Chapter 216 - 218: Deep Contract

Chapter 216: Chapter 218: Deep Contract

’Finding someone by the roadside, and someone who seemed perfect in every way at that—if she wasn’t targeting Su Zhao, then she must be after the tribe itself. Su Yang had always been on good terms with the other tribes, so revenge was unlikely. If it wasn’t revenge, then they must have set their sights on something within the Wolf Clan Tribe. Besides the scabs and pottery, the only other thing worth targeting was the Salt Well Cave she had discovered.’

With this in mind, she went to find Su Yang.

Su Yang was a little surprised but also happy to see Su Luoluo approach. "What made you think to come see your father today?"

Su Luoluo didn’t waste any words and got straight to the point. "Father, have you sent anyone to check on the Salt Well?"

Su Yang nodded. "I have people check it every day. Why? Did you notice something unusual?"

Su Luoluo shook her head. "I just have a bad feeling. I feel like someone has their eyes on it."

Hearing Su Luoluo’s bad premonition, Su Yang’s expression instantly grew solemn.

Although Su Luoluo believed she had only been able to create the plague cure thanks to the Heavenly God’s guidance, Su Yang felt that Su Luoluo must be a Heavenly Girl chosen by the Heavenly God himself.

After all, the Heavenly God had also chosen her to retrieve the Holy Fire.

Therefore, he believed that Su Luoluo’s feeling of unease was very likely a warning from the Heavenly God.

However, he was still cautious. "Nothing has happened so far. I’ve been sending our tribespeople at night, and they use Gale Leg to get there and back quickly. No one should have discovered it."

Su Luoluo felt relieved to hear this, but she still added a reminder, "We should still be careful with the next batch of salt. I just feel like something isn’t quite right."

"Alright. I’ll pass the order down."

After leaving Su Yang, Su Luoluo still felt uneasy and asked her system, "System, is there something wrong with Hong Shuang?"

The system paused for a moment before giving a mechanical reply: "Host, there is nothing wrong with Hong Shuang."

’Nothing wrong?’

Su Luoluo felt something was off after hearing that. ’Is this system sure it didn’t make a mistake?’

Recalling how unreliable it had been in the past, Su Luoluo decided to trust her own intuition.

...

「Black Pig Tribe.」

"Madam, a message has arrived from Hong Shuang," Hei Mao said to Su Nuannuan, holding out the message.

Su Nuannuan took it and glanced at it, her brow immediately furrowing. Although she had learned a fair amount of the Black Pig script these past few days, she couldn’t help but think it was as ugly as the Black Pigs themselves. The characters were crooked and twisted, like a bunch of earthworms, and she had to stare at it for a long time before she could barely make out what Hong Shuang had written.

However, after seeing it was good news, the awkward script suddenly became much more pleasing to the eye.

’Excellent. Hong Shuang has successfully gotten close to Su Zhao and has already earned his trust.’

’I knew it! Based on my understanding of Su Zhao, figuring out what kind of person he likes is a piece of cake. As long as Hong Shuang does as I say, it’s impossible for him not to fall for her.’

The next step, after gaining his trust, was to find an opportunity to discover the location of the Salt Well.

After finishing the message, Su Nuannuan immediately dictated a reply to Hei Feng, telling him to write back to Hong Shuang and urge her to find out the location of the Salt Well as soon as possible.

’It’s impressive enough that I can read this Black Pig script; I have no desire to actually write it. It’s all just an inky, messy scrawl. I have no idea how the Black Pig Tribe even came up with it.’

...

After receiving the message, Hong Shuang quickly read it and wrote a reply.

She finished writing the message on a leaf, and just as she rolled it into a cylinder and secured it to the hedgehog, Su Zhao’s knock sounded at the door. "Hong Shuang, are you there?"

Hong Shuang was startled. She gave the hedgehog a kick, and after seeing it scurry away, she patted her chest. After calming herself for a moment, she got up and opened the door. "I’m here. Did you need something, Brother Ah Zhao?"

Su Zhao walked in with a troubled expression, saying worriedly, "Do you think I’m usually too mean to Su Luoluo?"

After what Hong Shuang had said to him earlier today, he had finally realized it. Mother’s words to Su Luoluo weren’t very pleasant either, yet he still expected Su Luoluo to treat their mother with a smile.

Hearing this, Hong Shuang poured Su Zhao a cup of water and looked at him gently. "What’s in the past has already happened; you can’t change it. It’s good that you realize your mistake and want to change. Next time you see Luoluo, just be a little nicer to her, and she’ll realize what a good brother she has."

At her words, Su Zhao’s inner conflict vanished in an instant. He grabbed Hong Shuang’s hand. "Hong Shuang, I’m so glad I met you. Now that you’ve put it that way, I know what to do."

Hong Shuang looked at the man before her, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes. "Me too. I feel very happy to have met you."

Thinking of Su Nuannuan’s message, Hong Shuang lowered her gaze slightly. "Brother Ah Zhao, can you give me some salt tomorrow?"

"Salt? What do you need that for?" Su Zhao asked, finding it strange.

Hong Shuang smiled at him. "Because I want to cook for you. You’re so good to me, so of course, I want to be good to you, too."

Su Zhao was deeply touched. "Hong Shuang, you’re so kind. But the tribe cooks in the square every day, and I eat the food you help make. You don’t have to go to so much trouble."

"But I want to make Warm Chicken just for you. It’s a specialty from my Black Pig Tribe. My mother taught it to me, and I’m sure you’ll love it."

’Warm Chicken?’

The name sounded completely unfamiliar to Su Zhao. He didn’t think he’d ever had it. Realizing that he hadn’t eaten meat in a long time, not since the plague ended, he nodded. "Alright then. I’ll get you some salt tomorrow."

"Thank you, Brother Ah Zhao." Seeing that Su Zhao had agreed, Hong Shuang gave him a sweet smile.

Su Luoluo returned to her outdoor kitchen.

She had been eating Cai Xia’s cooking for the past few days. While it was delicious and convenient, after a while, Su Luoluo wanted a change of pace.

Since she had just made some new clay pots, she decided to make clay pot rice.

After washing the plump grains of rice, she divided them among seven clay pots, then added some wild vegetables she had randomly picked in the forest, along with some cured sausage and cured meat, and started cooking.

Fu Feng and Mo Xuan, drawn by the aroma, instantly sat down at the round table.

They had originally planned to get some food from the square, but now that they saw Su Luoluo cooking, they decided to just wait by her side.

Seeing her use new cooking vessels, the two of them grew even more excited, because it meant Su Luoluo was making something new and delicious again.

Since Fu Feng and Mo Xuan didn’t move, Xiao Ye naturally sat down beside them. And when Xi Yi, Luan Ting, and Tunan came out of the wooden hut and saw Su Luoluo cooking, they also instantly sat down obediently at the round table to wait.

Su Luoluo saw that everyone had gathered. Thinking of the Crystal Stones, she sneered. ’These freeloaders are certainly enthusiastic when it comes to eating.’

She carried her own clay pot over and sat down directly at the round table.

When the men saw they didn’t have clay pots of their own, they stared for a moment in stunned silence before looking at Su Luoluo. "Luoluo, where are ours?"

"Yours? You guys have some nerve. I only just found out today how stingy you all are. I’ve been feeding you for free for so long, and you haven’t given me a single Crystal Stone."

"Luoluo wants Crystal Stones?" Xiao Ye looked at her with a devilish grin.

Su Luoluo nodded.

The next moment, Xiao Ye was looking at her with an unreadable smile. "I can give you Crystal Stones. I’m just afraid you won’t have the strength to take them when the time comes."

"What do you mean?"

’That doesn’t sound right.’

Crystal Stones were only used for a "deep contract," so they hadn’t dared to casually ask Su Luoluo for one before. But since she was the one who wanted them, they might as well oblige her.