After they went in, Qi Qingyao looked around her. It was truly a "shack". All they had was a large bed-stove, a short table that was so dirty she could not tell what color the wood used to be, two long stools, and a chest to keep clothes in. The clay oven was outside, under a simple roof made of straw. There was a dirty pot on the oven and a water vat next to it. There was no water in the water vat or rice in the rice one, though.

The temperature inside the house was not that different from the temperature outside.

Qi Qingyao first put the three children onto the bed-stove and covered them with a blanket. She then glanced at the corner of the wall and picked up her ax, saying,

"Wait here, I'll go out for a bit to get some firewood. Then we'll heat up the bed for you!"

As soon as Qi Qingyao left, the three children shivering on the bed-stove huddled together.

"Mommy's… acting really weird." Dabao scratched his head, perplexed.

"She's not weird, she's reliable," Erniu said solemnly.

"Mommy used to be nice before this too, though," Xiaobao said.

Erniu pouted. "She was nice, but Grandfather said she was a half-wit, a madwoman."

Dabao licked his lips. "Mommy's not mad. She went to get us firewood so we can heat up the bed."

"Mommy's the best," Xiaobao said.

Erniu hugged Dabao, on the verge of tears. "Big Brother, I'm so cold."

"It's alright, just hang in there. Mommy will be back soon," Dabao said, comforting his younger sister.

"What if Mommy doesn't want us anymore? What if she left us and won't come back?" Erniu suddenly looked at the door worriedly.

Dabao paused and went silent.

Their mother often behaved oddly in the past, and more than once she could not recognize them. What if… she did not know how to come back?

Xiaobao blinked and said in terror, "No, no way! She's our Mommy!"

Besides, Mommy had been really reliable the past two days!

She definitely would not abandon them.

Dabao became uneasy as well. Feeling hurt, he wailed in the direction of the door, "Mommy, where are youuu~~"

Qi Qingyao had just pushed open the gate and was walking into the yard when she heard the crying from inside the house. With a laugh, she replied,

"Don't worry, kids, I'm back."

The three children inside the house were instantly stunned.

Why was she back so soon?!

She pushed open the wooden door, letting in a gust of cold wind. Carrying a bundle of firewood on her back, Qi Qingyao said, "I'll light up the bed."

She even put two wild chickens down on the floor.

"I was pretty lucky just now. I found plenty of firewood and even found two wild chickens that had frozen to death!"

The three children were gobsmacked. Good heavens!

Mommy was so cool!

She got meat!!

They could eat meat now!!

After all, the three children had grown up on rice congee since they were born. They barely had any milk. After they turned two, they recognized the smell of meat and thought it was delicious, but they had never actually eaten any meat before!

The three of them stared at the chickens on the floor, their faces full of anticipation as they wondered what meat would taste like in their mouths.

Meanwhile, Qi Qingyao had gone out and around the wall so she could heat up the bed-stove. As she fiddled with the fire igniter, she mused about her recent encounters. There was a corpse with clothes she could wear as soon as she transmigrated. After that, they met a rich young daughter who had climbed the mountain to pray and give out buns for charity. Just now, she went to get firewood and had barely walked to the woods outside the village to find firewood when she realized something strange about the place. There were fallen branches everywhere and even dead chickens on the side.

Of course Qi Qingyao was not going to say no to these "treasures"! She just harvested everything and brought them back.

After she lit the fire, she fed more firewood into the bed-stove as she looked at the ends of the fallen sticks. It looked like the branches had been cut off with a sword…

Was there a battle between martial arts masters in the woods just now?

These branches must be the rubble left behind after their vicious war!

Just then, Qi Qingyao noticed some dark red stains on a few of the branches. It looked like…

Blood!

Uh-oh...