The little girl…no, the cute little boy, glared at Xu Jun. Xu Jun only just discovered that although he seemed delicate and beautiful, there was still a great degree of difference from being a "little girl." He looked to be only seven or eight years old, but had a wild personality that was very hard to hide. His facial features had yet to grow apart, but it could already be seen that he would grow up to be a very tantalizing…man.
Nevertheless, Xu Jun spotted it in a glance, the dangerous energy hidden within this pretty-looking boy. He lowered his head and into the boy"s eyes, thoughtfully rubbing the child"s head. The little fur hat felt fluffy. Xu Jun"s hand rubbed all over the top of the boy"s head. Upon being touched at a certain spot, the boy covered his head and seemed to be warning Xu Jun with his eyes.
This warning gaze differed from the furious tone of voice from before. Within the warning were also wariness and precaution, and even a bit of longing—Xu Jun was even more certain now.
This seeming delicate and cute, but also bearish, boy was actually a young beastman. Going by his ear shape, he seemed to belong to the feline race of beastmen. Furthermore, some beastmen would definitely be roaming around due to the nearby desert. Xu Jun remembered that he had once encountered a group of Sand Leopard beastmen hiding pretty deeply within the gloomy marshes in the south. At that time, he was farming gold materials.1 This professional had also bravely forgotten pills, thus he was almost surrounded and beaten to death by a type of spider crab that lived in groups. In the end, he still won. However, when he was eating bread and recovering health, a male, adult, Sand Leopard beastman prowled up from behind, and ambushed him without a word.
However, he had already recovered most of his health. With a calm and steady heart, he picked up his sword and softly performed a beautiful sword art. The other"s upper arm came out with a very shallow cut. The wound was probably thinner than a hair. The Sand Leopard beastman felt no fear, and continued to pounce onto him. His claws popped out and were about to tear apart Xu Jun"s neck…Xu Jun was steadfast and acting cool when the sand leopard beastman yelled that he was despicable and rolled onto the ground while wailing.
Xu Jun: "Did you actually not find that I only move my two hands? It"s all because I"ve been paralyzed by the spider crabs" toxins! So my sword, which is covered in the spider crabs" body-fluids, is definitely covered in toxins! How come beastmen are as stupid as sticks now?!"
The Sand Leopard beastman already sprawled on the ground: "…"
At this time, Xu Jun felt his body become full of energy. The antidote2 he had drunk finally was showing its effect. He jumped up and patted the Sand Leopard beastman"s cheek: "Idiotic beastmen…"
The male Sand Leopard beastman growled: "If you don"t kill me! I, Kanaman, swear in the honor of beasts that I will bite you again and again until you die!!! Ao ao ao!!!!"3
Xu Jun: "Oh, so your name is Kanaman. That"s a name that sounds like it would fit with someone of low IQ_(:зゝ∠)_"
The young beastman: "…"
He felt that he was really going to explode from anger. Both his parents and elders have told him how despicable and ignominious humanity was, but still…they did not tell the honest and simple-minded Kanaman that humans were actually so deserving of a beating!!!
"Just kill me." The Kanaman of this time was already infuriated beyond measure. He no longer felt there was any worth in living.
However, Xu Jun did not stab him, but instead left while taking a poised and pretentious pose. Before leaving he elegantly threw down a bottle of the antidote with his back facing Kanaman. It fell into Kanaman"s open mouth, but—this thing actually did not open the cap of the small medicine bottle!!! It"s a highly resilient composite crystal bottle and can"t be opened no matter how much one bites it!!!
"Just go die!!! Ah ah ah, just kill me!!! b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!! Ah ah ah!!!" Up to this day, Xu Jun still remembers how painfully the young beastman screamed that year. Still, he was a kind and honest hero, and never loved killing. Thus, he obviously did not deal a final blow.
He only left behind a single sentence: "Oh, keep yelling, keep yelling. Even if you yell hoa.r.s.e your throat, no one is coming to save you~(≧▽≦)/~"
–He obviously would not kill a beastman. What is the point in killing him when he was lower in rank and would not give him any experience points? Humanoid monsters like these usually don"t drop anything good, and they didn"t have magic cores like demon beasts either…it would be completely meaningless!
Due to the experience of successfully feigning a grandiose appearance that one time, when Xu Jun looked back again to the person who was likely to be a young Sand Leopard beastman, his eyes carried an unfathomable gentleness to them: child, I hope you learn how to a.s.sess situations when you grow up. Do not be like a wooden club and treat everyone encountered with hostility without thinking. Then as a result, fail and instead become ridiculed, and suddenly be exposed to having a depressingly low IQ ->_->
The young, little beastman of course did not know Xu Jun has such a past. He only felt a renewed sense of shame and anger: he, the young prince of the Sand Leopard beastmen, had actually been taken away by a group of humans! He was also petted on the head by someone who seemed every bit a hooligan, with no power to resist! Did this fellow not know how important beastmen value their own heads!
Other than direct relatives, the heads of beastmen are not allowed to be touched by any other person!
He also rubbed his ears! Sand Leopard—are Sand Leopard ears something that can be touched by others! b.a.s.t.a.r.d ao ao ao!
The little Sand Leopard knew his people"s ears are very sensitive. Thus, if they were to be touched, it would feel extremely comfortable. Both his mother and father had told him "extremely comfortable things can only be done after you grow up," "don"t let others do this kind of thing to you," and so for his entire life had, he always endured the urge of wanting to feel his ears rubbed! He didn"t even let his mother and father touch them!
But now? This kind of thing was actually done by a stranger! Wawawa!
The beautiful and delicate, bear-like child instinctively popped out his claws to scratch at Xu Jun, but was instead picked up by his collar and thrown back by Xu Jun. He was thrown into the hands of a ma.s.sive bodyguard. That bodyguard used his hands which seemed to be protective, but was actually dangerous, to pat the b.u.t.t of the small Sand Leopard. The child was instantly terrified.
This group of humans had already taken him away from his clan grounds for… half a month. In this time, he thought about running, but everything he was caught and taken back. Just in the past two days, he had to suffer two beatings. If it wasn"t for everyone saying that Sand Leopard"s needed to bask in the sun, and that they can"t be bound for too long, it is likely that he wouldn"t even have the ability to freely move about. However, he probably knew, once he arrived at the place called the "slave market" that this bunch of people are about to send him to, he would lose all hope of escaping.
"Wawawa!" The little Sand Leopard could not help but start crying loudly. Although he was bearish and precocious, he was only a seventeen-year old child!
Then the magical sound pierced through ears and the bodyguard, who was holding the boy, showed with his face the unendurable pain he was in. F*ck, if there weren"t n.o.blemen with peculiar tastes who wished to buy beautiful, young beastmen who could still cry and make trouble, they would"ve already muted this cursed child with poison!
What exactly are those rich people thinking!
The middle-aged businessman hurriedly beckoned for the disoriented bodyguard to bring the little Sand Leopard back: "Stop crying! If you keep crying I"ll beat you to death!" After finishing, he turned to Xu Jun while rubbing his hands and smiled: "This child has been spoiled since he was young. Hah, Sir Knight, don"t get angry and don"t bother with him."
The man before him, who was travel-worn as they were, wore clothes that could be made out in a glance to be unaffordable to the common warrior. The horse he rode on was also a good horse seen only once out of a hundred. It was covered in white fur and could jump from the other side of the river to this side; the price of this horse alone would be no less than ten gold coins. Although the middle-aged businessman was from a branch family of the Ester Family from Wilderness City, it wasn"t like he hasn"t seen money before, but he also knew that even if it was the main branch of the Ester family, only a few guardian knights could afford such equipment.
This has to be a great knight! But why did this great knight show up here?! A sinister glint flashed through the businessman"s narrowed little eyes. He then heard this great knight gently laugh: "h.e.l.lo, I was dispatched here by the lord of White Horse Manor, to investigate the movement of the demons. I am the second-rank knight, Krone-bit."
Bewildered, the businessman asked "what demon movement?"
They had heard because of complexion issues, the demons all fear heat. Thus, when the demons are unwilling to come out every year during the summer—then the wave of business goes on the move!
Xu Jun shook his head: "I don"t know yet. Did you not notice anything? Recently, even the air is much fresher. After the Demon Abyss had split open, this place seemed as if it were covered by fog. It hasn"t had such good weather for decades!"
"And this isn"t good?" The bodyguard who had just wrestled away the bearish child turned back and reprimanded the curious ears of his younger brothers4 that wanted to hear more: "F*ck off! Go do your work! - This Sir Knight, I don"t understand these great deductions you have told us. Please don"t try to scare us, we"re almost at Firewood town you f*ck–*cough*, mister, please just rest a bit easier."
The businessman glared at the big man, but Xu Jun waved his hand with the air of a magnanimous knight.
The author has something to say:
All the way up to now, Xu Jun has not discovered that he is no longer in the game. This is because the game uses some neurological principles, and the time inside and outside of the game are very different.
Translator’s niche:
[1]I believe the author means gold-rank materials or something like that, and not stuff literally made of gold.Return
[2]I say antidote here and later on, but it implies a sort of cure all, an anti-poison of sorts.Return
[3]The sounds of pitiful wailing full of mourning, pain, loss, and sadness. Xu Jun seems to make a lot of beastmen make this sound, especially young male ones.Return
[4]These are more like juniors at a workplace rather than actual brothers, unless they really are all related(seems unlikely, but who knows?)Return
Additional note: there seemed to be some censored(?) words. I just made do with what I had and translated it to the best of my ability. Didn’t mark out where they are because they’re basically minor details and would just generate more clutter
Oh yeah, final note, I have a city translated as Wilderness City(literal: City of the Wilderness), but after this chapter, I am thinking of changing it to Wasteland City, because the words used could mean wilderness or wasteland, and right now, wasteland seems to make more sense. You know, since it’s right by the desert…so expect that.(How many people actually read this block of text? I’m curious)