Ancient Eden

Chapter 40

(13.2)

Mu Qing got up from the ground and poked her head outside to take a look. She saw that Li Mang was walking hurriedly towards the southern direction of the settlement. The tall figure very quickly disappeared into the dense shadow of the night.

Mu Qing did not know what he was going to do now but fortunately pretending to have abdominal pain actually worked and stopped him from doing what he was going to do next.

That made her temporarily relieved. She was also glad that the man was not a complete barbarian. She did not know how long she could use this trick, she only hoped that when these days of danger passed, next month when those days come back, if she had good luck, by that time, she would have retrieved the compass that he had hidden, and found a way out of here.

Mu Qing straightened her clothes, curled herself up on the animal skin, and stopped moving.

The sound of hurried footsteps resounded outside, it sounded like two people were coming in this direction. Mu Qing tensely shrank herself and continued to emit constant moaning sounds from her throat.

The curtain door was lifted, and people came in. Li Mang was speaking very quickly with another person, his voice sounded anxious.

Mu Qing suddenly felt a little guilty for deceiving him. But that thought was gone in just a flash. Just the thought that she might end up pregnant because of his actions made her want to bite off a piece of his flesh. In the daytime, leaning against the foot of the tree, under the shade, watching Youyou catching birds, she suddenly remembered a news story she once read. It said a woman had been kidnapped by a savage man into the mountains to give birth to a child. A few years later, she found an opportunity to escape, the savage man brought the child along with him as he chased after her, and when he saw that he wouldn’t be able to catch up, he became so furious he tore the child in half. Back then, she was very frightened every time she thought of this story, and even shuddered in fear.

Someone approached from behind, a pair of cold hands were placed on her abdomen and pressed down hard on her abdomen. Even through the clothes, Mu Qing still felt the coolness.

The skin where she was touched quickly erupted in goose bumps. Mu Qing could not resist and slightly opened her eyes to take a peek.

She was startled.

A burning torch was illuminating the hut. A skinny, emaciated person was kneeling beside her, she was so thin that even the bones of her chest could be clearly seen. Mu Qing could only determine from the only layer left of dried-up sagging skin on her chest that she was a woman.

In the settlement, people of a similar age as the chief were not many, but she looked even older than the chief, her face was covered with folds, her drooping eyelids almost covered half of her eyes, which looked strange and unusual.

Mu Qing even forgot to moan, and only stared at her in a daze.

The old woman gave her a look and turned her head to say something to Li Mang behind her, her voice was rough and hoarse, like sand being rubbed on glass.

Mu Qing guessed that she was probably telling him that she had no big problem, because Li Mang’s expression became much more relaxed after listening to her.

While Mu Qing was hesitating whether to show a painful expression again, all of a sudden she was stupefied.

She saw the old woman pick up a bowl from the ground behind her, and inside the bowl was some kind of unknown black juice. She put her index finger in it and stirred it, then prayed toward heaven for a while, before handing the bowl to Mu Qing.

Mu Qing instantly understood. Li Mang had invited this old woman most probably because she was the witch doctor of the settlement. According to her understanding, she was probably the kind of person that could communicate with the ghosts and the gods, and also make remedies, she might even serve as a midwife when the women here give birth.

Mu Qing subconsciously shrank a little further, she did not dare to drink the stuff in this bowl.

The old woman grinned at her and said a few words to her. But the look of her smile under the light of the burning torch looked extremely creepy.

Mu Qing shook her head desperately.