His body went limp, his fingers still pointing at the watermelon in front of Meng Shaode, when he collapsed.
"Little Yan Yan?" Ah Jiu was startled and reached out to feel for his breath.
No breath. That was strange. Ghosts didn't seem to breathe, Ah Jiu wasn't sure if that was correct.
"Little brother? What's wrong?" Wu Dalei no longer cared about his embarrassment; they still needed this young man for the carriage.
Glancing at the watermelon again, Meng Shaode, gripping his ox horn knife, was stunned:
"This… was it scared by the watermelon? Or by my knife?"
Cai Lihua had no reservations at that moment. She stepped forward and, with practiced ease, pinched his philtrum.
"Xiao Yan, wake up. Daughter, is he just terribly thirsty?"
Ah Jiu shook his head. "He just ate a peach. He probably has some kind of illness where he dies at the sight of blood."
"Ah?" Cai Lihua thought carefully. "Hemo phobia?"
Saying this, she slapped Tuoba Yan twice in the face.
"Yes, yes, hemophobia." Ah Jiu couldn't recall the term.
Unexpectedly, the two slaps were quite effective. Tuoba Yan sat up and let out a long sigh.
"What happened to me just now?"
A group of people surrounding him was indeed quite intimidating.
"Hemophobia?" Meng Shaode had just handed a few slices of watermelon to Wu Dalei and hadn't yet retracted his hand.
Tuoba Yan pointed at the watermelon in his hand, his eyelids fluttering. "What is this…"
"Watermelon. It's not blood." Ah Jiu’s forehead was sweating again. The only connection between blood and watermelon was their similar color. With such a timid disposition, how could he dare to kill?
Ah Jiu had never heard of a ghost being scared to death by a watermelon.
"Master." Someone scrambled up the mountain, panting.
Ah Jiu immediately recognized him as the second-in-command.
The man, dressed in simple cloth, was in his thirties, sported a goatee, and had a long saber at his waist. He scrambled up on all fours.
This time, Meng Shaode was so frightened he took a few steps back.
Cai Lihua held her daughter's hand, telling her not to get too close.
The second-in-command reached the top of the mountain and first cupped his hands. "Everyone, leave it to me."
With that, he rushed to Tuoba Yan's side and pulled out a glass bottle. As soon as he yanked out the stopper…
Ah Jiu and the others thought it was some miraculous elixir to be fed into his mouth. However, he then tilted Tuoba Yan's head and poured the contents into his ear.
"Ah?" The knife in Meng Shaode's hand contorted.
But in the next second, Tuoba Yan truly sat up.
"Master, resources are limited here. I only brought this one vial with me. We should return as soon as possible; this place is entirely unsuitable for us to live."
The second-in-command's words sent a tremor through Ah Jiu's heart. Unsuitable for him to live? Was this person also a ghost?
Meng Shaode and Cai Lihua exchanged glances, not understanding the meaning of his words.
Yet, they somehow sensed something.
"No way." Cai Lihua and Meng Shaode said in unison.
"What is this stuff? Let me see." Meng Shaode, no longer afraid, stepped forward and took the glass bottle from the second-in-command.
He held it, turned it around, and examined it. It was a bottle made of a highly dense material, similar to glass.
He sniffed it. "Isn't this… Hydrogen oil?"
Pouring it into someone's ear? Meng Shaode's eyes widened. This stuff was a chemical fuel, and there was no technology in this world capable of refining it.
But such pure hydrogen oil would vaporize instantly. His world didn't have such high refining technology either.
What exactly was this Tuoba Yan?
Earlier, the second-in-command had said they couldn't stay here long. Was it as he and his wife had suspected – this fellow was not a product of this world at all?
"Brother, you know this substance? Where can I find it?"
The second-in-command's words pulled Meng Shaode back to reality.
"I don't know." Meng Shaode regained his senses. He truly didn't know. This was an oil extracted from mining.
And it required repeated refinement.
Let alone this world lacking the technological level, even in another five hundred years, it might not be possible to refine such pure hydrogen oil.
He could tell by the absence of any precipitate or impurities in the bottle.
"My head hurts." Tuoba Yan rubbed his forehead and saw the second-in-command at a glance, startling him into quickly standing up.
"Uncle, Aunt, he's really not a bad person. Please, try to remain calm. The carriage was also bought with his own money; it's absolutely very clean."