Chapter 114 - Cave
Chapter 114: Cave
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Who was Cai Xukun? She was very popular around the farm. After all, who would not love a fair lady?
Nevertheless, Cai Xukun was also a virtuous lady. She sternly warned those who always looked at her not to just pay attention to her body as she emphasized more on inner merit than their outer looks.
Maybe because of the era she was in, this lady tended to be thrifty. She was originally an orphan, so she had been working on the farm ever since she was young. Whenever the farm threw out the unwanted vegetables, she would always tie them up into a bundle in fear of letting them go to waste. What if someone starving was in need of food? Even vegetable buds could cure hunger.
Hence, she was known as Cai Xukun which translated into vegetables that must be tied up.
How could a thrifty lady like her tolerate Tang Ling’s abhorrent actions? It was obvious that Tang Ling was the kind of person that Cai Xukun hated the most. Nothing good would ever happen if she caught them in the act.
Thankfully, Tang Ling was quick and he covered her mouth before Miss Cai could call for help.
“What should we do now?” Andy slid off the tree in a panic. It was illogical to cover Cai Xukun’s mouth forever, but if she called for help, given how the people that worked on the farm hated Tang Ling, the two of them would surely get a terrible beating.
Tang Ling sighed in his heart while Andy was losing his calm. No matter how precise his calculation was, Cai Xukun, who seemed to be able to walk in near-absolute silence, still caught him.
Nonetheless, he was not entirely lacking a way out of this either. He just had to give it a try.
With that thought in mind, Tang Ling grabbed a leather pouch from his pocket with one hand and continued covering Cai Xukun’s mouth with the other while he blew air into the leather pouch madly.
The pouch expanded immediately and somehow formed a very tough-looking round ball.
Tang Ling stuffed the ball into Cai Xukun’s hand and whispered in her ear, “I’ll give you this ball, and you let us go. Deal?”
“Come on! Deal or not? Be honest. If it’s a deal, nod your head and the ball is yours, and you never saw us here.” Footsteps were amassing at his position, hence Tang Ling felt anxious as he rushed an answer out of her.
Half a second in hesitation later, she nodded. Tang Ling slowly released her and she kept her promise by not screaming for help.
Tang Ling then quickly grabbed several apples that Andy dropped on the ground earlier in his panic.
Cai Xukun glared at Tang Ling. “Tang Ling, you better behave yourself! If there ever is a next time, I won’t let you go even if you bring me ten balls!”
Tang Ling grabbed Andy and ran out of the farm without any more chatter. They had to escape before the workers came.
******
“Tang Ling, if I ever follow you to the farm again, I’m a dog!” Andy panted as he grumbled after the two of them escaped back to the main war passage.
The farm was in an uproar after they left. The workers must have noticed the apple tree that Tang Ling and Andy mutilated, so the complaints and scoldings were extraordinarily loud.
Tang Ling tossed the apple in his hand up and concluded as he tightened his lips helplessly, “Fine, there won’t be any chance of that in the future either. The crowd is pissed.”
“What do you mean?” Andy wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked in confusion.
“What do you think? The Hope Barrier is a prioritized place in Safety Sector No. 17, and the farms here are very important. Why would they let us simply sneak in and steal stuff? They are just turning a blind eye to the previous incident. Otherwise, we would’ve starved to death in the First Reserved Camp. Would that be a bigger joke instead? It has been 20 days, and I think that’s almost the limit. I am sure that from now on, whenever I set foot on the farm, there’ll be people on to me.” Tang Ling kept the apples and pocketed his hands while responding calmly.
Andy was in awe as he stared at Tang Ling. Both of them were of the same age, yet Tang Ling somehow felt like a cunning old man to him.
Tang Ling did not explain further either. He slightly furrowed his brows and seemed to be thinking of something.
He was thinking about the cave in the Cliff of Hope. The cave was man-made and there were a total of three camps stationed inside: the Second Elite Camp, and the Common Seven and Eight Camps. All three of the camps occupied almost a hundred branchwork caves in front of the main cave.
Meanwhile, the six deepest branchwork caves were left for the First Reserved Camp which had just over a hundred plus warriors.
If the Hope Barrier fell one day, based on the location of the First Reserved Camp, the reserved warriors would have a higher chance to escape to Safety Sector No. 17 because there was more than one secret passage inside the Cliff of Hope that led to the safety sector.
Otherwise, the iron cage elevator alone could not have transported that many laborers to the farm. Besides, the iron cage was actually used for maintenance. The equipment on the Cliff of Hope, including the Level 2 Sector Protection Machine, required constant care.
However, was the location of the First Reserved Camp that ideal?
Tang Ling did not share the same thought. He hoped to get closer to the purple light instead. Relying solely on the little energy holes that opened up in the cave walls were not enough to deliver the purple light into the cave. Even installing an energy gatherer in the center of the camp was not enough.
The two of them walked back to the branchwork cave of the First Reserved Camp as though they were strolling in their own backyard.
The first thing they saw was the main cave structure of the First Reserved Camp where most of the meetings and activities were held. It was also the biggest room among the others.
The main cave was very quiet at the moment.
It was the best time during dawn. The New Moon Warriors on the night shifts came back to rest, and the other New Moon Warriors would go out before the first light. Everyone had their own tasks to carry out and no one wanted to waste time.
“Lucky us.” Andy tapped his chest, fearful that he would run into his seniors.
“We’re never going to run into them at this kind of time.” Tang Ling was looking at the energy gatherer in the center of the cave. It was emanating a faint purple glow and opposite it was the cave of the seniors who were top ten on the power list.
One day… Tang Ling thought. Meanwhile, Andy was nagging non-stop beside him, asking him why he carried a pouch with him.
“A man without distant care must have sorrow nearby. Moreover, we purposely stole from the trees that Cai Xukun was in charge of. It wasn’t that nice of us to do that.” Tang Ling simply brushed Andy off.
He then looked at the stone tablet hanging at the center of the large cave. On top of it were all the names of the New Moon Warriors in the First Reserved Camp. His own name was obviously in the last place.
Last in the ranks? Tang Ling sneered in his heart.
Andy did not notice Tang Ling’s gaze. He was also grumbling in his head. You were prepared to get caught back then. What is this sudden pretense of guilt about?
As the two of them chatted, they finally returned to their own cave where the last ten New Moon Warriors on the list stayed. It was also the cave furthest from the energy gatherer.
Unfortunately, although all the New Moon Warriors of batch 107, including Tang Ling, stayed there, given how fast Yu was improving, he should soon be leaving.