Chapter 54
Jiaojiao, who was walking attentively, stopped and looked up at the little brother who suddenly appeared not far away.
Jiaojiao, who hadn't seen anyone other than her father for a long time, blinked curiously, then arched her eyebrows at the little brother: "Ah."
Ares, who was not far away, looked at the child in front of him warily, and frowned when he saw him smiling at him foolishly.
He carefully looked at the child in front of him, his gaze lingering on the bright white, tender, round and light pink nails.
White, tender, young, without sharp claws or defensiveness!
Ares had never seen such a child before. He guessed that the child should have been born in a wealthy and safe human city, and might even be a child of a human noble. He appeared here alone at this time, probably because he had lost his family or guards.
Ares quickly put aside his guess and turned his gaze to the sweet and juicy fruit in Jiaojiao's arms. His Adam's apple slid up and down, and he swallowed his saliva, his indigo eyes flashing with desire and urgency.
Seeing that the little brother was staring at the fruit in her arms, Jiaojiao tilted her head and thought for a while, then said softly, "Ah, are you hungry?"
Hesnemen, who could hear Jiaojiao's meaning at the conscious level, did not realize the importance of teaching the child to speak. This resulted in Jiaojiao's ability to express herself declining over the past month.
Ares, who didn't understand Jiaojiao's words, didn't answer, but stared at the fruit in his arms with a wolf-like gaze.
Seeing that he ignored her, doubts flashed in her bright dark eyes. She took a few steps forward, avoiding the dead branches on the ground with her short legs. "Are you hungry?"
Ares on the opposite side saw him move, his eyes became fierce, and he pounced on him like a hungry wolf. After knocking the man down and snatching the fruit, he turned around and ran away.
Jiaojiao, who was knocked to the ground, was dazed for a moment, then her eyes turned red, and pain came from her buttocks and palms. Jiaojiao pouted in grievance, and forced herself not to cry and sat up from the ground.
Jiaojiao sat up and looked down at her hands which were scraped from the fall. She tried to hold back her tears but couldn't help but shed them.
"Huff~" Jiaojiao, with tears in her eyes, lowered her head and blew on her burning and painful little hands, feeling extremely aggrieved.
Ares, who snatched the fruit, did not run away, but hid aside and observed the child. After discovering that the child was crying like this just because he fell, he couldn't help but frowned in disgust.
When his sister was two years old, she fell down and lost a large piece of flesh on her leg, but she didn't cry like this.
Jiaojiao, who was sitting on the ground, blowing her hands and crying, suddenly seemed to remember something. She reached out, opened the pocket in front of her belly, and looked down.
When she found that her little father was staying safely in her pocket and was not woken up, she curled her eyes.
After her attention was diverted, Jiaojiao, who didn't feel like crying anymore, raised her sleeve to wipe her tears, supported herself on the ground and stood up. After looking around, she randomly chose a direction to walk.
Ares, who was hiding nearby, watched the child walk deeper into the forest. He tried to hold back but couldn't help but warn him, "Hey, that direction is very dangerous."
Jiaojiao stopped when she heard the sound, turned around and looked around. When she didn't see anyone, she raised her little head and looked around to find where the sound came from.
After watching the child spin around several times, Ares couldn't help but throw a thicker branch down: "Here."
Jiaojiao, who was feeling a little dizzy, finally saw Ares. He raised his hand to steady his dizzy little head.
After recovering from the shock, he pointed at Ares standing on the tree and said angrily: "Ahhh~"
So bad~
Ares frowned, not understanding what he was saying. How old was this child? Aren't two-year-olds able to speak? When his sister was about a year old, she could pronounce words more clearly than him.
"You can't speak?"
"Yes, I do."
Ares, who had barely guessed the whole thing, was a little impatient: "You're going the wrong way. That's the way out of the forest. The direction you're going is heading deeper into the forest."
He stole the child's fruit, but also showed him the way, so they were even.
In fact, compared to stealing the fruit, the child himself is more valuable. His fair and tender skin can definitely be sold at a good price on the black market.
Unfortunately, as a beastman, he couldn't enter any other race's territory, let alone the black market. Even if he managed to sneak in, if something went wrong, both he and the child would become auction items on the black market, and his situation would definitely be several times worse than the child's.
Apart from these, the most important thing was that he did not have any evil thoughts or ill intentions when looking at this child. Otherwise, he could have brought this child back to the deserted city and sold him to some tribesmen who had ways to infiltrate the human black market.
Thinking of this, Ares turned around and was about to jump down from the tree and leave, but the moment he stood up, a sharp pain came from his ankle.
He was startled, half of his body was paralyzed and he lost consciousness, and he fell vertically from the tree in an instant.
Jiaojiao, who was standing not far away, watched him fall. He blinked blankly, then realized what was happening a little late. He quickly ran over with his short legs.
It took Jiaojiao a long time to run a short distance. When he arrived there panting with his short legs, Ares, who was lying on the ground, had his entire right leg swollen and purple.
There were two holes on Ares' ankles. In his left hand, which was still able to move, he was holding a brightly colored snake as thick as his wrist. He had grabbed it the moment he fell from the tree.
The moment Ares saw the snake clearly, his heart was filled with the fear of death.
The Fire Snake is extremely poisonous and is the most famous poisonous snake in the Bian Forest. Few orcs can survive being bitten by it!
Small but dense footsteps were heard. Ares turned his head and saw Jiaojiao jogging towards him. His first reaction was to call for help.
Jiaojiao, who was so tired that she was propped up on her legs and gasping for breath, blinked blankly after hearing his words. Ares, who was in fear of death, suddenly woke up after meeting his blank gaze.
He suddenly realized that there was no way this two-year-old child could save him. The most likely scenario was that he would also be bitten by the snake, and then they would both die here.
Realizing this, Ares began to despair and regret.
He regretted coming here, and even more regretted not leaving after grabbing the fruit.
If he died here today, his sister, who was lying at home too hungry to move, would definitely starve to death!
When Ares was immersed in an atmosphere of sadness and despair, Jiaojiao, who had recovered, walked up to him and squatted beside him. When she found that he was motionless, she reached out and poked him, asking him "Ah ah" if he was broken.
Ares, who was unable to move half of his body, clenched his cheeks when he met the child's bright, clear eyes. His thin hands, which were almost devoid of flesh, tried their best to hold on to the struggling snake. He said in a trembling voice, "Go, go quickly, go far away."
"?" Jiaojiao, who didn't understand why he wanted to leave by himself, tilted her head. After noticing the struggling snake in his hand, she stretched out her little hand to poke it curiously.
Ares, unable to move, with his tongue numb and even struggling to speak, discovered his suicidal behavior. His eyes widened in anger, his chest heaving violently as he forced himself to spit out each word: "You... stop..."
Before Jiaojiao's hand could poke the snake, she saw it open its mouth and bite the little brother's hand hard.
Seeing this scene, Jiaojiao's eyes widened. He withdrew his hand in fear and looked down at the little brother who was speaking: "Ah ...
Ares's bitten hand quickly turned dark purple, and his paralyzed hand was unable to hold the snake, so the snake slipped out of his hand.
The snake that slipped out crawled quickly towards Jiaojiao.
Afraid that the snake would bite her, Jiaojiao swiftly picked up a branch nearby and poked the snake, frowning and saying "ah ah" in disapproval of its behavior.
You're so bad! You bit the little brother's hand!
The fire snake that swam towards Jiaojiao and wanted to get close to her felt very upset after being poked by Jiaojiao. It stuck out its tongue and put its head on the tip of its tail in a wronged manner.
Afraid that it would bite her, Jiaojiao took a step back cautiously, then poked it with a small branch and rebuked it softly: "Ahhh~"
Bite, bad~
The Flame Snake, who was being badmouthed, couldn't stand the humiliation and turned around and disappeared.
Seeing that the biting snake had disappeared, Jiaojiao put down the twig in her hand, moved in front of Ares, whose consciousness was beginning to blur, and reached out to touch the furry ears on his head with a little curiosity.
The soft touch made Jiaojiao curl his eyes. Thinking of something, he stretched out his little hand and touched his head with great effort. After touching for a long time without touching the soft ears, he put down his hand a little confusedly.
Jiaojiao has no ears?
Just when Jiaojiao frowned and wondered why she had no ears, the snake that had just left came back with a bunch of black fruits wrapped around its tail.
Seeing it coming back, Jiaojiao looked around for the small branch she had just held in her hand, fearing that it would bite her.
The fire snake spit out its tongue and used its tail to wrap around the fruit to squeeze out the juice, which dripped onto the wounds on the feet and hands of the person it bit. After the black and purple spots on the person's feet and hands faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, it approached Jiaojiao hesitantly.
Seeing it approaching, Jiaojiao, who was squatting on the ground with a small branch, poked it to prevent it from getting closer. The snake stuck out its tongue in grievance and showed Jiaojiao the fruit on its tail.
Before Ares completely lost consciousness, he didn't expect that he would wake up again. He closed his eyes with fear, despair and unwillingness.
When he woke up again, the sunset sunlight shone through the branches and fell on his face in patches. He looked at the branches above his head and the vaguely visible sky in a trance, and for a moment he could not tell whether his previous experience was a dream.
“Ah~”
A small voice from the side brought him back to his senses. Ares turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a child sitting not far away and a fire snake wrapped around his hand?!
Ares jumped up from the ground in an instant, and his legs went limp as he knelt on the ground before his body had fully recovered.
This made him realize that his previous experience was not a dream.
Realizing this, the hair on Ares Wolf's ears almost stood up, and when he looked at the fire snake in Jiaojiao's hand, he let out a threatening roar from his throat.
Jiaojiao, who was sitting under the tree, turned her head to look at him when she heard the voice. Seeing that the little brother was looking at her, she curved her eyes at him and said, "Ah."
Was I saved by this child?
Ares didn't recover from this fact until he awkwardly carried the tiny, soft child out of the Bian Forest and headed towards the deserted city.
He didn't think about why the child could save him, nor did he think about why the fire snake didn't bite the child. There are many inexplicable things in this world, such as why the gods would hate their beastman clan!
A gust of sandstorm blew, and Ares wrapped the child tightly with his tattered cloak. He knew that it was not the right thing to take a human child to a deserted city, but he could not leave the child who had saved his life alone in the dangerous Bian Forest.
So he had no choice but to wrap the child named Jiaojiao tightly to prevent other tribesmen from discovering that this was a human child.
I've been a bit busy these past few days, which has resulted in the update time and quality being a bit unsatisfactory. I'll adjust my time and status as soon as possible.
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