Chapter Forty-Seven

After the kiss, Baozhu clutched Li Zhi's clothes, smacked her lips, and said contentedly, "I'm satisfied."

Li Zhi's breathing became unsteady. He clenched his fists and murmured, "I'm not satisfied yet."

Baozhu looked at him, blinked, and smiled slyly, "I don't understand what you mean."

After saying that, she happily took Li Zhi's hand and they jumped onto the rock together.

"Just come with me and enjoy the breeze," Baozhu said with a grin.

Li Zhi had no way to deal with her, so he shook his head and smiled. He simply did as Baozhu suggested and stood side by side with her on the boulder, gazing at the tranquil mountains.

He had never seen the mountain from this angle before. Looking at the scenery before him and feeling the cool mountain breeze, Li Zhi finally calmed down. Baozhu then pulled him and pointed to a shadow that flashed by under the tree canopy, saying, "See that? That's a muntjac."

Li Zhi composed himself, examined the object carefully for a while, and then shook his head, saying, "My eyesight is not as good as yours."

Baozhu smiled smugly and boasted, "Of course."

At this point, Baozhu's mood improved again. She forgot about the tears she had just shed and pointed to the various trees on the mountain and the animals that stalked the night, telling Li Zhi about them one by one.

“Those rabbits usually come out at night; they’re too timid,” Baozhu said, her expression turning serious as she shared her past experience hunting in the mountains. “In the spring, I’ll keep a close watch, but I won’t hunt the female rabbits.”

"It's your kindness."

“No, it’s not out of kindness.” Baozhu explained to Li Zhi seriously, “I let the mother rabbit go because they can have babies. Even if all the creatures in the mountains are prey to me, I will only hunt the ones I can eat.”

Li Zhi thought for a moment and concluded, "This is the pattern in the mountains."

Baozhu laughed and praised, "You really know how to talk."

Speaking of the reproduction of these creatures, she suddenly thought of the hateful yet pitiful half-demons born to mortal women by the golden carp.

Baozhu sighed and told Li Zhi about her and Pei Xuanji's adventure a few days ago.

After meeting the half-demon, she recalled several times her previous life, the more than twenty years she had been married to Li Zhi.

They never had a single fox cub.

Baozhu had no regrets about this matter. She herself was confused, so how could she properly raise the little fox?

Seeing the viciousness of the golden carp, a thought still came to her mind—if Li Zhi became a father, even if their little fox was born stupid, he would definitely treat her well.

Sure enough, Li Zhi also became serious after hearing about what the golden carp had done.

Perhaps even a heart as hard as stone can be cracked by the mountain wind when standing on the mountain peak. He remained silent for a long time before whispering, "If you have no expectations, then don't let him be born for any reason."

Li Zhi stood with his hands behind his back, not facing Baozhu, but speaking to the mountains.

A few stray strands of hair fluttered past his ears as he stared unfocused into the distance.

As Baozhu looked at his face, she suddenly remembered the crisscrossing old scars on his back.

She was speechless for a moment.

Baozhu sighed inwardly, wondering what his position was in saying those words. He had never said them before. Would he be able to let go of them once he said them?

In the most familiar place, she seemed to glimpse the most hidden corner of Li Zhi's heart.

Then, they silently gazed into the distance, no longer speaking, simply enjoying each other's company, until the east began to lighten, and then, a red sun burst forth from the horizon.

“Let’s go back.” Baozhu’s body was half bathed in the morning light, the golden rays of dawn outlining her silhouette. “If Pei Qi wakes up and finds that we’re all gone, that would be a disaster. She’d probably scold me. Let’s bring her some food when we go back. She hasn’t eaten all day and is starving.”

Li Zhi hummed in agreement.

After the two climbed down from the boulder, he looked at Baozhu's happy face and said casually, "Baozhu and Master Pei get along very well."

Mentioning this, Baozhu laughed heartily, "It wasn't good at first! Pei Qi chased after me with a sword, trying to kill me, but I saved him twice!"

Baozhu held up two fingers and poked them in front of Li Zhi, emphasizing, "Twice! I'm her savior, so we're good friends now."

Li Zhi listened quietly as Baozhu recounted how she had twice carried Pei Xuanji to safety, and how they had fought alongside her against the golden carp and rescued the toad demon.

“Oh,” Baozhu said, then suddenly remembered something. “I told you, didn’t I? The ghosts said I have a defect in my soul.”

Li Zhi stopped in his tracks.

"Didn't I say that? I thought I did." Baozhu stopped when she saw this and scratched her head sheepishly.

She carefully looked at Li Zhi's face and tentatively asked, "Are you angry?"

Li Zhi's expression was really unpleasant.

Li Zhi slowly shook his head, forced a smile, and changed the subject, saying, "You carried Master Pei on your back twice, and I'm a little jealous."

"It's alright, I'll carry you on my back too!" Baozhu quickly walked to Li Zhi and bent down.

She waited for a while, but Li Zhi didn't come up. Just as she was about to turn around and urge him, she heard a sigh behind her. Baozhu's body suddenly felt light, and she was being carried on Li Zhi's back.

Baozhu immediately used her hands and feet to entangle him.

Then she found a comfortable spot on Li Zhi's shoulder and rested her chin on it.

Baozhu sighed contentedly.

The path down the mountain was a bit difficult to walk, but Li Zhi walked very steadily, with only a slight sway.

Baozhu became dizzy from being shaken.

In her half-awake state, she seemed to hear Li Zhi say something.

"What did you say?" Baozhu asked vaguely.

"I said," Li Zhi's voice carried a hint of helplessness, "I really can't do anything with you."

As he spoke, he turned around and found that Baozhu on his back had fallen asleep, and he didn't know if she had heard him or not.

Baozhu, on Li Zhi's back, slept soundly in the courtyard of the inn, only to be awakened by the aroma of food.

She opened her eyes, sniffed incessantly, and exclaimed, "It smells so good!"

Li Zhi put her down on the ground, handed her the basket in his hand, winked at the closed room, and whispered, "I suppose you brought food back for Master Pei, so she won't be angry anymore."

Baozhu took the basket and praised, "You're so clever!"

After saying that, he excitedly and carefully pushed open the door, and then carefully closed it after going in.

Pei Xuanji was truly exhausted. Baozhu had already gone up the mountain to watch the sunrise and then came down. When she left, Pei Tianshi was in the same posture as when she returned, and even her breath was barely perceptible.

Baozhu quickly placed the basket on the table, leaned closer to examine Pei Xuanji's face, and exclaimed in panic, "Could she be dead?"

"He's not dead." Pei Xuanji was awakened by Baozhu's voice and the aroma of food. She opened one eye to look at the sky outside and said in a daze, "How long have I been asleep?"

"I slept all afternoon and all night," Baozhu said obediently, lying on the edge of the bed.

"Oh." Pei Xuanji still felt sleepy. "I want to sleep more."

Baozhu seemed not to have heard what Pei Xuanji said. She stared at her and chuckled, then blurted out, "Pei Qi, last night, I kissed Li Zhi."

"What?!" Pei Xuanji, on her deathbed, sat bolt upright in shock, grabbing Baozhu's clothes. "Say that again!"

Baozhu blinked and repeated what she had said verbatim.

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuanji, her hair disheveled, leaped out of bed, grabbed the blunt sword beside her, and was about to leave when she coldly said, "I'm going out to kill someone first."

Baozhu quickly grabbed her arm and said reproachfully, "I said it was my initiative."

"He must have seduced you first." Pei Xuanji concluded without any investigation. "Which of you two is the vixen? You big dummy, you big fool."

"Oh, anyway, I'm not dating him. He's so handsome, I'd be getting the better deal if he kissed me," Baozhu said smugly.

"Aren't you good-looking?" Pei Xuanji pinched Baozhu's chin, looking her up and down. "I think you're better looking than him."

The two of them, one wanting to chop Li Zhi up and the other not letting him, had a playful fight in the house early in the morning. In the end, Baozhu begged for mercy repeatedly and personally served Miss Pei her meal and combed her hair.

Li Zhi, who was in the next room, breathed a sigh of relief when the commotion in their room finally subsided.

After waiting a while longer, assuming the two ladies had finished their meal, he got up and knocked on their door, saying, "Have you had your meal? If there's nothing else, how about we discuss which route to take to the capital?"

There was a moment of silence in the next room, then Pei Xuanji, with her hair in a crooked bun, suddenly opened the door and glared at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi touched his nose.

"Come in," Pei Xuanji said to Li Zhi, forcing herself to remain calm.

The three sat down around the table. Li Zhi spread out a piece of paper and drew two routes from Yushan County to the capital. He said, “There are two routes from Yushan County to the capital. One is by carriage overland, which will take about ten days to cross the entire northern hills. The other is by boat, which will take seven days to reach the capital. However, some parts of the Lanjiang River are quite dangerous.”

Having said that, he put down his pen and asked Pei Xuanji, "I wonder what Master Pei thinks?"

“Let’s take the waterway. Traveling by carriage for ten days is much more uncomfortable than traveling by boat. As for the dangers of the Lanjiang River, we can find a large boat with an experienced captain. We won’t capsize, and it will be faster,” Pei Xuanji said.

"What do you think, Baozhu?" Li Zhi turned to Baozhu and asked.

Baozhu lowered her eyes and said meekly, "I will listen to Pei Qi."

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuanji smiled and raised an eyebrow at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi's smile remained unchanged as he respectfully said, "Then why don't you two pack your luggage and we set off this afternoon or tomorrow morning?"

“Okay,” Pei Xuanji readily agreed.

However, she suddenly frowned and said, "I feel like we've forgotten something, Baozhu. Is this all the luggage we have?"

Baozhu looked at Pei Xuanji, Pei Xuanji looked at Baozhu, and Li Zhi looked at the two in front of him.

A moment later, they said in unison.

"senior!"

"Brother Zhang!"

"Master Zhang!"

Forgotten by all his companions, Zhang He was in for a tough night.

After receiving the embroidered ball, he was first swept up by the crowd and taken to Xueyun Tower. Then, he was escorted by more than twenty servants dispatched by Zhou Yuanchu, all the way from Yushan County to the Zhou family's large estate on the outskirts of the county.

Once inside the manor, Zhang He was trapped. As a Celestial Master, it was a grave sin to use talismans and formations on mortals without cause. Despite his great abilities, Zhang He was unable to use them.

If it were just based on his skills, there were too many people from the Zhou family, each of whom seemed to have some skills. They were watching him from all sides, giving Zhang He no chance to find an excuse to sneak away.

Furthermore, Master Zhou was so enthusiastic this week that when he saw that Zhang He was not happy, he changed his tune and said that marriage between children cannot be forced, and asked Zhang He to give him some face.

"I, Zhou, am a man of some standing in Yushan County. Not to mention Yushan County, go to Lanjiang and ask around among the shipping people. Have they heard of me, Young Master Zhang? All the people in the county saw that you accepted my daughter's embroidered ball. If you leave immediately, how can I maintain my standing in Yushan County and Lanjiang? You absolutely cannot leave tonight." Master Zhou thumped his chest loudly.

Zhang He could only manage a wry smile and say, "Then I still have to leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow morning," Master Zhou said with a smile.

Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. When Zhang He stepped into Master Zhou's manor, he saw that the servants walking around were all strong and powerful, clearly skilled in martial arts. Considering Master Zhou's shipping business, he knew that this Master Zhou was no pushover. Since he was alone, he shouldn't offend him too much.

He figured that when night fell, his companions would come to meet him.

So, Master Zhou held a grand banquet that evening and sent more than a dozen of his nephews to drink with Zhang He. Zhang He could only manage to drink half of it.

After a few rounds of drinks, Master Zhou patted Zhang He on the shoulder and said in a thick tongue, "Young Master Zhang, the more I look at you, the more I like you. You haven't spent time with my daughter. My seventh daughter has a wonderful temperament. I'm not making this up. Even the emperor married her."

Zhang He was also a bit tipsy. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Master Zhou, your family has too many people. You have more than a dozen nephews and seven daughters."

Master Zhou chuckled and said nonchalantly, "A man who doesn't indulge in romance is wasting his money. I've made so much money just to marry a few more wives."

Zhang He chuckled, then looked down and was surprised to see a pretty young woman sit down next to him. She opened her mouth and said with a smile, "Young Master Zhang, let me offer you a toast."

Zhang He immediately sobered up a bit and quickly declined, saying, "No, no, I'll drink it myself."

After saying that, he poured the wine into his mouth and showed the bottom of the cup to Miss Zhou.

Upon seeing this, Master Zhou and Miss Zhou looked at Zhang He with subtle smiles.

Zhang He simply pretended to be unable to hold his liquor, slumped onto the table, and started snoring.

The guests were all drunk, and the banquet could not continue. Master Zhou gave a wink to the people around him, and more than a dozen nephews came forward and carried Zhang He into the guest room in the front yard.

After Zhang He was placed on the bed, the people dispersed, considerately closing the door so he could sleep peacefully.

This room is perfect for sleeping; the incense, the softness of the bed and pillows—everything is comfortable.

Zhang He lay on the soft bed and, without realizing it, drifted off to sleep.

Late into the night, Zhang Tianshi, in a daze, suddenly felt a hand moving across his chest.

Zhang He instantly woke up, and before he could even see who was in front of him, he kicked his legs and shrank into the corner of the bed.

He held the blanket in his arms, covering his chest, and stammered, "Don't come any closer."

Miss Zhou smiled, her eyes sparkling with a charm that seemed incongruous with her delicate appearance. She said sweetly, "Young Master Zhang, I haven't done anything to you, so why are you so afraid?"

Zhang He was absolutely furious. He wailed, "I've said it a million times, I'm a government official, I'm still on duty, I'm not getting married."

"I don't believe a word you men say. You say you won't get married, but if you taste my goodness, you might send your betrothal gifts tomorrow," Miss Zhou said reproachfully.

"You still want a betrothal gift? I was forced to stay in this village by your father. Doesn't that make me a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family? You won't even give me a betrothal gift. You've got a good plan."

When it came to money, Zhang He wouldn't budge an inch, stubbornly arguing with Miss Zhou about how much dowry she wanted.

"You!" Zhang He angered Miss Zhou, who stood up and shook her head, her tone turning icy. "Young Master Zhang, you should think it over carefully. If you can't come up with the money, the young master who was with you at the time looked quite handsome and must be from a wealthy family. You can ask him for a loan, and we'll help you send the letter out."

“I knew you must have had your eye on Old Li back then. Well, let me tell you, you all misjudged him.” Zhang He couldn’t help but laugh as he thought about how this group of people wanted to get money out of Li Zhi. “I still have a money bag on me. Old Li only has a few dozen copper coins on him. I even asked him for money. It’s good that he didn’t ask me.”

Upon hearing this, Miss Zhou's face flushed red and then turned pale. She angrily retorted, "I don't believe you. Your companion looks very wealthy and can be identified at a glance as a young master from a rich family. How could he be poor?"

"If you don't believe me, fine. I don't care whether your surname is Zhou or not. Girl, let me go. This is for your own good." Zhang He was certain that he was innocent and had nothing to worry about, so he casually threw the blanket aside and said with a shameless look, "My companion and I are indeed penniless. You should find someone else to give you a betrothal gift, okay?"

Miss Zhou scoffed, stood up with a frosty expression, and said, "If that's really the case, then you can stay in the manor and work for your father to pay off the debt."

"How did I end up owing you money again?"

"Were the drinks at last night's banquet free?"

Zhang He was speechless, so he simply lay down on the bed and said loudly, "Anyway, I just don't have any money."

Miss Zhou turned and left, saying to the shadowy figures outside, "Keep an eye on him, this poor fellow claims to be a Taoist master, don't let him get away."

Many people outside quickly replied, "Yes, we will definitely look carefully."

As she spoke, Miss Zhou closed the door.

Zhang He listened intently and could hear the rattling of locks outside; they had locked the door from the outside.

Once it was completely quiet outside, Zhang He jumped out of bed and reached out to try to push the window open.

But when he tried to pull, he found that the window was completely sealed shut.

Zhang He had no choice but to turn back to his satchel, hoping to find talisman paper and cinnabar to draw a spell and ask for outside help.

He reached into his saddlebag and found it empty; the thieves had already emptied it.

Zhang He sighed and decided to try his luck by throwing it out of the house.

As a result, when I took a breath, I felt a sudden shortness of breath.

"It's over, there was poison in the wine." Zhang He wailed, clutching his head. "How could I have fallen for this little thief so easily? If word gets out, my lifelong reputation will be ruined."

Zhang He howled while smacking his lips, trying to recall what was in the wine.

He tasted several kinds and exclaimed in astonishment, "They actually used such potent medicine. No ordinary person could withstand this except me."

Zhang He never imagined that if it weren't for him, these thieves wouldn't have bothered to administer such a drug.

"Sigh, we can only pin our hopes on Old Li."

Zhang He lay down on the bed, full of hope, and muttered to himself, "It's been half the night, Old Li and Xiao Pei should be here soon, right?"

But after an incense stick had burned, they still hadn't arrived. An hour later, they still hadn't arrived. It wasn't until the sun had risen that Zhang He, in despair, finally saw a shadow on the window.

The shadow had two erect ears, which were turning from side to side.

Zhang He, on his deathbed, sat up abruptly, looked out the window, and cried out mournfully, "Your Majesty! I'm here!"