Chapter 38: Luo Ye

“Young Master Li, let me advise you one last time, once you go there’s no turning back,” Luo Ye composed himself, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said seriously.

“I’ll go on by myself from here. I said I would bring his body back, and I will bring his body back,” Li Si took a deep breath, looking at the distant corpse.

He was prepared for a fierce battle. He was determined to bring Cao Qing’s body back.

And from his previous understanding, this tiger wasn’t extremely powerful, at most on par with a low-level ghost creature, so Li Si wasn’t afraid.

“Alright, the path ahead isn’t easy. Just follow this mountain path forward,” Luo Ye sighed, seeing he couldn’t persuade Li Si, and gave up trying.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he took a gourd from his waist and handed it to Li Si, saying, “This is realgar wine I specially brewed. It can help you repel snakes and insects. If you’re bitten by snakes or insects, applying it externally can also detoxify. If you feel cold at night, drinking a few sips can warm you up.”

“Thank you, Brother Luo,” Li Si accepted it without hesitation.

Seeing Li Si accept it, Luo Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn’t get the words out. He could only sigh and say, “Take care, Young Master Li.”

With that, he turned and walked down the mountain.

Seeing him leave, Li Si continued towards the cliff. Indeed, the path here was as Luo Ye had said, not easy to walk, as if few people had been here recently, with grass growing up to knee height.

After walking for a while, Li Si found a stream and followed it upstream.

After walking along the stream for some time, he felt hungry and stopped at a flat area. He put down his book box and began collecting dry branches nearby, preparing to cook.

He had brought some dry rations before setting out, but very little, just some steamed buns and such, which were prepared for emergencies.

He gathered some stones to build a small stove, then took out an earthen pot from the book box and poured some rice from the rice bag into it.

Then Li Si walked to the edge of the stream and found that the stream bed here was a relatively gentle area. Above was a steeper rocky area where water flowed down, creating a significant drop, which had formed a pool.

The water surface was calm and clear to the bottom. With the trees blocking the sunlight, this place felt very cool in the scorching summer, with occasional cicada sounds.

Seeing this pool, Li Si even had the urge to swim. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he discovered some small shrimp in the pool.

He turned back, poured the rice into the rice bag, then used the empty pot to scoop water from the pool and pour it onto the empty ground nearby. He saw some transparent small shrimp flapping on the ground.

He repeated this about ten times, and there were several dozen small shrimp, though not many and very small, with the largest only a few millimeters long.

Li Si gathered these shrimp together in a small bowl, then began to wash the rice.

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

He lit the dry grass ball with the fire striker and placed it between the branches. Once the branches caught fire, Li Si put the earthen pot on top and covered it with the lid.

Then he placed the small shrimp on top of the pot lid.

After doing this, Li Si took out a piece of cured meat wrapped in lotus leaf from the book box. He took out his dagger and began cutting the meat into small pieces, then put all these pieces into the pot.

Then came the long wait. At this point, Li Si felt his feet aching. He walked to the edge of the pool, sat down, and took off his shoes. He saw blisters had formed near the little toes on both feet.

Li Si was speechless, but then understood. The original owner of this body had poor physical strength and often stayed at home, so naturally the skin was very delicate. It was understandable that blisters had formed on his feet from friction.

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

“Rustle rustle” Suddenly, there was a sound of leaves rubbing against clothing from down the mountain. Li Si paused his movement, his hand moving towards the cloth bag on his chest.

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

Seeing Luo Ye, Li Si immediately relaxed, his hand slowly moving away from his chest.

As Luo Ye came up the mountain and saw Li Si, he immediately sighed in relief, “Young Master Li, I’ve finally caught up with you.”

“Brother Luo, why did you follow me?” Li Si looked at Luo Ye, his brows slightly furrowed, asking with some surprise.

Luo Ye sighed, his expression complex, “Since Young Master Li is willing to risk his life to retrieve his body, how could I, as Cao Qing’s brother for over ten years, shrink back?”

“Besides, Young Master Li, you’ve lived in the county town for a long time and don’t know how to survive in the forest. If I left, wouldn’t that be leaving you in a trap?”

Li Si shook his head with a bitter smile, saying helplessly, “Then what will you do if you encounter that monster tiger?”
“Don’t worry about that, I’m an old hunter. If we encounter it, I naturally have my ways of avoiding it,” Luo Ye laughed heartily, patting his chest.

“How about this, Brother Luo, you wait for me here. We’ll go back together after I get Brother Cao’s body,” Li Si thought for a moment and said.

“This…” Luo Ye’s face showed a troubled expression.

“Don’t worry, I know more about dealing with monsters and ghosts than you do,” Li Si smiled slightly, saying confidently.

After saying this, he sat on the blue rock again, washed his feet in the pool water, and then put them on the rock to dry.

At this time, Luo Ye noticed the earthen pot boiling and went over to it. As he opened the pot, he asked Li Si, “Young Master Li, are you cooking rice?”

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

“No need, I’ve already eaten. Leave this for you to eat,” Luo Ye smiled. At the same time, out of Li Si’s sight, a pale substance emerged from his fingertip and entered the pot.