Lili was completely mesmerized by the scenery of the sun, so much so that he forgot how many minutes had passed while he watched in silence.
He vaguely heard falling sounds and whipping noises, followed by a loud voice bursting out from the bushes. It sounded like a dog barking desperately for its Xiao Wu.
To Lili, it was nothing more than background noise drifting past his ears.
Then his stomach growled.
Am I hungry?
Isn't Ulquiorra supposed to not feel hunger?
…Wait.
It's only the appearance of Ulquiorra, not the entire biological system. That actually makes sense.
But what doesn't add up is this—
If my chest has a massive hole in it… where the hell does the food even pass through?
Now that is something I'd like to see.
"System," Lili said lazily, "give me Luffy's favorite meat."
In the next instant, white light gathered, and the meat materialized directly in front of his hand.
Lili looked at it.
The meat was massive. The bone wasn't that long, but the chunk of meat itself was undeniably huge. And the aroma—
Damn.
This smells good.
He evaluated it calmly, though his words didn't match his expression at all. His face remained as nonchalant as ever.
Without waiting another second, he took a bite, completely unconcerned with his surroundings.
Tang San and Xiao Wu watched the woman eat, clearly not caring about their existence in the slightest.
This bewildered them.
And oddly enough, it relaxed them.
She didn't care about them.
She was simply minding her own business.
So… they should probably do the same shit.
Tang San finally spoke. "Xiao Wu, let's go. I'm hungry too."
Xiao Wu didn't answer immediately.
She gulped and took a deep breath, repeating the same thought over and over in her head.
It's fine. Everything's fine.
She doesn't care about me.
She didn't even look at me properly.
She just looks the same…
Maybe she's her daughter?
No—that doesn't make sense.
If she were her daughter, then why would she be here? And that skin color… it's like a dead person who crawled back from the grave.
Huu…
It's not her.
Just a lookalike.
Xiao Wu repeated those words again and again until her breathing finally steadied.
After a long pause, she spoke, her voice hesitant.
"O–okay… I'm hungry too."
Tang San had been watching her carefully. He could see how shaken she still was, so he waited patiently for her answer.
When he finally heard it, he smiled.
"Okay," Tang San said gently. "Let's go, Xiao Wu."
Before moving, Xiao Wu glanced back at Lili.
The woman was still there, sitting quietly, taking her time while eating the meat.
"W–what about her…?" Xiao Wu asked softly. "Should we just leave her here?"
Tang San raised his eyebrows, unsure how to respond.
"Well… should we ask her if she wants to come to the village?" he said. "Maybe she's lost."
But Tang San knew better.
Getting lost on this mountain was nearly impossible. There were only a few ways it could happen—she either walked straight from the village entrance, came from the other side of the mountain (which was absurd because of the massive cliff), or was swept here by the river.
He spoke loudly on purpose, hoping to gauge her reaction—some kind of caring-type jutsu, perhaps.
But when Tang San looked at her back, there was nothing.
No reaction.
No movement.
Just her calmly eating and enjoying her food.
Joke's on you.
She doesn't understand Chinese.
Xiao Wu hesitated before speaking again. "W–well… I tried asking her questions earlier, but she's… odd. It feels like she's ignoring me."
"She ignored you the whole time?" Tang San asked.
Inside his head, his thoughts boiled.
How dare you ignore my bunny?
She talked to you, you bitch, and you just ignored her?
His hands clenched tightly.
His mind raced with possibilities, calculations, and conclusions.
Then Xiao Wu added, "It feels like she doesn't understand me… or maybe she's deaf."
Tang San paused.
"Well… that actually makes sense."
He sighed. "Anyway, if she's still ignoring you, we should mind our own business. Maybe she wants to be left alone."
He turned toward Xiao Wu.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Xiao Wu met her brother's gaze.
There was no room for refusal.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded—yet her eyes lingered on the woman who continued eating as if the world around her didn't exist.