The cave looked much the same as it had last time.
Jiang Bai had barely taken two steps inside before he ran into the Hilichurls on watch. They'd already heard footsteps approaching; weapons in hand, they were ready to attack the human who'd stepped into their territory.
"Ohal!" Jiang Bai greeted them in Hilichurlian.
The two sentries froze, stared—then, once they recognized him, their faces lit up.
"Ohal! Ohal!"
"Odomu!"
They lowered their weapons and circled Jiang Bai excitedly.
Now that he'd learned some Hilichurlian, Jiang Bai could roughly understand what they meant.
Hilichurls couldn't express anything too complex—just something simple like Friend! Happy!
"Long time no see." Jiang Bai gave each of them a piece of candy.
"La~"
They didn't understand his words, but that didn't stop them from showing how thrilled they were.
Both Hilichurls popped the candy into their mouths. One ran inside to spread the news, while the other stayed to lead Jiang Bai in.
Once they heard Jiang Bai had arrived, the first one to come rushing out was the Hilichurl he knew best—Xiao Shi.
That was a name Jiang Bai had given him unilaterally.
Jiang Bai waved. "Ohal!"
"Ohal! Ohal!" Xiao Shi sprinted over, hopping and bouncing with excitement.
"So you still remember me." Jiang Bai patted his head.
It had been a long time since they'd last met. The little guy seemed a bit bigger than before—hard to tell, really.
A moment later, the old Samachurl came charging out too. It held a massive wooden staff taller than itself, yet somehow still ran at full speed.
"Unu! Unu!"
What the old Samachurl said was different from the others. While the rest were excitedly greeting him, it went straight to calling out Unu.
With a bit of basic study, Jiang Bai already knew what Unu meant. It was the Hilichurls' word for the god they believed in.
At that, Jiang Bai's eyes went wide in shock.
His memories were back—but since when had he become these Hilichurls' god?
Or had they gotten something completely wrong?
Still, there was no need to untangle that immediately. The priority was getting Albedo and Klee inside.
"Mi odomu ya… waimian…"
My… friend… people… outside…
Jiang Bai spoke in his clumsy Hilichurlian while frantically adding gestures to make himself understood.
He pantomimed for a good while before the old Samachurl finally caught on and nodded.
"Odomu! Odomu!"
A repeated word—something like: Friend. Trust.
Jiang Bai finally relaxed, hurried back out, and brought Albedo and Klee inside.
On the way over, Albedo had already looked through Jiang Bai's Hilichurlian Quick Reference Manual. He'd memorized most of it—enough for basic conversation.
Seeing Jiang Bai emerge from the cave with several Hilichurls, Albedo couldn't hide his surprise.
A peaceful scene between humans and Hilichurls was… genuinely rare.
"Ohal!"
Albedo lifted a hand and greeted them with the Hilichurls' root word for hello.
"Ohal! Ohal!"
For a moment, the greetings rose and fell in a chorus.
They clearly trusted Jiang Bai—and by extension, showed no hostility toward the "friends" he'd brought.
Klee tilted her head, watching them. Then she copied the sound too.
"Ohal!"
After that single shout, it was like she'd mastered a brand-new language. She kept calling it out again and again, endlessly delighted.
With Albedo and Klee in tow, Jiang Bai led them deeper into the cave. The Hilichurls' home opened up before them.
Jiang Bai handed out a candy to each Hilichurl. Sweet candy was a universal weapon for coaxing children—Hilichurls were no exception.
Once the Hilichurls were happy, they started to dance. Klee dove right in, imitating their movements. If you put a Hilichurl mask and outfit on her, they might genuinely mistake her for a tiny Hilichurl hatchling.
They danced as they sang.
Even though Hilichurlian was too simple to express much, it didn't stop Jiang Bai from feeling their joy.
Thankfully, the racket didn't last long. After they'd swarmed around Jiang Bai for a while, the old Samachurl barked an order, and everyone scattered back to their tasks. Only Xiao Shi and the Samachurl stayed with them.
"These Hilichurls are… unexpected," Albedo said, still amazed.
He'd been observing them the whole time. Just as Jiang Bai had said, this tribe was unusual.
They showed an uncommon sense of discipline, and the elders clearly held the highest status.
At the old Samachurl's command, even though the Hilichurls still wanted to crowd around, they went back to whatever they were supposed to be doing.
The old Samachurl brought out the tribe's hoarded fruit to entertain their guests. Like before, the fruit wasn't fresh. It had been stored too long—wrinkled, and in some cases frozen into solid lumps of ice.
But on Dragonspine, where the environment was harsh and food and fruit were scarce, this was the most precious thing they could offer.
Taking the fruit, Albedo felt even more moved. "When we get back, I'll have Sucrose research raspberries that don't need much sunlight, can handle low temperatures, and are easy to cultivate…"
Raspberries were highly adaptable; even on Dragonspine you could occasionally find a few plants.
In a small cave like this, raspberries were about the only thing you could hope to grow.
Jiang Bai thanked him on the Hilichurls' behalf. "Then we'll be relying on you and Sucrose."
"I can't interfere too much," Albedo said, shaking his head to show Jiang Bai didn't need to stand on ceremony. "This is about all I can do…"
Hilichurls had their own way of living. If humans meddled too much, then once they left, the Hilichurls—now dependent on that help—wouldn't be able to survive.
Jiang Bai understood that. He had no intention of disrupting their lives.
"La lu lala~"
Klee was having the time of her life with Xiao Shi. They were two species with completely different languages, yet somehow perfectly on the same wavelength—making strange noises at each other in bizarre tones. Jiang Bai couldn't understand a word of what they were "saying."
The two little ones dashed around the cave, playing with this and that. Klee especially—everything in a Hilichurl home was new and fascinating to her.
"Klee, be careful. Don't fall," Albedo reminded her.
"Klee will be careful!"
Since they'd come all this way, while Albedo went around the cave studying everything, Jiang Bai did what he'd done last time and started cooking.
This time he'd brought more ingredients. The pot he condensed with Geo could be as large as he wanted.
Cured meat, ham, potatoes, corn—plus ginger, scallions, garlic, and all manner of seasonings. Jiang Bai stood by the enormous pot, stirring with an oversized ladle.
The aroma hadn't even begun to spread yet, but at the sight of so much food, the old Samachurl wiped at its mouth—drool all but inevitable.
Albedo continued pacing through the cave, trying to find what had shaped this tribe.
Normally, a Hilichurl tribe should resemble the ones in Dadaupa Gorge. Even the Eclipse tribe—the newest to appear—still followed the rule of the strong dominating the weak.
Yet here, on a Dragonspine where Vindagnyr had fallen thousands of years ago, these Hilichurls respected elders—and even cared for their young.
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T/N: cute