After lunch, the father and his children continued weaving straw sandals and fine ropes.
Xu Yue suddenly felt a desperate need to urinate and stood up, intending to find a spot in the bushes to take care of business.
Xu Dalang stood up subconsciously, carrying out his policy of never leaving her side to the very end. Xu Yue, who had already pulled her pants halfway down, was startled by the sudden appearance of a figure and nearly wet her pants in fright.
"Brother!" Her little milky voice turned sharp with indignation. Xu Yue snapped, "Go back!"
Xu Dalang was dazed for a moment, as if he had just processed the situation. He let out an "oh," turned around, and covered his eyes with his hands. "Not looking, not looking." He wouldn't look.
Xu Yue: "..." Is that what I meant?
But the urgency of her bladder wouldn't allow for hesitation. Thinking that she was still just a little brat, Xu Yue gritted her teeth. She figured there was still the cover of the bushes, so she squatted down right there and let it out.
"Phew~" Xu Yue relaxed her brows and eyes, pulled up her pants, and stood up, just about to look up and tell her brother she was finished.
Unexpectedly, a pair of large hands suddenly reached out from behind and clamped over her face!
Xu Yue was shocked.
Another hand immediately grabbed her, lifted her entire body up, and turned to run into the forest.
A foul stench wafted from behind, so nauseating that Xu Yue nearly vomited her previous night's meal. She immediately thought of that group of cannibals and struggled even more violently, screaming internally: *Brother!!!*
Perhaps her violent struggling brought pleasure to the person behind her; he let out two cold, sinister chuckles and whispered in a dark, eerie voice
"The little brat has quite a bit of strength. Keep on kicking, in a moment us brothers will slaughter you for meat! Little brats like you have crunchy bones that shatter when you chew them—the best to eat..."
He spoke until he was drooling, and he sucked in a mouthful of saliva greedily.
However, before he could finish sucking in that saliva, the sound of wind approached from behind. With a heaven-shaking roar, a black shadow suddenly arrived. With a nimble leap, he wrapped both hands around the man's head and slammed him fiercely to the ground.
The world spun before Xu Yue's eyes. By the time she regained her senses, she was back in her brother's familiar embrace.
"ROAR!!!"
Xu Dalang’s eyes were bloodshot as he roared at the man lying on the ground in a fit of rage.
He was extremely hateful and terrified. With one hand, he held his sister to check on her, and with the other, he swung again. In the man's terrified gaze, he grabbed one of his arms and viciously swung him against a large tree behind them!
With a loud "Bang!", the terrifying force made the tree tremble three times, let alone the man.
The man lay on the ground like a rag doll, his eyes wide open, his body twisted in a bizarre way; he seemed to have stopped breathing.
Xu Dalang roared again, his eyes scanning the surroundings, issuing a warning to those hiding in the shadows.
Ten people emerged from the bushes one after another; it was the group led by the bug-eyed man.
There had been twelve of them originally. Now, one was lying on the ground, and one woman from their group was missing, leaving only nine men and one emaciated woman.
"Old Five?" the bug-eyed man shouted at the man on the ground, but received no response.
His heart turned cold.
The short man beside him looked at Xu Dalang with fear, then at the bug-eyed man: "Brother Poison Dragon?"
Poison Dragon pushed his cheek with his tongue, full of irritation. If they just left like this, they would never get the pond.
He licked his chapped lips, a fierce look appearing in his bulging eyes. "Wang Dayou and the others haven't returned yet. There are only a few women and children left in the clearing. Let's take them first!"
Several companions nodded and immediately drew their weapons, preparing to take out Xu Dalang, the biggest threat, first.
Xu Yue thought, *It's over.* One against ten—two fists are no match for four hands. She hurriedly patted Xu Dalang's hand. "Brother, run!"
Xu Dalang also knew that with Xu Yue in his arms, he couldn't fight properly, so he turned and ran.
Poison Dragon shouted loudly: "Kill that brat first!"
The group chased after them quickly. Seeing Xu Dalang run, they assumed he was afraid of their numbers, and the last bit of caution in their hearts vanished. They chased after him frantically, howling like ghosts.
Seeing Xu Dalang heading toward the pond, they weren't worried, thinking it would be perfect to wipe out all the women and children in one go.
But they didn't expect that the arrow in Wang's hand was already aimed at them!
"Swish!" An arrow shot toward Poison Dragon. He was shocked and hurriedly grabbed the person in front of him to use as a shield, dodging to the left himself.
But he didn't expect that Wang had already anticipated his move. The arrow flew right over the head of the person he had pulled in front of him and pierced straight through his left ear!
"Ah—!"
Poison Dragon cried out in pain, clutched his ear, and fell to the ground. Under the shadow of death, he scrambled to hide behind a large tree.
Wang, Xu Da, and their wives led Wang Dayou and the others as they charged over. With their superior numbers, the group led by Poison Dragon, who had been ambitious about taking the pond, immediately turned tail and ran.
Poison Dragon did have a few loyal companions who risked being shot by Wang to carry him away.
Xu Da raised his sickle, intending to chase them down and kill Poison Dragon, but the fierce murderous intent scared Poison Dragon and his men into running even faster!
"Xu Da! Stop chasing, come back!" Wang shouted.
Xu Da looked at Wang in confusion, but it was that moment of hesitation that allowed Poison Dragon's group to jump off a cliff in their panic.
If Xu Da knew how to speak, he would definitely be cursing up a storm right now!
Full of frustration and not daring to vent his anger directly at Wang, he could only wave his sickle and viciously hack all the surrounding branches to pieces.
Wang Dayou and the others didn't have as much resentment; they had been chasing animals all morning and hadn't eaten anything, so they were exhausted.
If they really had chased them down, and Poison Dragon's group had been forced into a corner, it would be hard to say who would have won.
Seeing her mother, Xu Yue immediately shouted excitedly: "Mother!"
Wang waved her hand, signaling Wang Dahai and the others to move the prey back to the clearing first, and walked quickly toward the siblings, followed by an anxious-looking Xu Erniang.
"Are you okay?" The two stood before the siblings and asked with concern.
Xu Yue shook her head. She was fine, just scratched a few times by branches.
However, her brother Xu Dalang's state was not good. She could clearly feel his tension.
Perhaps he had been frightened by her sudden abduction, or perhaps killing someone had stirred the bloodthirsty nature within him, leaving him in great agony.
Xu Yue hugged her brother's neck, constantly comforting him that it was okay, and gave him the half-taro she had left over.
Xu Dalang held her with one hand and gnawed on the taro with the other, his tense nerves finally relaxing slightly.
Wang also saw that Xu Dalang was not in a good state and didn't dare to provoke him. She let Xu Da lead the three children back first, while she stayed behind to check the situation.
Xu Da snorted and led the three children away.
Wang walked to the man who had been smashed to death against the tree by Xu Dalang. She squatted down without changing her expression, felt the man's twisted bones, calculated in her heart, and raised an eyebrow.
His strength was immense, though clearly lacking in technique—it was pure brute force. But if she were to guide him, he would surely become a great talent.
However, thinking of her eldest son's current "keep away" demeanor, Wang shook her head and sighed: *The road is long and the burden is heavy...*