Little Family Treasure of the Apocalyptic Boss

Chapter 8: Fetching Water

“Grandma Kanglan’s little bird comes when the tribe receives news of the merchant caravan. Usually, it arrives about ten days before the caravan reaches the tribe. On the ninth day after the bird’s arrival, I can go down the mountain to the location agreed upon with Grandma Kanglan and deliver the goods. Then Grandma Kanglan will bring the items I need.”

The lively voice of the little snake sub-beast circled around Ye Ze, sharing the good news that had arrived.

Ye Ze looked at him with a smile, listened carefully to the little snake sub-beast’s chattering, and then asked, “Can we go to the caravan ourselves to purchase goods?”

The tip of the snake sub-beast’s wagging tail twitched, and a guilty emotion almost overflowed, “We can, but if you accompany me, the tribe will target us. We might not get close to the caravan and be driven back.”

“It’s okay. I’m here, don’t be afraid,” Ye Ze pinched the little snake sub-beast’s cheek. The touch was as soft and comfortable as the little snake sub-beast’s personality. It’s just a bit thin; he needs to fatten up.

Ye Ze calculated the difference in profits between placing goods in the caravan and the interdimensional trader. He had a plan in mind, “At that time, let’s discuss with the old lady, ask about the specific location where the caravan stays, and also check out the excitement. Also, bring some gifts to thank her for taking care of Nuo Nuo all these years. Hmm?”

“Alright…”

An Nuo blushed so much the snake-steamed buns would probably be about to be cooked.

“By the way, Nuo Nuo, how long does it take to make these handicrafts?” Ye Ze shifted the topic to the goods after sharing the little snake sub-beast’s joy.

“For the dolls, it takes about three days?” An Nuo tilted his head. Although puzzled, he earnestly answered Ye Ze’s question.

Ye Ze nodded, picked up a straw doll, and observed it up close.

When observed up close, the delicacy of the straw doll became even more apparent.

The slender and smooth straw stems interweaved and traversed each other, forming dense lines no less than woven fabric. Layers of winding seemed to naturally create the current cute rabbit doll.

Held in the palm of his hand, it had a strange soft and flexible touch. In the comfort, there was also a faint fragrance of grass.

It fully qualified as a handicraft.

Ye Ze became more certain of his idea.

“Nuo Nuo,” Ye Ze smiled and discussed with An Nuo, “In fact, I have some trading channels in hand. Are you willing to allocate some handicrafts for a trial?”

“?” Being with him every day, where did these business channels come from?

The little snake sub-beast’s head was full of innocent question marks.

But what did it matter? Anyway, Ye Zi liked it, so giving it away was fine!

An Nuo nodded decisively, then boldly pushed a box of handicrafts in front of Ye Ze, indicating that he could choose freely, “These can all be given to Ye Zi!”

After saying that, he hesitantly pulled out a few, hugging them to his chest, “But, but these are reserved for exchanging winter clothes with the caravan.”

Ye Ze was amused and exasperated.

What a little trickster. It didn’t seem like he believed Ye Ze could make money at all.

Ye Ze patted the little snake sub-beast’s head, stood up, and said, “Okay, let’s not talk about this. I’ll go get things ready for dinner.”

“Eh?” This time, the question marks were even bigger. There was even some bewildered trembling.

The Black Snake Tribe usually only had two meals, responsible for going out in the morning and returning in the evening.

When the little snake sub-beast was short of food, it was common to eat only once a day or even go without a meal for a day.

Suddenly becoming three meals a day… it felt so extravagant.

Would they be too greedy and cause a shortage of winter food, leading to starving to death? QAQ The little snake sub-beast’s tail tip curled up with a hint of hesitation.

Ye Ze was really about to laugh. He patted his small head, “Look at you so thin, it’s not enough to eat more. We’ll eat three meals a day from now on. There’s not much leftover ingredients today, so let your little stomach adapt first.”

Don’t end up with a stomach disease before your body gets nourished.

The little snake sub-beast blinked his eyes. Thinking that the abundant supplies had dramatically decreased in less than half a day, his eyes began to accumulate teardrops.

Wu… What to do? It feels like getting closer to being starved to death! QAQ

Starvation is, of course, not something that will happen. It’s impossible to starve in this lifetime.

Otherwise, it would be too shameful for the wood-elemental ability users and the interdimensional trader!

Ye Ze comforted the anxious little snake sub-beast with red berries in hand, then glanced at the remaining scarce clear water in the cave’s water pit. Early the next morning, he took the little snake sub-beast to the water’s edge.

Selling goods wasn’t an overnight success. However, fixing the water pipe could be accomplished immediately.

The overlord of the Apocalypse had no self-awareness as a “repairman” and even had a bit of pride in doing something big. Leading the way with a little tail wagging, he was determined to let the little tail know that he was not a freeloading roommate fooling the innocent little snake sub-beast.

In response to the little snake sub-beast’s preparations to carry the heavy jar down the mountain, Ye Ze refuted seriously. With both of them carrying a light load, they easily reached their destination.

As they approached the shore, louder than the sound of the river, there were the voices of sub-beastmen and females laughing and talking.

The footsteps of the little snake sub-beast following behind Ye Ze abruptly stopped. The golden eyes revealed a mixture of refusal and fear, and he huddled in place, afraid to approach.

Compared to the beastmen who bullied him, the pointing and whispering of the sub-beastmen and females made the little snake sub-beast more frightened.

The murmurs sounded as if he were some undesired anomaly.

However, reaching the age where his tail didn’t transform into legs wasn’t his choice.

He also wanted to be like everyone else, to evolve normally, to walk normally. He also wanted to be a beautiful black snake like everyone else…

“Why are you suddenly crying? Did your tail scratch against a rock?” Ye Ze halted his steps. Pretending not to hear the sounds from the river shore, he looked at the little snake sub-beast with concern.

“It’s… it’s nothing. Sand just flew into my eyes.” The little snake sub-beast realized it suddenly and quickly wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes. He didn’t want Ye Zi to think he was troublesome.

Ye Ze looked at him helplessly. Feeling a mixture of sourness and tenderness in his heart, he gently responded, “Alright. It must be a silly thing bothering your eyes.”

Little snake sub-beast: “?”

Honestly, he suspected that what Ye Zi said wasn’t the same as what he heard from the waterside.

But looking at Ye Zi’s serious expression, the little snake sub-beast thought he might be overthinking.

Ye Ze took out a bunch of berries and gave them to the little snake sub-beast as a snack. Seeing the little snake sub-beast’s emotions stabilize, his own high-suspended heart also settled. Holding the little snake sub-beast’s hand, he decided to take a detour from now on.

Having lived together for several days, Ye Ze had long noticed the little snake sub-beast’s obsession with black. Initially, he thought it symbolized some expectation the little snake sub-beast held for the Black Snake Tribe. Therefore, he tried to bring the little snake sub-beast into contact with the tribe.

Unexpectedly, it turned out like this.

Ye Ze clicked his tongue in some regret.

In front of the little snake sub-beast, his proud observational skills seemed to always go wrong.

Eating fresh and sweet berries, his hand enveloped by the broad hand of the beastmen, suddenly, he felt safe.

The little snake sub-beast’s cheeks bulged, holding the bright red fruits left by the beastmen in his hand. His gaze shifted from the hands they held together to the beastmen’s perfectly contoured profile. A blush spread across his cheeks like a burning cloud.

After some thought, he lifted the berry string to the beastmen’s mouth. “Ye Zi, have some too.”

Good things should be shared together!

Ye Ze was momentarily stunned. Looking into those bright golden eyes, he slightly lowered his head and bit into a berry. “Very tasty. But I’m already full; you can have the rest, Nuo Nuo.”

“Mm!” Nuo Nuo assured him he would complete the task well!

The little snake sub-beast retrieved the delicious berries and happily bit down one after another. Until the string of red and green fruits turned into bare green branches, he felt a little regret: Ah, the berries are gone.

The little snake sub-beast walked while staring at the coral-like branches in his hand.

Clearly, he was a little glutton, yet he didn’t cry, make a fuss, or act greedy.

Too well-behaved.

If only he could learn to act cute, that would be even better. It would make people uncontrollably give him all the good things.

Ye Ze’s upturned mouth couldn’t come down at all. His gaze swept over the hidden beastmen in the bushes and then indifferently moved away.

For the sake of the little snake sub-beast’s good mood, he would reluctantly let this territorial behavior in front of him slide once.

It wouldn’t be good to scare the little snake sub-beast.

Ye Ze raised his hand, flipping his palm open in front of the little snake sub-beast.

A string of yellow-orange little fruits appeared like magic.

“The last string. Keep a bit of space in your stomach for a proper meal.”

“Mm!” The little snake sub-beast cradled the fruits. Whatever Ye Zi said was final.

Avoiding the tribe’s collection team took some time. However, both Ye Ze and the little snake sub-beast were very satisfied with the peaceful environment they found.

“Wait a moment; it’ll be ready soon,” Ye Ze instructed, letting go of the little snake sub-beast’s hand. He took out the improved hollow vine seeds and placed them by the river.

Green branches broke through the seed skin and grew out, thickening into sturdy vines in the blink of an eye. They deeply rooted into the soil, leaving only a small pit in place.

The nearby grass grew, pushing the soil, filling it in. Some fresh green grass sprouted, seamlessly blending with the surroundings, erasing any trace of the vines.

Unintelligible.

The things Ye Zi was doing had nothing to do with fetching water, did they?

The little snake sub-beast blinked blankly. Following Ye Ze, they started walking back home.

“Gulu.”

Behind the little snake sub-beast’s inattention, one end of the hollow vine appeared on the water’s surface. It swayed its branches comfortably, releasing a string of bubbles.

A plump river fish curiously swam over.

Just as it approached the swaying green leaves at the tip, it was suddenly entangled by the rapidly extending vines. In no time, it turned into an empty skeleton and fell to the riverbed.

The vine’s branches became even more lush.

Absorbing a large amount of energy, the hollow vine seed, although not evolving to the level of human intelligence, no longer looked so harmless.

“Where does Nuo Nuo want to place the water collection point?”

Ye Ze brought the little snake sub-beast back to the cave. The hollow vine, guided by Ye Ze’s ability, followed them along the way, and another opening waited underground for its master’s command.

The question mark above An Nuo’s head could almost fill the sky.

However, he still earnestly considered every question Ye Ze asked.

“There, perhaps.” An Nuo pointed to the entrance of the kitchen and warehouse, explaining softly, “It feels more convenient for cooking. Is that okay?”

“Of course.” Ye Ze snapped his fingers.

The hollow vine lurking in the ground received energy, rapidly growing and expanding, breaking through the soil where the little snake sub-beast had chosen.

The open mouth of the tube drooped, and a mature fruit pod grew at the curved top. Several green leaves adorned the straight vine, occasionally dotted with small white flowers.

It stood there silently, motionless.

Ye Ze approached, pressing his fingers on the flexible fruit pod of the hollow vine.

“Splash!”

Clear and clean river water sprayed out from the tube mouth of the hollow vine!

The little snake sub-beast opened his mouth wide. Witnessing this seemingly miraculous scene, he was dumbfounded. “Water, water is coming out!”

“There’s more than that.” Ye Ze raised his eyebrows, changing the pressure to a pinch.

“Gulu. Gududu.”

The green tube of the hollow vine suddenly bulged with an elongated curve, moving all the way up. Then the curved tube mouth suddenly straightened, spitting out a lively river fish.

“Ah!” The little snake sub-beast exclaimed, shrinking back. When he saw the big fish floundering on the ground, his eyes, looking at Ye Ze, were completely filled with admiration. “It’s a fish! So amazing!”

Ye Ze chuckled. “Nuo Nuo can learn to do it too. You won’t have to worry about water from now on.”

“Yeah yeah!” An Nuo cautiously approached. He lightly poked the fruit pod with his fingertip, then poked it again. Watching the clear water flowing from the tube mouth, he nodded happily.

Even the people in the tribe didn’t have such good treatment. They still needed to go to the river every now and then, working hard to transport river water back and forth.

But from today onwards, An Nuo wouldn’t have to toil like this anymore.

This was his first time having something that the residents of the tribe didn’t have.

Strange and comfortable emotions filled An Nuo’s chest.

It wasn’t about wanting to compare anything. It was more like: Ah, so I can also have things that normal people can have. A stable recognition of his own existence.

An Nuo lovingly touched the fruit pod on top of the hollow vine. He stayed by the hollow vine, not wanting to leave. He even thought about using his tail to encircle the hollow vine and protect it.

All of this was brought by Ye Ze. He really, really needed to repay Ye Ze well!

The little snake sub-beast’s intention to repay Ye Ze by picking mushrooms and night-battling grass-made dolls was decisively rejected by Ye Ze. Leading the little snake sub-beast, he climbed onto the bedding.

But all of that was for later in the night.

Now, Ye Ze controlled the hollow vine again, catching a few unlucky river fish.

The little snake sub-beast watched the rhythmic movements of the vine center, feeling heartache.

If this continued, wouldn’t the precious vine be stretched to the point of breaking?

What if it died? They would be back to the times without water.

Ye Ze had the newly grown vines take the fish to the side, scaling and gutting them to avoid the fishy smell reaching the little snake sub-beast. Turning around, he saw the little snake sub-beast staring at the hollow vine with a mix of worry and hesitation about approaching, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Nuo Nuo, it won’t break,” Ye Ze couldn’t help but reassure.

Most importantly, wasn’t he still here? If it broke, they could just replace it with another one.

The diligent hollow vine at work: “???”

Having experienced various miracles, An Nuo had already revered Ye Ze as a deity. Upon hearing Ye Ze’s solemn assurance, he immediately relaxed.

“Not only that, the hollow vine can also actively purify the water, absorbing those dirty things harmful to the body.”

Ye Ze patiently explained, teaching the little snake sub-beast how to correctly use the hollow vine as a water faucet.

“In the future, if you want to drink water, you won’t need to bother with the trouble of making a fire to heat it up. Turn the fruit pod to the left for warm water, to the right for cold water, and you can drink it directly. In the winter, you can wash vegetables and cook with warm water without worrying about freezing your hands.”

After some time, when his body fully recovered, he could generate more branches of the hollow vine.

Whether placed in the newly opened bathroom for cleaning or reserved for watering and fertilizing the future cultivated fields, it would be a quite convenient assistant.

An Nuo reached out and touched the clear water flowing from under the hollow vine.

It was genuinely warm!

The little snake sub-beast’s eyes widened. He felt that Ye Zi, who could come up with all these things, was even greater than the Beast God!

It was a process of teaching and learning. It wasn’t until the hardworking little vines returned to Ye Ze with cleaned fish that the little snake sub-beast suddenly realized and asked in confusion, “These fish. Why did Ye Zi catch them?”

“It’s today’s lunch.”

“?” The little snake sub-beast looked at Ye Ze, wanting to speak but hesitating.

“But fish are very fishy, and there are many bones…” Besides, they were very agile in the water, and An Nuo had never tried this before. What if Ye Zi didn’t like the taste of the finished product?

The little snake sub-beast was uneasy.

“That’s because the method was wrong.” Ye Ze took the fresh fish, assigned the little vines to bring pots and pans, and began to set up the fire skillfully. “I’ll cook today’s lunch.”

“!” The little snake sub-beast became even more flustered.

He had never heard of any beastman cooking!

The beastmen in the Black Snake Tribe usually carried dry rations when they went out, and the best culinary skill they had was roasting meat.

This level of skill to cook fish…

Heavens, Nuo Nuo, you can’t think any further!

“What are you daydreaming about?” Ye Ze playfully flicked the little snake sub-beast’s forehead with his finger, scolding with a smile, “If you find it boring, help me bring the spices from the warehouse.”

The little snake sub-beast, feeling wronged, covered his forehead and moved hesitantly towards the warehouse.

Ye Ze chuckled. Slowly catching up with the latter part of that sentence, he added, “And, I can cook. I won’t poison us.”

“Bang!”

The snake-shaped steamed buns have officially been overcooked.