At first, it was only the size of a grain of rice, but its area expanded rapidly afterward, looking unstoppable.
The sudden shout made Li Mai wary. She quickly stood up and looked in the direction the two of them were staring.
The orange-red glow stood out strikingly in the night. Judging from the direction, she said,
“It should be the county town on fire, it has nothing to do with us.”
At the same time, she also judged that the flames would not spread to the three of them. After taking a glance, she sat down again to rest.
When they heard this, both Li Shu and Li Qiao’s first reaction was disbelief. That was the most prosperous place in their entire county, how could it possibly catch fire?
Yet the two of them recalled what they had heard earlier.
Logically speaking, the enemy army would break through their county at dawn today. The enemy troops burned, killed, and looted, committing every conceivable evil. It was not impossible for the entire county to be set ablaze.
But when they thought of the once bustling county reduced to ashes, their hearts felt heavy.
Thinking of this, the brother and sister Li Shu and Li Qiao exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other’s eyes.
The two of them could barely protect themselves now, how could they worry about a county town they had only visited a few times? They had to take care of themselves first.
Trying to lift the gloomy atmosphere, Li Shu quickly started a fire, igniting a cluster of flames in the dim mountain forest.
The fire not only provided warmth, the bright light also gave people a sense of security.
Once the fire was lit, Li Qiao slowly moved away from Li Mai’s side. She took out the only iron pot from the basket, along with vegetable flatbread and a water pouch.
She skewered the flatbread with a wooden stick and set it beside the fire to roast.
Then she poured water into the iron pot. Once the water boiled, she quickly cracked in the wild chicken eggs they had gathered that day.
Under the orange glow, pale yellow strands appeared in the dark water, forming delicate wisps.
At the same time, a rich egg fragrance unique to eggs spread through the air.
Eggs cooked quickly. In less than a minute, the egg soup in the pot continued to boil.
Li Qiao promptly added salt, stirred it evenly, then took out bowls and chopsticks, serving a bowl for her eldest sister first.
“Eldest Sister, hurry and taste it. There’s not much here, so it’s quite simple, but it should be enough to go with the flatbread.”
Tempted by the aroma of eggs, Li Mai quickly took the bowl. She lightly blew on the rim a few times, then took a quick sip.
The tender egg ribbons slid into her mouth along with the broth. There was no need to chew, it simply followed her breath down her throat.
What remained for Li Mai was the lingering fragrance between her lips and teeth, along with the delicious sensation rapidly spreading across her taste buds.
After a few mouthfuls, Li Mai finally satisfied her body’s most urgent craving for egg drop soup.
Then she remembered what Li Qiao had just said and immediately spoke in praise.
“It’s not simple at all, it’s very delicious!”
As she spoke, she raised her thumb, giving Li Qiao the highest praise.
Hearing this, Li Qiao’s face flushed red, though it was not very noticeable under the firelight.
In her view, Li Mai’s cooking skills were the best in the family. She had only been imitating her methods.
Compared to her eldest sister, she still had much room for improvement.
She suddenly lifted her head, wanting to express her thoughts, but was shaken by Li Mai’s firm gaze.
At that moment, a thought arose in Li Qiao’s heart, could it be that her eldest sister was saying this just to comfort her?
Thus, under Li Mai’s puzzled gaze, Li Qiao slowly said,
“Eldest Sister, don’t worry, I will keep working hard to learn. I will make mushroom egg drop soup and wild vegetable egg drop soup for you to taste.”
Faced with Li Qiao’s bold declaration, Li Mai did not know what to say for a moment.
But thinking about how she would have more delicious food in the future, and seeing Li Qiao’s shining eyes, she nodded to show she understood.
At the same time, a thought arose in Li Mai’s mind.
During the apocalypse, due to various biological mutations, many foods could no longer be eaten, and the recipes she had accumulated became useless.
However, she had once gone on missions with people who were born before the apocalypse, and had heard them describe many delicious dishes.
While searching for supplies, she had inexplicably picked up a few recipe books.
Later, during long and tedious battles, she relied on the pictures in those recipe books to satisfy her restless appetite.
Now the ingredients were all purely natural, and there was someone by her side with decent cooking skills. Li Mai felt she could not waste this hard-earned opportunity and should enjoy more good food.
Once they found a suitable place to settle, training a future master chef would become an urgent matter.
Under Li Mai’s prolonged gaze, Li Qiao felt increasingly uneasy with her head lowered. Just as she was about to lift her head to ask why, the burning gaze above her shifted away, making her instinctively let out a sigh of relief.
At the same time, it strengthened her determination to study cooking diligently.
The two of them, each harboring their own thoughts, did not realize that their ideas were aligned to a certain extent.
At night, various sounds of wild beasts echoed through the mountains.
For safety, the three of them arranged to take turns keeping watch.
As the strongest among them, Li Mai volunteered to take the hardest shift, the latter half of the night, from near dawn until sunrise.
Li Qiao, being the youngest and having little combat ability, was assigned the first half of the night, when people were more alert and better able to resist sleepiness.
Li Shu took the middle shift, which was no light responsibility either.
“Crackle, crackle!”
Sparks kept bursting from the fire. Amid the chorus of cicadas and birds, Li Mai leaned half against a tree and entered a light sleep.
She would never entrust her life to others, not even teammates.
Although she was assigned to guard the latter half of the night, in reality she remained alert to everything around her throughout the entire night.
After a night passed, the three of them were quite fortunate and did not encounter any wild beasts.
After waking up, they quickly ate a simple breakfast and set off again with the donkey cart.
The burning of the county town the previous night had deeply shaken Li Shu and Li Qiao. They worried that if they did not go farther away, they might also be affected.
Thus, over the next two days, the three of them hurried along their journey. Even when blisters formed on their feet, they did not complain of hardship or exhaustion, continuing to move forward with their legs to escape.
Finally, on the afternoon of the third day after entering the deep mountains, they crossed over a ridge and saw a green ribbon winding through the mountains, disappearing into the distance.
Most astonishing of all, they saw a house on a nearby mountainside.
Li Qiao exclaimed in surprise, “How could someone build a house in the mountains!”
Li Shu stretched his neck to get a clearer look at the structure. Recalling what he had once heard from their father, he replied,
“It should be a hunter living in the mountains. I heard Father say that most hunters do not have household registration. They can only rely on hunting to survive. They avoid crowds and live in the mountains. Only when they need to buy supplies do they come out, using their game to trade with villagers.”
“But aren’t we also hunters?”
Both being hunters, why was their family different? Li Qiao looked at her second brother with wide, puzzled eyes.
Li Shu felt a bit guilty under her clear gaze and awkwardly explained,
“Father didn’t say. Maybe our family has always lived in the village.”
Hearing this explanation, Li Qiao nodded in partial understanding. She turned to look at Li Mai and suggested,
“Since someone lives here, why don’t we stay here too?”
“Let’s take a look first.”
Since they had come this far with difficulty, Li Mai naturally wanted to choose the most suitable place to live, otherwise their effort would be wasted.
But perhaps even the heavens did not wish for them to keep going. As soon as they crossed the mountain beneath their feet, a vast lotus pond came into view, instantly drawing their attention.
“Wow, a lotus pond,” Li Qiao exclaimed in delight.
Pink lotus flowers dotted the green lotus leaves. A gentle breeze stirred, making the blossoms sway, forming a scene of exceptional beauty.
But in Li Mai’s eyes, it was a collection of delicious ingredients.
If her memory was correct, just one recipe book alone recorded dishes such as lotus leaf chicken, lotus flower pastries, and steamed ribs wrapped in lotus leaves.
Thus, while Li Shu and Li Qiao were astonished that such a lush, untended lotus pond existed in this remote wilderness,
Li Mai was already imagining how to use the ingredients from the pond to make delicious food.
At the thought of tasting authentic dishes recorded in the recipe books, she could not help but sigh in admiration.
“The lotus flowers and leaves in the pond can all be made into delicious food, this is really excellent!”
“There’s also lotus root! I heard Sister Xiuli from Uncle Village Chief’s family say that wealthy families in the county love to eat lotus root, they say it nourishes the body.”
Li Qiao quickly added what she had heard.
Upon hearing this, Li Mai became interested and asked,
“Lotus root? Where is it?”
She focused her gaze and looked toward the rippling green pond, but still did not see what Li Qiao mentioned.
At that moment, the other two were immersed in the joy of discovering such a precious ingredient and did not notice Li Mai’s expression.
Hearing the question, Li Qiao quickly explained,
“Lotus root is naturally in the pond, but it’s buried in the mud. You probably have to go into the pond and dig deep to find it.”
Hearing that such a simple lotus pond contained so many delicious ingredients, Li Mai gave up the thought of continuing forward.
At the same time, she had to admit that this place was already an excellent residence.
A river flowed past the foot of the mountain, with a small branch stream leading into the lotus pond, forming the flourishing scene before them.
The pond lay in a valley between two mountains, with flat terrain and ample space for building houses.
Even more valuable, at the foot of the opposite mountain, she seemed to see a cave that could serve as a temporary shelter for the three of them.
“From now on, this will be our home.”
Li Mai made the final decision.
“Yay, yay!” Li Qiao jumped excitedly. In her eyes, this place could not be better.
Under the influence of her excitement, she even ignored the pain in her feet.
She eagerly pulled the donkey cart toward the valley, leaving the other two behind.
With someone leading the way, Li Mai had no objections.
However, when Li Qiao stopped by the lotus pond to rest and drink water with the donkey cart, Li Mai continued walking forward until she reached the cave she had set her sights on.
The scattered green leaves at the cave entrance and the strong scent made Li Mai realize that something was still living inside.
“Crack!”
With a single slash, the vines covering the entrance were instantly cut down.
In the next moment, a sound immediately came from within the cave.
“Flap, flap, flap!”