Chapter 391 Three People in Danger
The heavy rain made it almost impossible to see the road. Many fallen trees further obstructed the already difficult mountain path.
Wang Qing and the other two felt as if they were crawling, searching every cave they found, big or small, but there was no sign of Chen Tangtang and the others.
As darkness approached, the already exhausted trio could no longer move.
"Let's go back. I'm tired and hungry, and I can't walk anymore."
Wen Mei leaned against a tree, refusing to search any further. She regretted her suggestion, never imagining those people could hide so well.
"I can't either. Going back now is impossible. Why don't we go back to the cave we passed earlier to rest for the night and decide what to do when it gets light tomorrow?"
Zhang Chunli was still somewhat rational. She could accompany them on the search, but she wouldn't risk her life. After hours in the rain, if she didn't dry her clothes quickly, she'd easily fall ill.
Wang Qing's eyes, whether from the rain or anger, were bloodshot upon closer inspection.
"Damn it, I wonder which hole they've crawled into, making them so hard to find."
Wang Qing looked at the two useless women, his anger having nowhere to vent.
"Let's go, let's head back."
The three returned to the cave they had passed earlier. It was dark inside, and the matches they had brought were soaked and wouldn't light.
"What do we do? If we can't light a fire, how can we cook or dry our clothes?"
Staying in the cold, damp cave, their wet clothes clung to them, making them feel even colder. Wen Mei felt her pockets, her rice bag, which she had been carrying, was also soaked. Suddenly, she felt her suggestion had been incredibly foolish.
Wang Qing had been trying to strike the wet matches, but not even a spark appeared. He finally threw them on the ground and gave up on everything.
The darkness and cold made their minds more gloomy. Soon, the three began to bicker and argue until they finally fell asleep, having exhausted their last bit of strength.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Chunli suddenly heard a "rustling" sound. She opened her eyes and looked towards where the sound was coming from, but she couldn't see anything clearly.
"Hey, wake up, you two. There seems to be something in the cave."
"What is it? What are you doing up in the middle of the night?"
Wen Mei irritably rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. She was too tired.
Wang Qing was snoring so loudly that Zhang Chunli's shouts had no effect on him.
The rustling sound grew closer. Zhang Chunli, frightened, quickly got up from the ground and hurried towards the cave entrance.
"There really is a sound. If something happens and you don't get up, don't blame me."
Zhang Chunli had done what she could to warn them. She'd rather go out and get rained on than be bitten by some wild beast.
Zhang Chunli was somewhat sensible. As she left the cave, she draped all three of their tarps over herself. She didn't run far, just stood near the cave.
Less than five minutes later, Zhang Chunli heard a scream. Frightened, she didn't care about anything else and ran desperately in the direction she had come from.
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Wen Mei, already annoyed by Zhang Chunli's shouting, suddenly felt something slippery and cool crawl into her trouser leg and climb towards her thigh.
Wen Mei instantly woke up and scrambled up, hopping and yelping in place.
"Ah, help, help!"
"Ah ~~~"
A sharp sting made Wen Mei scream even louder. Wang Qing, also terrified, scrambled out of the cave, leaving Wen Mei alone inside, screaming and jumping.
Not long after, the screaming in the cave stopped. Wang Qing, who hadn't run far, waited for a while, then cautiously approached the cave entrance and called out.
"Wen Mei, Zhang Chunli, are you alright?"
"Wen Mei, Wen Mei, Zhang Chunli."
The more Wang Qing called, the more frightened he became. Knowing that the two inside were likely dead, he stopped caring about anything else. His priority now was to save himself, and he ran away.
Thus, Zhang Chunli in front and Wang Qing behind, they both rushed back overnight, desperate to find the villagers and seek safety.
The next morning, when the village children saw that Wang Qing and the other two had not returned all night, they were silent. Finally, An Xia ran to find the captain.
Gong Aidang, upon hearing that Wang Qing and the other two hadn't returned all night, was so angry he wished he could ignore them. However, the lives of these children couldn't be completely disregarded.
"Everyone eat breakfast quickly. We'll organize a search for food later. Also, three children went out yesterday. We'll look for them along the way, and I'll compensate you with work points when we find them."
"What good are work points now? If we find them, we need grain. Otherwise, who's willing to work for free?"
"Exactly. They have nothing to do with us, and they ran off on their own. We shouldn't be burdened with their troubles."
Gong Aidang knew that the villagers wouldn't risk going out without a reason. There had to be some benefit, otherwise, no one would be willing.
"We still need to go out and find food. I'm just asking everyone to call out along the way, in case we find them. And if we do find them, I'll force them to give you some grain."
With that, the villagers had nothing to say. After all, finding the children was secondary. If anyone saw them, they would get a small reward.
All the village children were mobilized this time. Since they all cooked for themselves, no one would work for free for others.
A large number of people went out this time, as everyone wanted to find more food on this trip. Therefore, basically, the strong laborers from every family went out, totaling about three hundred people.
However, these three hundred people did not go in the same direction. They went in three different directions, but they were not allowed to stray from the group, so they could look out for each other.
There was very little edible food on the mountain. After an hour of walking, everyone's bags contained only a few wild vegetables that hadn't been washed away by the rain. Even wild vegetables were not abandoned; it had been so long since they had seen green leafy food.
"We found taro! Everyone quickly look for these large leaves. There's taro underneath. This stuff is very filling."
This shout was like a heavenly sound. Everyone became energetic again, losing the dejection they felt earlier.
The group heading in the direction Wang Qing had gone was not so lucky. Halfway there, they found Zhang Chunli, who had fainted. She was wrapped in a tarp, and from a distance, she looked like a corpse.
They called for Gong Aidang, who had rushed to the scene. He carefully lifted the tarp and recognized who it was.
"Quickly, it's the child Zhang Chunli, she's still breathing."
Upon hearing that she was still breathing, everyone gathered around. They pinched her philtrum and patted her face, finally waking the unconscious Zhang Chunli. However, she was still groggy and clearly had a high fever.
"Captain, what should we do? Should we leave her here and come back for her?"
Gong Aidang was also anxious. Even if they took her back to a cave now, without a doctor or medicine, she couldn't keep running a fever.
After much thought, Gong Aidang went to find Gong Wenliang and Gong Wenxing, who had remained silent. He didn't want to disturb their peace.
However, he was also mindful of propriety and pulled the two aside before speaking.
"What do you think?"