A group of people were startled by A Jiu’s voice and looked over in unison.
"Ah, a rabbit," Cai Lihua exclaimed.
Meng Shaode reacted swiftly, took off his bow, nocked a hollow bamboo shaft with a sharpened tip, and shot it at the wild rabbit.
The arrow accurately pierced the rabbit's neck. It twitched a few times and then lay still on the ground.
A Jiu was overjoyed and hurried into the woods.
"Uncle, you shoot so accurately," Xiao Yan Yan's eyes sparkled.
A Jiu quickly picked it up and walked back. The rabbit was clearly not as plump as imagined, thin and bony, but it was still a delicacy.
"Girl, this is mine, put it down."
A Jiu turned back abruptly and was so startled she almost lost her balance.
A man, covered in dirt and dried bloodstains, holding a sharpened wooden stick, stared at her with wide pupils.
Meng Shaode, still basking in Xiao Yan Yan’s praise, heard this and quickly chased after them.
"Uncle, this rabbit was clearly shot by my father, how can it be yours?"
A Jiu was truly frightened by his appearance. Snapping back to reality, she saw that his attire did not resemble that of a refugee soldier or an official conscripting people. She spoke politely.
"Right, brother, how can things in the mountains be considered private property?"
Meng Shaode shielded A Jiu behind him.
The man’s lips were dry, his beard unkempt, and his eyes showed hunger and despair. He suddenly knelt down.
"My good sir, please, I have an elderly mother and young children. My old mother broke her leg, and my wife and children are eight or nine months pregnant. We haven't received any food for three days now.
My brother is at his wit's end. I've been following this rabbit for a full day and night. Please, good sir, have pity on me."
A Jiu's heart trembled. The man looked terrifying, but it was likely due to extreme hunger.
"Ah? This… so tragic? My good brother, please get up. Which village are you from?" Meng Shaode stepped forward and helped him up.
A flicker of gratitude flashed in the man's eyes, and he stared intently at the water pouch on A Jiu's waist.
A Jiu's heart began to race. Water was limited, but this man looked so, so miserable.
After a long hesitation, she pursed her lips, took off the water pouch, and handed it over:
"Sir, please take a sip."
Wang Shi, who had been silent, stared in disbelief. This girl had a kind heart.
The man quickly stepped forward, but before his hand touched the water pouch, he hesitated and withdrew it:
"Miss, you… are you really willing to give me water?"
His Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, and his eyes were filled with a thirsty gaze fixed on the water pouch.
"If you don't mind, I'll pour some for you."
A Jiu could see that although this man was desperate, his conscience was still intact.
She turned, rummaged through the basket, found a bowl, and poured half a bowl of water, which she then handed over.
"Thank you, thank you, girl. I, Wu Dalei, am eternally grateful."
The man took it with both hands but only took a small sip. He poured the rest into the bamboo tube on his waist and returned the bowl with both hands.
"Brother, to be frank, I am from Guo County and came with the main group."
The man's eyes held confusion and weariness towards the entire world.
"Guo County? Then you must have fled to this place at least two or three months ago," Meng Shaode was surprised.
Wu Dalei painfully pulled at the corner of his mouth: "Because my mother broke her leg and my wife and children were gravely ill, to be honest, we've been traveling for over four months."
A Jiu mused. She knew about the "main group" Wu Daye mentioned.
Sometimes it was a village helping each other, and sometimes they met other groups of refugees on the road, and they would travel south together, supporting each other.
However, such temporary organizations relied on the men from each household to find food, which was then pooled together for equitable distribution.
If there was no harvest, the leader would not distribute food.
"Grandpa Wu, where is the main group? Why is only you here?" A Jiu asked in a low voice.
"The main group has abandoned us. They have likely already passed Qiming Mountain."
Despair filled Grandpa Wu's eyes. No, it was a deathly stillness, a sense of being on the brink of death with no hope for tomorrow.
"Then… then what about your wife, children, and old mother?"
Meng Shaode, a rough man, also showed a look of concern in his eyes.