Chapter 38: Luo Ye

“Scholar Li, I will advise you one last time. Once you go, there will be no path back.” Luo Ye composed himself, wiped the tears spilling from the corners of his eyes, and said seriously.

“I will go over by myself from here. Since I said I would bring his corpse back, I will bring his corpse back.” Li Si looked at the corpse in the distance and took a deep breath.

He had already prepared himself for a fierce battle. He was determined to bring Cao Qing’s corpse back.

Moreover, from what he had learned before, this tiger was not extremely powerful. At most, it was only on par with a low-level ghost creature, so Li Si was not afraid.

“All right. The road ahead is not easy to walk. Just follow this mountain path forward.” Seeing that he could not persuade Li Si, Luo Ye sighed and no longer prepared to persuade him.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he took a gourd from his waist and handed it to Li Si. “This is realgar wine that I brewed specially. It can help you drive away snakes and insects. If you are bitten by snakes or insects, applying it externally can also have an antidote effect. If you feel cold at night, drinking a few mouthfuls can also warm your body.”

“Then many thanks, Brother Luo.” Li Si did not stand on ceremony and accepted it.

After Luo Ye saw Li Si accept it, his mouth opened as though he wanted to say something, yet he could not say anything. He could only sigh and say, “Scholar Li, take good care of yourself.”

After saying this, he turned around and went down the mountain, walking away.

Seeing him leave, Li Si continued advancing toward the cliff. The road here was indeed, as Luo Ye had said, not very easy to walk. It seemed that very few people had come here, and the grass had grown up to knee height.

After Li Si walked for some distance, he discovered a stream. Then he followed the stream upstream.

After walking along the stream for some time, he felt somewhat hungry, so he stopped on a flat piece of ground, put down the book box, and began picking up some dry branches nearby, preparing to cook.

Before setting out, he had brought dry rations, but there were very few dry rations, only things like steamed buns. Those were prepared for emergencies.

He picked up some stones nearby and piled them into a small stove. Afterward, he took out an earthen jar from the book box and poured some rice from the rice bag into the earthen jar.

After that, Li Si walked to the side of the stream and found that this part of the streambed was relatively gentle. Above it were rather steep stones, and when the water flowed down, there was a certain drop, so it had carved out a pool.

The water surface was calm and clear to the bottom. Together with the trees blocking the sunlight, this place seemed very refreshing in the blazing summer heat, and cicada cries sounded from time to time.

When Li Si saw this pool, he even had the urge to swim here. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. In this pool, he had actually discovered some tiny rice shrimp.

He turned around and poured the rice back into the rice bag. Then he used the empty jar to scoop water from the pool and pour it onto the open ground beside it, and saw some transparent tiny rice shrimp flopping on the ground.

Afterward, he repeated this a dozen or so times. There were now several dozen tiny rice shrimp, though their number was not great, and their bodies were very small. Even the largest was only a few millimetres long.

Li Si gathered these rice shrimp together and placed them in a small bowl. Only then did he begin washing the rice.

After washing the rice, he placed the dry branches between the stones, found some dry grass, folded it up, and pinched it into a dry grass ball.

He picked up the fire striker, lit the dry grass ball, and placed it among the branches. After the branches were ignited, Li Si placed the earthen jar on top and covered it with the lid.

Then he placed those tiny rice shrimp on the earthen jar lid.

After doing all this, Li Si took out a piece of cured meat wrapped in lotus leaves from the book box. He took out his dagger and began cutting the cured meat, slicing off some small pieces and putting them all into the earthen jar at once.

After that came a long wait. Only now did Li Si feel some pain in both feet. He walked to the poolside and sat down, then took off his shoes. He saw that blisters had been rubbed out beside the little toes of both feet.

Li Si was somewhat speechless, but immediately understood. The original owner of this body had poor stamina to begin with and often stayed at home, so his skin was naturally very tender. It was only reasonable that blisters had been rubbed out on his feet.

He stood up and washed the dagger in the water, then placed it in the fire and heated it for a while. After it cooled, he wiped the ash off with his clean hand and prepared to pierce the blisters.

Rustle, rustle. Suddenly, the sound of leaves rubbing against clothing came from down the mountain. Li Si’s movements paused, and his hand reached toward the cloth pouch at his chest.

After a while, he saw a figure walk out from behind a tree down the mountain. It was precisely Luo Ye.

When Li Si saw Luo Ye, he immediately relaxed, and his hand slowly moved away from his chest.

After Luo Ye came up the mountain and saw Li Si, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “Scholar Li, I finally caught up with you.”

“Brother Luo, why did you follow me?” Li Si looked at Luo Ye, his brows slightly furrowed, and asked somewhat strangely.

Luo Ye sighed, his expression complicated. “Since Scholar Li might even risk his life to bring his corpse back, how could I, who was brothers with Cao Qing for more than ten years, shrink back?”

“Besides, Scholar Li, you have long lived in the county town and do not understand how to survive in the forest. If I left, wouldn’t that be leaving you in a trap?”

Li Si smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly. “Then what will you do if you encounter that demon tiger?”

“Do not worry about that. I am an old hunter. If I encounter it, I naturally have my ways of avoiding it.” Luo Ye laughed loudly and patted his chest.

“How about this, Brother Luo? Later, wait here. Once I retrieve Brother Cao’s corpse, we will go back together.” Li Si thought for a moment and said.

“This...” A troubled expression appeared on Luo Ye’s face.

“Do not worry. When it comes to dealing with demons, monsters, and ghosts, I understand more than you do.” Li Si smiled faintly and said confidently.

After speaking, he sat on the blue stone again, placed his feet into the pool water to wash them clean, then set them on the blue stone to dry.

At this moment, Luo Ye also saw the earthen jar being heated. He went to the side of the earthen jar and asked Li Si while opening it, “Scholar Li, are you cooking rice?”

“Yes.” Li Si said somewhat embarrassedly, “Sorry, Brother Luo. I only cooked enough rice for myself. Add some more rice and cook it.”

“No need. I have already eaten. Leave this for yourself.” Luo Ye smiled. At the same time, from an angle Li Si could not see, a wisp of pale white substance emerged from his fingertip and burrowed into the earthen jar.