Chapter 4
The moment he heard Xia Mingyu's words, the middle-aged man in the sheepskin coat quickly stood up. A clear trace of embarrassment appeared on his wrinkled face.
He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, then respectfully placed the gray rabbit he was carrying on the ground before preparing to leave.
Seeing this, the blonde girl beside him hurriedly called him back.
The two exchanged a few words in a language Xia Mingyu couldn't understand. After listening to her explanation, the middle-aged man suddenly showed a look of realization.
He gave Xia Mingyu a restrained smile, then said several more things to the blonde girl before finally leaving with a satisfied expression.
...
After returning to the wooden house, the girl stood in front of Xia Mingyu.
She held the rabbit by its ears with one hand and pointed at herself with the slender finger of her other hand.
"Anliya..."
The girl softly spoke her name.
"Anliya."
Xia Mingyu slowly repeated it.
Hearing him pronounce her name, the corners of the girl's lips gently rose into a brilliant smile.
It was warm and bright, like the winter sun.
Her clear, deep-blue eyes and delicate features, as though they had been carefully sculpted by a god, made that smile look as beautiful as a painting.
For a moment, Xia Mingyu was completely captivated.
Fortunately, Anliya soon turned around and headed toward the kitchen, so she didn't notice his dazed expression.
Under Xia Mingyu's gaze, the girl tied up her hair and put on a coarse linen apron.
Then she skillfully began preparing the rabbit on the chopping board with a kitchen knife.
Her hands were nimble yet strong.
With a single precise chop, she cut off the rabbit's head.
Then she removed its fur, cleaned out its organs, cut the meat into pieces suitable for cooking, and added some vegetables.
In only a short while, the plump gray rabbit had been placed into a pot together with chopped mushrooms and several wild vegetables Xia Mingyu didn't recognize.
A faint aroma of meat gradually spread throughout the room.
After finishing all that work, the girl seemed a little tired.
Beads of sweat covered her pale forehead, dampening the golden strands of hair near her face.
Seeing this, Xia Mingyu thought for a moment.
He took a wooden bowl, scooped half a bowl of water from the water jar, and handed it to Anliya.
However, the girl's reaction was strangely intense.
She immediately waved her hands in panic, as though Xia Mingyu had done something he absolutely shouldn't have done.
Only after Xia Mingyu repeatedly insisted on offering her the bowl did Anliya reluctantly accept it.
Obvious gratitude appeared on her beautiful face, as if Xia Mingyu had just bestowed some enormous favor upon her.
It's just a bowl of water...
The corner of Xia Mingyu's mouth twitched.
After drinking half the water, the girl pointed at what remained inside the bowl.
"Water..."
"Water."
Xia Mingyu repeated after her.
He understood that she was teaching him the language of this world.
"Meat."
"Bamboo shoot."
"Sreil."
...
For the next few days, Xia Mingyu stayed inside the wooden house and learned the local language from Anliya.
Every day, the middle-aged man in the sheepskin coat would respectfully bring them food.
Most of the time, it was a rabbit.
Occasionally, he brought a basket of fruit or even an entire leg of lamb.
For some strange reason, Xia Mingyu seemed to have divine assistance when learning.
Anything Anliya taught him was immediately memorized and understood.
He never forgot it.
He could even infer the names of other things based on what he had already learned.
After only three short days, Xia Mingyu was already able to hold ordinary conversations with Anliya naturally.
At the same time, he finally learned exactly where he was and why the people here treated him with such overwhelming respect.
According to Anliya, this village was located near the edge of Black Wolf Territory, on the southern frontier of the Kingdom of Sosia on the Western Continent.
Because the village produced large quantities of high-quality fruit, it was known as Fruit Basket Village.
The lord who governed this region was the noble Viscount Hughes.
The forest Xia Mingyu had gotten lost in was called Howling Wolf Forest.
Many packs of wild wolves lived inside it.
There were even rumors that an extremely vicious magical beast known as the Black Abyss Wolf lived deep within the forest.
As for why the villagers treated him so respectfully...
Xia Mingyu glanced at his reflection in the water jar.
More precisely, he looked at the long string of white words floating above his head.
