Chapter 4 – Yanwang Mountain

Chu Xiaoqi no longer paid any attention to the Ji siblings.

She hugged the tree trunk, took a deep breath to steady herself, and once again leapt up, determined to climb.

But just as she grabbed hold of the trunk, someone tugged her waistband again and yanked her down.

This time, she was really angry. She turned around, ready to slap the two little brats senseless.

Her hand was just about to land when Ji Jingze suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the tree trunk himself. “You wait here. I’ll go.”

That caught Chu Xiaoqi completely off guard.

She stood frozen, stunned for several seconds, until she realized Ji Jingze was already halfway up the tree.

“Hey hey hey! Get down! Come down right now!” Chu Xiaoqi shouted anxiously from below.

Ji Jingze didn’t even pause. “If something happens to you, we won’t be able to explain it to Big Brother.”

“You little punk, I told you to get down! Rushing up there like that, are you looking to die?” Chu Xiaoqi snapped.

“I’m gonna count to three. If you don’t come down, I’ll sell Xiaolan to the county lord to buy food! Three, two—”

“You really are going to sell Xiaolan, you wicked woman!”

Before she could say “one,” Ji Jingze had already slid down the tree, drew a dagger from his belt, and charged at her.

But before he could even get close, Chu Xiaoqi had already snatched the dagger cleanly from his hand.

“So young and already so reckless!”

Ji Jingze didn’t even see her move. One moment he had the weapon, the next—it was in her hand.

He stood dumbfounded, unable to react, until he heard Ji Jinglan shout anxiously.

“Big Sis-in-law, be careful!”

Chu Xiaoqi ignored them both, gritting her teeth as she climbed again, summoning all the strength she had left. Halfway up, she nearly fainted and fell.

Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan stood below, hearts pounding as they watched her unsteady movements.

Finally, she reached the tree branch.

Clinging to the trunk, she rested for a long moment. Then she pulled her outer jacket over her head to shield her face and slowly edged toward the beehive.

When she was close enough, she pulled the bundle of dry grass and mugwort from her belt, lit it with the fire starter, let it smoke for a few seconds, then blew out the flames. Carefully, she brought the smoldering smoke up to the hive.

Within minutes, a dark cloud of bees erupted from the hive, carrying with them a large milky-white queen. The entire swarm evacuated in a panic.

Seizing the moment, Chu Xiaoqi tossed the smoking torch aside, slashed the hive off the branch with one clean swipe of the dagger, and slid down the tree trunk as fast as she could.

Once she landed, she placed the hive on the ground, picked up the still-smoking torch, and waved it wildly at the few bees that dared pursue her.

After a few desperate swings, the bees realized they were outmatched and swarmed after their queen into the distance.

Watching them disappear, Chu Xiaoqi let out a long breath and yanked the shirt from her head.

Her swift, practiced moves left Ji Jingze and Ji Jinglan completely speechless.

But Chu Xiaoqi didn’t care about their reactions. She flopped onto the ground, sliced off a chunk of the hive with the dagger, and shoved it into her mouth, chewing hungrily and spitting out the wax.

After eating two or three pieces, she finally felt alive again. With her strength returning, she finally looked at the two stunned siblings.

“What are you two standing there for? Come eat!” she barked impatiently.

The siblings exchanged a glance, then cautiously walked over and squatted across from her.

Chu Xiaoqi cut two big chunks of the hive and handed them each a piece. “Suck the honey dry and spit out the wax.”

The two took the honeycomb carefully, still too stunned to fully accept what had just happened…

They were surprised by how generous Chu Xiaoqi suddenly became.

In the past, whenever there was something good to eat at home, she would hog it all for herself. No one could even think about getting a bite from her bowl.

But today, she was suddenly being generous, and it completely threw the siblings off.

“So sweet! Is this what honey tastes like? It’s so delicious…” Ji Jinglan cupped the honeycomb in her hands, taking small bites, her eyes squinting in delight.

Ji Jingze also thought it was incredibly tasty, but he only took one bite. Then he put the rest in his pocket, planning to bring it home for their parents to try.

Chu Xiaoqi looked at the siblings’ little actions with a faint expression and sighed inwardly. These poor kids—this might be their very first taste of honey in their entire lives.

Forget it. She decided to treat them better from now on. Consider it repaying the debts the original owner left behind.

Hopefully, the male lead would remember her kindness to the siblings and wouldn’t come after her ruthlessly in the future.

“Ji Jingze, if you put the honeycomb inside your shirt, it’ll just get your clothes all sticky with honey. How are you going to eat it then?

Hurry up and finish it…

There’s still plenty left. Your parents won’t be left out.”

The moment Ji Jingze heard that Chu Xiaoqi had saved some for their parents, he quickly took the honeycomb out from under his clothes and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing happily with a satisfied look on his face. He completely forgot about Chu Xiaoqi saying earlier that she wanted to sell Ji Jinglan.

After the siblings finished eating, Chu Xiaoqi took out half of the herbs from the basket on her back and put the remaining honeycomb inside, then covered it with herbs.

She pointed to the basket and said to the Ji siblings, “You two carry this back home. I’ll stay and walk around the forest a bit more to see if I can find anything else edible.”

“No way! We can’t leave you here alone, it’s too dangerous.

Besides, anything edible in this area has long been picked clean by the nearby villages. What could possibly be left for you?” Ji Jingze was the first to jump in and object.

“Sister-in-law, just listen to Second Brother and come back with us!

This is Yama Mountain—we common folks don’t dare get near it.” Ji Jinglan joined in to persuade her.

“Yama Mountain? What’s Yama Mountain?” Chu Xiaoqi asked with a confused expression.

The Ji siblings looked at each other in shock.

Ji Jinglan stared at Chu Xiaoqi with concern for a long while before cautiously replying, “Sister-in-law, this is the outer edge of Yama Mountain. Don’t you remember?

You used to never dare get anywhere near here.”

Chu Xiaoqi tugged at the corner of her mouth. She didn’t have the original host’s memories—how could she remember?

“I hit my head. After I woke up, I forgot a lot of things from before.”

Ji Jinglan glanced at the swollen bump still on Chu Xiaoqi’s forehead and scratched the back of her head. She mumbled to herself, “No wonder she changed so much after waking up.”

Ji Jingze also muttered in his heart, No wonder she suddenly became so generous—she forgot a bunch of things from before.

“Xiao Lan, tell me—what’s the deal with this Yama Mountain?”

Ji Jinglan stretched her neck and peeked into the depths of the forest. After a moment of hesitation, she leaned in close to Chu Xiaoqi and whispered mysteriously, covering her mouth with her hand:

“I heard there are monsters living deep in Yama Mountain. No one who enters ever comes out alive.

Forget entering—it’s said that even getting close will make you seriously ill.”

Chu Xiaoqi turned to Ji Jinglan with a shocked expression, taking a deep breath.

Wasn’t this a romance novel? Why are there monsters now?

That wasn’t mentioned in the book!

She narrowed her eyes, trying to carefully recall the details of the novel…

Chu Xiaoqi ran through the general plot in her mind.

No… this is a proper historical romance novel—there shouldn’t be any mysticism.

Monsters? Who would believe that nonsense…

“You guys head back first. I’ll go take a look…” she said, then turned to walk deeper into the forest.

Ji Jinglan, not knowing where she found the courage, suddenly grabbed Chu Xiaoqi’s wrist. “Sister-in-law, you really can’t go in there—you could die…”

Chu Xiaoqi saw the genuine worry and fear on Ji Jinglan’s face and gently patted her hand.

“Monsters? I don’t buy it… These days, fortune favors the bold and the cowardly starve.

I’m already on the verge of starving to death. Why should I be afraid of some ‘monster’?

And if there is a monster, I’ll just catch it and make stew out of it!

Alright, you two head back.

If I don’t return before nightfall, don’t bother looking for me.”

She shook off Ji Jinglan’s hand and walked away.

Ji Jinglan stomped her feet in distress. “Second Brother, Sister-in-law won’t listen—what do we do?”

Ji Jingze watched Chu Xiaoqi walk farther away, clenched his jaw, then turned to Ji Jinglan. “You carry the basket back. I’ll follow her.”

“Second Brother, you too…” Ji Jinglan grabbed his sleeve tightly. “No! You’re not allowed to go! Let’s go back together and bring Father to talk her out of it.”

Ji Jingze patted her hand. “Xiaolan, be good. Go home first.

Sister-in-law has a point…

We’re all about to starve—what’s the point of being afraid of monsters?

If we want to survive, even if there is a monster, we’ll catch it and cook it.”

With that, Ji Jingze turned and ran after Chu Xiaoqi. Ji Jinglan stood there, crying as she watched his figure disappear into the forest.

With no other choice, she picked up the basket from the ground and walked back.

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In the Village

Ji Jingxuan came running home, panting. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Mother Ji pacing and sighing, while Father Ji sat on a small bamboo chair, his head lowered in gloom.

“Father! Mother! Where’s Xiaolan?” Ji Jingxuan shouted anxiously.

Mother and Father Ji turned to look at the gate in surprise, not expecting Ji Jingxuan to be back so soon. After a brief moment of shock, Mother Ji said anxiously:

“Xiaoqi went to Yama Mountain alone. Xiaozhe and Xiaolan followed her.”

“What?! Why would she go to Yama Mountain out of nowhere?”

At that, Mother Ji burst into tears. “It’s all my fault! If my health weren’t so useless, none of this would’ve happened to our family…”

She told Ji Jingxuan everything that had happened that morning in full detail.

Ji Jingxuan listened, only half believing it. The part where Chu Xiaoqi pinned Ji Yanyang to the ground and beat him—he just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

They had been married for over a year. He knew perfectly well what Chu Xiaoqi was—or wasn’t—capable of.

“Mother, how long ago did they leave?”

“About an hour ago.”

“I’ll go have a look…” Ji Jingxuan got up and started walking toward the gate.

Just as he took a few steps, Father Ji called out, “Xuan’er, I’ll go with you!”

Ji Jingxuan shook his head. “Chu Xiaoqi is timid. She’s probably just picking wild herbs at the base of the mountain. It’s nothing serious.

I’ll bring her back…”

“Father, Mother! Something’s wrong! Sister-in-law and Second Brother went into Yama Mountain!” Ji Jingxuan hadn’t even finished his sentence when Ji Jinglan’s panicked voice rang out from beyond the gate—an instant slap in the face.