Inside the dilapidated thatched hut, a dim oil lamp was the only source of light.
Its tiny flame trembled in the draft, stretching the shadows of the mother and her two children into long, thin shapes that flickered against the mottled mud walls like swaying ghosts.
On the small wooden table sat a bowl of vegetables and two bowls of steaming white rice.
Each grain of rice was distinct, its fragrance something Li Xiuxiu and Liu Congming hadn’t dared dream of for months.
Li Xiuxiu carefully picked at the rice in her bowl, her eyes slightly red, savoring every bite.
Liu Congming buried his face in his bowl, eating with pure delight.
Only Liu Xiaoman had no appetite.
She sat quietly, listening to the cold wind howling outside like ghosts crying, rattling the broken wooden door as if it might fall apart at any moment.
Her hand gripped her chopsticks tightly, her knuckles turning pale.
This place… wasn’t a home at all.
It was nothing more than a wind-leaking cage, unable to provide even the most basic sense of safety.
Old Madam Tian’s venomous gaze from earlier that day lingered in her mind like a thorn.
She knew very well that with that family’s nature, today’s humiliation would only bring about even crazier retaliation.
What would they come back with next?
Liu Xiaoman set down her chopsticks. The light clack against the rough wooden table was soft, yet it startled Li Xiuxiu and Liu Congming out of their focus on the rice.
They both looked up at her.
“Mother, Congming,” Liu Xiaoman said, her expression more serious than ever. Her gaze swept across the ruined hut as she spoke each word clearly, “We can’t stay in this house anymore.”
“What?” Li Xiuxiu’s face instantly turned pale. She almost dropped her bowl.
Her voice trembled, filled with panic. She instinctively thought her daughter was about to do something shocking—or worse, abandon them.
“Xiaoman, what are you saying? If we don’t stay here, where can we go? We…”
Liu Congming didn’t fully understand, but he sensed his mother’s fear. He immediately dropped his bowl and clutched her sleeve tightly, tears welling in his confused eyes.
“Mother, don’t be afraid.”
Liu Xiaoman stood, walked over, and crouched beside them. Her thin but warm hands held her mother’s cold fingers while gently patting her brother’s back.
Her voice was calm and firm, carrying a soothing strength that allowed no doubt.
“I’m not leaving you. I’m taking you to a place that’s truly safe.”
She pointed at the shaky door, then at the holes riddling the walls.
“Look. Liu Dabao could kick this door open with one foot. Anyone could crawl through these walls at night. After what happened today, do you think the Liu family will just let it go?”
Li Xiuxiu trembled harder, unable to speak.
Of course she knew what kind of person Old Madam Tian was.
Liu Xiaoman pulled her younger brother into her arms and looked firmly at her mother.
“We’re like people sleeping in the street while carrying gold. It’s too dangerous.”
“What happened today has pushed us into the spotlight. We have to leave. We need to find a place they can’t find—and don’t dare to touch.”
“A place… safer and more hidden.”
She gently embraced them both, her warm breath brushing their ears.
“A place that belongs only to the three of us—a real home.”
The embrace was light, yet it seemed to carry endless strength. Li Xiuxiu’s chaotic thoughts gradually settled.
She stared at her daughter in a daze.
This child—who had been burning with fever and on the brink of death just days ago—had somehow become the pillar of their little family.
“But… where can we go?” Li Xiuxiu murmured, still lost.
Under heaven, all land belonged to the ruler. With no power or connections, where could they possibly escape to?
Liu Xiaoman released them, her eyes shining with a strange light.
“The back mountains.”
Those two words made Li Xiuxiu’s heart jump again.
“The back mountains? That’s impossible! People say there are wolves and bears deep inside. Few who enter ever come out whole!”
“That’s because they go to the wrong places—and don’t understand the rules of the mountains,” Liu Xiaoman said confidently.
In her previous life as an agricultural scientist, fieldwork had been routine. Her knowledge of wilderness survival far exceeded anyone in this era.
She casually disguised her earlier experience of digging for herbs at the mountain’s edge.
“When I went to dig herbs, I went a bit deeper. The terrain is complex—there are hidden valleys and caves. If we find the right spot, not only can we hide, we could even cultivate land without anyone knowing.”
In her mind, she was already calculating.
The system shop’s miraculous seeds and tools were not meant for her to stay in this small village, scheming against troublesome relatives.
Her path should be far greater… at the very least, this vast mountain range.
That was where she could truly change her family’s fate.
She took her mother’s hand again, her tone earnest and unwavering.
“Mother, trust me. The mountains are dangerous—but they’re also our only chance to live.”
“I can identify herbs, find food, and protect us. We can’t keep putting our lives in others’ hands, nor rely on their conscience.”
Li Xiuxiu looked into her daughter’s eyes.
There was no fear there—only solid confidence and responsibility.
She recalled how Liu Xiaoman had disguised herself with soot, how she had calmly faced the shopkeeper, how she had outwitted Old Madam Tian’s family with intelligence and courage…
Everything shattered her previous understanding of her daughter.
Maybe… just maybe… Xiaoman really could do it.
Hesitation flickered across Li Xiuxiu’s face, but when she saw her son leaning tightly against Liu Xiaoman, as if she were his safest harbor, her last doubts vanished.
She nodded firmly, tears spilling from her eyes—this time, tears of hope.
“Alright… Xiaoman, Mother trusts you!”
Those words filled Liu Xiaoman’s heart with warmth.
She smiled, helped her mother sit down, then picked up a piece of burnt charcoal and began drawing on the ground.
Relying on her memory and her understanding of ancient geography from her studies, she sketched a rough map centered on the back mountains—marking rivers, valleys, and several possible exploration routes.
Though crude, the map’s structure was clear.
Li Xiuxiu stared at it in shock, her confidence in her daughter growing even stronger.
But another concern arose.
“The mountains are so big… we can’t go in every day. There are too many people in the village. What excuse can we use without raising suspicion?”
That was indeed a critical issue.
If their movements were exposed, the Liu family would swarm like dogs smelling blood.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already thought of that.”
Liu Xiaoman smiled mysteriously and took something out of her clothes, placing it carefully on the table.
It was a small wooden token, glowing softly under the dim light—the VIP token from Huichun Hall.
“What’s this?” Li Xiuxiu leaned closer curiously.
“This,” Liu Xiaoman said, her fingers gently brushing over the engraved words Huichun, “is our pass into the mountains—and our protection.”
She lifted her head, her gaze passing through the broken window toward the dark silhouette of the mountains under the moonlight.
Her plan was already complete.
Tomorrow, she would go to Huichun Hall again—not only to secure a legitimate reason to enter the mountains, but also to gain more resources for survival.
In her eyes, the dangerous mountains were no longer a symbol of fear—
but a vast treasure waiting to be claimed.