Last night Old Gu Six slept late, and by the time he left in the morning, Chang Le hadn't woken up yet, so he didn't go.
He did want to go with Old Gu Six, but alas, Old Gu Six didn't agree, saying that with only Chang'an at home he wouldn't feel at ease, so he asked Chang Le to stay and protect him.
As for what happened last night that caused him to suddenly fall asleep, he didn't ask too many questions, just assumed he was tired and fell asleep.
Old Gu Six, leading the group into the mountains, felt quite unsettled, thinking about that dragon in his consciousness sea, which would see all his privacy, even going to the bathroom would be inconvenient for him, making him feel uneasy all over.
The Purple Dragon scoffed disdainfully, "You have what I have, who cares to look at you? Looking at myself is better than looking at you." It felt like it had new material to mock Old Gu Six with.
Old Gu Six's overall aura was extremely low, scaring the people following him into the mountains into silence, all thinking he was unhappy because he had to lead them into the mountains.
But in fact, he was upset at that dragon laughing rather shamelessly, unable to beat it or drive it away, wouldn't you be upset too?
With no outlet for his rage, he vented it on the prey in the deep mountains, and he also discovered that his strength seemed to have increased, and his agility had also greatly improved.
If he was considered upper-middle class in martial arts before, now he could be said to have entered the upper class, though of course he was still quite a distance from the pinnacle of martial arts masters.
All the prey was hunted by Old Gu Six alone, while those who came along just acted as porters.
In two hours, he had acquired a nearly 300-pound wild boar, five wild chickens, and three rabbits.
This also showed those who came along how difficult it was to hunt prey, though what they didn't know was that Old Gu Six was only exerting thirty percent of his strength, as he didn't want to let these people get too full of themselves, or else he would be the one troubled later on.
If they formed a dependence, and there wasn't enough food, they would look to him to solve it, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control his temper, leaving all these people stranded in this mountain forest.
Old Gu Six didn't intend to share the wild boar meat, after all, they had paid him a fee, though that fee left him somewhat displeased.
But he did calculate extra hazard pay, giving them one wild chicken and one rabbit.
That old master who had come asking for help had somehow become the leader of this group of displaced refugees, and everyone was happy to listen to him.
The old master had two sons and three grandsons, but strangely, there were no women in their family, just the six males from three generations who had fled the famine.
Someone asked the old master, "Where are your daughters-in-law?"
"They all passed away during childbirth."
Seeing the old master didn't want to elaborate, the one who asked didn't pursue it further, as it would be too impolite to keep prying when the other party doesn't want to say.
Women risking their lives in childbirth, with many dying from difficult labor, was nothing strange, it could only be said that the old master's family had bad luck, losing both daughters-in-law that way.
The people following Old Gu Six didn't go into the mountains today, instead waiting at home for him to return with the hunted prey to divide it up. They had already developed a lazy, dependent mentality, feeling that with Old Gu Six around, they didn't need to worry about these things, it was too cold outside to move.
They didn't consider whether Old Gu Six might be cold too, why should he have to look after them?
When Old Gu Six returned, they saw that he had only brought back two small hunted animals, thinking he hadn't caught anything, and everyone was very disappointed, even with a hint of reproach in their eyes.
Old Gu Six of course noticed their looks, silently mocking them - see, this is human nature, those who loudly claim to not be ungrateful end up contradicting themselves.
From the left side of the camp, obscured by trees, came sounds of laughter and revelry, and a faint scent of blood lingered in the air. Driven by curiosity, they banded together to go see what was so amusing.
Old Gu Six ignored them, carrying the wild chicken and rabbit back home, leaving those people feeling unsettled again, feeling that Old Gu Six didn't take them seriously, not even offering an explanation.
Of course, there were a few exceptions who understood, like the brothers Mu and Yang Poxiao, as well as Little Ya's Father Yu San, that half-baked quack doctor and his wife didn't come out either.
Seeing the lively scene of people dividing up the wild boar meat, along with wild chickens and rabbits, they felt envious, but still had some sense, realizing that Old Gu Six hadn't brought the hunted prey back, but left it here instead, and he himself didn't participate either.
These prey obviously didn't include a share for them, and they resented Old Gu Six even more, thinking that since they had all gone into the mountains, he should have hunted an extra wild boar to bring back.
Old Gu Six could roughly guess their thoughts, but he didn't care, it seemed being a good person was impossible, he was still too young, unable to tell humans from ghosts.
He tossed the wild chicken and rabbit to Chang Le, telling him to clean them, while Old Gu Six washed his hands and face, accepting the big bowl of hearty fried rice Chang'an brought him, eating the fragrant meal.
Chang'an would often, when Chang Le was out, add a few more pounds of rice to the food bags, around five or six pounds at a time. Usually during these times, Old Gu Six would cook for himself, afraid Chang Le would discover Chang'an's secret.
"Dad, should we have potato and chicken stew for dinner?" Her freezer in her space always had ten potatoes, which would reset once used up, no need to save potato seeds from the ones they ate.
Frozen potatoes probably wouldn't sprout anyway, only suitable for food.
The ten potatoes were as big as an adult's fist, and while Chang Le was still out, she took three out from her space and tossed them into the fire pit to bake, planning to dice up the other seven and throw them into the pot to stew together for dinner.
"Sure, dad will make you potato and chicken stew for dinner."
Old Gu Six used ash and clean water to wash the bowl, put the seven potatoes in a wooden basin to wash and peel the skins, setting the peeled potatoes aside.
After peeling the potatoes, he picked up a hatchet and rope and went out again, the weather was unpredictable, and he thought it would be good to stock up on more firewood, since they still had to stay in these mountains for another two months.
Even if the weather warmed up, they might not be able to leave right away, with snow this deep, it wouldn't melt for another six or seven days.
The brothers Yang Poxiao and Mu also went along with him to chop firewood, Yu San wanted to go too but was held back by Little Ya's Mother.
She had gone to take a look at those people dividing the wild boar meat, some among them wanted to buy some meat to eat, but were rudely rebuffed.
Apparently Old Gu Six had accepted payment from them to lead them into the mountains, and Little Ya's Mother was increasingly looking down on him, seeing him as selfish and ungrateful.
She absolutely could not let her husband continue following him, or else as her father said, he might be tainted by bad influences.
Yu San frowned at the woman he was pulling, "What exactly do you want to do?"
For the past two months, she had been constantly nagging that Old Gu Six was not a good person, too selfish, and had no great love in his heart.
He had argued with her twice, but it didn't make her stop. Eventually, he got tired of dealing with her, and even Little Ya didn't seem to want to cling to her anymore.
He had already made up his mind that the next time they set out on the road, he would no longer follow Old Gu Six, to avoid causing trouble for others. Whether the rest followed him or Old Gu Six would be up to them.
Now it seemed like they didn't even want them to follow, and he had seen these people for who they really were - a bunch of ungrateful and treacherous bastards.
Little Ya's Mother behaved as if she couldn't read the atmosphere. Thinking she was doing good for her husband, she softly said, "Husband, you should not follow Old Gu Six anymore, lest you lose your principles."
Yu San looked at her acting like she was the smartest person in the world, and he wanted to scold her. But he glanced at his obedient daughter and held back.
He coldly pulled his hand away from Little Ya's Mother and took big strides out of the house.
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