Chapter Sixteen: Poisoning

  The turning point is here!~~~~~~~Don't forget to vote after reading it!

  At noon, in order to rush on the road, neither of the siblings had eaten anything. Fortunately, they had eaten a full and oily meal in the morning and were able to hold out until now. Hearing what the mother and daughter said, they would be able to get down the mountain soon. Zhen'er decided to eat something first before rushing on the road.

  This mountain road may be busy with people coming and going, and there are few wild vegetables. Fortunately, they picked some in the morning, simmered half of the wild chicken into soup, added some wild vegetables, and Zhen'er's younger brother ate very fragrantly.

  After finishing dinner, Zhen'er and Hu Zi continued on their journey. There were fewer people on this stretch of road, and Zhen'er thought that the mountain villagers must have set out in the middle of the night to reach the market by dawn to buy and sell goods, and then return home by noon. This was also why she and her brother had occasionally encountered people before. The mother and daughter were going into town to visit relatives, but someone came to pick them up so they left later. Now that almost everyone has returned home, there are very few people on the road.

  Although she was about to go down the mountain, Zhen Er still didn't dare to be careless. She held the axe in her hand and carefully paid attention to the movements around her all the way. For some reason, whether it was because of staying in the mountains for a long time or something else, Zhen Er felt that her hearing was particularly keen now, she could even hear the sound of animals running in the mountains.

  As they saw fewer and fewer trees, they could vaguely see fields in the distance. Zhen Er became excited, they were almost down the mountain.

  The little boy was delighted, let go of Jane's hand and ran forward with a hop, skip and jump. Jane saw that the view here was broad and there were no people, so she let him run forward at ease.

  The little boy was still a child, suppressing his true nature all the way to hurry on the road, and with fear of the future, he became somewhat timid. Now that he can see people, his sister told him they would be free from now on, so he regained his youthful energy.

  The tiger cub ran to the edge of the road and into a cluster of flowers, where butterflies were startled and flew up in all directions, looking quite beautiful. The tiger cub was jumping around in the flower cluster when he suddenly discovered a small fruit and called out to Qi Zhen'er: "Sister, look at this fruit, it's so red and sweet!"

  Zhen'er was gazing down at the mountain when she heard Hu Zi's call and turned back to smile at him.

  Suddenly, Zhen'er felt something was off. She had seen that kind of fruit somewhere before and it didn't seem good. Just as she was about to stop Huozi from eating it, Zhen'er heard a hissing sound - it was a snake fruit!

  Zhen'er was about to rush over when Hu Zi let out a shrill cry. Zhen'er saw the snake's tail disappear into the flower bushes.

  Carrying Hu Zi out, Zhen Er anxiously asked: "Hu Zi, where were you bitten?"

  The tiger cub raised his hand, and a clear mark appeared on his wrist. The surrounding area also started to turn purple-black. Zhen'er looked down the mountain and knew that they were too far away for anyone to arrive in time. She knew she had to rely on herself now, so she grabbed the tiger cub's hand and began to suck out the poison.

  Although Hu Zi didn't know what his sister was doing, he vaguely felt that this wasn't right.

  Zhen'er finished sucking out the toxic blood and saw that Hu Zi's complexion had returned to normal, so she let out a sigh of relief. However, she didn't dare to be careless. She carried Hu Zi on her back, grabbed the bundle, and rushed down the mountain.

  Walking on the ridge, Qizhen had only one thought in mind, that was to find the doctor as soon as possible. No matter what, she couldn't let Huazi get into trouble.

  It was unclear whether she was in a hurry or her body hadn't fully recovered, but Qizhen only felt a blackness before her eyes, and then she and Huzi fell, after which she lost consciousness.

  When Zhen'er woke up, she felt pain all over her body and a bloody smell in her throat.

  She opened her eyes and looked around, this was a wooden house with high beams, making the room look very spacious. There was also a small window, through which light seeped in, making the room look very bright. The furniture was simple, except for the bed she was lying on, there was a table and several trunks.

  Qī Zhēn ér thought of getting out of bed only to discover that her whole body was sore and weak, unable to even sit up, similar to the feeling she had on the day she was reborn. Thinking of this, Qī Zhēn ér looked at the ceiling in terror, where's Hǔ Zǐ?

  Thinking of herself not taking good care of Hu Zi and getting him lost, Qi Zhen'er covered her face with the quilt and burst into tears.

  She was deep in self-reproach when she heard someone calling her, and as she lifted the quilt, Tiger's rosy little face appeared before her eyes.

  Qī Zhēnér excitedly hugged him tightly, Hǔ Zǐ was still there, she didn't lose him!

  Huzi was delighted when Zhen'er woke up, but seeing her cry miserably reminded him of the worrying days he had been through, and he burst into tears as well.

  "Sister, I thought you didn't want me anymore! Waaah... I called you and you didn't respond to me... You're just like Dad, lying in bed and not responding to me at all..." Hu Zi said, and then he remembered that his dad was indeed like this when he lay in bed and wouldn't respond no matter how many times he was called. He became terrified and started wailing.

  Zhen'er also knew that she had scared Hu Zi, and quickly stopped crying to comfort him. The sister and brother cried for a while before stopping, Zhen'er originally didn't have much strength, after this cry, she felt like her whole body was drained of energy, even her hands couldn't be lifted up.

  The tiger cub felt that his sister had loosened her arms, and anxiously asked: "Sister, what's wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable? I'll go call Grandpa." After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Zhen'er to open her mouth before running off.

  Zhen'er's hand, which had been stretched out with great effort, fell weakly again. Who is Ah Ye?

  Before long, Qizhen'er heard Hu Zi's voice.

  "Grandpa, hurry up, my sister is awake." The sound of Huzi's joyful yet urging voice could be heard from afar.

  "Hurry up, Little Tiger! Don't run so fast. Your sister has woken up and can't run anymore, what's the hurry?" A kind, elderly voice with a hint of smile came over.

  Upon hearing this voice, Qizhen'er immediately knew that it was Ah Ye from Hu Zi's mouth.

  "Hurry up, hurry up." The sound of footsteps came, and then Tuzi rushed to Zhen'er's bed and said, "Sister, I've called Grandpa for you."

  The room suddenly darkened, and Zhen'er looked towards the door, where a somewhat stout figure stood at the entrance.

  "Little girl, how are you feeling?" The newcomer asked while walking in, and as he got closer, a faint scent of medicine wafted over. It was clear that this was a doctor.

  "I'm much better now, thank you doctor." Qizhen said gratefully.

  The people who came were stunned for a moment, and soon the smile reappeared. "How did you know I was a doctor? Did Hu Zi tell you?" He looked at Hu Zi with a glance.

  Hutou shook his head repeatedly and argued, "I didn't say that."

  The two of them burst out laughing, and Zhen Er explained, "I smelled the medicinal fragrance on you."

  He sniffed himself and laughed, "Hm, I was careless. I should have changed my clothes before coming. You're a clever little girl!"

  Zhen'er felt embarrassed by his words, knowing that he was intentionally teasing her.

  Hutou instead proudly raised his head, "My sister was originally very clever!"

  That man smiled and patted his head, praising: "Tiger is also very clever." Then to Zhen Er said: "Come, I'll take your pulse and see how it's going."

  Qī Zhēn ér obediently handed over her hand.

  He felt the pulse, pondered for a long time, nodded and said: "Hmm, no big problem now, the remaining toxins in your body have also been cleared up. Eat some light food these days, and you'll be jumping around in two days."

  "Residual poison?" Zhen'er was puzzled when she heard these two words. When did she get poisoned? Was it when she sucked out the poison for Hu Zi?

  Qizhen'er was dizzy and didn't even know she had been poisoned. Ye Houpu sighed, "Have you eaten any mushrooms recently?"

  Qizhen understood and nodded: "We've eaten. Recently, my brother and I have been surviving on wild mushrooms and vegetables while walking in the mountains."

  "The mushrooms in the deep mountains all have toxins on their surface, and before eating, they need to be soaked in water for half a day, and then boiled with hot water before they can be eaten. I heard that you guys had eaten raw mushrooms before, and he even got sick from it. Fortunately, his toxin was vomited out, but yours didn't show any symptoms so it was ignored, and it accumulated inside your body. This time, the snake venom brought it out again, plus your weak body and underlying illness, so you're more severely injured than Tiger."

  Qizhen'er thought about it and agreed. She and Huzi had both eaten raw mushrooms, but there was no reason why Huzi got poisoned and she didn't. It turned out that the toxin had settled in her body. Unexpectedly, a snake venom brought it out again. "How's Huzi doing?"

  Ye Pao Hou took a look at Hu Zi and smiled: "He's fine, just a bit weak physically. He'll be okay if he takes good care of himself from now on."

  Qizhen'er felt relieved upon hearing this. All these years, she had been worried about Hu's physical condition, who had never had a good life since birth and was still thin and pale with occasional headaches and fever. After listening to the doctor's words, Qizhen'er thought that from now on, she must make up for Hu's losses.

  He instructed Zhen'er to rest well, and Ye Puhou took Hu Zi out. Hu Zi was reluctant to leave his sister at first. Seeing Qi Zhen'er's tired face, Ye Puhou told Hu Zi to help make medicine for Zhen'er, so he hurried out.

  Watching their silhouettes disappear at the door, Qizhen'er could finally sort out her thoughts.

  She learned from Dr. Ye that this was a village under the mountain, called Elm Tree Village. On that day, Zhen'er carried Hu Zi down the mountain, and at the foot of the mountain, she had a relapse, her leg softened, and she and Hu Zi both fell into the ditch. Fortunately, the villagers who returned from the fields discovered them and sent them to Dr. Ye's place, which saved the lives of the sister and brother.

  After taking a look at the house, this place is really different from Qi's village. In Qi's village, only Qi's family and the village head's family could afford to build wooden houses, and they were still semi-wooden structures.

  This house is different from others. I don't know if it's because this family has more money or all the houses here are like this. Qizhen can't go out now, so she can only make guesses like this.

  Now that they've descended the mountain, Qizhen let out a huge sigh of relief. She and Huzi had finally made it down safely. Although they hadn't encountered any of the ferocious beasts from legend, she knew this was good fortune for the siblings, but didn't dare underestimate the power of the great mountain.

  Now that they have come down the mountain, many problems are in front of them. Where to settle? How to live in the future? And there's Hu Zi, she has always wanted him to go to school, where will the tuition come from? Thinking of these things, Qi Zhen'er can't help but think of that doctor again.

  Ye Dafu gave her the feeling of being a kind-hearted doctor, who was also very fond of Hu Zi. If possible, she wanted to stay in this village. But all the family property on her body added up was not even enough for medical expenses, how could she settle down? Thinking and thinking, Qi Zhen'er felt that her head started to hurt, and her consciousness slowly became blurred.

  Zijin woke up to the sound of Huzi's shouting. When she opened her eyes, the room had darkened.