Chapter 34: What If There’s a Savior?

“Uncle Li Zheng, don’t get upset. I know what I’m doing,” Ye Xin Ran quickly reassured him. “You’re at an age where getting angry is bad for your health.”

“Hmph!” Li Zheng turned his face away with an air of indignation. “Who’s getting angry for your sake? I just don’t want one of my villagers to go missing for no reason and end up having to lead a search party.”

“I won’t. I’m only staying near the spot where we dug up kudzu roots,” Ye Xin Ran explained.

Li Zheng grumbled, “Don’t blame this old man for meddling. I’m just worried you young folks don’t know your limits.”

Ye Xin Ran smiled and replied, “I understand, Uncle Li Zheng. I’ll be careful.”

She noticed that the group behind Li Zheng consisted of robust young men, each armed with mattocks and hoes. Their faces were brimming with indignation, so she couldn’t help but ask,
“Uncle Li Zheng, where are you heading with such a group? Are you going to fight someone?”

Li Zheng raised his voice immediately. “Fight? What fight? At my age, do I look like I’m fighting anyone? Dong Gou Village blocked our upstream water source, so I’m going to reason with them!”

“Reasoning? With so many people?”

Was this for intimidation? Ye Xin Ran wondered.

“Alright then, Uncle Li Zheng. You all be careful. I’ll be on my way.”

With that, Ye Xin Ran continued toward Mi Lu Mountain.

After two days of exploration, Mi Lu Mountain no longer felt as mysterious or intimidating as it had at first. At the base of the mountain, she even encountered several people still searching for kudzu roots.

However, given the villagers’ thorough efforts to dig up every last bit, even the “grandchildren” of the kudzu roots had likely been taken. Now, there wasn’t much left to find.

Ye Xin Ran walked a full circle around the base of the mountain but found the area trampled and chaotic, with not even half a medicinal herb in sight. Reluctantly, she decided to venture deeper into the mountain.

This time, she chose a direction opposite to where she had previously encountered traps. After walking just a few hundred meters, she made a new discovery, not medicinal herbs, but large, plump porcini mushrooms.

“Fortune favors the bold! Such amazing mushrooms, and no one’s picked them yet. Lucky me!”

Ye Xin Ran squatted down and began placing the porcini mushrooms one by one into her basket.

Because it hadn’t rained for a while, the caps of the mushrooms were slightly dry.

But that was ideal. If there had been more rain, mushrooms of this size would likely have rotted.

The porcinis grew in clusters, and Ye Xin Ran’s attention was wholly absorbed by them. She didn’t notice that she was venturing further and further into the mountain.

By the time she had picked all the mushrooms in sight and her basket was half full, she straightened up and realized she couldn’t see anything.

“Why is there so much fog?”

When vision failed her, her hearing seemed to grow sharper.

Amid the dense mist, Ye Xin Ran suddenly caught the sound of trickling water.

The sound was faint but stood out distinctly in the quiet of the forest.

Ye Xin Ran was certain she wasn’t imagining it.

“Is there a spring on the mountain?”

Following the sound, she cautiously made her way forward, testing each step before putting her weight down.

After walking for about 20 minutes, she felt her shoe dampen and realized she’d arrived at the source.

Squatting down, she found a small stream.

The stream meandered along the ground, carving a shallow trench as it flowed.

Ye Xin Ran was pleasantly surprised.

Generally, the appearance of such a tributary in the mountains indicates the presence of an under ground water source.

At this moment, Ye Xin Ran finally understood why the mountain was so foggy, it was all because of the underground water source!

She continued walking upstream along the tributary until she reached a large boulder where the water flowed out from within the rock.

Based on her experience, water seeping through the cracks in a rock often meant that the source of the water was beneath it. Judging by the density of the fog, the underground water reserve in the mountain was likely substantial. If they could channel the water down to the village, wouldn’t that solve the villagers’ water problems?

With this thought in mind, she stopped collecting mushrooms and headed down the mountain, basket on her back.

As the sun gradually rose higher in the sky, the mountain fog thinned and eventually dissipated completely by the time she reached the base of the mountain.

Looking back at the verdant Mi Lu Mountain, she felt as though its mysterious aura had lifted. Everything, it seemed, could be understood if one observed carefully.

She headed straight to Li Zheng’s house, only to hear Li Zheng’s wife scolding him again.

“Look at you! At your age, you still dare to brawl with those young ones?

Thank goodness your ancestors must’ve done good deeds, letting you enjoy their blessings in this lifetime.

If that hoe hadn’t hit slightly off target, your head would’ve been split open! Then let’s see if you can still play the role of Li Zheng!”

Hearing that Li Zheng was injured, Ye Xin Ran immediately pushed the door open and walked in.

“Aunt Li Zheng, what happened to Uncle Li Zheng?”

When Aunt Li Zheng saw Ye Xin Ran, it was as if she had seen a savior. She grabbed Ye Xin Ran’s hand and pulled her into the inner room.

“Look at him! Look at him! An old man injured like this, covered in blood like a gourd. When he got home, he nearly scared me to death.

I’ve told him countless times before, his temper is worse than his age! Why can’t he learn to rein it in when something happens?”

Ye Xin Ran looked at Li Zheng’s head and saw several layers of cloth wrapped around it. There were still traces of blood on his face and neck that hadn’t been cleaned.

Yet Li Zheng seemed unconcerned, smiling all the while. As he listened to his wife’s complaints, he defended himself cheerfully:
“I sent Zhu Zi to move the stones they used to block the stream, but those little punks dared to attack him.

These kids are my responsibility since I brought them along. How could I stand by and let them get hurt? Luckily, I stepped in to block the attack just in time.”

Aunt Li Zheng, exasperated, poked Li Zheng’s forehead with her finger twice.
“You’re always worried about this one and that one. When will you learn to care about yourself?”

“I’m telling you, this injury wasn’t in vain!” Li Zheng grabbed his wife’s hand, trying to reassure her.

“That old Zhao Fu Sheng thought he could hide behind the younger men and not show up, but when I got injured, he didn’t dare stay hidden.

With my head bandaged like this, all I need to do is stand in front of the county magistrate, and Zhao Fu Sheng will have to kneel and admit his fault.

To avoid me filing a complaint, he finally agreed not to block our water upstream anymore. At least now, the village has some water for the time being, right?”

Ye Xin Ran could see that although Aunt Li Zheng was angry, her frustration stemmed from concern.

Now that Li Zheng softened his tone and explained himself, her anger dissipated. She busied herself gently wiping the blood off his face and neck with a soft cloth.

“But even if they don’t block it anymore, the water in the river is dwindling. In another month, it’ll dry up naturally. What will we do then?”

Aunt Li Zheng, worried about the village’s water supply, couldn’t help but voice her concerns.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Li Zheng sighed.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Who knows? Maybe Heaven will take pity on us and send a savior our way,” he added.