Chapter 2441: Chapter 2441: A Fantastical Adventure
According to Chi Cai’s explanation, the "Hidden Friend" is more like a fairy tale. It doesn’t randomly select targets, but rather requires someone to choose him.
"If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be very difficult for the instance’s Player to clear it?" Xu Huo said.
Chi Cai was also worried, "The real Hidden Friend targets the local elders. I don’t know if the actor playing the Player would have the same ability. However, I tend to think that the instance requires the actor to directly kill the chosen target. As for the friends taken away by the Hidden Friend, who knows where the bodies are in such a vast forest."
"Where’s the person?"
While Chi Cai looked into the distance as she spoke, Xu Huo had arrived in a grove a kilometer away. The Player hadn’t searched this area yet, or perhaps had but did not discover the person hidden in the underground tree hole.
Xu Huo pulled aside the cover of a hole beside a large tree root that was crawling on the ground, bent over to go inside, and picked up the little girl whose eyes were tightly shut but breathing evenly.
"Wake up." He patted the girl’s cheeks.
The child was in a deep sleep, and it took several calls to wake her. Weak from long hunger, she asked, "Uncle, what are you doing here?"
Xu Huo gave her some food and water, telling her to eat something first.
Hunger and unfamiliar food stimulated the child’s appetite, and she chewed vigorously, swallowing the food with effort. After satisfying the initial hunger, she slowed down and said with her mouth full, "I wish Sister Toto could have such delicious food..."
Before she finished speaking, her tears began to fall.
"Did you come out by yourself, or did Sister Toto call you again?" When Xu Huo brought her out, a couple of candies given by the Girl in the painting before fell beside them.
"Sister Toto called me." The little girl said sadly, "I even saw Sister Toto, but she walked too fast, and I couldn’t catch up. I couldn’t give her the candy."
"Then why were you sleeping in the tree hole?" Xu Huo returned the candy to her, "Was it cold last night?"
The little girl shook her head, "The tree hole was very warm."
After a pause, she turned to Xu Huo, "Uncle, is the strange person in the forest Sister Toto?"
Xu Huo watched her, his tone softer, "Why do you think so?"
"I know Sister Toto is already dead." The little girl said, "Sister Toto’s parents and grandma all lied to me, but I know. I overheard their whispers. When Sister Toto was giving birth, the brother she married died falling in the forest, and she was very, very sad and died with her child."
"The adults all say there’s a deceiving stranger in the forest, warning us not to leave home. How could Sister Toto lie to me? She must be missing me."
"Sister Toto used to tell me stories. She said when people die, they aren’t really dead, just returning to the forest and never coming back. There used to be adults in the village who went into the forest and never returned. They must be living far, far away, and only came to see us briefly because they missed us."
She asked Xu Huo, "Uncle, does Sister Toto want me to go with her?"
Xu Huo did not answer her question but instead patted her on the head, "How old was Sister Toto when she left?"
The little girl looked at her fingers, "Twenty."
"Then how old were the other people in your village when they left?"
The little girl’s math wasn’t great, and she couldn’t count on her fingers. She had to respond, "They were older than Sister Toto, much older."
"That’s it," Xu Huo said, "Maybe Sister Toto misses you a lot, but all the people who left your village were much older when they went into the forest and never returned. You’re still very young and can’t leave your family, so Sister Toto can’t take you away."
The little girl said somewhat dejectedly, "When I chased Sister Toto, I seemed to hear my brother crying. I wanted to give Sister Toto the candies and tell her I wasn’t going, but she disappeared, and I couldn’t find my way home. I could only crawl into the tree hole."
"How about this," Xu Huo said, "Sister Toto might live very far away and is already different from you. It’s inconvenient for her to come to play with you. Leave these two candies with me, and if I meet her when I go out, I’ll give them to her for you. If not, I’ll give the candy to the family where she married into. Okay?"
"I’m an adult, I won’t get lost."
This seemed like a good plan, and the little girl happily agreed. But she soon became frightened again, "My brother helped me deceive grandma and the others; he must have gotten beaten. Will I get beaten when I go back?"
"Not necessarily," Xu Huo lifted her up and brushed off the grass leaves on her back, "Have you been beaten before? Did it hurt?"
"Mom’s beating doesn’t hurt, but grandma’s hurts a lot." The little girl held his hand as they walked.
"Then I’ll give you a little cushion, and you secretly tuck it into your clothes so no one will know." Xu Huo suggested.
"Grandma is the smartest person; no one can deceive her." The little girl thought this method was unreliable, "She’ll pull out the cushion and then beat me."
"Well... then you’ll have to endure it for now. I’ll secretly give you a bag of candy to think about eating after the beating. Maybe it won’t hurt as much."
"Really? Being an adult is great; you can carry lots of delicious food!"
"Right, when you grow up, you can too. But growing up means you can’t run around in the future. If you get lost, and your family can’t find you, what would you do?"
"I can eat the things in the grove. When it gets light, I can find mushrooms and wild vegetables."
"How many mushrooms and wild vegetables do you know?"
"Many... but not too many. Some mushrooms and wild vegetables can’t be eaten; eating too many will result in death. But once dead, I must move to live with Sister Toto and them. Then I wouldn’t be able to see mom, dad, grandma, and brother. I don’t want that."
"Sister Toto lives with her child and husband, and you should live with your family."
"Will Sister Toto’s child grow up?"
"Possibly, or maybe he’ll be a dwarf."
"What’s a dwarf?"
"Someone who never grows up."
"Wow, being a child forever!"
...
Following the location map provided by the villagers, Xu Huo brought the girl back to Upper Wood Village. Granny Yi was waiting at home with her grandson, while the son and daughter-in-law went out to search. Seeing her granddaughter suddenly appear at the door, she opened the door and rushed out, giving the child two slaps. After hitting her, Granny Yi’s eyes turned red and she hugged the girl tightly, "You wretched girl, I told you not to run around, not to run around!"
The little girl was beaten to tears and also hugged Granny Yi, "Grandma, I won’t dare to anymore!"
The little boy stood in the doorway watching the two, and he opened his mouth and cried too.
The children’s voices attracted the surrounding residents. Knowing that the child had returned safely, neighbors brought out a wooden whistle and blew it in the direction of the grove.
