As an artist and designer, Ethan had been physically weak in both his past and present life. The wild mountain pheasants were fierce, and after chasing them in circles, Ethan had to gasp for breath and ask the Little Pixiu for help.
"Little Pixiu, quick, help me out! Otherwise, I won't be able to make chicken soup for my injured husband tonight, and I definitely won't fulfill my role as a 'good wife and virtuous mother'!"
"That won't do!" The Little Pixiu still needed Ethan's 'virtue points' to accumulate enough score to complete its mission and leave this world. "I'm coming!" With that, the Little Pixiu zipped out and blocked the pheasants' path.
With the Little Pixiu's help, after a flurry of feathers and frantic scrambling, Ethan successfully caught both pheasants. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he carried a chicken in each hand, humming a self-made tune in high spirits.
"Got a chicken in my left hand, and a chicken in my right~ And a chubby little baby following behind~"
As Ethan got carried away with his singing, the Little Pixiu behind him quietly distanced itself. Feeling that wasn't enough, it even pulled out a notebook and pen from the void. Glancing at Ethan, it decisively crossed out the plan "Serenade husband with song and dance" in the notebook. Below, it wrote: Master's Hidden Ultimate Weapon: Call of the Underworld King.
Attack Power: Five Stars
Cooldown: None
Recommendation: Launch attack at night. Target anyone disliked, go to their house and unleash! Note! Must be at night! Because... the ghostly wails and wolf howls will double the effect...
Ethan, in high spirits, walked on, singing, causing birds along the path to flee in terror...
Meanwhile, in the valley:
Damian and the others watched as the monster's struggles weakened and it was gradually swallowed by the marsh. They finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go. We need to report this to the Village Elder."
"Yeah."
Damian carefully made his way from the marsh edge towards the solid bank. Suddenly, a loud shout echoed from the valley entrance: "Husband~ I've come to find you!"
The sound startled the men in the valley so badly they stumbled, nearly stepping into the marsh. Calling 'husband' deep in the mountains... could it be a fox spirit from the old stories? Only Damian recognized Ethan's voice. His heart jumped, and he quickened his pace.
"Husband~ Where are you?"
Hearing Ethan's anxious calls, the five men on the bank looked at each other, now also recognizing Ethan's voice. They glanced sympathetically at Damian, then started whispering among themselves.
"Why is he here?"
"Yeah, is his injury healed?"
"Must be, he was able to prepare provisions for Damian."
Mentioning this reminded them of Ethan's extravagant use of flour, and they mentally cursed again: Wastrel!
"No idea what Damian sees in him. They've only been married a few days, how many times has he gotten hurt already? If this time again..."
"Damn! We should hurry out and meet him!" Dave Wang realized, quickly running towards Ethan's direction. Can't let the man get hurt again! His buddy's wallet couldn't take it! Everyone in the three villages knew Ethan rarely went up the mountain without getting injured! Damian had bravely lured the monster away; they couldn't let his spouse get hurt now, could they?
However, by the time the others reacted, one figure had already sprinted past them towards the entrance.
"It's Damian!"
"Quick! Let's follow!"
......
At the entrance, Ethan saw the group of familiar faces running towards him and raised his hand in a polite wave. "Well, hello everyone. Fancy meeting you here."
Fancy my foot, the men thought speechlessly. Wasn't he specifically looking for them? Oh, right, looking for Damian. But then again, how did he know they were in this valley?
"Damian." Seeing him, Ethan felt too embarrassed to call him 'husband' to his face. "Are you injured?" he asked worriedly, noticing Damian's left arm hanging by his side.
"Just a small scratch."
"How did you know?" Bill Gable asked curiously.
"I'm not blind. It's dripping blood, how could I not see it?" Ethan ignored him and walked straight to Damian's side. Just then, the system promptly issued a new task.
"Ding! New task: Please bandage your injured husband's wound."
Ethan already knew Damian was hurt. On the way up, he had gathered some familiar medicinal herbs he spotted. He casually dropped the two pheasants on the ground – they were tied up and couldn't escape anyway. Then, he took out the healing herbs he'd picked and approached Damian. Ethan reached out to take Damian's arm, but Damian instinctively pulled back slightly.
"What are you doing? Not putting medicine on it?" Ethan glared at him.
"I can do it myself." He was afraid the wound would frighten Ethan, and also afraid Ethan would ask how he got it.
"We're married now. What difference does it make who does it?" Before Damian could argue, Ethan grabbed his injured arm. Although Damian had rolled up his sleeve before cutting himself, the run down the mountain had still stained the sleeve with blood. Ethan carefully rolled the sleeve further up. Seeing the狰獰-looking wound, he sucked in a breath. This guy is really ruthless to himself. Any deeper and it would have hit bone. Could he be prone to domestic violence in the future? No! Getting martial arts training must be the top priority when I get back. As for divorce? The system wouldn't allow it! Besides, thinking about the unmarried men and women in the three villages, Damian seemed to be the only decent-looking one. What else could he do? Just live with it. Plus, he got two sons out of the deal – quite the bargain.
As Ethan's thoughts wandered, Damian's gentle voice sounded beside his ear, "Did it scare you?"
"No, I just... spaced out." Ethan shook his head, making no attempt to hide his momentary distraction.
"..." Bill and the other four men were speechless again, sighing inwardly, What misfortune! Marrying a spouse like this.
Ethan found a rock, crushed the herbs he'd picked, spread the paste on a large leaf, wrapped it around the wound, and tied it off with a soft vine in a neat bow. Throughout the process, Damian didn't even frown, letting Ethan manipulate his arm. Ethan looked up at him, puzzled. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"It's fine. Doesn't hurt."
"You're tough!" Ethan gave him a thumbs-up.
??? What does that mean? Damian tilted his head slightly. However, before he could ask, Ethan had already picked up the two pheasants from the ground and called to him, "Bandaging done. Let's head home now. It'll be dark soon."
The others naturally agreed.
On the way down, Bill Gable finally couldn't resist asking, "Ethan, where did you catch these pheasants?" The others also eyed the birds, swallowing hard and perking up their ears.
"Caught them casually at the foot of the mountain while I was looking for you guys."
"....." Casually? At the foot of the mountain? The men were rendered speechless. It was infuriatingly unfair. They had climbed up and down, searched painstakingly all day, got chased by a monster, and hadn't seen a single feather, yet this guy just casually picked up a pair. Was this just luck?
"By the way, how did you know we were in the valley?" Leo voiced the question everyone was thinking.
Ethan turned, looking at him innocently. "I didn't know? I just got lost and ended up here. Called out a couple of times randomly. If you were here, great, you could lead me down. If not, I'd just look somewhere else."
"..." Alright, no need to say more. This kid must have stepped in some unbelievable dog poop luck when he left the house today.