Unable to fend off starvation, wild wolves had grown accustomed to human flesh. They no longer preyed solely on the deceased, but now targeted the living. Once a person was too weak to resist, they would be attacked and consumed.
"So, we still need to stick with the main group. It's safer together."
Gu Chaobei considered his family's safety. Now that they were separated, if a wolf were to suddenly appear, his current weakened state meant he couldn't fight it. The entire family might end up as wolf fodder.
"Yes, we'll rest up tomorrow and rendezvous with the villagers."
Hu Lanfang agreed. Taoyuan Village had over three hundred people. With so many gathered, wolves wouldn't dare to cause trouble.
Gu Chaobei went to dig for licorice roots, while Hu Lanfang collected dry branches in the distance. Gu Qingcheng also helped gather twigs.
When Gu Qingcheng returned with a large armful of dry branches, she saw her father already preparing to start a fire with a flint.
"Dad, can you really start a fire?"
Gu Qingcheng felt that starting a fire with flint was as difficult as the college entrance exam.
"It's not hard. I learned this when camping outdoors."
Gu Chaobei was an outdoor enthusiast. He struck the flint, and sparks fell onto the dry reeds. Soon, a small flame flickered to life. Gu Chaobei carefully added dry branches to the fire, truly igniting it.
Gu Qingcheng was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Dad, you're amazing!"
They slowly added branches to the flame, and finally, larger dry logs. The fire would not go out anytime soon, and they felt relieved.
"Hey, where's your mother? You're back, why isn't she? Did she get lost?"
Gu Chaobei snapped out of his excitement about starting the fire. He stood up and looked around, his expression turning anxious.
In a small thicket in the distance, three ragged men were tying up Hu Lanzhi.
"This tender-skinned one should last a few days. The weather's hot, and it'll spoil if we don't eat it quickly. We'll tie her up for now and slaughter her when we're ready to eat."
A scrawny man said. Just listening to him, one might think he was talking about butchering a sheep. But Hu Lanfang knew they were referring to her and trembled all over.
"Why don't we slaughter her tonight and roast her into jerky? It'll last for days, and it's inconvenient to travel with her," said a man with a full beard.
Their conversation sent shivers down Hu Lanfang's spine, and it made Gu Chaobei and his daughter, hiding in the bushes, their hair standing on end.
Seeing the bearded man about to lay hands on Hu Lanfang, Gu Chaobei suddenly burst from the bushes and shouted, "Stop!"
The bearded man flinched at Gu Chaobei's sudden shout. The three men turned and saw Gu Chaobei, looking frail and alone, and their courage surged.
"Oh, who do you think you are?" the bearded man asked contemptuously.
"This woman is my wife. What are you doing, committing evil?"
"Heh, what are we doing? Don't you know? You can join her!"
With that, the scrawny man lunged at Gu Chaobei and threw a punch. Gu Chaobei wanted to dodge nimbly, but his body was too weak, beyond his imagination. He took a solid punch to the face, and his nose started bleeding, his head buzzing.
Seeing Gu Chaobei in trouble, the other two men closed in, ready to gang up on him. Just then, Gu Qingcheng emerged from the other side of the bushes. She threw something she was holding, and it landed on the bearded man.
The bearded man felt something slippery wrap around his neck. It was cold, and it bit him. He pulled it off and cried out in terror, "Help! It's a bamboo viper! I've been bitten! Help me with the wound!"
The other two men were also entangled by snakes. The three men, caught in the snakes' coils, descended into panic. Caught off guard, all three were bitten by snakes. They fumbled frantically, paying no attention to the Gu family.
Gu Chaobei touched his nose and stepped forward, tearing the rope binding his wife. Freed, Hu Lanfang stood up unsteadily. As a community committee member, she had dealt with all sorts of ruffians and troublemakers, making them all submit. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. Burning with rage, Hu Lanfang unleashed a barrage of kicks and punches on the three men poisoned by the snakes. The enraged woman was even more terrifying than the venomous snakes. If Hu Lanfang hadn't been weakened by hunger, those three bandits would likely have been beaten to their last breath.
"Alright, that's enough. They're as good as dead. I've looked, and there are no antidotes for miles around," Gu Chaobei said. His words, however, couldn't calm Hu Lanfang. Gu Qingcheng's sentence finally made her stop. "Mom, don't waste your strength on the dead."
Indeed, they were all as good as dead, so why waste energy? Energy came from food, and their family had not a single grain of rice. Their strength was precious and shouldn't be wasted. Hu Lanfang immediately stopped. The three bandits, bruised and swollen and suffering from snake venom, were in no condition to resist, rolling on the ground.
"Dad, Mom, look quickly! Their back baskets. Check them for food," Gu Qingcheng happily pointed to a back basket nearby.
Gu Chaobei opened the bamboo basket. There was food, but it was a bag of dehydrated dried meat. Without thinking, he knew what it was made of. Gu Chaobei shook his head and said, "Let's go. We can't eat it."
The three of them left. They paid no mind to the fading sounds of the three bandits behind them. There was no need to concern themselves with beasts who wanted to harm their family.
Returning to the large tree where they had camped, they lit a small fire and continued to chew on licorice roots.
"Oh, I'm so hungry. I really want to eat something. Why was I trying to lose weight? It would be great if there was food!" Gu Qingcheng swallowed hard. "I still have a hamburger on my table that I didn't get to eat."
Gu Chaobei reminisced, "Yesterday, I received roast duck from a classmate in the capital and put it in the freezer, planning a surprise for you. Ah, I wish I had eaten it then."
"Don't say it. I still have a pot of eight-treasure porridge in my kitchen that I wanted to nourish you with," Hu Lanfang said, looking at her emaciated daughter with great concern.
The three of them were drooling as they spoke, their stomachs growling louder. Finally, Gu Chaobei changed the subject.
"Let's share our situations with each other, so we don't have asymmetrical information. Tomorrow, if we meet people from our village or family, we won't be out of sync and reveal ourselves."
"I think that's a good idea." Although Hu Lanfang was spirited outside, she always followed the intellectual Gu Chaobei's lead.
Gu Qingcheng was caught off guard, but she ate another bite of her parents' "dog food." Hmm, she felt slightly full. The three of them shared the information they had, and based on this, they formed a preliminary impression of their current identities.