Seeing that Dage had finally relented and was willing to take Liyakade and the others to find a water source, Field was very happy and exchanged a glance with Alice.
Then everyone followed behind Dage.
Zhuanghan also felt relieved.
At least they hadn’t given up because of Dage’s attitude.
He couldn’t let this catch slip away.
However, what Dage had just said made Zhuanghan feel quite uncomfortable.
What did he mean by saying he wasn’t very smart?
It didn’t feel like it was part of his persona, but rather a veiled insult.
Never mind, it didn’t matter.
Whether it was intentional or not, as long as they could bring Liyakade and the others back.
“So, you live on this mountain, right?”
The attitudes of Zhuanghan and Dage had already made Field let her guard down.
Living in such a mountainous area required some vigilance, and their behavior seemed reasonable to Field.
So Field stepped forward to chat with them, trying to ease the atmosphere further.
Dage nodded, pointed to a direction on the mountain, and then replied to Field.
“My brother and I live in the log cabin over there. We’ve been living on this mountain for three or four years. There is indeed a water source up here. There’s a well a bit higher up. Let me take you to our place to rest first?”
“Really? That would be great. Are you sure we won’t be too much trouble?”
Hearing Dage’s enthusiastic invitation, Alice looked a bit surprised.
Their sudden arrival had obviously startled the two, but now Dage had changed his attitude, becoming warm and hospitable.
“No trouble. Since my brother thinks you’re good people, you probably won’t harm us. Anyway, it’s just me and my brother at home, no one else.”
Dage explained casually, saying that it was because of his brother that he chose to trust Liyakade and the other two.
“Well, we’ll gladly accept your offer.”
Since Dage had invited them, Field didn’t refuse and agreed.
It would be good to sit in the log cabin and rest, adjust their pace.
“Unexpectedly smooth, Liyakade.”
Alice looked at Liyakade and smiled brightly.
Although they hadn’t found any bandits, they had successfully located a water source in less than half a day from when they left the caravan.
This would solve the caravan’s crisis.
“I didn’t expect it to be this smooth either. But we still need to go check the well they mentioned first.”
Seeing Alice’s pure and innocent smile, Liyakade smiled back.
Indeed, innocent Alice didn’t seem to notice anything suspicious about the two woodcutters.
She still thought they were original inhabitants of the mountain.
Field wondered if she had noticed their flaws.
Thinking this, Liyakade looked at Field walking ahead.
At that moment, Field was still chatting with Dage.
“So only the two of you live here? By the way, you two are brothers, but you don’t look very alike, do you?”
Field turned to look at Zhuanghan, then back at Dage, asking with a slightly puzzled tone.
‘Nonsense! We’re not brothers, so it’s normal not to look alike!’
Although Dage was cursing Field internally, he naturally couldn’t show it.
He was quickly thinking of a reasonable excuse.
“Uh… we’re actually cousins. It’s normal not to look that much alike, right?”
“Oh, so you’re cousins. Sorry, my apologies.”
After hearing Dage’s answer, Field quickly apologized to them a bit sheepishly, then asked why they had come to the mountain.
“But this wilderness, why did you choose to live on the mountain? Isn’t life in the city good?”
“I felt life in the city was too noisy, so I brought my brother here to live in seclusion. The mountain is quite peaceful.”
Dage made up another excuse.
‘Does this woman even know how to make conversation? It’s like she’s checking my household registration. We’ve only met once. Isn’t it a bit rude to keep asking these questions? She just said sorry, and now she’s asking again.’
In truth, Dage just didn’t want to bother making up stories.
The real reason he became a bandit here was because he couldn’t make it in the city.
Since childhood, he had been lazy and liked to get things without effort.
When he was young, he didn’t want to work and had no food, so he thought about stealing.
He succeeded a few times, and after tasting the sweetness, he became even bolder, only to get caught red-handed.
When his parents found out, they kicked him out immediately.
With nowhere to go, he had to continue his shady deeds elsewhere.
Once, while sneaking into a house, he accidentally encountered the mistress.
She was voluptuous and curvy.
He couldn’t control his evil intentions and raped her.
After he finished, he realized the situation was serious.
To cover it up, he killed her and buried her.
But the mistress’s disappearance soon alerted the neighbors.
The authorities discovered the truth and issued a wanted order.
With the matter exposed, he didn’t want to go to jail or face the death penalty, so he fled to the nearby mountains to become a bandit.
Robbing passing travelers and caravans every day wasn’t bad—it was a kind of getting something without effort.
When lucky, he could even enjoy the beauties their boss had already used.
Life was fairly comfortable.
“I see. It’s understandable not to adapt to city life.”
The group chatted as they walked up the mountain.
Soon they arrived at the log cabin Dage had pointed to.
The log cabin was built on a slightly flat area halfway up the mountain.
Next to it was even a small cultivated field, indicating they lived a self-sufficient farm life.
“Please come in, ladies.”
Dage gently pushed open the wooden door and politely invited Liyakade and the others in.
“Thank you.”
Field and Alice entered the cabin one after the other.
Alice smiled and thanked Dage.
Liyakade followed Alice into the log cabin.
As soon as she entered, Liyakade’s nose twitched slightly.
Her keen senses seemed to catch a strange scent.
The corner of her mouth lifted in a barely noticeable arc.
Things seemed to be more complicated than she had thought.
Inside the log cabin, besides some wooden furniture, there were almost no decorations.
It was very simple.
Liyakade and the others sat down on wooden chairs in front of a long log table.
“Ladies, you must be tired from climbing the mountain. Let me get you some water to drink.”