But before the child could answer, the old man already had his own answer.
"Are you looking for your mother, little one?"
The child looked at the old man.
She nodded honestly.
"Grandpa Zou, where's my mommy?"
The child spoke very slowly.
Even that short sentence came out haltingly.
A look of affection appeared in the old man's eyes.
Poor little thing.
No matter what, even if her life wasn't in danger, falling off a cliff was a serious accident. She couldn't possibly have come away completely unhurt.
She would probably have to stay put for quite a while because of her injuries.
Maybe that was for the best.
The old man felt somewhat guilty.
The moment Young Friend Xiao said the little one had fallen off a cliff...
he knew exactly where she'd gotten hurt.
The little one loved playing in the mountains.
Anyone who knew her well knew that.
Of course, he knew it too.
He'd often helped the little one sneak off to the mountains, covering for her with her mother.
In his opinion, she was only going to play in the mountains. It wasn't a big deal.
He'd lived in the village his whole life, and he knew those mountains like the back of his hand.
He knew there had never been any ferocious beasts in them.
There hadn't even been any rumors of such things.
It was a peaceful stretch of woodland.
There were wildflowers and weeds, streams and rivers, wild rabbits and squirrels...
Of course,
there were also lush, towering trees that reached for the sky.
And all sorts of strange rocks.
He understood perfectly why the little one loved those woods.
He'd loved playing there as a child, too.
In spring, there were colorful wildflowers and butterflies dancing through the