As the sun set in the west and darkness gradually fell, Ireya felt both tired and hungry, her legs heavy as if filled with lead.
She found a rock and, without caring about the moss and mud on it, sat down with a thud, then said to Li Yu, "That's enough, we've walked quite a distance already. Let's stop here for today."
Li Yu was actually quite tired too. As a city office worker, he didn't get much exercise normally, and the overti at his previous companies only kept him going because he was young. But his body was far worse now than when he had just graduated, not to ntion his freshman year.
After walking for an afternoon, especially off the beaten path, he was clearly exhausted. He had planned to walk a few more miles before resting, but since Miss Rabbit had already settled here, Li Yu stopped as well.
He collected so relatively dry twigs nearby, piled them on the ground, then rummaged through his baggage to find a hollowed-out tal slice with linked ends and a small, sharp-edged stone.
Both items, paid for by Ireya, had been purchased at the market—the forr was called a fire scythe, and the latter, flint.
Striking these two objects together should produce fire, at least that's what the history books claid.
However, after Li Yu tried sparking a few tis, although sparks flew, they quickly extinguished upon contacting the twigs.
Li Yu wrestled with this for five minutes, his wrist sore and still no fire.
When he looked up again, he saw Ireya watching him with an odd expression.
"Sothing wrong?"
"You said you are a Foreigner who traveled far to reach the Bratis Continent, and then you didn't know that you needed fire tinder to light a fire?"
"I never said I traveled far to the Bratis Continent," Li Yu responded, dropping the fire scythe and flint, and also finding a relatively clean rock to sit on, "Besides, why didn't you remind at the market?"
"Uh... Since you showed off your talents at the Marquis Mansion at noon, single-handedly changing the election results and making the Family Head of the Arias family, you seed totally in control, as if you knew everything and could do anything. How was I to know you didn't understand such a simple thing? I even thought you had fire tinder with you, so I didn't buy any," Miss Rabbit claid innocence.
"In my hotown, we haven't used this thod of making fire for a long ti," Li Yu said, "It's normal for my mory to have gaps."
"Where exactly is your hotown? Why do you never want to tell ," the girl inquired curiously, "I don't even know your real na; rlin was just sothing I blurted out randomly, and I ended up calling you that the whole trip, which feels odd."
Li Yu then pointed at Ireya's chest, "You also haven't told where that necklace of yours ca from."
"This?" The girl took off the necklace from around her neck and held it in her hands, her expression growing somber, "This was a gift from my father for my sixteenth birthday.
He said he found it while playing by the river as a child. Oh right, that's also where he t my mother. He also said that an ancient spirit of the Arias family resides within it."
"Hmm?"
"You're not from the Empire, so you wouldn't have heard of these ancient legends passed down among the major families. They say our ancestors never truly died but transford into ancient spirits that continue to protect us. When necessary, they appear in the guise of the animals on our family emblems to help us through crises."
"That's also why each family has similar rules: unless it's a matter of life and death, descendants are forbidden from killing or eating the animals on their emblems, and generally, this rule extends to the whole territory."
"So, your Arias family never eats rabbit, and throughout the entire Empire, no one can kill a lion?"
"Unless it endangers your life, that's how it is," Miss Rabbit nodded, imdiately sighing, "Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the Ancient Spirit inside the necklace fell completely into a deep sleep, and no one besides my father has been able to awaken it."
"Can I take a look?" Li Yu asked.
This ti, Ireya did not refuse again and handed the precious necklace over to Li Yu while saying, "I've consulted several craftsn, and they all said they've never seen similar materials on the Bratis Continent, especially those three small dots in the middle, which feel very peculiar.
"I think they might be the key to awakening the Ancient Spirit residing inside. If I could unlock the mystery, perhaps I could lead the Arias family to create sothing great..."
The girl was filled with dreams for the future, but Li Yu interrupted her reverie.
"It's out of battery."
"What did you say?"
"I said this Electronic Pet Egg around your neck is probably out of battery. That's why it won't start. Also, did your father find anything else by that riverbank?"
Li Yu returned the Pet Egg to Ireya.
"No more, just this... Do you know what this is? Have you ever seen it before? In your hotown?" Miss Rabbit asked excitedly, hopeful that she was close to finding an answer to the problem she'd pursued for many years.
"Well, we had quite a few of these back in my place, but now they are just tears of the tis," said Li Yu, noticing the girl's gaze becoming complex.
However, before Miss Rabbit could respond, her stomach made a growling noise.
Li Yu rummaged through his bag and pulled out so jerky and bread. Unable to start a fire, they just nibbled on the cold food haphazardly, barely managing to fill their stomachs, and drank a few mouthfuls of stream water.
By now, the sky had grown completely dark.
Fortunately, the moon was bright enough. Utilizing the moonlight above, Miss Rabbit found a relatively flat spot in the forest and reserved the flatter part for herself, leaving the less even area to Li Yu.
She then sneaked a glance at Li Yu, worried he might see through her little sche.
But she noticed Li Yu was unusually distracted, occasionally looking at a small round object on his wrist.
During the journey, Ireya had also sneaked a few glances at it. It was a tal disk with scales and three differently sized needles, moving at different speeds on the disk. It was quite fascinating, though its purpose remained unknown.
However, seeing that Li Yu didn't notice she had a better sleeping spot made Miss Rabbit slightly happy, although the place was outdoors, had no bed, no blankets, and there were way too many mosquitoes. As a noble, Ireya had never spent a night in such poor conditions before.
But happiness is relative, and no matter what, the spot where she'd lie down later was still slightly flatter than where Li Yu was.
As the girl comforted herself, she saw Li Yu, who had been standing next to her, suddenly disappear without a trace.
Just like he had appeared the night before.
??!
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