Chapter 186 The First Night, Tata's Memories, Cries for Help...
The mountain road was rugged and the journey difficult. In order to cross this natural barrier before dark, Lai and Seya ate dry bread for lunch in the car. Finally, they reached the foot of the mountain before it got completely dark.
Because it's a sunny day, the night sky is exceptionally beautiful tonight.
Where the horizon meets the sky, there is a layered hue that transitions from orange to light skin tone, then to light blue and dark blue.
The two crescent moons of the Casa continent hung low on either side, and it would be about six months before they overlapped again, so there was no rush for them to meet.
After the carriage descended the mountain, it came into view vast stretches of forest, which, in the dim light, seemed to be baring its teeth and waving at passersby.
Are you still leaving?
Seymah asked Lai.
It was already dark, and the area ahead was still unknown; they had no idea what dangers awaited them.
Lai looked around. About five or six meters to the right of the main road, there was a rather abrupt clearing. He picked up a glass lamp to look at it and found many traces left by others.
"There are ashes left from a fire here, so the area should be safe. We can stay here and rest for the night."
"good."
Saiya drove the carriage to an open space, and the two of them worked together to unload the carriage so that the horses could relax and rest.
He stayed behind to set up defensive traps and wash pots and chop vegetables, while the relatively stronger Lai went out to find water and dry firewood.
By the time they finished unloading the truck, it was already dark. Luckily, Lai had brought several glass lamps before setting off; otherwise, with the darkness and flammable materials all around, carrying candles to find firewood could easily have started a fire.
Thanks to the son of Golden Oak for his bold inventions and innovations in an era of extremely backward technology.
Lai muttered to himself, his thoughts wandering, wondering if that person, like him, wasn't actually from this place.
I wish we could meet.
The nearby branches had almost all been picked clean; Lai walked nearly a hundred meters before finding any. But this amount of firewood was definitely not enough to burn all night, so he found a dead sapling, chopped it down with an axe, attached a rope, and dragged it back.
When Seyah saw the unique warm light of the glass lamp from afar, he knew it was Lai who had returned. He took a few steps forward to greet him, and the two of them dragged the sapling back together.
“I’ll go and collect some more fallen leaves. I found a small river, but we have to go a bit further. Don’t stray too far from the carriage.”
"good."
After untying the rope, Ray took the glass lamp and went back into the woods, while Seyia stayed by the wagon and used an axe to cut the branches off the dead trees, splitting them into pieces suitable for burning.
The last person who stayed here left behind a perfectly designed stove; all they had to do was put the iron pot on it, which saved them a lot of trouble.
Saya chopped up the cured meat and green peppers that Lai had left behind and put them on a plate, waiting for him to come back so he could make stir-fried cured meat with green peppers. Before Lai left, he made several pots of steamed buns and mantou, enough for them to eat for a long time.
During his stay at Lai's house, he initially couldn't get used to Lai's stir-fries.
In his mind, all of Lai Jia's seasonings were spices and not edible.
But gradually, he began to accept these different kinds of dishes.
Who can resist stewed meat without any gamey smell? One bite and you'll find only the purest and most original meaty aroma—a taste you'll never forget after just one bite.
There's also the winter essential, spicy hot pot, the uniquely flavored pickled cabbage stew with glass noodles, the sweet and sour pork ribs, and the flavorful cold noodles... There are so many delicious foods that I've never eaten or seen before, that even the seasoned Saiya was a little overwhelmed.
He had no idea that food could be prepared in so many novel and delicious ways besides stewing or baking.
However, there were also things that Lai was not good at. Seyah had seen him try to make apple pie or other desserts a few times, but each time they were either burnt or tasted strange, which was very puzzling.
Lei returned shortly with a bag of dry leaves, but Seyia had already started a small fire at the stove with weeds and branches.
"Have you found water?"
"Um."
Lai took out a pot full of river water from his spatial storage.
"I don't know if this water is clean or not. It should be fine to wash with it after boiling, but we shouldn't drink it ourselves."
"good."
Lai placed the iron pot on the stove and added half a pot of water. After asking Seya and Tata what they wanted to eat, he placed two steamed buns and three jujube paste buns on the steamer.
"Watch the fire start, I'll go chop wood."
"Um."
Ray first used a hacksaw to cut the thicker parts of the dead tree into sections before switching to an axe to split it open.
When you're out and about, you don't need to be so meticulous about the preparation; as long as it can burn, that's fine. If it weren't for the fear that it wouldn't light, Lai would have skipped the step of chopping wood altogether.
The burning branches crackled and popped, the warm firelight dispelling the chill of the night, and soon the pot began to bubble and boil.
Once the water boils, remove the pot from the heat; the main dish is now ready.
Hot water was ladled into a basin and left to cool before washing up. Soon, the aroma of stir-fried cured meat and green peppers wafted from the pot.
"Have a meal."
They washed the pots, boiled water, washed their hands, and ate. The three of them, Lai and his companions, began to eat at a wooden table about half a meter in front of the carriage. The glass lamps hanging outside the carriage illuminated this small space filled with the aroma of food.
Although the night was cool, the food was piping hot, bringing a unique kind of warmth.
After washing up, Seya went to sleep. Lai turned off the glass lamp and sat on the wooden platform to watch the fire and keep watch. During the second half of the night, Lai took over the rest, and Seya kept watch. At dawn, Lai got up to cook, and after eating, they continued their journey.
It was a beautiful night, with no wind or clouds, and countless stars twinkling against the dark backdrop of the sky.
The starry sky over the continent of Casa is always so beautiful; those colorful nebulae seem almost within reach.
Having lived here for so long, besides the lush green vegetables and neat vegetable gardens, what Lai loves most is this beautiful night sky.
Whenever I gaze at it in a daze, without thinking about anything, I always find a unique peace deep within my heart.
Are you sure it's just the two of you?
"Yes. There's also a monster cub, but it doesn't seem to have much fighting power."
Not far from this resting place, a group of people were huddled together, discussing something furtively.
Is it fat?
"We brought a storage space, so we probably have a lot of stuff. It's just the two of us, should we still stick to the plan?"
"Hmm. Two people daring to enter the forest must mean they have some skill. Sticking to the plan is the safest approach."
"good."
"......"
The night passed quickly.
The woods are full of wild birds, and as soon as it gets light, the chirping of the birds begins to surround you from every angle.
Lai got up early to boil water and cook, and after tidying everything up, they set off again.
Saiya lay down in the carriage to catch up on sleep. There were blackout curtains inside to block out the sunlight from the windows.
Upon entering the Great Forest of Eton, Ray's first impression was that the trees and vegetation here were ridiculously abundant.
While the outside environment is barren, this place is definitely thriving.
The perennial coniferous forest vegetation adds a lot of greenery to the forest, and the ground is covered with unknown wild grasses and wildflowers of all heights and shapes.
If it weren't for the fact that so many horse-drawn carts had compacted the dirt road, this place would have been overrun by all sorts of plants sooner or later.
Lei dared not relax for a moment, worried that something might suddenly emerge from the woods by the roadside.
The howls of wild beasts could be heard everywhere, and every now and then a few frightened rats or long-toothed beasts would rush out of the bushes and flee.
Under normal road conditions, a horse-drawn carriage can travel a maximum of fifty li (approximately 25 kilometers) per day. In dense forests like this, where there are also some dirt roads, they can travel about twenty li (approximately 10 kilometers) per day.
According to the map, if they maintained this speed, they would probably reach the small elven tribe in about ten more days.
This is good news; at least once they get there, he and Seya will be able to get a full night's sleep.
"Lay, this place is so big and strange, it's completely different from what I remember from my beast days."
Tata is full of energy during the day, and afraid of disturbing Seya who is catching up on sleep, Lai has the little monster stay with him the whole time.
"What is it like in Tata's memory?"
"Um......"
Tata looked up at the sky, clearly trying to recall something.
"There are many thick trees, huge tree holes, and fluffy grass and delicious meat. Stinky rats and insects like to steal the beasts' bones, but they are all chased away by the beasts!"
Tata is very proud of his past achievements.
"Hmm, anything else?"
"And the elf uncle teaches the beasts how to speak human language. He loves to rub the beasts' bellies. But the beasts are adults now. If they dare to touch him again, he'll make sure their claws are bruised and battered!"
"Pfft, cough cough, continue."
Seeing the little monster, who was only a few years old, acting all grown up, Lai couldn't help but chuckle.
He wanted to guide Tata through conversation so that he could recall more things and make it easier to send him back later.
"And there was the beast's mother, whose scales were snow-white, shimmering pink in the sunlight, as if they were glowing!"
Ray raised an eyebrow. He had never seen an adult Tata before. Based on his description, could it be that the Tatas would also have beautiful scales in the future?
"Where is Tata's father?"
"Father's horns and mane are the most beautiful! The beast will have such beautiful horns in the future!"
The little monster's face was practically overflowing with pride.
"Tata is the cutest right now."
"hey-hey."
The proud little monster needs lots and lots of love and praise.
"Ray is the most handsome human that beasts have ever seen!"
Tata told Rae in a serious tone, offering straightforward praise and speaking the most sincere words.
Ray felt a little embarrassed. In his decades of experience, whether it was the expression of familial affection or any other emotion, human interaction was always reserved and distant.
He kept a certain distance from Neil because he was afraid Neil would find out that his real brother had died.
Only Tata always does things that leave people bewildered, leaving Rae unsure how to respond to this little monster full of sincere emotions.
He thought that if Tata were just an ordinary magical beast that had lost its parents, he would keep Tata by his side forever and give it the best life he could within his power.
"Help! Help!"
Scattered pieces of wood could be seen intermittently along the dirt road, followed by large planks. Ray controlled the carriage's speed, and after traveling several hundred meters, he heard cries for help.
"What's wrong?"
Seya was awakened by the noise and asked Lai what was going on outside.
"Someone is calling for help, and there is a lot of debris from the train carriages on the road."
"Shall we go take a look?"
Sayya poked his head out of the carriage, and the cry for help became even clearer.
"I'm worried there might be problems."
"Then shouldn't we save them?"
Lai glanced back at Seya, then at Tata, his expression hesitant.
"We'll see."
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