A valley is still a valley, after all.
Sure, the scenery is beautiful and picturesque, but the downside is that the moment you step into the grasslands, you're instantly hit with that prickly, irritating feeling.
No matter how thick your clothes are, the tiny bristles on the grass seem to poke right through, making it incredibly uncomfortable.
Even though we'd been living in the valley for a while now, our range of activity was split in two by the road that ran straight through it.
All the houses and farmland were on the left side of the road, while the right side led to the ravine and the little stream—an open, empty area.
Other than a few lonely willow trees scattered across the grassland, there was nothing but vast patches of weeds.
I walked forward for a while and was already internally groaning.
The uneven ground made every step a struggle—it was seriously exhausting.
I had no idea how Uncle Qian and the others managed to fetch water from here every day.
After trudging for some time, I finally reached the base of the ravine, completely drenched in sweat.
From a distance, I spotted a stream—it wasn't small, maybe about three meters wide.
It looked quite shallow, too.
I could even see the stones on the riverbed clearly.
The water was crystal clear.
Standing at the edge of the stream, listening to the gentle rushing of the water, I felt my earlier frustration melt away almost instantly.
Nature has that kind of powerful, magical effect.
As I glanced around, I even spotted a small shrimp in the stream.
And everyone knows shrimp are incredibly picky about their environment—if they can survive in a body of water, it usually means the water is absolutely clean and safe.
I stared at the shrimp for a while before I suddenly remembered—I had come here to look for Zheng Yiyi.
Snapping out of my distraction, I quickly looked around, scanning my surroundings. I even followed the stream a bit, wondering if Yiyi might have fallen in and gotten washed away.
But seeing how gentle the current was, I laughed silently at my own ridiculous thought.
Then I cupped my hands around my mouth and called out loudly, "Yiyi, time to go home! Time to eat… Yiyi, come home for dinner! Yiyi, dinnertime!"
I called out for quite a while, keeping an eye on any movement around me and carefully scanning the surrounding grassland.
But even after all that time, there was still no sign of him—nothing at all.
How strange. I was sure I'd seen him run in this direction.
Could it be that while I was talking with Sister T, he'd already run back home on his own?
I called out a couple more times, still without any response.
With a sigh, I turned around, figuring I should head back and check.
After all, there had been times before when we spent ages looking for him, only for him to crawl out from under the bed at dinner time, sleepy-eyed and yawning.
I made a mental note to check under the bed as soon as I got back.
But just as I turned around, my ears suddenly caught the faint, childish bark of Yiyi.
I spun back around instinctively, quickly scanning the area again—but still, there was nothing in sight.
Hesitating for a moment, I raised my voice and shouted, "Yiyi, where are you? Hurry up and come home!"
"Woof! Woof..."
This time I was certain—I hadn't misheard.
That was 100% Yiyi's bark.
But the sound was incredibly faint, as if it were coming from far, far away.
I twisted my neck, scanning the area again, until a sudden thought hit me—I turned sharply and looked toward the ravine on the far side of the stream.
Listening closely, the sound really did seem to be coming from that direction—from somewhere inside the mountains.
The ravine was steep and made up entirely of smooth rocks.
Years of flowing water had polished them until they were almost mirror-like.
I looked off to the side and suddenly noticed that about ten meters away, there was a sloping dirt path leading upward—the lowest point of it nearly level with the stream.
My mind froze for a second, and I quickly made my way over in that direction.
Only when I got closer did I realize that from this angle, the slope led upward at an angle into the mountain.
I wasn't sure if it was just psychological, but the moment I spotted that natural path, Yiyi's faint and muddled barking suddenly sounded a bit clearer to me.
I gritted my teeth—judging by the sound, it didn't seem too far—so I decided to just wade through the stream and head up the dirt slope.
But after climbing up just a few steps, a strange sensation started to creep over me.
The mountain was densely packed with trees—trees and shrubs of all kinds.
The atmosphere was stifling and oppressive, a world apart from the open and peaceful valley just a few meters behind me.
The slope climbed steadily upward; it wasn't bad at first, but the higher I went, the more tiring it became.
Yiyi's barking was now much clearer, but judging by the sharp tone, he was clearly scared—trying to threaten or scare something off with his voice.
That was typical of Yiyi.
Whenever he was frightened, he'd let out sharp, continuous barks without stopping.
We'd always figured it was his way of calling us over for help.
But now...
I glanced around at the dense trees surrounding me.
Zheng Yiyi must have encountered something!
I tensed up almost instantly.
My hand reflexively moved toward my dagger pouch, wanting to draw my dagger, while my eyes scanned the area and my ears strained to pick up Yiyi's exact location.
But the moment my hand landed on the pouch and came up empty, I froze.
I looked down in a panic—
Sh*t! Where's my dagger?!
I quickly racked my brain and finally remembered—this morning, after waking up from that nightmare, I took a shower and had absentmindedly left my dagger pouch in the bathroom!
I never brought it back out!
"Goddammit!" I couldn't help swearing out loud.
Just then, Yiyi's barking became even more frantic and intense.
My heart clenched.
Without thinking further, I bit my lip, grabbed a fairly thick tree branch from the ground, and sprinted toward the direction the sound was coming from.
Although the barking sounded close, this was still a forested mountain—thick with shrubs and trees.
The sound could travel directly, but I couldn't.
I had to detour around clusters of brush and undergrowth. A
fter zigzagging through for nearly ten whole minutes, I still hadn't found Yiyi's exact location.
Staring at the dense vegetation around me, I gritted my teeth, reoriented myself using the direction of the sound again, and pushed straight into another patch of tangled bushes.
After another round of chaotic weaving through thorns and vines, I was finally rewarded—the barking was now very close, practically right in front of me.
I pushed aside a mass of twisted underbrush and vines, charged forward—and just as I was about to exhale in relief, the scene before me froze half that breath in my throat.
I couldn't let it out, couldn't swallow it down—it was stuck there, lodged painfully.
My mind went blank for a second.
Then I slowly, quietly stepped backward, doing my best to lower my breathing as I retreated into the cover of the bushes I had just burst through.
Beyond the brush was a clearing, with noticeably fewer trees.
Just ahead, in front of a fallen, hollow tree trunk, three towering walker stood with their backs to me, clawing furiously at the wood.
And from inside that very trunk came Yiyi's terrified howling—one could hear from his voice alone how utterly terrified he was right now.
Holding my breath, I crouched low in the brush, gently peeling open a small gap between the leaves to observe the scene.
That old tree trunk was clearly on the verge of collapse under the assault of the three massive walker.
Yiyi's cries were nonstop, and every one of them twisted my heart with anxiety.
If I had my dagger on me like usual, I'd still need help from the others to deal with a few of those hulking walker—but now, all I had was this lousy stick.
Going up against those big brutes with nothing but a rotten tree branch?
That was basically suicide.
Not to mention, the place was crawling with shrubs.
Even if I wanted to run, there was no guarantee I'd outrun those three.
I crouched there for a long while, racking my brain, but nothing came to mind.
No matter how I looked at it, this place offered zero advantage.
I glanced again at the fallen tree trunk and the walker clawing at it, then finally gritted my teeth—there was no other choice.
I had to head back, grab my weapon, and bring some help.
No time to waste.
With that decision made, I didn't hesitate any longer and was just about to get up and slip away, praying that Yiyi would hold out until we got back...
But reality once again reminded me: never underestimate a dog's survival instinct.
Just as I had risen slightly and was about to turn around, Yiyi—who'd been hiding inside that tree trunk all this time—must've sensed I was about to leave.
Out of nowhere, the little guy seemed to grow a pair and, spotting a gap between the walker, shot out like a blur, making a beeline straight for me.
For a second, I froze in disbelief at how fast he was—this little dude's potential was insane!
But the very next second, when Yiyi dove straight into the bush where I was hiding, panting hard with his tongue out and pawing frantically at my pants leg with his tiny paws...
Only then did I snap out of it—and looked up.
Just one glance at those towering walker, and my heart sank in an instant.
Yiyi's sudden move might as well have been a neon sign with flashing lights, pointing right at me—telling them exactly where to go.
The gap I had just opened in the bushes hadn't even been closed yet when the three walker immediately spotted me.
Without any hesitation, they opened their mouths and let out a guttural howl as they began moving in my direction.
I froze for two seconds before my brain finally kicked into gear.
"Sh*t!"
I cursed, grabbed Yiyi off the ground, and started scrambling backward through the underbrush in a full-on panic.
The tree branch in my hand was now being used solely to shove aside the bushes as I barreled through them, shouting as I ran,
"Zheng Yiyi, you fat little brat! Look what the hell you've done! I feed you, I give you water, and all that fat dog meat is being used to screw me over!"
Yiyi, of course, had no idea I was cursing him out.
Now that he had me to back him up, he suddenly regained his confidence—completely different from the scaredy-cat he was earlier.
He stuck out his neck and started barking cockily behind us—"Woof! Woof! Woof!"—as if taunting the walker.
I was so furious I almost passed out from rage.
I grabbed his snout mid-run and hissed,
"Shut your damn mouth!"
If I didn't stop him, this arrogant little mutt would keep barking all the way and basically serve as a walking GPS for the walker—broadcasting our location with every step!
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