Chapter 7: Where's My Meat?!

"...?!"

Luxiaoku didn't immediately respond but looked at Donge with a mix of astonishment and confusion, waiting for him to continue.

"I am from Yangzhou, born into a wealthy family. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I ended up wandering outside," Donge said, smiling self-deprecatingly.

"And then?"

Hearing this, Luxiaoku became even more curious.

"Later, I came to the capital alone, hoping to find an answer. But I was too late, couldn't wait any longer for that answer. In despair, I decided to live a leisurely life in the capital. Later on, I met you all, and you know the rest," Donge explained.

"Why do you want to go back now?"

Donge paused slightly, not giving a direct answer. Instead, he asked, "Mingzhou, is there a woman you fancy?"

"Are you kidding, Donge?! People like us don't deserve women to fancy us. Besides, we beg every day. When do we have time to meet a woman to fancy..."

Luxiaoku thought Donge was making fun of him, but upon reflection, something didn't add up.

"Donge, do you have a woman you fancy?!"

Luxiaoku was surprised when he asked, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Why else would Donge suddenly decide to head south?

Donge nodded.

"Who is she?! Do I know her?"

"The person who saved us at the city gate."

With that, Donge shared the information he had gathered about Miss Ruan with Luxiaoku.

Luxiaoku understood, but... with determination, he advised Donge, "Donge, not to discourage you, but Miss Ruan and people like us are as different as a swan in the sky and a sparrow on the ground. You... think about it."

Donge knew Luxiaoku spoke with good intentions and wasn't angered.

He said, "I understand your point... That's why I'm heading south to my hometown, seeking the help of my maternal grandfather. Although there is some estrangement between us, he's the only one who can help me now. I must go back."

"So, you have a home to return to?!"

Luxiaoku was adept at catching the main point, and he thought Donge must have lost his mind.

"If I start making progress now, I might reach her sooner. Otherwise, one day, she'll meet someone else..."

As if not hearing Luxiaoku's exclamation, Donge continued talking to himself. The hopeful gaze in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Seeing Donge in this state, Luxiaoku decided to keep the words of advice to himself.

"Okay, saying more won't help. I'm leaving."

With that, Donge stood up, dusted off the barely visible dirt on his clothes, and said, "Donge... take care!"

Watching Donge about to leave, Luxiaoku felt a surge of mixed emotions. He felt like there were many more things to say, but all that came out were these four words.

"Pack up your things, all of you!"

After leaving these words, Donge walked away without looking back, striding farther and farther.

Reflecting on this, Luxiaoku finally came to his senses. He thought he might understand why he had these inexplicable feelings of wanting to treat Yin Ran well.

So, this is what it feels like to fancy someone? Luxiaoku found his thoughts both absurd and surprisingly sweet.

After thinking about it, he said to Yin Ran softly, "Don't cry anymore. Sleep. I'll be right here watching."

Yin Ran wiped away the tears that had already dried in the wind, handed a bowl of meat soup to Luxiaoku, and said, "Drink this. It'll make you feel warmer."

"Okay."

Luxiaoku raised his hand and drank the bowl of meat soup in one go. It didn't have much flavor, but now it tasted like the legendary ambrosia.

Seeing Luxiaoku finish the soup without leaving a drop, Yin Ran smiled satisfactorily. She took the empty bowl and prepared to lie down for some rest.

Seeing this, Luxiaoku didn't linger. He walked to a place equidistant from both sides and began to keep watch.

At this moment, everyone was in deep sleep. Luxiaoku felt bored, sometimes listening to the chirping of insects, sometimes bending down to fiddle with the grass in front of him.

Strange, why does the grass seem to be increasing and becoming more... blurry? Just as he was thinking about it, Luxiaoku fell forward and collapsed.

"Sister, he fainted. This method really works."

Yin Huanhuan looked at Luxiaoku lying motionless on the ground and then turned to whisper to Yin Ran.

"Of course, it works."

With full confidence, Yin Ran took out wet cloths they had prepared earlier. Following her lead, the others covered their mouths and noses in the same way.

Once everyone's mouth and nose were covered, Yin Ran took out a handful of grass from the bushes and slowly threw it into the bonfire. A faint blue smoke rose from the bonfire, mingling with the morning mist, slowly drifting towards where Dong Li'er and the others were resting.

"Sister, what is this?" Ying Huanhuan asked curiously.

Ying Ran sighed helplessly, "I told you before..."

She paused, seeming to remember something, and then explained calmly, "This is hook vine. It has the effect of clearing heat, calming the liver, suppressing wind, and calming shock. It can also be used as a tranquilizer. The meat soup I gave to that person just now was cooked with this."

After saying this, she glanced in the direction of Luxiaoku.

"Oh, I see," Ying Huanhuan sighed as if enlightened. Then she asked, "How long do we have to wait here?"

Ying Ran looked up at the sky, which was turning fish-belly white, and said, "Wait a little longer. Although hook vine has the effect of a tranquilizer, it is not a true drug. To be on the safe side, let's observe the situation for a while longer."

The others nodded in agreement.

Some time passed, and seeing that Dong Li'er and the others were still motionless, they slowly approached, gently shook them, but still got no response. It seemed that the tranquilizer had taken effect.

"Take their things and let's go," Ying Ran ordered.

"But if they wake up, they'll know it was us who did it. Maybe we should..." a woman in coarse clothes next to them suggested.

"What do you want to do?" Ying Huanhuan, thinking that the proposed woman had some mischievous ideas, asked half-curiously and half-encouragingly.

The woman in coarse clothes didn't answer but made a gesture of slitting her throat without saying a word.

The others were surprised. They didn't expect her to have such thoughts.

Ying Ran directly refuted, "No! At present, we are just solving the problem of food. It's not a matter of life and death. There's no need to hurt people."

Seeing that the expressions of the others were not right, and considering that Ying Ran had already been tacitly recognized as the leader, Ying Huanhuan could only give up.

"Okay, forget it. Joking around. Why so serious?"

The coarse-clothed woman smiled and said, "I was just kidding, why so serious, Ranran?"

"That's for the best."

Ying Ran didn't say much, just these four words, and began to pack up the meat of Dong Li'er and the others.

Since Dong Li'er and the others had eaten a lot last night, Ying Ran shared some of it with the others. Now that they were packing up, it didn't take long for them to finish.

"Let's go."

But when they passed by Luxiaoku, their pace slowed down. Eventually, they stopped and didn't move forward.

"Huanhuan, put the piece on you next to him," Ying Ran ordered.

"Why?!" Ying Huanhuan pouted discontentedly.

"Just put it there if I tell you to. Why so many 'whys'!" Ying Ran's tone slightly intensified. After saying this, she ignored her sister's displeasure and walked away directly. The others also followed.

Seeing this, Ying Huanhuan didn't dare to stay behind, directly threw down the meat, and hurriedly caught up, afraid that her sister would really get angry.

"Sister, don't be angry. I was just... saying casually."

With a slightly coquettish tone, Ying Huanhuan shook Ying Ran's arm, following her closely.

Looking at her little sister, who was in tattered clothes and had very little meat on her body, Ying Ran's heart softened.

"I'm not angry. I have my own considerations for doing this."

"Of course, I believe in my sister!"

Ying Huanhuan quickly changed her tune, following up with a string of flattery that made Ying Ran laugh happily.

"But where are we going now?"

Looking at the two sisters in front of them, the woman in coarse clothes felt a bit uncomfortable. If she didn't know, she would have thought they were out for a stroll. She couldn't help but interrupt.

"Leave this river, go through the woods, there's a hidden cave over there. We'll go check it out. If possible, we'll rest there first."

Yesterday, when Ying Ran was looking for hook vine, she passed by a cave. If she wasn't meticulous, it would be impossible to find. Now, they had to ensure that the meat would not be taken away by others, and at the same time, they had to avoid wild beasts. That cave became the best choice.

The woman in coarse clothes originally thought they were wandering aimlessly. She didn't expect Ying Ran to have a goal. She had to swallow her anger.

With that said, they fell silent and cautiously moved towards their destination.

At this moment, dawn arrived, and the mountain mist was hazy, like a fairyland.

Dong Li'er turned over. This sleep was indeed comfortable. She thought she had returned to her previous life. However, the pain on her body told Dong Li'er that she was indeed dreaming.

Sitting up and yawning, she suddenly felt something was wrong. The fire in the bonfire had already gone out. Luxiaoku was sleeping not far away, and the others were also sleeping beside them. But the people from the second group were nowhere to be seen!

Dong Li'er quickly got up and ran to a tree root, lifted the leaves, and, after seeing the situation, was immediately furious.

"Where's my meat?!"

With this exclamation, even the birds on the tree were scared away. The others naturally woke up.

Ah Long reacted first and ran to Dong Li'er, concerned and asking, "Li'er, are you okay?" As he spoke, he also carefully examined Dong Li'er to see if there was anything wrong with her.

"I'm fine. Where's the meat? And where are the people?"

Dong Li'er, hearing Ah Long not grasping the key point, couldn't help feeling annoyed. She no longer paid attention to him and went directly to Luxiaoku.

"What's going on? Where's the meat? Where are the people?"

Luxiaoku was the one who stayed up the latest last night, and now he was the one they had to ask.

"... Uh... meat?... People? What people?... People!"

Luxiaoku was still half-asleep, immersed in a dream where he and Miss Ran were... he suddenly woke up, and this time he was really awake.

"Where are Miss Ranran and the others?" Luxiaoku turned his head and didn't see the figures of Ying Ran's group. He asked anxiously, looking at Dong Li'er in front of him.

Dong Li'er looked up at the sky in speechlessness. Yesterday, she was secretly delighted that heaven had given her such excellent teammates. Now, after just one night, she realized it was a joke.

"You're asking me? You were the one on night duty, Big Brother!"

Dong Li'er, hearing Luxiaoku asking her, felt her temper rising and wished she could splash some stream water on him to wake him up. Her tone became heavier.

"I was on night duty, but there was nothing unusual... Miss Ranran and the others shouldn't have encountered any trouble, right?" Luxiaoku, with a worried expression, replied to Dong Li'er's words.

Seeing this, Dong Li'er turned around and walked away, not wanting to deal with Luxiaoku. She thought it would be better to wait until he was more awake before questioning him.

Then she turned back and walked to Congwenhu, asking, "Tell me about the situation when you were on night duty last night."

Congwenhu understood in his heart and truthfully reported the situation.

Everyone was listening seriously to the conversation between the two. Suddenly, Luxiaoku walked over holding a piece of meat.

"There's still one more."

Scratching his head, Luxiaoku didn't understand why Dong Li'er said the meat was gone when there was still one piece covered with leaves next to him.

Everyone: "....."

Dong Li'er couldn't help but laugh. Since there was still one piece left, they could still have breakfast.

"Ah Long, Ah Hao, you two start a fire and prepare the meat," Dong Li'er commanded.

"Okay."

The two were already skilled and immediately started to handle the tasks assigned by Dong Li'er.

"You, come over and sit down," Dong Li'er pointed at Luxiaoku and spoke.

Luxiaoku knew that she was going to ask about the night duty situation last night. He obediently sat down next to Dong Li'er.

"Tell me everything in detail, every little thing. Be honest," Dong Li'er said one word at a time.

Luxiaoku, seeing everyone's serious expressions, also became serious. He recounted the night duty situation until he confirmed that he hadn't missed any information. However, he was still worried about Ying Ran and the others.

"Did you feel anything wrong after drinking the meat soup?" Dong Li'er asked after listening to Luxiaoku's description.

"...No."

Luxiaoku recalled the taste of the meat soup and didn't feel anything wrong with it. Moreover, he had been a beggar for many years, and having food to eat was a luxury. How could he discern the taste of the meat soup?

"Alright, go help Ah Long and Ah Hao."

Dong Li'er knew that there was nothing more to ask. She didn't want to dwell on it and sighed inwardly, thinking that Luxiaoku needed to be more alert next time.

Luxiaoku: "What about Miss Ranran and the others? Shouldn't we go find them?"

Dong Li'er looked up at the sky in silence. She then looked at the others with the same expression, gently explaining,

"They and the meat disappeared this morning. If it was someone else, why did they only target them, and we were unharmed? If it was a wild beast, the logic is the same. Although I don't know what happened specifically, they are the most suspicious."

Luxiaoku knew that what Dong Li'er said made sense, but he couldn't accept it. He couldn't believe that a woman who smiled so gently at him, willingly shared a place for them to rest, and even gave them meat would do such a thing.

But he also knew that what Dong Li'er said was probably true. He couldn't help feeling a little lost and thinking that he needed to find an opportunity to ask Miss Ranran face to face, maybe... maybe it was just a misunderstanding.

Inside Luxiaoku's conflicted heart, even his facial features were visibly twisted, especially his deeply furrowed brow.

The others were also puzzled. Although it was clear that Ying Ran and the others were responsible for this, the reason they left a piece of meat behind remained unknown.

However, was this situation so difficult to accept? The person who was smiling all the way now looked like they were not used to it.

Once everyone finished communicating, Ah Long and Yu Hao had already set up the fire, and they could start having breakfast.

"There's not as much meat as last night, so most of it will be made into minced meat porridge. The rest will be roasted for everyone to eat," Yu Hao explained why there was only this small piece of meat in front of everyone.

Everyone understood, and they began to divide the minced meat porridge.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

In no time, the meat was well-roasted, and oil dripped down along the curves of the meat.

Seeing that the meat was almost cooked, Dong Li'er pulled out her dagger and cut the meat into pieces, placing them in each person's stone bowl.

"A Hao, you've worked the hardest. You can have it first."

"This is yours, He Fei. Eat slowly to absorb it better. You need to replenish yourself."

"This is yours, Congwenhu."

"This is yours, stop frowning, and eat quickly."

"Ah Long, this piece is for you."

"I'm not hungry. You eat."

After Ah Long finished speaking, he also included the piece next to Dong Li'er into her bowl.