Chapter 6

Auntie Zhang and Uncle Liu were worriedly waiting for Mingyun. They came back from sending Xiao Hei to the village doctor only to find her missing. Just now, when they saw Xiao Hei's near-death state, they thought of possible reasons, and Mingyun came to mind. She was living in the temple and needed to pass through the forests; if the same thing happened to her, it would be terrible.

"Where did you think that little girl ran off to?" Auntie Zhang was pacing back and forth in front of their door, looking at the direction of the forest from time to time.

"She didn't bring her things. She might have just wanted to fetch fruits for the journey." Uncle Zhang stayed at his spot, but his eyes also inspected the entrance of the forest, ready to run if he spotted Mingyun. He had little worry for her since he knew her strength, but watching Zhang Ma be concerned, he was getting anxious as well.

Just then, they both heard the sounds of branches breaking and something being dragged. There were also movements, and the birds squeaked and flew away as if something terrified them.

Auntie Zhang and Uncle Liu waited for the thing to show up, and when it was revealed, blood left their faces and the whole body shook. Auntie Zhang's knees weakened, and her hand grabbed Uncle Liu. They couldn't even scream as they saw a huge snake head roll over, occupying a large space.

"Lao Liu, do you see what I'm seeing?" Aunt Zhang trembled.

"My goodness, I never saw a snake this big in my life!" Uncle Liu helped her up and closed the door of their house. They quickly shouted, alarming the neighbors.

One by one, they came out of their home and were petrified at the sight of the big snake head. It was morning, so most of the people left were women. The screams rang through the village, enveloping the entire place. This was the first time they encountered such a thing, and the village head organized a meeting and even mentioned Xiao Hei's serious injuries. Some smarter villager connected the dots between the two and feared for their safety. Moving the village elsewhere was immediately put on the agenda.

Meanwhile, Mingyun waited for their meeting to end while sitting outside Auntie Zhang's courtyard. She wanted to know their decision and also hoped that they would prioritize everyone's safety and agree to move. That would be for the best.

The sun's rays shone brightly, and by 10 a.m., the villagers had returned to their respective homes. Auntie Zhang and Uncle Liu were surprised to see her back, and they quickly asked her questions. Mingyun answered them with lies. She said sorry in her heart for not telling the truth. Although the two had suspicions, they still patted her head and were glad that nothing bad happened to her. Mingyun became guiltier. Soon after, the couple addressed the main topic of a huge snake head in the forest and the Village head's decision to move. Mingyun pretended to be shocked and persuaded them to follow the Village head. She was really worried for them.

She thought of her ribs, which had already healed from circulating qi, and remembered badly wounded Xiao Hei. "Auntie Zhang, Uncle Liu, I remember that I forgot something." Her figure quickly ran out of the room and sneaked through one of the windows of Old Lu's house, where Xiao Hei lay unconscious. Inside the room, she stood by the bed, placed her hands on top of Xiao Hei's chest, and proceeded to repair his damaged cells slowly. She focused on the two bloody holes and helped facilitate his healing. After a while, after sensing Xiao Hei's mother coming, she stopped and went out.

Xiao Hei saw a vague outline of a person going out the window before fainting again, but this time his breathing was more stable.

Xiao Hei's mother brought a spare shirt, wanting to change her son's, but when she opened Xiao Hei's shirt, she called Grandpa Lu at the top of her lungs. Grandpa Lu also responded hurriedly, afraid that something bad had happened to his grandson, but his eyes went big as saucers when he saw that the bloody wounds had already healed and scabbed. He knelt and thanked the heavens and their ancestors for saving Xiao Hei.

Mingyun smiled and murmured, "Welcome."

She hopped and sang on the way back to the couple's house.

"Have you found what you're looking for?" Auntie put some extra bags and pouches next to Mingyun's baggage.

Mingyun smelled the appetizing scent of meat and vegetable dumplings, and her eyes turned to crescents. "It must have fallen on the way. Anyway, it's not that important." She approached Auntie Zhang and thanked her for the meals and their hospitality.

"Girl, quickly come on; we're going to be late if you keep dawdling." Uncle Liu Brought his cart and red mane and helped Mingyun place the luggage inside the cart. The horse neighed and lovingly rubbed his nose on Mingyun's clothes.

Auntie Zhnag waved her hands while wiping her tears and reminded Mingyun to visit her again, and she would cook more delicious foods.

Mingyun smiled widely and waved her hands while shouting that she would miss her and her food.

Mingyun's trio left the village and, after a couple of hours, arrived at a busy road in a small city, two hundred li away from the capital. Mingyun was about to bid her farewells when Uncle Lii handed her a small wood chest.

"You're going to need it. Don't spend lavishly." Uncle Liu handed it to her and let her open it.

Mingyun saw paper printed with numbers, remembered the yuan currency the couple mentioned, and was really grateful. "Uncle Liu, thank you so much." She gave him a deep bow from the heart. She doesn't know so much about these things, but the way the box looked so worn out as if it was opened frequently could give her clues that this yuan currency was hard to obtain, especially the bills inside.

Uncle Liu patted her head one last time before pulling the cart and Xiao Hei back.

Mingyun stood in place until Uncle Li's figure could no longer be seen.

She untied her linen bag and put the wooden chest inside securely.

The sight of a small city came to her eyes. She immediately became curious and questioned the nearby people about every little thing she saw, and when she saw the stalls full of snakes, drool trickled down at the side of her mouth. She wiped it on her arm wraps and asked the vendors how they sold it. The vendors mentioned the price, and Mingyun took a bill from the chest.

She happily ate the candied fruits and buns. Her figure became busy as she roamed the market, eating everything that looked delicious. After filling her belly, she remembered her purpose and scolded herself for being too greedy.

She then asked people how to get on the bus going to the capital. The kind fellows pointed in her direction and gave her pitiful looks.

When she rode a bus, the sun had already set. She took a nap in her seat.

The man beside her looked at her bulging bags and her attire and thought she was an easy target. He looked around and found no one was looking in their direction, and he brought his bag in front to block the sight of his hand stealing. His hands rummaged through her things quietly. The snack and buns Aunt Zhang made became a mess under his kneading.

Mingyun quickly opened her eyes and caught the naughty hands. She squeezed it lightly, and the man let out a wail as if a pig was being butchered. "Dare to steal things under my nose. You have a tiger's gut!" Her hand grabbed the armrest, and the steel under her hand became deformed like mud.

The man quickly knelt in front of her, disregarding the searing pain in his hand, and asked forgiveness. He kowtowed with tears and snouts. "Please forgive me! I was blind to do such a thing! I still have an aging mother at home and younger siblings at home waiting to be fed; that's why I did such a thing! I will never do it again!" The man said in one breath. A cunning glint flashed in his eyes, but his expression remained pitiful.

The other passengers were disturbed by the scene going on and guessed what happened.

"Young man, you're young and healthy. Just find a job and don't do bad things!"

"Right, there are even people with disabilities making a living! Why can't you do it?" The other passengers agreed with their words.

"Don't do it again!" Mingyun heard his plea and decided to accept his apology. She even took a hundred yuan from his chest and gave it to him. "Go buy and bring your family some food."

The man was surprised but accepted it. He saw the chest full of large amounts of cash and was greedy.

The other passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with Mingyun's actions and lectured her and the man.

Mingyun frowned but didn't refute. In her mind, life was a circle full of ups and downs. If one day she fell to the bottom, losing everything, she would also like to meet someone who could lend her a hand.

The man, however, had other thoughts about her.