030 This Is My "Old Friend"
He looked down at Scar Johnny, whose sharp teeth were bared and whose face was ferocious beyond measure. Xia Rong was instantly stunned... Soon, she was seized by a group of ratfolk and escorted to the council chamber.
Throughout the walk, Xia Rong struggled to maintain her composure, racking her brain for what she would say next... Before long, Scar and his ratfolk companions led her to a two-story wooden-brick house. Scar halted, turned, and thoroughly inspected Xia Rong from head to toe.
“Go in. The chieftain is waiting for you. Only you are allowed inside!”
Having learned from previous experience, Xia Rong dared not say another word. She stepped over the threshold and entered.
The interior was exceedingly plain; apart from the packed earth floor, nothing really stood out.
“Ah, my friend, you must be tired from your journey!” At that moment, Yang Jie emerged from the inner room, accompanied by a cadre of ratfolk officials.
“Honored chieftain, greetings. I am from the Grassland Green Lizardfolk...” Xia Rong, seeing the ratfolk officials, grew flustered and hurriedly recited the speech she’d prepared on the road, as if reading from a script. Curiously, Yang Jie interrupted her almost as soon as she began...
“Come, come, don’t just stand there—find a seat.”
“All our chief ratfolk officials are gathered here today. Let me formally introduce my distant friend. This white lizardfolk here is my dear old companion. Her name is... is... what was it again...?”
“My name is... Xia... Xia Rong...”
“Bang!”
“Yes! Xia Rong.” Yang Jie suddenly slapped the table and continued, “I told you long ago—why did you have to choose such a hard-to-remember name? Honestly!”
Yang Jie pointed at Xia Rong’s nose and scolded her.
Xia Rong: ...
She wasn’t the only one bewildered; the officials behind Yang Jie looked at each other, sensing something was amiss in the atmosphere but afraid to speak, so they could only smile awkwardly.
“What brings you here this time?” Yang Jie asked, grinning at Xia Rong.
“Well, I discovered an ancient ruin between the Chakalke Grassland and the Northen Plain.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“It’s absolutely true—I saw it with my own eyes!” Xia Rong hurried to respond.
“So you braved the journey just to tell me this? I thought you were fleeing calamity—what a misunderstanding.”
Xia Rong was momentarily speechless, her expression frozen; she couldn’t utter a single word for a long while...
Wendy, too, couldn’t decipher Yang Jie’s ploy. She distinctly remembered telling him about the ancient ruin herself just yesterday.
---
Watching Xia Rong sit awkwardly to the side, nerves frayed, Yang Jie spoke sincerely, “Come, don’t just stand there—have some tea!”
He gestured to the ratfolk officials: “Don’t just stand around—pour tea for our honored guest.”
“Yes, yes, tea, tea!” Old Sha was the quickest to react, smiling broadly as he bent his ratlike waist and filled a wooden cup.
Xia Rong took a sip, holding it for several seconds as she carefully reviewed everything, wondering what went wrong and how she should respond.
She set the wooden cup down slowly, calmed herself, and bit her lip as she spoke:
“Actually, I came to seek—”
“Smack!” Her words were cut off mid-sentence, forced to swallow the rest.
Yang Jie’s furry rat paw flashed and landed on her shoulder.
“Actually... I understand everything!”
Yang Jie shook his head, wearing a rather bitter expression.
Xia Rong secretly breathed a sigh of relief—thank goodness, you understand what I mean!
Yang Jie stood, hands clasped behind his back, pacing the room.
“I know it wasn’t easy for you to come here, telling me about the ancient ruin was just a pretext. The real reason is...”
Now Xia Rong finally understood: Yang Jie had known her true purpose all along, and out of consideration for her dignity he hadn’t exposed it.
“I understand your purpose in coming... Most importantly, you came to see your old friend!”
“Old Gil, bring some local specialty goods for our guest to take on the road.”
“Right away!”
Yang Jie finished, smiling gratefully at Xia Rong’s “shocked” expression. In that moment, everything between them seemed to be understood without words.
[Oh, come on! You understand nothing! This is the first time we’ve ever met, isn’t it?]
Xia Rong raged inwardly, smiling outwardly but cursing inside.
Suddenly, Xia Rong grabbed Yang Jie’s arm, wearing the expression of someone owed three hundred thousand coins, and said:
“My old friend, actually...”
“I’ve come, with my people, to seek refuge with you!”
Xia Rong squeezed her eyes shut and shouted the final words...
“Smack!”
Yang Jie stood abruptly, fury written on his face.
---
“My old friend! What do you take me for? What is there between us that can’t be spoken plainly?”
Xia Rong was overjoyed; victory was within reach, just a little more effort!
“Then let me thank you, old friend!” Xia Rong mimicked the heroic manners from drama shows, clasping her fists to—
“But... ah!” Yang Jie sighed deeply, hands behind him as he paced the room once more.
Hearing Yang Jie’s prelude, Xia Rong was bewildered; by now, she was out of words.
After a few moments of preparation, Yang Jie turned sharply, eyes glistening with tears, fixing his gaze on Xia Rong as he delivered each word with dramatic gestures:
“But old classmate, you’ve come at the wrong time!”
“Our tribe right now...”
What followed was Yang Jie’s tearful soliloquy, presenting a series of pre-prepared reasons, almost moving himself to tears.
At that moment, Xia Rong instinctively rubbed her forehead; she hadn’t even done anything, yet life felt exhausting...
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, realizing the fellow was playing games. Since she couldn’t break through with him, she'd...
Xia Rong shifted her gaze to the officials standing behind Yang Jie...
From left to right, she began...
First was One-Eye; this one looked even more intimidating than Scar Johnny. Forget it, move to the next.
Then there was Victor, whose eyes were elsewhere, not even glancing at her. Forget it, try another rat.
On Victor’s left was Little Billy; Xia Rong sized him up. He looked young, probably easy to sway. Just as she was about to speak, Little Billy, who seemed so refined, suddenly bared his teeth at her.
Not worth the trouble; next...
Further right was Old Sha; as Xia Rong studied him, he watched her back, occasionally flashing a cold grin.
A lecher, pfft!
Farthest right was a young female ratfolk. Her eyes were full of gentle warmth—surely a kind-hearted and honest rat.
Xia Rong instantly formed a plan...
She composed herself and, with eyes full of sincerity, stood and moved closer to Wendy’s side, preparing to engage in a dramatic exchange of performances with Yang Jie...