabbit until it gets fat, so we can eat the meat later.”
The implication was that while raising the rabbit, Li Qiao should not become too emotionally attached, otherwise she would end up crying like before.
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Li Qiao. Her excitement instantly cooled.
“Zhi, zhi, zhi!”
But the sounds coming from the rabbit in her hands restored her confidence.
Although the rabbit was destined to die, being able to raise it for a while was still good.
Thus, Li Qiao held the rabbit in her arms and followed closely behind her eldest sister as they walked down the mountain, leaving Li Shu standing alone in the wind in confusion.
Li Qiao’s sudden changes in mood were truly beyond Li Shu’s understanding. He scratched the back of his head in confusion, then drove the donkey cart down the mountain.
Because they had obtained too much prey, they were worried that if it was stored for too long, it might spoil.
Li Qiao decided to process all the birds and pheasants overnight.
That was right, this time Li Mai had also hunted pheasants, along with the pheasant eggs that had been carefully tended.
Thinking of the taste of the dough soup they had eaten last time, Li Mai could not help but lick her lips and decided that they would have dough soup early the next morning for breakfast.
For this, she helped by tending the fire and boiling water.
Li Qiao used the hot water to pluck the feathers from the birds and pheasants, opened their chests, removed the internal organs, and cleaned everything thoroughly.
Li Shu was not idle either, because the rabbits they had just obtained also needed a place to be kept.
So, under the flickering light of the fire, he took out the remaining short wooden pieces and used mortise-and-tenon joints along with rope to construct an enclosure, which would serve as the rabbits’ living space.
After a series of clanking sounds, just as Li Qiao and the others were about to finish, he finally completed it as well.
He casually used strips of cloth to bind the injured rabbit’s leg, then stuffed all the rabbits into the enclosure.
Finally, Li Shu did not forget to grab a large handful of freshly cut thatch grass and throw it inside as food for the rabbits, who had just gone through a frightening ordeal.
Li Qiao looked at this rough method of feeding and did not know what to say.
But going out to find better food for the rabbits now was clearly too late.
Thus, early the next morning, Li Qiao was the first to get up. Carrying the rabbit cage, she walked outside.
Although her footsteps were very light, Li Mai still noticed. After sensing that it was Li Qiao, the vigilance radiating from her body diminished considerably.
Soon after, Li Mai also got up and walked outside.
To her surprise, she discovered that it was raining outside. Because it was very light, she had not noticed it while inside the cave.
The rain fell onto the body like a thin veil draped over it. It did not greatly affect movement, yet it brought an uncomfortable feeling, more annoying than a heavy downpour.
Li Mai looked toward the woodshed and saw that all the dry firewood had been stored inside, untouched by the rain.
This meant that today’s meals could proceed as usual, and her mood immediately improved.
After feeding the rabbits fresh tender grass, Li Qiao turned around and saw her eldest sister. She quickly carried the rabbit cage over and said excitedly,
“Eldest Sister, when I was cutting grass just now, I saw mushrooms. If the rain is not too heavy later, shall we go pick mushrooms?”