Ignoring Her

Chapter 44: Ignored

Noon. The scorching sun baked the earth. On the lush green grass, a little girl not yet ten years old skipped along, holding a Slime and heading towards the village ahead. She would occasionally lower her head, her face full of curiosity, asking the Slime in her arms something.

"It's Sally. Why is she there?"

On the watchtower, a young man who had been wiping his bow and arrows looked up just in time to see a girl in a slightly faded, long white dress skipping towards them from the nearby woods. A happy smile graced her slender, small face.

"Uncle Oster, what should we do?"

The next second, the young man turned to look at Oster, who had already stood up and was leaning on the fence. The young man's heart was conflicted. He knew that the Adventurers who had just arrived at the village were targeting Sally, and their intentions were certainly not good.

He both hoped that Sally would approach the village like this and be discovered by those Adventurers, perhaps causing them to leave. But a sense of guilt made him want to stop Sally from approaching. At least, he didn't want her to be discovered by those Adventurers before the day after tomorrow.

"...Ignore her. If Sally wants to enter the village, don't stop her."

Oster gazed at Sally's slowly approaching figure. After a moment of silence, he said in a muffled voice, then turned back to his original position, picked up the clothes beside him, and covered his head, as if he had been sleeping there all along and hadn't noticed Sally approaching the village.

"But... I understand, Uncle Oster."

The young man looked at Oster, who was lying down pretending to sleep, opened his mouth as if to say something, but after a few seconds of hesitation, he sighed, picked up his bow and arrows, and continued wiping them, as if he had never seen Sally either.

However, the way the young man wiped his bow and arrows became increasingly forceful, as if venting something, or perhaps feeling angry because of his own weakness and powerlessness.

"Minghao, the village is over there. Sally, Sally, you can't go near there."

About a hundred meters from the outskirts of the village, Sally stopped, holding Lu Minghao. She pointed towards the village ahead and said to Lu Minghao. When she was first driven out of the village, Sally had considered sneaking closer to see Grandma Oran's grave.

But every time she got within a hundred meters, an arrow would be shot near her from the watchtower, signaling that the village did not welcome her approach. After trying many times, Sally gradually gave up. At least she could still live in the woods not far from the village, which was also quite close to Grandma Oran.

"It's okay, Sally. Just keep walking forward. No one will stop you anymore."

Lu Minghao looked up in the direction of the watchtower, then reached out and stroked Sally's disappointed face, reassuring her to continue walking forward.

"Really?"

Upon hearing Lu Minghao's words, Sally's big eyes suddenly looked towards the village. She tentatively walked forward slowly. When she reached the spot where she would normally be driven away by arrows from the watchtower, Sally instinctively hugged Lu Minghao tightly in her arms, wanting to shield him with her body from any arrows that might fly.

"Hey! You really can!"

The next second, Sally realized that the arrows that would normally fly at this position hadn't appeared. Her large purple eyes widened, and a smile tinged with nostalgia couldn't help but appear on her small face. Then, Sally, holding Lu Minghao, ran directly towards the village gate.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

The wind stirred up by her running blew Sally's black hair, and her white dress fluttered slightly. Sally looked at the increasingly approaching village, the familiar surroundings within. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but the smile on her face grew brighter.

"I'm back, Grandma."

The moment she stepped into the village, Sally looked up with tear-filled eyes at the wooden house in the center of the village. It was as if she saw again the figure leaning against the old wooden door, her face filled with a loving smile, waiting for her to come home.

"Mommy, it's the monster Sally!"

At this moment, at the door of a wooden house near the village entrance, a little boy, about four or five years old, suddenly turned around, his bare bottom wiggling, and ran home, shouting in a childish voice to his mother inside.

Bang!

The next second, with a bang, the wooden door was heavily shut, and the little boy's voice became faint, as if he had been muffled by something. Not far away, other villagers also noticed Sally entering the village. They instinctively lowered their heads and walked towards their homes.

In just half a minute, the village road was deserted. The doors and windows of every house were tightly shut, and the entire village fell into a dead silence.

Sally stared blankly at the silent village before her. This was completely different from what she had imagined. She had thought that when she entered the village, the villagers would drive her out directly, just as they had before. But now, when the villagers saw her, they all hid.

"Village Chief."

At this moment, Sally saw Village Chief Kenny smile faintly at her from in front of a wooden house in the distance. He then turned and walked into the house. His aged figure made Sally instinctively bite her lip. In the past, besides Grandma Oran, only Village Chief Kenny didn't look at her like a monster and would occasionally give her some food.

Therefore, even though Kenny hadn't helped her when the villagers drove her out, Sally was still grateful to him in her heart, because he was one of the few beings who had shown her kindness since her birth.

"Sally, your acquaintance has arrived."

At this moment, Lu Minghao's voice suddenly sounded in Sally's mind. As for how he did it, it was just a small trick Lu Minghao had mastered after advancing to a Middle Demon: connecting his spiritual power with Sally's.

Clap! Clap!

Two figures landed in front of Sally, their faces wearing a sinister grin, their eyes appraising her like merchandise.

"Isn't this our Chris's little darling? I didn't expect you to grow so much in a short time?"

Gene said, reaching out to grab Sally's hair, wanting to see what made this half-human, half-ghost monster so valuable that a great noble from another kingdom had specifically assigned their team to capture her.

"Wait a minute, Gene. This is precious cargo. You wouldn't want to injure her and make Captain Lester angry, would you?"

Suddenly, Gison, a burly man in heavy armor, stopped Gene. He looked at him coldly and said.

"Tch, damn monster. If you don't want to get hurt, just come with us obediently!"

Gene glanced at Gison beside him, then at Sally's thin body, which was malnourished from long-term lack of nutrition. He unhappily drew the long saber at his waist and pointed it at Sally, telling her to follow him obediently.

The typos from before have been corrected. Also, a quick note from the author: daily updates are at 12 AM.