Noticing she now had enough fish to eat, Qi Qingyao stopped fishing. She had to set herself a slower pace. What if she caught all the fish in the river?

While Qi Qingyao sorted through all the fish on the ground, she turned to speak to Jiang Yeqian. "That should be enough for a few days. Let's go. We can go home now!"

Jiang Yeqian stared at the fishes. After a moment's silence, he asked, "Are we not going to hunt?"

"The fish should be enough for us to eat," Qi Qingyao said.

"Aren't you bored after eating fish for so many days?" Jiang Yeqian said with a calm tone, trying to pretend as if he did not care about what he ate either.

Qi Qingyao shrugged. She said casually, "I'm sick of it too, but I have no other choice. What if there's wild boar on the mountains? I wouldn't be able to defeat them. Only fish… it is much easier to catch."

Jiang Yeqian thought to himself, 'So it's because she can only bully the fishes?'

Attempting to regain her dignity, Qi Qingyao said, "And don't these animals need to hibernate?" She sounded sure of herself.

Jiang Yeqian glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "Only cold-blooded animals like snakes and frogs need to hibernate. Other animals can move around normally."

Qi Qingyao pouted. "I can't fight them either way!"

Jiang Yeqian's pupils turned dark. He replied easily, "Although I've lost my memories, my cultivation prowess is still intact. Hunting a few animals is nothing."

Hearing him, Qi Qingyao rushed forward excitedly and patted Jiang Yeqian's shoulder, as if they were best friends. Her grin was transparently an attempt to flatter the man. "Brother! It seems like I didn't save you for nothing after all!"

She pointed at the pile of fish excitedly. "Let's go. We're taking them home first."

…

While Qi Qingyao and Jiang Yeqian were on their way home, another group of people arrived at the straw hut before them. The Qis — Old Man Qi, Qi Boli, Madam Wu, together with their several sons and daughters-in-law — stalked over to the fence ferociously.

Qi Yuancheng shouted, "Qi Qingyao, come out here this instant!'

There was no sound from inside the hut, so they waited.

Suddenly, the door opened. The three toddlers stood inside the fence, peeked outward pitifully, and then fell to the ground, shocked by the group of people outside.

Madam Wu said, annoyed, "These little beasts are indeed still alive."

Old Man Qi palmed his forehead. "They really are quite lucky."

The entourage walked over slowly to the door. Madam Wu's gaze swept over the little bastards in front of her and asked coldly, "Where's your mother?"

The children did not dare respond. They stepped backward toward the bed-stove and clambered up it, huddling at the corner and not saying a thing.

Qi Yuanye tried to put on an air of menace, demanding threateningly, "Speak up, or we'll kill all of you today!"

As the eldest brother, Dabao allowed Erniu and Xiaobao to huddle behind him. Although cowering from fear, he said, without any more prompting, "Don't kill us. Mother will be back soon."

"Waaaaaahhh… Mother, help us!" Erniu held Dabao and cried to her heart's content.

Xiaobao pursed his lips tightly. Tears fell from his eyes. He dared not speak or cry out loud.

Madam Wu said impatiently, "Crying again! All you do is cry! Cry more, and we'll toss you into the Jiuli River as sacrifices to the River God!"

The children shut up instantly.

Qi Yuancheng sniffed around. He then ran to Old Man Qi. "Dad, it smells like medicinal herbs here."

"It seems like the fool was injured recently." Old Man Qi smoothed his goatee.

Madam Wu did not care if she was hurt. She only cared about one thing. She went forward to sit on the bed-stove. Realizing that the bed-stove was still warm, she instantly became eight times more alert. She eyed the children disdainfully and asked, "Is your mother no longer stupid?"

The children looked back at her, not replying.

Madam Wu roared, "Answer me!"