Encountering Danger

When Hu Xiaocao returned home, Wu Yuan was treating a woman.

"Grandpa Wu, how is my mother doing?"

The woman's eyes were faintly red, as though she had just been crying. She wiped the corners of her eyes. "Your Grandpa Wu said that as long as I rest for a while longer, I'll gradually get better."

Hu Xiaocao's eyes lit up. "Really? That's wonderful! I knew praying to Grandpa Mountain God would work."

Wu Yuan's expression was filled with pity. As he watched the delighted Hu Xiaocao, his lips moved hesitantly. He glanced at the woman beside him, whose eyes were filled with pleading, and in the end, he said nothing.

Hu Xiaocao, however, keenly sensed that something was wrong. "Mom, you're almost better, so why aren't you happy? You aren't lying to me, are you?"

The woman forced a smile. "I'm happy. I'm so happy I could cry. Besides, if you don't believe me, go ask your Grandpa Wu."

Looking into Hu Xiaocao's innocent, tender eyes, Wu Yuan nodded with difficulty.

"That's wonderful! Then I'll go cook."

Hu Xiaocao hopped and skipped outside to gather firewood.

After she had gone some distance away, Wu Yuan finally sighed. "Your illness can't be hidden forever. Xiaocao is a clever child. She'll find out sooner or later."

The woman wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. "Let her be happy for a few days. Xiaocao has it too hard. Sigh, sometimes I wonder if Xiaocao wouldn't have to work so hard if I died."

Wu Yuan's expression changed when he heard this. "How can you think that way? Xiaocao has already lost her father. Do you want her to lose her mother too?"

The woman's murky pupils suddenly flashed with light. "Uncle Wu, don't worry. Even for Xiaocao's sake, I'll do my best to stay alive. I still have to wait and see her get married."

Wu Yuan left behind some herbs and gave her a few more instructions before departing.

After taking the herbs with Moonpetal Grass as the medicinal catalyst, the woman's condition improved for a while, but afterward it grew increasingly worse. Every night, she would erupt into heart-rending coughs and could barely sleep through the night.

Her face was so pale that a gust of wind seemed capable of toppling her. By then, Hu Xiaocao would cling tightly to the woman's hand, afraid that she would vanish with a single blink.

After the small temple was built, Hu Xiaocao went there even more often. She was practically there rain or shine, checking in every day.

Many villagers passing by would see Xiao Cao kneeling and praying, asking that her mother be blessed with a speedy recovery. They could not help showing expressions of sympathy and pity.

"Poor Xiao Cao. I heard her mother's illness has gotten worse, yet she's placing her hopes in some ethereal mountain god."

"What mountain god? It's all feudal superstition."

"Keep your voice down. Don't let Xiao Cao hear you. A child only has this one bit of hope, and she even had a little temple built in earnest. If you shatter it, wouldn't that just break her heart?"

The villagers sighed as they walked away. Seeing Hu Xiaocao, they only felt sorry for her, and whenever they could help, they would lend her a hand.

That day, kindhearted neighbor Aunt Zhang brought over several eggs to nourish the mother and daughter. Hu Xiaocao ran home as though she had found a priceless treasure and presented them to the woman like precious offerings.

The woman shook her head and stroked Hu Xiaocao's hair, which was like withered grass. "Mom doesn't like eggs. You eat them yourself."

Eggs might have been ordinary for some households, but to the mother and daughter, they were exceedingly precious food. The eggs from their home had to be saved and sold for money.

Eating even one felt like committing a crime.

The mother and daughter simply could not bear to eat them. Hu Xiaocao felt as though the last time she had eaten an egg had been in a past life. Their daily meals consisted of rice and pickles, without even a trace of meat.

An ordinary egg was already a rare delicacy to them.

Hu Xiaocao was firm in her refusal. Holding out an egg, she would not put it down. "No, Mom, eat the eggs. They'll nourish you, and then you'll recover faster."

Unable to argue with Hu Xiaocao, the woman had no choice but to eat two.

There was one egg left, but Hu Xiaocao did not move for a long while.

The woman could not help asking in puzzlement, "Xiao Cao, why aren't you eating?"

Hu Xiaocao swallowed hard, as though she had thought of something. "I'll take it outside to eat!"

Watching Hu Xiaocao run away, the woman shook her head with a smile. "This child—even to eat an egg, she has to run outside."

Little did she know that Hu Xiaocao had carried the egg all the way to the Mountain God Temple.

"Grandpa Mountain God, look what I brought you!"

Although she knew that the clay statue of the mountain god could not reply to her, Hu Xiaocao still spoke to herself. Over the past few days, she had grown used to telling it about what she had seen and heard, as well as her worries.

It was as though the mountain god statue before her could truly hear her.

"Aunt Zhang gave me three eggs. I gave Mom two so she could get better faster, and I brought the last one to you."

Hu Xiaocao chattered on as she peeled the egg. Looking at the round, plump egg white before her and smelling its faint fragrance, she took a deep breath, then licked her lips.

Using an enormous amount of willpower, she managed to resist taking a bite of the egg.

"Grandpa Mountain God, after you eat my egg, you have to bless my mother and make her get better soon."

When people became powerless, superstition became their final hope. Hu Xiaocao was too young to understand what superstition meant. She was simply too filial.

Just as Hu Xiaocao was about to set down the egg, the sound of "tap, tap" footsteps came from behind her.

She had assumed it was a few villagers passing by, but when Hu Xiaocao turned around, she saw an unfamiliar man.

People from the same village saw one another constantly. Hu Xiaocao knew all the uncles and older men from her village, but she had never seen the man standing before her.

She looked utterly bewildered and was just about to ask him a question.

A rag covered her mouth and nose. She instantly caught a pungent smell, and in the next moment, Hu Xiaocao lost consciousness. The egg in her hand rolled to the ground.

After doing all this, the man glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, scooped up Hu Xiaocao and slipped into the mountain forest not far away.

Only the mountain god statue molded from clay bore witness to everything.

The egg meant as an offering fell to the ground and became filthy with dust. In the end, it was crushed beneath the man's footsteps.

Not long after the man entered the mountain forest, he encountered several others.

One of them was sturdily built, with bulging muscles. He seemed to be a trained fighter, and his eyes were ferocious and baleful. He looked nothing like a good person.

Another was as thin as a bamboo pole, with a shifty, ratlike face. His eyes were slightly yellow, and whenever his pupils darted about, he gave the impression of plotting something, making people instinctively uncomfortable.

In short, this group clearly consisted of no decent people.

"Yang Cheng, you're something else. You moved so fast."

"I saw that she was alone, with no one else around, so it was the perfect chance to make a move. I brought her back while I had the opportunity. It counts as a good start for us."

The man's name was Yang Cheng. The whole group were human traffickers, preparing to abduct children and women from the nearby towns and villages and resell them elsewhere.

Yang Cheng had been scouting the area when he happened upon Hu Xiaocao worshiping beside the temple, so he had brought her back on the way.

In fact, small towns and villages were easier places to strike. Not only was there no surveillance, but anyone wanting to report a crime had to go into town, which meant they would miss the best opportunity.

In big cities, electronic eyes were everywhere, and traffic police patrols could appear at any time. One careless move could expose them.

(End of chapter)