Returning to the pond, everyone first filled their bellies, and then came the part everyone was looking forward to most.
There were eight pheasants in total, six small rabbits, one roe deer, and one wild goat.
To have such a harvest in just one morning was something the people of Dawang Village themselves could hardly believe.
It was just a pity that they were all dead. With the hot weather and not enough salt for curing, they would spoil in two days at most.
However, there were over twenty people here, so they could finish eating it in two days.
As agreed upon earlier, all the animal skins would go to the Xu family. Wang-shi first directed everyone to separate the skins from the meat so they could be distributed later.
No one had any objections; this was indeed fairer, and there was no need to worry about one family getting more bones while another got less fatty meat.
However, there was a severe drought at the foot of the mountain, and there was no rain in the mountains either, so the animals were also short on food, meaning none of these prey were fat.
The wild goat, in particular, had ribs that were clearly visible. It had only survived until now because it was good at hiding, but it had still been found by Wang-shi’s sharp eyes.
Wang-shi took charge of the rabbits and the roe deer herself. Unlike the rough skinning done by the others, she specifically borrowed the prized pig-slaughtering knife from Wang Dahai.
Wang-shi did not gut the rabbits or the roe deer. Instead, she chopped off their heads, cut off their limbs, and peeled the entire skin off from the neck down.
"You-niang, bring the rope," Wang-shi called toward their grass nest.
Hearing her mother’s call, Xu Yue hurriedly pushed Xu Dalang back down as he was trying to get up, then grabbed the braided strips of tree bark and went over.
Xu Er-niang followed out of curiosity.
"Mother, what are you preparing to do?" Xu Yue handed over the rope and simply squatted beside Wang-shi to watch her work.
Wang-shi took the rope, gave it a tug to test the strength, and replied without looking up
"Making skin water skins."
With that, she picked up the roe deer skin, turned it inside out, peeled away the fascia, stuffed it back into its original shape, and finally tied the openings at the limbs tightly with rope, leaving only the larger hole at the neck. A water skin was finished.
After filling it with water and tying the opening tight, she placed the water skin into a back basket, and not a drop of water would spill out.
It was just that the skin hadn't undergone any special treatment, so it wasn't very hygienic.
But under these current conditions, one couldn't be picky; having something to drink was good enough.
"Take it and try it." Wang-shi handed the roe deer water skin to the two sisters.
Xu Yue asked Xu Er-niang, "Sister, will this work?"
Holding the skin bag, which was almost as big as a back basket, Xu Er-niang said uncertainly, "I'll try it first. You guys continue; I'll go to the side to test it."
The old man’s water skin was made of cowhide, and cowhide had excellent magical conductivity, but she didn't know about this roe deer skin.
Still, it was all skin, so it should work.
Xu Er-niang took the roe deer skin water skin behind their grass nest, had Xu Da keep watch for outsiders, and tried enchanting the water skin.
It succeeded on the first try!
Xu Er-niang didn't dare to get happy too soon. She ran to the water to fill it, and only after confirming that the roe deer skin could withstand the magic and wouldn't fall apart quickly like bamboo did, she hurriedly nodded heavily toward Xu Yue.
Xu Yue and Wang-shi exchanged a look, both mother and daughter delighted. One roe deer skin water skin was worth five or six small cowhide ones; with just this, the goal for water storage was achieved.
Wang-shi also simply cleaned up the remaining rabbit skins and brought them back to the shed to dry. If there was a chance, they could be sold for grain.
By evening, all the meat had been cleaned. Since everyone in the hunting party had contributed about the same, each person was allotted a large piece of meat.
For a time, the clearing was filled with the mouth-watering aroma of meat.
However, just as everyone felt they had a way to survive, more and more refugees came up the mountain due to the extreme lack of water...
Early in the morning, Wang-shi saw several figures on the other side of the pond, furtively drawing water and running away as soon as they were done.
But that was only because there were few of them.
At noon, while the Xu family was cooking lunch, a group of over twenty people suddenly burst out of the woods and rushed toward the pond regardless of anything else.
Looking at them, they had been thirsty for a long time. Upon seeing the water, they plunged their heads in and didn't get up until their stomachs felt like they were going to burst.
This sudden turn of events shocked the Xu family and the villagers of Dawang Village, who immediately gathered together and raised their weapons.
But the other side had many people too and were not afraid; they simply lay down on the other side of the clearing.
A few who were starving and bold enough ignored the gleaming kitchen knives in the hands of the Dawang villagers and lunged straight for the pots boiling on the fire.
With a "hiss," the ceramic pots burned their hands, but those people didn't even care. They poured the boiling food into their mouths, screamed in pain, and then picked up the pots and rushed to the pond, alternating between gulps of cold water and boiling meat soup.
The near-maniacal sight left Qiu-shi stunned, unable to move.
That was her family's pot, filled to the brim with pheasant meat. She had been thinking about boiling it until it was soft enough for the children to eat, but she never expected it to become someone else's meal.
Qiu-shi felt a sharp pang of heartache.
But fortunately, no fierce fighting broke out; each family protected their own pots and had no time to worry about others.
The bit of cohesion Wang-shi had worked so hard to build the day before was instantly shattered.
Wang-shi looked in the direction the group had come from and met Xu Da’s eyes. Both of them felt a strong sense of crisis at the same time.
Wang-shi shooed the three children behind her into the grass nest and whispered, "Pack up all the luggage."
Although Xu Yue didn't quite understand, she nodded and did as she was told, folding all the spread-out bedding and using the method Wang-shi had taught her earlier to tie them into marching packs with rope.
Xu Da silently extinguished the fire, poured out the soup from the pot, and they each quickly drank a bowl.
The remaining meat was fished out, wrapped in leaves, and placed in the back basket along with the taro stored in the goat-skin pouch, finally topped with the roe deer skin water skin.
Just as Wang-shi was about to take the hot ceramic pot to the water to cool it down before putting it in the basket, a scream came from not far away.
She looked up and saw a blood-covered person rolling down the hillside.
Behind this person was a refugee soldier holding a large saber, looking like a murderous demon, with a red cloth tied around his head!
The entire Changyi was short of water. The villagers generally didn't know about this pond in the mountains, but the hunters who went into the mountains year-round knew it all too well.
Seeing that their companions in Changyi had just captured the city but were dying of thirst before they could enjoy it, the leader immediately ordered the whole county to search for water sources, not sparing any place that had water!
A large group of Red Turban soldiers rushed out of the woods. Seeing the pond, which looked like a bright pearl, they were overjoyed. They hadn't expected that by following these refugees up the mountain, they would actually find such a good place.
"Xu Da, Er-niang, You-niang, run!"
Wang-shi let out a low shout, immediately dropped the ceramic pot in her hand, rushed behind Xu Da in two steps to help him lift the heavy back basket, then dashed into the shed, grabbed Xu Er-niang with one hand, and slung the marching pack onto her back with the other.
She turned and ran toward the other side of the pond!
Seeing this, Xu Dalang grabbed Xu Yue, who was holding the bedding and marching packs, tucked her into his arms, and followed quickly.
Xu Da followed, carrying a sickle and a kitchen knife. As luck would have it, a refugee soldier rushed at him from the side with a saber. Xu Da cursed his bad luck, immediately threw the kitchen knife, slashed the man across the face, and knocked him down. After narrowly escaping, he took off running.
As he ran, he shouted, "Wang-shi, you dead woman, wait for me!"
By this time, most of the people in the clearing hadn't even reacted before they felt a chill at their necks. Before they could even feel terror, they died under the fast blades of the refugee soldiers!