Lost Forest 03: Want Money? [First Update]...

"Xiaojiu?" The boy certainly understood what nine meant. Although he couldn't read, he knew basic numbers and arithmetic; otherwise, he would easily get cheated when earning money. He had spent two days secretly listening outside someone's classroom. "Qiqi?"

The simplest of sounds carried a weight the boy couldn't describe in words, landing squarely on the tenderest part of his heart.

"Don't like it?"

The boy closed his eyes and shook his head. "Thank you. I like it very much."

"Hehe, good." Ye Chuqi soothed the bristling San San in her mind and smiled. "It's only a name, anyway. If you find one you like better later, just tell me."

Later. It was a wondrous word.

The corners of the boy's lips curved, as though he wanted to smile, but all he managed was a distorted twist. "Okay."

With his new name, the boy seemed to become a different person, as though his life had filled with light. Suddenly, he took the initiative in everything. He insisted on walking ahead and taking on all the heavy work. Ye Chuqi didn't even have to ask him to keep watch at night. Once dinner was ready, he dutifully arranged a place for her to rest.

Ye Chuqi: "..."

Situations like these also happened frequently.

"Xiaojiu, you're going the wrong way." A little farther in that direction lay a high-level magic beast's territory.

"Xiaojiu, your wound has opened again." Ye Chuqi effortlessly took the prey the boy had barely managed to haul back.

"Xiaojiu, how long has it been since you slept?" Ye Chuqi looked at the dark circles beneath his eyes. His gaze was already starting to drift.

"Xiaojiu..." If he kept this up, he would pass out.

Finally at the end of her patience, Ye Chuqi toppled him with a poke of her finger. "What exactly are you doing?"

The boy lay half-reclining on the ground, his eyes lowered, not daring to look straight at Ye Chuqi. He looked so fragile that it seemed she had committed some unforgivable crime.

Ye Chuqi: "..."

"Get up! Talk to me properly. Tell me what strange ideas you've dreamed up this time!"

Chapter 19: Lost Forest 03: Want Money? [First Update]...

The boy's thinking was actually very simple and straightforward. Since Ye Chuqi treated him so "well," he had to do more work to prove his worth, or he could easily be abandoned. This had been his way of surviving for many years, and it was the only thing he had learned.

Useless things were always left behind—he hadn't cared before, but now he didn't want Ye Chuqi to leave him behind. He only wanted to become a little more valuable in her eyes.

After resting for a day, the boy regained his energy and understood what Ye Chuqi meant. He stopped pushing himself and simply did whatever was within his abilities. He also discovered that many things didn't seem to require his help at all. Once he realized his actions were actually causing Ye Chuqi trouble, he settled down.

This wasn't a place for studying. Otherwise, Ye Chuqi really would have liked to toss him the children's books in her Storage Bag and make him study properly. After all, only once he could read would he be able to learn more. Her Storage Bag also held quite a few cultivation manuals. With San San translating them, she could even use them to hoodwink people!

Throughout their journey, San San's vigilance and directions kept the two of them safe. At most, they encountered small magic beasts slipping past along the fringes. The boy was strong enough to handle those, so Ye Chuqi never needed to act.

But the boy fought entirely on instinct, savage and bloody, without the slightest method. His style of attacking without defending left him with at least a few injuries after every fight, and his already ragged clothes soon became an unbearable sight. He didn't mind. Whenever he could salvage hides from the magic beasts he killed, he stripped them off and pieced them together to wrap around himself. They worked well against the cold and offered decent protection, but they were rather ugly—and rather smelly.

Magic beast hides needed special treatment to remove their odor. Wearing them directly as the boy did took considerable courage.

Ye Chuqi knew nothing about sewing, and her technique might have been even less practiced than the boy's. With a sharpened beast bone and thread he twisted by hand, he could stitch together simple pieces, or he could cut tough leather into narrow strips to bind them together. The results were quite good and looked particularly wild.

The boy didn't dare ask Ye Chuqi to treat minor injuries, but he loved having her teach him to identify different herbs and plants. He already knew some of the basics, such as herbs that stopped bleeding or healed wounds, as well as things he could eat to fill his stomach.

Ye Chuqi also took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the knowledge in her books, with San San's help.

Even more remarkably, the boy could work out the general direction in the Lost Forest without a compass—though, of course, he couldn't tell whether any particular area contained high-level magic beasts.

Half a month later, apart from a few minor new wounds, the boy's injuries had finally healed completely. In particular, he had slowly recovered the vitality lost through blood loss, and the lingering injuries he had carried before were healing too.

Feeling the changes in his body, the boy narrowed his eyes, visibly happy.

"Xiaojiu, aren't you pretty good at arithmetic? Have you worked out how many gold coins you owe me?"

The boy's expression instantly fell, a pitiful gleam showing in his fierce eyes. After knowing Ye Chuqi for so long, he had lost his initial reserve and anxiety. He knew she was teasing him, but he also knew she was perfectly serious about keeping accounts.

Even brothers kept their accounts straight, and Ye Chuqi had saved his life, besides.

But that was so many gold coins. He had never even seen that many. How long would it take him to repay her? Even selling himself wouldn't cover it, would it? A slave his age could be bought at the slave market for only a few gold coins. He had seen it himself.

The boy tilted his head to look at Ye Chuqi, half his face shrouded in shadow, giving off an air of danger. Yet his tone was so innocent. "How much do you think I'm worth, Qiqi?"

That question wasn't easy to answer. Ye Chuqi felt that what he really wanted to ask was whether he could sell himself to settle his debt.

"You don't need to worry so much. Once we've gone a little farther, we should be able to start hunting some magic beasts. Materials from small magic beasts can still sell for quite a bit. If we're lucky enough to gather some herbs or other things, we can exchange those for money too. Don't forget, danger and opportunity coexist in the Lost Forest."

Rankings

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Pocket dimension fiction

Transmigration and rebirth romance

Big Black Loves Eating Fish