Chapter 10 A Human Foot

Chapter 10 A Human Foot

The past two days had been sunny, and Wei Pozi, flipping through the Heartburn Grass drying on the balcony, felt particularly cheerful.

At this quality, the Heartburn Grass would be almost ready after another day of drying.

Just in time for the market day tomorrow, she could sell this Heartburn Grass and exchange it for some grain.

Thinking about this, Wei Pozi couldn't help but smile as she went out with a good mood.

Today, there wasn't much work to be done in the fields, so the men of the Yu family didn't all need to go out. Yu Daniu planned to go to Mount Langshen at the back of the village to set some animal traps, hoping to get lucky and catch a rabbit or a pheasant.

Huai Geer and Bai Geer were already half-grown teenagers and followed their father Yu Daniu into the mountains.

Liu Ge'er had always been physically weak and rarely ventured into the mountains. Gui Geer was still young, and it wasn't safe for him to go deep into the mountains. With nothing much to do at home, they decided to take Xingxing to call Ju Geer and prepare to dig some wild vegetables near the village to help support the family.

But when Ju Geer came out of the house and saw Xingxing, he became very unhappy, turned his head, and stubbornly said he wouldn't go.

Liu Ge'er asked, "You really won't go?"

"No, no, no!"

Gui Geer then asked, "Are you going to complain to Auntie San later that we didn't let you play with us?"

Feeling embarrassed, Ju Geer glared at his brothers and Xingxing, then turned and ran away, his chubby back showing his stubbornness.

Xingxing was confused and tilted her little head, not understanding what had happened.

Seeing this, Liu Ge'er and Gui Geer shrugged and didn't bother calling Ju Geer again. They led Xingxing out of the house.

Gui Geer noticed Xingxing carrying a bamboo basket taller than her short legs and chuckled, gesturing to her height, saying, "Xingxing, you're really short."

Xingxing replied seriously, "But Grandma said I'm still young and will grow tall!"

She nodded her little head in self-affirmation and tried to lift the basket higher, saying, "I want to grow as tall as my big brother!"

However, Xingxing was too small and weak; she only managed to lift the basket briefly before falling to the ground with a "Ouch!"

Liu Ge'er and Gui Geer quickly helped Xingxing up.

Xingxing smiled innocently, with a leaf stuck in her hair, making her look even more silly.

Liu Ge'er and Gui Geer couldn't help but laugh heartily.

...

The nearby wild fields had already been cleared of wild vegetables, leaving only some weeds. The three siblings didn't give up and continued searching deeper into the fields.

The wild fields at the foot of Mount Langshen were vast, but due to years of natural disasters, the wild vegetables grew sparsely among a bunch of inedible weeds. The siblings dug here and there, soon breaking into a sweat.

Liu Ge'er glanced at the bamboo basket in his hand, which was already filled with a decent amount of wild vegetables. He remarked, "Usually, it's hard to find wild vegetables, but today we've found quite a lot."

Gui Geer, being younger, couldn't help but lick his lips, "Auntie Da's wild vegetable pancakes are delicious!"

Both Liu Ge'er and Gui Ge'er were born to Bai Xiaofeng of the second household, and while their mother was a decent cook, she couldn't match Auntie Da's skills.

They looked at each other and said, "Let's dig some more so Auntie Da can make more wild vegetable pancakes!"

Excited, they were about to roll up their sleeves and continue digging when they heard Xingxing suddenly scream from nearby.

Startled, Liu Ge'er and Gui Geer rushed over and found Xingxing sitting on the grass, trembling and pointing ahead, clearly scared.

Following Xingxing's finger, they saw nothing at first glance—just a patch of grass!

Confused, they helped Xingxing up and asked, "What is it?"

Xingxing pointed insistently, "Brother, there, there!"

They leaned forward and looked closely—among the dense grass, they saw a human foot!

Even though Liu Ge'er was ten years old, he was still terrified!

The three siblings huddled together in fear.

After a moment, Liu Ge'er gathered his courage, remembering he was the older brother and needed to protect his siblings.

Gui Geer and Xingxing were still so young!

Liu Ge'er swallowed hard and stepped forward to part the grass, discovering a half-grown teenager lying there!

The teenager had lost a shoe and was unconscious, his face pale.

Upon closer inspection, Liu Ge'er recognized him as Luo Qiong Niu, whom his elder brother had beaten up a few days ago!

Seeing it was someone they knew, Liu Ge'er was no longer afraid and approached to check on him.

He saw that although Luo Qiong Niu's face was deathly pale, he still had a faint breath, indicating he was alive.

Gui Geer and Xingxing were still trembling, but upon hearing it was Luo Qiong Niu, who hadn't died but was merely injured, Gui Geer immediately calmed down and took Xingxing's hand, approaching cautiously.

Liu Ge'er frowned and said to Gui Geer, "I've heard that some injured people shouldn't be moved. We don't know what injuries Luo Qiong Niu has, so I'll stay here with Xingxing. You run back to the village and tell his family that Luo Qiong Niu is injured and unconscious. Ask them to come quickly."

Gui Geer nodded, patting his chest, "Leave it to me!"

He turned and ran off.

Xingxing was still a bit scared. She timidly moved closer to Liu Ge'er, only poking her small head out to look at the unconscious Luo Qiong Niu on the ground for quite a while before she quietly asked Liu Ge'er, "Brother, is he... is he okay?"

Beside Luo Qiong Niu lay a straw basket containing a few scattered wild vegetables, suggesting that he had been injured while digging for them.

As for the nature of his injury...

Liu Ge'er shook his head with a serious expression, "Hard to say."

Upon hearing this, Xingxing immediately forgot how Luo Qiong Niu had been mean to her earlier and couldn't help but feel worried.

Although this person looked fierce and had even been beaten up by her brothers... he was still a human life after all.

Xingxing stepped out from behind Liu Ge'er, squatted beside Luo Qiong Niu, and her little face showed concern. "You must be okay; you have to get better."

Liu Ge'er's eyes narrowed slightly. People always said children were the most innocent, and his sister Xingxing was just like that—so kind! She was the best little sister in the world!

While Liu Ge'er was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Xingxing call out, "Eh? Third Brother, look here!"

Liu Ge'er focused his gaze but didn't see anything unusual.

Being meticulous and cautious, he quickly understood what was happening.

He walked over to Xingxing and squatted down, trying to replicate her perspective. Following where she pointed, he finally noticed two tiny wounds near Luo Qiong Niu's ankle, almost touching the grass, in a spot that was very hard to see, and they were already turning blue!

Clearly, these were snake bites!

Liu Ge'er acted decisively, pressing on Luo Qiong Niu's calf and squeezing the blood toward the two tiny wounds to draw out the venom.

Xingxing watched with wide eyes.

The blood from the wound was initially dark, but gradually turned to a normal color.

Liu Ge'er breathed a sigh of relief.

He had heard from the village elders about how to treat snake bites, hoping it was correct!

But Luo Qiong Niu still hadn't woken up, and Liu Ge'er knew that simply squeezing out the blood wasn't enough.

He stood up abruptly and looked around.

Xingxing curiously asked, "Brother, what are you looking for?"

Liu Ge'er replied as he searched, "Luo Qiong Niu was probably bitten by a snake. I'm looking for some herbs to treat the venom."

Xingxing also stood up, "Xingxing will help Third Brother look!"

Liu Ge'er described the appearance of several herbs that could treat snake venom, knowing that the chances were slim since all the valuable herbs around the village had long been dug up. However, it was better than doing nothing!

Xingxing clenched her small fists, her face set with determination, and diligently searched the nearby fields for the life-saving herbs.

The sun was hot, and Xingxing had been running around digging wild vegetables all morning, so she was exhausted.

Her vision was starting to blur, and she nearly fell.

Xingxing shook her head vigorously and patted her cheeks to stay alert.

She needed to keep searching; she needed to help her brothers save him!

Time passed slowly, and sweat dripped down Liu Ge'er's forehead, but Luo Qiong Niu remained unconscious. Just when he was starting to lose hope, he suddenly heard Xingxing shout, "Third Brother, come look! Is this it?"

Liu Ge'er turned around sharply and saw the sweaty Xingxing holding a small herb—it was one of the herbs that could treat snake venom: half-flower lotus!