"He's just the village head, the village official," Ah Jiu said with an unnamable expression, lowering her voice to tell her mother.
"Oh, so you're the village chief."
"Chief is too grand a title, but I do have some influence in village matters that can be resolved," the village head said, waving his hands humbly.
Cai Lihua finally reacted and thrust the basket in her hand at him:
"This is called *di pi*. Wash it clean, it's good fried with eggs or stewed in soup."
The village head was stunned. If people couldn't survive, how could chickens? Where would the eggs come from?
"You keep it yourself."
The village head's eyelids drooped, his gaze falling on Cai Lihua's feet.
Cai Lihua also felt something was wrong, and looked down: "Ah!"
She jumped back instantly. Had she just stepped on a corpse's face?
Ah Jiu also gasped. The face, lacking the support of bones, had been flattened by her mother's foot.
"Village head, I'm so sorry!" Ah Jiu pulled her mother, "Let's go home."
"Jiu'er, don't walk so fast. How come this dead person looks like the kind we encountered at Qiming Mountain, all limp and soft?"
Cai Lihua questioned fearfully all the way.
"Perhaps... perhaps it's the same person who committed the crime. Village head grandfather said not to go out."
Ah Jiu's mind was preoccupied. If the villagers reported them, and Tuoba Yan, who was in the city exchanging for grain, was found out, the consequences would be dire.
As soon as Ah Jiu entered the door, she quickly closed it.
"Ah, that's too scary, quickly close the door," Cai Lihua, terrified, put down the basket and secured the wooden door with a bar.
Cai Lihua squatted by the water缸, washing the *di pi* while warily glancing back at the courtyard door:
"Ah Jiu, you don't go out either. If anything happens, your father and I won't be able to cope."
"I know, Mother," Ah Jiu responded perfunctorily.
"Sister-in-law, let me lend a hand. What is this?"
Mao Junlan, after lulling her two children to sleep, rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside.
At this time, only the soldiers of Nanming City would be riding horses.
Ah Jiu cautiously opened the door, her heart pounding, and peeked outside.
As expected, four or five soldiers on horseback passed by their alley and headed straight for the foot of the mountain, followed by a large crowd of villagers.
"Officer, it's over there..."
"Yes, officer, hurry and go see, it's too terrifying."
Ah Jiu's heart leaped into her throat.
Unexpectedly, a horse silently entered the alley towards their door.
Ah Jiu then saw clearly that Tuoba Yan was among them: "Why are you back with them? Hurry and go..."
"Ah Jiu sister, this is the grain I exchanged for," Tuoba Yan said, as if he hadn't heard Ah Jiu. He dismounted and brought down a sack of grain carried on the horse's back. Then he took out a paper packet from his embrace:
"Ah Jiu sister, this is salt. I got it from the boss, but I traded two pomegranates for it."
Ah Jiu took the oiled paper packet and quickly opened it. Indeed, it was the crystal-clear salt. She couldn't help but dip a finger in it and lick it.
"It is salt, it tastes so good."
Tuoba Yan smiled like a flower, "Does it taste good?"
"Mmm, it tastes good." Ah Jiu suddenly looked up and said, "It tastes good, but haven't you noticed they're all investigating you? Hurry and leave, the further the better."
Ah Jiu pushed him. The soldiers had arrived, and Tuoba Yan could still leave now.
"Tuoba Yan, come quickly and see if it's the same as the corpse you saw."
A colleague's shout came from a distance.
Tuoba Yan curved his lips into a smile, looked at Ah Jiu, took two steps back, and mounted his horse:
"Jiu'er sister, I know you're worried about me. I'll be fine. I will definitely protect myself, otherwise how can I protect you? Giddy up... Zhao Kun, let's go!"
Ah Jiu followed a few steps, "As you wish. If you are safe, then I, Meng Jiu'er, even if I am without virtue or ability, will let you protect me."
Watching Tuoba Yan gallop towards the foot of the mountain on his horse.
Ah Jiu gripped the door frame tighter, her eyes dimming with sorrow. This fool, was he risking his life for her?
Ah Jiu stood at the alley entrance for a long time, watching. They began to dig holes at the foot of the mountain. Ah Jiu stood on her tiptoes, her eyes unblinking.