Lin Wu hid behind the bushes, watching carefully for a while. Only after confirming that no one was around did she quietly instruct Lin Jing to stay hidden. Then, she crouched low and crept forward cautiously.
Peering into a large hole exposed by a collapsed section, she took in the small space inside at a glance. It was dim and empty, filled only with scattered dry grass and rotting wood—almost nothing else.
It was probably once a temporary shelter for some mountain dweller or hunter.
After making sure it was safe, she turned back and nodded toward the thicket. Lin Jing immediately straightened up and jogged over.
Together, they searched the little hut thoroughly.
In a corner, Lin Wu found a few relatively intact broken roof tiles and a small coarse pottery jar with a chipped rim. She carefully wrapped them in dry vines and placed them into her basket.
“A Wu,” Lin Jing suddenly whispered, pointing toward a corner partly covered by the collapsed thatched roof, where an old wooden bed lay.
The bed had also caved in, and between the bedboard and the ground was a patch of gray-black that was easy to miss at first glance.
Lin Wu’s eyes brightened. She struggled to lift the decayed bedboard and pulled out a worn coarse cloth short shirt.
Perhaps because it had been shielded by the wood from sun and rain, the shirt was not completely rotten.
Though dirty and tattered, its style suggested it had belonged to a middle-aged man, appearing quite large for them.
“A Jing, your eyes are sharp. This will be very useful,” she said, shaking the shirt vigorously before folding it carefully and placing it in the basket.
Hearing the praise, Lin Jing smiled shyly, pressing his lips together.
After searching the small thatched hut over and over with no more to find, the two finally left.
They continued walking along the lush vegetation, the sound of flowing water growing clearer.
Parting several low bushes, a narrow stream came into view, winding along and sparkling under the autumn sunlight.
But Lin Wu didn’t rush forward. She grabbed Lin Jing’s hand, and together they hid behind the bushes, watching both banks of the stream for a full quarter of an hour. Only after confirming there were no signs of humans or wild animals did they approach the water’s edge.
The shallow stream was crystal clear, with round stones visible beneath the surface and a few inconspicuous little fish swimming about.
Seeing fresh water, the weariness from many days seemed to ease from their hearts, and their spirits lifted.
Yet Lin Wu didn’t immediately scoop up the water to drink.
“This water looks clear, but untreated water often contains invisible tiny parasites,” she explained to Lin Jing. “Drinking it could cause stomach pain, vomiting, or even serious illness. We have to boil it first. Luckily, we found that pottery jar.”
“Mm,” Lin Jing nodded obediently, though his throat felt parched.
Finding the water source was just the beginning of their work.
They first carefully washed the wild fruits they had picked along the way, then rinsed the broken tiles and the coarse pottery jar inside and out repeatedly.
Lin Wu soaked the coarse short garment she had salvaged from the ruined house in water and began scrubbing it vigorously. Although some of the old, stubborn stains wouldn’t come out, the dark fabric thankfully concealed most of the dirt.
It was autumn, and the mountain air was chilly. Despite being filthy all over, they dared not risk washing themselves with cold water. Catching a chill in this remote wilderness would be tantamount to a death sentence.
Lin Wu wrung out the short garment and used one of its relatively clean corners to carefully wipe their cheeks, necks, and arms. She even loosened her hair to clean it thoroughly, then roughly wiped down the outer clothes they were wearing.
The crisp, cold stream water brought a refreshing sense of cleanliness that invigorated the spirit.
After finishing, she hung the freshly washed short garment on a dry branch by the stream to air-dry.
Then, Lin Wu tightly secured a pair of scissors to one end of a wooden stick using vines. She instructed Lin Jing, “You watch over our things. I’m going upstream to see if I can catch some fish.”
Gripping the stick, she walked along the stream’s bank upstream until she reached a slower-moving stretch where flickers of fish darted beneath the surface.
She raised the stick and, timing it perfectly, thrust it sharply downwards! Water splashed everywhere as the startled fish scattered instantly.
Several attempts yielded nothing.
But Lin Wu wasn’t discouraged and continued exploring further upstream.
Finally, at a quiet pool formed behind a large boulder, she managed to spear a slow-reacting small fish. Dizzy from the strike, it was carried by the current to the edge of the rock.
Lin Wu hurried forward, bent down, and picked up the little fish — but her gaze was caught by a tangled mass beneath the boulder.
It was a cluster of tattered clothes, soaked and faded from long immersion in the water.
She had no time to dwell on the ragged garments and pressed on with her fishing. Using her strength, she managed to spear two more unfortunate small fish.
With the scissors, she deftly scraped off their scales, slit open their bellies, and carefully cleaned out the innards. Finally, she threaded a blade of grass through their gills to string them together and laid them on the shore.
After dealing with the fish, she returned to the tangled clothing and carefully began to untangle it.
Most of the fabric was beyond salvage, fused with dead branches, rotting leaves, and slippery moss — clear evidence it had been soaking in the stream for quite some time.
From the style, the clothes appeared to be coarse cotton short jackets and trousers worn by villagers for farm work, likely washed by villagers upstream and accidentally swept away by the current before being caught by the boulder.
Patiently, Lin Wu separated the garments.
Most were too ruined to be of use, but she managed to find a relatively intact pair of coarse cotton trousers, though they bore several holes.
She washed the trousers and the few remaining decent fabric scraps thoroughly, then wrung them out.
Though tattered, these coarse cloths were invaluable to them in this resource-scarce environment.
They lingered by the stream for about half a day, and the washed clothes had dried halfway when Lin Wu filled a clay jar with fresh water. Together with Lin Jing, she began the journey back.
The return trip went smoothly, and they finally arrived at their cave.
Inside the cave, their belongings were piled up, and outside lay a small heap of dry branches. Though simple and rough, the place somehow gave them a comforting sense of home. Lin Jing’s young face visibly relaxed.
Lin Wu carefully uncovered the preserved fire source, added some wood, and blew gently. The flames flickered back to life. She steadied a clay pot on the fire with a few stones and brought the water to a boil.
“Next, it’s time to cook the fish. Who would have thought that out here in the wild mountains, we’d still be able to eat fish?” After days living in the forest, the two had grown accustomed to the hardships, and Lin Wu’s tone even carried a lighthearted resilience.
A faint smile appeared on Lin Jing’s face as he nodded vigorously.
“But we still need something to cook the fish with,” Lin Wu didn’t pause, immediately setting a new task. “Come on, let’s go dig up some dry, solid soil blocks nearby.”
They searched around the cave entrance and picked out some sun-bleached, dense chunks of earth.
Back inside, Lin Wu worked while explaining, “We’ll stack these soil blocks into a small hut-like structure. Then we’ll build a fire inside to heat the blocks until they glow red-hot. After that, we’ll put the fish inside and use the heat from the soil to slowly cook it. Fish cooked this way will be tender and fragrant.”
She piled the soil blocks into a pointed dome shape, leaving a hollow space inside and an opening for adding firewood.
Lin Jing added wood to the small earthen kiln, while Lin Wu continued preparing their ingredients nearby.
Her knowledge of seasoning plants was limited, but she recognized the distinctive aroma of mugwort and the tartness of wild hawthorn—both perfect for masking fishy smells and enhancing flavor. She gathered a handful of tender mugwort leaves and a few wild hawthorn berries, stuffing them inside the fish’s belly. Then she carefully wrapped the fish with large broad leaves and tucked in several pieces of wild yam wrapped separately.
After some time, orange flames flickered through the gaps between the soil blocks, showing the inside was glowing red hot.
“That should be about right.” Lin Wu carefully removed the excess ash from inside the earthen kiln, then gently placed the leaf-wrapped bundles inside.
“Now, we bury it all, and the trapped heat will slowly steam the fish to perfection.” She said as she used a wooden stick to gently push down the top of the soil kiln. The glowing hot blocks collapsed inward, sealing the contents inside.
“Let’s break these big soil chunks into smaller pieces so the heat can seal in tightly.” She called to Lin Jing, and together they used sticks to smash the large soil blocks into smaller bits, covering the leaf packages snugly and securely.
