Chapter 15: The Human Child

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The branches around them automatically parted to clear a path. After being attacked by all manner of creatures along the way, Lu Li wiped away a tear of bitter relief.

So this was what it felt like to be carried through a dangerous situation? It was absolutely wonderful!

Watching another willow switch lash away a leech that had foolishly flung itself at them, Lu Li’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

“Sister Willow, you’re incredible! I feel so safe with you around!”

Flattery worked on everyone. At her words, the willow branches around her wrist straightened proudly and twisted toward the caiman in challenge.

A defiant grunt came from the caiman. Lu Li hurriedly bent down and patted its head.

“Brother Caiman, you’re the finest caiman in the world! You’re even willing to leave the water for so long just for me. You’re so good to me.”

Like a charming playboy who had successfully soothed both women at his sides, Lu Li finished pacifying them and, brimming with security, raised her detector to scan the surroundings.

Anything with a contamination level below twenty percent went straight into her collection, regardless of its size, shape, fatness, or thinness.

Lu Li happily swept through the dense forest, when she faintly heard a series of weak howls.

A wolf or a dog?

Whether wolf or dog, both were carnivores and presumably difficult to deal with. Yet the voice sounded so feeble that perhaps she could take advantage of the situation.

Lu Li hesitated, but the caiman had already begun slowly crawling toward the source of the sound.

The caiman had made its decision, so Lu Li stopped wavering and followed. The willow branches trembled in displeasure at the detour, then trailed after them.

The procession advanced in grand style. Along the way, Lu Li slapped several fist-sized grasshoppers to death and tossed them into the snake bag, then caught two dozen-pound cauliflower snakes with low contamination levels.

The howls grew louder. When Lu Li saw the caiman stop, she hurried over, only to nearly fall into a trap. Weeds had been arranged over it so perfectly that they blended seamlessly with the surrounding vegetation. It was extraordinarily well concealed, and she barely managed to stop herself when the caiman’s claw blocked her path.

After confirming the trap’s location, Lu Li lay flat on the ground and carefully parted a narrow gap in the dense grass. She peered through it—and was startled out of her wits.

A human boy of five or six was curled up inside the trap, clutching three tiny puppies that were crying out.

The child wore no protective suit. His exposed skin was covered in bloody scratches, while his snow-white clothes were torn to shreds and stained with all sorts of colors, red being the most prominent. His skin was pale, his eyes tightly shut, and his brow furrowed. Both hands were wrapped protectively around the puppies.

The puppies were only palm-sized and had not even opened their eyes. Their four limbs were soft and limp, and they sprawled over the boy like little caimans, wriggling all over his chest. Their round, oversized heads were held high, tiny noses twitching as their toothless pink mouths formed little hollows and gave out a sound resembling a wolf’s howl.

The boy’s chest showed no visible movement. Unsure whether there were any other dangers inside, Lu Li tossed in a small stone.

The boy’s eyelashes trembled twice, though he could not open his eyes. That reaction proved he could still be saved. Lu Li threw in a larger stone, striking the surrounding area. Apart from the puppies and the boy, she heard no other response.

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The trap was not as deep as the grave Lu Li had dug. She had no idea whether it had been made before the apocalypse or formed naturally. Moss covered the walls, making it impossible for the child to climb out.

Lu Li patted the caiman and had it guard the surroundings while she flipped neatly down into the pit.

The pit was small, and the boy was curled up at the bottom. Lu Li had no choice but to tug and shove him aside to make room for her feet before bending down to examine his condition.

When she placed a hand against the boy’s flushed cheek, he unconsciously rubbed his face against her palm, greedily drawing comfort from its coolness.

Whose child was this? How long had he been burning with fever? Could the fever have damaged his brain?

The boy’s lips were swollen and cracked, and his breathing was faint. His chest barely moved at all. Lu Li tried to lift away the puppy that kept wriggling about, but it would not budge. The child’s hands were clenched tightly around the puppy, his fingertips already white from the pressure.

Afraid of hurting him, Lu Li simply picked up the boy and the puppies together, then twisted her wrist around the willow branches.

“Sister Willow, give me a hand!”

With that, she borrowed the branch’s strength and leaped straight out of the pit.

The boy in her arms suddenly began to shiver violently, his teeth chattering. The hot breath escaping from his nose tickled Lu Li.

“System, what’s wrong with this child?”

The panel circled her twice before drifting back above Lu Li’s head, apparently uninterested.

[Host, he’s just another passerby A like you. You won’t receive any reward for saving him!]

The child was draped over her shoulder, gradually relaxing. He released the puppy and wrapped both arms around Lu Li’s neck. Something inside her softened.

Whoever they were, most people would feel a little more pity for a quiet, pitiful child suffering from a fever. What was more, before transmigrating into the book, Lu Li had been an only child and had always envied people with brothers and sisters.

Now she was carrying a soft, squishy little child along with three puppies squirming across her stomach. Even her perpetually taut nerves had softened somewhat.

But all four of them were still in a danger zone. She had to bring the boy’s fever down as soon as possible.

“System, do you have any fever medicine?”

“Uh... Host, promise me you won’t abandon the villain, and I can spend five points to buy you a pill first. It’ll help you handle this emergency and keep the child from being burned senseless by the fever.”

“Mm.”

[Remaining points: 0. Host, you need to hurry back to the villain and raise his favorability.]

Lu Li nodded perfunctorily, stuffed the pill into the child’s mouth, and watched him jolt at the bitterness. His tongue pushed forward as he tried to spit it out, but Lu Li covered his mouth before he could and forced him to swallow.

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After the child took the medicine, Lu Li felt a little more at ease. She was going to the safe zone anyway, so she could return the human cub while she was there.

But what about these puppies that had not yet opened their eyes?

Lu Li picked up the black puppy that was trying to wriggle onto the ground. It was a little smaller than the other two.

Its tiny ears drooped, and its little face was wrinkled. Its eyes were squeezed shut without the slightest gap, while its sunken mouth unconsciously sucked at the air. Curled into a ball, it fit snugly within her palm. Lu Li gave its little body an appreciative squeeze. It was furry, soft, and warm. Even though she had never raised a dog, she could tell that this puppy had only just been born.

Where was its mother? Wasn’t it said that newborn puppies could hardly survive without their mother?

Holding the child and the puppies, Lu Li began surveying the surroundings. The caiman nudged her leg and opened its mouth.

“Brother Caiman?”

“Grunt, grunt.”

The caiman pawed at the hem of Lu Li’s trousers, its eyes gleaming fiercely as it stared at the puppies in her arms.

“Brother Caiman, let’s spare them, all right? How about eating snake instead? Snake!”

She hurriedly stuffed the puppies more securely into the boy’s arms and pulled out the snake bag.

Lu Li opened the bag, intending to pick out a small snake to placate the caiman, but froze.

Where had all her snakes gone?

She opened the bag completely. Only two cauliflower snakes remained inside, their bellies bulging. Entwined together, they lay lazily in the bag, waiting for their food to digest.

So the green slender snakes she had worked so hard to catch had become their all-you-can-eat buffet. In the short while since she had caught them, the entire old staff had already gone into their stomachs.

Looking at their swollen bellies, Lu Li grew furious.

“I provide food, lodging, and even help you find mates!”

She untangled the snakes and, after consulting the system, rolled the male snake into a bundle and stuffed it into the caiman’s mouth.

Since it had eaten the food, then it could replace the food as food!

As for the female snake, after all the activity it had gone through beside her, it ought to be pregnant by now. Even if it was not, she had to keep it so it could lay water eggs for her. Did it think those spicy strips had been free?

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