As Jiang Cheng stood about ten meters away, the family of three watched him in shock and admiration. The tall, thin man and his wife and child were impressed by Jiang Cheng's ability to easily repel more than twenty attackers and leave four of them behind. They thought to themselves, "Such tyrannical strength, as expected of an Evolver."
Despite the chaos around them, there were still three people screaming in agony. But they would die for sure. When Jiang Cheng looked over, the skinny woman quickly explained, "Sir, we were on our way to the forest to look for food when we overheard those people discussing robbing you of your water. They said that you had a large bucket of water…"
It appeared that the attackers had been spying on him from a distance and had noticed that he had obtained a hundred catties of water. The tall, thin man pulled the wooden arrow from his shoulder and added, "Sir, what my wife said is true. We had wanted to warn you about it, but they discovered us before we could..."
The tall and thin man pulled the wooden arrow on his shoulder and said, "Sir, what my wife said is true. After we found out, we eavesdropped for a while and knew that they wanted to rob you. We had wanted to alert you about it, but they found out in advance…"
Jiang Cheng's tense expression eased a little. Despite the chaotic situation, he was grateful that the family of three had given a warning in advance, which allowed him to be prepared. Otherwise, he would likely be able to handle an arrow suddenly shot at him, but it could be dangerous for Tong Xiaorou and Yaya.
"Thank you very much," he said, nodding.
He took out three pieces of roast meat and a water bag, the one he had obtained from the tall and thin man earlier, and threw them in front of the family of three. There was still about half a catty of synthetic water in the bag, which he threw too. It was the principle of Wildlings to avoid physical contact with strangers, and they didn't care if their food was dirty, as long as it was edible.
As expected, the family of three looked at the food on the ground with excitement and hunger.
"Thank you, sir… Son, quickly kowtow to him!" the skinny woman urged her son to kneel down.
"Thank you, sir," the little boy said as he kowtowed.
The tall and thin man also knelt down gratefully.
Although they wanted to warn Jiang Cheng and the girls, their initial plan was to build a good relationship with Jiang Cheng, an Evolver. Then, the man and his son could work while his wife, who couldn't work, could follow the two girls beside Jiang Cheng. They didn't expect to receive food from Jiang Cheng, let alone so much at once. It made them overjoyed.
As Jiang Cheng picked up the Tang Dynasty Sword and Yaya, he spoke to Tong Xiaorou, "Let's go."
"Alright." Tong Xiaorou obediently followed him, although she felt a little pained about the three pieces of roast meat and half a bag of water. Jiang Cheng was the family head, and she did not express any opinions from the beginning to the end.
Jiang Cheng had finished off the three severely injured bandits while on his way to prevent any further accidents. As they walked away, the tall and thin man opened his mouth, as if to speak, but his wife stopped him. After they had walked a distance, the man frowned and asked, "Why did you stop me? This was the best time to ask for his permission to let us follow him."
The wife whispered, "He clearly doesn't want any burdens. It's highly likely that he will reject us if we ask to follow him now. Once we get rejected, it'll be hard for us to get acquainted with him. We should take it slow."
"How do we take it slow?" The man was puzzled.
"When you're working and don't have time to take care of me, I'll go look for them and slowly get to know them first," the wife said. "By the way, I've heard that Evolvers have the ability to sense hostility. Don't think too much when you're around him, and don't stare at those two girls. As long as he has any hostility towards us, there's no hope."
"How could I dare?" The man was speechless. "It hurts so much. Please help me take out the arrow first. I hope my wound won't become inflamed."
...
Jiang Cheng brought Tong Xiaobo and Yaya to another place. They saw the Evolver from before brazenly roasting bison meat a hundred meters away with his family, ignoring the Wildlings who were watching from afar.
That Evolver might have killed two bison before because he was currently roasting a bison leg and taking things out of thin air from time to time.
Jiang Cheng was bewildered as he thought, "Does he have dimensional skills, or is he using a Dimension Folding Bag? Or could it be that all Evolvers had dimensional skills like the Item Box I have? Is that even possible?"
He pondered aloud, "Maybe I should think this way. According to Yang Kuifeng, Dimension Folding Bags are made from the stomach of Voraxsilks. If there are many Voraxsilks, there may be plenty of Dimension Folding Bags that exist."
Jiang Cheng considered, 'They may even come in various sizes. Perhaps the smaller one is affordable for an average Evolver. If that's the case, there would be no need for me to be so discreet when using my Item Box in the future. Of course, it's best to find out about this first.'
Meanwhile, the young woman next to that Evolver said enviously, "Lun, their clothes are so beautiful," she remarked. "I haven't had new clothes in two years, and mine are dirty. That person you mentioned may not be as strong as you, but he seems to have a way. He was able to trade labor for nice clothes, and they even took a bath."
Lun, the Evolver, sneered at her comment. "He's just a dog working for the shelter folks! Moreover, water is so expensive now, but they actually use it for showers. If they can't find food to exchange for water later, they'll be in trouble."
Suddenly, the Evolver's son piped up with a question. "Dad, we traded a dead Evolved beast with the shelter folks for water. Does that count as working for them?"
The Evolver was stunned by his son's question and glared at him. "Shut up!"
The little boy pursed his lips, thinking, 'That's how Dad is, he'd rather die than lose face.' However, he did not dare to talk back because he knew that his father was very hostile toward the shelter folks. If it was not for the fact that they had no choice, they would not follow behind the Terrawheeler. Without it, they wouldn't even be able to find water on their own.
...
Jiang Cheng paused at a spot that provided an unobstructed view of the Terrawheeler. He retrieved the roast meat from his bag and handed a piece to each of the two girls.
"Another meal? Isn't that wasteful?" Tong Xiaorou hesitated because she had already had two meals.
Even six-year-old Yaya was reluctant, hoping to save her appetite for later.
"It's lunchtime," Jiang Cheng explained with a grin. "Three meals a day is the norm. Come on, eat up. You're both so thin. You need to nourish your bodies, especially Xiaorou. Your bones are sticking out, making me uncomfortable to touch your body." He couldn't help but think, 'I have plenty of food. We should eat more to nourish our bodies.'
Tong Xiaorou blushed at his comment. Despite her hesitation, she obediently began to eat the roast meat.
Jiang Cheng smiled and started to eat.
Many Wildlings nearby looked over with envy and jealousy, but no one dared to snatch their food. Some women who thought themselves were pretty good-looking quickly wiped the mud off their faces, trying to attract Jiang Cheng's attention.
However, at that moment, the two power armors began to clear the way once again. The massive Terrawheeler in front of them began to move, its thirty-two mechanical legs supporting the behemoth as it slowly rose to its feet. It set off down the passage opened by the power armor pilots, and the Wildlings behind it quickly followed suit.
Tong Xiaorou hurriedly stood up.
"No need to be in such a hurry. Eat first." Jiang Cheng said.
"Oh." Tong Xiaorou squatted down again.
"The speed of the Terrawheeler will be very slow anyway," Jiang Cheng said with a smile. "We can easily catch up. There's no need to rush."
"You're right, brother-in-law. Sis and I will listen to you," Yaya rushed to answer.
Jiang Cheng smiled and rubbed the little girl's head and said, "Good girl."
Meanwhile, the Evolver had already taken his family and set off in the distance. Jiang Cheng remained indifferent to their departure, instead focusing on eating bison meat.
After finishing his meal, he pulled out a bison hide sheet and removed his white shirt. He wanted to try fusing the bison hide sheet and the shirt, with the shirt as the main body.
A white light was emitted. A few seconds later, the bison hide shattered and dissipated, and the white shirt's attributes show:
[White Shirt (White): Toughness +1]