Chapter 2: The Foodie's Mother

It was winter.

The sun was setting behind the western mountains, the azure hues turning dark, with a faint veil of mist and clouds stretching limply across the distance.

A dilapidated donkey cart, driverless, trudged listlessly through a wasteland overgrown with long grass.

Suddenly, a nimble little figure shot out from the carriage, bolting straight ahead.

"Mother, look! It's a Tier 3 Gale Grass! One Tier 3 Gale Grass can be used to make two Tier 3 Gale Pills! Mother, Mother!" The child's tender voice was tinged with excitement.

"Wow! Huo'er, Huo'er, we have money to buy meat now!" After the sound of flapping wings, a chubby parrot with pure white feathers and an iron-gray beak landed on the boy's shoulder.

The corners of the boy's mouth curled up slightly. His beautiful phoenix eyes overflowed with brilliant light as he laughed joyfully, reaching out a small hand to pat the chubby parrot's body. "Xiao Pang, Mother said you need to go on a diet. You can't get any fatter, or else you won't be able to fly!"

The chubby parrot flapped its wings frantically, screaming in a strange tone, "Abuse! Mother is abusing Xiao Pang!"

"Shut up! Keep making noise and I'll stew you." The woman, dressed in simple everyday clothes, reached out to lift the curtain and stepped slowly off the cart. She cast a faint, warning glance at the chubby parrot, which immediately acted as if it had been doused in ice water, flapping its wings erratically.

"Help! Huo'er, help!"

"Mother." Huo'er dove into the woman's arms, rubbing against her cutely. "Mother, Mother, let's go pick the Gale Grass and exchange it for something delicious."

"Delicious, delicious? Where is the delicious food?" A small, furry round head poked out from the boy's chest, calling out softly. A pair of large, water-blue eyes blinked expressively, causing even his long eyelashes to flutter slightly.

The woman's mouth twitched slightly as she lamented having brought three little foodies on the road. On this journey, the ten-day trip back from God-Binding Mountain had been stretched into over a month by these three little gluttons.

Wherever there was something rare, there they were. Whether it was food or toys, they found everything novel, acting as if they had lived in the deep mountains and old forests for eight hundred years!

Speaking of which, before descending the mountain, they had plundered over a hundred taels of silver from her stingy master, only for it all to be consumed by the three little foodies. In the end, having no choice, she had sold the horse and cart for silver to exchange for this broken donkey cart, leaving her, the miserable mother, to gnaw on dry rations every day to stave off hunger...

It was heart-wrenching!

"Doubao, you're awake." Huo'er happily hugged a small, snow-white bundle.

The little thing rolled around cutely in Huo'er's arms, grinning widely. "Huo'er, Huo'er."

"Doubao, how many times has Mother told you not to hold candy in your mouth while sleeping! You only have two teeth in total; do you want to get rid of those two as well!" The woman wordlessly flicked the forehead of the little snowball-like creature. "Alright, alright. You three little ones, stay right here. Mother is going to go pick the Gale Grass."

"Okay, okay! If Mother refines Gale Pills, Huo'er gets one and Doubao gets one! Delicious." The chubby, snow-white little creature suddenly extended its four short little legs, frolicking and rubbing against Huo'er in his arms.

The chubby parrot flapped its wings, calling out anxiously, "Where is Xiao Pang? Where is Xiao Pang!"

"Mother said Xiao Pang needs to go on a diet."

"Doubao can't do it. It's better to let Mother turn it into Gale Pills and then sell the pills. It's more worth it to exchange them for a pile of delicious food," Huo'er said, calculating.

"That works too. That way Xiao Pang can eat as well." Doubao nodded its little head, and Xiao Pang nodded even more deeply in agreement.

Suddenly, the three little ones' three pairs of eyes simultaneously locked onto the front. "Oh no, someone is going to rob the Gale Grass!"