Deciding this, Fu Xin Ci turned and walked back.
Alas, walking alone was rather lonely, so she took Xiao Bai out of the space again.
One moment Xiao Bai was frantically pacing in the space, and the next it was placed on a human’s shoulder.
"...?"
Bathed in the dappled sunlight filtering through the mountain forest, Xiao Bai narrowed its small eyes, utterly bewildered.
"What's wrong?"
"Squeak squeak squeak?" Where was the striped white-browed tiger?
"We're going back?"
"Squeak squeak squeak." How could that be.
"Really, if you don't believe me, open your little eyes wide and look carefully. Are there any traces of a tiger around here?"
Xiao Bai once again widened its black bean-like eyes and looked around.
It looked adorably foolish.
"Squeak squeak squeak." There really isn't. This isn't logical.
"I also find it unscientific. I only said two sentences: 'I'm local,' and it turned and left."
"Squeak squeak squeak." It still recognizes fellow villagers?
"Who knows."
"Squeak squeak squeak." If only that were the case. Next time I encounter it, I'll try to get acquainted and catch up.
Fu Xin Ci: Are the creatures in these deep mountains all demons? This fellow actually knows how to catch up with tigers. Its ambitions are unusually grand, truly remarkable.
"I am impressed."
"Squeak squeak squeak." Where are we going now? Xiao Bai was a bit puzzled as the human walked back.
Fu Xin Ci felt like looking up at the sky again. "Do you really still want to get acquainted with tigers? Aren't you afraid that your affection will be short-lived, and your little frame wouldn't even be enough for it to fill its teeth?"
Fu Xin Ci really didn't want to discourage Xiao Bai, but there were things she had to say.
"Filling teeth is a metaphor for others, but for you, it's literal."
"...Squeak." Nonsense.
Xiao Bai suddenly remembered something and became extremely angry.
"Squeak squeak squeak." Detestable human.
"What have I done now?"
"Squeak squeak squeak." If you had acted, wouldn't that tiger be at your mercy, whether it was round or flat?
Thinking of how it had almost wet itself from fright just now, Xiao Bai's eyes turned red.
"Blame me?" Fu Xin Ci said, but she genuinely didn't know what she had done wrong.
"Squeak squeak squeak." Who else to blame but you!
Xiao Bai thought of the human holding that fire-spitting thing, chasing after those bad guys with a "tut tut tut," and grew even angrier.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~" If you had fired that thing a couple of times, that tiger would have turned into charcoal, like a burnt sparrow.
"Can your sparrows grow two to three meters long and weigh seven to eight hundred pounds? Besides, if I fired it a couple of times, this entire mountainside would be gone. Do you know how many lives would be lost?"
Xiao Bai listened and was very unconvinced. "Squeak squeak squeak." When you fired at those shorties and big guys, you didn't say anything about lives being lost.
"Can that be the same? Towards those invaders, everyone must eliminate them."
"Squeak squeak squeak." You mean, it was a waste of time to fight those bad guys.
"Not a waste, unless you expect me to pay for funeral expenses."
Xiao Bai thought of the human's fierce eyes when holding that thing and firing it, and fearfully touched its stomach.
It was too scary, even scarier than the tiger.
If it were targeted by a tiger, it could climb a tree. If targeted by a human, with that thing going "tut tut," climbing a tree wouldn't help.
Fu Xin Ci ignored Xiao Bai's inner thoughts and walked back the way she came.
She also casually picked some wild vegetables and plucked a bunch of greens from her space. That would take care of the two vegetable dishes for dinner.
Just as Fu Xin Ci was pondering what meat dish to make, she saw Xiao Bai "squeak squeak squeak" pointing in a certain direction.
Ahead was a small pond, and it contained fish, incredibly delicious, unlike sea fish.
Fu Xin Ci couldn't help but laugh when she heard Xiao Bai swallow.
"Xiao Bai, you know quite a lot."
"Squeak squeak squeak." Alas, my past life of making a living was difficult. It decided not to say more; the more it said, the more tears it would shed.
"I'll go..."
Fu Xin Ci really wanted to say, "Go on, cry for me," but after much deliberation, she didn't say it out loud.
After all, a sable has its dignity.
"Squeak squeak squeak." Look, it's right there.
When Fu Xin Ci reached the mountain ridge and looked in the direction Xiao Bai was hopping, she saw in the mountain hollow below a pool of water like a green jade gem, reflecting the nearby mountain scenery.
"Squeak squeak squeak." Hurry!
Hearing Xiao Bai's urging, Fu Xin Ci did not disappoint it. With the boost of her powers, she was by the water's edge like a gust of wind.
Xiao Bai "squeak squeak squeak" patted its chest. Fortunately, I've been with you for a while, otherwise, I'd be scared to death by you.
"Didn't you say to hurry?"
Xiao Bai really wanted to say, I told you to hurry, not to chase the wind.
However, seeing the human staring at the pond, trying to figure something out, it didn't interrupt, as eating fish was the priority.
Fu Xin Ci's gaze followed the pond upwards, where there was a small waterfall.
Admittedly, the waterfall's water volume was a bit small, but it couldn't be denied that it was flowing water.
"Xiao Bai, you have good taste."
Hmph! Xiao Bai haughtily puffed out its small, plump belly.
Fu Xin Ci pretended not to see and lowered her head to observe the pond again. The water was quite deep, with water grass.
Around the water grass, she saw schools of fish the size of her palm.
Heh heh, she liked this density.
Xiao Bai squatted on the human's shoulder, unable to see the human's expression clearly, and became anxious.
It stretched out its little paw and pointed into the water, "squeak squeak squeak." There are so many fish, can you catch them all?
"Can't you let me analyze it for a bit?"
Xiao Bai: It should shut up, otherwise this human's sour face will reappear, and it won't be able to bear it.
Xiao Bai covered its mouth and stopped squeaking.
Fu Xin Ci scanned the pond again, then found a spot where she thought there were many fish. She activated her vines to form a net and slowly extended it into the pond.
Xiao Bai suddenly lowered its head, almost falling from the human's shoulder, and quickly extended its little paw to grip the human's clothes.
Fu Xin Ci glanced at it, conveying a message for it to be quiet, and that if the fish were scared away, it would be responsible.
Xiao Bai immediately pressed itself against the human's shoulder, gripping the human's clothes tightly, afraid of falling into the pond if it lost its grip.
Thinking of the pond's depth, it held on even tighter.
Fu Xin Ci was concentrating on netting fish and didn't notice that Xiao Bai had wrinkled her clothes.
When she felt her harvest was good enough and pulled up the vine net,
Looking at the fish struggling in the net, Xiao Bai's small eyes couldn't take it all in. "Squeak squeak squeak." So many fish.
Fu Xin Ci just smiled, not saying, "I'm good at catching fish."
Xiao Bai, however, kept urging the human, "Squeak squeak squeak." Hurry and put them all away, let's go home and eat fish.
Xiao Bai had already planned: the big ones would be braised, the small ones fried until crispy, and for the medium-sized ones, it had to think carefully about how to eat them. Should they be steamed, or made into fish soup?
Fu Xin Ci put all the fish into a wooden bucket in her space and then headed home with Xiao Bai.
However, she didn't walk fast, pondering as she walked how to take these fish out when she got home.
After much thought, she decided to visit her maternal family first.