Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

The rekindled fire illuminated the surroundings, and the Hu family members, who had been blown about by the strange wind, got up from the snow.

"Is anyone injured?" Chen Yongqiang walked over quickly and reached out to help Hu Jiuhua up.

Hu Jiuhua waved his hand: "I'm fine."

He then turned to Hu Chuyao and asked, "Chuyao, are you alright?"

At this moment, Hu Chuyao was still kneeling in the snow, her head down, gently stroking the broken surface of the Wenwang Drum with her hand, without responding immediately.

Chen Yongqiang looked at Hu Chuyao's silent back and understood.

That King Wen Drum was no ordinary object to her. He didn't make a sound to disturb her, but simply stood quietly in place.

A system notification sounded in Chen Yongqiang's mind at the right time:

[The host, in dire straits, discerned the true nature of "Year's End," successfully driving away the Night Beast and completing the transition from the old year to the new!]

[Reward Settlement: Blessing +200, Spirit Field Space expanded by one acre, as a reward for your successful coordination of the "Heaven, Earth, and Man" triad.]

As the voice faded, a faint warm current flowed into his body.

The boundaries of that spiritual field space deep within consciousness silently extended outwards.

"The reward points just offset the cost of using the God-Slaying Whip, and the spirit field space has expanded by one acre... There will be more things I can carry in the future!" Chen Yongqiang thought to himself, suppressing the joy in his heart.

"Chu Yao! Chu Yao, hang in there!"

Hu Jiuhua's urgent call pulled Chen Yongqiang back to reality.

He looked up and saw that Hu Chuyao had fainted in the snow, and Hu Jiuhua was anxiously supporting her.

Chen Yongqiang immediately stepped forward: "What happened? Are you injured?"

His gaze swept over Hu Chuyao's pale face and the broken drum she was clutching tightly in her hand.

"I used up a lot of energy while praying for blessings, and I'm exhausted," Hu Jiuhua explained.

Chen Yongqiang thought it made sense. Hu Chuyao had traveled a long way to Fengxiao Valley and then spent several hours beating the Wenwang Drum in this freezing cold altar.

Even an ordinary strong man might not be able to withstand it, let alone Hu Chuyao, a woman.

"I know a place to stay. Follow me." Chen Yongqiang remembered the bear den from before, which was a good place to hide temporarily.

Hu Jiuhua turned to the members of the Hu family and instructed them, "Pack your important belongings, let's leave here first."

Chen Yongqiang walked ahead, holding a rifle, while Hu Jiuhua followed closely behind, carrying Hu Chuyao on his back.

The remaining members of the Hu family carried scattered belongings, and the group struggled through the deep snow toward the bear cave.

Chen Yongqiang hadn't gone far when he suddenly stopped and turned to Hu Jiuhua to explain, "I left my machete behind. Please wait here for a moment, I'll go back and get it, and I'll be right back."

After saying that, he turned around and hurried back.

It wasn't about forgetting his machete; Chen Yongqiang's real purpose in returning was to deal with the seven wolves he had just killed.

Back near the altar, the wolf carcasses lay frozen stiff in the snow.

With a slight thought, Chen Yongqiang stored all the wolf carcasses into his spiritual field space. These wolf pelts were worth quite a bit of money.

Having caught up with the Hu family again, Chen Yongqiang said apologetically, "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Their place of lodging isn't far from here, it's just ahead."

Chen Yongqiang quickly walked ahead to lead the way, and soon stopped in front of a mountain wall: "We've arrived!"

As he spoke, he began to clear away the withered branches blocking the entrance to the cave. These branches were covered with a thick layer of snow.

If you don't look closely, you'll hardly notice that there's a cave hidden at the foot of this mountain wall.

After entering the cave, Chen Yongqiang quickly started a fire to ward off the chill, while Hu Jiuhua settled Hu Chuyao on a pile of dry grass in the corner.

Hu Jiuhua looked around the dry cave, his tone tinged with approval: "I didn't expect my young friend Yongqiang to be able to find such a place."

It was snowing outside, and if they couldn't find shelter, they might all perish on Qinglong Mountain that night.

Chen Yongqiang took out his small pot and placed it on the fire to boil water: "I found it by chance when I went hunting in the mountains before. It used to be a bear den."

"A bear?" Hu Jiuhua's expression hardened slightly.

"Don't worry, I've already taken care of that bear." Chen Yongqiang added a piece of firewood.

Hu Jiuhua finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After the water boiled, Chen Yongqiang poured the hot water into an enamel cup and handed it to Hu Jiuhua: "Uncle Hu, have some hot water to warm yourself up first."

Hu Jiuhua took the enamel cup and carefully fed Hu Chuyao a few sips.

Chen Yongqiang poured the remaining hot water from the pot into the kettle and handed it to the other members of the Hu family: "Everyone, drink some water to warm up first, I'll get some food right away."

The Hu family accepted the kettle and thanked them repeatedly.

Hu Jiuhua looked at Chen Yongqiang, who was busy but not chaotic: "You've prepared very thoroughly."

"I used to travel around in the mountains a lot, and these were essential items." Chen Yongqiang's hands didn't stop moving.

His wilderness survival experience clearly far surpasses that of these members of the Hu family.

"I never expected to be able to eat dumplings in this freezing weather!" Hu Jiuhua said with a pleasant surprise as he watched Chen Yongqiang put dumplings into the small pot.

"The pot is a bit small, so we'll have to cook several batches," Chen Yongqiang said somewhat embarrassedly.

He had prepared these cooking utensils for going into the mountains alone, but now that he had to take care of six or seven people, they were indeed inadequate.

"This is already quite remarkable!" Hu Jiuhua said sincerely. The perilous situation that night was entirely due to Chen Yongqiang's skillful handling and protection.

While the dumplings were still uncooked, Chen Yongqiang used a machete to cut a few tree branches to use as chopsticks.

"The conditions are basic, so please make do with them for now."

In fact, he still had quite a few bowls, chopsticks and cooking utensils stored in his spiritual field space, but it was really difficult to explain their origin if he took them all out.

After the first batch of dumplings was cooked, Chen Yongqiang divided them into several enamel cups.

"Everyone, eat while it's hot, I'll cook the next pot."

Seeing that the Hu family hadn't touched their food, Chen Yongqiang explained, "I don't know if your Hu family has any dietary restrictions, but these are sauerkraut dumplings, so everyone should be able to eat them, right?"

Upon hearing that it was sauerkraut filling, Hu Jiuhua smiled and said, "There aren't that many rules. We only abstain from meat during the prayer period, so this vegetarian filling is perfect."

Chen Yongqiang added some more wild vegetable dumplings to the pot: "We'll have to make do here for the night and go down the mountain at dawn."

"Now that the evening beast has retreated, there's no need to rush the rest," Hu Jiuhua nodded.

On this snowy New Year's Eve, Chen Yongqiang never expected that he would spend it with the Hu family, with whom he had no prior connection.

Shamanic culture has always been shrouded in mystery, and there are many misunderstandings about it.

Like the Hu family, they are actually silently undertaking many unknown tasks to protect the peace of their village.

"Oh right," Chen Yongqiang recalled Hu Chuyao's damaged Wenwang Drum.

"What kind of hide do you use for your drumheads? I have some good animal hides at home that might come in handy."

"You're too kind, young friend," Hu Jiuhua said, shaking his head gently.

"However, the drumhead of the King Wen Drum must be covered with donkey hide from a specific year; ordinary animal hides cannot be substituted."