Mo Yu’s home wasn’t far and Ruan Qiuqiu was very anxious, so it only took them about three minutes to get to the small entrance of the cave. The cave entrance was low and didn’t even reach her chest. When she got closer, a faint moldy smell wafted over.
She slightly furrowed her brow and watched as Mo Yu lifted up a thick animal skin curtain.
He shouted into the cave, “Grandpa, older brother, younger sister, I’m back.”
The temperature of the cave could still be considered warm. From the brightly lit light, Ruan Qiuqiu could immediately see the situation inside the cave.
There was a very old man lying on a low stone bed. He was so old that his face was covered in wrinkles. His brain probably wasn’t working very well. When he saw that Mo Yu had come back, he only happily stuttered, “Yuyu… Yuyu…”
There was a skinny young boy, who looked to be around 11 to 12 years old, lying next to the old man. The young boy was in a half-shifted form with an ordinary black cat’s tail and ears, but unlike Mr. Gray Wolf, who had nails in his half-shifted form, there were cat’s claws on the boy’s hands and feet. The boy was covered in animal skin that was being slowly stained by his blood. His expression looked very painful, and he looked very weak.
This cat demon, who wasn’t much older than Mo Yu, must be the older brother than Mo Yu had said he wanted to save.
Ruan Qiuqiu felt sad for them.
Mo Yu had said his older brother was someone that worked hard to protect his family and hunted to support his family, so she had assumed his older brother was a strong adult wolf demon. She would never have expected that his older brother was a child too. He hadn’t even reached level 1 yet, and he was already supporting his family.
Such a weak and small child probably got injured so badly because he encountered a primitive animal while out hunting.
There was a little girl that couldn’t be more than four to five years old next to the cat demon. She was holding a tattered piece of animal skin. When she heard Mo Yu’s voice, she happily and also reproachfully called out, “Second brother! You went to play again.”
“En, second brother made a new friend today too.” Mo Yu looked as if he was holding back tears. He clenched his hands into fist and tried his best to look like a playful child. He didn’t want his little sister, who didn’t know anything yet, to hear him crying.
“That’s great!” The little girl raised her head and looked at Ruan Qiuqiu, who was standing at the cave’s entrance. She very happily smiled sweetly at Ruan Qiuqiu. “Older sister, you’re so pretty. I don’t think I’ve seen you before. My name is Mo Bohe!”
Ruan Qiuqiu: “…” Bohe as in Maobohe?
(T/N: Bohe means mint, and maobohe means catmint/catnip.)
Ruan Qiuqiu smiled at the thin and small girl. “Hi Bohe, you’re very cute too. I’m called Ruan Qiuqiu.”
“Older sister Qiuqiu, why don’t you come in? It’s so cold outside.” Mo Bohe blinked.
Mo Yu didn’t let Mo Bohe say anymore. Holding the bone stick, he stood up and said, “Bohe, continue sewing clothes. I’m going out again to play for a while.”
Mo Bohe said, “You have to come back soon.”
Mo Yu nodded. He turned around and left the small cave. He looked at Ruan Qiuqiu with reddened eyes. “Can you trust me now?”
Ruan Qiuqiu hesitated for a moment, then she took out the small wooden cup with healing water, and offered it to him. “This is my…”
She paused. “This is a treasure from my husband’s cave. It can relieve pain. You can give it to your older brother to try.”
She could sense that the young demon’s vitality was very weak. He was even closer to death’s door than Mr. Gray Wolf. If he didn’t get treatment soon, he would probably die. Although Mr. Gray Wolf and her situation was bad right now, Ruan Qiuqiu still wanted to offer a helping hand if she could.
Holding the small wooden cup, Ruan Qiuqiu continued, “Of course, if you think my husband is cursed, then never mind…”
Before she finished speaking, Mo Yu took a step forward and accepted the small wooden cup.
To Ruan Qiuqiu’s surprise, Mo Yu didn’t turn around and bring the wooden cup into the cave. Instead, he opened the cup’s lid and took a sip himself.
Looking as if he was staring death down, he pressed his hand against his throat and swallowed down that sip of water. He maintained this ridiculous posture while tears dripped down from his eyes. He clutched the small wooden cup in one hand while his entire body was trembling in the snow. He looked as if he was anticipating death.
Seeing this sight, Ruan Qiuqiu suddenly understood everything. Mo Yu’s words about taking a gamble wasn’t just empty words.