Chapter 37: I’m a Mute

“Transformed?!” Chu Xihen was taken aback. “You’re not human?”

He hadn’t heard of any demons or monsters existing in this world.

“I am human!” Ling Yao said, sounding anxious. “I can’t explain it clearly. Just watch!”

Ling Yao finished speaking, closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Chu Xihen waited for a while and then saw two semi-circular, fluffy white ears pop out from the top of his head, while his original human ears disappeared.

He stared at those two ears that seemed to belong to a completely different dimension than Ling Yao’s disheveled head. It took a great effort to resist reaching out and touching them.

“Are those tiger ears? Are you a tiger spirit?” Chu Xihen asked.

Ling Yao deflated, and the ears changed back. “I’m not a demon. It’s just that my ears change when I’m near death, and I grow fur. I don’t know what’s going on.”

It was also because of this that his parents abandoned him at the orphanage when he was born.

Chu Xihen didn’t ask further. Instead, he exchanged a pile of bathing supplies from the mall, even a large wooden tub. “Clean yourself up first. Once you’re clean, I’ll take you with me.”

He was very interested in Ling Yao’s abilities. Yes, definitely not because those ears were too cute that he decided to keep him.

Ling Yao was dumbfounded when he saw the pile of things Chu Xihen had produced.

“Did your points come from a tornado or something? Such a waste! There’s a river up ahead. Can’t I just wash there?” Then he thought of his own body and covered himself with his hands. “Are you some kind of pervert?”

He deliberately made himself so dirty to avoid attracting any beasts with bad intentions. Now, Chu Xihen was wasting points just to get him clean. This behavior didn’t seem normal at all.

“Do you think I need to?” Chu Xihen rolled his eyes at him.

Ling Yao muttered softly, “Who knows? Maybe you just like ugly people.”

“Hurry up and wash, or I’ll throw you in the river.” Chu Xihen said to him, “The mutated fish in the river probably won’t mind how dirty you are.”

Ling Yao didn’t dare to argue anymore and immediately took off his clothes and jumped into the big tub.

Chu Xihen originally wanted to ask him if he needed hot water, but this kid really wasn’t afraid of the cold?

“This is nothing. I used to sleep in the snow all the time and used snow as a blanket.” Ling Yao wasn’t afraid of the cold. He could survive in even the harshest conditions, but he was afraid that someone wouldn’t let him live.

Seeing him like this, Chu Xihen felt a strange sense of emotion.

He placed the clothes next to the large tub and walked to the bonfire, sitting with his back to Ling Yao.

Inside the tub, Ling Yao washed himself while staring at Chu Xihen’s back.

He was curious about what Chu Xihen was thinking at this moment.

Ling Yao came out of the tub clean and saw the new clothes placed beside him. Suddenly, his eyes welled up with tears.

He couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he had worn new clothes.

“Finished washing…” Chu Xihen turned around, wanting to ask Ling Yao if he was done washing, but he was startled by the head of white hair that was glaring even in the dim light. Then he saw Ling Yao secretly wiping away tears. “Why are you crying? Are you afraid I’ll force myself on you?”

The sad atmosphere surrounding Ling Yao was instantly destroyed by Chu Xihen.

“How is that possible? I accidentally got shampoo in my eyes.” Ling Yao ran to Chu Xihen wearing the well-fitting thermal sportswear and sat down beside him. “I was born with white hair. I was afraid people would think it was strange, so I smeared it with black ash.”

He did want to dye his hair, but unfortunately, he didn’t have the money.

“It looks pretty good like that,” Chu Xihen said, mainly because it matched Ling Yao’s pair of white tiger ears.

Ling Yao not only had beautiful white hair, but his face also looked good. It was just that he was too thin, appearing completely skin and bones.

“Brother Chu, why are you alone in the forest? What were you doing just now?” Because of the set of clothes Chu Xihen had given him, Ling Yao felt a little closeness to him.

Chu Xihen thought for a moment and said, “Nature calls.”

Ling Yao: “…”

I believe your nonsense.

“Let’s go, let’s join up with my teammates.” Chu Xihen got up, smashed the wooden tub, and then threw the wooden planks into the bonfire to burn.

“Oh no, why did you smash it? I could have stored it!” Ling Yao felt terrible, regretting that he reacted too slowly.

The three slots in his personal mall were empty. Storing a wooden tub was no problem at all.

“We can exchange for another one if we need it.” Chu Xihen said concisely, “Keep up, don’t get lost.”

Ling Yao clutched his chest and stood up, following closely behind Chu Xihen. But he couldn’t help but look back at the forest Chu Xihen had come out of.

He rubbed his eyes, feeling that they had fully recovered, and secretly activated his skill while Chu Xihen in front hadn’t noticed.

He found another non-mutated owl and controlled it to fly to the place where he had just seen Chu Xihen. Then, using the owl’s eyes, he saw Han Chong’s bloody corpse in the bushes.

“Are you really not afraid of going blind?” Chu Xihen’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling Ling Yao and making him quickly retract his skill.

“Brother Chu, I, I’m sorry. I, I was just curious. Please don’t kill me, please. I’ll follow you wholeheartedly from now on. You can make me do whatever you want, as long as you spare my life!” Ling Yao instantly knelt down and begged for mercy, his movements extremely smooth.

“Get up. Just don’t talk nonsense about what you saw, or I’ll poison you mute, and then gouge out your eyes.” Chu Xihen wasn’t angry.

Ling Yao quickly got up. “I promise not to talk nonsense. From now on, I’m a mute!”

Chu Xihen wasn’t afraid that he would tell others. It was just that if Lou Su asked, he would have to explain a lot, which was a headache to think about.

Han Chong had brought him here, towards the direction where Bai Jinli had lured away the wolf pack, probably thinking that killing him here would prompt Bai Jinli to help cover it up when he returned.

Chu Xihen led Ling Yao along the river towards where Lou Su had gone. After walking for about half an hour, he saw Lou Su and Bai Jinli walking towards him.

“Brother Chu, there are people ahead.” Ling Yao’s skill made him highly vigilant. He spotted Lou Su and the others from a distance.

“It’s okay, they’re acquaintances.” Chu Xihen stopped moving after seeing Lou Su.

Lou Su quickly ran towards him. “Are you alright?”

His eyes were only on Chu Xihen, not even glancing at Ling Yao beside him.

Bai Jinli asked, “Xihen, why are you alone? Where are the others?”

He had lured the wolf pack away and immediately turned around to find Lou Su. After the two of them reunited, they started searching for their teammates, only to run into Chu Xihen after searching for a while.

“They went ahead. They should have left a mark. We’ll pay attention when we walk.” Chu Xihen finished speaking and introduced Ling Yao to Lou Su, “His name is Ling Yao. I found him by the river.”

Then he said to Ling Yao, “This is Lou Su. You can call him whatever you want.”

Ling Yao nodded at Lou Su as a greeting, then looked at Bai Jinli.

Without Chu Xihen’s introduction, the latter opened his mouth himself, “My name is Bai Jinli. You look younger than me, just call me Brother.”

Ling Yao still nodded coldly, without saying a word.

Bai Jinli felt that he was a bit impolite and was about to ask Chu Xihen what was going on with him.

But Ling Yao suddenly spoke, “I’m a mute.”

Bai Jinli: “…”

What the hell mute!