I am the righteous path.

Chapter 881: 74. Carolina and Beru


Chapter 881: 74. Carolina and Beru


Lu Li took the water bottle from Fake Beru and returned to the caravan.


“Are you going to tell her the truth directly?” Puxiu trotted on all fours beside Lu Li.


“Yeah.”


“But she’ll be very sad!” Puxiu thought it was too cruel to do this to an old woman.


Even Katerina thought so: “You don’t have to tell her the truth; just say it’s from a girl named Beru.”


“She’ll learn the truth eventually,” Lu Li said calmly.


“At least we’ll not be the executioner,” Katerina shrugged, feeling that in some ways, Lu Li was rational to the point of coldness.


Ahead not far away, the elderly woman stood by the carriage, waiting for the girl who would never come back.


“Do you remember what I told you when we first met? You need to try to change yourself, don’t be so cold…”


Katerina said softly as she and Lu Li approached the elderly woman.


“Beru, is that you?”


The old face covered in black cloth turned toward them at the sound of footsteps.


“Yes.”


Katerina answered before Lu Li could speak.


The elderly woman tilted her head slightly, as if scrutinizing them through her covered eyes: “Who are the people beside you?”


“We’re her new friends,” Katerina replied, adding, “We’re in the same carriage with her.”


“You’ve made new friends? That’s wonderful,” the elderly woman said with relief, taking the water bottle that “Beru” handed to her.


Boo—


The deep horn echoed over the caravan, signaling its imminent departure.


“It’s almost time to set sail, return to your carriage, Beru,” the elderly woman said.


Lu Li played the role of a mute girl as Katerina bid farewell to her, and they returned to their own carriage.


“Did we just do a good deed?” Puxiu shook his tail quickly upon returning to the carriage. “It’s my first time doing a good deed!”


“This doesn’t count as a good deed, okay? It’s at most a kind lie,” Katerina frowned, loosening the tight leather armor around her waist.


The carriage gently trembled, and the caravan slowly left Shelter Village, continuing its journey.


The night during Weird Times always came quickly; young people found it difficult to understand how in the Old Era, nine in the evening was only dusk.


They couldn’t even comprehend the concept of “dusk” itself because they had never seen the sun.


The beautiful sunlight, brighter than lamps and warmer than fire, existed only in the conversations and paintings of the elderly.


The next stop for the Prissy Caravan was Octopus Town, located outside the Dark Wilderness.


After driving peacefully all night, the caravan arrived outside Octopus Town at dawn the next day.



The sounds outside the carriage woke the lightly sleeping Lu Li and others; opening the window, the noise akin to a marketplace flooded the carriage.


The scent of perfume suddenly became intense, and Katerina leaned toward the window, enviously remarking, “I’ve never seen such a massive caravan in Tang Ge Town… how come she’s here?”


The elderly Carolina wandered at the caravan’s outskirts, fumbling with her cane, asking passersby, gradually approaching this way.


But she couldn’t see anything, and the noise made her unable to hear, and she bumped into a worker approaching with goods.


The elderly woman fell, a metal box dropped from her arms, and the worker holding a wooden box was also tripped by the cane, falling to the ground.


Carolina’s hands anxiously searched the ground, touching the metal box, she nervously checked for damage, regardless of the dust on her body: “Sorry, have you seen a mute girl with braided hair?”


“Sss… I haven’t seen her.”


The worker rubbed his arm scraped by the wooden box, unable to complain as the elderly woman was a passenger, he picked up the box and hurriedly left.


The elderly woman’s back bent further, her movements slowed, still searching for her niece.


“Katerina, call her over.”


Silently watching the scene, Lu Li said.


“Alright.”


Katerina didn’t oppose this time; she disembarked and walked toward the elderly woman, after a joyful exchange, she brought her onto the carriage.


The dust-covered elderly woman carefully took out a cherished metal box from her arms: “I baked your favorite cookies yesterday but forgot to give them to you… They might be a bit cold and hard now.”


The metal box contained only a few slightly burnt, poorly shaped round cookies.


Lu Li reached out to take the metal box.


After a brief silence, Katerina spoke on behalf of Beru: “Beru thanks you.”


The elderly woman smiled in relief: “Of course, I know… the child has always been shy.”


“Woo—” Puxiu let out a whimper from within the black robe.


“Is there someone else in the carriage?” The elderly woman turned towards Puxiu.


“Puxiu, a little dog,” Katerina grabbed Puxiu’s exposed hind leg, dragging it to the elder’s hand.


The elderly woman raised her hand and gently caressed Puxiu’s coarse, yellowish fur, trying to touch Puxiu’s head, but it dodged away.


“It’s quite mischievous,” the elderly woman smiled kindly, beckoning gently to Lu Li: “Come over, child, let me braid your hair.”


Lu Li and Puxiu hiding in the corner both looked at Katerina.


Katerina glared at the two, untied her hair ribbon, and rigidly sat in front of the elderly woman.


Uncharacteristically, she felt a bit awkward, allowing the elderly woman to gently re-tie her hair.


Katerina and Beru’s hair appeared to be of similar length, not arousing suspicion from the elderly woman.


“Alright. I’ll be going now, Beru, I’ll come by next time we stop.”


The elderly woman left the carriage, watched as her staggering figure departed the carriage.


“Woo,”


Puxiu couldn’t help but whimper again.


“Are you crying, hyena?” Katerina looked over.


“Your perfume is too overpowering,” Puxiu turned its human face to the side.


Lu Li didn’t eat the cookies, only stored the metal box.


After that, every village or town stop, the elderly woman would find them, as time passed, they gradually became more acquainted.


Sometimes the elderly woman would tell Katerina stories of Shelter Village, and about their wish to go to Vena Ice-Free Port: dreams.


One day, they heard about Vena Ice-Free Port, and they really set off.


Except, the journey was embarked on alone by Carolina.


Sometimes the elderly woman suddenly couldn’t recognize people or thought herself still in Shelter Village.


Lu Li and the others disguised well, the mentally deteriorating elderly woman never realized the truth.


Until the third afternoon.


“She clumsily dropped the hot cookies into the oven, retrieving them covered in wood ash… Beru didn’t wash them, after eating, she looked like a little flower cat…”


The elderly woman smiled in relief, suddenly fell silent, her old face turning to Lu Li, asking: “…You’re not Beru, are you?”


The warm atmosphere inside the carriage gradually cooled.


Before a reply, alarming shouts suddenly echoed from outside the carriage.


Fragments of the shouts revealed that at the back of the caravan, a leader creature was chasing them.


“What are you thinking?”


The uneasy Katerina instinctively grasped her dagger, looking at Lu Li.


She faintly realized what the leader creature was.


The model mother encountered in the old sewer.