Chapter 544: Difficulties
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Today, his harvest in the mountains wasn’t good. When Jiang Lan returned, he only brought back a rabbit.
Along the way, he thought about how he should cook it to make it delicious. It was a little troublesome.
Fortunately, it was still early.
As he walked through the village, he felt a few strange gazes.
It came from some women who seemed to be observing him.
He didn’t know why it was like that.
“Am I acting a little abnormal today?”
Jiang Lan silently muttered to himself. He didn’t discover anything wrong with himself.
He did not think too much about it and walked home.
When he entered the courtyard, he did not see Xiao Yu. Normally, Xiao Yu would sit at the entrance and wait for him to return.
Occasionally, she would be watering the plants.
Jiang Lan walked into the room with some doubt. At this moment, Xiao Yu was sitting on the chair and blowing on her arm.
There were scales on it.
She looked wronged.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Lan placed the rabbit down and caressed Xiao Yu’s head.
“Scales.” Xiao Yu raised her hand to show Jiang Lan. Her voice was filled with grievance.
“Did you burn yourself?” Jiang Lan squatted down and touched the scales.
It was very smooth and uninjured.
“No.” Xiao Yu lowered her head helplessly.
“They all saw that I have scales and now, they all think I’m a demon.”
Jiang Lan was surprised and consoled.
“It’s fine. Let’s see how it goes first. Don’t go out for the next few days.”
He now understood why everyone was staring at him strangely. It was because they had thought that Xiao Yu was a demon.
They were afraid and guessing what Xiao Yu was.
Demons were not uncommon in the Grand Desolate World, but for ordinary people, they rarely saw them.
Every time they met with a demon, it would be a b.l.o.o.d.y disaster.
There were countless smaller demons who had injured people. It was not a rare thing for the Western Wastelands’ village to be destroyed because of a single demon.
Even he had to be careful in the Grand Desolate World, let alone a small village.
A single demon could make an entire village fear and worry.
Humans and demons could never live harmoniously.
Immortals were different, so their opinions were naturally different.
“Yes.” Xiao Yu nodded slightly.
…
At Liu Dazhu’s house.
“Demon? How can that be? Did you see it wrong?” Liu Dazhu found it unbelievable when he heard his wife’s words.
“It can’t be that everyone saw it wrong, right? She’s really a demon.” Sister-in-law Liu was afraid. The other party lived not far from her house.
“No, no, that’s impossible. Their family has lived near our house for so long. If they are really demons, how can they be so ordinary?
Besides, it’s not like you guys haven’t interacted with each other in the past few months. You should know who the other party is.
I understand Little Brother Jiang too. He doesn’t seem like a bad person.” Liu Dazhu thought about it and found it impossible.
“What do you, a rough man, know? That’s a demon. How dangerous is a demon? The neighboring village had been destroyed because of demons.” Sister-in-law Liu was a little anxious.
“But there aren’t any problems with the village these few months. Perhaps Little Brother Jiang’s wife has a strange illness because of other reasons?
Although I haven’t seen him much, Little Brother Jiang…”
Before Liu Dazhu could finish, his wife immediately said.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. What if they really are demons?”
Liu Dazhu was rendered speechless. After some thought, he said.
“The village doesn’t have any rations for now. Furthermore, we won’t be able to invite any immortals before winter comes. Even if we have enough, it will be a waste.
If things proceed as such, the village can’t survive winter.”
They would die before winter.
Sister-in-law Liu opened her mouth and tried to say.
“What about reporting it to the magistrate?”
“There are only so many people in Feng City. Without immortals, they would not dare to act rashly.” Liu Dazhu sighed.
“What crime have we committed? There are so many villages, why must they come to our village?” Sister-in-law Liu sat at the side.
“Let’s wait and see. Perhaps it’s really a misunderstanding. I still believe in Brother Jiang’s character.” Liu Dazhu consoled his wife.
…
The next day.
Jiang Lan bade farewell to Xiao Yu and went out to hunt.
When he arrived at the village entrance, some people looked at him differently from yesterday.
Or rather, they looked at him the same way those women looked at him when he returned the previous day. There was some fear and hostility in their eyes.
It was understandable.
Because of Jiang Lan’s partic.i.p.ation, the atmosphere instantly froze.
Everyone seemed a little worried and even subconsciously distanced themselves from Jiang Lan.
They looked a little defensive.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s fine,” Liu Dazhu said as he came to Jiang Lan’s side.
After that, they went into the mountains to hunt.
Such days continued.
Five days later, Jiang Lan began to hear some voices.
“If they are demons, let them be but we won’t get involved either. There’s no grudge between us.”
“That’s right. We still want to live for two more years. It’s not easy to take care of the elderly and children at home,” another person said.
“I heard that this place isn’t far from the Immortal’s residence. Perhaps an immortal would come?”
“We’ve worked together for so long, he should give us a way out.”
Some people spoke tactfully, while others spoke directly.
“Who knows if he will eat people? My child is still so young.”
“Enough!” Liu Dazhu roared.
Only then did the others stop.
“Are you all still going to hunt? Do you want to freeze to death this winter?” Liu Dazhu carried his tools into the mountain.
“If you don’t want to hunt, go back yourself.”
The others didn’t dare to speak again.
Jiang Lan remained silent. He needed to follow them into the mountains and have some gains. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to pa.s.s through the winter.
He had actually thought of explaining, but…
It was useless no matter how he explained.
A demon was a demon. Even if it wasn’t a demon, they were already certain that they were demons.
The prejudice of the human heart was like a mountain.
Even so, he should explain, but…
Xiao Yu was really not a human.
If he answered that she would not eat humans, it meant that he had admitted that she was a demon.
In the end, Jiang Lan only replied the crowd.
“Xiao Yu is not what you think.”
“Then what is she?” Someone immediately asked.
“Why are you asking so clearly?” Liu Dazhu said unhappily.
The others remained silent. They could only solve the winter problem first.
…
The days pa.s.sed quickly. Xiao Yu had not gone out for six to seven days, and nothing seemed wrong for the time being.
But her husband had quite a lot of dirty clothes. She wanted to wash them by the river.
She looked around the courtyard.
She specially chose a time when there were fewer people to go out. For a moment, she realized that she was actually a little afraid of meeting people.
However, when she arrived at the riverside and realized that there was someone there, she hid in fear.
Soon, she heard their discussions.
“What kind of demon do you think she is? Those scales on her body gave me nightmares for two days.”
“To be honest, those scales are indeed disgusting. No wonder she couldn’t bear to show her arms when she moved here. It was the same when she was doing the laundry.
I thought that she was like the young lady from the Yang family, who had just gotten married and was shy.
Now that I think about it… It’s because she is a demon.” A middle-aged woman shuddered.
“She looked pretty decent. I didn’t expect her to be so scheming.”
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t even know what she eats. What if it’s raw meat?”
“It’s not a good idea for her to stay in our village. We have to find a way to chase her away.”
“It’s going to be winter now. There’s no other way. We can only hope that an immortal pa.s.ses by and sees our suffering. Perhaps he will help us take her away.”
“But… what if Sister Xiao Yu is a good demon?” It was the voice of the Yang Family’s young lady.
“Young lady Yang, don’t be bewitched. You know what happened with the neighboring village. Demons are demons. Who can differentiate between good and bad demons?
When they eat and harm people, will they care whether you are a good or bad person? They will only care if you are delicious.
You’re so soft and tender. Be careful. Don’t get targeted.”
Xiao Yu felt that they had misunderstood her.
She felt that they would understand if she explained. Besides, she didn’t hurt people or eat humans. She was different from ordinary demons.
Hu!
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yu mustered her courage and walked out.
Her appearance immediately attracted the attention of others.
Terror, fear, disgust, and hatred. These gazes landed on Xiao Yu, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
“I… I…”
Before she could finish, someone immediately said.
“Witch.”
“Let’s go somewhere else. It’s really unlucky to have seen her here.”
Those people packed their things and started to retreat. They could not wait to leave Xiao Yu.
It was as if they were looking at a plague.
Xiao Yu lowered her brows, feeling wronged.
After that, she came to the riverside to wash her husband’s clothes.
…
After another two days.
Xiao Yu was making preserved meat in the courtyard. There were only two of them, so they often came out.
She wanted to make some for the others and tell them that she really didn’t eat humans. She would eat whatever they ate.
“Aunt Jiang.”
At this moment, Liu Xiaohu and the other two ran into the courtyard. Xiao Yu’s brows relaxed instantly when she saw them, but she was also a little worried.
She was afraid of being called a demon.
“Aunt Jiang, we sneaked out,” Lin Sisi said.
Her shoulder-length black hair was still clean.
Liu Xiaoxiao grabbed her hair. It was still dirty.
Xiao Yu heaved a sigh of relief and stood up.
“Wait for me for a while.”
With that said, she took out a bag from the house and said.
“I still have some candies here.”
The three of them each received a piece of candy and immediately cheered.
However, when Sister-in-law Liu realized that the three children were with Xiao Yu, she was shocked and immediately ran in to drag them away.
“You three are fearless children. Who asked you to come here?” Sister-in-law Liu pulled the three children out and scolded them.
Xiao Yu opened her mouth but no words came out.
“Xiaoxiao, what are you eating?”
“Aunt gave me candy.”
“Pah! Pah! Quickly spit it out. Do you two have it also? Throw it away. Quickly throw it away. Don’t go over again.”
“I want candy. I want it.”
“Cry again and your father will come back without breaking your legs.”
Xiao Yu stood in the courtyard and watched. She moved but did not walk out.
She looked at the candy that had been thrown to the ground and fell silent.
After a long time, she sat back down and began to prepare the preserved meat.
It would eventually be explained.
Three days later.
Xiao Yu split the preserved meat into seven portions and planned to give them to some people. Today was not the time to wash clothes. Everyone usually rested in the square on this day.
She walked towards the square with the preserved meat.
She felt a little apprehensive, but she felt that she should explain herself.
As long as the misunderstanding was cleared up, all should be better.
Before long, she arrived at the place where everyone was chatting.
At this moment, there were six people chatting over there. They were all very unhappy.
They were chatting about a couple who had just been married. The cries they heard from the bedroom were especially loud the previous night.
They were also talking about which man was beaten by his wife.
They also discussed who in the neighboring village was not filial.
Basically, they were talking about anything under the sky.
Xiao Yu walked over quickly. When the others saw her, they immediately stood up, as if they were worried that she would suddenly hurt someone.
“Don’t come over.” Sister-in-law Liu immediately stopped her.
Xiao Yu was so frightened that she did not dare to go up. She lifted the preserved meat in her hand and said.
“I… I’m here to give you all some preserved meat.”
“We don’t want anything from a demon,” someone immediately said.
“We have extra. Your family has children. You might not have enough,” Xiao Yu said kindly.
“Then put it on the ground and don’t come near us.” Sister-in-law Liu pointed at the ground and said.
Xiao Yu did not refuse and squatted down to split the preserved meat she had into seven portions.
“This is for Aunt Zhang, this is for Sister Liu, and this is for…” At the end of the splitting, Xiao Yu looked around and said.
“This is for the young lady from the Yang Family. She doesn’t seem to be here.”
“Alright, we understand. If there’s nothing else, you can go back,” someone immediately said.
Xiao Yu lowered her head and apologized for disturbing them before turning to leave.
She hadn’t gone far when she heard shouts behind her.
“I told you we shouldn’t let demons live in the village. What if she comes out and hurt us?”
“How unlucky. She scared me quite badly.”
“I thought she was going to eat me. She even picked up the stones.”
Xiao Yu covered her ears and left quickly.
She walked around the village listlessly.
However, as long as they were willing to accept the meat, it was fine. In the future, they would always know that she did not have any intention of harming others. There was no need to worry.
With this thought in mind, she felt much better and walked home.
However, she stopped when she reached the village.
It wasn’t that someone had stopped her, or that something had happened in the village, but…
She saw the preserved meat bag that she had given away not long ago at the village’s trash pile. Her husband had painstakingly hunted for it, and she had painstakingly prepared it.
Xiao Yu squatted down beside the trash. She picked up the bag and realized that the meat was inside.
There was not one bit missing.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.”
They were all here.
Xiao Yu’s nose felt a little sour.
She didn’t say anything. She just patted the dust off the small bag, then packed it up and placed it on her knees.
After cleaning up, he carried these things and walked towards his house.
When he reached the courtyard, he realized that his husband had placed his bow and arrow aside.
Her husband had returned.
Xiao Yu rubbed her face to appear happier.
Then he stepped into the room.
“Darling, I’m back.”
The moment she entered, she was surprised to find her husband packing.
“What is Darling doing?” Xiao Yu suddenly asked.
Jiang Lan packed half of his things and turned to look at Xiao Yu. He said softly.
“Xiao Yu, let’s move. We won’t live here anymore.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yu’s eyes teared up.
She threw down the preserved meat and ran over to hug Jiang Lan. Then, she cried loudly, releasing the grievances she had felt these past few days.
“Wuwu, I clearly did nothing wrong. Why are they treating me like this?
They don’t talk to me and even speak ill of me. Also, they throw away whatever I give them.
It’s as if they can’t eat anything that has been through my hands.”
Jiang Lan hugged Xiao Yu and caressed her head without saying a word.
This was the prejudice of humans.
The suffering of the mortal world was indescribable.
He did not feel the pain of the mortal world, but Xiao Yu was constantly enduring this pain.
And he felt it himself.