Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 655: Chapter 655: Life and Death in Two Days and Two Nights (Part 12)
 

“Ouch! Help…quick, help me…ouch!”

“Uncle Li! Uh…”

Jiang Dacai reaches out to grab Old Man Li, but he isn’t fast enough to catch up with the rolling speed. The two tumble down the slope together, clutching each other.

“Big brother, big brother! Where are you?”

Jiang Xiaocai panics and instinctively calls out for his big brother, quickly following them.

Unfortunately, the torch in his big brother’s hand goes out as they tumble, leaving him to move forward completely relying on his instinct and stumbling along the way.

Splash! Splash-

Old Man Li and Jiang Dacai roll down the slope and eventually land in the water.

The crisp sound of them hitting the water echoes. It appears that they are not too far away from him.

“Cough cough…cough cough cough… Save…me!”

Barely managing to poke his head out of the rapids, Old Man Li calls for help.

“Big brother! Big brother, where are you? Say something! Wait for me, I’ll come and save you right away!”

Jiang Xiaocai finally finds the water and instinctively reaches out to grope around in it.

“Save me—cough, cough…”

Old Man Li’s voice comes from not far away.

“Old Man Li, where’s my big brother? Why hasn’t he said anything?”

In the darkness, Jiang Xiaocai intuitively asks his most curious question.

“Cough! I found him! I found him!”

Excitement fills Old Man Li’s voice for a moment before it turns to hesitation, “But your big brother seems to have passed out. I don’t know if he hit his head on some rocks along the way… Cough, cough…”

“Nonsense! Didn’t you both fall together? How come only my big brother passed out, but you’re fine?”

Jiang Xiaocai asks intuitively.

“I don’t know either. Big brother, big brother, wake up, wake up!”

Old Man Li’s calls can be heard.

“Where’s the tinder? Light it up quickly!” Jiang Xiaocai urges impatiently.

With a faint sound of blowing, a tiny spark finally shines in the darkness, allowing the two to see their surroundings.

They are next to a rushing stream, and the tramp’s big brother indeed lies unconscious on a rock by the shore, not moving. Old Man Li squats not far away from him, holding the flint and squinting around.

“You old scoundrel! How dare you harm my big brother!”

Jiang Xiaocai rushes over and pounces at Old Man Li.

“Ouch! Ouch, let go, let go! I didn’t do anything to your big brother, you can’t wrong a good person!” Old Man Li tries to explain.

“You damned old man, shut up! Don’t think I don’t know that you’re always plotting against us. Tell me, how did you harm my big brother?” His fists are relentless, each landing with a thud.

“Ouch! Your big brother is still alive. How can you say that I’ve harmed him? You’d better get this straight!” Old Man Li tries to defend himself.

“He’s still alive?” Jiang Xiaocai finally stops his assault.

Old Man Li covers his face, crying in pain, “Ouch! Why didn’t you check it yourself? Ouch, it hurts so much!”

Jiang Xiaocai reaches out and touches a warm body, still doubting.

“Big brother, big brother, wake up!”

He calls out for him as he examines his big brother’s body, carefully checking for injuries. While he finds many small scratches, there is no obvious wound. What’s strange is that his big brother doesn’t wake up no matter how much he is called.

Old Man Li nearby keeps exclaiming, “I told you I didn’t harm him. He just passed out for some reason. Maybe he hit his head when he fell.”

“Shut up! You have no right to speak here!”

Jiang Xiaocai still doesn’t give up and continues to call for his big brother.

Old Man Li approaches, “The pursuing troops are catching up. How about this–I’ll carry your big brother, and we’d better get going…”

“Get lost! Who needs you to carry him?”

Jiang Xiaocai gives him a glare and proceeds to untie YingEr from his back.

He then pushes YingEr towards Old Man Li, “Hurry up and carry her, let’s go!”

After retying YingEr to Old Man Li’s back, Jiang Xiaocai carries his big brother with the torch and continues wading through the water.

They’ve spent quite a while on the road, and they don’t know how close the pursuing troops are.

As Old Man Li walks behind Jiang Xiaocai, he can’t help but laugh coldly in his heart.

As dumb as a pig!

He managed to deceive him so easily!

Jiang Xiaocai was indeed right. Jiang Dacai had been sabotaged by Old Man Li.

Calculating his move carefully, Old Man Li knows that it’s difficult for someone to stop on such a steep slope. As they tumble down, he grabs Jiang Dacai and makes the patterned snake in his hand bite him.

This patterned snake is a unique local species. Its skin color resembles the color of Old Man Li’s crutch, and they didn’t notice it concealed in his hand as they walked in the dark.

When bitten by this snake, the victim remains conscious, though unable to speak. Their body gradually turns blue as the poison spreads rapidly, killing them within four or five hours if left untreated.

The cave is too dark to see properly, and without an obvious injury, Jiang Xiaocai simply curses Old Man Li a few times after he sees his big brother still alive, thus letting him go.

However, Old Man Li feels a little uneasy. Since Jiang Xiaocai had looked all over for a wound and failed to find one, where exactly did his snake bite Jiang Dacai?

Afterward, Old Man Li deliberately mentions that he’s willing to carry Jiang Dacai. Given Jiang Xiaocai’s temperament, he naturally refuses him.

Instead, as he initially planned, he carries Di Ying while Jiang Xiaocai carries his big brother on his back.

Di Ying is small and light, easy to carry. However, Jiang Xiaocai struggles to walk with his big brother on his back.

The water in the second underground river flows rapidly, making each step difficult. With the support from the water, his big brother doesn’t feel heavy.

Finally reaching the shore, Jiang Dacai feels the weight of his big brother, as heavy as a rock, making every step forward a struggle.

For this reason, Jiang Xiaocai fails to notice the blackening of Jiang Dacai’s face on his back.

Walking at the back, Old Man Li feels particularly light-hearted. He pretends to pant while secretly untying Di Ying from his back.

“Jiang Xiaocai, how much longer until we reach the exit? I’m old and lamed, and I’m carrying someone too. I can’t walk anymore…”

“What are you complaining about?”

Jiang Xiaocai is struggling to walk. Hearing this only makes him angry!