Even women who travel through time can become prime ministers and nobles.

"Ah..." A cry from the forest startled the animals. Shi Wanxia's earlier enthusiasm vanished. Why? Because she had somehow transmigrated to ancient times, to a dynasty never mentioned in historical records. She'd never even heard of Cangling Kingdom or Yanyue Kingdom. This was too absurd! She'd just gone on a trip and blindly transmigrated.

Shi Wanxia was very frustrated. Ancient times were too dangerous. Imperial power was supreme, and there were clear class distinctions. How could a girl like her, who had no household registration, no money, and no family background, survive in this era of people eating people without spitting out bones?

Forget it, let's leave this forest first. I'll think about the way home later. If all else fails, I'll find a beautiful place with clear waters and green mountains to farm and do some small business. I don't dare to think about anything else. In ancient times, wealthy nobles controlled most of the resources, treated the law as nothing, acted tyrannically, and disregarded human life.

I have no connections, and the social constraints imposed on women in this dynasty are extremely strict. I dare not dream too much. If the country is stable, there is still a chance to develop people's livelihoods, and the economy should be quite good. But if war breaks out, surviving in this ancient world will be even more difficult.

"By the way, brother, what's your name, and what country are you from?"

Shi Wanxia suppressed her anxiety and unease. She decided to deal with the current situation later and focus on resolving the immediate predicament.

Shen Yanchu thought for a moment and wrote down his name. "Shen Yan, Miss Shi, let's retrieve the prey first. It's about to rain. We'll talk again when we get back."

Shi Wanxia nodded, got up and searched in the grass for a while before finding a bird with a bright purple upper body, a bright green chest, and red fleshy growths forming eyebrow-like patches, resembling a chicken and a partridge.

In terms of size, they are between pigeons and geese. This one is not big either, weighing about three or four pounds. Shi Wanxia hesitated for a long time before grabbing its hind legs and lifting it up.

There was a weapon around its neck that looked like a dart, but wasn't quite; it was hard to describe. I pulled it out by the tail, picked up a leaf from the nearby tree, and wiped away the blood. I carried it by its leg out of the bushes.

Shen Yanchu's gaze swept across the area and immediately spotted the prey he had shot. It was quite large. "Shen Yan, this grouse looks a lot like a pheasant... hehe. This is the first time I've ever seen one like it."

He looked up at her with a hint of helplessness. Although the grouse couldn't fly, it was cunning and good at hiding, making it very difficult to hunt. His internal energy hadn't recovered yet, and he had only managed to hunt it after observing it for a long time and barely gathering the last ten percent of his internal energy. He had been resting here for a long time and was slowly recovering his strength.

Seeing that he was running out of energy, Shi Wanxia went to his side, put one hand on her shoulder and the other on his waist, and slowly dragged him towards the cave. Shen Yanchu mechanically cooperated, his body stiff, as he had always disliked others getting too close. This strange girl's actions and manners were contrary to etiquette and propriety.

Back inside the cave, Shi Wanxia carefully helped Shen Yanchu sit on the grass mat, then collapsed onto the ground herself, panting heavily without any regard for her image.

"I'm so tired every day! Shen Yan, you've been walking for so long, you should rest first. I'll cook later. We're having chicken tonight. I'll boil some water first and then kill the chicken."

Killing chickens in the late summer wasn't difficult for her; she had also worked as a kitchen helper in a small restaurant while studying part-time.

I lit a fire and boiled water. The chicken had already died from blood loss. I put the chicken into the prepared earthen pot, poured in boiling water to submerge it, waited a few minutes, then picked up the chicken by the leg and threw it on the ground. I plucked the feathers directly with my hands. It was simple and convenient. I rinsed the chicken and the pot with clean water before cleaning them.

I added water, Sichuan peppercorns, and bamboo shoots to the fire and simmered them. I opened a packet of self-heating rice and will heat it up later. Now, I'll wash out these internal organs. I added wood ash and a little salt and washed them for a long time before they were clean.

That grouse looked quite large. After plucking its feathers and removing its internal organs, it weighed only a little over a pound. It roams freely in the mountains year-round. Its muscles were very firm; I wasn't sure if I'd be able to chew it later. I glanced at the time; it was almost nine o'clock. It should be cooked in about forty minutes.

I added more firewood and sat by the fire to continue weaving the straw mat. I only remembered to fetch water today; I haven't finished weaving the straw mat yet. The temperature difference between day and night in the mountains is too great. The lowest temperature at night is around 10 degrees Celsius. It would be troublesome to catch a cold.

Shi Wanxia was weaving vines when she saw Shen Yanchu leaning against the stone slab, seemingly lost in thought. Although he couldn't speak, it didn't stop him from communicating with her!

"Shen Yan, tell me how you got here, and how you fell from the mountaintop. You can write it down slowly, just to pass the time, right? Also, what happened to all your injuries? Is there any way to treat them? And how should they be treated?"

Shen Yanchu's expression changed slightly. His eyes flickered, revealing emotions that Shi Wanxia couldn't understand, along with a touch of sadness. After a moment, he continued to write on the ground with a wooden stick, and Shi Wanxia leaned closer.

"I wandered into this place by mistake. Yesterday, the poison took effect, and I lost my footing and fell off the mountain. Thank you for saving me, young lady."

Shi Wanxia stared in surprise at the words on the ground. "The poison has taken effect. You've been poisoned, that's why you're so weak. What kind of poison is it? How do you cure it? Is your inability to speak also due to the poison? Is this poison that potent? By the way, how did you kill that grouse you killed last night? Even though it can't fly, you only had a dart, yet it still managed to pierce its vein."

After thinking for a moment, Shen Yanchu used a wooden stick to tell her about his current situation. After all, it was an external injury, and he would be fine after a few days of rest. However, the poison was indeed very troublesome. Although he knew how to cure it, he did not have any antidote herbs, and he did not know if there were any here.

"This poison is a sacred medicine of the Yan Yue Witch Clan. It can damage a person's three meridians and five internal organs, and abolish internal energy and martial arts. I was ambushed and accidentally ingested this medicine. Today, while hunting grouse, I barely managed to use the last bit of my internal energy. As for the antidote, I do know a few rare medicinal herbs. I wonder if there are any here?"

Shi Wanxia chuckled. Sure enough, it was an ancient society. He was covered in injuries, which must have been caused by someone's ambush. All those years of reading and writing novels hadn't been for nothing. This person must have been forced to flee here.

"Oh, so you only kept a little bit of your life-saving skills, and you're still weak in your limbs most of the time. Judging from your speech and actions, you're methodical and thoughtful, so you're probably not an ordinary person. What's your identity? I'm not interested right now. Let's wait until your external injuries heal, then we'll head out and see if we can find the medicinal herbs you need."

"The person who poisoned you must be someone you're closest to and trust the most! After all, you don't seem stupid, you're serious and upright, and you don't look like someone to mess with. You must have been really powerful before!"

"By the way, Shen Yan, I'm twenty-one years old this year. How about you? Do you know where we are? What's the name of this mountain?"

Shen Yanchu's eyelids twitched. This girl seemed carefree, but she was actually very perceptive. She had fair skin and clear eyes, and her every move exuded a strong sense of confidence and composure, unlike other gentle and quiet young ladies.

Moreover, she said she was twenty-one years old, the prime of her life, and presumably already married. But why would her husband leave a woman like her alone in this forest? Shen Yanchu was very puzzled. He hadn't seen anyone else these past two days, and she said she had "fallen down"—where had she fallen from?

Shen Yanchu wrote on the ground with a wooden stick, answering her question, "Cangling Kingdom, Cang... Yan Mountains, stretching for more than eight hundred miles... These mountains are so big? Aren't they as big as the Taihang Mountains?"

Shen Yanchu was taken aback. He had never heard of the Taihang Mountains. Were they more than 800 li long?

"You've been over twenty for about five years, which is twenty years old. Add five, and you're twenty-five! You're quite young, just like me."

Such boastful and blunt words were hard for Shen Yanchu, who had been taught Confucianism and Mencius since childhood, to accept.