Chapter 62

Chapter 62

All eyes were on Han Lie as he stepped up the stairs of the small house and gently pushed the door open.

The items inside the miniature dollhouse were still somewhat large for them-the sofa and bed were both as tall as a person.

It felt as if they had accidentally wandered into a land of giants.

Wang Chang circled the miniature dollhouse twice before coming to a halt in front of the ice and the food Qin Ying had left for them.

The ice cube, which had been the size of a sugar cube in Qin Ying’s hand, stood over a man’s height in the Box World.

It emitted a faint, cool mist, creating a sharp temperature contrast between the interior of the dollhouse and the scorching desert outside.

Wang Chang shivered and grinned. “There’s actually ice. This truly is the life of an immortal.”

With that, he let out a howl of thanks to the Supreme Deity.

He then lunged toward the large circular plate on the floor, staring at the rice grains-each as long as an arm-and the shred of chicken coated in scallion oil.

“Can we eat first? We can take a nap once we’re done.”

He was a man of simple needs, thinking only of eating well and sleeping well.

However, the other four did not share his ease.

Han Lie’s boots clicked against the floor of the miniature dollhouse as he surveyed the strange surroundings. Even the most detailed paper houses burned during the Ghost Festival were inherently unsettling. The furniture in this miniature dollhouse was too tall, and its misplaced coarseness only deepened the sense of incongruity.

Wu Er sat cross-legged beside the plate of rice, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. Looking at the giant grains of rice, he couldn’t help but feel like they were tiny ants being fed by the Supreme Deity.

Cheng Xuan and Wang Fang were also soldiers of the Jade Balance Army. Accustomed to dealing with dangerous Monstrous Beasts, they were both sharp-witted men. They, too, sensed this disharmony and felt restless.

This unease was a primal human instinct, impossible to avoid.

Noticing their discomfort, Han Lie interrupted their thoughts. “Don’t overthink it. Everyone, eat something!”

Han Lie used his Wrist Blade to cut a fist-sized chunk from the strip of chicken Qin Ying had shredded. He then used the blade to skewer the meat and hand it to Wu Er.

Since they had no utensils, the five men washed their hands with water melted from the ice and ate from the large circular plate like common laborers.

Excluding the Monstrous Beasts roaming the streets, the standard of living in the World in the Box was roughly equivalent to the Han Dynasty. Although various Monstrous Plants and Monstrous Beasts existed, they were luxuries reserved for the nobility. In the rigid social hierarchy of Great Xia, ordinary citizens would never taste such exotic things in their entire lives.

Qin Ying had considered their dietary habits and their specific environment, choosing a light scallion oil chicken. When scaled up, the chicken fibers were a bit coarse and dry, but the modern compound seasonings carried the flavor.

Wang Chang chewed vigorously, a sudden flight of fancy striking him. “What kind of meat did the Supreme Deity give us?”

He asked longingly, “Could it be dragon meat?”

Everyone looked at him simultaneously, then looked back down, too lazy to bother responding.

The man was clearly out of his mind, dreaming impossible dreams.

Finding no audience for his antics, Wang Chang funneled his boredom into his appetite, stuffing his mouth with rice coated in scallion oil. As he ate, he continued to critique the meal. “This is delicious.”

“The meat is just a bit dry, and the rice is a little mushy.”

“Wang Chang!” Han Lie barked his full name.

Wu Er, who had been about to stop him himself, paused when he saw Han Lie’s stern expression. Anyone familiar with Han Lie’s temperament knew that while he was usually easygoing and would help with almost any request, you did not want to actually provoke him.

Wang Chang gave a sheepish grin and slapped his own mouth. “Look at my big mouth. I wasn’t complaining, it’s just…”

His words trailed off into a whisper under Han Lie’s silent gaze.

Han Lie finally spoke. “We have no right to complain.”

In this sun-scorched desert, they should be profoundly grateful for even a roof over their heads, let alone such excellent conditions and food.

Wang Chang peered at Han Lie’s face, accidentally recalling the time back in Luoyang when this lad had given him a sound thrashing at the Training Ground. Back then, it was also because he had run his mouth and angered Han Lie. Those fists really hurt; he had lost two molars.

Wang Chang couldn’t help but touch his right cheek. He didn’t dare act flippant anymore and said seriously, “I understand. I won’t say another word.”

Having received his guarantee, Wu Er, who had been watching the show with his arms crossed, stepped in to smooth things over. “Alright, eat up and try to remember the lesson.”

After finishing their meal, Wang Chang and the other three lay down near the ice to nap with their clothes on. On the small beds of the dollhouse, Qin Ying had torn up some paper to serve as mattresses for them. However, she had misjudged the desert sun and the weather. Furthermore, the beds were too high. Rather than climbing up and down to huddle together on a communal bunk, the men found it much cooler and more comfortable to sleep on the floor next to the ice.

Qin Ying heard the rising and falling sounds of snoring and found herself envious of their ability to fall asleep so easily. Just as she was about to look away and accelerate the time flow in the box to skip their sleep cycle, she heard footsteps.

Looking closely, she saw that one little black bean hadn’t gone to sleep. It was Han Lie, using the sand from outside to scrub the dirty plate stained with scallion oil. He moved the plate-which was nearly as tall as he was-back and forth without much effort, looking very much like a tiny ant moving a heavy load.
If he were outside the box, he would be the kind of powerhouse who could push the limits of the human body.

Qin Ying watched quietly as he used sand to scrub the plates clean before carrying them back into the small house and coming out to tend to the horses.

He wiped the sweat off each of the five horses one by one and used a knife to chip off ice from the Dollhouse to apply cold compresses to the horses’ joints.

From Qin Ying’s perspective, watching his tiny figure bustle about was quite entertaining.

She simply rested her chin on her hand and watched for a while until Han Lie had finished a basic cleaning of the Dollhouse and the four napping men woke up.

Cheng Xuan and Zhang Fang both looked deeply embarrassed. “Squad Leader Han, we should have done that.”

Han Lie knew he didn’t need rest, so he didn’t bother with polite pleasantries. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Fill the waterskins and prepare to move out!”

Qin Ying saw Wang Chang run out of the Dollhouse in a hurry and wondered what he was up to.

Unexpectedly, he walked to a secluded spot and began to undo his waistband.

Qin Ying had no desire to see any strange details and looked away.

However, in the next instant, she heard Wang Chang let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.

“You shameless bastard! You’re grabbing your grandpa’s crotch?”

Grabbing his crotch?

Now, this piqued Qin Ying’s interest.

She took a look and couldn’t help but hiss through her teeth.

Wang Chang was rolling around in the sand where he had just been relieving himself.

A humanoid creature was pinning his hands above his head in a classic ‘overbearing CEO’ pose while its other hand was digging into his abdomen.

Qin Ying couldn’t see exactly where it was digging.

Wang Chang was panicked, but he still had a foul mouth.

“Where did this horny ghost come from? Ow! Stop! Ancestor, a maggot just fell into my mouth!”

Qin Ying felt grossed out just listening to him holler.

Just as she was about to grab her trowel to stage a heroic rescue, Han Lie, who had come running at the sound of the shouting, took the lead. He tackled the humanoid creature pinning Wang Chang and locked its neck between his arms.

Qin Ying heard a crisp *crack*.

Then she saw Han Lie rip the thing’s head clean off.

Outside the box, Qin Ying shuddered.

“The Little Wolf Dog is a bit brutal!”

The nickname slipped out before she could stop herself. Realizing her slip of the tongue, Qin Ying quickly shut her mouth.

Han Lie, who was holding a human head, froze.

What did the Supreme Deity just call him?

It was an illusion. It had to be an illusion!

The wind must have been too loud, or Wang Chang was being too noisy, and he misheard.

After comforting himself with these thoughts, Han Lie lifted the head in his right hand to examine it.

He then frowned. “It’s one of the People of the Yellow Sands.”

Just as an orange grown in the south is an orange, but one grown in the north is a bitter trifoliate, a Living Corpse in the desert naturally looked like dried-out jerky.

The head in Han Lie’s hand had sparse hair, but high brow ridges and a large skeletal structure.

Wu Er walked over as well.

He looked at the waxy head and said, “A member of the Sand People died here and turned into a Living Corpse due to the influence of the Hanba Corpse.”

Wang Chang, clutching his crotch and thanking his lucky stars he’d escaped with his life, hopped over and kicked the headless mummy on the sand dune.

“You pervert! You almost snatched my junk away!”

*Clatter.*

His kick sent the mummy rolling a couple of times down the dune.

A flash of bright silver rolled out from the mummy’s abdominal cavity and landed on the gravel.

It was a silver box.

The mummy had been clutching it tightly to its chest when it died. After death, the box had become embedded in the dried-out abdominal cavity and only rolled out when Wang Chang kicked it.

Seeing the shiny color, Wang Chang cheered. “Let me see what this is.”

As he reached out to grab it, the box suddenly vibrated.

A streak of silver light lunged straight for Wang Chang’s face. Just before it hit the tip of his nose, it was swatted down by Han Lie’s Ring-Pommel Saber.

Only then did Wang Chang react. “What the hell is that!”

He looked at the sand dune and saw a silver ladybug half-buried in the yellow sand.

Wang Chang’s foot twitched.

Wu Er grabbed him by the hair just in time and yanked him back. “You stupid pig, do your feet itch? You want to try stepping on it?”

Wang Chang’s scalp stung, and he didn’t dare say a word.

Han Lie knelt on one knee to examine the ladybug in the sand.

Qin Ying also squinted anxiously to see.

But a ladybug inside the box was far too small for her; she couldn’t see anything clearly and had to prick up her ears to listen to Han Lie and the others.

After a long while, Han Lie said, “It’s a Sand Ladybug used for communication by the Dune People!”

“Most of the Sand People tribes scattered throughout the desert regions make a living by herding.”

“Their settlements are extremely far apart, so they use these desert ladybugs to communicate.”

Han Lie, who had studied the conditions of this region intensely with Chief Clerk Li before the mission, explained to Wu Er and the others.

He picked up the ladybug from the sand.

He gently pried open the insect’s hard, metallic elytra, revealing the membranous wings underneath.

On the thin wings, several lines of Chinese characters were written in a crooked hand:

*”The village is besieged by Monstrous Beasts. We are without water or food, living in constant fear. We desperately await the arrival of the Heavenly Soldiers to relieve the people’s suffering.”*

Han Lie released the ladybug’s wings.

The ladybug fluttered its wings and circled in the air several times without leaving, acting as if it wanted to lead the way.

The wind swirled, blowing yellow sand across the sky. Han Lie looked at the headless corpse on the ground and said, “It’s a plea for help from the Sand People to the Imperial Court.”