Chapter 586: You Won't Go Hungry

The old hunter trembled all over, came to his senses, hastily bowed and saluted, his tone extremely respectful.

"Miss, it wasn't us who shot it," he said, lifting his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead, "When he arrived, that arrow was already there."

Tuan Tuan tilted her head: "When he arrived? Didn't he used to live here?"

"Yes, yes," the old hunter nodded repeatedly, "About a month ago, this thing, uh, this..."

He stumbled, not knowing what to call this huge creature.

Tuan Tuan turned to look at the giant: "Right, what's your name?"

The giant blinked, his big head swaying slightly.

Tuan Tuan thought for a moment: "Well, since you have no name, I'll call you..."

She looked up at Sa Dike: "Uncle, what were those two you mentioned called again?"

Sa Dike replied: "Yaksha and Sharden!"

"So which kind is he?"

"I don't know, but I've heard the old folks say Yaksha never leaves the Snow Mountain, so he must be a Sharden."

"Sharden," Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up, she patted the giant's knee, turned to look at him, "From now on I'll call you Xiao Dan Dan, okay?"

"Cough cough cough..." a chorus of coughing broke out.

Xiao Ningyuan and Xiao Ningxun simultaneously rubbed their foreheads, "Tuan Tuan, where does he look like an egg?"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi lowered their heads, shoulders shaking.

Sa Dike opened his mouth wide, "Xiao Dan Dan? This three‑meter‑tall wild man?"

The giant tilted his big head, looking somewhat bewildered.

Tuan Tuan pointed at herself: "I am, Tuan Tuan."

The giant nodded.

"Wow, you're smart!" Tuan Tuan pointed at him again, "You, Xiao Dan Dan!"

The giant's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.

Kang An stared at the giant's big face: "So big, an egg!"

Everyone: "……"

Tuan Tuan lowered her head to look at the old hunter: "Go on, what happened after Xiao Dan Dan arrived?"

The old hunter blinked, then quickly nodded: "Oh, okay, this Xiao Dan Dan..."

He shook his head, unable to go on, "Such a huge wild man, and you call him Xiao Dan Dan?"

Tuan Tuan was puzzled: "Just keep going!"

The old hunter said: "He suddenly appeared here for no reason we know, and we don't know where he came from."

Tuan Tuan pursed her lips, even more unhappy: "Since Xiao Dan Dan was injured when he arrived, why are you bullying him?"

"You want to take him as prey and eat him?"

"No, no, no," the old hunter waved his hands frantically, "We can't even dodge him, how dare we!"

"Just," the old hunter sighed, "since he came, all the wild beasts in the mountains have fled; we can't hunt anything at all."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a young hunter nearby couldn't hold back.

"Game? What game left!" he exclaimed with a bitter face, "Since that... Xiao Dan Dan arrived, we haven't even seen a rabbit's fur!"

The other hunters also couldn't hold back, chattering away.

"Don't even mention rabbits—rats are gone too! Everything fled, scared away by it!"

Everyone let out a low laugh.

The old hunter glared at them: "We have no choice; we can only live on the dried food and meat we've stored at home."

"I never expected," he pointed at the giant, his voice rising, "It! It stole our kitchen's dried meat and the drying fruit—everything!"

"Exactly! It took everything clean!"

"It didn't even leave the meat‑hanging ropes!"

Their laughter grew louder, although they knew they shouldn't laugh, they simply couldn't help it.

The old hunter sighed: "Later we wised up; at night we stored all the food in the cellar, locked the door, and weighed it down with stones."

"It can't get in," he paused, his face a complex mix, "but it just won't leave!"

"Exactly! He squats at the cellar door and can stay there all night!"

"Every morning when we open the door," the young hunter imitated the giant's squatting pose, hands on knees, head tilted, "It's just there squatting, like a guard!"

"Just like that, we can't scare it off or beat it," the old hunter shook his head, "so we can only wear it out."

Another hunter shouted: "That's not even the worst! It even imitates people!"

"I was chopping wood," he gestured, "it would squat nearby watching, then after watching it would find a tree and mimic the motions. It had no axe, so it just used its hands to imitate—learned it perfectly!"

"I was squatting by the river drawing water, it also squatted; when I stood up, it stood up too, and when I left, it still seemed happy!"

"Like this," he imitated the giant, giving a silly "hehe" twice.

Everyone burst into laughter.

"We wanted to catch him and then figure out how to send him away, but first we have to catch him! We thought of sneaking up and roping him when he wasn't looking."

"The result? He glanced at it, snatched the loop away, slipped it onto his foot, and trotted off laughing!"

By this point, everyone was laughing so hard they doubled over.

After the laughter subsided, the old hunter let out a long sigh: "Later we thought, since we can't provoke him and we can dodge, if we go farther out we might finally find game?"

"But," he shook his head, "it's completely useless."

"The farthest we once went was three days out, and still we didn't see a single rabbit."

"It followed us, as soon as we stopped in the mountains and it let out a roar, all the nearby birds and beasts fled, leaving not a single hair."

"If we keep going like this," the old hunter raised his head to look at Tuan Tuan, his face full of helplessness, "we'll have to leave the place where we've lived for generations and move elsewhere."

"We're chasing it today not to hurt it, just to drive it far away—the farther the better."

"I didn't expect this," he said, looking at Xiao Tuanzi sitting on the giant's knee, "to run into you."

Xiao Dandan seemed to know the hunters were talking about it, and lowered its head shyly.

Tuan Tuan looked at him: "Xiao Dandan, you're so mischievous!"

Xiao Dandan, hearing that, lowered its head even further and let out a soft "Mew—".

Tuan Tuan thought: "But we can't blame Xiao Dandan entirely—he's hungry!"

Kang An recalled his time at Shazhoubao, nodding repeatedly: "Exactly!"

The hunters: "……"

We're hungry too!

Tuan Tuan suddenly thought: "Xiao Dandan, are you hungry now? Do you want to eat something?"

Xiao Dandan shot its head up, its big eyes full of longing.

Tuan Tuan lowered his head and shouted: "Didn't we bring plenty of food? Let him have a full meal, okay?"

Xiao Ningxun nodded: "Bring over a box of the dried food and jerky."

Sa Dike exclaimed: "What? One box? That's two days' rations for all of us!"

The guards unloaded a large box from the white camel, opened the lid, and placed it beside Xiao Dandan.

Xiao Dandan's eyes instantly gleamed brightly.

Tuan Tuan pointed at the box: "Xiao Dandan, this is for you—eat up."

Xiao Dandan pointed at itself, and Tuan Tuan nodded: "Go ahead, eat until you're full!"

Xiao Dandan gently set Tuan Tuan and Kang An on the ground, then with a sweep of its big hand grabbed half a box of food.

Then he began to eat in big mouthfuls.

The two little ones looked up, and Tuan Tuan exclaimed: "Xiao An'an, he can eat even more than you!"

Kang An nodded: "Yeah! More than me!"

Soon the box was empty.

Xiao Dandan licked its lips, seeming still unsatisfied.

Tuan Tuan shouted: "Are you full yet, Xiao Dandan?"

Xiao Dandan neither nodded nor shook its head, just looked at Tuan Tuan pleadingly.

Tuan Tuan understood: "Oh, you're not full yet—get him another box!"

The guards: "Yes!"

Sa Dike stumbled and fell from the carriage shaft to the ground.

He brushed off the dirt, stood up, and with a look of despair said: "Two boxes! At this rate, our little stash will be gone in just a few days."

Xiao Ningyuan held back a laugh: "No problem, we'll buy more after we finish—you won't go hungry."

Xue Tong, standing aside, carefully examined the half-arrow they'd dug up: "This arrow is extraordinary—look, the arrowhead is made of gold!"

Everyone gathered around; after wiping off the blood, the arrowhead revealed its original gleaming gold, exquisitely crafted, with a tiny leopard's head carved on it.

Xue Tong glanced at Sa Dike, who was climbing onto the carriage: "Come take a look—what does this symbol mean?"

Sa Dike walked over, wore a helpless expression, lowered his head to look, and his face changed drastically: "This is the emblem of the King of Kucha!"