The bungalow in the village was called a house, but in fact, there was almost nothing inside. Apart from a pile of sundries in the corner, there was no window, no light source, no table, no bed … Gu Zi, Yizi and Ding Meng directly sat on the ground.
Eisendale did not sit down. The reason was simple. She disliked the dirt on the floor, and the room was filled with all kinds of unpleasant smells, like the stench of dead animals.
Gu Zi and Yizi were obviously very happy. Yizi even dug around in the pile of junk for a while and dug out a string of black things.
"Brother Ding Meng, are you hungry? Eat something first!" Yizi happily handed over the string of black things.
This time, Eisendale saw it clearly. It was a string of dried meat, but the dried meat was black and yellow. It was impossible to tell that it was dried meat. It also emitted a rotten smell. Just smelling it made her want to vomit, let alone eat it.
As an Origin Ability user, she was immune to rotten food. Eisendale's nausea was completely out of her womanly instinct. After all, she had enjoyed all kinds of fine wine and delicacies in the Federation City. How could she eat this?
However, Ding Meng didn't mind. After receiving it, she took a big bite and chewed with relish.
"Sister, you should eat some too!"
Yizi said timidly. She was a little scared of this beautiful and eye-catching big sister.
Eisendale really wanted to say, "Is this thing edible?" But when she met Yizi's eyes, her heart softened. "No, I'm not hungry."
After chatting for a while, Ding Meng asked, "Gu Zi, where are the people in the village?
Did they all go hunting? "
Gu Zi's smile immediately disappeared. "Brother Ding Meng, only Yizi and I are left in the village now."
Ding Meng frowned. "What happened?
Where are the village chief and the others? "
Gu Zi sighed. "They're all dead!"
Ding Meng was stunned. "How did they die?"
Gu Zi's gaze fell to the ground. "He died eight years ago. Uncle Jixiang went to the polluted area to hunt but was dragged away by the octopus monster. The village elder brought people to search for him, but they failed to return."
Ding Meng also fell into silence. "Where are your grandparents?"
Gu Zi said sadly, "Six years ago, during the Great Cataclysm, it snowed here for five months. We couldn't find anything to eat, and we didn't have enough food. They all starved to death."
Ding Meng stopped talking. He knew that death was a common occurrence in this place. The reason was simple: there was nothing here.
"Where are your parents?" Ding Meng asked again.
Gu Zi revealed a sad expression. "Mother also went to the polluted area that year, but she couldn't find anything to eat. She could only go to the depths of the Devouring Realm to pick fruits. She found a few that weren't poisonous, but one of them was. She became a devouring monster."
Yizi also showed a sad expression, her eyes red: "I killed her with my own hands and buried her properly."
Eisendell couldn't understand this. She couldn't help but ask, "Can't you save her?"
Yizi shook her head. "She was poisoned by the Devouring Realm. If we let her live, we'll become monsters too."
Eisendell couldn't say anything. She didn't dare to kill her own mother with her own hands. She had never even thought about it.
Gu Zi said, "Father also found a lot of stone fruits, but he was robbed on the way back. He was killed by the people who sealed the mountain."
Ding Meng slowly put down the jerky in his hand. He couldn't eat anymore.
"Where's Sister Hezi?" Ding Meng still didn't want to give up.
Gu Zi said, "She left last year. Just like you, Ding Meng, there was a merchant who said that they would take in alien refugees and send them to the Holy Grail Federation to work. She went, but she hasn't come back yet."
Ding Meng's gaze also fell to the ground. He looked a bit absent-minded.
Eisendell noticed the anger in Ding Meng's eyes. It seemed that Sister Hezi's experience wasn't as simple as Gu Zi said.
After a long time, Ding Meng sighed slightly. "But you're still alive. That's a blessing in disguise."
Gu Zi smiled again. "Brother Ding Meng, it's good that you're back. It's okay, we can survive."
Ding Meng waved his hand tiredly. "Gu Zi, you and Yizi go do your work. I want to rest for a while."
Gu Zi immediately got up. "Brother Ding Meng, rest well. I'll go catch some fish for you. Let's have a good meal tonight."
Yizi also got up. "I'll go too. I want to catch some fish for Brother Ding Meng and let him have a good meal."
The two of them left immediately. When they were out of the door, Eisendell carefully asked, "Is Sister Hezi dead?"
Ding Meng's expression didn't change. "I'm pretty sure she's dead."
Eisendell didn't understand. "Why do you say that?"
Ding Meng suddenly raised his head and murmured with a sigh, "The traders Gu Zi mentioned are actually black-market dealers. On the surface, they say they're recruiting workers, but in fact, they're selling these laborers to the black market as slaves. These slaves can't enter the Federation in the end. They're all sent to refugee camps and exiled to the peripheral planets to work as laborers."
Eisendell was silent. "I've also heard that the survival rate of laborers on the exiled planet is less than ten percent."
Ding Meng sighed. "I was kidnapped from here and sold to the slave market."
Eisendell was stunned again. "But you survived!"
Ding Meng sighed even more heavily. "It's because of their kindness that I'm still alive."
Eisendell said, "Oh?"
Ding Meng said, "When I first came here, I was so hungry that I fainted and was washed into the river. The siblings fished me out of the river and saved me with what was left of the family's tofu. I later found out that the tofu I ate was Sister Hezi's food for two days. She starved for two days and two nights because of me. She was only a teenager at that time …"
Eisendell also sighed slightly. "I never thought that these refugees would live such a painful life. The Federation always says that refugees are inferior and don't deserve to occupy public resources."
Ding Meng said, "Inferior people are also human. What's wrong with them wanting to live?
But those shameless black-market dealers still want to sell them. "
As he spoke, he pulled a ball of jerky into his mouth and chewed, gritting his teeth as if he was eating the meat of a black-market dealer.
Eisendell couldn't smell it. "It's so smelly."
Ding Meng glanced at her and said, "The two of them must have risked their lives to find these skewers in the polluted area. I'm sure they wouldn't be willing to eat them and would store them for emergencies. They're only willing to give them to their loved ones. They treat us like family."
Eisendell stared at him and said sincerely, "Can you give me some?"
Ding Meng tore off a piece of jerky and handed it to her. Eisendell put it in her mouth and chewed slowly. This time, she didn't show any disgust. Instead, she said calmly, "It's not as bad as I thought. I even think it's a little fragrant."
Ding Meng looked at her and couldn't help but smile. "I'm curious. How come you're best friends with someone like Ling Xingqi?"
Eisendell said, "Am I different from her?"
Ding Meng nodded. "Yes. At least you're willing to sit in this place and eat this kind of food. But I don't think she can do it."
Eisendell blushed and lowered her head shyly. Ding Meng's gaze made her feel a little embarrassed, and even her heartbeat sped up.
She suddenly recalled last night's craziness. The two of them were inseparable from each other, that kind of sweetness and happiness. The relationship between a man and a woman was sometimes really strange. Two people who originally had no connection with each other suddenly had a kind of tacit understanding and could consider problems from each other's standpoint.
Eisendell suddenly said, "I found that you're different from many of the old monsters of Origin."
Ding Meng asked curiously, "What's different?"
Eisendell sighed. "I've seen many famous masters, but very few of them came from refugee camps like you. Although those people also experienced a lot of hardship, they couldn't go back to the past after they became famous. But you're not like that. You're still thinking about this place. You didn't even go back to the Federation and came here to look for them. At least you didn't forget about them."
Ding Meng smiled. "Maybe I'm a wretch and like to live like this."
"No!"
Eisendell said seriously. "Some men look ferocious on the surface, but they have kindness in their bones. It's just that there are very few of them."
Ding Meng smiled. "You think too highly of me. I just have nowhere to go now. Such a big thing happened in the Fertile Chalk System. The Starbow Group must be looking for me all over the world. I can't find anyone here, so I'm happy to have some peace and quiet."
Eisendell couldn't help but be infected by his optimism. "Can I stay here for a while?"
Ding Meng looked at her meaningfully. "Can you stay here?"
Eisendell's arrogance came up. "I cultivated to the level of a battle-saint. What kind of difficulties have I not experienced?
Besides, after eating such precious food, I should do one or two things for them. The jerky tastes good. Give me some more. I'm a little hungry! "
"I find you more pleasing to the eye now." Ding Meng threw the jerky to her.
Eisendell flipped her hair. "I'm the most pleasing to the eye. You just didn't like it before."
Ding Meng's eyelids drooped. "I've seen what I should and shouldn't see. There's no such thing as disliking it."
Eisendale threw a skewer of jerky at his face. "Are all straight men like you so straightforward?
Don't you know how to make a girl happy?
You're the Alloy Demon King. I'll just call you Demon King from now on. "
Ding Meng looked indifferent. "Up to you. As long as you're willing to stay here and help the two of them, you can call me whatever you want!"
As he said this, Ding Meng's eyes fell on the satchel at her waist. Eisendell immediately became alert. "What?
Are you thinking about my baby again? Don't even think about it. "
The two ate the jerky for a while and chatted for a while. The sky gradually darkened. Guzi and Yizi finally came back with a few skewers of fresh fish.