Gu Jiu and Mrs. Gao had helped escort Fu Rong's Mom back. Under the light of a torch, Gu Jiu helped examine Fu Rong's Mom's body.
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing crisscrossing scars - evidence of frequent beatings. Some scars were faint, while others were fresh wounds. The newest ones had just scabbed over, showing they were inflicted in the past few days.
Fu Rong's Mom pulled her arm back and hid it behind her body, tugging her sleeve down.
"Don't be afraid," said Mrs. Gao. "This is our Ninth Sister, Gu Jiu. She has some medical knowledge. Let her take a look at you."
Fu Rong's Mom shook her head. "It's fine. They've scabbed over already. I'll be alright in a few days."
Mrs. Gao couldn't bear to see it. "Who did this to you? How could they be so vicious?"
Fu Rong's Mom spoke in a flat tone, "My husband. He wanted me to bear his child, but how could I give birth to that animal's offspring? I got rid of them all, so he beat me."
Although Mrs. Gao felt the children were innocent, she didn't judge others by her own standards. She stroked Fu Rong's Mom's emaciated face with pity and asked, "Poor child, you've suffered so much. What happened to your grandfather? When you arrived at Dahu Village, why didn't you come find me? Our two villages are so close. If you had come to me earlier, I would never have let you endure such torment."
Mentioning her grandfather made Fu Rong's Mom unable to hold back her tears. "Grandfather... he..."
She glanced at Gu Jiu, whose eyes were wide and full of curiosity, waiting for the rest of the story. Fu Rong's Mom swallowed her words and said, "Grandfather passed away from a sudden illness. Before he died, he instructed me not to bother Auntie Gao. If it weren't for my inability to go on living, I wouldn't have sought you out, Auntie."
A complex light flashed in Mrs. Gao's eyes as she sighed, "Your grandfather was just too cautious. Ah, let bygones be bygones. Good child, from today onwards, you'll come with us. Your grandfather was a benefactor of our Xie family. With us, you'll have food to eat - we won't let you starve."
Fu Rong's Mom knelt and kowtowed. "Thank you, Auntie Gao! Thank you!"
Mrs. Gao hurriedly told Gu Jiu to help her up.
Gu Jiu recalled that Mrs. Xu had mentioned before that when Mrs. Gao gave birth to Xie Zhan and Fifth Xie, she had a difficult labor. Xie Zhan was sickly at birth and stayed at Doctor Fu's residence in Jingzhou City for a long time before recovering his health.
Was Doctor Fu in Jingzhou City Fu Rong's Mom's grandfather? If so, this seemed rather strange. As a renowned physician who had treated countless patients over his lifetime, how could he possibly remember every one of them? Why would he specifically instruct his granddaughter not to bother Mrs. Gao on his deathbed? Were they more than just doctor and patient?
These questions flashed through Gu Jiu's mind briefly, but she had no intention of probing deeper, letting the thoughts pass without dwelling on them.
There was still some time before dawn. Mrs. Gao asked Mrs. Zhang and the others to squeeze together and make room for Fu Rong's Mom to sleep.
The next day was another fine weather.
The villagers of Huaishu Village planned to sun-dry the gastrodia elata for one more day to thoroughly dehydrate it for better preservation, so they were in no hurry to depart.
Third Xie had finished making Second Xie's cup, so Gu Jiu couldn't wait to craft a toothbrush and go hunt wild boars.
Unfortunately, she had no weapons.
Her spatial realm did contain an incredibly powerful crossbow, but its craftsmanship clearly did not belong to this era, so she couldn't take it out.
Only Xie Zhan had a slingshot, but Gu Jiu felt using a slingshot to hunt boars was a stretch - it might only enrage the boars instead.
After some thought, she went to find Third Xie again. "Third Brother, I need a weapon. Could you make me a crossbow? I'll draw you a design."
Second Xie teased from the side, "You're just a little lady. What do you need a crossbow for? Shouldn't your Third Brother make you a hairpin instead?"
Gu Jiu turned to him and said, "Second Brother, you don't understand. With a crossbow, we can go hunting for rabbits and pheasants. Wouldn't that be delicious?"
"Delicious! Delicious!" Xie Daji eagerly chimed in. "I want a crossbow too, Uncle Third. Make me one as well!"
Ever the doting uncle, Third Xie smiled gently. "Alright, I'll make them for you both."
Turning back to Gu Jiu, he said, "But your Third Brother has never seen a crossbow before, let alone know how to make one."
Gu Jiu flattered him, "Third Brother is so smart. I'm sure you'll figure it out just by looking. Don't worry, Third Brother. I believe in you!"
As she spoke, she drew a picture of the crossbow from her spatial realm on the ground for Third Xie to see.
The crossbow in her spatial realm had a range of about 500 meters and steel bolts that could pulverize the head of a beast - its power was immense.
At some point, Xie Zhan had come over. Looking at the crossbow design Gu Jiu had drawn, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper. If such a crossbow design were to be used in the military...
He studied the petite figure crouched on the ground intently. His doubts about her grew - she had medical knowledge, calculated like an ancient astrological text, and could even draw designs for weapons never seen before. Just who was this little girl?
Lu Aniu had followed as well, his eyes glittering brightly. "This looks very powerful. If it can really be made, it might even outrange the long crossbows used by the military. A good bow and arrow usually takes three years to complete, but I don't think this crossbow would require that long."
As the crossbow design on the ground neared completion, Third Xie suddenly said, "Everything else is fine, but what material would be used for the body? Pine wood or elm wood could work, but they lack elasticity and would greatly diminish its power. I haven't seen any bamboo in these woods either, which would have been ideal."
Gu Jiu had also considered this problem. In her eagerness to have a weapon for hunting boars, she hadn't thought through the limitations of their current conditions - they lacked the necessary materials to make anything.
Disappointedly, she said, "If only we had spring steel, that would be perfect. For now, let's use willow wood. We'll make multiple ones, and replace them when they break. The strings could be made from deerskin."
In these woods, she didn't know if there were any buffalo. If there were, buffalo hide would be even better. Logically thinking, there was a higher chance of encountering deer.
She looked around at everyone. "So to hunt boars, we need to hunt deer first."
"What is spring steel?" Xie Zhan asked.
"Spring steel..." Gu Jiu pondered for a moment. She seemed to recall that spring steel existed in the Bronze Age, but it probably wasn't called spring steel back then.
"It's a type of steel with excellent elasticity. You know those flexible swords used by martial artists? Those are likely made from spring steel."
While the others didn't understand, Lu Aniu, the experienced blacksmith, immediately grasped her meaning. "You mean the same material as saw blades."
"Exactly, that's the one! If the crossbow body was made from spring steel, with the bolts shaped into triangular arrowheads and hardwood shafts, combined with a deerskin string... a crossbow like that could easily achieve a range of at least three hundred... er, around ten zhang and bring down large beasts."
Lu Aniu and Xie Zhan exchanged a glance. Fired up, Lu Aniu said, "I still have some saw blades left from before, and some arrowheads I made. With some modifications, they can be used. These next few days, I'll see if I can hunt a deer."
With that, he turned and headed back to his area, starting to rummage through his belongings.
A thought flashed through Gu Jiu's mind - why would a blacksmith randomly make arrowheads at home if not for a purpose?
Third Xie was enthusiastically searching the nearby area for suitable wood to first complete the body and wooden shafts of the bolts.
Xie Zhan used his foot to erase the design from the ground, cautioning Gu Jiu, "In the future, don't draw this design so casually. Don't let others know you can draw it."
Crouched on the ground, Gu Jiu tilted her head up at him, a puzzled expression on her face.
