Chapter 43: Matters

“To the waterfall? Sure, but what are you going to do there?”

“To get Hamoyin’s scales.”

“…?”

Seeing Duogaluo’s confused expression, Nagu decided not to hide too much from her partner: “He has some… shed scales at home. We just need to take them.”

“So the twenty-three scales you mentioned earlier are these shed ones?” Duogaluo suddenly understood. But why would Hamoyin, who usually doesn’t get close to anyone, tell Nagu about this? Has their relationship become so close since he saved her? He was puzzled.

“Yes, they are the scales he shed when he was sick.” Seeing Duogaluo agree so readily, Nagu also breathed a sigh of relief. “This many should be enough, right?”

“I thought so…” Duogaluo scratched his head. “I thought you would pull out twenty-three scales from him.”

“…I wouldn’t do that.” Nagu looked around. She had found Duogaluo near the village square, and some people were still waiting to talk to him. “When are we going?”

“Now. There’s a group heading to the sacrificial site, and I can go with them and then head to the waterfall.” Duogaluo urged the men carrying things to gather at the village gate. “But you don’t need to come. The scales are at Hamoyin’s house, right? I’ll find them.”

“Eh?.. Can you find them?” It would be best if she didn’t have to go and get in the way, but she was worried Duogaluo wouldn’t find them. “The scales are wrapped in leaves in the gap by the bed.”

“You know so much detail. Did Hamoyin tell you this?”

“Yes…”

Duogaluo smiled and then put his arm around Nagu’s shoulder, leading her to a quieter side of the square: “Honestly, I didn’t suspect you before, but now I think you’re lying to me about something, right?”

“No, I’m not.” Nagu, feeling guilty, started to avert her gaze. “How could I lie to you? You’ve helped me so much.”

Duogaluo tightened his arm around her and shook her a bit: “I’m not saying you’re hiding something bad, but you’re definitely hiding something. Like your relationship with Hamoyin. Are you the same kind as him?”

How did he come to this conclusion? Nagu frowned and shook her head: “I’m not the same kind as him. I’m human…”

“I thought so. I checked carefully back then. But there’s something about your relationship with him that you’re hiding from me. You didn’t just meet, right?” Duogaluo was very certain about this. “Hamoyin wouldn’t be so familiar with someone he just met.”

Nagu felt sweat forming on her forehead but still tried to stay calm: “We just met.”

“You’re lying to me.”

“I’m not…”

“You’re definitely lying to me.”

“I…”

“Why won’t you tell me the truth? I saved you, too!” Duogaluo pinched Nagu’s cheeks, interrupting her defense, and started to complain angrily. “Did I do something to make you distrust me? I even taught you how to read. How can you have no conscience at all?”

“Mm mm mm…” Nagu felt her face being pinched and rubbed by Duogaluo. “I-I trust you a lot.”

“Really? Then tell me the truth. When did you and Hamoyin meet, and how did you come to our territory?” Duogaluo released the girl’s cheeks and lowered his voice even more. “I don’t want the people I trust to have doubts about me, so you need to tell me if I’ve done something that makes you feel you can’t tell me the truth.”

Now, there were no doubts about Duogaluo…

Nagu knew her previous distrust of Duogaluo was because she feared implicating Hamoyin. So, not just Duogaluo, she had placed everyone in the tribe on the opposite side of herself and Hamoin, and most of what she said was false.

Seeing Nagu’s troubled expression, Duogaluo became even more certain. He wasn’t angry. Considering the terrible wounds on her body and legs when he dragged the unconscious girl out of the pool to check her, it was very normal for her to have doubts and tell some lies when they first met. Not lying would have been unusual.

“So, are you going to tell me?”

Under Duogaluo’s serious gaze, Nagu began to feel guilty. “I’m afraid if I tell you, you will…”

“I won’t. No matter what you say, my opinion of you and Hamoyin won’t change. I know what kind of people you both are.”

“So you were a captive back then.”

“Yes…”

Duogaluo had guessed they knew each other before, but he didn’t expect her to be one of the women who escaped back then. After all, why would those who escaped want to stay in Azuran’s territory? They would have either run beyond the borders to find nomads or died on the way. “I didn’t expect Hamoyin to take care of you for so long, and I certainly didn’t expect you even to give me a fake name.”

Nagu laughed awkwardly: “I thought you were Azuran… Azuran wanted to kill us before, so being a bit cautious should be okay, right?”

“Of course.” Duogaluo sighed. “At that time, I wanted to take you and the other captured women back to my village, but the others disagreed, saying you were too dirty because you were carrying or had carried monster children. So Azuran gave the order.”

Nagu’s body trembled, and her heart felt like it was suddenly gripped tightly. These feelings were not her own: “…”

“What’s wrong?” Noticing Nagu’s sudden change in expression, Duogaluo put a hand on her shoulder.

“Nothing.” It was that instinctive fear again, but what was she afraid of this time? Was it something Duogaluo said about Azuran, or was it the mention of carrying a child that triggered this body’s reaction?

Nagu instinctively touched her abdomen: “I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Is there a way to know if I’m pregnant now?”

“…”

Duogaluo’s gaze moved to Nagu’s abdomen. Even though clothes covered it, it was clearly flat: “It’s been so long since you escaped. If you were pregnant, it should have started to show by now. Have you had a big appetite or felt like vomiting for no reason?”

Nagu shook her head: “I just eat normally until I’m full, and I haven’t felt like vomiting…”

“Then you’re not pregnant.” Duogaluo patted Nagu’s head. “Forget about those things. Just live well in the village from now on. I need to go to the sacrificial site now, and I’ll bring back Hamoyin’s scales.”

“You should go back and take care of him. Is he still sick?”

“He looks much better today. I think he’ll be fully recovered in a couple of days.”

“That’s good.”

Duogaluo smiled at Nagu: “By the way, although I know you understand, I’ll remind you not to tell anyone about what we’ve talked about. They have no tolerance for anything related to monsters. As for your name… I’ll tell others I gave you a new name, Nagu. How about that?”

“Okay, thank you!”

After chatting a bit more, Duogaluo headed to the village gate, and Nagu returned to the witch’s house along the path. She wanted to prepare the firewood for the night and grind the medicine Hamoyin needed. But when she lifted the curtain to the back storeroom with the medicine bowl in her hands, she was stunned.

The fire in the brazier had been extinguished with dirt and sand, the stone slabs were stacked next to the empty bowls, and the animal skin rug on the ground… was empty.

Hamoyin was gone.

“…” Nagu’s hands trembled as she held the medicine bowl. She wanted to scream but couldn’t. Where had Hamoyin gone? Where did he go?

Could it be that because she hadn’t told him the truth, he took the opportunity to return to the treehouse while she was out, wanting to see what she and Dogaluo were going to do? But he was still sick. He didn’t have the strength to cross the forest!

Just as Nagu was about to drop the medicine bowl and run to the village gate to find Duogaluo, she saw Hamoyin walking out of the bushes in the backyard: “…”

“You’re back.” Hamoyin walked slowly to Nagu and then turned his head to cough a few times. “I thought you were going to the treehouse today.”

“I-I’m back…” This was what they called emotional highs and lows. Nagu felt like she almost lost her breath. “What were you doing outside?”

“Sunbathing.” Hamoyin walked past Naggu and sat back inside. “No one saw me, don’t worry.”

“Oh…”

Of course, Hamoyin had half cold-blooded animal blood. Nagu suddenly realized this and let go of the curtain. He had been staying in this small, dark storeroom without natural light for the past few days. Today, he must have regained some strength and went out to hide and sunbathe.

However, in Nagu’s memory, she had never seen Hamoyin sunbathing while living in the treehouse. Did he sunbathe on a tree or a large rock while out hunting?

“I thought you would go to the waterfall with Duogaluo.”

“No, he said he could go by himself.” Nagu sat down next to Hamoyin with the medicine bowl. After sunbathing, he looked much more energetic. He really is like a reptile…

Hamoyin lowered his head and thought for a while. He didn’t want to press Nagu too much about what she was doing, but… if Nagu didn’t tell him, he would be very concerned. What could be so important that she couldn’t tell him? Why would she discuss it with Duogaluo but not with him?

“Naggu.”

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

“Is Duogaluo good to you?”

Why ask this all of a sudden? Nagu was stunned for a moment, then nodded: “He’s pretty good.”

“Oh.” Feeling a bit stifled, Hamoyin’s fingers rubbed the blanket beside him. “So you’re still not going to tell me what you two are discussing?”

As expected, this issue couldn’t be avoided. Nagu started to feel anxious again.

“Why do you need to go to my place? What do you want him to get?” He hadn’t intended to ask this way, but seeing Nagu’s troubled expression, Hamoyin couldn’t help it. He wanted to know what Nagu was up to and why she preferred to ask Duogaluo, whom she hadn’t known for long, for help. “Can’t I know?”

Nagu could hear the resentment in Hamoyin’s voice, which made her very uneasy. She didn’t want Hamoyin to dislike her because she was hiding things: “It’s something related to you… but I’m not sure if I can tell you now.”

“If it’s related to me, why not tell me?”

Indeed, she should tell him. Nagu, looking distressed, grabbed Hamoyin’s hand: “I want to tell you, but I’m afraid that after you know…”

“After?”

“I’m afraid you will… I don’t know what you’ll do, but I’m just scared that you’ll do something extreme if I tell you.”

“I won’t.” Hamoyin stared at Nagu’s hand, which was trembling as it held his. He had a vague premonition that Nagu knew something horrible. But for someone like him, there was no longer anything good or bad.

“Go ahead and tell me.”