Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

This little Hilichurl was clearly very well-behaved, sitting to the side rubbing its belly, waiting for the food in the pot.

Jiang Bai curiously stroked the fur on its head; the fur wasn't soft, but rather prickly. The bump from the stone he had thrown earlier had faded, leaving no trace.

Judging from its size, this Hilichurl should still be in its juvenile stage, and it would be easy to distinguish even if it were mixed in with other Hilichurls.

"I can't keep calling you Hilichurl, Hilichurl. You were hit by my rock, so I'll call you Little Stone!" Jiang Bai unilaterally gave it a name without getting its consent at all.

Xiao Shi tilted his head slightly, his eyes hidden by the mask, so it was unclear whether he understood or not.

Chapter 110 They are special

"Come and have some soup~"

Jiang Bai ladled out a bowl of soup and handed it to him. Xiao Shi didn't care whether it was hot or not; he picked it up and drank it.

"It's hot, drink it slowly." Jiang Bai looked at it with a smile.

Ignoring its identity as a little Hilichurl monster, it's actually quite cute.

Little Stone got a little burned. It was clearly its mouth that was burned, but it felt like its foot was burned, as if it had stepped on a hot plate. It jumped around and opened its mouth to fan the flames.

But once he tasted it, he quickly stopped caring and drank it in big gulps, looking very content.

“Huhu~Valo~”

Jiang Bai guessed that he was probably saying thank you or that it tasted good, and he was in a good mood.

He poured himself a bowl, sat on the hay, and slowly drank the soup.

The aroma of the broth filled the cave, and before they knew it, all the Hillocks had gathered around.

A large-headed chuqiu stared longingly at the soup in Jiang Bai's bowl, but under the old shaman's imposing presence, they did nothing, simply watching Jiang Bai drink the soup while swallowing their own saliva.

Jiang Bai found that this Hilichurl camp was quite disciplined. If it were a normal Hilichurl, they would have come and robbed it long ago. Why would they just stand by and do nothing?

But these large Hilichurls are different; even if they yearn for it, they simply choose to watch obediently.

In this Hilichurl camp, the highest-ranking members are the two elderly Hilichurl Shamans, followed by the several large Hilichurls. Young Hilichurls are well cared for, while the lowest-ranking are the ordinary Hilichurls who know nothing. As for slimes, they are purely toys for the Hilichurls and have no status whatsoever.

This system, which does not distinguish status by force, already represents the rudiments of civilization.

Jiang Bai felt that they must be special, because he had not found such characteristics in other Hilichurl camps. Of course, it was also possible that he had not carefully observed the Hilichurl race before.

He decided to wait until he left the cave to see if other Hittite tribes in the snowy mountains were doing the same thing.

Seeing that these hummocks were practically drooling, he conjured up stone bowls and gave each hummock a bowl of soup.

Not much, just enough to make sure each bowl has about half a bowl of liquid.

“Valo~”

Every Qiuqiu who received the soup uttered the same word, and after hearing it more than ten times, Jiang Bai had memorized the word.

He felt his understanding was correct, so he replied:

“Valo~”

"Dada~"

“Mosi Mita~”

The Qiuqiu people were very happy. They carried their soup and sat casually on the ground, looking relaxed and content.

If you ignore their monster identities, this scene is actually quite heartwarming.

Jiang Bai poured the last bit of soup residue from the pot into his own bowl. He had cooked a big pot, but he hadn't drunk much of it himself.

Perhaps they had never tasted such delicious soup before, because the Hilichurls licked their bowls clean, even eating all the spicy ginger pieces, leaving not a single one.

It wasn't that Jiang Bai's soup was particularly delicious; it was simply that these Hilichurls prepared their food in such a rudimentary way that adding a few seasonings was already considered a supreme delicacy to them.

Seeing that the soup in the pot was gone, they slumped their shoulders, looking dejected.

"Tomo~"

I don't know which Hilichurl said something, and then the sound of 'Tomo' echoed throughout the cave.

Jiang Bai didn't understand what it meant, but he felt it must be a good word.

He was like a child just learning to speak, clumsily learning the words he heard.

"Tomo~"

“Mosi Mita~”

“Mosi Mita~”

Despite the conversation being completely nonsensical, they managed to communicate quite pleasantly.

Tang Jiangbai only drank a few sips and could only eat flatbread to fill his stomach.

He strolled around the camp while munching on a biscuit. Because of the soup he had drunk, the Hilichurls had a very high regard for him and did not stop him from going anywhere.

He searched the entire camp but found nothing unusual except for the ice wall.

Perhaps the graffiti on the stone wall could convey some information, but it was too abstract for him to understand at all.

Communication that sounds like a broken record isn't real communication; he imitates their words but doesn't understand their meaning at all.

"If only there were someone fluent in Hilichurls, then we could know exactly what they mean..."

Jiang Bai felt a little regretful, but not too disappointed, since the campsite was right there and they could come back again next time.

These Hilichurls live in relatively secluded places, so there's no need to worry about encountering powerful adventurers and being wiped out.

He plans to go back and see if there are any linguists who can study the Chuqiu language properly.

With that thought in mind, Jiang Bai packed his things and prepared to leave.

Since we can't find any useful information or really communicate, there's no point in staying here any longer.

He has important business to attend to and cannot linger here for too long.

Anyway, he can teleport. When he's bored, he can teleport to a nearby location and then come back.

Seeing that he was about to leave, the shaman took out a piece of meat they had stored in the wooden house as a gift for him.

The wild boar's hind leg meat was preserved remarkably well, completely frozen to ensure maximum freshness.

“Tomo~Mosi Mita!”

My friend is eating meat.

The old shaman lifted the meat.

Although they couldn't communicate in the same language, Jiang Bai could indeed feel the sentiment behind it.

"No, no, you can keep them yourselves!"

He didn't take it, but instead gave the old shaman a handful of sweet flowers.

Seeing that Jiang Bai didn't want it, the old shaman hurriedly ran back to the wooden house with the sweet flower and frozen meat, and took out a small mask from the wooden box.

The mask was very similar to the ones they wore on their faces, but much smaller, like a decorative pendant.

The old shaman handed the small mask to Jiang Bai, muttering words that Jiang Bai couldn't understand.

"A gift for me?"

Jiang Bai accepted the small mask, which was only half the size of his palm. He couldn't understand what the old shaman was saying, so he accepted it as a gift.

I found a rope and threaded it through the eye holes of the mask to make a small ornament.

“Mosi Mita~”

Seeing Jiang Bai accept the gift, the old shaman started dancing, and the other Hilichurls followed suit.

They seem to dance when they feel happy.

Jiang Bai tried to learn it, but found that he looked particularly silly when he danced the Hilichurl dance. He casually put his hands down and pretended that he hadn't done anything.

After watching them finish dancing, Jiang Bai said goodbye to them.

Watching Jiang Bai's figure disappear, the old shaman waved his large staff, as if saying goodbye to Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai waved his hand, tied the mask ornament to the Eye of God, and walked forward without looking back.

He's already memorized the location; he'll come back next time.

"Sigh, I'd better not attack Hilichurls so easily in the future..."

Although they are monsters, once they can communicate with each other, they can no longer be treated as ordinary monsters.

In particular, he accepted gifts from others.

Chapter 111 Huge Skeleton

Leaving the Hilichurl's cave, Jiang Bai followed the path leading to the top, with icicles falling from above from time to time, some hitting his umbrella, some hitting the ice, and some hitting the path ahead.

If these icicles weren't naturally formed, Jiang Bai would have suspected they were manipulated, as if they wouldn't stop until they hit him.

Having dodged numerous hidden weapons, Jiang Bai finally reached the top of the cave and saw the sky outside.

However, the road did not lead to the summit as expected. Instead, it led to another direction of the snow-capped mountain, and there was no way to continue forward.

Jiang Bai emerged from the cave and was greeted by a place resembling an altar. The ground was covered with characters that Jiang Bai could not understand, and several extinguished fires were placed around it.

Jiang Bai looked around and found a small stone tablet.

The stone tablet had stood there for an unknown amount of time, covered by a thick layer of snow, making it very inconspicuous. Jiang Bai swept away the snow and, after a long time, pieced together a single sentence.

"...Attempts were made to heal the ley lines, but the tree had already withered and died. After a simple burial for the princess..."

Healing the ley lines? Aren't ley lines a conceptual network? How can they be contaminated? The tree is dead? What is a tree? It shouldn't refer to an ordinary tree, could it be a metaphor for something special?

A princess was given a simple burial? Was she buried here? And which country's princess was she? If she was a princess, why was she given a simple burial?

The more Jiang Bai read the short inscription, the more doubts he had.

The text above felt like a riddle; he could understand it when it was separated, but he couldn't understand it when it was put together.

He set the stone tablet aside for the time being and looked around.

There are no other paths here except for this clearing in the valley, and below is a cliff.

The vast expanse of snow covered the sky, making visibility extremely poor.

Jiang Bai tried to look up, but could see nothing except the thick rocks covered by ice.

He picked up the square compass that he always wore at his waist; the pointer on it was still pointing to the mountaintop, and he was still quite a distance from the summit.

There was no way out, so Jiang Bai had no choice but to return the way he came and see if there were any other exits in the cave.

By the time he finally found a way out, it was already pitch black outside.

"Is it that late?"

All around was wind and snow, and there was no moon or stars in sight, making it impossible to tell the time.

"I knew something was missing, turns out it was the clock!" Jiang Bai slapped his forehead, somewhat annoyed.

In the past, he always had the hall master as his personal clock when he went out, so he never thought of preparing a clock, which is why he has no way of knowing the time now.

There was nothing he could do about his regret now. He returned to the cave where there was no wind or snow, lit a fire, and prepared to eat and rest.

Jiang Bai sat cross-legged in front of the fire, watching the howling wind and snow outside, and took a sip of wine.

The surroundings were not quiet; there were sounds of howling wind and snow, the whistling of the wind blowing through the cave, the crackling of burning firewood, and the bubbling of boiling water.

Even amidst such noise, there was no one else around except Jiang Bai, creating a sense of desolation as if he were the only person in the world.

Jiang Bai thought that if he hadn't met Hu Tao and hadn't joined the Hall of Rebirth, he would probably have been wandering the world forever, without companions or friends, lonely and bored.

He took another swig of wine, the burning sensation spreading from his throat throughout his body, bringing a slight warmth to his body.

"Next time I go on a long trip, I must take Hu Tao with me. I have to beg and plead until she agrees. There's no one to talk to here, it's so boring being alone..."

Jiang Bai muttered to himself, a slight flush of drunkenness rising on his cheeks.

"Master, I'm so bored..."

Hu Tao, who was lying in bed preparing to sleep, sneezed several times in a row.

"It must be Jiang Bai talking about me!"