Volume One: Those in the Slums
Chapter Four
While Liu Guang was sulking on one side, Cheng Nuo had already finished washing himself.
Cheng Nuo knew that he shouldn’t overdo it and laughed: “Liu Guang, wash your neck and face well.”
Liu Guang was afraid that he would come help scrub. He heard Cheng Nuo go back to the sh.o.r.e and put on his clothes. He said in a somewhat gloomy tone: “Put my clothes near the sh.o.r.e then turn your back.”
It was summer so the clothes were already dry. Cheng Nuo smiled and put Liu Guang’s clothes on the stones on the sh.o.r.e of the river. He turned his back and looked and the trees and fields in the distance.
The sky in this area was filled with grayish hues. Even the trees were not very green and the crops in the fields looked spa.r.s.e and small. In the distance, the vague shapes of brown hills could be seen.
Cheng Nuo was puzzled. Based on this scenery, this seems to be an ancient time. This place is a slum. How could there be so much garbage?
Liu Guang was afraid that he would turn around so he put his clothes on quite fast. He combed his hair a few times with his fingers and said: “Okay, you can turn around now.”
Cheng Nuo turned around and saw a clean Liu Guang. ****! Are all the children in this world so beautiful and cute?
(TN: It sounded weird so I omitted 嘴巴都长大了 - he has a grown-up mouth. Probably an idiom meaning he talks tough like a grown-up though he is just a cute little boy.)
Perhaps because he had just bathed but Liu Guang’s dazzling red hair looked a lot softer and his green eyes with slightly droopy corners were clear like high quality jade. His nose straight and refined. His red lips were thin with impatience while his moist wheat-colored skin looked very delicate and healthy.
Seeing that Cheng Nuo was staring at him, Liu Guang felt uneasy and rolled his eyes at him: “What are you looking at?”
Cheng Nuo grinned happily, holding his chin in his hand: Liu Guang is a handsome boy. You clean up nicely.”
Liu Guang vaguely realized that the other person was complimenting his looks. If someone else had said it, he would probably have hit them with his first. But when he heard Cheng Nuo say this, his heart felt a little joyful. He snorted: “What the use of looking good? For a male, strength is the most important thing!”
Cheng Nuo laughed and nodded: “That’s right.”
The river was crystal clear but he couldn’t see any fish. It looks like catching fish isn’t practical. Cheng Nuo was disappointed.
He was putting his clothes in the bamboo basket when Liu Guang suddenly frowned and leaned forward closer. He whispered: “There are movements in the woods. Come on, I’ll carry you up a tree.”
Cheng Nuo perked up his ears and listened carefully to the sound of approaching beasts. Liu Guang carried him on his back as he went to a tall tree whose trunk was the thickness of a washbasin. The two of them hid in the thick foliage.
There was a commotion in the gra.s.s and a lightning-fast figure came running towards them, followed by nearly a dozen animals the size of a of a greyhound.
Liu Guang took the machete he had brought in his hand. Frowning, he whispered: “It’s that kid Bai Yui! How could he get chased by so many chi locusts?”
Although the chi locusts are ferocious, it is not a social animal. If they were not disturbed during their breeding period, they will not attack casually. How could Bai Rui attract so many of them? The chi locust’s sense of smell is very sensitive and and they can climb trees …
Cheng Nuo discovered his vision was better in this world. Although they were still tens of meters away, he could already see those jumping insects’ faces. The chi locusts had double rows of teeth and their canine teeth were exposed. They looked much uglier and fiercer than dogs.
He looked worriedly at Bai Rui. The silver-haired child movements were quick and relaxed. His expression was calm. Those chi locusts were always separated from him by a distance of about three meters, as if he deliberately kept this distance from them.
Bai Rui was weilding a transparent blue short sword. He suddenly slowed down and a chi locust rushed towards his back. Cheng Nuo was nervous and couldn’t help but cry out: “Be careful!”
Bai Rui seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. As the chi locust flew up towards his back, Bai Rui stabbed his sword upwards into its abdomen. When he pulled the sword out, a b.l.o.o.d.y mist came with it but the expression on his face didn’t change. The material that his short sword was made of was unusual since it didn’t retain even the slightest hint on blood on its blade.
The chi locust made a shrill cry then fell to the ground. The locusts behind it roared angrily and rushed towards Bair Rui. The locusts could jump nearly two meters high!
Bai Rui intended to use these animals to practice his skills. He hadn’t expected that there would be other people there. He glanced up indifferently and saw a corner of their clothing.
He didn’t want to reveal his strength in the presence of outsiders, not to mention the fact that he rarely interacted with other people. He leapt up into a tree branch in the opposite direction, trying to draw the locusts away.
However, Cheng Nuo had just made a sound and alerted the locusts to his presence. A few of them immediately used their sharp claws to climb up the tree to attack Cheng Nuo and Liu Guang. The others continued to surround Bai Rui.
Bai Rui stopped, jumped on top of a tall rock then kicked a chi locust down to the ground.
Liu Guang grunted and said to Cheng Nuo: “Trouble!”
He didn’t fear these chi locusts and he saw that Bai Rui’s skill was comparable to his, but he was worried about his future wife.
Liu Guang put the machete’s handle between his teeth then, holding on to a branch, kicked his legs down hard, kicking a locust down. Jumping down on to the body of a locust., he used his machete to cut its vulnerable point - its throat.
Seeing this b.l.o.o.d.y battle scene at close quarters, Cheng Nuo’s blood burned. He clung tightly to the tree with trembling hands, extremely excited. He suddenly realized that to survive in this strange world, he had to become stronger! The strength of these two children were far beyond his expectations. If they are this powerful, then what must the adults be like?
When he thought about his situation when he first woke up, he broke into a cold sweat. It seems that at that time, Liu Guang’s behavior was actually normal in this world …
Although Liu Guang’s machete was sharp, it’s obviously far less powerful than Bai Rui’s weapon. After stabbing it seven or eight times, it became blunt. A chi locust fell down with a shrill cry, hitting two of the locusts below it.
Liu Guang jumped on its head and leapt up, hooking up the tree trunk and landing softly beside Cheng Nuo. He looked annoyed at the blunt machete and looked darkly at the blue transparent sword in Bai Rui’s hand. If he had such a weapon, his kills wouldn’t be less than Bai Rui’s. In just a short time, Bai Rui had already killed two more.
If they were outside, he wouldn’t think twice about taking it for his own use but, to ensure their own survival, the people in the slums don’t mess with other local residents.
He looked at Cheng Nuo’s slightly flushed cheek and mumbled: “Troublesome, timid female.”
Cheng Nuo looked at the disdain expression on Liu Guang’s face, speechless. They were so close he could smell the pungent scent of blood on Liu Guang’s body. In fact, any normal civilian from any country on Earth probably wouldn’t be able to easily adapt to this type of b.l.o.o.d.y scene the first time they saw it. He wasn’t really afraid but the sight of those teeth dripping with blood and saliva would naturally make a person feel nervous.
A chi locust was climbing up again, its sharp claws scratching at the bark of the tree. His machete was blunted and even though he could go down to search for a weapon, Lui Guang couldn’t run away and leave his future wife behind. He stood in front of Cheng Nuo like a wolf and broke off a branch as thick as his arm. When a chi locust climbed up, he knocked it down with the branch.
Bai Rui neatly and efficiently killed another one.
The remaining chi locusts finally realized that they were not strong enough to defeat these enemies. After wailing in unison, they jumped into the bushes and disappeared. Only the bodies of five or six chi locusts were left behind.
Now that the surrounding had finally become quiet, Cheng Nuo was gasping for breath because he was so nervous that he had almost forgotten to breathe. Like an idiot, he didn’t even fight back and hid behind a kid. Once he realized what had happened, he felt very upset.
Bai Rui slowly sheathed his short sword. He didn’t look at Liu Guang and Cheng Nuo a look as he jumped down from the rock, ready to leave. His hair flashed silver in the light, quite eye-catching.
Cheng Nuo looked at him with a bit of admiration. Although the child was arrogant, he obviously had the skills to back it up. Cheng Nuo could also tell that Liu Guang fought based on experience and instinct while Bai Rui seemed to have been trained in some martial arts system. His every move was very graceful.
He was just letting his imagination run wild but the eagle-eyed Liu Guang noticed him watching the other boy and suddenly felt angry.
Females appreciate it when males acquire loot. Contrary to what he expected, his future wife was actually looking at others.
Liu Guang narrowed his eyes and shouted: “Hey Bai! Aren’t you going to take away your spoils?”
The chi locust’s hide can be sold for some energy coins in the market and the meat can be eaten even though its tough.
Bai Rui paused and said: “I don’t want to. If you want it, you can have it.”
Liu Guang’s eyes darkened and he snorted coldly. When this boy surnamed Bai left this place, then he wouldn’t be considered a resident anymore. He will kill that silver-haired boy sooner or later!
Cheng Nuo looked at the furious expression on Liu Guang’s face. He knew that Bai Rui’s words had hurt Liu Guang’s self-esteem. No matter how he looked at it, Cheng Nuo knew that he and Liu Guang stood together so he quickly tried to comfort him: “Liu Guang is very powerful! Thank you for protecting me.”
He said it sincerely but Liu Guang was still somewhat angry. Protecting the female was the male’s responsibility. He glanced at Cheng Nuo and jumped down the branch. He grabbed the hind leg of the chi locust he had killed and dragged it to the water’s edge. He looked for a stone to sharpen his machete to peel of its hide.
When Cheng Nuo was a child, he liked to climb trees. He awkwardly climbed down the tree with the bamboo basket on his back and rushed to help Liu Guang.
Liu Guang’s anger hadn’t subsided. He commanded Cheng Nuo to hold the two hind legs as he peeled off the hide. Although his actions were a bit clumsy, he managed to peel it off completely.
Before they walked here Cheng Nuo had eaten half of a steamed bun. His stomach had been rumbling and feeling empty for quite a long time.
Liu Guang was familiar with this sound, but cooking the meat here might attract more chi locusts. He took the clothes off the basket and made Cheng Nuo hold them then he cut the meat into pieces and threw them inside. He rolled up the hide and put it under the bamboo basket.
Of course, he didn’t even glance at the ones that Bai Rui had killed. There wasn’t much difference between his and Bai Rui’s haughtiness.
Cheng Nuo knew the importance of food to the people in the slums and couldn’t help but say regretfully: “If these are left here, won’t they be eaten by wild animals?”
Liu Guang’s eyes were as fierce as a wolf’s when he said: “You can only touch my things! You’re not allowed to touch other males’ things!”
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Translator’s Notes:
I don’t have an editor so please leave a comment to let me know if you find any errors. Thanks!
Some nice action this time! Bai Rui is skilled, good-looking, and clean? I like!