Chapter 3: Retrieving Corpses from the Cold Pool

  All hardships, as long as you have the courage to face them, there is a 50% chance of overcoming them! This was what Xiaoguo said to him, and Xiaodou also never forgot to live on strongly.

  On the fifth day, he began to collect the internal organs left over by the black-clothed fiend. He worked quickly and efficiently, without making a single mistake or showing any fear.

  It was all thanks to Xiao Guo that he slept by the viscera of these people for three days, and finally on the eighth day, the black-clothed demon did not eat him again, and flew out of the cave!

  Another little fellow Xiao Xiao, who was still alive, dropped his rag and kicked him with a small foot, laughing loudly:

  "Silly little bean, what are you doing? The master will be out for several days again, it's safe now!"

  Xiao Dou threw away the iron shovel and jumped up with a silly smile: "So that means I passed, great!"

  Xiao Mei walked over with a red face and whispered: "You, be careful, if you make a mistake, you'll end up like Xiao Feng in the past, being eaten away!"

  Xiao Guo walked over with a smile and said: "Don't talk here, let's finish our work first. Let's go to the mountain stream by the cold pool in the inner room to talk!"

  Four little guys chatted for a long time by the water's edge in the mountain stream's cold pool, and then Xiao Dou suddenly jumped up like he had come back to life, staring with wide eyes and loudly asking:

  "What's wrong, Little Fruit Sister? This is the third time you've been caught by a monster, and it's always because you deliver yourself to their doorstep. Why is that?"

  Xiao Guo sighed and said: "I've been like you since I was a child, not knowing why I'm living in this world. But in my memory, there's a beautiful pond with many flowers. It wasn't until much later that I learned they were called narcissus. From then on, I gave myself the name Narcissus."

  Xiao Dou asked in confusion: "Aren't you called Xiao Guo? Why are you also called Shui Xian?"

  Xiao Guo shook her head and said, "I came here just to get used to that demon's habits, changed Xiao Guo's name, but the main reason I sent it to the door was still my vague memory. In that memory, there were many people wearing white clothes, carrying treasure swords on their backs, each of them stepped on the treasure sword and flew in the sky, then flew separately to a very far place that couldn't be seen!"

  "Immortal practitioner!" Xiaoxiao exclaimed: "Only immortal practitioners can fly in the sky, right?"

  Xiao Guo nodded and said: "I think, my parents must be the immortal cultivators that people talk about, but I was so young, where can I find the immortal cultivators? However, when I was caught by a monster and was about to be eaten, a person with a sword on his back appeared, but he was wearing different clothes from what I remembered of the immortal cultivator!"

  Xiao Mei giggled and said: "At this moment, it must be the gods defeating the bad guys, that's what the storyteller always says."

  Xiao Guo's face was filled with a nostalgic smile as she said: "Hmph, he was so amazing! Standing in mid-air, casually wielding the flying sword, and killing the monster with just one strike. I'm so angry at myself for being stunned at that moment. By the time I came to my senses, he had already disappeared!"

  "Huh? If it's safe now, then why did I get caught again?"

  Xiao Guo recalled the past and said, "Later, when I was bullied by other kids again, I vowed to find my parents and let them protect me. For this reason, I wasn't afraid of anything. I wandered alone in the deep mountains and wilderness, but was caught by a tiger demon once more. So, I tried to understand his personality, took care of him, and helped him with chores, which is how I survived."

  "Ah~ so you've had experience before, I was wondering why I couldn't surpass you despite being so clever back then, haha~ what about afterwards?"

  Xiao Guo let out a bitter laugh and said: "I've waited for so long, and finally, I've been able to meet a cultivator. I killed the tiger demon and asked him to take me as his disciple, but this cultivator is a very powerful monk who says he can't accept girls as disciples. How detestable! I've failed again."

  "But I didn't give up, and continued to walk alone in the mountains. Eventually, I was caught by the black-clothed demon that exists today. I must survive, wait for a cultivator to come and kill him, then I'll seize the opportunity to ask them to take me as their disciple! Only this way can I possibly find my parents!"

  Xiao Mei said sadly: "I also wish that a god would come and kill the master, so I can go home and be with my mother again. Alas, it's been two years since I've seen my mother!"

  Little Little shook her head and said: "I don't have a home, but I have some relatives. Wait, didn't Xiaoguo say that there are many gods? One day we will be rescued back home!"

  Xiao Dou's face was filled with distress as he said, "You guys are so lucky, you all have hope of finding your families. Only I, whether I leave or stay here, am always alone. For the sake of a mouthful of food, for the sake of survival, I must struggle desperately!"

  Xiao Guo frowned and said, "Xiao Dou, why don't you just come with me? You're not picky about food either. Not all cultivators are vegetarians, that big monk eats chicken legs too!"

  "Being with Little Guo sister is great, haha... From now on I have a sister, I have family, it's so good, haha..."

  Look at him grinning from ear to ear, laughing so hard he's jumping up and down, making a racket nonstop. Little Guo also couldn't help but grab onto him, smiling wryly and saying:

  "Come on, stop smiling foolishly, what's so great about it?!"

  Xiao Dou's eyes were welling up with tears as she said seriously: "Xiao Guo, no, Shui Xian jie jie, you also know how hard it is for a person to be alone, right? It hurts so much here, Xiao Dou's heart hurts so much. But from now on, Xiao Dou has Shui Xian jie jie, and she's not alone anymore. There's someone to play with Xiao Dou, eat with Xiao Dou, and sleep with Xiao Dou!"

  Xiao Guo's eyes suddenly turned red, and she left two tear marks as she cried softly:

  "Suixian, haha, I've had this name for almost five years now, and you're the first person to call me that. Suixian is so happy! But Xiaodou, in front of this monster, from now on, you still have to call me Xiao Guo, got it?"

  "Ah, then, Little Guo sister!" Xiao Dou wiped away her tears and smiled foolishly: "After we're rescued, I'll call you Water Fairy sister every day!"

  Xiao Guo smiled wryly and said: "Look at your silly appearance, you're a bit taller than me, how old are you? Don't call it wrong, maybe you're even older than me!"

  "I don't know how old I am either, but you're the smartest and most capable person I've ever met, and also the kindest to me. You're Xiaodou's sister!"

  Watching the two of them being affectionate, Xiaoxiao couldn't help but say urgently: "Xiaoguo sister, you can talk about this later when we get back tonight. Now let's focus on finding the treasure!"

  Xiao Mei nervously shouted: "Then I'll just pull the rope on the shore, don't force me, I'd rather die than go down!"

  Xiao Guo nodded and said: "Xiao Mei, I know you're timid, so I won't let you go down!"

  Xiao Dou asked in confusion: "What's going on? Why are you pulling the rope?"

  "Oh, right!" Xiao Guo hastily explained: "Xiao Dou, it's like this. Often there are some Taoist priests and monks who shout about subduing demons and monsters wanting to kill Master, or those who wander into the mountains and get lost on the winding roads."

  "They were all killed by Mr. Dou outside the cave, and some of their personal belongings, including snow-white silver, heavy weapons, thick armor, medicine... even the potato seeds in the small garden were found on those dead bodies."

  Xiao Xiao patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "Hmph, there's everything, a small pile in a small hole outside the cave, I'll take you to see it sometime."

  Xiao Guo continued: "And there are some people who are very strange, seemingly very powerful, they can fight with the master for a long time. Every time such a situation occurs, the master always runs to this cold water pool, and in the end, he can always miraculously kill those who want to kill him in the water."

  "I think that those people outside are probably not very powerful, they don't have anything good on them. But the dead people in this water pool, I estimate they were all powerful people, and they must have some good things on them."

  "We'll find the treasure, if it's silver or something similar, most of it will go to Xiaomei and Xiaoxiao. If there's any real treasure, I'll take it, and later when I meet a cultivator, I'll give it to him, and he'll likely accept me as his apprentice!"

  Xiao Dou smiled wryly and said: "Little Guo sister, didn't you say that the dead people in the cold pool were swollen by water and scary? Then... this..."

  Xiao Guo shook her head and said firmly, "In order to find my parents, I'm not afraid of anything. Xiao Xiao, you get ready next. Xiaomei, remember, tie the rope to the rock and pull me up in one minute!"

  She took off her outer clothes and tied a rope around her waist with one finger, standing barefoot by the water's edge. She scrubbed her body hard with water, which was obviously very cold, chilling to the bone, especially for a girl, this is absolutely harmful.

  But Xiaoguo bit his silver teeth, and resolutely jumped into the water, diving down. After a minute, the three little guys hastily pulled on the rope, pulling Xiaoguo up!

  After Xiao Guo came up, he sat on the shore, huddled his body, his face was pale, his lips were iron blue, and his body kept shaking. His upper and lower teeth also kept "fighting". After a while, he frowned and thought for a moment before saying:

  "That's right, I remember that four people died here, and there are exactly four bodies below. Let's go get them all out today!"

  Xiao Dou hastily pulled her and said: "Little Guo sister, your face is pale, that's enough, you come up, I'll go fishing!"

  "You're not afraid? Alright then, go ahead and try. I'll tell you the location. If it doesn't work out, just pull the rope three times with all your might and we'll pull you back up. Then I'll take a rest before going down again. Xiao Xiao, get ready, let's start!"

  Xiao Dou's heart ached for this girl who had pulled herself out of her own hell, and despite being very scared, she still steeled herself to jump into the icy cold water.

  According to Xiaoguo, after diving down, looking to the lower left, haha, there really is a human shadow!

  At this time, one of his eyes was completely closed, and the other eye was slightly narrowed. This was a trick Xiao Xiao told him, not to look at the dead person, nor be afraid, after knowing the position of the dead person, he would try to row over, grab the dead person with both hands and wait.

  However, when he grabbed a motionless person, his heart still inexplicably caused a panic. Just as he was waiting stupidly for a while, the rope around his waist pulled him to the water's edge with a few tugs.

  At that moment, he heard three girls' miserable cries, and then a pair of small hands quickly covered his eyes!

  It's Xiaoguo! He hastily covered his eyes and shouted loudly:

  "Stop yelling, what are you afraid of? You've seen dead people many times before. Quickly drag him to the corner of this cave!"

  After hearing a dragging sound, Xiaodou regained his vision and opened his eyes with great joy:

  "Little sister Xiao Guo, so you're saying I succeeded? Hmm... the three of you look so pale, didn't you all fall ill or something?"

  Xiao Guo took a deep breath and said nervously: "Xiao Dou, to be honest with you, I saw the dead person in the water, I'm scared too, I...I don't dare go down either, so..."

  "Haha, I didn't see anything, I'm not afraid, it's nothing. This little job is all on me now. I'll go down right away, just pull me up quickly, I've been waiting for a long time at the bottom!"

  Fools have good luck, he won't have nightmares at night, and Xiao Dou, with the help of three girls, managed to salvage all three bodies from underwater.

  But Xiao Guo didn't even let him see her until the end, and he, with a happy smile, his nose running, his whole body curled up and icy cold, tightly huddled next to the fire pit, alone roasting potatoes, waiting for the three girls to finish scavenging for goods, burying the corpses, and then come back with a package of things to eat!

  After four children finished eating roasted potatoes, the faces of three girls improved a little bit. Xiao Guo took a few deep breaths and then opened her small bag, rummaged through it and said:

  "It's roughly divided into six things, one is silver, one should be the gold we've never seen before, one is this small bell, one is a jade pendant, one is a precious sword, and one is this pearl. As for the remaining books and small bottles, let's not count them. What do you think, how should these be divided?"