Chapter 156 The Death of the Fairy (Part 1) Firewood, persimmons, the fairy…
There was no rush regarding fodder, since he wasn't too busy right now. So, Ray grabbed a hacksaw and an axe, called Lamb, and went to the woods near the village to cut down trees and prepare firewood for the winter.
Wild fruit was definitely out of the question in the woods near the village, but there was plenty of wood. The two walked around the woods and selected three dead trees that had died naturally.
Lamb's older brother, Brian, was an honest and hardworking man, a skilled worker. After the harvest season ended, he found a short-term job and earned some money after working for a while.
After the construction was completed, they immediately started working on household chores. They had already prepared a warehouse full of wood, so there was no need for other family members to worry about it.
Therefore, Lamb mainly helped Ray carry logs this time.
Falling dead trees isn't difficult; the challenge lies in transporting them back. Lamb is strong enough to drag an entire dead tree back by himself with all his might, but Ray can't do what Lamb does.
To make things easier, the two of them processed the wood a second time in the woods, sawing it into pieces that were easy to drag, then drilling holes, tying ropes, and hauling it back to Lai's house.
The rest of the work could be done by Ray alone, but Lamb figured he might as well stay home anyway, so he started helping Ray saw the wood again.
The logs ranged in size from as thick as one and a half people's waists to as thin as the mouth of a jar. But regardless of their thickness, they were eventually cut into stumps of forty to fifty centimeters, waiting for Ray to finally chop them into pieces that would be easy to burn with an axe.
Chopping wood isn't a particularly skilled job, and Neil sometimes helps out. Lay doesn't spoil the kids much; he lets Neil do what he wants, as long as he doesn't hurt himself.
It's a win-win situation – you can get exercise and do chores at the same time.
Another busy day passed for Ray and Lamb, tiring but fulfilling.
I've been busy with the hills and food reserves lately. There haven't been any days off at the academy; they say there's group training. As for meals, Lai just grabs a few bites and makes do. We haven't cooked at home much.
Ryan was not in a good mood after only tasting the rolled pancakes, stir-fried cured pork with chili peppers, and stewed green beans with vermicelli.
Although the rice noodles were slippery and delicious, I still felt like Lai was just fooling me.
"Humans, why don't you make ribs and meat anymore?"
If you have any questions, just ask. Ryan never beats around the bush.
"Sorry, I've been busy with a lot of work at home. It's hot, and there's no way to preserve fresh meat right now, so I have to go to town to buy fresh meat. But I've been too busy to go, so lately I've been cooking mostly vegetarian dishes."
"That's what Lei explained," Rye said.
"Do you like to eat meat? Then I'll make it for you next time."
Neil will be back next week, and Ray plans to kill a Red Wild Bird, make it into a casserole dish, and give Neil a good boost.
The Cavaliers' training is tough, with most of it being physical conditioning. Neal has lost a lot of weight and gotten quite tanned recently, but he's also grown a lot taller.
It was a time when he needed extra nutrition, so Lei intentionally gave him more nourishment when he went home to rest.
"No, I prefer fresh vegetables, but it's also quite nice to try some meat."
Disliking something and tasting it are not mutually exclusive, and Leie has no objection to that.
Over this period of time, Lai has gained a new understanding of this "neighbor" with whom he may be living for some time, and understands why He would borrow his body.
As a life-like entity formed from the condensation of elements, Lian does not actually have a sense of taste or a digestive system, and does not need to eat.
It absorbs the surrounding wood element or the life force of plants to maintain its energy. If these cannot provide it, it can miraculously absorb sunlight, because Lian also has some plant-like characteristics.
A large part of the reason He occupied Rai's body was that He wanted to taste the flavors of these human foods.
He was also very curious as to why the food that Lai made was so different from the traditional food made by others.
"May I make a whole bird stew in a clay pot next time?"
Ryan nodded demurely.
With a few days until Neil's return, Lei tried to delay as much as possible.
"I know a place in the woods where you can pick persimmons. You can peel them and eat them directly, or you can wait until winter and freeze them into frozen persimmons and then thaw them before eating. Would you like to try some?"
"I asked tentatively," Ray asked.
Lai had never seen any villagers eat crisp persimmons before. He didn't know if it was because they didn't know that the fruit was edible, or for some other reason.
"Crispy persimmon?"
Ryan couldn't figure out what it was, but nodded and accepted Ray's offer.
"Then I'll go to the woods and pick some for you today."
"Can."
Lai breathed a sigh of relief; the matter of not taking cooking seriously was thus dropped. He didn't dare delay, so he slung his basket over his shoulder, grabbed his weapons and rope, and set off.
Tata knew he was going out and insisted on going with him. I don't know who he learned it from, but she seriously told him that she was going out with him to broaden her horizons, not to go out and have fun.
Unexpectedly, Ryan also went along, and this unexpected situation immediately dampened Tata's spirits.
He was a little reluctant to go, but this was a rare opportunity to get some fresh air.
It was late autumn and early winter, and the fallen leaves in the forest had accumulated to a thick layer. The further you went into the forest, the more plants there were, and the more fallen leaves there were. The thickness was enough to bury Tata's short legs.
The fallen leaves felt soft underfoot, and Tata ran through the woods with boundless joy. Lai couldn't catch a glimpse of him for a moment, only noticing occasional, slightly crooked ridges among the leaves—the little monster was running and playing under the leaves.
Ryan used magic to create a glowing butterfly to play with Tata, and Tata started jumping up and down to catch the magical butterfly.
Even if you accidentally fall to the ground, there's no need to worry, because the fallen leaves here are thick enough.
The persimmon tree was far away, near the ginkgo tree, and Lai could only walk there to get to it.
The journey was safe; they didn't encounter any Gulu beasts with cubs, nor any injured wolves, and even the little sprite that often bothered him didn't appear.
I wonder if it's because of Ryan's presence.
After walking for about an hour and a half, Lai found the persimmon tree.
The persimmons were all ripe, but most of them had been ruined by the birds in the woods. Lai climbed up a tree trunk, picked a dozen or so, some good and some not too bad, and came back.
Ryan flew down to the basket and took a look.
“I have seen this fruit before, but it is not called crisp persimmon. The elves call it crisp fruit.”
They're all the same, with "crispy" in their name, making the texture immediately obvious.
Tata thought to herself.
Have you tried it?
Ryan fell silent, and Ray quickly tried to smooth things over.
"The crisp persimmon has a very crisp and refreshing taste. When you go back, you can try it with my body."
"good."
The persimmon tree wasn't far from the ginkgo tree, and having not seen the little elf for several months, Lai decided to go and see it.
The old ginkgo tree's leaves haven't turned completely yellow yet, but even with only half of them being bright yellow, this large ginkgo tree is still breathtakingly beautiful.
"elder brother!"
"elder brother!"
"elder brother!"
With a crisp sound, countless others began to echo it.
Lei discovered a large group of little elves on the branches of the ginkgo tree and in various corners around it.
They were exactly the same as when Ray first saw them, unchanged. Ray couldn't help but search for that most familiar figure.
But it had no name, nor any other easily identifiable features. If that slightly special little sprite hadn't flown out on its own, he really wouldn't have been able to recognize it among so many.
For a moment, Lei didn't know what to do.
"Aww! Lei, it's him!"
Tata excitedly showed off her discovery.
A little elf with tree-shaped patterns on its wings is hiding itself in a tree hole, occasionally peeking at Laiyi.
Still alive, that's good.
Lei breathed a sigh of relief.
He frowned slightly, having to admit that he still thought about the little elf.
"Huh? Why isn't it coming out?"
Tata was puzzled.
"It's alright, don't disturb them."
Having confirmed certain things, Lai planned to leave with Tata and Ryan.
The little sprite flew right in front of him and then turned its back.
It's clearly angry with Lei.
Lei smiled knowingly, feeling somewhat helpless towards this awkward little elf.
"Want to eat an energy ball?"
Lei condensed an energy ball.
As his magic improved, the energy spheres he condensed became increasingly dark in color, and the energy they contained became even purer.
The little elf was still being stubborn and wouldn't pay attention to him.
"I promise you can eat your fill and I'll play with you a little longer."
The sulking elf immediately forgave Lei and moved closer to his palm to absorb energy.
Its wings trembled as it absorbed energy, gradually changing from gold to the same color as the energy ball, and the patterns on them became more and more distinct.
Ryan circled the little sprite again and again, studying the patterns on its wings. The little sprite trembled with fear but refused to leave Ray easily.
"What's wrong?"
Lei was puzzled.
"The pattern on its wings was altered later; it's incredible that such a small life form could undergo such a change."
Ryan was quite interested.
"There is a magical 'contract' between it and you."
"What impact will this have?"
"No, it's just a one-sided connection."
Ryan was like a riddle teller at that moment, leaving Tata completely bewildered. In his eyes, Ryan was like a superior version of a little elf.
It's tiny, flies around, and glows.
Well, he didn't dare to reveal his true thoughts, fearing that Ryan would kill him.
After absorbing all the energy, the little sprite immediately hid behind Lei's head. From the moment it arrived, it had been feeling a suffocating power emanating from the "kind" behind it.
"Ray."
"Ray!"
The little elf called out in a childish voice, and the others began to imitate it, echoing it in unison.
But they can't speak, they can only utter one word at a time, and then there was another "lai lai lai" sound in the forest.
The little sprite puffed out its chest, flew in front of Lei and made a difficult pose, as if showing off or asking for praise, before quickly hiding behind Lei.
"Little thing, I'm not going to eat you."
Ryan dismissed it with disdain.
Absorbing these flying "snacks" does Him no good.
In His eyes, these little things were like tiny gummy bears. They had no flavor, provided only a tiny bit of energy, and were incredibly noisy.
All of them combined cannot compare to the allure of that old ginkgo tree.
"It's fine."
Lei poked its little head with his finger.
"Rian won't hurt you."
As if it understood what Lei said, it tentatively flew out and quickly regained its energy.
"Come!"
The little sprite led the way, gesturing for Lei to follow.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 21:39:40 and 23:47:40 on July 3, 2024!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: I'm also looking for a story to read today;
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Fengyu (5 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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