Chapter 20
“L-Lord Priest…”
The wind blew across the grass, and the rustling white noise covered his voice.
Mo Huaishan stared blankly at Hua Shi’an. Beneath his tear-soaked eyelashes, his deep eyes grew brighter, a faint glimmer of hope flashing through them.
Hua Shi’an had heard him. He peeled a few chestnuts and nudged him with his arm. “Stop with the ‘Lord Priest.’ Did you hear what I just said? Did you understand?”
Mo Huaishan nodded. “I think I understand. You mean, it doesn’t matter what others say. As long as I don’t admit it myself, I’m not an ill omen.”
“Exactly.” Hua Shi’an felt much more at ease. He handed him the peeled chestnuts. “Here, since you understand, eat something first. You need to fill your stomach to have the strength to pull yourself together.”
Mo Huaishan still didn’t take them, looking at Hua Shi’an with pleading eyes. “But Lord Priest, it’s not that I blame the tribe members for what they say. Sometimes I feel that I, I really am an ill omen.”
“For example?” Hua Shi’an asked.
Mo Huaishan’s eyes drooped slightly, and he counted on his fingers. “My, my beast form is strange. It’s very ugly and scary. My mother didn’t like me. She left shortly after I was born, without leaving a single word.”
“Later, later, my father died. He died suddenly of a strange illness. That same year, the Moshan Tribe was gone… One or two things might be a coincidence, but every time something unfortunate happens, I’m there.”
What a mess. Hua Shi’an rubbed his temples.
“Let’s just say, is there a possibility that your beast form is strange because your father and mother’s beast forms were different, and you inherited both of their genes, so you’re different from others? It’s her business that your mother didn’t like you. Your father died because he was in poor health. And the tribe has even less to do with you. You were just a child then. How could you affect the tribe?”
“Think about it from another perspective. Life is not always smooth sailing. There will always be hardships and obstacles. Even without you, what was meant to happen would have happened. Your mother would have left if she wanted to, and your father would have died if he got sick…”
Looking at the bewildered and dejected beastman, Hua Shi’an added, “You can’t just listen to what others say. Sometimes you have to think for yourself, right? You were the one who saved me on the night of the escape. It’s safe to say that without you, there would be no me, and without me, there would be no tribe as it is now.”
Although it was a bit of a boast, it was very effective in comforting someone.
The “dark clouds” hovering over his head gradually dispersed. The beastman rubbed his reddened eyes and forced a smile. “I, I understand, Lord Priest. Thank you, thank you. But saving you that night was really just on the—”
“Whether it was on the way or on a whim, you saved me, and that’s that.” Hua Shi’an pried open his hand and placed the chestnuts in his broad palm, leaving no room for refusal. “Eat first.”
“This, this is your food. I can’t eat it.” Mo Huaishan quickly tried to give it back.
The beastman was thin-skinned. He was being punished and didn’t want to involve Hua Shi’an, so he refused to eat his food. Hua Shi’an went back and forth with him twice, but in the end, he couldn’t overcome his strength, and the chestnuts were back in his own hand.
There was nothing he could do. Hua Shi’an sighed, holding the chestnuts, and lowered his head, feigning displeasure. “I thought we had a life-and-death friendship, that we were already friends. But you still address me so formally as ‘Lord Priest,’ and you’re unwilling to eat my food.”
Not knowing how to respond, Mo Huaishan was stunned. He opened his mouth but made no sound.
Before he could explain, Hua Shi’an continued, “You hate me, you don’t want to be friends with me, right? I could tell on the day we moved the stone pots. You were also aloof when I talked to you. Forget it, from now on, we—”
“No, it’s not like that,” Mo Huaishan was visibly flustered. He waved his hands in a panic and explained incoherently, “I hadn’t figured it out back then. I thought I was an ill omen and was afraid of implicating you. And the chief also told me not to get too close to you, so… I really don’t hate you. Please don’t say that, Lord Priest.”
Fearing that Hua Shi’an wouldn’t believe him, Mo Huaishan took the chestnuts back from his hand and quickly stuffed them into his mouth. “I’ll eat the chestnuts. I’ll eat, I’ll eat your food.”
His goal was achieved. Hua Shi’an burst out laughing. “I’ll say it even if you eat. Who told you to still call me ‘Lord Priest’?”
“Then…” The beastman knew what he should call him but stammered, unable to say it.
Hua Shi’an: “Friends should be closer. Call me Shi’an.”
“Shi, Shi…”
“What? Does my name burn your tongue?”
“No, no.” Mo Huaishan took a deep breath, looked at Hua Shi’an’s beautiful eyes, and, as if uttering the name of a god, reverently pronounced the two words, “Shi’an.”
“That’s more like it! Here, have some soup. Your voice is so hoarse.”
Hua Shi’an handed him the bamboo tube with wild vegetables again. This time, Mo Huaishan didn’t refuse. As if afraid of making Hua Shi’an unhappy again, he took the bamboo tube and brought it to his lips.
The vegetable soup was still warm, warming his hungry stomach and his gradually chilling heart. The beastman stared intently at Hua Shi’an’s side profile, his eyes inexplicably moistening again, and his ears, which had been cooled by the wind, turned a shade of pink.
They finished the small amount of food. The firelight in the camp gradually dimmed and finally disappeared, and the entire forest was enveloped in thick darkness.
It was getting late, and Hua Shi’an was also getting sleepy. When Mo Huaishan returned with the washed bamboo tube, he patted his grass skirt and stood up, asking, “Now that you’ve figured it out yourself, but you let the prey escape today, and everyone is resentful. What are your plans for the future? Do you have any ideas?”
“Yes,” Mo Huaishan nodded. He looked up at the empty camp and murmured in a low voice, “I’ll go talk to Yong again tomorrow. I, I still want to go back to the hunting team. If I make fewer mistakes, work harder, and catch more prey in the future, they probably won’t be angry anymore.”
Hua Shi’an asked again, “What if Yong doesn’t let you go back?”
He must have thought of this. Mo Huaishan pursed his lips slightly and said with little confidence, “Then, then I’ll go hunt by myself. If I bring back prey a few more times, everyone will calm down, and it will also prove that I, I’m not a useless beastman.”
He has ideas, but not many. A whole hunting team couldn’t catch any prey, so he thought he could do it alone? Hua Shi’an couldn’t bear to pour cold water on him. After a moment’s hesitation, he suggested tactfully, “I’ve been a bit busy by myself recently. Why don’t you work with me?”
Mo Huaishan was slightly hesitant. “Stay in the tribe to boil salt and weave back baskets? But I’m a beastman. Only cowardly beastmen would stay safely in the tribe. A useful beastman should go to the forest and bring back delicious prey for the tribe.”
Quite stubborn. Hua Shi’an chuckled. “Do you have to catch prey to prove you’re useful? That’s fine too. I’ll take you to catch prey.”
“You, you’ll take me to catch prey?” Mo Huaishan was shocked and waved his hands repeatedly. “No, no, no, that’s not right. Prey only appears deep in the forest. It’s very dangerous. You can’t go.”
“Who says there’s only prey in the forest?” Hua Shi’an lifted his chin and pointed to the creek in front, where the water level was gradually dropping, and said mysteriously, “Let me tell you a secret. There’s prey in that water too, and there’s meat to eat.”
