Tomb raiding: Today is another day I don't want to go home.

Chapter 10 Six Years Ago (Part 6)

"who are you?"

Yin Lan's eyes began to darken, and her face gradually turned bluish-purple. She did not receive a reply from the figure, but she saw him pull a dagger from his sleeve.

"What are you going to do!?"

Yin Lan mustered the little strength she had managed to muster and tried to move away in another direction, but suddenly a force came from her shoulder, which pressed her back down.

"Don't move!" the figure said, his voice carrying the clean, clear quality unique to young people.

Yin Lan was utterly astonished. This was just a child?! In her panic, she tried to call for help, but before she could utter a sound, she suddenly felt a void in her throat; she couldn't make a sound…

In her terror, Yin Lan heard the sound of a dagger piercing flesh. She instinctively looked up and saw the figure by the bedside holding a dagger, the tip of which was two-thirds of the way into his own heart. In the blink of an eye, a strong, ancient smell of blood filled the entire room, making one's heart tremble.

Confusion and fear filled Yin Lan's eyes, but what she found even more unacceptable was that the figure had fed her and her child the blood flowing from her own heart...

Later, the cries of the newborn baby dispelled much of the gloom and darkness in the village. The midwife, who was still arguing with the villagers at the door for help, heard the sound and was instantly shocked. She turned her head, and the bloodshot in her eyes was already soaked with tears.

Alive...

Also alive were the young men from the village's hunting families, but Lin Xuan was the only one missing. He died at Bear Ridge, the same day Yin Lan and her son were rescued.

A young man who was still somewhat conscious told the villagers that Lin Xuan had been torn to pieces by a bear while trying to save his junior who had mistakenly wandered into Bear Ridge.

They originally thought they wouldn't survive either, but unexpectedly, two days after escaping Xiongxiazi Ridge, they were rescued from the cliff bottom—a dirty-looking boy brought them out. The boy's name was Yan Huai.

When Yin Lan heard the villagers mention these things, her and A Zhao's conditions had basically stabilized. However, she couldn't ignore either the pain of losing her husband or the joy of having a child. The person who saved her and her child was someone she would remember for a lifetime.

It wasn't until six months later, when the blizzard subsided, that the villagers gradually resumed their hunting habits in the mountains as before.

Moreover, regardless of their motivations, every household would spare some time to take care of Yin Lan and her son.

Although the villagers would avoid mentioning hunters or going into the mountains in front of Yin Lan, they would sometimes make oversights. For example, Yin Lan overheard about a dirty boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old suddenly appearing in the mountains.

After making some inquiries, Yin Lan learned that whenever hunters encountered danger while entering the mountains, this dirty boy would always come to their rescue, no matter where they were.

Moreover, not only is the dirty boy as skilled as the village hunters, but his blood can also threaten wild beasts and heal the town gods. Those boys who survived the blizzard recently recognized that the dirty boy was the boy who saved them, named Yan Huai!

These events also awakened Yin Lan, and she became convinced that the person who saved her and her son's lives and the person who brought out that group of hunters were the same person.

Later, Yan Huai was regarded as a guardian deity by the villagers. Anyone who had received his help would spontaneously bring some clothes, food, or even some strange little trinkets, and if they were lucky enough to meet him in the mountains, they would give them all to him.

"I felt more energetic living because I thought you were the benefactor of our family. I never thought that one day you would come looking for my son and me."

Yin Lan couldn't help but laugh as she recalled the sight of Yan Huai that day: "Ah Zhao was almost a year old then, and I was thinking of knitting him some clothes. Just as I got up to go back to my room to get the yarn, I caught a glimpse of you in my chicken coop..."

Yan Huai looked at Yin Lan's smile and didn't feel uncomfortable at all, but he was a little puzzled: "Why am I there?"

"You later told me that you hid something there and would come back to get it later."

Did I say I hid anything?

“No,” Yin Lan looked at Yan Huai, whose eyes suddenly seemed a little anxious, and couldn’t help but reach out and pat his shoulder, saying softly, “Don’t worry, if you didn’t take it, then it’s still there. I’ll go with you to find it in a bit.”

"Um……"

"So, are you still going to listen?" Yin Lan looked at Yan Huai with a teasing gaze, as if she were coaxing a child to listen to a bedtime story he didn't want to hear.

Yan Huai thought for a moment and nodded. It wouldn't matter if he went to look for it after listening. Yin Lan had said that if he hadn't taken it, then it was still there: "Listen!"

“After I found you that time, you were probably scared, so you ran away in a hurry. I thought you wouldn’t come back, but I didn’t expect that the next morning you would throw a deer that you had hunted in the mountains in front of my house, say ‘meat,’ and then leave again.”

"and after?"

Yin Lan was somewhat at a loss for words. She thought for a moment before continuing, "From that day on, I don't know why, you would regularly throw some game from the mountains into my doorstep. This went on for a long time. You didn't care whether Ah Zhao and I could eat it or not. You would just leave it there and leave, and we couldn't stop you no matter how much we called you!"

I was shouting after you, but you started running again. You didn't have to run, but you ran even faster. I had no choice but to share some of the extra prey with the villagers nearby.

A few months is enough time for someone to become familiar with anything. That's how it is with Ah Zhao and me. I've gotten used to boiling a kettle of water and pouring it into a basin every morning, just to give you, my dirty little one, a good wash.

Ah Zhao, who was used to learning to speak first, would say "brother" as her first words every day. But then one day, you stopped coming. Actually, I already had a feeling then that you wouldn't come again...

Your departure was so sudden that the villagers quickly noticed and decided to do what they had done before: the village chief gathered a few of the best fighters and headed into the mountains.

But we didn't do this to force you to stay; we were just worried about you. So we all went over there in a large group, and before we even left the village, we saw a wooden sign hanging at the village entrance with the words carved in dagger shape: "Danger, Do Not Seek."

Danger, do not seek...

Yan Huai lowered his eyes and carefully pondered these four words, wondering if there was any connection between his departure six years ago and his sudden amnesia.