"Elm, is your injury any better?" In a very simple shed, a person sleeping next to Elm asked in a low voice.
It was already dark, but there were still lights at the guard post in the distance. Although the guards were not as tight as during the day, making too much noise was still not an option, or they might get a beating.
At this moment, the entire valley was completely silent except for a few faint sounds. Aside from the annoying bird calls, which were irritatingly loud.
"Yes, it's much better now," Elm said cautiously, glancing at the guard post.
Actually, Elm hasn't been sleeping well these days. His back was already in pain, and those annoying bird calls were making it even harder for him to sleep. However, things have improved a bit in the last few days. His back injury is slowly healing and it doesn't hurt as much anymore, so the bird calls don't bother him much now.
However, these days when Elm heard birdsong, it reminded him of his old companions in the village. The men in the village used to know a special bird call, which only a portion of the men in their village knew. They had figured it out slowly when they were young and loved to play with it.
Elm recalled the happy times of his childhood, and a long-lost smile appeared on his face. But now he didn't know if they were still there, or if they had died in that forest.
Thinking of this, Elm felt sad again. He and his child had been separated, and he had been captured by that despicable Ares. He was now a slave, and Ares was using the captured women and children to threaten him into coming here to mine. If he wasn't still useful, he knew he wouldn't live much longer after being captured.
As Yu Mu pondered, he slowly closed his eyes. He was too tired during the day, and he couldn't stay awake any longer when he lay down at night.
"Coo coo coo"
A sudden bird call made Yu Mu open his closed eyes abruptly, and he listened intently again in disbelief.
"Coo coo coo"
Yes, it was that sound. He didn't lose his temper and rush outside, but carefully observed the direction from which the sound came.
He quietly got up, while his companion next to him was still half asleep.
"Elmwood, where are you going?"
"Um, I suddenly have a stomachache, I'm going outside to take care of it," Elm explained softly as he walked away.
The man mumbled something incoherently: "Elmwood, I didn't hear you clearly." Then he ignored him and went back to sleep.
In a forest outside the valley.
"Elm, it really is you! I am Cedar!" Cedar looked at Elm, who was as thin as a monkey, in the dim moonlight, and her eyes reddened again. This Elm was so different from the Elm she knew.
Elm was also staring at the cedar tree in the grass, and in an instant he rushed over.
"Ah! Cedar, you're alive! You didn't die in the jungle, that's wonderful!" Elm said, then hugged Cedar tightly.
The two people, who had not seen each other for more than a year, felt as if they had been separated for centuries.
"Shanshu, what brings you here? Where is my son? Is he alright?" Yumu asked the most important question they had been separated from during this time.
Elm dared not look at the cedar, fearing the worst possible outcome.
"Shushu, I'll tell you how I got here later. Your son is fine. Time is of the essence, so please answer a few questions for me first."
"Okay, okay, Cedar." Hearing that her son was alright, Yu Muxin felt much relieved.
"What are you digging here? How did you get here?"
"We started by mining a white ore, but after sending it back, the lord said we had dug the wrong one. He even came in person one day. So we started mining in another place. The stones we dug up were only a little grayish-white and would reflect light in the sunlight. We all came from the Yew Territory. Some places on the other side of the mountain are very flat, and it's easy to get to this valley."
"Okay, Elm, I might come back to find you later, you go back first."
After saying that, Shan Shu left.