Shu Yao smiled. There was no sign of embarrassment on his face. Instead, he looked frank and unconcerned. "We just moved here a few days ago, so we haven't got all the daily necessities ready."
Xiao Zhao watched as Shu Yao quickly dressed the hare, but there was no sign of a pot. "But we can't do without a pot! How can we cook without one?"
A pot? Shu Yao recalled his time living at Aunt Li's. A pot seemed to be one of the necessities for human life.
He was a tree spirit and didn't care much. Apart from the factors of being unseemly and too cruel, he could eat the hare raw without any problem.
But Shu Yue was different. He was a human child and needed to adapt to human life.
After much thought, Shu Yao decided to get a pot. A pot was different from other things. It was made of iron, and he didn't have one. He had to go to the market to buy it.
Seeing that Shu Yao stopped moving, Xiao Zhao curiously leaned forward. "Uncle Shu Yue, how are you going to cook without a pot? You only have a fire. Are you going to roast it? This is a wooden house. My father said that wood catches fire easily."
"Er... I may have to wait a while before I can go to the market, so I may have to buy the pot a few days later. Let's just roast it for now."
Hearing the voices, Shu Yue also squeezed into the small house. His big, round eyes stared warily at Xiao Zhao, afraid that he would steal Shu Yao away if he wasn't careful.
Feeling Shu Yue's gaze, Xiao Zhao greeted him kindly but didn't get a response. She lowered her head disappointedly.
But then she seemed to think of something, and her eyes sparkled. "Uncle Shu Yue, there's an unused pot at my home. Do you need it? Why don't you let Shu Yue go with me to get it? This way you don't have to buy one."
It would be a waste not to take a free pot. It would save him the trouble of figuring out how to get one. He still hadn't figured out how to get human currency, and this problem couldn't be solved for the time being.
Shu Yao nodded and told them to be careful on the way. Then Xiao Zhao skipped away, pulling Shu Yue with her.
Shu Yue, who was being pulled away forcefully, had a gloomy face. But this didn't affect Xiao Zhao's good mood at all.
"Shu Yue, cheer up. My home isn't far from here. We'll be there soon. I have a lot of toys at home. Do you want to stay and play for a while?"
Shu Yue shook his head. "Let's get the things quickly and go back. Uncle will worry if we're late."
"You're so filial. You always think about your uncle. But where's your mother? I've never seen her. Your uncle is so beautiful. Your mother must be extremely beautiful to be a match for him."
Shu Yue remained indifferent to Xiao Zhao's enthusiasm. "As long as two people like each other, what does it matter if they're a good match or not?"
Xiao Zhao was left speechless by Shu Yue. Seeing that he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation, she wisely shut up.
As the sun was about to set, Shu Yue quickened his pace. Then he faintly heard some scattered footsteps and bustling shouts in the distance.
He was about to go forward to find out what was going on when Xiao Zhao pulled him back. Xiao Zhao panicked and pulled Shu Yue away.
"What's going on?"
Before Xiao Zhao could explain, they were caught by the group of people. The leader was a burly man with two ugly knife scars on his face. His teeth were yellow and he had a bad smell.
He picked up Xiao Zhao with one hand and leered. "Hahaha, where did these two kids come from? Where's your home? Luckily, I didn't get a single copper coin today. I'll take you to make up for it."
Shu Yue struggled and resisted, but was caught by the accomplice. "Hey, boss, look at this kid. He's fair and tender. He might fetch a good price."
The group of people laughed maliciously. They were outlaws and had done a lot of human trafficking. When they saw Shu Yue's good looks, they thought he would grow up to be a handsome young man.
A person like this could usually fetch a good price, and the money would be enough for them to enjoy themselves for a while.
Thinking this, they let go of Xiao Zhao and grabbed Shu Yue instead. "Little girl, we won't make things difficult for you. Go back and tell your family that your brother has been captured by us. You must bring the money to redeem him today."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't blame us for being rude. If you don't have the money, we'll sell him. If you do, bring it quickly to redeem him."
Hearing this, Xiao Zhao burst into tears. She was just a child and had never seen such a scene. Her family couldn't afford the money to save Shu Yue, so she had to run back to find Shu Yao.
Shu Yao saw Xiao Zhao running back in a hurry, but there was no sign of Shu Yue. Seeing Xiao Zhao crying with snot and tears, he quickly stepped forward to ask.
"Why are you crying like this? Did that brat Shu Yue bully you? Where is he? I'll teach him a good lesson."
Xiao Zhao was out of breath from crying and couldn't speak clearly.
"Wuwuwuwuwu, no. Brother Shu Yue was captured by those bandits. Wuwuwuwu. The bandits said that if we want to get him back, we have to bring the money to redeem him. Otherwise... otherwise they'll sell Brother Shu Yue."
After hearing what Xiao Zhao said, Shu Yao's face became solemn. He couldn't get the money, but he must save the child.
Shu Yao comforted Xiao Zhao and then sent her back. He followed the path Xiao Zhao had mentioned and went alone to rescue Shu Yue.
The bandits saw Shu Yao coming empty - handed and surrounded him tightly. When they saw his face clearly, they were all amazed.
Especially the leader. He leered and his saliva was almost dripping. He deliberately got very close to Shu Yao and said something disgusting.
"Ohoho, let me see which family's young lady this is. Your looks make my heart itch."
Shu Yao ignored him. "What do you want? Where's the child?"
Hearing Shu Yao's call, Shu Yue struggled out of the crowd. But his mouth was covered maliciously, and he could only make helpless whimpering sounds.
When he saw Shu Yao, he seemed to see hope, and his eyes sparkled.
Seeing this, the bandit leader finally understood that this young lady had come to redeem the child. The bandit leader rolled his eyes, and no one knew what evil plan he was hatching.
"Ouch, no wonder this child is so handsome. It makes people like him. It turns out he's your child, madam. I was blind. I was blind. Well, madam, have you brought what we want to redeem the child?" The bandit leader stared at Shu Yao with a sly look in his eyes.