Chapter 288: Gone
Before long, Oech’s room went dark. Although the torches had gone out, he was still awake. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
With a wave of his hand, Himmel Soan put out his torches as well. Instead of going to bed, he sat quietly on a wooden chair.
The night soon passed. The villagers got up when the sun was about to rise, and the sky was a lighter shade of gray.
It was the ideal time to start hunting. All kinds of animals would come out at this hour to look for food, and the villagers also got up as early as the animals.
They would return before the sunset. Staying outside at night was too dangerous. Powerful magical beasts would roam the woods at night, and it was impossible for the villagers to fend off the beasts. That was why they went out and came back early.
Oech woke up at the usual hour. He didn’t sleep well the night before, but it was time to get up. He had to go out and hunt.
There was something he needed to do before that: eat something. He couldn’t hunt on an empty stomach.
He cut off two legs from the hare he had killed the day before and boiled them in the pot. Those two legs were four times the size of his usual meal. Today was an exception, and he was cooking two legs together.
The water made a gurgling sound. It was boiling in the pot. Without any condiments or other ingredients, the meat gave off a pleasant aroma already.
“Kiddo, the meat is ready. Get up and have something to eat.” Oech came out with a plate that contained the two hare legs. However, Himmel Soan wasn’t in his room.
Oech was surprised.
Where did the teenager go?
He didn’t hear anything during the night. He was a light sleeper and would have woken up if the door had been opened. But there were no sounds.
Nothing!
Only then did Oech realize something wasn’t right. It was too quiet!
That teenager should have made some kind of noise even if he was sleeping the whole time. In the silent night, the sound of breathing and turning in bed would be quite apparent. Yet he caught nothing.
He didn’t even know when or how the torches went off.
Oech felt a chilling sensation on his back and realized his clothes had been soaked by his cold sweat.
There was no time for that. He needed to find out where the teenager had gone.
The door opened. Oech was going to search for Himmel Soan when he came back.
“Where did you go? You should have told me before going out. You left and came back without making any sounds. You’re like a ghost!
“I made some breakfast! Finish it, and we’ll talk about this!” Oech forgot his suspicions once he saw Himmel Soan. He no longer cared why the teenager didn’t make any noise.
Since he had returned, Oech didn’t care about anything else.
However, the idea that the teenager might be an undiscovered master struck him again. He didn’t know if his suspicions were true or what would happen if the other guy really was a master. He only wanted to take care of him as best as possible, even if he wasn’t a master.
In fact, he wanted to train the teenager. His wife died before giving him any child. If Himmel Soan was obedient, he was going to treat him as his own child.
If Himmel Soan knew what Oech was thinking, he would be so embarrassed. He was an immortal and was thousands of times older than Oech. He was also capable beyond Oech’s imagination.
Luckily, he still hadn’t learned the native language yet. Even if he did, he couldn’t read Oech’s mind.
They sat down at the stone table and finished the hare legs. Oech said, “You’re going out to hunt with me. You don’t need to catch anything. Just watch and learn. In a few days, you’ll join the hunters. I know you can’t understand what I’m saying, so just follow me!”
Oech rubbed his forehead and wished Himmel Soan could understand him. It was so inconvenient, but he could bear with it. Babies couldn’t speak when they were born either. They would gradually pick up the language as they grew.
“Let’s go!” Oech waved at Himmel Soan after he packed up his gear.
Himmel Soan followed him outside. Observing these people’s daily life was the best way to understand this world. This was the second day. He would have a rough idea of their language by the end of the day.
Right now, he would see what these people did on a daily basis. It wasn’t hard to deduce that they were going out to hunt. They had returned with their gear the night before, carrying their game.
Of course, they were going hunting again. It couldn’t be anything else.
Many people had gathered outside the village. Oech was their leader and the most experienced hunter in the village. The others all looked up to him. But that was it.
“Let’s go,” Oech didn’t say anything else, same as usual.
But the others had questions.
“Oech, are you taking him with us?”
“Look at his thin arms. I don’t count on his help, but won’t he become a burden?”
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