Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Three Letters

The outcome of the first hunt was—

Ji Huan didn't catch a single "bone."

=-=

This type of magical beast, locally referred to as "bones," was very weak. Every creature around them was a natural predator. Without a strong physique, they had evolved remarkable speed and burrowing abilities.

They were incredibly fast and agile, fleeing at the slightest disturbance and digging into holes in the garbage heap with their powerful claws. Unless one could grab them the instant they started digging, there was no chance of catching them once they were buried.

They spent almost all day hiding beneath the trash, only emerging to search for food or breathe. Catching them was indeed a challenging task!

Grandfather had it even worse. Worried about damaging the reading glasses his grandson had made for him, he took them off before hunting. As a result—yes, he did manage to catch something, but unfortunately, it wasn't a bone; it was a magical creature hunting for one!

The creature's size wasn't large either, possibly a child demon similar to Little Grey. Although it might be considered bullying a kid, Grandfather should probably wear his reading glasses next time, Ji Huan consoled himself by patting Grandfather on the shoulder.

In the end, they still had to buy a bone from Little Grey—while they continued failing, Little Grey successfully caught another one.

However, Little Grey didn't want money.

"Tomorrow, for me, it's late, and it's not safe." It wasn't that Little Grey didn't want it; he simply preferred they pay him at the market tomorrow. There were no longer any vendors selling water, so money was useless here. Carrying wealth on his person was an incredibly risky affair for Little Grey.

Ji Huan now realized that Little Grey resided in one of the caves beneath this mountain of trash. With bones as his neighbors and predators lurking about, seeking to hunt them, although he wouldn't be killed, he was certainly vulnerable to theft.

Well, Ji Huan had now learned another rule of Ye Falar: they didn't commit murder within their own district, especially not against the native inhabitants who eked out a living there.

Hmm... It sounded rather communal, but upon hearing another part of the conversation, Ji Huan quickly revised his opinion:

"That's because, Ye Falar, aside from the natives, no one else would choose to settle here. The more residents we kill, the fewer there will be, and..."

Next, Little Grey, using his limited vocabulary, recounted a tale that had once unfolded in this very neighborhood: Essentially, someone was killed here, and then their friend avenged them by slaying the culprit. Then, the friend of the avenger was killed in turn, and so on, in an unending cycle. Eventually, Ye Falar's population dwindled drastically, and the market ceased to have any business. During that period, Ye Falar was so weakened that it narrowly avoided being completely eradicated by the ruling authority of the time.

After that incident, Ye Falar established a decree: no killing was allowed within the district, and outside of it, slaying any individual from Ye Falar was forbidden.

Of course, engaging in battles is permissible, as is plundering one another, so long as no lives are lost in the process.

Ji Huan was now increasingly understanding why Ajin had brought them here to settle: they were weak and ignorant of this world, and if they ventured out into any seemingly peaceful place, they might be killed and plundered for what they possessed. However, that wouldn't happen here – as long as they lived in Ye Falar, they would be safe from such violence.

Thus, here, even a weak creature like a Little Grey Demon has the chance to grow stronger, provided they possess sufficient resilience and are willing to strive relentlessly for survival. Under such circumstances, it's rare to find any monster that remains weak.

Gazing at the calm Little Grey Demon who stated that his home couldn't keep possessions, Ji Huan pondered for a moment before he lowered his head and said to Hei Dan inside the tent, "Hei Dan, pass your milk bottle over and let that big brother take a sip, okay?"

Now, Hei Dan could understand most words related to his milk bottle, such as 'take a sip.' He was very obedient and never guarded his food. Whenever Grandpa mentioned wanting to have a drink from his milk, he would proactively hand over the bottle. Of course, Grandpa was just teasing him. Despite being a monster, Grandpa was well-versed in how to tease children, especially those from the East.

Ji Huan nodded in the direction of Little Grey Demon, and Hei Dan extended his paw with the milk bottle towards him.

The little grey demon regarded the unknown object offered by the young monster expressionlessly, not moving an inch.

"This is... Hei Dan's food. It's drinkable. Today, you haven't had any water, right? Even if I give you money tomorrow, you won't be able to drink water until then. Why don't I just give this to you instead, as a substitute for money?" It was a long sentence, and Ji Huan struggled to articulate it, but it was evident that the little grey demon had grasped its meaning.

Upon hearing that it was something to drink, Little Grey's spirits lifted immediately. He lifted his head to study Ji Huan's expression and then glanced at the peculiar creature holding the strange object while smiling at him.

He licked his parched lips and sought confirmation once more. "It's safe to drink?"

Ji Huan nodded.

Little Grey glanced again at the horned demon behind Ji Huan, who also nodded in approval. Only then did he cautiously take the milk bottle from the tiny black paw. Staring at the unfamiliar object, he was unsure how to proceed.

"You suck on it. But the nipple has Black Egg's saliva on it. If you don't want to use the nipple, you can... twist it off to use as a cup." Unable to find the right word for "unscrew," Ji Huan demonstrated the action instead.

The little Grey Demon was clever and quickly grasped the usage of the baby bottle. He unscrewed the nipple, peered at the yellowish-white liquid inside, frowned slightly, then cautiously took a small sip. After that, he took another sip. When he returned the bottle with the nipple screwed back on, only a small amount of milk was missing.

"I only drank this much," the little Grey Demon demonstrated with the size of a bottle cap.

"It tastes odd, like..." He pondered for a moment. "Like Bone Beast's milk, but better."

Once, he had hunted a lactating Bone Beast and unexpectedly obtained its milk. Though it had a pungent taste, it was still drinkable water. He sucked on it for three days until the Bone Beast died, at which point he consumed it.

"It's just milk," Ji Huan said, putting the bottle back into Hei Dan's mouth. Hei Dan continued to gnaw on the nipple to grind his teeth.

After watching Hei Dan for a while, the little Grey Demon handed the bone he had just caught to the ram-horned creature and then disappeared into the depths of the garbage mountain.

From that day on, the Ji Huan family began their daily hunting trips to the garbage mountain.

Grandfather, after all, was a monster, and his strength gradually recovered. Although his vision was still problematic, he slowly managed to catch bones after he got used to hunting with reading glasses.

Ji Huan, on the other hand, progressed much slower. However, he didn't idle during this period. He read and studied regularly, memorizing two hundred words daily. Now, his proficiency in Monster Language surpassed Grandfather's. An unexpected event occurred during this time: The basket of eggs they had bought earlier actually hatched into five chicks. Though they looked somewhat different from normal chicks due to the local radiation, they were robust and healthy.

Ji Huan built a pigsty in the corner, where Big Bai and the chicks would huddle together during the intense sunlight. Their primary food source remained the "weeds" in Ajin's yard, but after Ji Huan discovered that the chicks enjoyed eating parasites from the Bone Beasts, he started searching for bugs around the garbage mountain to feed them daily.

His individual efforts were limited, so he hired Little Grey Demons to help him search. The payment was a capful of milk from Hei Dan's milk bottle. Since Hei Dan always offered the bottle himself, Ji Huan noticed that over these days, a small friendship seemed to have developed between the little demon and Hei Dan.

Hei Dan gave a candy (his least favorite, wrapped in red paper) to Little Grey. The latter didn't dare to eat it and sold it for five sparkling gems (⊙⊙). Then, he gave three of those gems back to Hei Dan.

Hei Dan happily accepted them and shared one with his uncle at night while giving the other to Grandpa Ye.

This mysterious interaction—Ji Huan didn't comment, allowing the two little creatures to communicate in their own way.

***

Meanwhile, Ajin finished the last lunch box in the grass-woven basket.

The meat had slightly spoiled, but he still ate it all. Afterward, he ordered a cup of "Yak" (similar to coffee) from room service and started reading the newspaper with his coffee.

The headline on the society page was the sudden death of Rockafini Gumuro, a powerful figure in the Ye Falar district.

It was said that before his death, Rockafini had suddenly disappeared from his home for a while. When he was found the next day, he had already been dead for some time in his own bedroom. Overnight, he had become frail and aged. A grand funeral was held for him in the Ye Falar district, but at the same time, the area fell into chaos again as influential figures scrambled to divide Rockafini's power. For the common folk, it didn't seem to make much difference.

Well, there were some impacts, such as the recent difficulty in obtaining documents in Ye Falar, like property deeds...

Ajin flipped past the society page and continued reading the gossip in the entertainment section.

Exiting Ye Falar, Ajin first went to the small town he had previously reached by taxi, and from there, he took another ride to a larger city. After exchanging his gold bars for the current currency at the largest bank and depositing them into his card, a young, elegant, and handsome nouveau riche was born.

Having shed his distinctive black cloak, he now wore a relaxed white outfit, purchased from the most fashionable clothing brand of the time. His appearance was vastly different from before.

He was currently residing in the city's most luxurious hotel, which was built by Kohler, the wealthiest man in the city. Rumors had it that Kohler, due to an extramarital affair, was in the midst of a divorce with his wife, and thus, after moving out of their home, he had been living in the hotel's top floor for quite some time.

Coincidentally, it was directly above Ajin's room.

He wrote three letters to Mr. Kohler. The first was sent from a nearby village close to Ye Falar, the second from a mid-sized city along the way, and the third from within this very hotel.