Chapter 152: A Cart Full of Little Kids

Mao Mao didn’t lead the way; Yan Lao’er relied solely on memory to navigate.

After a series of trial and error and wandering in circles, Yan Lao’er and Qi Da finally found a hidden pool of water inside a cave.

The water in the pool was dark and deep. When they scooped some up, the icy cold touch instantly refreshed them.

“Qi Da, we really found it! We found it!” Yan Lao’er danced with excitement.

Qi Da grinned, gulped down the water from the bamboo tube he carried, and let out a satisfied sigh.

Yan Lao’er examined the source of the water by the firelight and gradually ventured deeper.

“Qi Da, look at these—are these human footprints?” Yan Lao’er asked.

The cave was pitch dark, and they could only rely on the flickering firelight. Yan Lao’er wasn’t sure if he was seeing things correctly.

Both of them crouched down, bringing the torch closer to the ground.

“Mm!” Qi Da confirmed after a closer look. “They are footprints.”

“Someone has been here, and not just one person.” Yan Lao’er followed the tracks and found more traces of human activity.

“They must have come to fetch water too,” he concluded.

Who would come here for water? Refugees passing by? People living nearby?

“We need to head down quickly and tell everyone to come fetch water,” Yan Lao’er decided at once. It wasn’t safe to linger.

Regardless of who those people were, it wasn’t the right time to make contact.

Qi Da agreed without hesitation.

The two of them filled their bamboo tubes with water and hurried down the mountain.

The path downhill was completely different from the way up, making Yan Lao’er uneasy, but he trusted his sense of direction.

They stumbled and tumbled their way down the steep slope, and soon, they spotted twinkling lights in the distance.

As they got closer, they saw that it was their own group.

The two of them grinned foolishly and ran back.

“We found it! We found water!” Yan Lao’er shouted even before reaching the group, waking everyone up.

The word “water” had a magical pull—despite their exhaustion, everyone immediately perked up and began gathering containers.

“Yan Lao’er, is it far? Is the path easy to walk?”

“We’ll have to walk for a bit. It’s inside a cave, quite high up. The mountain paths twist and turn, and it’s dark… Just follow me. Qi Da and I just went there, so we know the way.”

Yan Lao’er urged, “Hurry up before I forget the route.”

Yan Huaiwen silently picked up two buckets.

Yan Lao’er said, “Brother, you should rest. I’ll take Sanbao up.”

“The ox has been walking all day and is tired too. Let it rest longer. We should send more people from our family so you don’t have to run back and forth.” Yan Huaiwen called over his two children.

Yan Lao’er looked over and saw that Sanbao was still lying down obediently, not moving. Someone had even given it extra food and water, and it was happily chewing away.

His nephew and niece were fully equipped—each carrying a big backpack filled with water containers. His nephew held a large pot, and his niece carried a jar.

Well!

Looks like they were going all in.

Yan Lao’er himself carried a square bucket, tied all his family’s bamboo tubes together with a rope, and slung them over his back, making a clattering noise as he walked.

Men, women, young, and old—all joined in, filling the silent night with a lively commotion.

Yan Yu rubbed her eyes, still drowsy.

She was about to go back to sleep when she suddenly sat up straight.

No way! Even half-grown kids were heading into the mountains for water—leaving the camp dangerously unguarded.

Before she could wake everyone, the little militia members were already climbing to their feet, one after another.

They instinctively positioned themselves around the camp.

Rubbing their sleepy eyes and yawning, the little ones were exhausted. They leaned on small wooden sticks, looking like they could topple over at any moment.

Yan Yu patted her own cheeks to stay awake and kept a close watch on their surroundings.

Meanwhile, Li Xuemei kept boiling water, cooling it down slightly before storing it.

By the time Yan Lao’er could finally rest, he collapsed onto the wagon frame, motionless.

Yan Huaiwen rolled up his sleeves and began pressing on his brother’s legs with unpracticed hands.

At first, Yan Lao’er groaned a bit, but then he felt something was off. He turned around abruptly—almost twisting his back.

“Big Brother, I’m fine. I just need to lie down for a bit.” His face flushed red, and he quickly sat up, tucking his legs away awkwardly.

Yan Huaiwen said calmly, “Sister-in-law boiled some water. Soak your feet to relieve the soreness.”

“Got it, Brother! I’ll bring you a basin too in a bit,” Yan Lao’er replied quickly.

Yan Huaiwen nodded.

Li Xuemei watched as her husband darted over like a startled rabbit.

“Oh my goodness! Old Yan just massaged my legs!” Yan Lao’er whispered loudly, his eyes wide in shock.

“So what? He’s your own brother. Giving your legs a massage is nothing. Look how exhausted you are,” Li Xuemei said, unimpressed. “Besides, everything he’s been doing is for this family.”

“Look at our daughter.”

Yan Lao’er followed her gaze.

Yan Yu was sleeping like a little pig, snoring rhythmically.

“The kids are at their limit. Are we still setting off on time tomorrow?” Li Xuemei asked.

Yan Lao’er nodded with difficulty.

“We have to go. Many people are fetching water from that cave. We only went at night, but if it were daytime, we might run into them.

We know our situation well. If we can avoid contact, we should.”

Li Xuemei nodded. It wasn’t just bandits they needed to watch out for—there was also the risk of someone giving away their location.

“Let the smaller kids ride in our cart. There’s more space, and they can move around.”

“Alright, I’ll tell them later. That way, they won’t have to squeeze in with the injured ones and stay stiff the whole way.” Yan Lao’er agreed.

Yan Yu was dreaming—dreaming that she had turned into the thirsty crow from the fable.

She flapped around a water jar, cawing anxiously.

She thought: You idiot, drop some stones in!

The crow seemed to realize the same thing and flapped its wings to take off—but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t fly.

Too heavy. Too heavy. Its wings couldn’t lift it.

Yan Yu was filled with frustration. Was she really that heavy?!

As she fretted in her dream, she suddenly woke up.

A tiny child had climbed onto her. When the child saw her open her eyes, they were startled and quickly retracted their little hands, looking at her pitifully.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this was Uncle Hu’s youngest daughter.

“Xiao Ni, where’s your mother?”

Hu Xiaoni sucked on her finger and didn’t answer.

Yan Yu glanced around and was surprised to find a bunch of small children in their cart.

Not the militia kids—actual toddlers.

Li Xuemei was gently telling them a story—coincidentally, the story of the thirsty crow…

She was so engrossed in telling it, and the kids were listening so intently, that no one noticed Hu Xiaoni sneaking away.

“Why aren’t you listening to the story like the others?”

Yan Yu pulled Hu Xiaoni into her arms. A medium-sized kid hugging a smaller kid—it was quite a funny sight.

Hu Xiaoni hesitated for a moment, then covered Yan Yu’s mouth with her tiny hands, puffed up her cheeks, and mimicked snoring sounds.

Yan Yu: …

Awkward!

She must have been snoring, huh?

Hu Xiaoni, you little rascal! You even imitated it so well!