allonlinenovel Chapter 294 Enduring hardship
Chapter 294 Enduring hardship
Lou Xiao and the group were walking on the road when she remembered that she had not yet asked about the old lady's characteristics.
Anilan frowned and thought for a while. "She is a very thin old woman, hunched over, and not talkative."
It seems that there are such old people in every village. They live silently all their lives, suffer a lot, and are praised by everyone as good people.
When she said this, Lou Xiao sketched out a suitable image in his mind.
Some of the villagers around me were holding fishing nets, while others were carrying a long bamboo pole with an iron hook at the end.
Lou Xiao was curious why the two of them had nothing in their hands, while the villagers all carried tools. What were they used for?
Anilan explained, "It's to rescue someone! It's not like we both need to take anything."
After one night, many people no longer had hope that the old man would survive. The Yudai River swallowed up people every year.
They are already very experienced.
After the assembly, the group split up and moved on.
Lou Xiao and Anilan are both good fighters. To prevent the villagers from encountering wild beasts in the forest, they were separated and each teamed up with the weaker one.
Lou Xiao was in a group with a little boy who looked honest. He couldn't speak Chinese and was too shy to even raise his head in front of Lou Xiao.
When she was about to find a random place to start looking, the little boy had already rushed out in two or three steps, taking the lead and pretending that Lou Xiao did not exist.
He was young, and Lou Xiao couldn't just ignore him, so she could only follow him slowly from behind.
Watching him trying so hard to find clues, I felt that he looked very young and should be someone who could adapt well to living in the forest.
Lou Xiao was just there to make up the numbers, so of course she wouldn't disrupt the little boy's work.
The two of them crossed the mountains and ridges in silence and came to another bend of the Yudai River.
Although the water here is also calm, its color is obviously much darker.
The banks are covered with weeds and the trees are lush and leafy.
The fallen rotten wood from upstream stopped here and got stuck at the roots of the trees on the shore, forming a thick layer.
Lou Xiao always felt that this place was colder than any other place he had seen before.
Especially in such a quiet and eerie environment, not even a bird's cry could be heard.
There are footprints of large animals by the river, as if they often forage here.
Lou Xiao walked closer to the little boy, fearing that there was a big creature hiding in the grass that would bite the little boy through in one bite.
The little boy didn't understand her worries, and immediately went into the bushes and under the shade of the trees.
Lou Xiao had no choice but to follow. When her hair was hung in wisps left and right, she vaguely smelled an indescribable stench.
The little boy picked up a stone and threw it at a dark shadow under the shade of the tree. Lou Xiao saw the dark shadow soaking in the water, trembling with the vibrations of the water waves.
Could it be——
The little boy was very brave and walked up to take a look. Lou Xiao just caught up with him and found that things were not as she thought.
It was not a human, but a long-dead wild boar.
Although it is not a human, this wild boar also illustrates that if a person falls into the Yudai River, he or she is likely to get stuck along the way.
Although the water flow here is smooth on the surface, there are undercurrents in the depths, and many things swept down from upstream are gathered at the bend.
There is garbage, wood, and also animals that accidentally drowned, including humans.
The little boy was good at searching, but he didn't bring any fishing tools, so even if he found something it would be of no use.
When Lou Xiao saw him taking off his shirt and about to jump into the river to look for her, he was stopped by Lou Xiao and her head shook to stop him from continuing.
The little boy was a little angry. He struggled a few times but failed to break free. He then started to speak in Nanzi language which Lou Xiao couldn't understand.
Lou Xiao instinctively thought that he was cursing, and was even more unwilling to let go.
With his small body, he still wants to jump into the river to find out what's going on!
"I can go." Lou Xiao was afraid that he would be swept into the undercurrent and lose more than he gained.
She stood by the water and began to take off her coat. The little boy then calmed down, turned away and didn't look at her, but in the end he didn't continue to make a fuss about going into the water.
Wearing only a thin layer of clothing, Lou Xiao jumped into the seemingly deep water.
As she had guessed, the river, though calm on the surface, was surging with undercurrents and the temperature dropped sharply.
If she wasn't in good enough health, it would be difficult for her to stay awake in the water.
There were all kinds of things piled up in the water. Lou Xiao opened his eyes and searched through them one by one, very seriously.
The little boy squatted by the river with his knees hugged, looking at the place where she jumped. Occasionally a few bubbles floated up, indicating that she was still alive.
It was not until the bubbles on the water disappeared that the little boy began to feel scared.
Why hasn't she gotten up yet?
Has it been swept downstream by the undercurrent, or is it already dead at the bottom of the water?
He stood up, at a loss, clasping his palms and waiting anxiously.
After a while, Lou Xiao finally came out of the water.
She climbed up the bank panting heavily, and after the little boy squatted beside her with joy on his face,
Lou Xiao told him a fact.
"There is no body of the old woman. She may still be alive, but she just can't find her way home."
There was no Mo Jingchun's body either.
The little boy didn't understand, but he saw the meaning of her waving her hand, and he felt a little discouraged.
But they soon decided to move to another secret location, perhaps the body was stuck there.
Before she could continue walking, a howl came from the sky.
After the little boy stood and understood it completely, he knew what it meant.
Lou Xiao was still confused, but she followed the little boy and went around in the mountain where there was no road.
Soon we met the villagers from Qieyue Village.
Several people were surrounding a thin, shriveled old lady and talking to her, seeming to blame her but also concerned about her.
The old lady admitted her mistake but she would never repent.
It seems that is the person we are looking for this time.
Lou Xiao was standing far away, so she only took a quick look around.
Unexpectedly, he could make eye contact with her. Lou Xiao was shocked by the hostility in her eyes.
Don’t you know what bad thing you have done?
The villagers surrounded her and left.
Then Anilan arrived late, but when he saw that the person was indeed the old woman from Qieyue Village, he didn't say anything more.
"It's hard for her to live alone, so don't blame her."
A person?
“She originally had no children. Later, there was a fight in our village and a child was brought back. She treasured the child very much.
But later that child did something wrong——" Anilan looked at Lou Xiao meaningfully.
"You recognize it, too."
The Nanzi villager she recognized, Mo Jingchun?
Is she Mo Jingchun’s mother?
"She has always been an honest person in the village. Even if her adopted son did something wrong, no one would blame her," said Anilan.
"But now she is alone again, and is being taken care of by neighbors in the village. Everyone was busy yesterday, and I don't know why she came so far."
Lou Xiao looked at the old lady and couldn't help but wonder, is she coming to Yudai River to look for him?