"I am sorry, Sister," Ruan Zeqiu said to Ruan Chanchan. He was touching her head and rubbing it softly as if coaxing a little child. "I had no idea that even Qian Qian was bullying you. To think I treated her as a good friend."
At that moment, Ruan Zeqiu felt slightly guilty. Ruan Chanchan had been quite resistant towards Ye Qian Qian in the past too.
However, Ye Qian Qian had never bullied Ruan Chanchan in front of him and was quite sneaky; thus, Ruan Zeqiu thought that Ruan Chanchan was just being too sensitive and even scolded her once when she hissed at Ye Qian Qian.
Ever since then, even though Ruan Chanchan glared at Ye Qian Qian, she had never hissed or snarled at her. Thinking about it, Ruan Zeqiu was so upset and regretful that he could feel his insides turning green.
Ye Qian Qian! Just you wait; one of these days I will teach you a good lesson, though Ruan Zeqiu said as he hugged his sister and comforted her.
Ruan Chanchan, who was hugged and coaxed, was speechless. She was not the previous owner. There was no way she would feel upset over something a brat like Ye Qian Qian did. But she didn't push Ruan Zeqiu away because she knew that the mer was feeling guilty, and she didn't want to add another layer of guilt.
Thus, she let him coax her as he wanted.
"Sister, you stay here," Ruan Zeqiu said to Ruan Chanchan. Since he did something wrong, he had to make it up to his sister. He stood up on his feet and stated, "I will be right back, and I will bring something good with me. So don't go anywhere, okay? If you leave the cave, then you will get bullied."
He tried his best to explain, hoping that his sister would be able to understand what he was trying to say.
When he saw Ruan Chanchan nod, Ruan Zeqiu was even more satisfied. Humph, what a fool. His sister was really smart. It was just that she was slower than the rest and took her own sweet time to grow up. Now that the time was right, his sister was going to get better.
Ruan Zeqiu told a few more things to Ruan Chanchan and then left the cave. He wanted to bring some Red Crest fruits that his sister liked to eat. They were sweet and fleshy. Quite delicious.
However, they grew in the valley, which was far from here and it was really hard to pluck them. Beastmen hardly went there because they were worried about falling down the chasm. It was impossible to climb down in their beast form, and they could only use their human form to climb down that rickety and narrow terrain.
A single misstep and they would fall to their deaths.
Thus, Ruan Zeqiu hardly went there. He also wanted to feed his sister her favourite fruit, but if he fell down the chasm, his sister would become an orphan.
He couldn't let that happen.
However, because of the things that Ye Qian Qian did and his ignorance, he felt really guilty and wanted to make it up to Ruan Chanchan. Thus, he summoned his courage and headed down that valley.
While Ruan Zeqiu headed down the small valley, a sneaky figure slowly moved towards Ruan Zeqiu's cave.
Ruan Chanchan was lying on the floor of the cave with her limbs stretched out like a starfish. She was bored out of her mind, but since she had promised that she would not go out of the cave, she was determined to see it through.
However, when she was lost in her thoughts, she heard the sound of someone coming to the cave and raised her head. The person who arrived at the cave was a delicate-looking mer. Though he was old, it was not enough to hide his charm. His slender brows were curved up, and he was smiling at Ruan Chanchan.
But Ruan Chanchan could see that this mer was smiling at her in a fake manner. She eyed the mer with narrowed eyes and heard him say, "Chanchan, you are awake? It's good. You should try to stay awake a bit more and talk with your brother. He is getting more and more lawless."
However, the mer paused and chortled derisively, "Look at me. I am actually talking with you. A fool. What can you even understand?"
As he spoke, he walked inside the cave as if he owned it and went to pick up the bowl of salt.
[Darling, he is trying to steal your salt! He is that bad mer, the one called Daddy Zhou.]
Xiao Xi shouted in a panicked voice, and Ruan Chanchan scrambled to her feet before rushing over and standing in front of the mer. She glared at the old mer and snorted at him.
This mer. He was actually quite sinister. The salt that the Ruan siblings had was little to begin with; if not for the fact that she had been adding a bit in the bowl secretly, the salt might have run out by now.
According to the tribe members, the team that went to collect salt was missing, which meant that the salt in the tribe was running out. However, using salt was the only way these beastmen could use to cure their game.
Without salt, the game would spoil, and the beastman would have to go hunting every day. It would not only be taxing but also dangerous.
Ruan Chanchan knew that salt was really important to this tribe and the beastmen.
So, how could she let this mer snatch it away?
If he took the salt bowl away, even if she had a lot of salt, how would she add it to the bowl without letting Ruan Zeqiu get suspicious? If she took the risk and filled the bowl once it was empty, he would treat her as a monster. She might even get killed!
So this bowl of salt. It cannot be taken away!