Chapter 107 - 105: We’ll Help You

Chapter 107: Chapter 105: We’ll Help You

"Phew... I can’t eat another bite..."

A dozen or so minutes later, Lu Wei let out a long, satisfied sigh, waving away the large wooden spoon Bai Ya offered him yet again.

"Alright, then."

Bai Ya moved the spoon to Mirana. "Do you want some more?"

"Thank you, but I’m full, too."

Mirana shook her head as well. "I really can’t eat another bite."

"Then, Furen, you..."

Bai Ya turned to Furen, but before he could even answer, she put the spoon straight back into the pot.

"You’ve already had three large bowls. No more for you."

"Ah... Alright, then."

Furen paused for a moment, then reluctantly put his bowl down. It was clear he hadn’t quite eaten his fill.

But he had, in fact, eaten three large bowls, plus an entire block of wheat bread.

’What a beast.’

’You’re the bottomless pit of the Mushroom Squad.’

Lu Wei glanced over at him, then down at his own stomach. Suddenly, he realized something.

’Wait, if a few monsters were to burst in right now, would I end up puking mid-fight?’

’Highly likely!’

’Nope. Looks like I’ll have to limit how much I eat at every meal from now on. I can’t get this full again.’

’I really think of everything.’

"I’m going to stand watch. The rest of you get some rest. If the rain stops before three this afternoon, we’ll head out."

"If it’s still raining, we’ll stay here for the night."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Wei stood up, planning to get some air at the cave entrance and let his food settle.

But just then, Bai Ya suddenly tugged on the corner of his sleeve.

Lu Wei turned back. "Hm? What is it?"

"Um, there’s still a little stew left."

Bai Ya pointed to the bottom of the pot and whispered, "We still have half the snake meat left. That’s enough to make another big pot for dinner."

"So, about what’s left..."

Her voice trailed off as she gestured with her chin toward the other side of the cave, then added:

"I saw them just now. They only boiled a small piece of salted meat to make a broth for their bread."

"And they didn’t even eat the meat after boiling it. They actually packed it away again."

"I was thinking, since we can’t eat any more, why don’t we give the rest to them?"

Looking at Lu Wei, Bai Ya spoke quietly, her tone pleading.

She was probably afraid he would say no.

But in truth, Lu Wei wasn’t that stingy.

If those two men hadn’t looked so destitute, or if they had offered to buy the stew, he absolutely would have seized the opportunity to fleece them.

But as things were...

Honestly, it was impossible to squeeze any profit out of these two paupers who didn’t even have a full set of Equipment.

"Do what you want."

As long as it didn’t affect his own interests, helping those who genuinely needed it wasn’t out of the question. Lu Wei gave a nonchalant nod, then slipped out of the main cavern to watch the rain from the lair’s entrance.

Bai Ya, on the other hand, immediately and happily ran back to the stew pot. She ladled out the remaining snake meat and stew, filling two large bowls perfectly.

She had calculated it all in advance.

Though Furen’s massive appetite had resulted in an unplanned extra bowl being consumed,

she had thankfully noticed in time and eaten a little less herself, leaving just enough for two bowls.

Willing to go half-hungry just to help others... from this alone, it was clear Bai Ya’s moral compass was on par with Furen’s.

It was still unclear where Mirana stood on that scale.

But it was certain that Lu Wei’s was the lowest of the four.

"Help me with this."

After filling the bowls, Bai Ya nudged Furen’s leg with the toe of her shoe, getting him to help her carry one.

Furen didn’t react at first. It wasn’t until he followed her gaze and glanced behind him that he realized what she meant.

"Right!"

He scrambled to his feet. When it came to "finding joy in helping others," Furen had unparalleled enthusiasm. He immediately took the wooden bowl and walked with Bai Ya toward the other campfire.

The two men were still gnawing on their bread, but they weren’t blind. They noticed the pair approaching.

After a moment of stunned silence, their expressions turned awkward. They seemed at a loss for what to do.

"We made some stew and have some left over. Please, have it, if you don’t mind."

Coming from a poor family herself, Bai Ya understood the two men’s feelings better than Furen. As she spoke, she placed the bowl on the ground, giving them no opportunity to refuse.

Seeing this, the two men swallowed the polite refusals on their lips and simply thanked them, a bit embarrassed but incessant:

"Thank you, thank you... May the gods bless you..."

"You’re welcome."

Bai Ya smiled and shook her head. Having finally done the thing she’d been hoping to do, she felt much happier and was about to head back.

But just then, the man in the tattered Leather Armor suddenly spoke up, stammering with embarrassment:

"Excuse me, could we ask you for some advice?"

"Ah, of course. Go ahead," Bai Ya said, stopping in her tracks.

"Thank you. It’s about this..."

The man carefully took a quest form from inside his clothes and explained quietly, "We took on a quest to collect some Moon Grass."

"But we seem to be a little lost. Could you take a look for us?"

"Is that right? Let me see..."

Bai Ya took the quest form. It was, indeed, a Low Level quest to collect Moon Grass.

Moon Grass wasn’t a high-grade material. Its main use was in making perfume, for which there was almost no demand in Heitai Town.

However, due to its particular growing habits, it only grew in a few specific locations in the forest. So it wasn’t the sort of thing you could just wander into the woods and gather by the armful.

As a result, merchants would often post collection quests, wait until they had stockpiled a certain amount, and then ship it to Kalin Port to sell for a profit.

"It’s actually not far from here."

Looking at the coordinates on the quest form, Bai Ya said with a smile, "If you continue west from here, you’ll be there in about two miles."

"Ah, that’s a relief. It seems we weren’t going the wrong way after all. Thank you."

The man breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her profusely once more.

But Furen, seeing how clueless the man seemed, couldn’t resist offering a warning.

"This is already pretty deep into the forest. Even if it’s just a collection quest, you’re still very likely to run into monsters like goblins or Kobolds."

"But your Weapons and Equipment... Are you sure you’ll be alright?"

"Well..."

The man paused, taken aback, and lowered his head in embarrassment. "We know it might be dangerous, but we just..."

’Just don’t have the money?’

’Then why take the risk?’

Furen was even more confused. "Then why not find a job in town and save up a little money first?"

"We tried, but we couldn’t find anything."

The man shook his head, a bitter tone in his voice as he explained:

"We were originally dockworkers in Kalin Port, but there have been constant storms at sea for the past month. Far fewer cargo ships have been coming in, so we lost our income."

"Then we heard the Silver Scale Merchant Association was coming to Heitai Town to continue work on the trade route. We figured they’d need a lot of manual labor, so we came to try our luck and see if we could earn a little extra."

"We just didn’t expect to arrive so early."

"And the town is filled with people who had the same idea. We’ve asked around everywhere, but no one needs laborers anymore."

"In the end, we had no choice..."

Sensing that Furen and Bai Ya were good people, the man suddenly opened up, dejectedly recounting their whole story.

To put it simply—

They had come to Heitai Town hoping to earn some extra money from the Silver Scale Merchant Association’s trade route reconstruction, but they’d gotten the timing wrong and ended up stuck.

Their money was almost gone, not even enough for the trip back, so their only option was to take the simplest quest they could find just to tide them over.

All in all, it sounded like they were having a very rough time.

For kind-hearted souls like Furen and Bai Ya, their story was especially heart-wrenching.

’This is too dangerous!’

’They were already so lucky to have made it this far!’

’But could that luck possibly hold out?’

’What if they run into monsters? It wouldn’t even take many—just four or five goblins would be too much for them to handle!’

’What would they do then? What about their wives and children?’

’The man just said they have children to support!’

"Sirs!"

At this thought, Furen and Bai Ya exchanged a look, then, without hesitation, declared in unison with Firm resolve:

"Don’t worry, we’ll help you!"