One Ancestor

Xia Chujian asked Ping Qiong curiously, "Cai Jie, why is this beef still red after it's cooked?"

Ping Qiong leaned over for a careful look and said uncertainly, "Because it's a Unicorn Cattle unique to the Exotic Beast Forest?"

"Hunted here?"

"No, not here. It's too cold here for Unicorn Cattle to survive. It was probably hunted near Mulan City when they came here."

Xia Chujian nodded in understanding. "...That assassin really knows how to enjoy himself."

San Zong could not help swallowing.

The Small Dog in his arms suddenly twitched its nose. Then, paddling its four tiny legs, it desperately wriggled free from San Zong's arms and toddled to the little kitchen door, barking, "Wu Er Fu! Wu Er Fu!" as it wagged its tiny tail wildly.

Xia Chujian turned around, saw the Small Dog acting like that, and could not help smiling.

The Small Dog was truly tiny, only slightly larger than an adult man's palm.

It was round and plump, with a soft babyish voice that rose and fell in all sorts of tones, enough to make one's ears melt.

Smiling, she said to the Small Dog, "You're so round and plump. How about I call you Sixi?"

Like Si Xi Meatballs—it was a dish her Aunt only made during the New Year! The Small Dog wagged its little tail and looked at Xia Chujian eagerly. It had no particular feelings about the name "Sixi"; it was simply anxious to eat.

Unable to bear it, Xia Chujian scooped half a small bowl of silky egg and beef egg fried rice from her own bowl onto a small plate. Then she beckoned to the Small Dog. "Come in, Small Si Xi."

The Small Dog was beaming with joy. Wiggling its little backside, it walked inside and looked up at Xia Chujian.

Xia Chujian bent down and placed the plate of silky egg and beef egg fried rice in front of the Small Dog.

The Small Dog immediately buried its head and began eating eagerly.

Seeing the amount Xia Chujian had prepared, Ping Qiong understood. "...Xiaochu, should we call Fu Ye over? We can give them some too."

Without turning around, Xia Chujian said casually, "Whatever. If we can't finish it, we'll just have to throw it away anyway."

Ping Qiong made a ghost face behind her back.

Something so delicious and expensive could be saved for the next meal if they could not finish it. Even Nobility would not bear to throw it away!

Understanding her meaning, Ping Qiong quietly sent Li Fu a message, intending to have him fly over in the Flying Vehicle to pick it up.

Unexpectedly, they were already too far from the team's Combat Aircraft, and the message would not go through.

With no other choice, she packed three portions of food herself and said to Xia Chujian, "I'm going back to get something. I'll be right back."

Xia Chujian knew she was taking food to Li Fu and the others, but pretended not to know. Smiling, she said, "It'll be faster if you ride A'Diao. And it's already very cold outside, so why not come back tomorrow..."

"No way! My food is still here!" Ping Qiong immediately objected. She grabbed her coat with one hand and threw it on, then put on her Helmet before hurrying out.

The Griffon Sea Eagle flew very fast, and it looked quite formidable too. Xia Chujian was not worried about Ping Qiong's safety.

After Ping Qiong left, Xia Chujian took out another large bowl, filled it with a heaping serving of silky egg and beef egg fried rice, and called the Pig-head Humanoid San Zong over.

"Here, this is for you. Eat." Only half of the silky egg and beef egg fried rice remained in Xia Chujian's own bowl, because she had given half to the Small Dog.

San Zong's eyes widened even further. "F-for... San Zong?! But San Zong can't eat human food!"

"Why can't you eat it?" Xia Chujian's heart skipped a beat. She thought Humanoids might have some dietary taboo she did not know about.

Her Aunt had once told her that some people had "food allergies" and could die from eating the wrong thing.

San Zong looked at the huge bowl giving off an enticing aroma, swallowed, and muttered, "San Zong is a slave. Slaves aren't worthy of eating the food humans eat..."

"Then what do you eat?"

"Low-Grade Nutrient Solution..." San Zong pulled out half a tube of Nutrient Solution from his burlap-sack-like clothes. "Half a tube left..."

He was indeed hungry. He had not consumed any Nutrient Solution at all that entire day.

That bastard had only given him two tubes of Nutrient Solution. It had been six days now, and he had survived on those two tubes, consuming only one and a half. He could not bear to eat the remaining half, no matter what.

Because once he finished it, there would be none left.

Xia Chujian relaxed and said calmly and collectedly, "I used to drink this kind of Nutrient Solution too. It tasted pretty mediocre. Try the silky egg and beef egg fried rice I made. My Aunt taught me how to make it, so it should be delicious."

Hearing that Xia Chujian had also consumed Low-Grade Nutrient Solution, San Zong was even more shocked. "Female Sire drank this kind of Nutrient Solution too?! San Zong heard that only the poorest humans drink this..."

As soon as he said it, he covered his mouth, feeling that he had said something wrong.

Xia Chujian shrugged. "Yes, I used to be very poor. That's why I loved this kind of egg fried rice when I was little. But back then, my family couldn't afford beef, so we used chicken instead. Silky egg and chicken egg fried rice—it was delicious too. Anything my Aunt cooks is delicious."

As she spoke, she handed him the bowl of egg fried rice.

San Zong looked up at her and unconsciously accepted the bowl.

He held it carefully, as if he were holding some extraordinary treasure.

The Small Dog had already finished its portion by then, licking the small plate completely clean.

When it looked up and saw that San Zong still had a bowl, then looked at its own little plate, it immediately became dissatisfied.

It started barking, "Wu Er Fu! Wu Er Fu!" again, hopping constantly on its tiny legs. Unfortunately, it could not even reach the bowl in San Zong's hands.

Xia Chujian glanced at the Small Dog, stopped eating herself, and poured all her remaining food onto its little plate as she watched it eat.

Seeing how deliciously the Small Dog was eating, San Zong could not help secretly dipping a finger in to pick up a grain of rice and taste it.

The moment he chewed it, his entire little pig face froze in shock.

For the first time in his life, he had tasted proper human food—not that plastic-tasting Low-Grade Nutrient Solution! His taste buds erupted in explosive chemical reactions inside his mouth, making his head spin as though he were about to float into the sky.

Before he even knew what was happening, Xia Chujian had placed a spoon in his hand, and he began eating.

He ate so quickly, like a whirlwind sweeping away fallen leaves. In less than Five Minutes, he had devoured the entire huge bowl of silky egg and beef egg fried rice.

Delicious!

It was unbelievably delicious!

And so filling!

This sense of fullness was something Low-Grade Nutrient Solution could never compare to.

San Zong even felt hot all over, as if he wanted to run outside immediately and plow several acres of land with his bare hands!

The Small Dog had finished eating too, but it still wanted more. It pushed the small plate toward Xia Chujian with its front paws, constantly edging closer to her as it softly barked, "Wu Er Fu! Wu Er Fu!" while shaking its head, sounding as though it were acting spoiled.

Xia Chujian smiled and crouched down, stroking its fluffy little head. "Small Si Xi, you're so little. You can't eat too much. If you want more, I'll make it for you tomorrow."

"It's getting late. You two should go to sleep."

While Xia Chujian cleaned up in the little kitchen, Ping Qiong had already ridden the Griffon Sea Eagle over and delivered three large lunchboxes to Li Fu and the others.

Naturally, the three large lunchboxes had been found in the little kitchen of Feng Qianzhan's Civilian Flying Vehicle.

When Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ye Shijie heard Ping Qiong explain what had happened, all three fell silent.

Just as she finished explaining, the three lunchboxes on the grill had finished heating up.

When they opened them, the fresh fragrance of Unicorn Cattle Meat and Chicken Eggs rushed out.

Li Fu immediately picked up his chopsticks and began eating quickly.

Song Mingqian had originally wanted to say something, but the smell of the food drew him in. Without a word, he began eating too.

Only Ye Shijie's expression kept shifting.

His severe injuries had left him weak, and he had little appetite.

But the fragrance of the silky egg and beef was especially homey. It was not as rich and intense as Black Truffle Wild Rhino Pig, but it was particularly appetizing.

Combined with the Tantai Royal Field Rice from the Mulan City plantation, its enticing aroma made even the strong-willed Ye Shijie swallow.

It was the taste of home.

He missed home. He missed his father and mother.

But he still did not want to eat Xia Chujian's food.

So when Ping Qiong stuffed a piping-hot lunchbox into his hands, he calmly pushed it away and said, "I don't have much appetite. You eat."

Then he lay back down and went to sleep.

Ping Qiong sighed, quietly gave Song Mingqian a meaningful look, and handed Ye Shijie's unwanted lunchbox to Song Mingqian as well.

Song Mingqian gestured, "Got it," to her.

"I'm heading back first! There's still lots of delicious food in that Flying Vehicle! I need to hurry back!" As Ping Qiong spoke, she pulled open the door of the Small Wooden House and dashed out.

She truly was in a hurry. Mounting the Griffon Sea Eagle, she hurried back at top speed.

By the time she returned to Feng Qianzhan's Civilian Flying Vehicle, Xia Chujian had already cleaned the little kitchen and gone to wash up in the small Bathroom.

Ping Qiong's eyes widened. She knocked on the Bathroom door and called loudly, "Xiaochu! Where did you get water?!"

"...There's so much ice outside. San Zong helped carry it in and melt it." Xia Chujian washed up in a hurry, because she needed to conserve water.

Though there was no shortage of water with all the snow and ice outside, it was not easy for San Zong to keep carrying it into the Flying Vehicle.

Ping Qiong was so envious that her ears turned red. She called out, "Wait for me to eat! I want to wash up after I'm done too!"

They would be staying in the wilderness for quite a while This Time, and she especially wanted a bath!

Civilian Flying Vehicles were wonderful! They not only had little kitchens, but small Bathrooms too!

Xia Chujian understood how she felt. Only after Ping Qiong finished eating and went to bathe did she come to the Cabin at the front of the Flying Vehicle and say sincerely to San Zong, "San Zong, thank you. Without you, we really might have frozen to death outside today."

To her surprise, San Zong blinked and said awkwardly, "If it weren't for San Zong, Female Sire wouldn't have been... driven out..."

This Pig-head Humanoid was unexpectedly quite worldly.

Xia Chujian raised an eyebrow, feeling even more that her Aunt had been right.

Humanoids and humans should actually be the same.

At the very least, they shared one ancestor.

She sat down on the Small Bed she had made and asked San Zong, "Why aren't you sleeping over there?"

She meant the two little bedding rolls she and Ping Qiong had prepared for San Zong and the Small Dog.

San Zong's little pig face turned red. He muttered, "...San Zong will make the blankets dirty..."

Xia Chujian had not expected that to be the reason.

She frowned and asked lightly, "When that assassin brought you here, didn't he provide you with somewhere to stay?"

"On the way here, San Zong was tied up inside the Flying Vehicle, in the Storage Room at the back... After we arrived, San Zong wasn't allowed to stay inside the Flying Vehicle. San Zong always slept outside it." San Zong answered honestly.

"...How exactly did that assassin get you out of the Mulan City plantation? I heard the Mulan City plantation manages Humanoids like you... very strictly..."

This had been the question in her heart all along, and only now did she have a chance to ask it.

She phrased it tactfully, instinctively not wanting San Zong to feel humiliated or inferior.

San Zong did not mind at all. He scratched his head and said softly, "That bastard seemed to know the plantation manager. He told the manager that he wanted to take San Zong out to look for rice seeds, and the manager agreed."

"Why did he insist on taking you? Did he know you could smell Rare Plant, or was it just a coincidence?"

"Th-that... San Zong doesn't know either." The Pig-head Humanoid's little pig face was filled with confusion.

Xia Chujian silently pieced together the sequence of events in her mind.

Someone wanted to kill them.

This person knew their mission was to enter the Exotic Beast Forest and search for Blood Kirin.

That meant someone in the Dark Night Hunter Association had betrayed them.

Xia Chujian narrowed her eyes.

She still remembered that time when they had been intercepted in the Upper Space above Mulan City. Their Combat Aircraft had even been hacked, and the Coordinate Position of their destination altered.

That time, Ye Dui had also said someone in the Association might be trying to harm them.

Had that attempt failed, leading to this second attempt? But why?

There had to be a reason, right? Xia Chujian unconsciously rubbed her chin and fell into thought.

She racked her brains, but could not figure out the reason.

In her brief seventeen years of life, she had spent three years as a Bounty Hunter in the Dark Night Hunter Association.

She had killed people with her team—more than one.

As far as she knew, people killed for nothing more than grudges, Money, reputation, or status.

For example, when her team took missions to kill, she did it to earn Money, while Ye Dui and the others did it to gain resources and continue their Gene Evolution—that was, Mental Strength.

She was certain that no one on her team knew Feng Qianzhan.

Since there was no grudge between them, there was only one possible reason. This man was probably like them when they took assassination missions: he had accepted someone's commission and was killing for Money! Thinking of this, she let out a soft breath.

Collateral damage. Again, collateral damage.

She was certain that one or more Gene Evolvers on their team had offended someone outside, or blocked someone's path, which was why someone had spent a fortune to take their lives!

After accepting the mission, this person must have received plenty of information about their team from his employer.

Including details of their mission.

He knew they were looking for Blood Kirin, and he knew what equipment they had been issued, which was why he had devised this plan—a plan that prevented them from using their large-scale destructive weapons!

That also meant this person happened to know the manager of the Mulan City plantation, and knew there was a Humanoid Slave like San Zong in the plantation with a remarkable effect when it came to finding plants.

So many coincidences were required for this person's mission to take shape. His sphere of influence was simply too terrifying! But this person had clearly made no preparations against the Ability Defense Helmets issued to their team. Why was that?

A flicker passed through Xia Chujian's eyes. She continued asking calmly and collectedly, "Do you know that assassin's name?"

This was the First Update. Keep reading for the Second Update.

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