Coming Close to Cannibalizing

"Brother Gousheng, what's going on here? The sky has cleared up. Why are you carrying food up the mountain?" An Jiuyue asked one of them when she saw them carry food up the mountain.

"Hi, Jiuyue."

An Gousheng was nervous when he heard a voice. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that it was An Jiuyue.

He glanced at the people carrying the food and replied, "These grains were taken out secretly by the Junior Officer from his and some of our households. They will ensure our survival."

They trusted An Jiuyue. Everyone in the village would have suffered terribly if not for her. Yet, they now had to go through so much trouble to hide the food.

An Jiuyue was puzzled. "Are you hiding the food?"

She had not descended the mountain since her last trip to town, where she found An Yilu and caught a female goat on the mountain.

She did not know what was going on below the mountain.