The moment the children heard they could take a bath and wash their hair, they were all very happy.
Gianna knew the water they brought back from the mountain hollow wasn't much, so they had to use it carefully.
The three children used about one bucket of water for their bath.
The water left in the wooden basin became very dirty after the bath.
But she didn't mind. She poured the used water into a separate bucket.
Then she also took a nice bath, and her whole body felt relaxed.
Floyd came out after his bath, wearing only a pair of pants, and he gave off the aura of a mature man.
Gianna took one look at him and quickly looked away, her face turning red.
It was clear Floyd had done a lot of physical work over the years. His body was well-toned.
Floyd didn't notice anything strange about Gianna.
He just asked, "Wife, can you help me find some clothes?"
Gianna quickly started searching in a fluster.
Floyd didn't have many clothes, just one extra winter outfit.
Her ears turned red as she handed the clothes to Floyd, and she couldn't help but glance at his muscles again—wow, eight-pack abs.
After bathing, Floyd also felt like he had lost a few pounds, feeling refreshed.
Looking at the pile of dirty clothes, he said, "I'll go to the mountain hollow again tomorrow and carry more water back. You can wash the clothes then."
But washing clothes like that would be quite a hassle.
Gianna frowned and said, "That's too troublesome. I'll bring the clothes with me and go with you."
Floyd didn't want Gianna and the three children to go back and forth like that.
He could wash the clothes himself. Plus, the weather was cold, and every winter Gianna would get chilblains from touching cold water.
It would be better for him to do the washing.
So he said, "There aren't many clothes anyway. I'll wash them while filtering the water. You staying home and taking care of the kids makes me feel better."
And that's how the matter was settled.
After the villagers left, Gianna and the children didn't feel uneasy at all. In fact, they really liked the peaceful feeling.
Xeno especially said, "Mom, does this mean I can run around the village now?"
Before, the villagers hated their family.
So their parents wouldn't let them go out and play, afraid others would harm them.
Actually, he didn't enjoy playing with the other village kids—he just wanted to walk around.
Floyd's eyes were full of guilt.
It was all his fault. If he hadn't made that stupid mistake back then, their family wouldn't have suffered so much.
He had tried to help everyone by giving each household ten catties of grain, but it turned into a disaster.
Not only did the villagers not appreciate it, they blamed him, resented him, and even hated him.
That's when his heart grew cold.
"If you want to go around the village, go ahead. The villagers are gone now. But you still have to be careful. Let your mom or one of your brothers go with you."
Dennis and Nori also wanted to walk around the village.
They hadn't been out much either.
The next morning, Gianna packed some baked coarse grain pancakes into Floyd's cloth bag. She also filled a gourd with water for him and watched as he left.
Then she had breakfast with the three kids, locked the door, and took them for a walk through the village.
The original owner of the body didn't have a good relationship with the villagers, so Gianna didn't have many memories of the village.
But she now thought the village was actually quite big.
Every house had its gate locked.
She wasn't interested in knocking to see if anyone left anything behind.
She just walked slowly with the kids.
The three children were super curious, finding everything interesting.
Just as Gianna was about to take them home, she suddenly saw five strong men sneak into the village from the entrance. They looked very suspicious.
They lived in a remote village. In the past, no strangers would ever come to their village all year round.
Right away, Gianna realized that these people were definitely not good and had bad intentions.
She quickly pulled the three children to hide behind the wall of a nearby courtyard.
She quietly told Dennis and Nori, "You two take Xeno and stay hidden in this yard. No matter what noises you hear outside, don't come out unless I or your dad calls you, understand?"
She didn't even know whose courtyard this was.
After glancing at the woodshed with an open door, she directly pushed the three children inside.
Then she used firewood to cover them up.
Before leaving, she reminded them again, "Did you remember what I said?"
The three children didn't know what was happening.
But seeing how serious Gianna was, they all nodded obediently.
After making sure the kids couldn't be seen from the outside, Gianna climbed out of the courtyard.
The five men had already reached the outside of her house.
"Boss, the door is locked. Looks like nobody's home!"
"Only Floyd left alone. His family must still be in the village. Hurry and look for them. Those four must be somewhere playing around."
The five men split up to search.
Gianna didn't bother hiding anymore.
Floyd wasn't home, the three kids were hidden, and there was no one else in the village. This was her territory now!
Since that's the case, she wouldn't be polite.
She hid in the shadows, watching the five men. Their faces looked fierce, and their eyes were full of killing intent.
She thought to herself, these five are definitely dangerous.
She could tell just by their eyes whether someone had killed before.
Clearly, these five weren't good people.
She never liked being passive. With a flick of her hand, a bow appeared.
It was a modern compound bow, very powerful.
She looked at a man who was getting closer. He was holding a knife, searching everywhere for her.
Gianna pulled the bow without hesitation.
With a "whoosh," the arrow flew straight into the man's chest.
Before he could react, he fell to the ground.
Gianna checked to make sure no one was around, then dragged the body into a corner and covered it with a bundle of firewood.
Then she hid again.
There were four men left. Back in the apocalypse, fighting four men alone wouldn't be a problem, but now her body wasn't trained enough and not flexible. Even handling three men earlier had been tough.
It would be best to take them down one by one.
Soon, she saw another man who had gotten separated from the group.
He also had a knife and was shouting, "Gianna!"
They were calling her name directly. If she still didn't realize they were targeting her, she'd be truly foolish.
Gianna pulled the bow again without hesitation.
Another "whoosh"—the arrow hit the man's chest. He died without even realizing where the arrow came from.
The sound of the body hitting the ground was loud.
It drew the attention of the nearest man.
He ran over and shouted in fear, "Big brother! Number five is hurt!"
Then, without wasting time, he started dragging the wounded man to hide.
Gianna calmly raised her bow again.