Chapter 16 of 29

Chapter 10

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When the latter half of the night arrived, the misty wind in the valley became less cold and gradually swept by with less and less strength. The diminutive campfire trembled slightly in the night wind, and the bright moonlight shone through the wispy clouds to illuminate the flat ground on the mountaintop. Because the mountain had a part that was concave, a shadow was formed underneath.

Jing Xia’s group of four stood below this shadow, encircling the campfire, and no one spoke. Only the flames burned quietly in the air and from time to time, they combusted with a crackling sound, interrupting the silence.

Jing Xia looked into the small mung bean sized eyes for a long time. The more he looked at this little guy’s eyes, the more radiant and crafty he found them, seeming very wretched. Just based on his still aching old waist, Jing Xia was the first to speak, “No need to pursue for what reason it attacked us. Just tie it to a big rock, and throw it away.”

Ji Chuancheng lifted his gaze, “It attacked you.”

Jing Xia pouted, “I don’t care. Anyway, this little thing is really too vile. How about this? Just tie it to a big rock and let it bake under the sun for a few days.”

The feeling of soreness in his waist completely can not compare to the frustration in his heart. Every time Jing Xia saw this little black ball, he would think of how his lower back was strained while leaning down. The ‘him’ who could even kill S-class variants, actually… actually lost to such a little thing that appeared completely harmless. So much so that perhaps no one would even give it a class!

This was a complete humiliation!

Hearing this, Ji Chuancheng looked up and silently swept his gaze over Jing Xia, before looking towards Qin Chu, saying, “Take out some morinda root.”

Qin Chu helplessly spread her hands, “I gave all of it to the little bastard.”

Seeing Ji Chuancheng’s cold gaze sweep towards himself, Jing Xia subconsciously took a step back while covering his chest, righteously saying, “Don’t look at me. I’m not going to give it to this little thing to eat.” Although Jing Xia had no appetite for the dried morinda root, when compared to feeding it to this little thing, he would much rather swallow it himself.

Looking at Jing Xia’s appearance of willfulness, Ji Chuancheng lightly sighed, his voice containing a hint of helplessness and indulgence, “If it did not come for the morinda root, then we may be carrying something that can attract mutant beasts. Jing Xia, take it out.”

Hearing the other party call out his full name, Jing Xia naturally understood the seriousness of this matter. Ji Chuancheng’s concerns were not unreasonable. Although he had not seen anything that could attract mutant beasts in the later stages, this does not mean that it does not exist.

Jing Xia had no choice but to take out the small bag of morinda root from his pocket. He hadn’t even handed it to Ji Chuancheng yet, when he saw that little black ball struggle tenaciously.

Four thick, short legs were kicking in the air, its small eyes letting out dazzling rays of light, fixedly staring at the transparent bag containing the dried morinda root. Although Ji Chuancheng’s two fingers were like the strongest restraints, tightly pinching the little black ball, it still twisted its chubby body persistently without giving up, its slender tail swaying in the air rapidly.

“Jijijiji! Jijijijijiji!!!”

Mine! Mine! It’s all mine! Mine! ! !

Now, there is no need to take out the morinda root, since just based on the reaction of this little thing, everyone had confirmed that this little guy indeed came over due to the bag of seemingly inconspicuous morinda root.

Qin Chu stroked her chin and came over. She scrutinized the bag of morinda root for a long time, before finally coming to a conclusion. “This bag of morinda root was personally produced by me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the process of extraction. I also personally bought the original morinda root. So everything is definitely normal. I have also never heard of black hamsters who liked eating morinda root, so… this little ball’s evolutionary direction is too strange.”

“En, then don’t worry about it.” Jing Xia deliberately waved the bag of morinda root in front of the little black ball, before hiding it back in his pocket at the fastest speed. He listened to the black ball’s “jijijiji” cries, as he happily said, “Then we can think about how to dispose of this little guy? I propose, first find a big rock, and…”

Jing Xia had not yet finished his words, when he saw Ji Chuancheng gently letting it go, and the little black ball swiftly ran away. It was almost a ghostly speed, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the grass. After a few more scrambles, not even its shadow was left.

Jing Xia: “…”

Ji Chuancheng gently dusted off his hands, saying, “Time to change shifts. Jing Xia, you go and rest first.” The tone was calm and unhurried, as though he had merely patted off some dust and did not do anything significant.

Gnashing his teeth as he looked at the handsome face of Ji Chuancheng, Jing Xia realized that from young till now, he had never found out that this guy’s face actually needed a smacking this much. Fiercely cracking his knuckles to issue snapping sounds, Jing Xia coldly sneered, “Ji · Chuan · Cheng!”

Seeing this scene, Steward Wang could only helplessly smile, before turning away. And Qin Chu, who was more accustomed to this, had already returned to the camp first, adding a few pieces of dry wood to the flames that were about to be extinguished.

Ji Chuancheng gently lifted his line of sight, and using a calm and unperturbed gaze to glance at Jing Xia, his thin lips opened to say, “What’s wrong?”

“Sigh. Nothing. Do your night duty well ah. Haha.” Seeing that familiar calm gaze without a single ripple, the towering flames that had ignited in Jing Xia’s heart were all instantly extinguished. In the same way that he had done since meeting this person, he gave a forced smile while rubbing the back of his head, saying, “A’Chuan, do your night duty well ah. Be careful of that… that mutated black hamster coming here to cause trouble again.”

Ji Chuancheng expressionlessly looked at Jing Xia as he walked to his sleeping bag, layed down inside and pulled up the zipper. It wasn’t until the young man’s steady breathing sounded from the shadowy figure before he shifted his line of sight, walking to the fire side and sitting down.

The orange light of the flame carried a warm sensation, sweeping away the slight chill in the summer night air of the mountains. Ji Chuancheng looked at the flying embers with a tranquil expression, not speaking. However, the previously pursed lips seemed to be slightly raised, but under the cover of the night, even Qin Chu who was sitting by Ji Chuancheng’s side, could not see it clearly.

Ji Chuancheng silently kept watch by the warm campfire, the same way that he had done over the past few nights, not making a single sound.

And on this night, the youth sleeping behind him, still had such bad sleeping habits.

It seemed as though nothing had changed, and with the first glimmer of dawn, the group of people tidied up everything, rapidly going on their way. Ji Chuancheng was the last to leave, using a sharp dagger to carve a mark on the mountain, before following the procession.

In the same way as before, Qin Chu took the lead in clearing the road, and Ji Chuancheng brought up the rear. Jing Xia carried a large bag that was gradually lightening, while taking out the small bag of morinda root that Qin Chu had given him last night. Although its taste was not very good, at a time like this, it could also be considered to be a little snack to eat on their journey.

“Do you want to eat?” Jing Xia turned and looked at Ji Chuancheng, waving the bag in his hand.

Ji Chuancheng shook his head.

This answer was entirely within the expectations of Jing Xia. He unconcernedly turned around, and raised his voice to ask, “Grandpa Wang, do you want to eat morinda root? It can eliminate fatigue.”

Qin Chu walked at the very front, and hearing Jing Xia’s words, she turned and said with a smile, “Oh right, little bastard, I forgot to tell you yesterday. This morinda root can also nourish kidney deficiency and treat premature impotence. If you wanted, it can also be effective for infertility.”

“…” Resisting the urge to slam the bag against the ground, Jing Xia looked at Steward Wang, once again asking, “Grandpa Wang, do you want to eat?”

Steward Wang smiled, reaching out to take a piece of morinda root from the bag in Jing Xia’s hand, saying, “Young master, you eat. Ke… This old man’s body is fine. Everything will be fine as long as you don’t tire yourself out keke…” Seeing Jing Xia’s look of concern, Steward Wang gave a gentle smile, “Don’t worry about this cold. I already feel much better. It should be cured in a few days keke……”

Seeing Steward Wang’s efforts to suppress his cough, Jing Xia’s brow gradually wrinkled. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a familiar “jiji” sound coming from the other side of the path.

“Jiji! Jijijiji!”

Jing Xia: “…”

He saw that hidden amongst the green grass, where bricks were scattered to form the ruins of a building, a pair of tiny black eyes shone brightly. It fixed an unwavering gaze on that little packet of morinda root in Jing Xia’s hands, and even its eyeballs did not turn. Jing Xia silently gulped, and before he could even react, he saw the black shadow rushing towards himself with a “swish” sound. The speed was very fast, and without any illumination, it seemed even more shocking.

Its two short stumpy legs fiercely pushed off the ground, and the small black ball flew towards the bag in Jing Xia’s hands.

The corners of his lips hooked up, Jing Xia simply sidestepped, allowing the black ball to pounce on air.

“Jiji?!”

Blinking its little mung bean eyes, the power of the black ball’s jump finally ran out when it soared to the apex of its flight. This little thing was very clever. Another meter or two further was the cliff. The little guy naturally wouldn’t leap that far. It had just planned to bounce off this abominable human’s left hand, and then skillfully borrowing the force of this human hand, it would escape!

“Jiji QAQ?!”

Why was everything falling outside of its calculations?!

Its body was still free falling in the air, but the little black ball had already closed its tearful eyes. It could already predict – another abominable human will pinch this grand uncle mouse with its fingers!

After a slight, almost negligible falling sound, the little black ball opened its eyes in surprise, blinking.

“Jiji?”

It wasn’t the same human who had pinched its feet…

“This little thing is really light, Young Master.” Steward Wang’s palm was facing up, cupping the mutated black hamster in both hands, and smilingly said, “Young Master, this little thing does not have malicious intentions. We might as well leave it alive.”

“Grandpa Wang…” Jing Xia looked at the amiable smile of Steward Wang. He was originally uncomfortable because of this old man, and now that the other person actually proposed such a simple request to himself, he simply could not bring up any ideas of rejection. “Okay, let’s release it.”

Steward Wang nodded with a smile, before placing the little black ball in the center of his right hand, his left hand taking out the piece of morinda root that he had just taken from Jing Xia and delivering it beside the mouth of the little black ball. “Do you like to eat this?”

The mutated black hamster froze.

“Jiji?”

“Jiji!!!”

When it saw the morinda root that had been delivered to its mouth, he immediately grabbed it and ran away without any regard for anything else, and after a few moments, it completely disappeared into the dense grass.

Jing Xia snorted, “This little thing has no heart or lungs*.”

*T/N: Heartless

Ji Chuancheng cast a pondering gaze towards that weed covered area, before turning to say, “Continue moving.”

Jing Xia could only dejectedly move forward.

No one seemed to have discovered that within the grass that looked to be calm and undisturbed, a small, fleshy thing scuttled out, stopping in the center of the trail. It stood up, the two short legs actually miraculously propping up the entire plump body. Its little eyes contained scattered rays of doubt, and the little black ball used its claws to scratch its head…

“Jiji?”

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