Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 656: Chapter 656: Life and Death in Two Days and Two Nights (Part 13)
 

“Haven’t you seen that I’m still carrying a grown man? Just three more turns ahead is the exit. Walk faster, we’re almost there!”

But as he spoke, his impatience grew, and his footsteps could hardly carry him any further. It felt like the big brother he was carrying on his back was as heavy as a dead body.

“Is that right?”

The gloomy voice of Old Man Li came from behind.

“You’re so annoying! Old Man Li, you…”

Before Jiang Xiaocai could understand the situation, a whistling sound rushed straight to his head.

He instinctively dodged on the side, but the weight of Jiang Dacai on his back has almost drained all his strength, making his reaction slow.

The whistling sound hit him right on the head, and he didn’t even have a chance to let out a moan. He only felt a buzzing sound in his head, and his legs went weak, causing him to fall to the ground. The fire light was extinguished in an instant.

Seize your life when you are sick!

Old Man Li scored a hit with his stick and now was even more relentless. He picked up his crutch and kept swinging it at the place where he last saw Jiang Xiaocai fall!

Bang, bang, bang! ——

The sound of sticks echoed in the darkness, making it even more creepy.

Suddenly, he felt his swinging crutch was caught by someone, and before he could even react, a strong force came from the crutch, entangling his arm and pressing against his throat.

“Well, you old ghost Li! I knew you were not a good guy! How dare you betray me! Watch me take your life!” Jiang Xiaocai’s counterattack hit right on target, showing no mercy at all.

How could Old Man Li let it go just like that?

At this moment, he was also suffocated in his heart, and the desire to survive made him struggle desperately.

“You’re good! Don’t think I’m easy to deal with! I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve had rice. You two brothers are scheming against me! I am not easily beaten! Since we’ve come this far today, it’s either you die or I perish! You bastard, how dare you use your full strength…”

“You old devil! Did you harm my big brother? I’ll kill you, son of a bitch!”

The two fought fiercely, each trying to overpower the other, using as much strength as they could muster.

In the darkness, the two fought for who knew how long, and Jiang Xiaocai’s powerful punches left bruises with every hit. Old Man Li was small in stature, but despite being a lame man, he was unusually agile, skilled enough to live comfortably on the beggar’s heap. As they fought back and forth, Jiang Xiaocai had the disadvantage of being a bigger target.

Neither of the two fighters noticed that the unconscious Di Ying had already woken up.

The noise of cursing and fighting ahead had frightened her. She wanted to cry but didn’t dare to make a sound.

The instinct to survive made her retreat cautiously and, after gradually distancing herself from the two, she hurried back toward the depths of the cave, soon disappearing into the darkness.

“Mom, where are you! Come save YingEr! Wah wah…”

Meanwhile, the two fighters continued to beat each other, oblivious to the commotion around them.

As the two continued their fierce battle, Di Yelei and his group frantically pursued through the cave.

“Wait! Everyone, stop.”

Di Yelei suddenly halted, stopping the group in their tracks: “Everyone, stand still!”

After speaking, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, listening to the sounds coming from the ground. Numerous pairs of eyes fell on him.

A moment later, Di Yelei sprang up from the ground: “The sound is coming from over there. Xiao Wen, you’re familiar with the cave structure and topography. How far away are the sounds coming from and what’s the distance between us?”

“Over there? If it’s coming from that direction, then we’re not on the same path. The caves in this mountain are like spider webs, intersecting in many directions. Of course, many are dead ends – without a guide, you may wander inside for a long time, only to find yourself going in circles. We’re currently taking the longer but flatter route, while they should be on another dangerous path. The path over there is not easy to walk.”

Di Yelei’s eyes brightened! No wonder they hadn’t met anyone after chasing for so long.

“Then, can we take a detour to that path?”

“So, your plan is to catch up with the others on the other path? That may be difficult. Although the exits of these two paths are at the same entrance, they are hardly accessible in-between. If one is not careful, they could get stuck inside and never find a way out again.”

Xiao Wen seemed hesitant.

Zhang Yun beside him anxiously squeezed over: “Is there any way to get there quickly?”

Xiao Wen glanced back at the crowd behind him and hesitated to say: “… There is, but it’s too risky. Also, that path is very dangerous and difficult to walk on, so having more people will only get in the way.”

“That’s easy to solve. Let a few strong people come with us, and the rest can continue along this path out of the cave.”

Di Yelei gave the order directly.

As Di Yelei and others split off into a small team to chase the sound, the battle between the other two exhausted men eventually wound down.

At this moment, Old Man Li was pressed against the cave wall, lessening his presence.

While Jiang Xiaocai was also silent, carefully concealing his position. Both men wished death upon the other.

Disturbing sounds echoed through the cave – “drip, drip” – as water droplets fell into a pond, making the cave seem more empty, silent, and stifling.

What was most unbearable was the pitch-black darkness that enveloped them. They could not see their hands in front of their faces.

Old Man Li silently squatted down, groped around, and grabbed a small stone, throwing it to the other side.

As the sound echoed, Jiang Xiaocai was moved. He leaped towards the source of the sound.

However, he caught nothing!

Damn it!

He quickly retreated a few steps, but it was still too late. From behind, a flurry of stick strikes assaulted his spine and head…

His body swayed a few times and then could no longer hold, falling to the ground.

Old Man Li didn’t hold back his attack – after he had no strength left, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Did the other man die?

His whole body began to convulse, and after struggling to regulate his breath, he lit the fire torch again to find out.

Under the illumination of the fire, he saw Jiang Xiaocai drenched in blood, lying unconscious in a pool of it, not moving at all.

Old Man Li carefully moved the torch closer, inspecting the scene, and suddenly, something frightened him, making him jump!