Chapter 21: The Arrangement of Fate, Curtains and Bugs

  He Lianuo walked towards the little girl with a pleased expression, thinking that the girl would thank her for saving her life. However, when the girl saw her, her small face, which had already regained its rosy complexion, suddenly turned pale again. One small hand subconsciously covered the large wooden cup on her back. He Lianuo was taken aback, and then it dawned on her that in the little girl's heart, she must be just like the giant tiger that had just escaped - a bad person who threatened her safety.

  Thinking of this, He Lian hurriedly restrained his own laughter, tidied up the somewhat tattered beast skin clothes on his body, and tried to make himself look harmless. Smiling, he looked up at the girl in the tree: "Little lass, come down quickly, it's too dangerous in the tree! Come down, brother has something good for you!"

  He Lianuo was just a kid, and the few sentences he said were all the usual things people say to coax kids when they're begging for food in their past life. He Lianuo himself didn't expect that these few words would be able to trick the girl into coming down from the tree. But unexpectedly, the little girl might have been too simple-minded or inexperienced, and seeing He Lianuo's gentle appearance, she actually let go of the branch she was tightly holding onto with her small hands. However, the hand covering the wooden cup still didn't dare to come back, clearly showing that the little girl still had lingering fears from being robbed last time.

  Looking at the little girl relaxing, He Lianuo hurriedly took out the large wooden cup behind him, and with one hand gently tapping on the cup wall, he boasted: "That day I drank your Jade Huan liquid, it was pretty good. Look, I've collected another bottle myself. It's not as difficult to collect as you said. Since I drank a bottle of your Jade Huan liquid, this cup is my treat for you. Come down quickly!" He Lianuo, at such a young age, already knew how to save face. Although he had come specifically to return the Jade Huan liquid to the girl, he was too embarrassed to say so and instead said it was his treat. With an air of nonchalance, he secretly glanced up at the little girl in the tree, clearly expecting to see her surprised expression when she found out that he had collected so much Jade Huan liquid in such a short time.

  "How is it possible, how did you collect the Jade Phoenix Liquid?", The little girl who was originally on guard in the tree was indeed extremely surprised when she heard that Helian had collected the Jade Phoenix Liquid, and without even thinking about being on guard, she quickly climbed down the tree and rushed over to the Jade Phoenix Liquid. Helian also didn't expect the little girl's reaction to be so intense, but he felt more proud in his heart. Seeing the little girl rush up to him, Helian pretended to be serious and opened the lid that was blocking the cup. The little girl stretched out a white and plump finger, dipped it into the Jade Phoenix Liquid that Helian had collected, and carefully tasted it with her tongue. Immediately after, she scrunched up her eyebrows, and then hastily spat out the Jade Phoenix Liquid in her mouth onto the ground, as if still not satisfied, and continued to spit out several more mouthfuls of saliva.

  He Lian saw the little girl eating the Yu Huang liquid he had collected with great difficulty, and she actually reacted like this. He couldn't help but get angry, and in a fit of rage, he snatched the large wooden cup from her hand and shouted at the little girl: "I was kind enough to invite you to drink my hard-earned Yu Huang liquid, you don't appreciate it, that's fine, but how can you waste it like this!!!", after scolding, he carefully covered the lid again, called out Xiao Lang and was about to leave.

  A little girl who was still spitting out saliva on the side saw He Lianuo getting angry and wanting to leave, and couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. She quickly spoke up and said: "It's my fault for wasting your things, but what you said, did you say that yours is also Yu Huang liquid?"

  "Of course it is, and I collected every last drop of it myself. How's that?", Hellenore stopped in her tracks, only to hear the little girl questioning the fruits of her labor, instantly getting even angrier, turning around to glare at the little girl.

  "Heh heh, Jade Phoenix Liquid? Don't be afraid to tell you, as far as I know, in this forest, besides me, no one else can collect Jade Phoenix Liquid. As for why I said the stuff in your bottle isn't Jade Phoenix Liquid, try it yourself and you'll know!", The little girl said, not paying attention to Helianuo anymore, she found a tree stump, sat down with her large wooden cup, and curiously stared at Helianuo who was slowly opening his wooden cup, looking like he was waiting for a good show.

  "How can it not be Jade Phoenix Liquid? I personally collected it, how could it not be Jade Phoenix Liquid? These are all collected from flower to flower... Ugh, ugh, ugh...", He Lian Nu was indignantly scolding while opening the cup cover, and in a fit of pique, she tilted her head back and poured a large mouthful of "Jade Phoenix Liquid" into her mouth. But as soon as this "Jade Phoenix Liquid" entered her mouth, He Lian Nu's face turned bright red, her facial features contorted, and she tightly closed her mouth, trying not to show too much pain. However, in the end, she couldn't help but spit out all the "Jade Phoenix Liquid" in her mouth, and then, like a little girl, she started spitting out saliva onto the ground, until finally, she began to cough violently.

  The little girl sitting on the tree stump was originally making a face as if she was enjoying the commotion, but when she saw Helian's reaction was so intense, she also became somewhat flustered. She thought to herself that she had only licked a bit of Helian's "Jade Phoenix Liquid" and it was already so unbearable, whereas Helian had poured a large mouthful into his mouth. The little girl hastily climbed the tree, plucked a small flower petal, carefully opened her wooden cup, scooped up a bit of genuine Jade Phoenix Liquid with the petal, walked to Helian's side, and before he could react, quickly tossed the petal into Helian's widely open mouth. Just as Helian was about to spit out the suddenly thrown-in flower petal, he felt the sweet and refreshing taste on the petal instantly dispel the spiciness in his mouth. A warm current slowly spread throughout his body, bringing an indescribable sense of comfort, making him feel like a small grass that had just been frozen by ice and was about to lose its life, suddenly finding itself under the warm, gentle sunlight of spring, forgetting everything.

  Watching Helianuo finally stop coughing, the little girl smiled contentedly and slung her large wooden cup over her back, preparing to leave. However, Xiao Tianlang quickly caught up to her, gently nipping at the hem of her clothes with his mouth. Meanwhile, Helianuo, who had just reacted, also rushed forward and grabbed the little girl's arm.

  The little girl has already realized that Helian and the plump silver wolf had many misunderstandings with herself last time, and today they even scared away the giant tiger and saved her life. Although she still can't say she has a good feeling towards them, she is no longer afraid or disgusted. Seeing the little wolf and Helian holding onto her, she didn't panic at all, instead smiling and saying: "What's going on? Are you thinking of doing what you did last time and stealing my Yu Qing liquid again? This time it won't be as easy for you, let go quickly, don't you know that men and women shouldn't have close contact?"

  When the little girl teased, Helian Nu's face turned red and let go of the little girl's hand. The wolf, however, continued to shamelessly bite onto the girl's hem. Helian Nu helplessly looked at the wolf, who didn't understand the concept of personal space, and finally mustered up the courage to say: "Last time was a misunderstanding, I really didn't know that Yu Huang liquid was so precious. Later on, when I came here several times, I couldn't find you again, so I thought I'd collect a bottle of Yu Huang liquid to return to you. Who knew..."

  Looking at He Lian's embarrassed appearance, the little girl couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Haha, stinky brat, since you're still somewhat sincere, I'll temporarily forgive you. I'm guessing you must be specifically looking for those giant butterflies to collect 'Yu Huang Liquid', right? Are you also feeling particularly proud of yourself for being so clever? You didn't think that if Yu Huang Liquid is so precious, how could it be easily found? In fact, the flower liquid collected by those giant butterflies may look and smell similar to real Yu Huang Liquid, but it's actually spicy and astringent. To find the real thing, you can't just take shortcuts. Actually, only I and my tribe members can barely find Yu Huang Liquid through intuition and sense of smell in this forest; no other living being is possible. This Yu Huang Liquid may mean nothing more than an extremely precious medicine or drink to others, but for our tribe, it's a necessary item at certain times. That's why I was so angry when you guys snatched my Yu Huang Liquid last time."

  After listening to the little girl's explanation, Helianuo felt his face burning with shame. He not only snatched the extremely precious Jade Phoenix Liquid from them but also collected a bottle of something even more disgusting than poison to show off to them. It was truly humiliating. Seeing Xiao Lang still expressionless and tightly holding onto the girl's hem, Helianuo sincerely thought that being a shameless wolf wasn't so bad after all.

  The little girl also noticed Helian's awkward appearance, and thought of his proud expression and raised chin when he presented the treasure earlier. She couldn't help but burst out laughing, which made Helian's face turn even redder, unable to say a word.

  The little girl finally held back her laughter and said seriously to Helianuo: "Hey, stinky boy, your face is so red it's about to bleed. I don't know how you found this place, but since my parents left, the only living things I've seen on this Jade Phoenix Tree are butterflies and bees. And now, first there was you and that little wolf, and today a big tiger even came in! What's going on?"

  "Don't call me a stinky kid anymore, my name is Helianuo. I and the little puppy accidentally broke in here, that giant tiger just now probably also wandered in randomly, this place's terrain is really too hidden. And you, little girl? How did you come here alone? Where are your people?"

  "Helianuo, hmm, this name is not good. I'll just call you Xiaolian (Little Curtain) instead, it's easier to say and sounds better. My family isn't here anymore, since I was little I've been living with my parents, but later on they also went who-knows-where, so I had no choice but to live alone!

  Mentioning her missing parents, the little girl's face clouded over for a moment, but soon she broke into a smile again. "Now it's okay, I have you and Xiaolang (Little Wolf) to play with."

  "Little Screen?!", Hearing the little girl give herself a name similar to that of an androgynous being from ancient palace courts, Hurenno instinctively wanted to resist, but seeing the little girl's gloomy expression when mentioning her parents, Hurenno couldn't bring himself to argue with her. Nevertheless, he decided to give the little girl a nickname just as unpleasant as "Little Screen". "Hmmm, both times I saw you, you were climbing on trees, and you're white and chubby, walking slowly, just like an insect... Let's call you Little Bug, Ugly Little Bug, nickname: Bugbug, Hahahaha!!"

  Khalenno was delighted with the good name he had given himself and couldn't stop smiling, but didn't notice that when the little girl heard this name, her eyes showed a sad expression again, flashing by even more quickly than before.

  The little wolf on the side also smiled with its wolf mouth open, and it even forgot to continue biting the little girl's hem.

  This world is like that, sometimes you search hard but can't penetrate the fog to see the inner essence of things, while other times perhaps just an unintentional sentence reveals the true nature of reality.

  Years later, when Helianthus had achieved great success and fame, it seemed as if to commemorate the playful conversation between the two children today, the most luxurious and most common decoration in his extremely extravagant residence was not the exquisite ice crystal chandelier, nor the unparalleled continental carpet made of nine-level soul beast fur, but curtains, ubiquitous curtains, door curtains, window curtains, rain curtains...

  At that time, the insect that had a supreme position on the mainland was not a lovely plush dog, nor an agile golden silk monkey, but insects, all kinds of small insects, flying insects, beetles, crawling insects...