Chapter 196: Showing Off, Bitten by a Snake
“Axi, you’re amazing! Why is it that when I teach you my language once or twice, you get it right away, but when I learn your language, I have to practice it ten times before I can? You’re such a language genius!” Chuxue looked at Nan Xun with a face full of admiration.
Nan Xun waved her hand modestly. “It’s okay, I guess I’m just… kind of… uh, good at this?”
“Gifted!” Chuxue prompted.
Little Eight chuckled in Nan Xun’s head. “Darling, your skin is really thick.”
Nan Xun: “I’m not lying. I really do learn it after hearing it once.”
Little Eight: “…Shameless. Don’t ever tell the other Void Beasts you know me.”
Nan Xun taught Chuxue for quite a while. Then a woman suddenly called out from outside the stone cave, “Axi, Chuxue, it’s time to go pick fruit.”
Nan Xun rubbed Chuxue’s head. “Let’s go, my good little apprentice.”
More than a dozen young women set out. Some had bamboo-woven baskets hooked over their arms, while others carried bamboo back-baskets on their backs.
This bamboo had been discovered by Chuxue. It was four or five times thicker than any bamboo Nan Xun had ever seen. Chuxue then demonstrated, as if by magic, all kinds of uses for bamboo to the tribe—baskets, back-baskets, simple water containers, bamboo mats, and more.
The tribe’s weapons had originally just been sharpened wooden sticks. Now, with bamboo, they had bamboo spears, which greatly increased their hunting efficiency.
Nan Xun chatted with Little Eight, “I’ve gone out so many times—how come I never noticed bamboo, never noticed sweet potatoes, never noticed wild vegetables?”
Little Eight mocked her mercilessly. “Because you’re lazy. Sure, Chuxue is a child of fortune, but do you know how many plants she pulled up before she found that sweet-potato-like plant? And those wild vegetables—ha! Darling, you don’t even recognize wild greens at all, do you?”
Nan Xun: …
Led by Nan Xun, the women headed south, where the forest had lots of wild fruit and fewer dangerous beasts.
This time, they found a huge red-fruit tree. Those red fruits were Nan Xun’s favorite—sour and crunchy, with an excellent texture.
Unable to resist, Nan Xun grabbed a vine wrapped around the tree and swung. At the highest point, she let go and leapt straight onto the tree.
The women cried out in alarm, nearly scared to death.
Chuxue was stunned too. A stunt you only ever see on TV—she had just seen it in real life! Axi was incredible!
Nan Xun climbed the tree and deftly picked fruit, tossing them down as she went.
The women giggled and hurried to catch them with their back-baskets.
By the time Nan Xun’s arms were sore and the baskets were nearly full, she used the vine to jump back down, her movements incredibly dashing—bold and free, like a tough guy.
Little Eight said smugly, “I’m really smart, choosing such a world for you.”
The women were tired and didn’t plan to go any farther, but Chuxue was still eager, wanting to see if they could find more food.
So Nan Xun told the others to head back first while she continued forward with Chuxue.
They hadn’t gone far when Chuxue made another discovery. Excited, she lifted a stone and dug out some yellow crystals from underneath, handing them to Nan Xun to taste.
Nan Xun pretended to be puzzled. “Chuxue, what is this? It tastes kind of strange.”
“Axi, this is salt! Do you know what salt is? With this, we won’t have to drink beast blood anymore!”
Nan Xun calmly rubbed her head. “Not bad.”
Chuxue stamped her foot in frustration. “Why aren’t you excited at all? When I make grilled meat cured with salt, I’ll make you drool to death!”
Nan Xun cooperated enthusiastically. “Ah! I’m so excited.”
Chuxue laughed and cried at the same time. “Axi, your emotional intelligence is so high. Sometimes I almost think you’re from our world.”
Nan Xun blinked guiltily, then heard her sigh. “But I know—you’re not.”
Nan Xun let out a breath and said to Little Eight in her heart, “See? I told you my acting is great.”
Little Eight: “Heh. The world owes you a little gold statuette.”
They had gained a lot and didn’t go any farther.
Chuxue walked ahead, so happy she was practically hopping. Nan Xun carried a back-basket full of stones—so heavy her shoulders were sagging. Chuxue had tried to take it from her, but seeing how petite she was, Nan Xun couldn’t bear to let her.
“Ah—!” Chuxue suddenly let out a terrified scream.
Nan Xun yanked her back at once, already lifting her bamboo spear.
“Axi, a snake! Such a big snake! Its head is triangular—it’s venomous!” Chuxue was clearly terrified of snakes, her whole body trembling.
A black snake as thick as a wrist hung from a gnarled branch, flicking its tongue toward them.
Nan Xun had never seen such a large venomous snake—it was almost comparable to a python.
Suddenly, the black snake lunged straight at Nan Xun, its mouth gaping wide.
Nan Xun met it head-on, her gaze sharp. She drove the bamboo spear straight through the snake’s head, piercing it clean through, then yanked it out and stabbed hard into the snake’s vital point.
The snake struggled a couple of times and then went limp.
Nan Xun turned back to Chuxue and said smugly, “Don’t be afraid, Chuxue. With me here, venomous snakes and fierce beasts can’t do anything to me.”
Chuxue’s eyes suddenly went wide as she pointed behind Nan Xun in horror. “B-be careful!”
Nan Xun had just turned around when the snake—already dead beyond doubt—suddenly sprang up and bit into her thigh.
Nan Xun: …
She tore the snake off her leg. Two deep fang marks had already appeared on her thigh.
Chuxue was so scared her tears were about to fall. “Axi, don’t move! There must be antidote herbs near venomous snakes. I’ll go find some!”
As soon as Chuxue left, Nan Xun shamelessly asked Little Eight for help. “Little Eight, give me a universal antidote pill.”
Resigned, Little Eight stuffed a pill into her mouth. “Damn it, all the precious pills I have are going to get squeezed dry by you sooner or later.”
Nan Xun swallowed the antidote and felt she should be fine, but she noticed her thigh was still a bit numb.
Little Eight quickly explained, “That’s an antidote, not an anti-numbing drug. The venom probably has components that paralyze the nerves. Don’t worry—it’ll pass in a bit.”
Just then, Chuxue came running back with two handfuls of wild grass. Not knowing which herb was correct, she stuffed them all into her mouth, chewed them up, and applied the green juice to Nan Xun’s thigh.
Seeing Chuxue’s mouth full of green juice, Nan Xun felt the bitterness for her. Chuxue really was such a good kid.
“Chuxue, I’m much better now. It’s just that my leg doesn’t seem to move. Can you go call your brothers for me?”
Chuxue nodded hard. “Axi, wait for me! I’ll be right back!”
With that, she didn’t even take her back-basket and ran off as fast as she could.
Nan Xun hurriedly shouted after her, “Chuxue, be careful on the way!”
Hearing that, Chuxue ran even faster.
Nan Xun sat there alone, quietly waiting, even in the mood to eat some wild fruit from the basket, biting into it with a loud crunch.
She hadn’t even finished one fruit when Little Eight suddenly sounded the alarm. “Nan Xun, this is bad! I see that savage from last time—the one who wanted to do that with you but gave up halfway—coming this way!”
Nan Xun: …
