Night fell. The three sisters lay on the same bed. Having applied the medicinal juice An Xia had ground up, they no longer felt any itchiness, and the red rashes had faded away completely. An Qiu was already fast asleep, breathing softly. An Chun, however, remained wide awake; her mind was racing, trying to figure out how to earn money to support her two younger sisters. In the end, she decided to chop firewood to sell; she didn’t know how to do much else, but she did have more strength than most. An Xia also had a plan in mind, and after a tiring day, she finally drifted into a deep sleep.
The next day, the sky was clear, and the morning light spilled gently onto the grass and trees. An Chun rose early, taking the household’s wood-cutting knife to head out. An Xia and An Qiu also woke up, rubbing their sleep-heavy eyes.
“Xia’er, Qiu’er, you two stay home and wash yesterday’s laundry by the river. I’m going to the mountains to chop wood.”
“Big sister, Qiu’er and I will go to the mountains to gather some wild vegetables first, then we’ll wash the clothes when we get back.” An Xia suggested. “If we’re lucky, maybe we can even catch some wild game to sell for money!”
An Chun smiled, dismissing the idea. “The rabbits and pheasants in the mountains are clever; they aren’t that easy to catch. Besides, you don’t know how to use a bow and arrow. Don’t worry, Big sister can provide for you two.”
An Xia glanced at the wooden bow hanging on the wall and raised an eyebrow. As the sole successor of an ancient lineage, besides mastering medicine and poison, who didn’t learn horse riding, archery, and self-defense?
After An Chun left, An Xia took the wooden bow down from the wall and headed out with An Qiu. They were headed to Yanhui Mountain again. As they walked deeper into the forest, An Qiu’s basket was already filled with a good amount of dropwort.
“Qiu’er, look, what is that?” An Xia, who had been silent until now, suddenly pointed at something yellow under a pine tree in the distance, her face full of surprise.
An Qiu frowned. “There are many pine trees on Yanhui Mountain, and there are these yellow mushrooms under many of them, but no one dares to eat them. The color is too vibrant.” Her little face was full of resistance. “Second sister, let’s just pick the wild vegetables we recognize. Forget about these.”
An Xia looked at An Qiu earnestly, her expression saying, “You have to trust me.”
“Qiu’er, these mushrooms are edible, and they are delicious!”
“You haven’t eaten them before, how do you know?” An Qiu asked, looking up.
An Xia scratched her head. “I was so hungry once that I secretly cooked and ate them. Look, am I not still alive and well?”
With that, she pulled the reluctant An Qiu along and gathered all the mushrooms, putting them into the basket. People in Hulu Village actually didn’t eat these delicious Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms?
They climbed deeper into Yanhui Mountain for a while longer. An Qiu bent over, resting her hands on her knees, panting, “Second sister, I can’t walk anymore!”
An Xia looked back at An Qiu, whose face was flushed red from the heat, and looked up at the sun, worried about heatstroke. She pointed under a large tree. “Qiu’er, you rest under that tree. Don’t get heatstroke. Second sister will go a little further ahead to see if I can hunt a rabbit or a pheasant. If I can’t, we’ll head back.”
An Qiu nodded obediently; forcing herself to follow would only drag her sister down. She walked toward the big tree, saying, “Second sister, come back early and stay safe. The Tianyun Ridge is just up ahead.”
Wild beasts often haunted the depths of Tianyun Ridge.
An Xia waved at An Qiu, indicating she understood. She didn’t dare to be careless, taking the bow from her back and nocking an arrow. She didn’t dare venture into the heart of Tianyun Ridge—she didn’t even have a proper weapon—but looking around the outer perimeter shouldn’t be too dangerous.
An Xia walked alone for nearly a quarter of an hour without seeing a single hair of any game, and she couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged. Just as she was about to turn back toward Yanhui Mountain, she heard a rustling sound in the bushes.
It was a gray rabbit! Hearing human footsteps, it darted quickly toward the denser grass. An Xia’s heart leaped with joy as she aimed at the hare. With a “shoo,” the wooden arrow left the string and struck the gray rabbit’s hind leg, and it collapsed instantly into the grass. She walked over quickly, picked up the rabbit, tossed it into the basket on her back, and happily hummed a little tune. Finally, they would have meat to eat!
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
A violent coughing sound came from not far away. An Xia walked toward the direction of the sound. A man was leaning sideways against the shade of a tree, his eyes closed. His lips were pale and thin, and under his porcelain-white skin, blue-violet veins were faintly visible. His dark hair swayed with the mountain breeze, and his black robes fluttered, giving him a fragile, otherworldly beauty.
Seemingly sensing someone approaching, the man opened his eyes, his gaze as clear as glaze—beautiful, yet fragile. This was An Xia’s first impression of the man.
He looked up at An Xia, and before he could speak, he covered his mouth and coughed lightly, beads of sweat sliding down his forehead. An Xia looked at the delicate, stunningly beautiful man, and thinking of the dangerous environment of Tianyun Ridge, she realized she couldn’t just leave him here. If she didn’t help him, he wouldn’t survive.
“Are you alone?” she asked.
The man didn’t speak, just nodded faintly. There was a flush on his jade-like face from the coughing fit. An Xia walked closer and looked carefully at his complexion. After the flush faded, his skin turned a pale, greenish-blue, and his fingernails were the same. This was clearly chronic poisoning, and the poison was currently flaring up.
“You… you are quite ill,” An Xia said calmly, carefully choosing her words.
Rong Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, his gaze sweeping over An Xia indifferently. The scrawny girl before him, though possessing a large, ugly scar on her right cheek, had eyes as crystal-clear as the stars in the night sky. She was quite bold, staring straight into his eyes.
The man still didn’t speak. An Xia, being perceptive, didn’t directly mention the poisoning. She only said calmly, “I know a little medicine. I can help you temporarily relieve the pain.”
Rong Yan was currently experiencing the agony of having his bones stripped; his consciousness was becoming very blurred. So, without waiting for him to reply, An Xia pressed on several acupuncture points on his body. Without silver needles, relying only on pressure would be less effective, but it was still better than nothing. With no pulse taken and no medicinal herbs, she could only try to help him relieve the pain first.
Rong Yan, whose back had been cold and lips numb, felt a slight recovery, and the bone-stripping pain diminished considerably. This time, he examined An Xia more carefully. How could a girl dressed like a village peasant know medicine? Even Hua Wumian would not find it this easy to help him mitigate this agony.
An Xia didn’t notice his gaze, saying lightly, “There, you should feel a bit better. Shall I help you down the mountain?”
“No need!” the man refused.
An Xia didn’t insist. She picked up the basket she had set aside, put it on her back, and headed in the direction of An Qiu.
“Thank you!” a weak voice came from behind her.
“It was just a small favor.”
Half an hour later, a man in scarlet robes emerged from the depths of Tianyun Ridge. His clothes were covered in grass clippings, making him look somewhat disheveled.