Chapter 285: Borrow

Actually, what he wanted to say was, Panlong City must often send out Three-Corpse Insects to patrol, yet they still couldn't catch those monsters?

"They changed the time, they don't appear at night." The sparrowhawk said, "They don't appear in the bright sun either, they specifically pick cloudy days, probably because they are a bit afraid of the sun's true fire. These things can't be considered smart, we suspect someone is directing them behind the scenes. Also—"

It hesitated.

"Also what?" Experience told him that what followed was often the key point.

"The commander Zhong found the most experienced pharmacist to examine these monsters, and I was there at the time. The conclusion they reached was that these monsters are still in the juvenile stage."

"Juvenile stage?" He Lingchuan frowned. "They are still cubs?"

"The bone sutures of their fontanelles are very large, they haven't even started to close at all, the pharmacist judged them to be juvenile bodies." The sparrowhawk repeated, "Not infants, but fetuses."

"Fetuses?" He Lingchuan was truly shocked. "So difficult to deal with, and they are still fetuses?"

How terrifying can these ghost things be when they grow up? "Therefore, they instinctively fear strong light and only move on cloudy days." The sparrowhawk resisted the urge to flap its wings. "Since the first monster appeared, there haven't been many cloudy days." So the monsters they captured were few, not because they weren't working hard enough.

"That little monster, did it walk over by itself?"

"Hmm

"Many thanks." He Lingchuan was deeply moved and gently stroked its head.

The sparrow hawk dodged his hand with disdain: "If you want to thank me, then light the stove!"

This room was freezing cold, and it was about to freeze to death!

"Alright, alright." He Lingchuan thought that he had indeed been a poor host, "I'll light the fire right now."

He walked around the kitchen and found that the charcoal was gone, and the firewood was gone too.

That's right, he had used it all up the last time he entered the dream, and he had been too lazy to replenish it.

Anyway, he was strong and healthy, and he could get by on his own upright spirit.

So what to do now? He Lingchuan thought for a moment, picked up the only blanket, and wrapped the sparrow hawk in it: "Wait, I'll go borrow some charcoal and be back in a moment."

Leaving He Lingchuan's house, the patrol guard took many turns, walking further and further into the outskirts, and finally entered a deserted alley.

The walls on both sides were low, the trees overhead were tall, and a residential house on the side was being renovated; the gate was wide open, and materials were piled up, but there was no one in the house.

The sky was overcast with dark clouds, and it would rain in a while.

The patrol guard looked around to make sure no one was following, and then slipped inside.

He stood in the corner behind the house, lifted the grass basket, and his line of sight became parallel with the little monster in the basket.

One person and one monster stared at each other for a few breaths.

Afterward, the little monster made a pattering sound, as if pouring out its heart.

The patrol guard remained motionless, and after the little monster finished speaking, he actually made a pattering sound as well! Listening carefully, that sound did not come from his throat, but from his chest cavity!

Then the patrol guard put down the grass basket, intending to dump the little monster onto the snow.

If he coated it thickly with snow powder, after a while, when the snow melted and reduced the stickiness of the glue, it might be able to escape.

However, just at this moment, an arrow shot from not far away, pinning the patrol guard's arm directly to the wall.

He didn't even feel pain, nor did he cry out, and then the "whoosh" of the air-breaking sound came late.

The patrol guard reached out to pull the arrow, but the next arrow arrived, pinning his other hand to the wall as well.

He finally let out an angry roar, and regardless of anything, he pulled with all his might, actually tearing his palm off the entire long arrow! The arrow remained pinned to the wall, stained with blood from head to tail.

But he was still a step too slow; the third arrow hit the center of his heart! The patrol guard froze instantly, his head drooping, but something moved on his back armor, and something suddenly jumped out from there, trying to flee along the corner of the wall.

Its movements were unusually decisive, and it was as fast as light; even if others watched with their own eyes, they could only see a blur passing through the air.

Unfortunately, the fourth arrow arrived, hitting it squarely, as if it had calculated its path of ejection in advance.

It jumped like that, as if it had thrown itself onto the arrow.

"Caw—" a harsh, miserable scream.

These four simple and unadorned arrows forced it out of its hiding place and pinned it to the wall.

Calmly and easily.

Only then could one see clearly that the thing that jumped out from the patrol guard's back was also a monster, looking like a long-legged spider, with eight legs at least three feet long, but as thin as noodles, while its body was only the size of a duck egg, with a fierce human face hidden on its back.

Hit by this arrow, its eight claws scratched and clawed at the wall, but it didn't even break the wall skin—

Its long legs were for delicate work, such as injecting venom or controlling a person's nerves, making the skin-bag speak and act as usual, not for smashing and grabbing.

Clearly, this patrol guard had been successfully ambushed by it and then turned into a skin-bag for the monster to inhabit.

It had tricked He Lingchuan into trusting it just to save the little monster in the grass basket.

Unfortunately, the oriole was behind.

Only then did a figure jump down from the wall, walk over silently, pull out the feathered arrow, and stuff both the arrow and the spider monster into the quiver.

The little monster in the grass basket kept making pattering sounds, and besides cursing, its little eyes seemed to be filled with fear.

The figure picked up the grass basket and disappeared into the alley with a few leaps.

He Lingchuan jumped onto the wall.

Yes, it was that low wall between his house and Sun Fuling's. The method he had thought of was to go to his good neighbor's house to borrow some firewood.

The teachers at the Shumin Academy had more monthly salary than they could burn, otherwise why would it be called "salary"? By the way, why did that little monster run here?

The moment he climbed over the wall, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he suddenly understood where the incongruity was just now: the little monster in the grass basket had been struggling from beginning to end, except—

Except when he was talking to the patrol guard.

Except when he handed the grass basket to the patrol guard.

At these two times, the little monster was as quiet as a child.

Why? He Lingchuan stood there blankly for several seconds, then patted his head in annoyance.

That patrol guard was likely problematic! But after so long, who knew where that person had slipped off to.

What was he thinking at the time, why did he believe it so easily?

The matter had already passed, and thinking more was useless.

He sighed and continued to look for firewood.

Sun Fuling's small courtyard was empty, with only a chair and a ladder under the eaves. The snow on the ground had melted and turned into ice, crystal clear and very slippery to step on.

This courtyard was cleaner than his face, just lacking human presence.

It looked like Sun Fuling hadn't been back for several days again. Wasn't she on winter break recently, why was she missing again? There was no firewood in the courtyard, so He Lingchuan decided to go into the kitchen to look, and at worst, he would leave her a note.

They were good friends, so he could be a bit casual.

He pushed the door open and walked in, finding that there was indeed a high pile of firewood in the corner of the kitchen, along with charcoal; he didn't know how many months of tuition she had saved up.

He Lingchuan looked at the woodpile that was taller than a person and thought to himself, could it be that this Miss Sun didn't even heat her home usually? Otherwise, how could she have saved so much firewood?

Looking inside the kitchen, the pots, pans, and utensils were all there, but they were arranged too neatly; there were no traces of smoke or fire anywhere, like a model room.

He Lingchuan reached into the bottom of the stove and felt around; there was no burnt smoke, at most a little dust.

Miss Sun said she couldn't cook, and she certainly hadn't been modest.

But didn't she even boil water, just relying on chewing snow to quench her thirst?

The door between the bedroom and the kitchen was not closed, and He Lingchuan knew he shouldn't go over, but his legs wouldn't listen.

Sun Fuling's bedroom was also spotless, the bedding clean and flat, the chair placed against the wall, with two books on it. He Lingchuan looked, and they were both leisure books.

There was also a box by the wall with a lock, but it wasn't locked.

There was half a burnt candle on the lid of the box.

He Lingchuan scanned the room again, saw nothing unusual, and his gaze turned to the box.

Should he open it or not? He had seen Sun Fuling go back to her room to get medicine several times, but he didn't see a medicine box here, so was the medicine kept in the box? What else was in here? Suddenly, a "creak" came from outside, and the courtyard gate opened.

Oh no.

He Lingchuan quickly circled to the kitchen and opened the door to go out.

Then, he came face to face with Sun Fuling, who was stepping into the courtyard.

Both of them were stunned.

Sun Fuling was a little surprised, blinked her eyes, and was carrying things in both hands.

Caught red-handed, He Lingchuan didn't need to look in a mirror to know that his face must be written with bold, capitalized embarrassment.

"Hi." His voice was very weak, "You're back."

Sun Fuling looked at the courtyard wall and then at him, as if she understood something: "Something up?"

"I came..." He Lingchuan laughed, "to borrow some firewood."

Seeing that the leather bag in her hand was bulging, he hurriedly stepped forward to help: "I'll help you carry it."

Sun Fuling handed the things to him, then went into her own kitchen, brought out a large bundle of firewood and a large bundle of charcoal, and stuffed them all into his hands, "I can't use it all, take whatever you want."

A chirping sound suddenly came from next door.

Sun Fuling noticed: "What sound is that?"

"Bird chirping." He Lingchuan gestured toward the ground, "Just now, the sparrow hawk was fighting a monster in your courtyard and got hurt, so it's being treated at my place. It kept crying that it was cold, so..."

He shook the firewood in his hand.

"It's hurt?" Sun Fuling was slightly moved; she had been there when the sparrow hawk came to visit last time, "I'll go over and take a look." After saying that, she turned around and pushed the door to go out.

He Lingchuan certainly couldn't go back the way he came, so he had to follow her out, walked two steps, and pushed open his own courtyard gate: "Please come in."

He went to the kitchen to light the fire, and when he turned his head, he saw Sun Fuling squatting down to examine the sparrow hawk's injuries, even reaching out to stroke its back.

The sparrow hawk not only didn't dodge but closed its eyes, looking very much like it was enjoying it.

"..." Did this bird judge people by their appearance? How had it been so disdainful of him just now?

"Poor thing, its feathers are broken; it looks like it will need to rest for a few days before it can fly." Sun Fuling took out a small bag of dried meat from somewhere, tore it into thin strips, and fed it bit by bit, "Bought it at the market, it's not salty."

(End of chapter)