Chapter 63: Raising Tigers Becomes a Trouble

( ) Chapter 74: Raising Tigers Becomes a Trouble

Li Bucai asked, "According to your historical records, when was the last encounter with the undead?"

Wan'er replied, "The records have no entry, because after moving to Sky City few people left, and our histories only begin to be written two thousand years after the migration to Sky City, so regarding the undead, it is only a legend."

Li Bucai asked again, "Do the legends say they eat people?"

Wan'er didn't know, and the girls all silently shook their heads to indicate they didn't know.

"Then that's it. That's fine; you needn't worry about those legends. Tens of thousands of years have passed, and besides, between any two different species in the world, only when one is the other's food and must kill each other do they become natural mortal enemies; otherwise, nothing is inherently incompatible."

Li Bucai thought, even a Tiger and a Lion can share a cage peacefully unless the two fierce beasts refuse to yield; likewise, for humans with higher intelligence, as long as they find a way to be on the stronger side, they can certainly resolve the feud with the undead, even if they cannot make them submit—having one fewer enemy is always better than having many more rivals.

Li Bucai said, "Earlier we didn't see Rui Tong in the Goblin camp; she hasn't returned yet, so she must have been taken by the undead. Therefore, we must keep her to exchange for Rui Tong."

The girls, having long heard of the undead's reputation, felt uneasy. If Rui Tong truly had been captured by the undead, the only way to rescue her would be to trade this person. As for whether they could succeed, even a small tribe of undead outnumbers their side by dozens, even hundreds. They knew Li Bucai was capable, but expecting these few of them to safely retrieve Rui Tong from the hundreds‑to‑thousands of invulnerable elves was almost a pipe dream; the chance of losing all these people was far greater than the chance of rescuing Rui Tong.

All the girls bowed their heads in silent silence.

Li Bucai understood the difficulty, but now they had already encountered them; even if they released this person, conflict was only a matter of time.

Seeing the girls' solemn expressions, Li Bucai sighed lightly and said, "I know this deal may end up costing us everything, but you must understand: if we are natural mortal enemies with them, they already know we exist. Even if we release her and ignore Rui Tong, they will still come after us. If we don't resolve the problem here, we can only retreat to the stronghold; when they locate the stronghold and a massive battle ensues, another defeat would leave us with no retreat, and we could be annihilated."

Li Bucai paused, then continued, "Also, everyone knows Rui Tong is just an ordinary scout; I hired her from Sky City for ten silver. You all know I don't have much silver on me now, but I still have several thousand units of Lulu Meat. Ten silver is nothing to me; I could simply abandon Rui Tong and let her fend for herself, saving half a month's wages. I'm saying this only to let you know that while other lords may ignore the lives of their subordinates, anyone serving under me, regardless of rank, as long as they are alive and have a breath, I will never allow them to be abandoned, even if the opponent is unbeatable, even if it costs my own life. I don't want any of you here to face danger without anyone daring to help, and I will not permit that."

Indeed, no one wishes to be in danger without anyone caring; the girls replied remorsefully, "Rui Tong is our sister; even our lord is not afraid. We will spare no effort to rescue Rui Tong."

Li Bucai nodded, "This matter requires careful planning. Give me some time to consider how to rescue her; I will devise a foolproof plan. It's getting late, so everyone should rest for now."

Seeing the girls linger, Li Bucai thought his previous words were a bit harsh, and smiled, "I understand—you fear that keeping this person will attract an undead siege, preventing us from gathering those materials, which harms our overall strategy. I was merely anxious because Rui Tong vanished suddenly. You are all my good subordinates; how could a few lowly undead make you panic, right?"

The group echoed his words in unison, "Yes."

"Alright, we've all been exhausted today; tomorrow there are many tasks. Go back and get some proper rest."

Only then did the others leave the tent; Wan'er and Xiaoxiao stayed behind, intending to serve the lord.

The undead girl was only temporarily unconscious, and it was uncertain when she'd awaken. Li Bucai feared she might harm the two of them, so he sent Xiaoxiao to rest in another tent as well. As the two were about to leave, they tried to bind the girl, but Li Bucai stopped them. He not only wanted to trade her for Rui Tong; if possible, he hoped to use this girl to make deeper contact with the undead, since many would risk death to rescue her—she must not be an ordinary undead.

……

At dawn, Li Bucai was lying on the bed, half‑dressed, sleeping; on the small mattress beside him, the undead girl, after nearly a night of unconsciousness, suddenly flickered her watery large eyes a few times.

"Where am I?"

She seemed to recall being captured by the Goblin, suddenly sat up, looked around, realizing she should have been locked in that crude stone hut, yet it had become a white cloth house; moreover, the rope she despised and the black sack were gone.

Her gaze fell on Li Bucai sleeping in a hammock, startling her; recalling the fighting sounds from last night, she expected her comrades to have rescued her, but seeing none indicated the rescue failed, and with no Goblin in sight, she presumed she had been captured again by this person.

Undead exist on this continent; although their bodies are impervious to swords and spears, they are small and weak, and few in number. Among all upright‑walking elves, they are a disadvantaged group, often attacked by elves of other races, so their self‑preservation instinct is strong.

She hurriedly leapt from the bed, first checking her body for injury, found none, then quietly walked to the door, intending to slip out.

"Where are you going?"

A vague voice came from behind; the girl, startled, turned around to see Li Bucai twist his body, his face turned toward her, eyes still closed, and after a few pursed lips, he emitted a sleeping sound.

The girl suddenly spotted a bronze sword lying by the bed and thought, "He managed to snatch me from the Goblin's hands and just walked away; if he discovers me again and catches up, he might take me back."

So she quietly approached the bedside, gradually drew the bronze sword, and aimed it at his throat…