Chapter 3: Practice and Confirmation

A bird whose name she didn't know was resting on a branch not far ahead. "You'll do," Hong Xiaoduo said, throwing the stone in her hand toward the bird.

She was just thinking that she would probably only manage to startle it, when she heard a chirp, and the bird tumbled from the branch.

*Wait, really? I actually hit it?*

Hong Xiaoduo scratched her head in disbelief and walked over.

Looking at the bird she had killed under the tree, she was still a bit uncertain. Did she really bring it down herself?

The first time could have been a coincidence, but hitting the target a second time meant it probably wasn't just luck.

Does that mean she could try hunting wild rabbits or something? Then she and those children would have something to eat—and it would be meat, authentic wild game at that.

Suppressing her inner excitement, Hong Xiaoduo straightened her back and walked deeper into the forest. After a few steps, she stopped and looked back at the spot where the dead bird lay. "What if I can't catch any other game later? This bird might be small, but it's better than nothing." Muttering to herself, she turned back, picked up the bird, and seeing some thin vines nearby, broke off a piece to tie the bird's legs together before continuing on.

From yesterday until now, it had been nearly a day and a night. The beautiful fantasy that she would return to the modern world once this ninety-minute "experience" ended had been shattered. She had no idea what the plot of this story was, so she had no clue how or when it would end.

At least the current identity setting included some martial arts skills, which was good. At the very least, she could survive in the wild by hunting, so she wouldn't have to go hungry.

Stay calm. The more urgently she tried to find answers and the truth, the more anxious she would become. That would only make her mood worse and wouldn't be of any benefit.

So, for now, she should just find a way to fill her stomach and worry about the rest later. Solutions are made by people; there was no problem that couldn't be solved.

Thinking this, and bolstered by the fact that she had just verified her "hit what you aim at" skill—which should work for throwing darts or knives, essentially giving her the "hidden weapon" skills found in martial arts novels—Hong Xiaoduo’s mood improved slightly.

She hadn't gone far when she saw a pheasant emerge from the bushes. Without a second thought, and filled with excitement, she threw the small stone she had just picked up.

This pheasant was dozens of times larger than the bird from before; it should be even easier to hit, right?

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the pheasant was struck by the stone and collapsed to the ground.

"Hit it, I hit it! I really hit it!" Hong Xiaoduo was overjoyed. She trotted over to look at the pheasant still flapping on the ground, and unable to contain her excitement, she picked it up and tied it to the previous bird. The bundle of vines suddenly felt heavy.

If she could get one or two more of this size, it should be enough for the eight of them—one adult and seven children—to have a full meal.

After hunting another wild rabbit and a pheasant, Hong Xiaoduo forgot her original plan of just getting enough for one meal; her enthusiasm for hunting was impossible to suppress.

In the end, she had so much game that it was hard to carry with both hands, so she reluctantly looked toward the deeper parts of the forest and started heading back.

As she was about to leave the forest, she heard faint crying in the distance. To be precise, it was the sound of children crying—and not just one or two, but a whole chorus of them.

Hearing the crying, Hong Xiaoduo’s scalp immediately began to tingle. Although she had no memories from before, she was certain that she didn't like hearing children cry.

What happened? Could that man have caught up?

Hong Xiaoduo was very worried and quickened her pace, rushing out. In her haste, she didn't even notice that her hands were full of over a hundred pounds of game, yet she didn't feel the slightest bit of strain.

Furthermore, her feet were barely touching the ground; she looked as if she were flying across the tips of the grass.

She began to regret it. She knew that the man who abused them might chase them, yet she had left them on the main road. She should have hidden them before entering the forest.

Emerging from the forest, she saw the children in the distance at a glance. Some were standing, some sitting; some were crying with their heads tilted back, some with their heads bowed, and others were huddled together crying.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven? Hong Xiaoduo counted them from afar. There were no more and no less, and she didn't see the shadow of that bad man, which made her breathe a sigh of relief and slow her pace. *Hiss, why does it hurt my feet when I slow down?*

"Look, it's Mother! Mother didn't abandon us!" The oldest boy had been facing the forest the whole time, so he was the first to see her and loudly and joyfully told the others.

The group crying stopped abruptly, and one by one, they turned their heads to look.

Then, someone ran toward Hong Xiaoduo, and the other children followed closely behind.

"Don't run, don't fall, be careful... Oh, my god." Hong Xiaoduo shouted, but seeing a child fall anyway, she frowned and quickened her pace to meet them.

"Mother, you caught so much?"

"Mother, did you hunt all of this?"

"Mother, you're so amazing!"

"These can be sold for a lot of silver, right?"

Amidst the chattering, Hong Xiaoduo, like a mother hen, led her brood of chicks back to the roadside.

The children were very excited, crowding around to look at the game. If not for the tears and snot on their faces, one would never have guessed that the heartbreaking crying from just moments ago had come from them.

The oldest boy kept his attention on Hong Xiaoduo’s face. Seeing her frowning as she looked at the faces of his younger siblings, he quickly pulled out a rag and stepped forward to wipe them clean.

"Mother, we all thought you didn't want us anymore, that's why we were crying," the boy explained cautiously while wiping his siblings' faces.

Hong Xiaoduo sat on the "throne" the children had made for her out of leaves. "What, do I look like a lying swindler to you?"

"No," the children replied in unison.

"Forget it, forget it. The game is caught, let's start a fire and roast it." Hong Xiaoduo didn't want to emphasize or promise anything else. What she was worried about now was how to dress this game; she didn't seem to know how.

Also, she checked her person and didn't find a fire-starter like those in historical dramas or novels. How was she supposed to start a fire?

However, just as she was worrying, the children around her suddenly scattered, each picking up dry branches and piling them together. Soon, there was a large heap.

The oldest boy skillfully pulled a few handfuls of dry grass, stuffed them under the branches, and took something out of a tattered cloth bag at his waist.

A fire-starter? This child actually had one?

Seeing the children's actions the moment she mentioned starting a fire, and the boy's practiced movements, Hong Xiaoduo didn't feel happy; instead, she felt a pang of sadness.

"Mother, which one do you want to roast? I'll go prepare it," the boy who had lit the fire asked, turning to her.

"You know how to do this too?" Hong Xiaoduo couldn't believe it.

The boy nodded with a smile. "Yes, I can do many things. I can cook, too."

"Mother, I can wash clothes."

"Mother, I can too, I can too!"

"We can all do chores," the other children chimed in, scrambling to speak.

Their expressions clearly told Hong Xiaoduo that they weren't a burden; they could work and do chores.

"You are all so amazing," Hong Xiaoduo felt a bit distressed.

She didn't seem to know how to cook, nor did she know how to dress game; it seemed she only knew how to eat.

She looked around at the children, trying to estimate how much game they needed to eat their fill. Then she realized she couldn't even guess the right amount—she had no experience.

So, she told them to start by preparing three rabbits and five pheasants.

She calculated based on one rabbit for two people and one pheasant per person. If there was too much, it didn't matter; they could save it for dinner in the evening.

"Mother, can you eat that much?" the boy asked, puzzled.

Hong Xiaoduo paused. "It's not just for me to eat. It's for all eight of us, right?"

"Ah, we get to eat too?" a child asked, unable to believe it.

"Of course. Why wouldn't you? Don't you eat?" Hong Xiaoduo countered.

One child blurted out, "We usually just gnaw on the bones."

Hong Xiaoduo’s face darkened instantly. No wonder they were all so sallow and thin; it was because they were hungry, caused by long-term malnutrition.

"Today, everyone eats meat. No gnawing on bones," she said, her tone quite stern.

"Mother, we can gnaw on the bones; the bones are very fragrant," the older boy said quickly, sensing her anger.

"If you don't eat meat and only gnaw on bones, how can you be full? If you aren't full, how will you have the strength to keep traveling?" She wanted to say, *If you don't have the strength to walk fast and far, aren't you afraid of being caught by that bad man?*

But she thought better of it; she didn't want to scare them.

When the children heard her say that everyone could eat meat and didn't have to gnaw on bones, they stared at her in disbelief, thinking they had misheard.

The older boy was the first to react, pointing to a spot not far away and saying there was a water hole where they could clean and prepare the game.

Hong Xiaoduo wanted to go with them. Even though she didn't know how, she couldn't just let the children do all the work.

The children firmly refused to let her go, saying they did it often and were very skilled. They solemnly promised that the prepared game would be very clean, with no fur left on it, and they wouldn't break the gall bladder and make the meat bitter.

Seeing them walk away a few steps with the game, Hong Xiaoduo remembered to ask, "You need a knife, right? Do you have one? If not, take this one, but be careful, don't hurt yourselves." She prepared to draw the sword at her waist.

"Mother, we don't need a knife, and we don't need that either. Don't worry, it'll be done very quickly," the boy said with a smile, calling his siblings toward the water hole he had found.

It really was quick. The children returned with the dressed game.

The rabbits were skinned, the pheasants were plucked, the organs were removed, and even the tiny bird was cleaned thoroughly.

Watching the children chatter as they worked, using wooden sticks to skewer the game and set them around the fire to roast, the older boy even took out some salt to sprinkle on them.

"Mother, don't worry, Big Brother is very good at roasting; he won't burn it," the youngest girl stood by Hong Xiaoduo and told her.

Hong Xiaoduo nodded, sitting cross-legged with her arms resting on her legs, chin in her hands, watching the children excitedly roast the game.

Just then, she heard the sound of horse hooves. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw a carriage approaching, followed by two people on horseback.

As they got closer, the children noticed them too, and their expressions grew tense.

"Don't worry, it's not that man," the older boy said after looking toward the carriage.

Hearing him say that, the other children really did relax and continued to stare at the roasting game. Some were already swallowing their saliva; they were going to get to eat meat today—this was wonderful.

When the group arrived, they stopped. The riders said something to the person in the carriage, then pointed from their horses at the roasting game and the uncleaned game bundled on the side, saying to Hong Xiaoduo, "Those, and those—sell them all to us."

Looking at the people high up on their horses, Hong Xiaoduo didn't say a word, but she saw the children looking longingly at the game that was already roasting and smelling delicious, ready to be eaten, and then they all looked at her.

This meat... probably, most likely, they wouldn't get to eat it after all...