Free Web NovelChapter 134: Chapter 107: Measured Rewards and Punishments (Part 2)
Once they were clear of the Bone Plate Platform, Meng Ni finally stopped and let out a long sigh.
They’d survived!
"Mengmeng! How could you do something so dangerous!" Once she had calmed down, Meng Ni turned and grabbed the Little Cat Girl’s cheeks, pinching them hard as she spoke.
"Ah, that hurts! Sister, stop pinching me!" Mengmeng struggled for a moment before escaping her sister’s demonic grasp. She rubbed her cheeks with a whimper. "I’m fine, aren’t I? Why did you come here? It’s so dangerous."
"You know it’s dangerous? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Not bringing it up was one thing, but now that they were talking about it, Meng Ni’s anger flared. Her sister was usually a bit mischievous and curious, but there had to be a limit! A forbidden land, the Undead—neither of those were things to be trifled with. One wrong move and her little life would be forfeit.
Mengmeng put her hands on her hips and stuck her chin out, looking like a little adult. "What’s there to worry about? I just went to get some food. Nothing to worry about at all!"
"The Undead! Mengmeng, those are the Undead! How can you expect me not to worry? I’m your older sister!" As Meng Ni spoke, her eyes reddened. She bent down and pulled her sister into a hug, her voice choked with emotion.
"Ngh... Sister, don’t cry. Everything’s fine, right? We got out, we’re okay, and we have meat." Seeing her sister cry, Mengmeng immediately panicked and began patting Meng Ni’s back gently.
"Don’t you ever do something like this again. I was worried sick," Meng Ni said, holding her sister tight.
"No! The Undead gave me meat. They’re not bad," Mengmeng said, shaking her head firmly.
In her heart, having enough to eat and drink, a safe place to rest, and no need to worry about danger—that was the good life. Now that there was a way for her to get meat, how could she possibly let it go?
Mengmeng might be small, but she was already mature for her age. The children of the poor grow up fast, and she wanted to do something for her sister, too.
Ever since their parents’ accident, the two sisters had relied on each other to survive. Her older sister had given up almost everything to raise her. Whenever they had food, her sister would go hungry just to make sure she ate first. Mengmeng remembered all of it.
She wanted her sister to have a good life.
But the Tribe was only so big, with only so many people. Even the adults struggled to get enough to eat, to say nothing of two orphaned sisters with almost no ability to contribute. The fact that they hadn’t died was already a testament to the Tribe’s care.
Her firm voice made Meng Ni lift her head and look at her through tear-filled eyes. "Promise me you won’t come here again. I don’t want to lose you."
Mengmeng reached out her small hand and wiped the tears from the corner of her sister’s eye. She said softly, "Sister, I’m hungry. I want to eat meat, but there is no meat. I don’t want to go to sleep with an empty stomach anymore."
Those words made fresh tears stream down Meng Ni’s face. Though she was Mengmeng’s sister, she was more like a mother, having raised Mengmeng herself. Hearing Mengmeng say that broke her heart, but it also made her understand why she had risked running into the territory of the Undead.
"It’s too dangerous. It’s just too dangerous." Even though she understood, Meng Ni was still unwilling to let Mengmeng come to the land of the Undead. She was terrified of losing her little sister.
"Sister, the Undead aren’t like they are in the legends. Look, there are Minotaurs with them. They haven’t killed the Minotaurs, so why would they definitely kill us?" Mengmeng argued with clear logic.
Meng Ni was stunned. That’s right. Just now on the Bone Plate Platform, she had also seen the Minotaurs. She had even seen the Minotaur Tribe built on the platform. Why could the Minotaurs live together with the Undead? It looked so peaceful. Not only that, but when they were leaving, a Minotaur had even actively come over to help the Undead stop them.
If the Undead were truly as evil and cruel as the legends said, leaving nothing but scorched earth in their wake, then the Minotaurs wouldn’t still be alive.
’Could it be that this is the real reason Mengmeng dared to approach the Undead?’
Seeing that her sister seemed to be swayed by her words, Mengmeng quickly continued, "Also, Sister, didn’t you notice? The Master of the Undead is a Human! And the two people close to the Master of the Undead are also Humans. They aren’t real Undead."
Meng Ni gave her sister a strange look. She had never realized her little sister’s powers of observation were so sharp, or that her thinking was so clear. Unable to resist, she pinched her sister’s cheek again. "Are you really Mengmeng? You’re not an Undead in disguise, are you?"
"Ah... let go! Stop pinching my face, it hurts!" Mengmeng swatted her sister’s demonic claws away and clutched her face, huffing, "Of course I’m your sister! How could I possibly be an Undead?"
"Either way, you’re coming back to the Tribe with me first. Even if we really are going to make contact with the Undead, we need to discuss it first. You can’t just run over here so recklessly!" Meng Ni felt her sister had a point, but she was still uneasy.
Mengmeng didn’t mind. She had the meat, so she wouldn’t have to worry about food for the next few days. Besides, the Undead were probably about to go to war with the Alliance Army. If she went over now, she could easily get caught in the crossfire. It was safer to hide back in the Tribe.
’Hmph, I’m a clever one!’
Mengmeng thought smugly. She felt like putting her hands on her hips again, but the thought of getting her cheeks pinched made her give up the idea. She obediently followed her sister back toward the Tribe.
"By the way, Mengmeng," Meng Ni suddenly recalled what her sister had said earlier and asked, "was that intel you gave the Master of the Undead true? You really saw the Alliance Army?"
"Mhm, yeah, I saw them. I traded information about the Alliance Army to the Master of the Undead for meat last time, too," Mengmeng said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Meng Ni nodded, recalling the words of the Human who had delivered the meat last time: The Master of the Undead rewards and punishes with fairness.
Perhaps... this really was an opportunity. An opportunity to finally live a good life.
