Chapter 175 – Eternal Lament (I)

Chapter 175

Eternal Lament (I)

Was I going to give Xi Zhao the art?

Probably.

Will I any time soon?

Hell no.

Not because of him, actually. I decided to take Long Tao’s words to heart and accept that I just may have an idea of what I’m doing, and thus I concluded that the art fit Xi Zhao perfectly fine.

So, why wasn’t I handing it over like birthday cake?

Dai Xiu.

That’s it.

I’m pretty sure the poor kid would go absolutely berserk (either with rage or sorrow) if I handed Xi Zhao a second reward without giving her anything.

So, for the sake of our sanity and her mental health (as well as my own), I decided to abstain for a little while.

The dawn came, and so as to not stand out, I decided to take Wan Lan with me to the breakfast while the rest of the kids stayed behind. It wasn’t that she was the most ‘socially mature’ one; I’m pretty sure she was the only one. For instance, if somebody hurled an insult at me, I can trust her to just shut up and let me handle it–the kids (besides Long Tao, of course)?

Who the hell knows what they’d do?

So, I opted to bring her with me and tell the others that the kids were just sleeping in, being tired from the climb and all.

Ah, if only that were the truth, and it wasn’t the opposite–they were energized, and I… well, let’s stop there.

We weren’t the only ones streaming out of the homes, having seen more than a dozen folk on our way over. Though they looked at us and ogled us for a bit, nobody said a thing. Either they all collectively just accept any face that comes, or the word had already spread about us.

Regardless, it has nothing to do with me.

We gathered at the barracks, the same place we went last night to see the ‘Capt’n’, but, unlike last night, it was rather bustling.

Nearly all chairs were taken up, and a relatively tantalizing scent of fresh bread was overcoming.

“Ah, newcomers! Come over ‘ere!” The booming voice was familiar; turning to the side, in the leftmost corner I saw Big Fatty–Zhu, dammit–waving at us. He wasn’t alone at the table, but at least there were free spots, so we went over. Wan Lan kept by my side, eyeing everything around like a hawk.

… the kids got to her, didn’t they? They whispered some damn nothings about how she has to protect me, and now… now she’s like this.

Haah.

“Just the two of you?” Zhu asked.

“The kids are still sleeping,” I said. “Fairly tired from the climb.”

“Ah, I can imagine. Sit, sit.” We sat down on the quite uncomfortable wooden benches, facing seven faces around the rectangular, wooden table. The hearth was burning hot, making the temperature in the barracks rather comfortable. “You slept well?”

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“Hardly. My bones were screaming at me all night long.”

“Ha ha, yes. The mountain will do that to you,” he said, pulling two of the plates from the side and pouring us each some soup as well as a small loaf of bread. “It ain’t much, but it’s food.”

“Ah, you don’t have to. We have–“

“Nonsense; you’re guests. Just eat the food and shut up,” he said.

“Big Fatty, did you ‘ear that Old Lun didn’t come home yesterday?” As Wan Lan and I started eating–while carefully purifying the food with Qi, just in case–the conversation quickly unraveled irrespective of us.

“Damn. Who went out to search?”

“M’aan.”

“If anyone can find ‘im.”

“I know we’re short on supplies, but I really don’t like us going far out this close to the winter.”

“Aye. Short days and even shorter daylight. Maybe we can prevail if we squeeze for a bit?”