Ordinary observers in fast time travel

The hoe was given to the honest-looking man, and Shi Jia didn't sit idle either. He told the village chief and planned to take a look around the neighborhood.

Pick some herbs you recognize, take them home, dry them, and maybe you can sell them to a pharmacy to pay off your debts when you go to the prefectural city later.

Shi Jia vaguely remembered that she had done this before.

However, she didn't pick for long before the person who went to get the hoe returned, bringing a group of people with him.

Hearing the noise, Shi Jia was about to turn back when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a familiar leaf. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart began to pound.

Ginseng!

Shi Jia's ears were ringing, and everything around him seemed to become blurry, except for the plants in front of him, which became clearer and clearer.

"Hey, little sister!" Suddenly a rough, honest voice rang out in my ears.

Shi Jia quickly turned around, and the honest-looking man hurriedly withdrew his waving hands. "Little sister, what happened to you just now?"

"Uh, I guess there's too much miasma in the mountains, I'm feeling a bit dizzy." Shi Jia took the hoe and walked straight towards the sweet potato field.

"Do you want to rest for a while?" the honest-looking man asked.

"No need, let's finish digging the yams as soon as possible so we can go back sooner." Shi Jia shook his head, brushed aside the withered leaves, and started digging.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work; a few dozen people spent half a day digging up a large patch of yams.

"Let's go down the mountain now!" said Village Chief Li.

But someone seemed to have discovered something interesting and suggested, "Village chief, since it's still early, why don't we go further ahead and take a look? There must be a lot of good stuff inside."

Shi Jia recognized the two people who had tried to take advantage of her a few days ago: one named Li Dong and the other named Li Liuzi.

Village Chief Li frowned. "It gets more dangerous the further in we go. Now that we've gathered enough food, we should hurry down the mountain. There's no need to take any risks!"

“Village chief, with so many people, what danger could there be? Besides, we have enough grain to hand over to the imperial court, but we still don’t know what grain we will have for next spring!” Li Liuzi said.

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed, "That's right, village chief, since we've already come up the mountain, why don't we go further in?"

"If we can still dig up such a large patch of yams, we can have a good New Year this year!"

"Yes, yes!"

Everyone agreed.

Village Chief Li was also somewhat tempted upon hearing this. "Alright, those who want to continue exploring the mountains, stand here. I'll see how many people there are. If there are fewer than ten, we'll go back immediately!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen people stood up, including Shi Jia.

Village Chief Li frowned. "Madam Li, the mountains are full of miasma. You should go back with the others."

Shi Jia shook her head, "We've run out of savings, and I'd like to find more food."

Before Village Chief Li could say anything more, someone said, "Village Chief, let Madam Li go with her. She has sharp eyes."

As soon as he said that, everyone looked at Shi Jia with intense gazes.

They hadn't forgotten that it was she who had found the chestnuts and yams earlier!

In the end, of course, no one objected to Shi Jia following along.

The sun was high in the sky, and there was no fog in the mountains, so the group did not feel uncomfortable walking through them.

However, they weren't in a hurry, so their gaze always bypassed the lush green pines and cypresses and landed on the "dried" trees, hoping to find one or two fruits on them.

That's why everyone walked very slowly.

"Is that a jujube tree?" Shi Jia squinted at the withered fruit hanging on the "dead tree" not far away.

"Yes, that's right." Everyone's eyes immediately followed her finger, and sure enough, it was a jujube tree. Someone was annoyed; he had looked in this direction earlier, how come he hadn't noticed it? "Village Chief, there are several jujube trees here." Shi Jia was also very happy. With so many, their family could get quite a share.

"Okay, everyone go pick them, be careful." Village Chief Li was very happy to have such a quick harvest.

After picking the dates, everyone's baskets already filled half the space.

"Keep going!" The successive harvests made the villagers of Dashan Village feel like they had been injected with chicken blood. They looked at the dense forest in front of them as if they were looking at a treasure.

But will good fortune continue?
I don't know when it started, but the trees around me became denser, the sunlight overhead became less and less, and the musty smell in the air became stronger and stronger.

Shi Jia frowned and tried to look at the sky through the gaps in the leaves.

The orange sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, still dazzling, but judging by the time, the sun was about to set.

She looked at Village Chief Li, who was still trying to walk forward, and shouted, "Village Chief, the sun is about to set, why don't we turn back?"

However, the continuous success emboldened everyone.

"Village chief, it's still early!" Li Dong glared at Shi Jia with dissatisfaction.

"It's still at least an hour before dark. What's there to be afraid of!" Li Liuzi scoffed.

The others remained silent, but their faces showed approval.

Shi Jia looked at the village chief and said, "Village chief, it gets dark quickly in the mountains, and nighttime is when snakes and insects are most active. Just in case, let's go back first. If everyone still wants to go into the mountains to look for things, you can organize another trip then."

Village Chief Li certainly wanted to continue searching, but he also had to consider safety. "Madam Li is right, what do you all think?"

“Village chief, what does she know? It’s not even dark yet, and we haven’t gone very far!” Li Dong said, dissatisfied.

Village Chief Li didn't look at him. "And you?"

"Village chief, I want to see more." A man licked his lips, his eyes full of reluctance. Clearly, his recent haul had excited him greatly.

"Village chief, I'll go back now. My wife is home alone..."

In the end, half the group decided to return, while the other half continued exploring. Village Chief Li looked at the five who wanted to stay and said sternly, "Don't forget the dangers behind the mountain!"

"So what? There are five of us! We've ventured deep into the mountains before." It's just that we never really got anything out of it.

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Li's mind flashed through a series of bloody images, and his expression immediately changed. He took a deep breath and asked, "Are you really not afraid?"

“What’s there to be afraid of! We’re not planning to spend the night in the mountains!” Li Dong said.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade them, Village Chief Li could only let them go. However, he remained uneasy, and images of the villagers coming down the mountain covered in blood kept flashing through his mind.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"Village chief? What's wrong?"

"Dashan, Tiezhu, you two go and call them back!" Village Chief Li looked at his two sons. "We'll wait for you here!"

Li Dashan and Li Tiezhu were a little confused as to why their father had suddenly changed his mind, but they didn't ask. They simply put down their baskets and turned around.

After a while, the voices of the two called out, "Li Dong, Liu Zi... come back quickly!"

“...Mountain…” The voice was muffled.

But the next second, a high-pitched and loud voice rang out, "Awooo—"

Everyone's expression changed drastically, and Village Chief Li ran back without saying a word. "Dashan, Tiezhu, come back quickly!"

"what--"

Screams erupted one after another, and everyone's face turned deathly pale. (End of Chapter)