"....." Qing Cao didn't speak but clasped Yang Ze's hands tightly. She didn't need to speak… one could already see her excitement by the trembling of her body and the moistness in her eyes.

She didn't even think about whether the boy would succeed or not. She didn't even consider the fact of whether it would even be possible for him to take them all away from this place. In her eyes, since he had agreed to take them away from here, he could definitely do it.

As for whether he was strong enough to do it, or whether he was capable enough to face the true horrors of the black fog… she didn't even think in that direction. After all, she was a mere mortal child, unable to understand the true horrors of the world around her.

"Before I take you all out of this place…" Yang Ze's voice stopped for a moment as he spoke further. "We need to come up with a plan."

"What plan?" The moment Qing Cao spoke, she patted her forehead. Of course, they can't escape this place just by running away; they need to find a way to get rid of this curse first.

"What can you tell me about the old well at the corner of the village and the black fog?" Since he had decided to help them, Yang Ze wanted to know everything about the village first and that included the black fog, and that damned well seemed to be a portal to some kind of nightmare. Although he didn't show it, he was still shaken by that gigantic thing that swallowed him. That was something that still sent a shiver down his spine.

If not for the fact that Lin Meilin had asked him to gather information about this entire place and the fact that he wanted to help the children, he would have run out of the village a long time ago. God knows if that thing would suddenly swallow this piece of land as well!

"The old well?" Qing Cao frowned in response while thinking about Yang Ze's question before replying with some confusion.

"What is there to know about it?" She couldn't help but tilt her head.

"It is a place where we get our water from."

"Oh!?" Yang Ze's eyes narrowed into slits as he asked further.

"Haven't you explored it?"

"EH! Why should we?" Qing Cao looked at him in confusion. "We don't explore the areas covered in black fog."

"As long as we can get what we want from there, we usually ignore those places."

"Places?" Yang Ze caught the word she just used as he asked with a frown. "There are more places other than the cave and the well, which is covered in black fog?" He could have sworn that he explored the entire village, and yet he didn't come across another place that was covered in black fog.

"Of course, there are more places covered in black fog." Qing Cao simply nodded in response.

"There is the cave, the well and then there is the village's temple."

"Though the black fog in the temple is in the shape of a small black ball."

"Huh!?" Yang Ze couldn't help but think about his little walk in the village, but all he saw were crude wooden houses. He didn't see the so-called temple.

"It is to the north." Qing Cao pointed in the direction of the temple before adding further. "Though none of us dares to go there anymore."

"I see." Yang Ze was already planning when to go there to take a look. He tried using his all-seeing eyes on the black fog, but couldn't see anything. He wanted to see if he could find out anything when it is concentrated in the shape of a black ball.

Perhaps he might make a breakthrough.

"What else do you want to know?" Qing Cao asked while looking at Yang Ze. She wanted to do her best to help him so that they could all escape from this place.

"Um…" Yang Ze looked at her tired yet excited eyes before gently rubbing her head. "Nothing for now." He slowly patted her head as if consoling her.

"Take some rest. You must be tired."

Speaking till here, he reached into his clothes and, after fiddling around, took out a small pill before handing it to Qing Cao.

"This is a fasting pill." Yang Ze explained about it and how, with this, she didn't need any food or water for the next seven days.

"So magical?" Holding the small black pill in her hand, Qing Cao's hands trembled, and she almost dropped it. But thankfully, she managed to hold it in time.

*Gulp

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, she immediately wanted to throw it in her mouth, but midway, her hands paused.

"What happened?" Looking at her hesitation, Yang Ze couldn't help but ask. Could it be that she is still wary of him? Thinking about it, it made sense. The two of them had just met, there was np way she was going to trust him this easily. Even in his previous life, parents always taught their children not to accept anything from strangers. Perhaps this was the case here, too.

But Qing Cao's next words made him realise that he was just thinking too much.

"Can I dilute it with water and share with others?"

"Umm…" Yang Ze's expression froze as he couldn't come up with an immediate answer. He quietly gazed at the frail girl in front of him, who inspite of such a treasure and her hunger, thought about her friends first.

"You can." Yang Ze just let out a simple smile.

"The effects would be less, but you can share them with others."

"Will it be enough for the entire village?" Qing Cao's excitement was through the roof. If she could feed the entire village with this, they wouldn't have to worry about not finding any living thing for the next few days.

"Probably not." Yang Ze's words were akin to pouring cold water on the top of her head.

"But it will be enough for you five."

Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze spoke slowly.

"The five of you need to be full so that you can hunt and feed the entire village."

Yang Ze's words made the girl's dull eyes light up in realisation. What he said was true. If the five of them weren't so tired and hungry, they would have definitely caught a rabbit today.

Without saying another word, she simply stood up and rushed out of the house, leaving behind the figure of Yang Ze, who was still sitting there with a gentle smile on his face.

From the day he came to this world, the only type of people he met were people with ulterior motives. People who thought about themselves and would go to any lengths for their own benefit.

Till now, he believed that this was a world rotten to its very core.

But now… After seeing Qing Cao's actions, he finally saw the other side of this world. A starving child willing to share her food with others, even when she could quietly eat it all by herself.

For the first time, he felt this world wasn't as bad as he imagined it to be. Perhaps it was just his starting area, which was in hellish mode.

With a slight smile, he shook his head, throwing out all those distracting thoughts.

—---------------------

On the other side, after Qing Cao received the fasting pill from Yang Ze, she immediately rushed to gather the other four members of her team.

After some struggle, she finally managed to drag them all to the house of the team leader, as well as the oldest person in the group, Yan-er.

It wasn't until everyone was gathered that Mei Ling, one of the girls, spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She was extremely dissatisfied with Qing Cao dragging her out of her sleep without a single word.

"Please tell me you woke me up for something important." Xiao Lian, who was a year older than Qing Cao, couldn't help but mutter while rubbing her eyes.

*Yawn…

The third girl, A-Zhu, simply yawned without a word while closing her eyes, as if she was going to fall asleep right there.

"Calm down." The leader of the group, as well as the entire village, Yan-er, finally raised her hand to calm the remaining three before looking at Qing Cao in confusion and a questioning gaze.

"What are you doing? Dragging us all at this time of night?" This was the first time she had seen Qing Cao do something like this. At first, she thought they encountered some difficulty, but judging by Qing Cao's expression, it didn't seem to be the case.

Instead of fear and nervousness, she seemed rather excited. And this was what puzzled her the most.

"I… I have…" Qing Cao found it hard to explain, so after stuttering a few times, she simply gave up and raised her hand in front of the remaining four girls.

"What's this?" Looking at her closed fists, which were raised in front of them, the four girls couldn't help but look at each other in confusion, wondering what Qing Cao wanted to say.

And just when they were wondering what Qing Cao was trying to tell them, they saw her fingers opening one by one, finally revealing a small black round pill in her hand.

"What's this?" This time, it was A-Zhu who spoke first. "You brought us here to show us a round stone?"

Her words instantly made both Mei Ling and Xiao Ling angry. But before they could curse at Qing Cao for being stupid and wasting their time and disturbing their sleep, Yan-er took a step forward, picked up the pill, sniffed it and asked with some confusion.

"What is it?" Qing Cao had never seen something like this. Just now, when she took a sniff, she smelled a faint fragrance from it… Something that she hadn't smelled before. It was an alluring fragrance, increasing her appetite and wanting her to eat it on the spot.

It took a lot of self-restraint for her to control those thoughts and ask Qing Cao.

"It is food." Qing Cao's words stunned the four girls. They first looked at the pill and then at Qing Cao, wondering if she had gone crazy. Except for Yan-er, who was holding the pill while looking at it from all angles, the remaining four girls were ready to throw hands. They felt like Qing Cao was messing with them.

"What does it do?" Yan-er raised her hand to calm the three girls before asking in a soft voice.

"One of us could eat it to stay full for seven days, or we can mix it with water for a reduced amount of time."

"She has really lost it." Mei Ling shook her head, turning around, wanting to head out of the room.

"Thanks for disturbing my sleep." A-zhu just let out a cold snort before following behind Mei Ling.

Xiao Lian merely raised her finger to her temple, placed it before twisting it slightly… a mocking gesture meant for Qing Cao.

"Stop." How could Qing Cao stay silent after facing their disbelief and mockery?

With a flaring nose and eyes that were spitting fire, she rushed out of the room and, under the confused gaze of the girls, came back to a small pot of water.

She then snatched the pill from Yan-er's hands and dropped it into the water as she began to stir the pot.

It took a while under Qing Cao's stirring for the fasting pill to completely melt into the water.

Then, under their suspicious gazes, Qing Cao simply poured herself a glass and emptied it into her stomach.

The moment Qing Cao drank the water, she felt a warm sensation all over her body. It was as if she were lying in a small warm pond of water. This was the first time she felt such comfort all over her body.

Her body, which has been derived from food and nutrients for god knows how long, began to greedily absorb it.

In less than a few minutes, Qing Cao's previously pale face had a layer of blush upon it as her eyes gleamed with excitement.

Earlier, she too was nervous that the pill might not work, and its effects were exaggerated. But after testing it out herself, she knew what that boy said was the truth. This fasting pill seemed even more effective than what he had told her.

For the first time in her life, she felt full of energy.

The girls exchanged gazes with each other with some doubts.

"Try it yourself." Qing Cao merely let out a cold snort before pouring another glass and handing it to Mei Ling.

Mei Ling looked at the murky water with some hesitation. Initially, she wanted to refuse, but upon seeing Qing Cao's eyes, which were full of contempt, she immediately flew into a rage. Without any hesitation, she grabbed the cup and gulped it down.

"Heh." She wanted to mock Qing Cao, but before she could even say a word, her expression changed drastically as she felt the changes in her body.

The three girls, upon seeing this, also drank one after another.

It wasn't until the last drop disappeared that they all focused back on Qing Cao. This time, instead of anger for being disturbed from their sleep, their eyes were filled with longing.

"WHERE… Where did you get this?" Finally, it was Yan-er who broke the silence. As the one responsible for everyone in the village, she knew the value of this thing. If they could get more of these pills and distribute them to the village… they no longer have to worry about going hungry ever again. They could also give up on running around aimlessly all day, trying to search for something to hunt.

Not to mention the fact that it could keep them full, even the taste was extraordinary. She had never in her life drunk something so delicious.

The three girls beside her didn't say a word, but their bright eyes, as well as their actions of licking their lips, were enough to express their feelings.

"About that…" Qing Cao finally steeled her heart. It was finally time for them to know about Yang Ze. Not to mention, she couldn't hide this fact, even if she wanted to; she couldn't.

If she wanted to get out of this place with others, she needed their help as well.

Glancing at the curious girls around her, she took a deep breath as she slowly began to tell them everything about Yang Ze… how he entered, her conversation with him and his gifting this pill.

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