Chapter 72 - 70: Ambitious Bai Ya

Chapter 72: Chapter 70: Ambitious Bai Ya

Perhaps to help Lu Wei and Mirana replenish their strength, dinner tonight was especially lavish.

There was, of course, the delicious mushroom soup that Lu Wei loved so much.

In addition, there was a piece of smoked meat that Bai Ya had carried all the way from town, as well as a few boiled bird eggs and two roasted birds.

Zovir had found the eggs by climbing a tree.

The slightly smaller bird had come to kill him for it, only to be swatted out of the air and killed by Furen’s sword.

When the slightly larger one saw its wife die, it came seeking revenge, only to be counter-killed by Furen as well.

In short, it was a tragic family massacre involving numerous elements such as juvenile delinquency, kinship, love, revenge, and dying for one’s love.

"Captain, Sister Mirana, this is for you."

After carefully sprinkling a little salt on the two roasted birds, Bai Ya handed them to Lu Wei and Mirana respectively.

She gave the larger one to Lu Wei and the smaller one to Mirana.

By now, it was already impossible to sabotage their "solo adventure," so Bai Ya had to swallow her pride. She hoped to bribe Mirana into at least protecting Lu Wei well.

"Sister Mirana, you two must be careful."

Gazing at them with a worried expression, Bai Ya murmured anxiously, "If you run into danger, run away quickly. You have to come back safely."

"Don’t worry. If anything, you’re the ones who need to be more careful."

Lu Wei asked casually as he ate the roasted bird, "Where’s that firework?"

"Right here."

Bai Ya took a long, tube-shaped object out of her backpack. It had a fuse at the bottom and was now less than ten centimeters from the campfire.

This was this world’s version of a firework.

That’s right, gunpowder also existed in this world, but it was likely black powder; its power wasn’t particularly great.

Weapons like flintlock pistols had not been invented.

After all, with the existence of Extraordinary Power, the technology tree found it difficult to develop along the "pure tech" path of his previous life.

"Holy shit! Get that thing away from there! A single one of those is worth two silver coins!"

Lu Wei jumped in fright and quickly had Bai Ya move the firework away. Only then did he, still shaken, give his instructions:

"Be careful with it. Only light it if you’re in danger. We’ll come back immediately once we see it."

"Mhm, I know..."

Bai Ya nodded hastily, her face red as she put the firework back in her bag. Then she picked up her large wooden bowl and started gulping down soup, trying to use the meal to hide her embarrassment.

With a firework like this on hand, the safety rating for the group at the general store seemed to increase by a level.

But to be honest, Lu Wei hadn’t bought this thing to be used as a signal.

After all, even if Bai Ya and the others managed to send a signal in time, he and Mirana wouldn’t be able to make it back right away.

They’d be lucky if they could make it back in time to collect their bodies.

Therefore, the firework’s real purpose was to make the enemy hesitate.

"Oh no! A signal flare! They must have allies nearby!"

Yeah... something like that.

It was hard to say how effective it would be, but it was better than nothing.

’I hope nothing goes wrong.’

Glancing at the others who were focused on eating, Lu Wei silently shook his head. He secretly planned to pull Mirana into the Mushroom Squad to solve their shortage of fighters.

Furthermore, he’d have to raise the standards for recruiting members in the future.

Being down-to-earth and willing to work hard wasn’t enough; they also had to have some ability to protect themselves.

And preferably, they shouldn’t require a salary.

’Wait, am I just daydreaming?’

’Where could I possibly find such a natural-born workhorse...’

...

...

About ten minutes later, dinner was over. With Furen and the others seeing them off, Lu Wei and Mirana left the Dome Pillar and continued deeper in the direction of Moon Creek Forest.

Zovir and Anna didn’t slack off just because he was gone. They remained diligent, taking on the task of washing the pot and utensils.

Meanwhile, Bai Ya, with nothing to do, found Furen, who was doing his "evening practice" nearby.

"Furen, can you teach me that Combat Skill of yours?"

Getting straight to the point, Bai Ya spoke while mimicking a downward slashing motion.

Furen was taken aback. "You mean Jump Slash?"

"I think so. You never told me its name before."

Bai Ya nodded, her expression serious. "So, can you teach me?"

"Huh? Why do you want to learn this?"

Furen scratched his head, looking troubled. "It’s not that I don’t want to teach you, it’s just that Combat Skills are very hard to learn. It took me three years to master this one. It might take you even longer."

"That’s okay. I’ll definitely work hard."

Bai Ya bit her lip. "I just don’t want to be a burden to you all anymore."

"Who said you were a burden?"

Furen was completely confused. "Without you, how could we eat such delicious meals in the forest?"

"But..."

Bai Ya opened her mouth, and in her anxiety, she almost blurted out, "But if I can’t fight, I can’t be with the Captain."

Fortunately, before coming to find Furen, she had repeatedly warned herself not to let it slip, so this time she caught herself and stopped in time.

"The reason isn’t important! Just please teach me!"

"Er... alright then."

Seeing her so insistent, Furen couldn’t really say no. He just glanced at her empty hands.

"But if you want to practice, you’ll need a sword, right?"

"I’ve already prepared one!"

Bai Ya immediately grew excited and hurried back to the campfire, pulling a long Wooden Stick from who-knows-where.

Its length was indeed similar to a Longsword, and it even had a few stones tied to it to simulate a Longsword’s weight.

’No, wait, when did she prepare this???’

’How did I not know anything about this???’

Furen stared blankly at this homemade "practice Sword," a look of shock on his face.

But Bai Ya just blinked her eyes and urged him on.

"What’s wrong? Can we start now?"

"Ah, we can..."

Furen snapped out of it and muttered under his breath, "Though I still think it would be better if you just bought a Skill Book..."

"But I can’t afford one," Bai Ya said righteously.

"Then wait until you can afford one. It’s not that urgent."

"Ugh, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you!"

"Alright, alright..."

Seeing Bai Ya’s "I absolutely have to learn Jump Slash today" expression, Furen shook his head helplessly and could only begin his "lesson" step-by-step.

By now, the sky had completely darkened. The campfire flickered, making their shadows stretch and shrink, looking like some kind of shapeshifting, evil shadow monsters.

Meanwhile, Lu Wei, who was trekking through the dense forest, looked back one more time.

"You seem worried about them."

Beside him, Mirana glanced over. "I don’t really understand why Bai Ya is your companion. After all, she doesn’t seem to have any fighting ability whatsoever."

Lu Wei shot a sideways glance back at Mirana. "Don’t you think her cooking is delicious?"

"It is delicious, but that isn’t a prerequisite for being an Adventurer."

Mirana said flatly, "Compared to that, I’d rather my companions be able to help me in a fight, or at the very least, not hold me back."

"Heh, don’t worry. I definitely won’t hold you back."

"I believe that... so, are you angry?"

"No, why would you say that?"

"Because your tone just now sounded like you were angry."

Mirana pushed aside the bushes in front of her and turned to look at him earnestly. "If my evaluation of Bai Ya made you unhappy, I can apologize. But I don’t think there was anything wrong with what I said."

’Well damn, you’re surprisingly reasonable.’

Lu Wei rolled his eyes. Since they had nothing better to do on the road anyway, he asked out of curiosity:

"Let me ask you a question. Suppose you suddenly came across a gravely injured Adventurer who had already passed out. What would you do?"

"Are there multiple-choice options?" Mirana asked, ever the pragmatist.

"..."

’Are you fucking taking a multiple-choice test or something???’

Lu Wei’s mouth twitched. "No."

"Then, do I know this Adventurer?"

"You don’t. A complete stranger."

"What are the surroundings like?"

"No immediate danger, but not completely safe either."

"How severe are his injuries?"

"Very severe. Even if you choose to save him, he might not survive... No, wait, are you done with the questions yet?"

"I’m done. I would choose to leave without hesitation."

"..."

"So, that person is Bai Ya, right?"