Chapter 107 - 107: A Trip Down the Mountain
Counting the days, Jiang Xia realized they had been up in the mountains for over a week.
Her interspace storage was nearly filled with bag of seeds, all carefully sorted and stored. The slow-growing ones were left for gradual cultivation.
Before, Jiang Xia was concerned if the crops she grew using her interspace land and water could survive in the outside world. She shared this thought with Jiang Chuan, who created a plot of land outside their cabin for her to experiment on.
They wanted to determine whether it was the land or water that held the power to resurrect plants.
Just as Jiang Xia had expected, her interspace had a strong effect on the growth of plants. Once it was moved outside, the growth of the seeds that were originally growing in her interspace slowed down.
Regarding the vegetables, they were probably just lacking water and nutrients, causing them not to sprout in their season.
After spending so many days on the mountain, the food reserves of Jiang Xia’s family were running low, prompting the group to plan a trip down the mountain to restock before returning.
As they descended, Jiang Xia did not forget to distribute some water from her interspace in a slightly distant place. She also caught some wild animal and stored it in her interspace realm. All they carried with them were two rabbits and two wild chickens, but they had selected the fattest ones.
Returning to the village after many days, Jiang Xia felt as if she had stepped into another era.
Jiang Chuan asked Zhou Lan and Jiang Gu to check their house first while he and Jiang Xia paid a visit to the village chief.
The village chief greeted them with joy, exclaiming how good it was to see them.
Seeing the chief’s unusually jovial demeanor, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Grandpa Chief, is there something going on? You seem really happy.”
The chief sighed heavily, “Ah! It’s seeing you that makes me happy! That gossipy wife from the old Sun’s family. I don’t know how, but she went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables and came down saying you two were dead, eaten by a pack of wolves, not even bones or clothes left.”
“We were eaten by wolves?” Jiang Chuan was also surprised.
The chief nodded, “After that, I went with a few young men from the village to look for you twice, but we couldn’t find you.”
He then went on to relay everything that had happened in the village since they went to the mountains.
As autumn harvest was near, the villagers didn’t have much work and found time for idle chat. The old Jiang family, seeing no one to stop them, began stirring up trouble and spreading bad words about Jiang Chuan’s family.
Even though the villagers knew about the character of the old Jiang family due to the theft incident, gossip tends to amplify with each retelling. Untrue stories seemed to become true, causing the once favorable reputation of the Jiang family to become divided.
In fact, the rumors were not a big deal to Jiang Chuan and his daughter. It was just that the old lady’s words from the Sun family about them being eaten by wolves caught their attention.
After being attacked by wolves that day, the family had gathered and discussed it.
Wolves are intelligent creatures. They view humans much like how people view unknown fruits on a mountain; they might seem delicious and edible, but unless desperate with hunger, they wouldn’t initiate an attack.
For animals, hunting humans is a high-risk endeavor, so they would opt for easier targets that they can capture with certainty.
Given these conditions, the attack by the pack of wolves that day was particularly strange.
Could this incident have something to do with the old lady from the old Sun family? Jiang Chuan and his daughter exchanged a glance, both pondering the same thought.
Before they could put the pieces together, the village chief continued, “It’s a good thing that you’re back. From now on, don’t go up the mountain. It’s too dangerous. What would we do if something happened?”
From the moment Jiang Chuan and his daughter entered the house, the village chief had not asked if they had brought anything back. He was solely concerned with their safety. Honestly, this touched Jiang Xia’s heart.
Smiling sweetly at the village chief, Jiang Xia asked, “Village Chief, we went to the mountain to find food. Aren’t you going to ask if we brought back anything?”
The village chief waved his hand dismissively, “What you brought back doesn’t matter. The fact that you’re back is enough to set my mind at ease. If we’re short of food, we can figure out a solution together. You don’t need to risk your lives for this..”