Number Three's Fancy Way of Seeking Death

Carrying a large bucket of salt to the bedroom in the treehouse, Bai Yang noticed the sky was just barely showing a hint of fish-belly white.

"The time difference is ridiculous—over there it's already noon..."

As dawn broke, the village came alive. Pushing open the window, he saw a group of half-grown boys on the open ground below the treehouse, lined up in crooked formation, following a burly man in front as they shouted and swung their arms.

Facing the morning sun to train their bodies—what a passionate and inspiring scene?

After a few glances, Bai Yang found it incredibly dull. Comparing it, he decided it wasn't even as good as the military-style exercises he'd learned during high school boot camp...

Twisting open the plastic bucket of salt, Bai Yang opened the bedroom door and nearly yelped. The girl, who had woken up at some unknown time, was standing right outside, her big eyes blinking at him.

There was no trace of last night's crying at all!

Not understanding the local customs, Bai Yang had no clue about the girl's mindset. Well, the saying "a girl's heart is a maze" was something he faithfully followed.

He greeted her with a casual "morning," whether she understood or not was beyond his concern.

The girl just silently pouted, showing no surprise at all that Bai Yang had pulled a huge, unfamiliar bucket out of his empty bedroom.

Any normal person would find that strange, right?

Carrying the salt, Bai Yang went to the kitchen. Under the girl's wide-eyed, heartbroken gaze, he grabbed a wooden bowl containing a fist-sized lump of brown salt and tossed it out the window...

"#￥...%%&**&"

The girl stood in front of Bai Yang, gesturing and chattering away, but he understood none of it.

He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to turn and run outside to retrieve the salt lump.

Stopping her, Bai Yang picked up the wooden bowl, rinsed it twice in the sink, shook it dry, and filled it with a bowl of gleaming white salt from the bucket.

"We'll use this from now on," Bai Yang said, pointing at the salt in the bowl.

Something felt off—that "we" came out way too naturally...

The girl didn't understand at all. Under Bai Yang's gesturing instructions, she pinched a tiny bit of salt between two fingers and put it in her mouth. Her eyes went wide instantly. Even though it was so salty it was bitter, she couldn't bring herself to spit it out. Instead, she sucked on her index finger, staring at Bai Yang in endless amazement.

This scene—if he looked any longer, he'd embarrass himself. Bai Yang forced himself to turn away, picked up the bucket of salt, and went to find the white-bearded old man.

Not sure if old people just sleep lightly, but when Bai Yang found the white-bearded old man, he was already sitting in a wicker chair, watching the group of half-grown boys with a kindly expression as they flailed about.

The old man smiled and greeted Bai Yang, though whatever he said was incomprehensible...

After another round of clumsy gesturing, Bai Yang managed to convey that the white powder in the bucket was salt, a thank-you gift for the villagers who had helped build the house yesterday. Then he handed the whole bucket over.

The old man was even more excited than the girl. He grabbed a pinch of salt, stuffed it in his mouth, and even though the saltiness scrunched his nose and eyes into a mess, he couldn't bear to spit it out. Then, as if his bones had shed a few pounds of weight, he grabbed the bucket and dashed off in a whirlwind...

Growing up in the city, Bai Yang had no idea how crucial salt was for heavy laborers. If they went without salt for too long, they'd lose all strength, feel terrible mentally, develop brittle bones—and the most obvious sign was their hair turning white...

"How backward must life be here for villagers to get this excited over a bit of salt?"

Bai Yang was almost worried sick. If he started trading daily necessities, he figured he could drain these villagers dry down to their last coin.

The morning sun rose, its light vast and grand. Thin mist hung like smoke, dew glistened, leaves rustled, grass gave off a fresh scent, children played, cooking smoke curled upward—sunlight, forest, breeze, laughter, chatter. In this cool, refreshing morning, it all formed a peaceful, serene picture.

Bai Yang had not a shred of artistic flair about him. To him, all this just felt comfortable. He crouched idly on a big rock, watching a bunch of muscular men of all sizes show off their physiques and skills, with no intention of joining in. His scrawny frame couldn't even compare to the kids, so he wasn't about to embarrass himself.

As he watched, Bai Yang noticed Number Three Barbarian sneaking over to him. While he wasn't paying attention, the guy "brazenly" picked up the Electric Rod lying nearby and took it...

"What's this guy up to now?"

Then Bai Yang laughed so hard he nearly rolled off the big rock.

Number Three Barbarian had somehow gotten his hands on a set of battered, patchwork armor made of metal plates. He put it on over his rock-hard, steel-like muscles, then pressed the Electric Rod's switch and jabbed it against the armor...

This time it was worse. Metal conducts electricity. He went stiff, fell flat on the ground, and twitched for a long time without getting up, while the Electric Rod rolled away...

"How stubborn do you have to be to keep picking a fight with that Electric Rod? But I've got to respect your spirit of exploration."

Sighing, Bai Yang picked up the Electric Rod and went back to crouching on the rock, watching the muscle men show off.

What baffled Bai Yang was that these villagers—whether their reflexes were just that slow or their acceptance was off the charts—showed absolutely no curiosity about the missing lumber from last night, the salt he'd brought, or the Electric Rod. They just took it all for granted, leaving Bai Yang racking his brain without a clue.

"Such a fine day, and I'm wasting time like this—it's practically a crime against heaven and man."

While eating the roasted meat the girl carefully fed him, Bai Yang sighed to himself. When the group of muscle men, big and small, dispersed, he felt even more bored.

Boredom was a disease—it needed a cure!

He had to find something to do, or he'd die of boredom. Seeing the muscle men gearing up to head back into the jungle for a hunt, Bai Yang thought it over, slapped his butt, and ran over.

He didn't look for anyone else—just the three barbarian iron-triangle guys who had brought him to the village, since he was a bit more familiar with them.

After another round of clumsy, incomprehensible gesturing, he finally managed to make them understand that he wanted to tag along and watch.

The three big guys muttered among themselves for a bit and didn't refuse.

Then Bai Yang turned around and his eyes went wide. At some point, the girl who had been following him had changed her outfit and was still silently trailing behind him.

She wore leather armor, leather pants, leather boots, and leather wrist guards, all of which accentuated her figure to the extreme. Though the gear looked rough and crude, a wild aura hit him right in the face.

A dagger was tucked into her boot, a soft whip coiled around her waist, a bow and arrows hung on her back, and she carried a cold, three-foot broadsword in her hand—she was armed to the teeth, wasn't she?

Facing the girl in this getup, a thought naturally arose in Bai Yang's mind: this girl could take on ten of him and still have fun.

And instead of being ashamed, he felt proud. No matter how off-the-charts her combat power was, it couldn't hide the fact that these villagers lived a backward life. A sense of superiority welled up in him—a city youth experiencing tribal life...

And so... off they went. Bai Yang wasn't unaware of how dangerous the jungle was, but surrounded by these explosive fighters, he felt incredibly safe, didn't he?

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