Hidden Danger

Meanwhile, in a hidden manor in Duoli village. 

"Patriach, that senior has arrived."

Hearing the young man's remark, the door opened, and two people walked out of the room. One was a gentleman who seemed to have a refined temperament. The other was an elegant woman who seemed like a fairy. If one looked more closely, they would find this woman's features quite similar to Liu Mei and Liu Meng.

She seemed like a beauty, but the worry on her face couldn't be more apparent. 

"Dear, are you sure this is the only way?" the woman asked.

The man sighed and looked through the window for a moment. It appeared he was not as calm as he made himself out to be.

The servant led them both to a hidden chamber in their manor. The man and woman distanced themselves a bit from the servant.

"The village's state is very unstable. Letting them remain in these muddy waters will only doom them, perhaps with that senior their fates may be different. And don't forget about our five families origins."

The woman heard this, and her brows creased. The man didn't look at his wife because even he knew that compared to them, what he would be subjecting his daughters and son to was not an easy path. It was a path that one ought to choose for themselves, but he had resolutely made that decision for them. So no matter what he said, it could not calm the worry her wife had.

Would they resent this old man for this?

Many such thoughts ran through his mind, but in the end, he sighed and stretched out his hand to hold his wife's hand. Feeling her husband's touch, she also held his hand firmly. Looking sideways, she saw that strong side of him, but she knew better than anyone that that side hid a belly full of worries, but now she did not wish to continue with the topic.

No words were spoken.

Perhaps in such a time, the only comfort that she had was that through everything, she would not be alone. She was also confident that her man also felt the same. 

A deep silence ensued, and a light shone at the end of this passage. Seeing this light, the woman froze in place. The husband who was walking ahead also stopped feeling the hand he had been holding slip away. It seemed that no matter how much she steeled herself, the worries would not lessen in the slightest. The man noticed this, calmly spoke.

"Ling'er the path ahead is not easy, but I will be there with you. All the way. But before that, we should leave a safe path for the kids."

The woman's eyes turned teary in that moment. In all this time, she had been unwilling to separate with her children, but after hearing this, she seemed to have found a strong pillar to lean on. 

She lifted her hands and wiped the tears off her face. A cold and calculating mask appeared on her face. The worries and doubts seemed to have been locked at this very moment.

Seeing this, the husband smiled warmly and reached out a hand.

They held hands once more and were calmly washed by the light, which seemed to lead to a different room.

...

In a certain corner of the forest, a group was scouting the area. Four young men and one lady. It did not appear like a group fit for the task, but as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers.

Bai Ming and Si Niang were leading them side by side,Wu Zhengyi followed in the middle and the last two following behind Li Tian andCui Rong.

Li Tian wanted to get into a serious act fit for their current task, but the pair of eyes looking back at them constantly seemed to be throwing his mood off. As usual, Wu Zhengyi did not take anything seriously as he would occasionally look back as if the headed in that direction.

Li Tian did not know what to say to him.

Isn't he well aware that we are here to hunt not for apicknick? Li Tian thought.

Realizing that nothing good would come out of thinking further about this, he returned his focus towards his surroundings.

Meanwhile, Cui Rong, who seemed to be the target of WuZhengyi's curiosity, did not pay attention to this and simply kept watching her surroundings carefully.

In that moment, a warning came from the front. 

"Be careful of your step. You might get hurt badly if you fall in these areas," Si Niang warned.

"This brother is really experienced; your efforts have helped us a lot." Wu Zhengyi thanked him, feeling that this fellowsurnamed Si is quite a pleasing companion. He even felt it was a shame they had not known each other sooner.

Si Niang heard this but could not take the credit.

"Brother Zhengyi is thinking too much, our current exploits are a result of everyone's efforts."

Li Tian could not retort and could only nod silently.

Hearing this pretentious act, Cui Rong did not say anything and silently watched this Si Niang.

As the day went on, many groups in the forest had madesuccessful hunts. Even Bai Ming's group seemed to have made a successful harvest.

Other groups that could not make a kill out of the mountain could only go further deep into the mountain. Other groups harvested the fruits and vegetables in their surroundings.

The coming season was going to be harsh. Winter wouldsooner cover all the areas, no rations in the village would be limited or asothers would call it.

Call of the frost maiden.

Though it was an unconfirmed superstition passed, some believed it to be true. 

Others deemed it as a folktale not worth noting made up by the old geezers who had nothing to do. 

It was at this time, when Bai Ming heard a rustlingsound from the bushes ahead and halted his advance. The others behind him alsostopped and perked their ears to listen carefully. After determining the source of the disturbance, they also turned their attention to the bushes ahead.

The rustling became even more noticeable, indicatingwhatever was behind the bush was about to reveal itself. The grip on their weaponstightened. However, to everyone's surprise, nothing showed up. The bush returned to its stillness.

Si Niang and Bai Ming looked at each other for amoment, then decided to approach this survey in this suspicious area. Slowly approaching Bai Ming reached his hand over, ready to attack at any moment.Slowly opening a gap in the bush, the sight before him stunned him, making him unable to move for a moment. The others behind seeing this reaction immediately advanced ahead to peek over. However, what they saw was a young man lying in hisown pool of blood.

Although the people gathered for this hunt were not that many to the point where no one would know every individual's name, butthey could at least recognize each other when they met.

It was the same in this moment. Everyone seemed to recognize the person as one of their hunters, with the exception of Cui Rong, who couldn't tell who this person was.

"Mu Bai…" someone muttered.

Everyone present turned their attention to the source,Si Niang.

Seeing everyone's attention focused on him, Si Niangimmediately informed them who this person is.

As it turns out he was a friend of his who had joinedanother group but what shocked him was what had caused him to be so beat up.His whole body was covered in bruises, claw marks and blood, others would thinkhe had been wrestling with a bull.

Cui Rong immediately moved past them and knelt down toput her fingers on his hand and neck.

"He is still alive…" she said after amoment.

Wu Zhengyi's eyes darted around; he was no longer paying attention to this person lying dying as he felt his evaluation of thishunt had been completely subverted. He had originally thought this hunt was just like an adventure comparable to visiting another village, but this turn of events made him feel that he was gravely mistaken.

Bai Ming at this seriously and said, "We should hurry back to the camp and get him treated so we can find out what he encountered and what happened to the rest of his group.

"Indeed, but he is losing too much blood, he won't make it back to the camp," Li Tian said.

Cui Rong, who was still monitoring the young man's scondition, added, "His condition is getting worse, we have to stop thebleeding."

The current situation was very difficult they couldnot move without first stabilizing the young man.

Cui Rong thought for a moment, then turned to WuZhengyi with instructions.

"The group that we crossed paths with earlier hasa healer among them, search around the west they should not be far"

Before Bai Ming could respond, Wu Zhengyi had already jumped in fright.

"This is madness. Do you think we can still afford to keep moving around these dangerous woods?"

Although everyone could see that Zhengyi was now very fearful of wandering around this mountain, they couldn't dismiss his point either. To some extent, he was right. At this point, it was no longer wise to proceed any further as they were unaware of what dangers lie ahead. Going further would simply be courting death.

Cui Rong did not argue and simply looked at Li Tian.Li Tian seemed to understand her meaning and looked at Wu Zhengyi.

"You will not be alone. I'll accompany you,"

Wu Zhengyi tried to argue for a moment, but seeing that a person's life was at stake, he could only swallow his fear of the unknown and leave with Li Tian.

After the two left, Cui Rong immediately instructed SiNiang to fetch some dry twigs and dry wood. Without hesitation, Si Niangimmediately started moving around the area, gathering it.

Bai Ming was confused by this and asked, "I thought we would wait for the healer to stabilize him."

Cui Rong didn't turn back and simply replied,"Even if the healer comes, it will be pointless if the blood is not stopped."

Hearing this, Bai Ming nodded. It seemed to make sense even though he did not have much understanding with healing.

"Come on, help me turn him over," Cui Rongbeckoned.

Bai Ming did not waste time and moved closer thenturned the young man over.

Cui Rong then tore off the young man's top clothes and handed them over to Bai Ming, instructing him to put pressure at the wound on the young man's chest so as to slow down the bleeding.

Bai Ming did as such, and after a while, Si Niangreturned with the stack of wood and turned to Cui Rong.

"I assume you were to use fire to stop thebleeding,"

"Yes…" Cui Rong replied flatly.

Without asking much further, Si Niang immediately started setting up the fire, and in a few moments, the fire had already started.After a while, Si Niang pulled out one small log and brought it closer to thebleeding young man.

Seeing Si Niang coming over, Cui Rong took out theremaining cloth and folded it, then placed it in the young man's mouth.

Bai Ming then removed the cloth he was holding,allowing Si Niang to put the hot log on the wood. The moment the wood madecontact with the wound; the young man seemed to have been pulled back to reality by the pain that made him grit his teeth. The cloth in his mouth seemed ready to tear at any moment. The sound of meat burning could be heard.Seeing how the young man had three grievous wounds. Si Niang moved the hotwooden log to those wounds, effectively stopping the bleeding.

Throwing away the hot wooden log, the young man seemed to relax, not having to feel the intense pain from before.

"Mu Bai…Mu Bai…" Si Niang called out theyoung man's name, but he could not respond. His consciousness had already reached its limit from the intense pain.

In the next moment, he fainted. Seeing this, Si Niangcould only be patient and wait for when he wakes up again.

Bai Ming looked at all this and couldn't help but have a slight feeling that this hunt would be problematic.