Chapter 65:
The mother and daughter walked and stopped intermittently, picking up about half a bamboo basket of mushrooms, and soon reached the mountain peak leading to the slope on the side of Luojia Village…
From far away, they could see some low houses in Luojia Village, with smoke rising from some rooftops.
Mostly yellow mud and green tiles, thatched sheds, and villagers working in the fields, looking like ants from a distance.
Luo Zhi’er pulled Miaomiao to observe for a moment, roughly confirming the direction and position of Mahuang Gully, but since it was already midday and hot, they quickly slipped into the nearby forest.
This forest was quite concealed, with dense natural trees. Just after walking a short distance into the forest, Miaomiao spotted clusters of cute mushrooms under the tree roots, including plenty of termite mushrooms, and happily ran over to pick them.
“Mother, come quick! There are so many mushrooms here!”
Luo Zhi’er followed behind, “Coming!” She thought to herself… this place was not far from Luojia Village, nor was it close—why hadn’t anyone come to pick them?
Could it be they didn’t know termite mushrooms were delicious? That’s why they grew so well? Without thinking further, she picked clusters of white termite mushrooms and tossed them into the bamboo basket…
Soon the bamboo basket was filled with more, Luo Zhi’er looked up at the dappled sky through the tree shadows, and boldly led Miaomiao deeper in!
There must be bigger surprises waiting for them inside!
The deeper they went, the more something was indeed waiting for her.
Sure enough, quite a few matsutake mushrooms had emerged from the soil near that pine tree—this was also a good thing, she picked them, smelled them, and tossed them into the bamboo basket…
Looking up, there were a few wood ear mushrooms on the tree, just as she reached to pick them, she suddenly felt something flash by…
“Miaomiao, did you see anything just now?”
Miaomiao was using a wooden stick to pry up a matsutake… she looked up blankly, “No, Mother…”
Luo Zhi’er looked around, really? If not, then let’s continue…
Unknowingly, they reached a mountain hollow, where the hollow was overgrown with cogongrass, pine trees, and some smooth stone mountain; peeking in, they couldn’t see the situation inside.
It was like a deep sunken cave, with traces of something lying around the edges…
“Awoo!”
Luo Zhi’er suddenly seemed to hear some terrifying sound, “Huhu!”
She turned back to look at the equally frightened Miaomiao, “Mother, what was that sound just now?”
Luo Zhi’er didn’t know either, but her intuition told her to quickly take her and retreat—it would be better to leave this place fast.
She casually picked up a stick for self-defense, and as they retraced their steps along the earlier path under the blazing sun, parting the grass…
Not far ahead, a man in fine brocade clothes, back facing her, held a sword confronting a black bear…
The black bear glared menacingly, emitting a terrifying roar from its mouth, and swiped a paw at the man; the man deftly dodged to the side, temporarily evading its attack…
The black bear seemed enraged, with a “boom,” it swiped another paw at a nearby big tree, snapping the tree with one slap!
Seeing it about to smash the man, he dodged it, and his peripheral vision swept in this direction…
Calmly shifting back a bit…
Luo Zhi’er quickly shielded Miaomiao, retreated, found a very very big tree, pushed Miaomiao up it, had her crouch on a tree fork, hidden behind branches without making a sound.
She wanted to climb but was too fat, and knew bears could climb trees.
To protect Miaomiao, she found a spot with stone mountain nearby to hide behind, picked up several large stones to place beside her for defense, worrying in her heart if there might be other black bears around…
She involuntarily held her breath, her hands slightly sweating, observing the battle from afar.
The black bear seemed unwilling to waste time with him, suddenly extending its claws to strike at his head; Luo Zhi’er watched with wide eyes, heart pounding…
The man was very calm; with a nimble flip, he dodged, extended the hand holding the sword, and slashed at the hand with which the black bear had extended its big paw…
With an “Awoo!”, the black bear’s claw fell to the ground, its eyes showing astonishment, roaring in pain as blood gushed out; Luo Zhi’er couldn’t help but immediately feel admiration for him!
Though the black bear had lost one big paw, it was battle-hardened; after being slashed, it grew even more enraged with a roar, countering with its other big paw slashing fiercely at him.
The man dodged, the black bear missed, but his clothing was torn by the claws, his chest roughly stained with blood.
Seeing the man and bear locked in a stalemate for a long time, the man also showing signs of exhaustion, Luo Zhi’er, since she was with Miaomiao, originally didn’t want to invite trouble and planned to quietly watch the battle and adapt accordingly!
After a few exchanges, the black bear lunged forward again; the man smoothly dodged, but who knew this was just the black bear’s feint, the following paw being the fatal strike.
Seeing that big paw about to swipe his neck, and the sword not able to swing over in time, Luo Zhi’er glanced down at the stones beside her for defense…
She picked up a large stone and threw it at the black bear’s head, striking its nape, causing it to crouch…
The black bear was stunned by this sudden large stone, slowed by half a beat; the man wasn’t foolish and immediately thrust his sword skyward, piercing the black bear’s neck right on; blood poured down, splattering the man all over…
The black bear collapsed in a pool of blood, trembling, barely alive; the man stood up and gave it a few more sword strikes, looked at the motionless black bear on the ground, and glanced around.
“Who is it?”
Luo Zhi’er unconsciously moved a bit; because she was too fat, her legs went numb from squatting, and she accidentally slipped, falling butt-first onto the stone…
Speechless!
The man’s eyes shifted toward her direction:
“I wonder which expert it is?”
Luo Zhi’er didn’t move…
“Thank you, expert, for the assistance!”
She knew she couldn’t hide, so she simply stood up, a bit disheveled.
Rubbing her sore butt from the stone, “Great Hero, I was just passing by and tossed a stone casually!”
Seeing remnants of dead leaves in her hair and her in coarse hemp clothes, the man showed astonishment and surprise in his eyes, “It was you…?”
“You threw the stone?”
Luo Zhi’er gave him a blank look; this man was so stunningly handsome it could shock heaven and earth, move ghosts and gods, yet his brain didn’t work well—who else could have thrown the stone from her direction?
The man seemed to react, contemplating briefly, then held his sword and thanked her!
“Thank you, Eldest Sister-in-law, for the assistance!”
Luo Zhi’er waved her hand generously: “No problem, young brother, just tossing a stone—small matter! Nothing much!”
Seeing him standing there looking at her, Luo Zhi’er turned, went under the tree and called Miaomiao; Miaomiao poked out her little face and slid down the trunk, and she reached out to hug her down…
Miaomiao timidly looked at the uncle in front of her, holding Luo Zhi’er’s hand.
Luo Zhi’er retrieved the bamboo basket, pulled Miaomiao to squat in front of the black bear, observing it up close…
Goodness, this size was much bigger and fiercer than the ones she’d seen at the zoo…
The black bear died with eyes wide open; despite its ferocity, it still fell to the sharp sword.
“I wonder what brings you here, Eldest Sister-in-law…”
“Picking mushrooms!”
Luo Zhi’er could tell this person was highly vigilant, coldness in his eyes—could he be afraid of ill intentions… tracking him?
