erocious beast, there's meat to be had, and one by one, they all rush over.Iron pillar was surrounded by enthusiastic villagers, who bombarded him with questions, leaving him unsure which one to answe...After everything was set up, the three of them retreated back into the cave and waited for Zong Yu and Shen Li to return.

Shen Li returned first, probably because he had light kung fu and could fly fast

After a while, Zong Yu also came back.

"Is everything ready"

Both nodded at the same time.

Okay, let's go down the mountain now.

After all that work, the sun was already past noon.

If we don't hurry down the mountain, it will get dark soon.

In winter, Japan has shorter days and longer nights. What's more, being in the mountains with trees all around makes it even darker because the sunlight doesn't reach as easily.

We went up the mountain as four people, and we didn't expect to be able to bring Zongyu back down so smoothly.

She left the carriage at the foot of the mountain and tied the horse to a tree with some fodder.

Here, there are few people around. It shouldn't be that someone would steal a carriage.

As expected, they found the carriage right where they had left it. The five of them climbed into the carriage and sped towards Luoshui City.

Fang Jinshi thought for a moment, then lifted the curtain and instructed Zhao Yi who was driving.

"We won't take the usual road back to Luoshui. Zhao Yi, let's take the path from the village."

Although Zhao Yi didn't understand why his master chose to take the small road instead of the main one, he still changed course and drove towards the other side.

Zongyu hurriedly pulled the person back and hugged her into his arms, his warm big hand tightly enveloping his wife's slightly cold small hand.

"You've always had a strong constitution, why are your hands and feet so cold in winter"

Logically, it shouldn't be the case. Jinxiu has spiritual spring water on her body, and everyone in their family knows that drinking it for a long time would have magical effects.

To be frank, when she was a new bride, she was so thin and pale. But within just one month, she recovered completely, becoming plump and healthy again, even gaining back quite a bit of weight.

After that, she never fell ill again.

He had only been away from home for a dozen days, could it be that his daughter-in-law's illness was caused by excessive worry about him

Fang Jinshu saw self-blame in the man's eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind at the last moment.

"It's nothing, women are naturally prone to coldness. Once this matter is settled, I'll go back and take good care of myself."

"It's not a big deal, why are you frowning"

She raised her hand to smooth the man's furrowed brow.

Since Zong Yu left home, she had indeed felt some changes in her body. However, she had been so worried about his safety these past few days that she hadn't really paid much attention to it.

She still has a handle on her own body, it shouldn't be a big problem.

Zongyu was not reassured, however. Since he had decided to dismiss the thought in his mind, he would have plenty of time to take care of his wife's health in the future.

"You had Zhao Yi leave the village, were you worried those people would discover the traps we left in the mountains and find them"

Fang Jinshi smiled. "If it weren't for us, these people definitely wouldn't go down the mountain."

She just didn't want to implicate the innocent.

The carriage soon arrived at the first village, by which time it was completely dark. There wasn't even a moon tonight, and continuing on would be dangerous.

Fang Jinxiu has been especially prone to drowsiness these days. Coupled with the fact that she didn't sleep well last night in the cave – it was too cold – her eyelids kept drooping as soon as she got on the carriage. She's been trying hard to stay awake.

After Zhao Yigang finished speaking, Zong Yu lifted the curtain and made the decision for her.

"Spend a night in the village."

Zhao Yi, Zhao Er, and Shen Li all got out of the car. Only then did Fang Jinxiu take out a bag of food and a jar of water from her spatial dimension.

"Use these to trade for a night's lodging with those villagers."

In such villages, it's definitely better to barter with food than with money.

As expected, Zhao Yi went to ask a family. When the family saw that they had nothing but water to eat, they immediately agreed to let them stay for one night without hesitation.

The temperature inside the house was much warmer than outside. Zongyu asked this family for a stove that could burn wood, and drove away a lot of the cold.

Fāng Jǐnxiù almost fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. She slept very deeply, with a visible fatigue on her face.

Zongyu felt both heartache and guilt. He boiled hot water to wipe his daughter-in-law's hands and feet, rushing around just to make her more comfortable while she slept.

After finishing all of this, he didn't go to bed, but instead walked outside the door.

The family took the food and hid back in their room, locking the door behind them.

Zhao Yi, Zhao Er, and Shen Li were all outside. For safety's sake, they planned to sleep on the ground in the open tonight, keeping warm by the fire.

After such a long drought, less than half the villagers remain. The houses... you can barely see any trace of normal life anymore.

It's not much different from a refugee camp.eneral Zong, General Zong, how...how are you here in the kitchen so early."Zongyu frowned, as if he was used to having so many strange women in the house besides his mother, sister, and daughter-in-la...