“No matter how good it smells, it’s not something you can touch. Bah! You little bringer of bad luck!”
Jing Erdan was Grandma Jing’s youngest son, born in her later years. He was only six years old this year. Normally, the youngest child should have been the most spoiled, but the opposite was true in this family. Grandma Jing hated Jing Erdan the most.
When Grandma Jing gave birth to Jing Erdan, she had suffered a premature delivery and severe blood loss. She had nearly died and remained unconscious for several days before finally waking up.
Not long after Grandma Jing regained consciousness, a flood broke out in their hometown. Later, a plague struck as well…
One disaster after another caused Grandma Jing to blame everything on Jing Erdan. On top of that, Jing Erdan had been weak since birth and fell ill every so often, requiring a considerable amount of money for treatment each time.
Naturally, Grandma Jing gradually came to hate Jing Erdan.
If it weren’t for Grandpa Jing protecting him, Jing Erdan probably wouldn’t have survived until now.
Just when their lives had finally begun to improve, they were struck by locusts and drought. They could no longer survive, so they had no choice but to embark on the journey to flee the famine.
Grandma Jing’s hatred toward Jing Erdan only grew stronger.
“Mother, the soup is ready.”
Zhao Xiao’e spoke timidly.
The family’s food was normally distributed by Grandma Jing, including the food they had while fleeing the famine. Naturally, Zhao Xiao’e didn’t dare touch anything without permission.
Grandma Jing snorted and told Zhao Xiao’e to bring the bowl over.
At a time when food was scarce and water was difficult to find, there was only half a pot of soup in the clay pot.
A hard steamed bun and half a piece of dried meat had been added to the soup. The steamed bun had already dissolved into a mush, while the dried meat had been chopped into tiny pieces, making the soup look quite thick.
The aroma of meat had already made everyone swallow repeatedly.
Grandma Jing took a bowl and filled it to the brim. After serving that one bowl, half the mush in the pot was immediately gone.
“Little Silver, this is yours.”
Grandma Jing handed the full bowl of mush directly to Jing Yin.
Jing Yin hesitated before shaking her head.
“Grandma, I already ate a steamed bun earlier. I’m not hungry right now.”
It wasn’t that Jing Yin didn’t want to eat. This body simply hadn’t eaten properly for a long time. If she suddenly ate too much, she would most likely end up with stomach problems.
She wanted Grandma Jing to cook the rest of the dried meat as well, but unfortunately, this family had hardly eaten anything either. If they suddenly ate so much meat, they might also end up with stomach problems.
Grandma Jing didn’t believe Jing Yin’s excuse and was about to force the bowl into her hands when Jing Yin leisurely said,
“Grandma, Tangyuan says that from now on, he’ll protect the Jing family so we’ll never have to worry about food again.”
As soon as Jing Yin finished speaking, Tangyuan immediately nodded obediently.
The owner was saying something, but he couldn’t understand a word of it.
But the owner wanted him to nod, so he nodded~
Grandma Jing: “…”
Grandma Jing had originally planned to save this bowl for their next meal, but after Jing Yin firmly insisted, she finally distributed the food among everyone.
Grandpa Jing, Jing Da, and Jing Zhao were the family’s main laborers, so naturally they received the largest portions.
Next was Tangyuan.
Finally came Grandma Jing and Zhao Xiao’e.
Jing Erdan received the smallest portion, only a tiny bite that wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.
Even so, Jing Erdan’s eyes lit up with excitement. He carefully licked his bowl clean.
Seeing this, Grandpa Jing sighed and gave half of the food from his own bowl to Jing Erdan.
Grandma Jing snorted and pretended not to see it, turning around to eat the food in her own bowl.
Tangyuan happily licked his bowl clean before jumping into Jing Yin’s arms again.
While everyone else was still eating, Jing Yin carried Tangyuan around the surrounding area.
She needed to investigate exactly what abilities her cheat system had.
[Ding! A withered elm tree has been discovered. Quickly turn it into an exquisite solid-wood stool! Host, would you like to accept the crafting mission?]
Jing Yin: “…”
Was this really not a carpenter-training system?
Among a patch of withered wild grass, she spotted an elm tree that was only half intact. It was only about as tall as her thigh.
Jing Yin silently accepted the mission.
Jing Da was actually quite skilled at woodworking. If she couldn’t make it herself, she could simply have him do it.
After all, the mission never said that she had to make it with her own hands.
[Ding! Crafting mission issued. Successfully completing the mission will reward you with 2 points. Failure will reward you with 1 bag of fresh elm leaves.]
Jing Yin: “…”
Wasn’t this forcing her to choose?
Without hesitation, Jing Yin promptly admitted that she was incapable of making a stool.
The system: “…”
[Ding! Host has failed the crafting mission. You will not receive the points reward.]
[Ding! Host has received a consolation reward: 1 bag of elm leaves. Please keep trying.]
[Ding! Please select the location where the item will drop.]
This time, the reward didn’t simply drop beside her like before. She now had a choice.
The reward could either be stored directly in her space or dropped at any location within ten meters of her.
Jing Yin chose a secluded patch of withered grass.
Almost instantly, a worn burlap sack appeared in the grass.
She walked over and opened it.
The burlap sack, which was nearly half as tall as a person, was filled with fresh, tender elm leaves. It weighed approximately three pounds.
“Tangyuan, you’re amazing.”
Jing Yin smiled brightly as she carried the burlap sack toward her family while loudly praising Tangyuan.
“Grandma, Tangyuan found something good!”
Jing Yin placed the sack of elm leaves in front of the Jing family and then vividly explained how Tangyuan had found the elm leaves.
When Grandma Jing saw the fresh, tender elm leaves that absolutely should not have been available at this time, she was completely astonished.
She immediately declared that the Fox Immortal had manifested its divine powers and began bowing repeatedly to Tangyuan.
Tangyuan: “…”
A tiny head filled with enormous question marks.
Why was this old lady kneeling before him again?
Was she going to cut off more meat to feed him?
She was too old. The meat would be tough and dry.
He didn’t like eating it.
…
After carefully storing the elm leaves, Grandma Jing put on a serious expression and sternly warned everyone.
“Not a single person is allowed to tell anyone about this. Pretend you’re all blind and didn’t see a damn thing! If anyone dares reveal even a single word, it’ll cost this old woman her life, and it’ll cost the lives of everyone in the Jing family! Do you understand?”
The Jing family had always been good at keeping secrets. After Grandma Jing’s stern warning, naturally no one dared say anything outside.
If outsiders found out that the Jing family had a Fox Immortal, then whenever even the slightest strange incident happened, people would probably blame it all on them.
☸
The sun was blazing overhead.
Grandma Jing discussed with Grandpa Jing about heading back immediately. Perhaps they could still catch up with the main group of refugees.
Although the Jing family now had the protection of a Fox Immortal and could somehow obtain a little food, the entire Ningtian Prefecture had been reduced to barren wasteland, with the people suffering terribly. There were countless bandits and wild beasts, and the Jing family was no match for them.
One wrong move, and they could end up inside a wild beast’s stomach.
If they traveled together with the main group of refugees, they could at least guard against attacks from wild animals. At the very least, bandits wouldn’t dare openly attack them.
“Grandma, the things we have are too conspicuous. Traveling with the main group might actually be more dangerous.”
Jing Yin didn’t like the idea of traveling with the large group.
Human hearts were unpredictable. Sometimes, people were even more terrifying than bandits and wild beasts.
If those refugees discovered that they had food, they might swarm them and attack.
“Then we’ll listen to Silver. We’ll follow the same route without getting too close to them. There are three grown men in our family, after all. The wild beasts should be the ones afraid of us.”