Chapter 115 - 104: Wilderness News

Chapter 115: Chapter 104: Wilderness News

She made it home safe and sound. When she stepped off the bus, two Defense Army soldiers stepped down as well.

They immediately headed toward the Zone 69 camp. Huai Yu hesitated for a long while before hoisting her basket onto her back, jogging a few steps to catch up with them.

"Excuse me... could I ask when the team that went to the Wilderness is coming back?"

The two looked a bit surprised. "You... chased after us just to ask that?" They glanced back at the retreating silhouette of the bus.

Seeing their reaction, Huai Yu instantly knew they had misunderstood. She waved her hands repeatedly. "No, no, I didn’t come all the way to the camp specifically to ask. I actually live right next to the Rose Corridor."

As soon as she said this, the realization dawned on them.

"Oh, it’s you! You’re that brave little girl?"

These days, you could count the number of people who dared to live next to the Rose Corridor on one hand—and the only one who actually did was Huai Yu. Not to mention the time when General Wu Yue came to investigate General Lin’s whereabouts and accidentally shattered the Ice Sculpture left for the little girl...

In short, the more the higher-ups tried to keep their gossip quiet, the faster it spread. Thus, although she didn’t know it herself, Huai Yu was actually quite famous in the camp after all the rumors that had circulated recently.

The two soldiers relaxed slightly.

"We aren’t sure," one said. "But we can tell you what we’ve heard. Word is that the advance in the Wilderness is moving a bit slowly at the moment... Do you have family there?"

Huai Yu paused for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I heard Captain Zhou Qian went along, so I was a little worried."

"It’s fine," the soldier replied, flashing her a big smile. "He takes on these kinds of missions two or three times a year. It’s completely normal, so don’t worry."

The other soldier paused, then added, "Generally speaking, they’ll be back within a month. After all, our people only need to do the preliminary work. Ordinary folks won’t step foot into the central battlefield of the Wilderness—that’s still left to the Guard Army."

Huai Yu nodded. She did some quick mental math and immediately brightened up. "Then they should be back soon, right?"

She sincerely thanked them before dropping her worries and heading toward her home in Zone 37.

Behind her, the two Defense Army soldiers stood motionless for a long time. They stared at her cheerful, retreating figure, their expressions slowly growing tense.

***

Although she hadn’t bought anything today, Huai Yu was still in an exceptionally wonderful mood when she took Ke Taichiro out again. She had just carefully counted the days: it had been more than half a month since Zhou Qian left. By her calculations, he would be back in just a few days.

Even though she was always acting secretive around Zhou Qian, deep down... Huai Yu really liked him.

She wondered what she should prepare for his return. Bamboo Heart Tea? Or maybe dry some more bamboo shoots? Or perhaps have Kuang Biao spawn a few fresh ones on the very day?

The locust flowers on the mountain should be blooming around this season, right? Too bad she didn’t know the exact day he was returning; otherwise, she could go up the mountain on that day to pick some fresh locust flowers. A locust flower pancake would be absolutely delicious!

Oh, right, and vegetable seeds!

If she went to buy some seeds tomorrow—fast-growing ones like baby bok choy or lettuce—and planted them right away, they should sprout into edible fresh greens in seven to ten days, right? Then she could secretly purify a little bit and send it over...

Wow!

Sometimes the joy of giving was actually greater than the joy of receiving. Just thinking about it made Huai Yu happy. Her heart leaped with such eager anticipation, as if planning more densely could somehow dispel the looming shadow of the possibility that Zhou Qian might get hurt.

Meanwhile, Ke Taichiro stood there obediently, not making a single sound as she mumbled to herself and rummaged through the cabinets.

It wasn’t until Huai Yu finally remembered it that it fluttered its wings once.

"Ke Taichiro..."

Now, Huai Yu truly felt a bit apologetic. "I’m so sorry... I forgot about you just now. Do you want to eat some dried bamboo shoots?"

She had no idea what a mutated Ke Taichiro’s diet consisted of, but it seemed to eat anything anyway, so what if it wanted dried bamboo shoots too?

She grabbed a piece from the basket and handed it over. The dried shoot was sprinkled with a faint layer of salt. Ke Taichiro released its two front claws, letting the black ball in its embrace drop to the floor, before earnestly taking the dried shoot and stuffing it straight into its mouth.

Watching this, Huai Yu couldn’t help but laugh.

She used the fire tongs to pick up the Klang Ball and placed it in a bag, moving with such practiced ease that even she was momentarily puzzled by it. Then, she tentatively reached out and stroked Ke Taichiro’s smooth carapace.

"My place is very spacious, so let me show you around first. There’s a friend here named Little Tian, but it’s not even as big as you are and probably doesn’t have any lethal power, so there’s no need to formally introduce you two."

Little Tian was always appearing and disappearing like a ghost, so Huai Yu didn’t know where it was anyway.

"But you do need to meet Kuang Biao, as well as Big Pup and Second Pup, so you don’t accidentally injure our allies..."

She chattered endlessly while leading Ke Taichiro around the house. The creature simply held its dried bamboo shoot, chewing slowly while obediently trailing behind her.

Finally, they made it out the door.

Near the entrance was the coop Huai Yu had built for the chicks. Ke Taichiro stood beside the chicken pen and watched for a while—staring so intently that Huai Yu almost wanted to ask if it wanted the chicken poop...

But then Ke Taichiro turned away, earnestly returned the remaining half of the dried bamboo shoot to Huai Yu with its front claws, rubbed its claws together, and dropped to the ground to start searching back and forth.

Huai Yu was left speechless.

She was absolutely stunned by the confident and matter-of-fact way Ke Taichiro had returned the snack! No wonder Boss Tang had been won over so quickly—it really knew how to interact!

On the ground, Ke Taichiro scuttled about with a soft RUSTLE, occasionally picking up a blade of grass, standing up, and rubbing it a few times. Before long, it spotted the little ginseng planted in a row of Square Hole Bricks along the wall.

Its wings gave a sharp BUZZ as it swiftly crawled over.

"Not this one, not this one!" Huai Yu grew nervous. "These are just seedlings, they haven’t even grown properly yet..."

Ke Taichiro paused, then obediently turned its back, its two front claws returning to rubbing the ordinary blades of grass it had picked up from the ground.

Huai Yu fell silent once more.

Why did she suddenly feel an inexplicable sense of guilt toward it?! Was Ke Taichiro’s mutation not about pushing dung balls with its front claws, but actually about bewitching people’s hearts?

However, Ke Taichiro’s disappointed state didn’t last long. Compared to the cramped spaces it had known since birth—from following Gao Ming to staying in Boss Tang’s small room—this vast expanse of land before it was incredibly huge!

It crawled at a rapid pace, its wings vibrating at a higher frequency than usual. As it darted back and forth, the grass emitted a continuous RUSTLE.

It was obvious that it loved it here.

Thinking about it, Huai Yu felt it made sense. With people constantly coming and going at the trading market, it probably had to sneak out late at night and return early in the morning just to secretly amass those Klang Balls!

It was totally different here. With six hundred acres of land, as long as the Rose Corridor didn’t beat it up, it could practically roam wherever it pleased!

It could push as many balls as it wanted!

It was, without a doubt, the absolute pinnacle of a Taichiro’s life.