Chapter 56: The Gift

Chujiu had never seen Little Canned Food so dejected.

The always proud little cat, upon hearing what its new skill was, first stretched itself out straight like a cat stick, then curled up like a canned cat, and fell asleep without even letting out a single "meow."

Chujiu wanted to comfort the little fellow, but had no idea where to start.

His intuition told him that telling Little Canned Food something like "Scratch is so cute!" would only make the little cat feel even more depressed.

He could only stroke the little fellow's back over and over again, saying, "This is just the beginning," "In any case, we've grown"...

As he kept talking, Chujiu grew drowsy himself.

After Chujiu fell asleep, Little Canned Food opened its eyes wide, feeling an immense bitterness in its heart:

Scratch? What kind of skill was that?

And it could only turn into a big cat under "extreme circumstances"? What on earth constituted extreme circumstances?

Wasn't it even capable of turning into a big cat with a warm belly at will, allowing Chujiu to lie on its stomach for warmth?

When would it ever become more useful, stronger, and better able to protect him?

Just as it thought of this, Chujiu rolled over beside it, once again sleeping sprawled out and kicking the blanket onto the floor.

Little Canned Food leaped lightly to the ground, picked up the blanket in its mouth, tucked Chujiu in properly, and then stopped beside the pillow, staring blankly at the sleeping teenager.

He must be very tired.

For the past few days, he had been deciphering that adventure book, figuring out how to build a raft, and pondering over gathering supplies...

Of course, Little Canned Food remained at its exclusive post—on Chujiu's shoulder or chest pocket—attentively patrolling the surroundings.

With that, the Hoohou Rabbit flopped down onto the ground, sniffing the black soil with its little nose. "Ho ho ho, it's actually so fertile! Does it need this much organic matter?!"

Chujiu happily discovered that Little Canned Food had returned to its previous haughty little self.

The squirrel chieftain's ears twitched, and his button-like black eyes were filled with suspicion.

...Wait, from the perspective of the chestnut sprite, they had been "kidnapped" while resting at the edge of the forest, "trapped," and threatened by "fire."

As they were being roasted, those chestnut sprites lying in sleeping bags suddenly jumped out one by one!

However, Sheldon was still young and often zoned out when older generations imparted knowledge, so he only knew that "chestnut sprites and dwarf orcs hadn't interacted for a long time," but knew nothing of such a terrifying story.

Little Canned Food vigorously shook its head.

How could anyone see a campfire and actually feel scared, thinking they were going to be burned and eaten?

"I trust the blacksmith gentleman's character. Please everyone listen to his explanation!"

Now our dwarf orc clan has resumed the smelting and forging interrupted by monsters, acquiring precious "gems" and abundant nuts. What a wonderful life this is, unseen in all these years!

Note: The accuracy of the summary and the effectiveness of the instruction are influenced by the spirit beast's own state, the favorability between the spirit beast and the host, and the host's own learning ability.

"But... I forgot."

The Hoohou Rabbit hurriedly shook its head. "Ho ho ho, it's just that my skill proficiency isn't high enough..."

That gang of dwarf orcs had brought them to the Sanctuary Valley, trapped them with strange things, and built a towering pile of firewood right beside them!

Chujiu: "...Huh? Shouldn't we be heading to the workshop? Or staying in the living room would work too?"

Over here, the Hoohou Rabbit was already drooping its head and crying. "The sugarcane... has withered..."

When Eleanor saw the white-eared little squirrel sitting on the back of the dodo bird, all her quills stood on end.

As a result, when they were taking the chestnuts out, they realized: Ah, some of the chestnuts weren't chestnuts at all; they were their neighbors, those tiny chestnut sprites!

Chujiu frowned and said to Eleanor, "From my perspective... what the blacksmith gentleman said is indeed the truth."

Chujiu was utterly baffled, and the little squirrel was even more at a loss.

He looked toward the blacksmith squirrel again. "I suppose the chieftain won't refuse chestnut sprites who can bring loads and loads of nuts once he learns the truth of back then, right?"

Today... was probably destined to be a complete failure.

After sharing this tip with the Hoohou Rabbit, the little fellow became even more excited. Its "ho ho" sound was so loud that even the fish in the river poked their heads out in surprise: What's going on, what's going on? Where is this monster making such a loud ruckus?

Chujiu had already noticed when passing by the plaza just now that a black columnar object had appeared in the center, covered with a cloth made of animal hide, making it impossible to tell what the pillar actually was.

Speaking of this, Sheldon looked slightly dejected. "Nope."

Just like that, the little chestnut sprite Sheldon stayed in the chieftain squirrel's residence, beginning to recount the history and customs of the chestnut sprites...

It thought of Aman, who had cried in front of Chujiu that day.

Kakaba: "Dang dang dang, that won't do. This language must be learned outdoors!"

When Chujiu accepted the chestnuts, he noticed that the usually steady blacksmith squirrel's mouth twitched slightly.

Sure enough, Kakaba nodded its round head. "Dang dang dang! I've summarized some of the most basic ones and will tell Chujiu all of them in a moment!"

The Hoohou Rabbit ran back and forth around the sugarcane field, its long ears constantly twitching, obviously extremely excited.

When they returned to the dungeon, Sheldon had not yet left.

Indeed.

Seeing that everything was progressing smoothly, Chujiu let those furry creatures engage in friendly communication on their own.

Chujiu stated with certainty, "Really, they don't eat meat at all."

After hearing Sheldon explain, "From the chestnut sprite's perspective, we really thought it was a kidnapping," the chieftain squirrel's first reaction was disbelief.

"Dang dang dang! First movement: 'Hello!'"

[Current Spirit Beast No. 2 Growth Level: Level 3]

The white-eared little squirrel affirmed, "No refusal. Will welcome."

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of the Hoohou Rabbit's long ears.

Leaving aside whether a monster might come and snatch this little rabbit away, he was already worried that the Hoohou Rabbit might slip and fall directly into the river if it wasn't paying attention.

The chieftain squirrel once again wore a stubborn expression:

Yet neither side had a better solution for the moment.

However, the blacksmith squirrel practiced restraint, eating only a few nuts at fixed meal times and never overeating at other times.

As night fell, the dwarf orcs lit a campfire, tongues of flame leaping so high and the wood crackling so plaintively!

"Ho ho ho, they've grown so well! So thick and sturdy!" The Hoohou Rabbit stroked the purple sugarcane, praising loudly.

Just as he was thinking this, the chieftain squirrel beckoned to Chujiu. "Friend! Friend!"

"Not just pots and pans, dwarf orcs can help us fire other things too!"

As he just walked into Sunny Plateau, Chujiu unsurprisingly ran into Sheldon.

The white-eared little squirrel gave Chujiu a grateful look and began to recount slowly and with difficulty.

The Hoohou Rabbit also blinked its eyes to indicate: It wanted to ride the bamboo raft together to the underground river. Ho ho ho, maybe there were strange crops down there too, ho ho!

Ah, it must be because of the "cultivation" matter.

Seeing that his human friend had said so, the chieftain squirrel pondered for a long time before saying to the chestnut sprite:

"Hello" meant "raising both arms high with fingertips pointing upward," and "I have no malicious intent" meant "jumping in place three times on the right foot, then jumping in place three times on the left foot."

This little fellow, whose voice was usually deafening, had silently walked up beside him at some point, and its long ears were tangled together in a knot once again.

Yesterday, the system notified Chujiu that Kakaba had grown to level five and learned a new passive skill, [Master Linguist].

Eleanor had said back then: There used to be much more convenient ways of trading between chestnut sprites, humans, and other races. Moreover, "there was no need to ride dodo birds everywhere."

Chujiu had noticed this.

If the Hoohou Rabbit and Little Canned Food came from the same place, and since Little Canned Food called sugarcane "purple bamboo" and had never seen the plant before, the Hoohou Rabbit naturally hadn't seen it either.

The dwarf orc diet contained no meat.

They were overjoyed and immediately packed up all these nuts, preparing to take them back to share and eat.

"We, talk."

After all, the notion that "dwarf orcs are sharp-toothed creatures that will crunch and eat chestnut sprites" was a story she had heard since childhood.

He first used a handful of gems to reserve minerals such as [fire-resistant clay] and [limestone] from other little squirrels, and then left the dungeon with Little Canned Food and the Hoohou Rabbit, heading straight for the sugarcane field.

Chujiu stared dumbfounded at the statue for a long time, slowly squatting down and hugging his head.

He saw Kakaba run to the center of the small courtyard, standing straight on its two hind legs and raising its two front paws:

Consequently, Chujiu had no choice but to set up a bamboo basket by the river and catch fish and shrimp together with Little Canned Food.

Chujiu: "Ah?"

*

He intended to head downriver that very day.

The chieftain squirrel held its paws high. "We, for you, gift!"

Every exquisite skill of the dwarf orcs was inseparable from fire.

"First of all, this cultivation must be delayed until next spring when it's warmer!"

The little chestnut sprites all widened their little eyes: "...Ah?"

"I didn't consider your familiarity with this crop itself when I assigned the work."

In the center of the plaza, there prominently stood—

A hint of bewilderment appeared in the chieftain squirrel's eyes:

Although they also hunted monsters, it was to obtain their fur, and they would not eat their meat.

He saw it digging up soil to sniff and even taste it one moment, bending down to scoop and lick river water the next, or else pulling apart sugarcane leaves to inspect them carefully...

Wasn't fire the warmest and brightest substance?

However, the only thing both sides found somewhat inconvenient was the trading location.

The chieftain squirrel led Chujiu by the hand at a trot all the way to the plaza without a word of explanation.

Eleanor carefully scrutinized the white-eared little squirrel, and finally looked somewhat uncertainly at Chujiu.

Chujiu never imagined that the danger Eleanor spoke of actually referred to the dwarf orcs themselves.

*

"I am not afraid of dwarf orcs, I am willing... I am willing to go to the dungeon!"

Chujiu had long since discovered:

The older chestnut sprites all knew about these things.

"Teacher, Teacher!" the soft-furred little chestnut sprite called out cheerfully, handing over a leaf pouch filled with chestnuts. "These are the sweetest batch of chestnuts, our gift for the teacher!"

After much discussion, the only workable method was still for the chestnut sprites to ride dodo birds over to "place an order," and for the dwarf orcs to go to Sunny Plateau to deliver the goods after finishing the firing process.

During breakfast, Chujiu told the spirit beasts that his skills had recovered. After doing some preparatory work over the next two days, he would carry the blacksmith squirrel to Sanctuary Valley and then follow the underground river to find the core region.

None of this could be achieved without our human friend!