"They paid the price."
Hu Shuo heard this and was filled with respect. He looked at me, then at the rows of graves. After a long pause, he nodded without saying a word.
This kid really was worth cultivating.
That little incident had cost us more than ten minutes, and then we continued on our way.
The walk was pretty boring, of course. I chatted with the kid to pass the time, and it turned out he was really interested in my past. After thinking it over, I picked out a few things I could talk about and told him stories as we walked.
My story could fill a whole day and night, anyway.
The kid listened attentively. Honestly, having someone around who was willing to hear me out put me in a pretty good mood. He seemed to enjoy listening, too.
A lot of the time, he even put himself in my shoes and considered things from my perspective.
Tsk, tsk... He already knew how to cling to a strong ally. He was a quick learner.
But he understood that, without relying on me, a ten-year-old kid like him would get himself killed wherever he went.
I sometimes fell into traps, too,
but I had the strength to climb back out—and bury whoever dug the trap while I was at it.
We walked and talked, and a few hours passed like that. We were exhausted by then, and I hadn't brought much food with me. I did have a few candies, though, so I gave the kid two of them. We rested for a while, then continued on.
As night fell, a cold wind blew from the southeast toward the northwest. At times it carried warm air; at others, it was as cold as winter. I was fine—my body's