"Ah He, where did you go? Get back here! It's time to leave!"
Among the Great Lake Village group, a weathered, middle-aged man saw the honest-looking young man beside Jiang Ping An leave the group without permission. His face hardened, and he shouted at him, anger and urgency in his voice.
Shi Da He shrank his neck like a child caught doing something wrong. He gave Jiang Ping An an embarrassed smile and said quickly under his breath:
"My father's calling me. I... I have to go back."
He paused, as if remembering something, then hurriedly added, pointing east:
"My name's Shi Da He. If you've lost your memory and don't know where to go, and you have nothing to eat, just keep heading east from here. Our village is over there, beside a big lake. It's easy to find."
With that, Shi Da He dared not linger. He pushed off hard, his sturdy body springing forward with astonishing power, and bounded back to the Great Lake Village group in a few leaps.
He had barely landed when his father, Shi Da Hu, seized him. His palm, broad as a fan, rapped his son's head several times without mercy. Thud, thud!
"You little brat! Who told you to go talking to strangers? Huh?"
Shi Da Hu glared at him and scolded him in a low voice, his face stern. "Do you know who he is? Which tribe he's from? Whether he's good or bad? What if you bring trouble down on us? Why won't you ever learn?"
The more he spoke, the angrier he grew. Remembering what his son had just done made the loss sting even worse.
"And another thing! Do you know how precious that herb you gave him was? It can nourish the soul! We went through