“Move it! Hurry and pack your things!”
“Forget the useless junk! Just take food, clothes… the essentials!”
Before dawn, the
hunting squad
was already waking people up, urging them to
evacuate the camp
.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Fists pounded on
wooden doors
, but the hunters didn’t bother
waiting for permission to enter
.
“Bloodbeard’s gang is coming to slaughter us. We’re heading to Moonlake Tribe for refuge!”
After that
one chilling sentence
, they
moved on to the next shelter
.
Mino,
wrapped snugly in a wolf pelt
, was
startled awake
.
She blinked sleepily, feeling a
warmth in her chest
.
“They sure are up early.”
She stretched, letting out a
lazy yawn
.
Meanwhile, Mu Liang had already been awake for a while.
“Breakfast is ready.”
Mino sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes.
“What time did you even sleep last night?”
Before falling asleep, she had seen
Mu Liang still up
, sitting by the
fire pit
, sketching
something on a piece of charcoal-covered wood
.
She had even
debated for a long time
whether to invite him to
sleep next to her
…
But in the end, she was
too embarrassed to say anything
.
“Around midnight.”
Mu Liang stirred the
steaming pot of broth
over the fire.
Today’s breakfast?
Dried meat stew.
Mino sniffed the air.
“Smells so good.”
Her
delicate nose twitched
as she peered into the
boiling steel pot
, her
blue eyes sparkling
.
But then, her expression
tightened with concern
.
“From now on, let me handle cooking breakfast.”
Mu Liang
blinked
.
“Why?”
“You made too much.”
Mino placed a
hand on her hip
, waving a
scolding finger
at him.
“We need to ration our food carefully.”
Mu Liang
chuckled
, scooping a
hefty portion
into her
metal lunchbox
.
“Don’t worry. The dried meat we have will last us more than twenty days.”
He passed the
full container
to her.
Last night,
she had insisted on eating only dried lizard meat
—probably
barely filling a third of her stomach
.
And judging by
her approach to rationing
, she’d likely
only serve a portion small enough to keep them barely satisfied
.
Mino
frowned
.
“This is too much. I should save half for dinner.”
Despite her
words
, her hands
instinctively reached out
and
took the lunchbox
anyway.
Mu Liang
grinned
.
“We’re having roasted dried meat for dinner.”
“Awoo~~”
Mino had
just taken a big bite of hot soup
And immediately
opened her mouth
, panting to
cool down her tongue
.
Mu Liang
shook his head, amused
.
“Be careful. It’s hot.”
He
blew on his spoonful
, cooling it before
taking a slow, measured sip
.
Mino, meanwhile, had
finally swallowed her first bite
.
Her
blue eyes gleamed with joy
.
“So good!”
The
rich, meaty broth
awakened her
taste buds
, while the
warm liquid soothed her throat
.
One sip, and her
hunger
seemed to ease.
“It’s been so long… since I’ve had meat stew.”
Her
lips trembled slightly
, and a
faint mist
gathered in her eyes.
The last time she had
eaten something like this
…
Was when
her sister
was still around.
“From now on, you can drink it whenever you want.”
Mu Liang reached out,
gently wiping away the tear
at the
corner of her eye
.
Mino
shook her head
.
“That’s wasteful! We can’t have meat stew every day.”
Her
cheeks puffed up
in disapproval.
Mu Liang raised an eyebrow.
“So, normally, you just drink water?”
“Of course!”
She
sniffled
, rubbing at her
nose
.
Mu Liang smirked.
“Well, if we make stew, we still get water—plus food.”
He
tilted his head
.
“Isn’t that a better deal?”
Mino
paused, thinking hard
.
“Wait… that actually makes sense?”
But
something still felt off
She just couldn’t
figure out what
.
Mu Liang simply
waved his hand
, urging her on.
“Drink it while it’s hot. It won’t taste as good cold.”
Mino
grinned
, her
eyes curving into happy crescents
.
“Mm!”
She happily
dug in
, savoring
each bite
.
Outside the wooden shelter,
chaos unfolded
.
While Mu Liang and Mino
leisurely enjoyed breakfast
,
The
rest of the camp
was
frantically packing up
.
Mino
let out a satisfied sigh
and
patted her stomach
.
“So full…”
She glanced at the
empty lunchbox
, feeling
a little guilty
.
Originally, she had
planned to save half
for later—
But
one bite led to another
…
And before she knew it—
She’d finished the entire meal.
Mu Liang
watched her
, amusement flickering in his eyes.
“How does it feel to be full?”
Mino’s
cheeks turned pink
.
“It feels amazing. But… it’s too indulgent.”
This one meal alone
was worth nearly ten whole lizards
!
Mu Liang
ruffled her hair
.
“Don’t worry about food. Leave that to me.”
She had
saved his life
The least he could do was
make sure she never went hungry again
.
Mino’s
face turned an even deeper shade of red
.
She
opened her mouth
to say something…
But no words came out.
Mu Liang suddenly
tilted his head, frowning slightly
.
“You’re still wearing that headscarf?”
He made a
grabbing motion
, pretending to be disappointed.
“I can’t even pat your bunny ears anymore.”
Mino
pouted
, puffing up her cheeks.
“I’m not a pet!”
After
hesitating
for a moment, she
slowly reached up
, untying the fabric that hid her ears.
Mu Liang’s
lips curled into a satisfied smile
.
Mino
noticed the expression
, and her
face instantly burned bright red
.
She
turned away sharply
, chin lifted.
“I’m just letting them breathe. I didn’t do it for you!”
“Of course, of course.”
Mu Liang
barely held back a laugh
.
“Hmph!”
Mino
huffed
.
Then—quickly changing the subject—she asked eagerly,
“Are we moving onto Xiao Xuanwu’s back today?”
She had been
dreaming of their new home
—a
house that could move anywhere
.
Mu Liang
shook his head
.
“Not yet. We don’t even have a house built.”
First, he needed to
evolve the Rock Armor Turtle
to
Level 3
.
Then its
shell would be even larger
, making it
easier to construct a proper home
.
Besides, he had no idea
how big it would get after evolving
.
He needed to
see its new size first
before
planning the construction
.
Mino’s
eyes sparkled with anticipation
.
“Then let’s go build our house!”
“Let’s go.”
Mu Liang led the way
out of the shelter
.
Mino
paused
, suddenly remembering—
“Wait! What about all the stuff we brought back last night?”
With the
camp residents leaving
, there was a chance
looters
would break in.
“I left Xiao Cai to guard it.”
Mu Liang gestured to the
corner of the room
.
Mino turned—
And saw the
Two-Meter-Long Three-Colored Lizard
fade into view.
She
sighed in relief
.
“Alright, that works.”
With that settled, the two
slipped out of the camp
, heading for the
wilderness
.
Nearby, the
Rock Armor Turtle
was hunting—
A single
“Earth Rock Spike”
sent a
rat flying out of its burrow
.