Chapter 517 Overnight in a Tree Hollow (3k)
“Lin… a good name.”
Su Jiu didn’t rush to release the meat, but used a small bowl to marinate the snow rabbit monster meat with wine and seasonings…
After pouring some seasoning and side dishes into the pot, he kept glancing at the somewhat aloof girl. She should be a local. Tomorrow morning, he could ask her to lead the way to find some places like mass graves.
With a large war happening here, it was impossible that many people hadn’t died. And that Ice Sky Vulture liked to eat humans, so he could use that as a clue to investigate.
“This name will bring misfortune.”
Lin glanced at Su Jiu and said softly, her light purple pupils reflecting the firelight. She knew very well what kind of person she was and what she wanted.
“Names don’t bring misfortune, and besides, this doesn’t have any bad meaning.”
He paused. Su Jiu thought she was still sulking about what just happened. Smiling, he picked up a bottle of chili powder, shook it at her, and asked softly, “Do you like spicy food?”
“Spicy?”
Hearing this, Lin was stunned for a moment, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. She looked at the “Chuan Yu” marking on Su Jiu’s hand. Having grown up in Bear Country, she didn’t quite understand the meaning. She pursed her lips and asked with some curiosity:
“Is it delicious?”
“Of course.”
Su Jiu continued to smile, his movements orderly. He kept sneaking glances at Lin, finding her watching like a well-behaved child, which he found quite amusing.
Such a well-behaved child was not suitable for entering the battlefield as a Snow Guard.
Then, another fire was lit, and Su Jiu began to shave off the meat piece by piece with a fine steel dagger. He threaded the meat onto branches, coated it with vegetable oil, and slowly roasted it in circles. Soon, the aroma, accompanied by the sizzling sound of oil, reached Lin’s taste buds.
Her body almost instantly stiffened, her light purple pupils vertical. Having used to cultivating in the wilderness, she had never experienced such a scent. Her mouth immediately began to water.
She swallowed again, forcing her gaze from the food to Su Jiu…
Damn it!
This Lord would never like the coarse food of humans, but she didn’t seem to be human either?
Without noticing Lin’s unusual reaction, Su Jiu fanned the aroma and dropped the meat into the pot. With nothing else to do, he spoke up and asked:
“Do you know of any places nearby with many human casualties? I heard those monsters like to eat human flesh, and I happen to want to earn some Magic Crystals, so I can go ambush them.”
Hearing Su Jiu’s question, Lin was startled. Had she discovered something? Her hands subconsciously paused, but her face remained calm. She just said softly:
“I know, it’s on a hill not far from here. Some civilians and Snow Guards died there. Their bodies were piled up, and no one came to clean them up, attracting many carrion crows.”
“Let’s go take a look tomorrow morning.”
Hearing Lin’s answer, Su Jiu nodded with satisfaction. He took out another bowl, picked up a few slices of meat with chopsticks, scooped a ladle of red oil soup, and sprinkled some dried scallions before handing it over, smiling, “The meat is ready, try my cooking.”
“Th-thank you.”
Lin took the bowl and almost unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to break this moment of peace. Then, she lowered her head to look at the meat slices that made her appetite stir, with a conflicted expression on her face.
She originally thought she would feel sick seeing human food, but in fact, the tingling scent in the air made her unable to resist tasting this lowest-grade snow rabbit meat…
Finally, as if making a decision, Lin used the chopsticks Su Jiu handed her to spear a slice of crisp red rabbit meat. She parted her somewhat dark lips and, the moment she swallowed it, she suddenly stood up!
“This!!”
She stared intently at the rabbit meat, her pupils trembling slightly, disbelieving that this was a low-level monster she would never have glanced at before.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t tasted human food before, but this feeling was different. It was a stimulating sensation that the food from Bear Country could not replace.
Su Jiu found Lin’s reaction even more interesting. This little girl with an Eastern face seemed to have a mysterious surprise for this Dragon Country food.
However, seeing foreigners eating their own country’s food on TV in his previous life also made him very surprised, so Su Jiu wasn’t too surprised. Instead, he smiled and asked, “Spicy… is it delicious?”
“Delicious.”
Meeting Su Jiu’s gaze, a blush appeared on Lin’s face. She then sat down and nodded “unwillingly”. She then lowered her head and touched her stomach, which felt warm from the spiciness. It was a very fresh feeling.
It was more comfortable than eating fire-element Magic Crystals, and her body felt lazy.
“People shouldn’t just eat, they should eat well.”
Su Jiu smiled as he watched her actions. He also scooped a bowl of red oil meat soup and looked at the rising steam. She couldn’t quite remember how long it had been since she had eaten normal Chinese food.
She also took a small sip, feeling the salty taste spread in her mouth.
“…”
When Lin heard the word “person,” she clearly paused and slowly put down her chopsticks. She felt conflicted. She should be entering the city to destroy the formation now, but instead she was eating with a human… a half-demon.
Although eating heartily was very satisfying, she wasn’t exactly a glutton!
If she really lay around all day, the attack on the city might fail.
“I… I’ll go out for some fresh air.”
She needed to find an excuse to leave, and under the cover of night, sneak into the city. Thinking this, she was about to get up and walk outside.
“It’s very cold outside. Are you sure you’ll be okay as a Warrior Class? There’s plenty of meat here.” Su Jiu put down his bowl and asked with a smile.
“I’ll stay here then.”
Lin stopped in her tracks, and with her long Green Silk trailing behind her, she returned to the tree hollow. She didn’t know why, but the half-demon behind her gave her a strange feeling. If it were before, she would have simply killed him.
And he smelled of fire…
Deciding not to overthink it, her gaze fell back on the pot of red oil meat. She handed Su Jiu her bowl with a tone of disdain mixed with desire, saying, “Uh… I want more…”
Fearing Su Jiu might misunderstand, she quickly emphasized again, “Just a little bit, I feel it’s very peculiar.”
“Okay.”
Su Jiu smiled and took the empty bowl handed to him. Suddenly, his gaze paused on those fair and delicate hands, his eyes narrowing slightly—is this…
Are there no calluses on her hands?
Is she really a Snow Guard member who needs to train a lot?
The two of them continued to eat for another half hour. Su Jiu looked at Lin, who handed him her bowl again, and couldn’t help but wave his hand helplessly, with a wry smile, and tapped the empty pot with a spoon:
“It’s all gone. You ate most of the entire snow rabbit.”
“Oh. VI[I⑵IIIlin`+gs i玖⑺III⑷”
Lin responded indifferently, appearing unfazed, but her sneaky glances at the pot betrayed her inner feelings. Only when she realized that there was truly nothing left did disappointment appear in her pupils.
“Lin, where are your teammates? You wouldn’t have come to a place like this alone, would you?”
Su Jiu asked unobtrusively. Her fair hands gave him some other guesses, but he couldn’t be completely sure.
“They…”
Lin’s mind flashed with the rows of corpses she had seen before. She fell silent for a moment. They were killed by a King-level monster, and it wasn’t directly related to her. Then she said softly, “To cover my escape, they were killed by a giant snow wolf. My current goal is to go to the city to report the situation.”
Getting this normal answer, Su Jiu looked at her somewhat dispirited appearance and asked no further questions. The two of them seemed to fall into silence.
The dry branches made “crackling” sounds, and sparks were flicked onto the snowy ground, melting small holes, and so it went.
“You’re not a War General Level yet, so you should dress warmly. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the mass graves together to see if there’s anything to gain.”
Not knowing what else to talk about, Su Jiu took out a down jacket he had bought for Bai Zhi from his storage ring, got up, and put it on her.
Feeling the weight of the down jacket, Lin pursed her lips. She couldn’t articulate her current feelings. Apart from that woman, this was the first person who gave her a strange feeling.
“Can I tell you my story?”
Exhaling a long breath, Lin suddenly spoke up, pulling the down jacket tighter and looking at the flickering flames blankly.
“Of course, no problem.”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu was stunned. She desperately wanted to understand Lin, because her own guess was also absurd. That guess was baseless suspicion that this person… might be the one she was looking for.
The only ones who could make her Mental Power unable to sense them were likely…
Having received Su Jiu’s reply, Lin began to tell her story to the flames. “Actually, I am an abandoned infant. Ever since I can remember, I’ve lived without a father or mother’s love…”
Her eyes reflected the flames, and after a slight pause, she continued, “When it was time for my Awakening, I discovered that my Bloodline talent was also not good, but I was unwilling. So I cultivated frantically. Days went by, and I became a genius in the eyes of my peers…”
“However, I was still not satisfied, so I went to… the academy to consult the most respected Teacher and ask how I could advance further. But the answer I received every time was only one – Bloodline determines the limit.”
“I…”
Su Jiu fell silent. She had never experienced her situation before. In fact, she was a beneficiary of bloodline privilege.
If she didn’t have the ring space or the Ghost Car Bloodline, she might just be an ordinary university student.
Lin seemed to become a bit agitated. She suddenly looked up at Su Jiu, tugged at her sleeve, and said in a low voice, “Why? Tell me, how can something like Bloodline, determined from birth, affect us for our entire lives like a persistent parasitic worm?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how to comfort you either. I myself am someone who enjoys the benefits of bloodline.”
Su Jiu looked at the girl who was becoming somewhat hysterical and felt a sense of helplessness for the first time. She couldn’t comfort her, only remain silent.
Upon hearing Su Jiu openly admit that she was also a beneficiary of bloodline privilege, Lin almost instinctively revealed a chilling killing intent, but quickly suppressed it.
She let go of Su Jiu’s sleeve, lowered her eyebrows slightly, her small face appearing somewhat dejected, and mocked herself, “I’m truly… a useless person who only complains about fate, unlike those Lords with superior bloodlines.”
Seeing her like this, Su Jiu also felt a strange sadness in her heart. Recalling her experiences over the past few months, she said softly:
“However, the stronger the bloodline, the greater the responsibility. If a crisis arises, the strong must be the first to stand up. To wear a crown, you must bear its weight.”
“Then… did those people really do it?”
Lin raised her head slightly, a hint of mockery in her light purple eyes. Her clear voice echoed softly in the tree hollow.
