Chapter 8: Entering the Inner Circle Again, Discovering a Valley

The day was getting late, so they settled their family before Yang Lan'er prepared to head into the mountains. Yang Cunzhi saw her and followed along.

"Lan'er, can I go with you?" he asked.

"We have nothing to do at home anyway, so let's go together," he said

Yang Lan'er turned around, and all three brothers had come out. Fine, let's all go together. The group carried bamboo baskets and went deep into the inner ring of the mountain.

Today they chose a new route, deep in the dense forest, with ancient trees towering above, and occasionally startled wild chickens. Along the way, Yang Lan'er gathered a lot of medicinal herbs. She noticed a plant in front of her that caught her attention. She carefully examined it, dug out the roots, and found out it was actually a potato.

"Can we eat this?" Second brother Yang Cunzhi asked.

Yang Lan'er raised her head, and the expressions on the three of them were all saying: what is this, can we really eat it?

Shaking the potato in her hand, Yang Lan'er said with a smile, "This is a potato. It can be made into cakes, boiled and eaten for a hearty meal, and can also be used in cooking. Cutting it into shreds, slices, or chunks and stir-frying or stewing with meat is very delicious."

"Oh my, sister, stop talking, I almost drooled!" Yang Cunzhi said.

"You bear, is this all you have?" Yang Cunzhi slapped his younger brother on the back of the head. Actually, he himself also wanted to taste it, but how?

"Then let's dig it all up quickly?" Third brother Yang Cunli said. He had no interest in watching them fool around and was now thinking about how to bring all the potatoes back home and feed their family. It can be said that the third brother is a pragmatic person.

"Okay!" Everyone was no longer in the mood for joking and rolled up their sleeves to dig up all the potatoes.

"Sister, how do you know about this potato?" Yang Cunzhi asked.

Yang Lan'er burst out laughing, slightly melancholy in her eyes, half-seriously and half-jokingly saying, "I have eaten it before and later wanted to plant it myself. But, as you all know, we don't have any land at home, so I came to the mountain to dig it up when I wanted to eat it."

The three brothers believed her and felt sorry for not taking better care of their sister, letting her go up the mountain to find food. The mountains are so dangerous!

After digging up all the potatoes, they filled a backpack with about fifty kilograms. They put the backpack under a big tree and made a mark, planning to come back for it on their return trip. No one came to this deep mountain forest anyway.

They continued to walk deep into the mountains and saw a wild chicken. Yang Lan'er threw a stone, and Yang Cunyi followed behind to pick it up. He asked eagerly, "Sister, who taught you to be so skilled? Was it your husband?"

"Yeah, he taught me," Yang Lan'er replied. With a ready-made scapegoat, she was too lazy to find an excuse.

"Ah, why didn't I think of asking him to teach me a few moves back then?" Yang Cunyi sighed.

"Stop talking, we'll talk later when we get back. We need to focus on the dangerous mountain path." Yang Sizhi scolded.

Everyone nodded and kept an eye on their surroundings. Half an hour later, they came across a cliff, or rather, a narrow passage in between two towering cliffs that were almost merging into one another.

"Let me take a look inside," Yang Laner raised her head and squinted her eyes.

The three of them exchanged a glance and said together, "Let's go together."

Yang Laner was taken aback and laughed heartily, "Alright, today the four of us siblings will venture into this narrow pass."

Second brother Yang Cunzhi used a machete to clear the dense vines that were entwined at the entrance. Yang Laner took the lead, and the four siblings advanced towards the narrow pass. As they moved further inside, the vines and plants slowly disappeared, and the two sides were covered with moss on the dark and damp steep cliffs.

The path ahead was winding and gloomy, and they occasionally saw one or two centipede as thick as a finger. Yang Laner wanted to catch them and sell them to the pharmacy, but she didn't know if the stores in town were closed.

"Brother, what's happening in town now?" Yang Lan'er asked her brother

"The stores in town are all closed. Many people have sold their properties and gone to live with relatives. What do you want to buy, Lan'er? There may still be some shops open in the county town," explained second brother Yang Cunzhi, his voice heavy with concern. He looked around, keeping a close eye on their surroundings, as if expecting trouble.

"Just asking. We'll talk about it later if I want to buy something," said Yang Laner, thinking that she would have to go to the county town someday.

They proceeded cautiously, and after two quarters of an hour, the path ahead brightened up. Their eyes lit up, and they hastened their pace.

When they turned around the bend, the scene before them suddenly opened up. They saw a vast expanse of low bushes and beautiful flowers blooming in a myriad of different colors. There were also a few flowers which she was unfamiliar with. Occasionally, they saw some Fat rabbits jumping around in the grassland.

This valley covered about one hundred acres and was filled with grassland and low bushes, surrounded by cliffs.

"I never expected that there would be a valley behind this narrow pass," exclaimed second brother Yang Cunzhi.

Yang Laner smiled and told her brothers, "Let's look for other exits."

"Okay, we'll catch a few rabbits later to take back. Haha," said third brother Yang Cunli, as they walked.

Fourth brother Yang Sunyi nodded and then he said, "It's already noon. Let's rest here and roast some rabbits for lunch."

"Okay" everyone agreed to fourth brother Yang Sunyi's suggestion.

They split up in pairs and searched around the cliff.

Yang Lan'er said to her third brother beside her, "Be careful of poisonous insects and snakes on the ground."

"Okay, you be careful too." he said.

After searching for half of the valley, they found a cave under a mountain cliff. It was quite spacious, about 300 square meters, and it was dry inside with a large platform.

Yang Laner walked around but did not find any other paths. She couldn't help but brighten up, Third brother," Yang Laner said as she walked around, "I couldn't find any other paths." She brightened up and continued, "The drought outside is still continuing. What if our entire family moves here to live?"

Yang Cunli was also satisfied and smiled, "That's really not a bad idea. Let's go outside and take another look."

"Okay..." Yang Lan'er answered.

The two continued walking forward until they found a pool of water at a turning point. Below the cliff, the pool was cool and deep.

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This chapter is quite short and makes me want to read more... how about you guys??