Chapter 25

At this moment, Madam Yang was acting out of desperation—trying anything that might help. Normally, she wouldn’t believe a word from someone as timid as Zhang Xiu.

So she asked, “What do you mean, sister? Are you saying someone from your family saw something about Laifu?”

Zhang Xiu shook her head. “No, we didn’t see anything. But there’s something I noticed clearly—just now, the man who came on horseback wasn’t wearing the uniform of the Modu soldiers. He was dressed just like us, and he didn’t have a sword or knife at his waist. I heard that the Modu soldiers are fierce and always carry a large machete on their belts.

Look, if that man was a Modu soldier, why wouldn’t he carry a weapon? Wasn’t he afraid the villagers would fight back? And I also heard that soldiers usually come in groups—so why was he alone? Think carefully. Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”

In truth, Zhang Xiu hadn’t heard any of this—she had picked it up from watching TV dramas.

Still, with a name like “Modu,” their uniforms had to be different from those of the Central Plains. And in any era, a soldier without a weapon just didn’t make sense.

After hearing Zhang Xiu’s reasoning, Madam Yang uneasily looked toward the matriarch.

Aside from Laifu, the most educated and well-traveled person in the family was their old matriarch.

When she was young, she had been the daughter of a wealthy household in a big city.

The old matriarch hadn’t seen the situation at the door earlier, but after hearing what Zhang Xiu said, she couldn’t help nodding. “Zhang Xiu is right. That man most likely wasn’t a Modu soldier.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Yang finally felt a little relief. “Then that means… Laifu is still alive. They won’t kill him.”

The old matriarch comforted her, saying, “I believe Heaven will watch over him.”

—-

Meanwhile…

Luckily, they had set out early and the sun wasn’t yet blazing. Ding Xiaodie stood at the foot of the mountain path doing some stretches.

She stretched her legs and arms, preparing for the hike.

Her movements surprised Dabao and Erbao.

“Xiaodie, what are you doing?”

“Stretching.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Uh… just loosening up the muscles. That way, your legs won’t hurt when we come back down from the mountain.”

After hearing this, Erbao quickly joined her in stretching. When they finished, he gave a thumbs up to Ding Gui. “Uncle, I never would’ve guessed you had such talent when we lived in the village. Xiaodie knows so much—did you teach her everything?”

“She said that?” Ding Gui was a little flattered. In his previous life, his precious daughter had never needed to learn anything from him.

Dabao laughed. “Like Xiaodie would ever lie to us?”

Pleased, Ding Gui’s eyes crinkled into a smile, proud and content.

Xiaodie rolled her eyes at her dad, then took out some water to share with Dabao and Erbao before they began climbing the mountain.

The mountain wasn’t very tall, but the trees were massive, and the fallen leaves formed a thick layer on the ground. If it weren’t for the fact that the leaves were poisonous when consumed, this mountain would’ve been stripped bare in less than ten days.

As for anything edible—down to the last blade of grass—it had already been picked clean.

Along the way, Xiaodie was really hoping to catch a rabbit—even a scrawny one would do!

But after two whole hours of climbing, they didn’t even see a rabbit hair.

Eventually, everyone was exhausted and sat down for a break.

Ding Gui took out some cleaned lotus roots from his bag and handed them out, panting. “Xiaodie, it looks like there really is nothing edible on this mountain. We should head back. If the sun gets any hotter, we might not even have the strength to make it home.”

Xiaodie looked up, squinting at the sky through the speckled canopy.

The heat was brutal—waves of it rolling in the air.

If this continued, she might really have to listen to her father and go back.

“Such a waste to come all this way—these fallen leaves are perfect, but nothing grows under them,” Dabao muttered, kicking at the leaves in frustration.

Erbao sat sideways under a tree, munching on lotus root. He didn’t mind—it beat being cooped up at home. A walk outside was better than nothing.

While everyone sat in silence, Xiaodie took a sip of water from her gourd. Her eyes happened to fall on Dabao’s feet.

Wait—what was that?

A black lump.

It looked like dung, but the color was way too dark.

“Don’t move, Dabao! Stay right there!”

Why did that look familiar?

Whatever it was, Xiaodie quickly told Dabao to stay still.

Startled, Dabao froze mid-step. “W-What is it, Xiaodie?”

Did he step on something?

Xiaodie didn’t answer. She rushed over and as she got closer, a faint herbal fragrance wafted into her nose.

Yes! That’s it!

Without explaining, Xiaodie reached down and picked up the black lump, her heart so excited she nearly teared up. “Dad! Look—do you know what this is?”

Ding Gui was still eating his lotus root and hadn’t paid much attention at first, thinking the kids were just fooling around.

But when he looked at the black lump in Xiaodie’s hand, he nearly choked. “My heavens, that’s—!”

He rushed over for a better look, but Xiaodie quickly raised a hand. “Don’t move! No one move! Start searching—carefully! Look for more like this. Gently push aside the leaves.”

“Yes, yes, there might be more nearby! We can’t waste any!” Ding Gui was so excited his voice trembled.

Dabao and Erbao had no idea why the two of them were so thrilled, but they sure didn’t dare move recklessly anymore.

They crouched down carefully and started sifting through the leaves.

“Uncle, Xiaodie—what is that stuff?” they asked while searching.

Xiaodie was kneeling next to Dabao, gently parting the leaf layers with intense focus. “Black truffle.”

“Black truffle? You can eat it?”

“Yes, and it’s one of the most delicious foods out there.”

“Awesome! Erbao, let’s keep looking—this stuff’s edible!” Dabao’s eyes lit up. At least they wouldn’t return empty-handed, and they wouldn’t disappoint the elders at home.

Erbao added, “I thought it was just a tree root!” Then he cried out happily, “I found one!”

“Be gentle!” Ding Gui’s heart ached when he saw how carelessly Erbao grabbed it. In the 21st century, this stuff was worth a fortune. Even as a businessman, he couldn’t afford to eat it more than twice a year.

Xiaodie also called out, “I found one here too!”

And Dabao shouted, “Here too!”

Ding Gui looked left and right, overwhelmed with joy. “My god, this isn’t a mountain—it’s a treasure trove!”

“Uncle, you’re overreacting!” Dabao and Erbao were laughing, not convinced. To them, this weird black lump couldn’t possibly be better than lotus root—and besides, there wasn’t much of it. It wouldn’t even fill their stomachs!