Sisters in the Deep Forest Valley: Many Fun Things

In the past, Lin's grandparents would greet the villagers when they went up and down the mountain.

When he returned to Lin's parents' home, he gradually had less contact with the villagers, and only occasionally greeted the village chief's family.

So they deliberately avoided the roads the villagers usually took and went around to the village chief's house from behind Youxian Village.

"knock knock"

Aunt Zhang

Lin Chunyi knocked on the door three times and called out to someone inside.

"Who is it? Here I come."

"Click, click, creak," the bolts on both sides were moved aside, and the door opened.

The person who opened the door was Lin Yangshi, the village chief's daughter-in-law.

"Hello, Sister Yang. Is Aunt Zhang home?"

Lin Yangshi did not answer; a flash of fear crossed her eyes, and she stammered, "..."

"You...you guys, you didn't..."

"Ahem, Xiaoyun, go prepare lunch."

Before Lin Yangshi could finish speaking, an older woman came out and stopped her from saying what she was about to say.

This is the village chief's wife, Lin Zhangshi.

"Mother, they, they..."

"Shut up, hurry up and go!" Madam Lin glared at her oblivious daughter-in-law.

He then turned to the two sisters and said gently:

"Oh, it's Xiaoyi and Lanshan! Come in and sit down, what are you doing standing outside?"

"Aunt Zhang, we're sorry to bother you, we won't sit down. We just wanted to ask you for two pieces of old noodles."

She said with a smile:

"No problem, no problem, it's nothing."

He called out into the house:

"Xiaoyun, bring out two balls of old dough."

A short while later, Lin Yangshi came out with a handful of old dough wrapped in leaves.

However, her gaze kept drifting towards the two sisters, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Sister Yang, what's wrong? Is there something you wanted to tell us?"

Lin Yangshi came to her senses, shook her head and waved her hand, saying:

"No, it's nothing. I just noticed you hadn't come down the mountain for so long, and I thought something had happened to you..."

As she finished speaking, she was startled by the look her mother-in-law, Lin Zhangshi, gave her, and stopped talking, only letting out a couple of awkward laughs.

It turned out to be the case.

Lin Chunyi then explained:

"More than four months ago, Lanshan accidentally broke her leg, and it only recently recovered. So we rushed down the mountain to buy some food."

Aunt Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, gave them a complicated look, and said:

"I see. When you go up and down the mountain or travel, you should be careful."

"Thank you for your concern, Aunt Zhang. We'll be careful. Here's two coins, please keep them safe. We need to hurry home."

Lin Chunyi took the old noodles and then took two copper coins to give to Aunt Zhang.

When Aunt Zhang saw her about to put the coin in her hand, she immediately frowned and said:

"What's wrong with you, kid? It's been months since we last met, why are you acting like a stranger to me? Two pieces of dough, no money needed, just take them and leave!"

Lin Chunyi didn't want to owe anyone, not even the whole village. So she took back the copper coins and took out two eggs from her basket.

"Aunt Zhang, it's only right to repay loans. We live far from the village, so we took the easy way out and tried to buy it from you with money. If you won't take the money, you should at least accept these two eggs!"

Seeing that Lin Chunyi insisted on giving it to her, Aunt Zhang said helplessly:

"Sigh, I'm taking advantage of you by exchanging two lumps of dough for two eggs."

She accepted it without further ado, thinking to herself that if she met them again, she would take better care of the two children.

"Then be careful on your journey. Not long ago, a murderer was arrested in the county town. You two young girls must be very careful out there, and don't go down the mountain unless necessary."

He waved and watched the two sisters disappear from sight.

Daughter-in-law Lin Yangshi couldn't help but say from the side:

"Mother, why don't you tell them about what happened a few months ago? The girls who died were all between ten and fifteen years old. Everyone thought they had also been murdered..." Thinking of that bizarre case, she felt a chill run down her spine.

Lin Zhangshi rolled her eyes and told her daughter-in-law:

"Why tell the two girls? The murderer has already been caught and his head has been chopped off."

"But most of the young girls in the nearby villages have died suddenly. No injuries, no poisoning, just like they've lost their souls... Everyone says that the beheaded murderer was just a random criminal found by the county officials because they couldn't find anyone and were afraid they wouldn't be able to explain to their superiors. The real murderer hasn't even been seen yet. I heard that the murderer wasn't even human..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the images of those girls dying flashed through her mind, and a chill ran down her spine.

"Stop listening to those gossipy women in the village! After that murderer was beheaded, no one else around here died mysteriously. If he wasn't the murderer, who was?"

"Besides, even if the murderer is still out there, what good will it do to tell them? Are you going to protect them? The fact that they're safe means the murderer can't find them. As long as they stay on the mountain, they're naturally safer than outside. You better keep your mouth shut. If you reveal even a word about seeing them today, I'll divorce you!"

The daughter-in-law, Lin Yangshi, shrank back and readily agreed.

Lin Zhangshi watched the two sisters walk away and sighed.

It wasn't that no one in the village had gone up the mountain to look for the location of the hunter's house; they had searched deep into the mountains but still couldn't find it.

It seems their family had the foresight to build the house in a place where outsiders couldn't find it.

This is the best way to ensure the two children can live safely in the mountains, without being discovered or harmed by anyone.

Meanwhile, Lin Chunyi and her sister walked up the mountain. As she walked, she kept thinking about the strange behavior of Aunt Zhang and Sister Yang today.

"Lanshan, don't you think Sister Yang is acting strangely? She seemed surprised when she saw us, almost frightened?"

Lin Lanshan ate a dried peach, thought for a moment, and said:

"Didn't they say that we hadn't come down the mountain for too long, and they thought something had happened to us, or even that we were dead..."

Lin Chunyi frowned even more deeply, and her expression became even more serious.

"They thought we were dead? When no one from our family came down the mountain for six months in a row, they weren't this surprised. And Aunt Zhang said they caught a murderer, and even though he's already caught, why are they telling us not to come down the mountain? Their stories don't seem to make sense. Has something terrible happened outside?"

Lin Lanshan took out a wood-chopping knife from her basket and chopped a few times in the air with a "ha!"

"That's probably a murderer who escaped from prison. But if we go back to the valley, who will be able to find us? When we go down the mountain again next time, our skills will be even better. If we encounter any villains, who knows who will live and who will die?"

...Lin Chunyi's lips twitched slightly.

"Can't you be a little more humble? And all you do is show off your limited skills! Let's not go down the mountain before spring. Let's stay in the valley and practice our martial arts."

After walking for half an hour, we were almost in the deep mountains.

"Sister, it seems like everything went smoothly when we came down the mountain this time. There were no shop assistants who looked down on us, no bandits who robbed us on the road, and no unruly villagers..."

The outside world seems pretty good too...