Chapter 24
"Pa, pa! Big brother Wu, look at this!" Xiaoxue tapped on a piece of bamboo beside her, revealing grains inside that resembled rice.
"Huh, you even have rice here? Impossible!" Wu Fan exclaimed, dumbfounded.
"Haha, my mom says it's a type of wild plant. Anyway, we can eat it, and there's plenty of it in the forest. We'll gather some later; you just need to remove the outer husk," Xiaoxue explained with a proud smile.
After adding water to the pot to cook the "rice," Xiaoxue picked up two small knives, each as wide as a finger, spinning them in front of Wu Fan. "You said we didn't have food? Well, everything depends on these. These knives are secret weapons from my mom's old master, and they're how we survive here."
"You're telling me those knives can get us food?" Wu Fan asked, skeptical.
"Come, follow me!" Xiaoxue replied, grabbing his hand and signaling him to take a torch.
The two ventured into the forest, and Xiaoxue whispered in his ear, "Don't make a sound."
Wu Fan nodded, unsure of her plan but trusting her. After all, this was her home; it was only right to follow her lead.
After a few minutes of silence, Wu Fan gently tapped Xiaoxue, signaling that he'd heard something move.
Xiaoxue smiled mysteriously, her eyes glinting. With a swift motion, she threw one of her knives.
A sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
"Let's go—we've got meat!" Xiaoxue exclaimed excitedly, pulling Wu Fan by the hand.
"What? A rabbit?" Wu Fan cried out as he saw a rabbit pierced by the knife, lying lifeless on the ground.
"Yes! There are lots of them here, along with other animals like snakes. That's how we survive—eating what we catch. Come on, let's pick some vegetables, and we'll be all set!" Xiaoxue said, pulling the knife from the rabbit, wiping the blood on its fur, and handing the animal to Wu Fan.
Reaching the other side of the clearing, they found an area filled with green plants. Xiaoxue swiftly plucked a handful in just a few quick motions.
Impressed, Wu Fan asked, "Xiaoxue, how are you so skilled with a flying knife? You managed to hit a rabbit in the dark!"
"It's nothing special! My mom is a doctor, and one of the dried corpses you saw was her master. The other was a martial arts expert who taught her. She passed some of those skills to me. If you're interested, I can ask if she'll teach you, or I can show you myself, hehe!" Xiaoxue said, brimming with excitement.
Not long after, they had prepared a meal.
Xiaoxue had roasted the rabbit on a spit.
Although Wu Fan had been unconscious for over twenty days, he hadn't really felt hungry until now. But as he saw the golden, juicy rabbit releasing a mouthwatering aroma, his appetite surged, and he devoured the meal voraciously.
"Wu Fan, from now on, you'll be in charge of cooking," Zhao Tingfeng said calmly after the meal.
"Alright, Aunt Feng, don't worry. I'll cook delicious meals to thank you for saving me. But I don't know how to hunt rabbits yet—that'll have to be Xiaoxue's job!" Wu Fan replied, patting his full stomach.
"Mom, why don't you teach big brother Wu some kung fu?" Xiaoxue asked, seizing the opportunity.
"Silence!" Zhao Tingfeng shot her a stern look.
Xiaoxue stuck out her tongue and made a face at Wu Fan, dropping the matter.
In the following days, Wu Fan busied himself gathering firewood, husking wild grains, picking vegetables, and cooking. He also spent time with Xiaoxue, searching for a way out of the cave.
But he knew it was futile. If there had been an escape route, Zhao Tingfeng, with her martial arts skills, would have found it already.
"Ah!" Wu Fan sighed as he lay on the ground.
He had watched Zhao Tingfeng carve six new lines into the cave wall, forming another "正" character. This marked the passing of a month. Adding the twenty days he had been unconscious, nearly two months had gone by since he'd fallen into the cave.
He wondered if his sick father was still alive, if his demented mother was still wandering somewhere, and if his little sister had been forced to drop out of school...