Chapter 29: The Only One

“Where did you run off to? We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Duogaluo looked at the girl pushing through the crowd towards him. “Didn’t I tell you to stay with Momoli? Why are you running around alone?”

“I went to the bathroom after exchanging things.” Nagu raised the few dried fruits in her hand to show Duogaluo. Besides coming to see Hamoyin, she also needed to exchange materials for the old witch. It seemed she would be coming to the market frequently in the future because the old witch was always muttering about missing something in the house.

Duogaluo found nothing unusual and stopped questioning Nagu about running off. “Now go back to the village with Momoli. Gongduo is waiting for you across the shallow water.”

“Do we have to go back now?”

“Why, do you want to stay and look around? That’s fine, too.”

“No… I’d better go back.” She didn’t want to stay in such a crowded place for long. Besides, other village leaders often gathered around Duogaluo, and the only thing that made Nagu feel at ease was that Azuran wasn’t here. “The witch is waiting for me to bring back what she needs.”

Duogaluo elongated his response, “Hmm.” He hadn’t seen Nagu for two days before today, and meeting her at the market was just a coincidence.

Now, her limp seemed almost gone, and she looked much more spirited than when he first found her. This made Duogaluo quite happy, and he didn’t know when Momoli and Nagu had become so familiar with each other. “Wait a minute, I have something to ask you.”

Duogaluo called out to Nagu, who was about to leave with Momoli. “Are you getting used to living with the old woman? If not, you can always come back to my house.”

“I’m quite used to it,” Nagu replied without thinking. In fact, it was true. The elderly witch didn’t have much for her to do besides helping her eat and clean herself. The only issue was the animal corpses and various live insects in the witch’s room.

Nagu usually stayed in the small room where the witch slept, staring at Hamoyin’s tailbone in a daze. She only went out when the witch needed her. The old witch wasn’t interested in talking much, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Nagu’s daily routine now was to wake up, help the witch go to the bathroom, prepare simple meals as requested, fetch things from high places, and then retreat back to the room, repeating this cycle.

Today, the witch ran out of something she usually used, so Momoli brought Nagu to the market to exchange for it. The timing was perfect because Nagu had planned to come to the market to find Hamoyin today.

Thinking about Hamoyin made Nagu restless again. She had learned most of what she wanted to know from Duogaluo and the witch. She now understood that Hamoyin wanted to become human, which was why he wouldn’t leave Azuran’s territory. But what was the use? Such issues couldn’t be resolved without talking to him directly.

Nagu felt that even if she mustered the courage to ask Hamoyin directly, he would probably just give her a vague response like, “Don’t worry about my business.”

Thinking this, Nagu sighed involuntarily. She couldn’t understand. Although Hamoyin must have his reasons, she didn’t see any difference between him and humans. He was even kinder than most people.

“Why did you suddenly sigh? Didn’t you say you were quite used to it?” Duogaluo asked, puzzled by Nagu’s sudden gloominess.

“No, I’m just a bit tired from walking, and my foot hurts a little.” Realizing she hadn’t controlled her emotions, Nagu quickly lied. “I am used to it. Momoli has been helping me a lot these past two days.”

Momoli looked at Duogaluo proudly. “See, I’ve been helping her. Brother, you’re only busy with the ceremony.”

“Then how about you take over the arrangements for the ceremony?”

“I don’t care about your weird ceremonies.” Momoli pulled Nagu back with a look of disdain. “Mom was complaining about the chief yesterday. Isn’t he planning to capture some monsters alive for the ceremony? We all think it’s very dangerous.”

Capture some monsters alive??

Nagu looked at Momoli in surprise and then at Duogaluo. She had no concept of monsters, having only encountered Hamoyin, who didn’t seem like a monster at all. “Why capture them alive? Can’t you use their corpses?”

“They think live ones are… more useful.” Duogaluo’s face was full of anger.

Killing monsters had become much easier for them, but capturing them alive was a different story. The danger was unimaginable, and keeping them close to women and children was practically suicidal. “It’s all Azuran and Lakaluo’s decision. I never agreed to it. Capturing five monsters and keeping them in our territory? They must be out of their minds!”

“I’m going to tell the chief what you said.”

“Go ahead!” Duogaluo tried to grab Momoli’s ear, but she dodged. “Brat, watch how you talk to the chief.”

Hearing this, Nagu started to wonder about another issue. Since Hamoyin was willing to give them scales, why go through the trouble of capturing monsters alive for the ceremony?

But Nagu quickly figured out the answer herself: resources were probably scarce, and Hamoyin’s scales were likely only enough for a few people.

“I’m going to tell Mom you yelled at me again.”

“So what if I did?”

The siblings’ argument interrupted Nagu’s thoughts. She looked up at Duogaluo and Momoli bickering like idiots. Speaking of which… there was another question she hadn’t figured out.

Momoli called the person she referred to as “Mom” Duogaluo’s sister, but why did she also call Duogaluo “brother”?

This relationship sounded confusing. Maybe Duogaluo’s sister was just taking care of Momoli without any blood relation? Or maybe Duogaluo and Momoli weren’t related by blood? Forget it, Nagu decided not to think about it anymore. It was better to head back to the village with Momoli.

“What’s wrong?” Momoli turned to look at Nagu, who had tugged her twice. “Do you need to go to the bathroom again?”

“No…” It seemed she should use the bathroom excuse less in the future. Nagu pointed behind her. “Let’s go back. The witch is waiting for me.”

“Right, let’s go. Get this noisy brat out of my sight,” Duogaluo said, eager for Momoli to disappear.

“You’re the noisy one.”

“I said…”

As the two were about to start arguing again, Nagu quickly grabbed Momoli’s arm and pulled her towards the shallow water, waving awkwardly at Duogaluo. “We’re leaving now. Goodbye.”

“He can’t win an argument with me. You don’t need to pull me away.” Momoli looked at Nagu with a hint of childish pride. “Brother has some issues.”

“…Haha.” Nagu didn’t know how to explain to Momoli that she didn’t want them to argue, so she pulled her away. Although Momoli seemed similar in age, her mental age was probably younger, making communication difficult at times.

But the good thing was that it was easy to get information from her. With only the two of them around, it was an excellent opportunity. So Nagu calculated her approach and spoke without hesitation.

“Hey, Momoli.”

The two girls walked along the deserted path by the market towards the shallow water. Momoli’s attention shifted from the roadside flowers to Nagu when she spoke. “What’s up?”

“I have a question for you. It’s about… the monster living in our territory.” Nagu deliberately made her voice sound a bit scared. “Do you know anything about him?”

“Of course, I know,” Momoli said, patting Nagu’s arm. “Don’t be afraid. That monster is very dumb and won’t fight back no matter how much you bully him, so he definitely won’t attack you or us.”

“Really…?”

“Really! When I was little, I even saw them cut off his tail, but by then, only a small part was left.” Momoli gestured with her hand, showing a length of about four fingers in front of Nagu. “He just sat there, and the chief swung his knife to cut off his tail. He didn’t move or scream, very obedient.”

“Why was there only a small part of his tail left when you saw it?” Nagu was puzzled. Wasn’t Hamoyin’s tail cut off all at once?

“Because of that… But I also heard it from Mom and the other sisters. When the monster was still a little monster, he could trick another monster into coming for the ceremony every season. But over time, the monsters started to suspect him, so he had to escape and live in our territory. Every season, he let people cut off a small part of his tail for the ceremony.”

“And after his tail was gone, he started giving us scales.”

Seeing Momoli’s smiling face, Nagu felt conflicted. “I heard from Duogaluo that he trades with you because he wants to…”

“He wants to become human!” Momoli interrupted Nagu. “He heard somewhere that our Mother Goddess has that power.”

“So it can really turn him into a human?”

“The chief says so.”

“Then… how does it work?”

“I don’t know!” Momoli replied with a naive smile. “You can only ask the chief.”

“The chief knows everything.”