Unable to Empathize (First Update)

But Xia Chujian was used to San Zong's way of speaking. She did not waste words with him and got straight to the point. "San Zong, make sure you cultivate the Blood Kirin in the metal can properly. And that plant..."

She glanced at Small Dog. "Pinch off a leaf for me, and add a few petals."

She wanted to take them back for Aunt's Attending Physician Shen Junyi to examine.

She had found Kongsang, but she still did not know how to use it.

Was it meant to be taken internally, or applied externally? San Zong happily agreed. He went to the Storage Room, opened the lid of the metal can, picked what he thought were the freshest leaves, pinched off two, and added two particularly intact petals.

Xia Chujian put them into a Freshness Storage Bag and placed it beside the storage bag containing the nine Blood Kirin plants, both tucked into the mezzanine of her Sniper Rifle Gun Box.

They were members of the Dark Night Hunter Association, bounty hunters legally permitted to carry guns.

Xia Chujian used to keep her gun in the team's Combat Aircraft, but now she wanted to take it home.

Being hunted down twice had left her with a bit of trauma.

Without a gun in hand, she figured she would have to sleep with one eye open at night.

While she was arranging matters with San Zong, the team was discussing something as well.

After benefiting from eating Unicorn Cattle Meat Buns, Ye Shijie wanted to search the area and see whether they could hunt a few Unicorn Cattle to bring the meat back and eat slowly.

Li Fu and Song Mingqian had not eaten as many buns as Ye Shijie these past few days, but they had eaten quite a few. Both of them had felt their Mental Strength growing rapidly.

Seeing how eager Ye Shijie was to find Unicorn Cattle, they understood what was going on and agreed with cheerful smiles.

The three men shared an unspoken understanding. Ye Shijie took military crossbows and Assault Rifles with Li Fu and Song Mingqian into the forest.

Ping Qiong still did not understand what was going on. When she returned to Xia Chujian's Flying Vehicle, she casually mentioned, "Little Chujian, the Beef Buns you made were so delicious. The three of them went hunting in the forest because they want to catch more Unicorn Cattle."

Xia Chujian: "..."

She had no idea how large Unicorn Cattle were.

But they were cattle, after all. Catch several at once? What big talk! Could their Flying Vehicle even fit several cows? Xia Chujian wondered to herself.

Still, that reminded her of something.

There was still a great deal of grain and meat in this Flying Vehicle's Storage Room, and she wanted to take some home...

Of course, she would divide it evenly with the team before taking it back.

That rice, flour, and meat could not be bought on the market.

Since they had to wait for Ye Shijie and the others to return from hunting, Ping Qiong went with Xia Chujian to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

They had already finished all the Unicorn Cattle Meat. Today, they were eating Luo Xu Goat Meat.

As Ping Qiong prepared the tender, fresh goat meat, she asked Xia Chujian, "Xia Chujian, have you ever been to Luo Xu Province?"

"You mean Luo Xu Province to the west?" Xia Chujian Shook His Head. "No, I haven't. I heard its livestock industry is very developed?"

"That's right! It's all pastureland. Besides goats, they raise all kinds of beef cattle and dairy cows. I heard there are lots of horse farms too. The Nobility and Imperial Family all have their own horse farms there!" Ping Qiong said enviously.

Xia Chujian was not envious at all. Mainly because she had no interest in raising horses.

After raising a bird of prey—a Griffon Sea Eagle—how could she possibly think much of ordinary horses?

Calm and detached, Xia Chujian did not respond. She focused on making her clear-braised goat meat with Mandala Scallions.

Mandala Scallions were a special seasoning. When paired with goat meat, they brought out the meat's distinctive savory flavor and left a lingering aftertaste.

In all her life, Xia Chujian had only eaten it once.

And the goat meat she had eaten then was not this top-grade Luo Xu Province Small Goat Meat, though it had been served with Mandala Scallions.

Wild Mandala Scallions tasted best. Cultivated ones did not have that flavor, though no one knew why.

That was why no one grew Mandala Scallions.

Besides, in the Exotic Beast Forest near Mulan City, Mandala Scallions grew in vast patches over the mountains and fields. Even in winter, they never stopped sprouting.

Xia Chujian had San Zong pull up several Mandala Scallions from the wilderness outside, wash them clean, and add them to the boiling clear-braised goat meat.

Luo Xu Province Small Goat Meat was already exceptionally fresh. Once the washed Mandala Scallions were added, the aromas seemed to layer atop one another, making it several times more fragrant at once.

Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong could not wait for the other three team members to return. The two of them each ate two bowls of fragrant clear-braised goat meat in the small kitchen first.

Still wanting more, Xia Chujian said, "We should make some flatbread, tear it apart into the goat soup, and eat Lamb Paomo. That's unmatched too."

"What is flatbread?" Ping Qiong had never even heard of such a food and looked at Xia Chujian blankly.

Xia Chujian thought, Aunt made it for me. Looks like it's another food the Star Net can't find.

She took a sip of goat soup and said, "My aunt taught me. It's a kind of cake made from flour, and you tear it apart to eat it."

"Your aunt is amazing!" Ping Qiong said with great envy. "I hope she gets better soon!"

That was a blessing from a foodie, and it was extremely precious.

Xia Chujian accepted it with a smile.

As the two began their third bowl of clear-braised goat meat, Ye Shijie, Li Fu, and Song Mingqian returned.

Ping Qiong hurriedly called them over to eat Luo Xu Province Small Goat Meat stewed with Mandala Scallions.

Li Fu ran faster than anyone.

He had been carrying a Unicorn Cattle with Song Mingqian.

The moment he heard there was something so delicious to eat, he let go directly, nearly dragging Song Mingqian to the ground with the cow.

"Li Fu, just you wait!" Song Mingqian threw down the cow as well and ran toward Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong's Flying Vehicle.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Ye Shijie finally came over and knocked on the hatch of their Flying Vehicle.

This was the first time he had met Xia Chujian since he had cursed her out and driven her away that day.

Xia Chujian looked at him calmly and asked, "Ye Dui, would you like some clear-braised goat meat?"

Ye Shijie answered just as calmly, "Mm. One bowl."

Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ping Qiong exchanged meaningful looks nearby. They all felt that the matter had finally passed.

While Ye Shijie drank goat soup and ate goat meat, Li Fu turned on the Display Screen built into Xia Chujian's Flying Vehicle to see whether it could connect to the Star Net.

The signal here turned out to be extremely strong, nothing like the Land of the Far North, where Magnetic Interference had been so severe they could not even set up a mainframe.

The moment he entered, the Empire Star Net homepage appeared.

Li Fu let out a surprised sound. "What's going on? Did the Display Screen's color display break?"

At first glance, the homepage had only two colors: black and white.

Unlike before, when entering the Star Net meant being assaulted by so many gaudy colors that they nearly blinded you.

Song Mingqian glanced at it, and his expression abruptly turned serious. "Don't you read the news headline?—The Grand Prince has died! The entire Empire mourns! The Imperial Family is holding a funeral!"

"What?! No way!" Li Fu howled. "Are they banning entertainment?!"

"It's more than a ban on entertainment. No one in the entire Beichen Empire is allowed to marry for three months. Everyone has to mourn for the Grand Prince..." Song Mingqian skimmed through the news, his brow furrowing tighter.

Xia Chujian had just finished tidying the kitchen when she came out and looked up at the large black-and-white photograph on the Display Screen.

The man had long black hair draped over his shoulders, pale skin, and a fixed, staring gaze that looked somewhat crazed.

His nose was high and straight, with a slightly hooked tip—a standard Hooked Nose.

Looking at his whole face, Xia Chujian's heart gave a jolt, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

She had seen this man before!

That night when their team had been hunted by that spindle-shaped Flying Vehicle...

Their Flying Vehicle had been controlled by someone and mistakenly entered the upper space above Mulan City's South District. The scene of that gray-clad man jumping down from the rectangular moon gate, then being pierced from behind and killed on the spot by tentacles that chased him out through the moon gate, vividly resurfaced in her memory.

She had thought he looked somewhat familiar at the time. Now, she finally understood why.

Because he bore some resemblance to the current Beichen Empire Emperor.

Every student in the Beichen Empire had to swear an oath to the Beichen Empire Emperor's portrait every morning, so all students were familiar with what the Emperor looked like.

No wonder she had found him familiar. He was the Grand Prince, the first child born to the Emperor and Empress, and the first in line to inherit the Beichen Empire's throne! Of course he looked familiar because he resembled the Emperor...

Xia Chujian took a deep breath, slowly walked over to the Display Screen, and asked softly, "...Is this the Grand Prince?"

"Yes, he is the Grand Prince." Song Mingqian nodded. "There are pictures of him online. Every New Year's Eve, the Imperial Family takes a family portrait to wish the whole Beichen Empire a happy new year. Don't you watch television or go online?"

Xia Chujian curled her lips. "My family doesn't have a television. Even when I go online, I have to piggyback off someone else's connection. We're poor. We can't afford it."

She had only gotten her own Smart Bracelet after starting high school, allowing her to access the Star Net.

But Star Net data fees were expensive, so she used others' connections whenever she could and almost never used her own data to go online.

Song Mingqian was so choked up he nearly rolled his eyes.

Sitting in her seat, Xia Chujian propped up her chin and looked at the news on the Display Screen. Pretending to be curious, she asked, "The Grand Prince doesn't look very old. How did he die? Did they say what the cause was? When did he die?"

Song Mingqian read the news quickly and summarized, "I heard he had been in poor health since childhood and had been sustained by all kinds of precious medicinal herbs. In the end, he finally could not hold on any longer. According to the news, he died seven days ago."

Xia Chujian blinked.

She remembered that day. It was the day before their team accepted the Blood Kirin mission and entered the Exotic Beast Forest.

They had stayed in the Exotic Beast Forest for seven days. The journey there had taken one day, and the return journey had taken three days, making eleven days in total.

So the Grand Prince should have died twelve days ago, not seven days ago.

Why would the Imperial Family announce a false time of death and a false cause of death?

But Xia Chujian only thought about it briefly before putting it out of her mind.

She did not actually care how the Grand Prince had died, or when he had died.

That class was simply too far removed from her. She could not empathize.

Aunt and she often struggled to put three meals on the table and could barely ensure food and warmth. They truly had no spare compassion to pity those Imperial Family members who lived in fine clothes and jade food.

Rather than worry about a dead Grand Prince far beyond her reach, she would rather worry about whether San Zong and Small Dog could survive safely in this place.

Second update at one in the afternoon. Please send some Monthly Tickets, Recommendation Tickets, and Hongxiu Tickets! This genre really is rather niche. (#^.^#)