Chapter 38: Swaying Blue Sky
On the last day, Xilutiya let Komiya and Karen move freely, no longer needing to follow her.
“Today I plan to take a walk around the village and inquire about the local farmers’ experience in planting crops.”
“Aren’t you going to continue picking mushrooms today?”
“We’ve walked through the nearby forest once, and going deeper inside wouldn’t be safe.” The maiden shook her head slightly. She herself wasn’t afraid alone, but it was different for Komiya and Karen.
“Alright.” Komiya thought it made sense too.
“Then Karen and I will go fishing.” She soon recovered her energy.
After bidding farewell to the two, Xilutiya carried a small basket out the door, inside which were her notebook, the bread for lunch, and a small bottle of water.
Just as she had told Komiya, she first asked the local villagers about farming conditions, then squatted down and checked the local soil environment with her fingers.
She remembered that on the day she first arrived in Luan Shu Village, Teacher Heide said that the wheat yield here was over 60 jin per mu, roughly sowing 6 jin of wheat seeds to produce 60 jin of wheat.
Such a yield was very good compared to the entire Regas Kingdom. It was said that in some barren areas, sowing 6 jin of wheat seeds only produced over 20 jin of wheat.
The first time she heard this number, Xilutiya found it somewhat hard to believe, because in her memory, wheat easily yielded hundreds of jin per mu, and there were even cases of thousands of jin per mu.
As she chatted and inquired with the local villagers, some situations gradually became clear.
No fertilization, must leave fields fallow for rotation, insufficient irrigation, poor varieties, pest infestations—these factors directly led to low yields.
It seemed that improving grain yields would require a long road ahead. She sorted it out simply: it would probably take making the villagers know and get used to applying fertilizer, building water channels for irrigation, using superior seeds, killing pests, and so on, to completely change the current situation.
These weren’t things that could be accomplished in a day or two. For now, she could only note them down temporarily and try later when she had the spare capacity.
After understanding these and satisfying her curiosity, Xilutiya carried her basket to the nearby forest at the edge of the village.
Today was sunny, and the grassland was also dry and refreshing. She set down the basket, then picked up a wooden branch and practiced sword technique, which she hadn’t trained for several days.
First was basic sword technique. Recalling the observations from the recent competition and her own review and summary, her actions were more perfect and fluid in certain details, achieving a wonderful balance of power and skill.
（‘Basic Sword Technique’ proficiency +2, Basic Sword Technique Lv.4, progress 856/1200）
Her sword technique was gradually reaching a bottleneck. It was only thanks to watching the competition recently that she had made some breakthrough; otherwise, it would be hard to improve further through training alone.
How about a walk in the forest? She thought this, looked at the wooden stick in her hand, then shook her head.
At least she needed to bring a real weapon. It might not be in time to go back for the sword now. As Xilutiya packed her things to head back, a slight rustling of leaves from the distant woods made her look up. Her eyes blinked, and she soon spotted a youth supporting himself against trees as he walked on the distant mountain slope.
It was Mike. She recognized the youth with somewhat fierce eyes.
He seemed to be injured, with one leg inconvenient.
After considering, Xilutiya carried her basket and walked over.
……
Huffing, Mike gasped again and glanced at the village at the foot of the mountain not far away. His pained state improved slightly.
Almost there, he silently urged himself in his heart, then painfully moved his left foot again with difficulty.
Most students hadn’t gone up the mountain today, but he still came, just to find more prey and save money to repay Brother Jieluo.
During this time, because he was studying with Scholar Heide, he had almost no income, and the money he had saved was almost spent. If not for Brother Jieluo’s support, he probably couldn’t have continued studying long ago.
Sorry, Brother Jieluo. I didn’t get a ranking.
If he had gotten a ranking in the previous competition, he could have received the reward from the viscount. That piece of equipment could sell for a gold coin on the market, enough to repay Brother Jieluo’s money all at once.
Money was very important, especially to the poor and commoners.
Many times, injuries and illnesses weren’t incurable, but there was no money to buy medicine or find a physician, or because of no money, they ate inferior spoiled food and fell ill.
He wanted to become a powerful adventurer, so he could earn a lot of money.
The adventurer profession was really great; one month could earn what ordinary work brought in half a year or even a year. Mike had always wanted to become an amazing adventurer like Jieluo.
However, compared to those experienced adventurers, Mike was still too youthful. The successful hunt the previous two days had given him some confidence, but he hadn’t expected an accident today.
While chasing a fox, he missed a step and slid down the mountain slope. Though he reacted quickly and adjusted, he still stepped into a stone crevice covered by fallen leaves, and under the pull of his full body weight, his left foot twisted, possibly even fractured.
The mountains weren’t that safe. If one couldn’t save oneself alone, they might never walk out.
Supporting himself on a mossy tree trunk, he barely lifted his right foot and took another step, dragging his painful left foot. Sweat beads the size of beans rolled down, and his palm scraped fine wounds on the bark.
One step, another step—he was almost at the village. He kept encouraging himself.
Perhaps from exhaustion or dizziness, he didn’t notice and stubbed his right foot on a stone on the ground, falling again. His arm smashed into a sharp rock edge, scraping a stinging wound.
Fortunately, his head was fine. He lay on the ground, panted for a moment, then barely propped himself up again and slowly walked forward.
Trying not to think about when he would arrive, Mike’s mind was supported only by the thought of reaching the village, urging him to keep moving.
Like this, until dazed sweat beads obscured his forehead and cheeks, he saw a black-haired, black-skirted figure in front of him.
Who is this… His consciousness was already somewhat blurred.
Xilutiya looked at the youth collapsed in front of her and bent down concernedly to check.
He seemed to have heatstroke, and his foot was also injured.
Xu Feng Season’s autumn still had midsummer heat. It had been okay with rain a few days ago, but these two days were hot again. Recalling the local climate, Xilutiya took out the small bottle of water from the basket.
The water was in a pottery bottle, prepared by Karen that morning. Xilutiya hadn’t drunk any yet. She uncorked it, poured water into the mouth of the youth passed out on the ground, then dragged him to the shade of the tree and laid him down.
About ten minutes later, Mike slowly woke up, gradually regaining consciousness.
He looked around, then gazed at the maiden sitting in the shade reading a book not far away, finally realizing he had passed out earlier.
“Thank you.” His voice was weak.
“It’s nothing, but your current condition isn’t good.” Xilutiya walked over and brought her hand near the youth’s forehead again.
Warm and hot; unclear if it was a fever or lingering heat from heatstroke.
It was said that in Xu Feng Season, prolonged exposure to blazing sun easily caused body temperature to rise uncontrollably due to the influence of ‘Blazing Sun’ nature, eventually leading to death from fever.
But now it was the ninth year of Xu Feng Season, and the ‘Blazing Sun’ nature was weakening; its power had passed the peak difficult period.
Xilutiya blinked her eyes and checked the youth’s condition again.
Name: Mike
Race: Human（Mortal Body）
Status: Healthy（Injured, fracture, heatstroke）
Talent: Vivid Blood【Good Grade】: Blood pulse rhythm is active, easily perceives and cultivates ‘Blood Law’-related abilities
Fate Card:【Mountain Forest Youth】（Tier: None）’Nimble hands and feet, wild child of the mountains’
Ability Card:【Breathing Technique Lv.2】【Empty】【Empty】
Skills:『Basic Sword Technique Lv.3』『Wilderness Survival Lv.1』
————
Fortunately, it wasn’t illness or fever, just heatstroke. Xilutiya lowered her hand.
Feeling up close the cool, soft palm on his forehead and the faint floral scent from the maiden’s body, Mike was momentarily stunned. For the first time, he was immersed body and mind in something beyond hunting, making money, or training.
Watching the maiden stand and leave, he even felt a brief regret and reluctance, as if being a bit more seriously ill might make her stay by his side longer.
This odd thought was quickly rejected by his remaining reason, but he was still surprised by his own vulnerability and heartbeat.
He clearly hadn’t felt this way even facing that eye-catching golden-haired young lady from a great family among the students. Could people really become emotionally fragile after injury? His already heatstroked, feverish head felt dizzy.
“I can’t carry you alone. Can you wait here a moment?” Xilutiya’s gentle voice struck deep into his heart again.
“I… I’m fine…” The last shred of male pride made him feel he shouldn’t appear weak before this maiden.
“Then wait a moment. I’ve checked around here, and no other animals will come. I’ll go call someone right away.” Xilutiya bent down to reassure him again, then stood up and ran down the mountain in small steps.
In his dizzy vision, he watched the figure descending the slope until she left sight and vanished. Mike’s tired eyelids finally couldn’t hold, and he fell asleep.
Half an hour later, Suolin and others, guided by Xilutiya, came up the mountain and found the unconscious Mike. Everyone lifted him by legs and arms.
The bumpy journey made Mike open his eyes again. Seeing him awake, the people around teased.
“Heh, you’re quite lucky. If Tiya hadn’t found you, we might not have come out looking until nightfall.”
“Got in trouble acting alone, huh.”
“Lone wolf won’t cut it, idiot.”
“I…” Mike wanted to explain, but he lacked strength now.
His open eyes looked at the blue sky. His body rocked like a small boat without anchorage, fatigued. It should have been especially uncomfortable, but the teasing voices and supporting arms brought faint reassurance and warmth.
Everything seemed not so bad.
