Chapter 17 Old House

After walking out of the land full of crops, even Qi Xiaopang could see that something was wrong - the house was wrong, and the road was wrong.

The cement road that used to lead to every household in the village like a forked tree branch is now only a narrow strip. The self-built houses of various shapes built according to the terrain have all disappeared. Only a house stands silently at the end of the road.

The house is an old-fashioned brick house with a tall and heavy double wooden door, a small window on each side of the door, and a towering chimney at the back. It looks a bit like the houses in early Chinese animations, with a kind of anthropomorphic cuteness. However, in this scene, the door seems like a wide-open mouth, waiting for someone to approach and then devour them.

If such a house were placed in ancient times, it would either be a crime scene of murder and robbery, or a lair of bandits and fugitives... But now it is not bad either, it can be a "castle" for the little princess.

Qi Xiaopang was lost in his thoughts when Li Canglan beside him suddenly said, "This house looks so familiar..."

Qi Xiaopang instantly became interested and asked in a low voice, "Have you seen it?"

If Li Canglan had seen this house, they would at least know whose little princess this was.

Li Canglan nodded and shook his head, whispering, "When I was a child, there were still many old houses like this in the village, with big wooden doors and small green tiles... Later, when everyone got richer, every household built a cement house, and these green tile houses disappeared."

"But they should all be about the same... this kind of old house."

Qing Bai looked around and felt a sense of familiarity, not the house, but the location.

When I got closer, I saw two skinny persimmon trees standing diagonally on the open space in front of the house. They were full of red persimmons like small lanterns, each one was plump and bright red, and you could tell at a glance... the little princess really had no concept of seasons.

"How can there be red tomatoes in summer!" Qi Xiaopang complained after finally seeing a common sense question that he knew the answer to.

"Maybe..." Qing Bai also saw the persimmon tree and said calmly, "She just reproduced all the good memories here."

Qi Xiaopang was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt a little sad when he saw the little figure running happily towards the house in front of him.

Yes... To the little princess, she had only stayed in that vast world for a short time, a few springs and autumns. The time was too short to wait for the four seasons to rotate and the seasons to change. So the rape flowers in spring and the red persimmons in winter coexisted in this crevice.

"We're home!" The little girl skipped over to the open space in front of the door. Seeing them looking at the persimmon tree, she asked in a very hostile manner, "Do you want to eat some persimmons? They're so sweet!"

Jiunian, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly refused before anyone else could speak: "No need, we're not hungry."

Then, fearing that they might not understand, he turned his head and said something silently - the little girl was too close to him to gossip openly.

After I finished speaking, I realized that the little girl couldn't hear it, and neither could anyone else. It was only the first time we met, so the tacit understanding shouldn't be...

"I understand," Qing Bai replied silently.

Jiu Nian was stunned, not knowing whether he should be surprised that Yu Qingbai understood what he said, or he also understood Qing Bai's answer in an instant.

As for Qi Xiaopang and Li Canglan, they had already made up their minds to obey the boss's orders, so they nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes, we are not hungry, we are not hungry!"

Unfortunately, the little princess's enthusiasm couldn't be quelled with just a few words. No matter how quickly the others refused, they couldn't keep up with her speed as she climbed the tree. The trees were short, limiting her ability to climb. Otherwise, she might have reached the top in one go. Soon, the little girl had scooped up a large bag of persimmons in the wide hem of her sweater and was ready to slide down the tree.

Although he knew she was a ghost, seeing the chubby little girl, not even as tall as his waist, standing on the tree branch and eager to slide down, Qing Bai couldn't help but sigh and walked forward to lift her up and slide her down like a kitten... Then a big tomato, the biggest one, was stuffed into her hand.

The little girl was quite good at being a human being... and a ghost. After she stuffed Qing Bai's food into her mouth, she began distributing persimmons to everyone. Qing Bai stood by and watched coldly. Li Canglan got the second largest one, then... Jiunian, and finally the pet Qi Xiaopang.

After distributing the clothes, there were still two left in the pockets. The little girl took one in each hand, then pouted and made a few "sucking" sounds towards the door that had been opened at some point. Just as they were wondering, two white balls jumped out lightly from the door. They were two white lion dogs.

Perhaps because pets resemble their owners, these two lion dogs also have round heads and round eyes. After rushing out, they suddenly stopped and held their heads high, proudly and majestically guarding the little girl on both sides, looking quite imposing.

"One for each person! Don't fight over it!" The little girl put the persimmon in her hand to the lion dog's mouth.

The next second, the two lion dogs opened their mouths at the same time, revealing their sharp white fangs, and bit off half of the persimmon in one bite... or maybe something else.

The ripe persimmons were so soft and juicy that they had almost no shape left after one bite. So the little girl's hands and the hairy mouths of the two lion dogs were covered with dark red fruit puree, and red water of unknown composition was dripping down. It didn't look like she was eating persimmons, but more like she was eating meat.

It was clearly feeding the dog, but it made people feel very uncomfortable.

Li Canglan looked at the two lion dogs, his pupils trembling and his face pale.

Qi Xiaopang also silently changed his hands, as if he was holding not persimmons, but his own head.

Soon the two lion dogs finished eating. Qing Bai took a closer look at the little girl's hands. Well, fortunately, not a single finger was missing.

Accidents always happen unexpectedly. No one expected that the lion dog who had just been eating persimmons obediently would suddenly turn against them. It howled impatiently twice, then rushed towards Jiu Nian with its bloody mouth wide open which had not yet licked the persimmon flesh clean... If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be hard to imagine that a small lion dog whose mouth was only as long as an arm could open so wide.

Fortunately, Jiunian reacted extremely quickly and pulled out his parachute to sweep across the moment the lion dogs jumped up - it was not until the two lion dogs were knocked away that the others reacted.

Qing Bai's pupils suddenly shrank and his lips were tightly pursed. He looked at Jiu Nian first, and after a quick look up and down, he made sure that he was not missing any limbs before he looked away to look at something else.

The sight was obscure and the movements were subtle. If it weren't for nine years of sharp senses, I would have missed it.

Jiu Nian thoughtfully swung the long-handled umbrella in his hand, pointing the tip at the lion dog lying on the ground, still growling hoarsely... Turns out he doesn't dislike me that much...

Qi Xiaopang's reaction was much more direct and exaggerated: "Holy crap! Is this the long-lost dog-beating stick technique?!"

After saying that, I realized that beating a dog depends on its owner...even though they could all testify that it was the dog that started it.

Qi Xiaopang quickly covered his mouth and glanced at the little princess cautiously. Sure enough, the little princess's face had darkened and she was staring at Jiu Nian gloomily, wondering if she was thinking about where to start.

"You are a bad person." The little girl concluded with a gloomy face.

The two lion dogs got up from the ground, bent over and sharpened their claws, ready to attack again.

Qing Bai suddenly said: "He is not."

Jiu Nian raised his eyes and glanced at Qing Bai.

Brother Qing has already stepped forward, how can Xiaopang stand still!

Fat Qi raised his hand tremblingly and spoke tremblingly, "Um... Your Highness, we all saw it. It was your dog who started it. This can only be considered self-defense..."

The little princess didn’t understand what self-defense was. She only knew that her puppy was beaten.

The little girl started leaking again. Fat Qi was frightened and started to babble: "And he is your father! How could he be a bad guy? Ahhhh——"

The lion dogs pounced again, but this time they were obviously smarter. They did not rush forward all at once, but learned to divide the work and cooperate. One attacked while the other flanked behind, looking for opportunities to attack.

Although it is not big in size, the occasional cold flash of its claws is still frightening to the eyes.

Jiu Nian responded well, his umbrella dancing with a whirring sound, and every strike could accurately hit the dog's head or legs... However, he was never able to knock the lion dog away like the first time. Occasionally, the umbrella would hit the lion dog and even make a sound of metal colliding. After each sound, Jiu Nian's next move would be much slower.

Qing Bai, noticing something was wrong, asked anxiously, "Is there something wrong with the umbrella?"

Jiunian waved his umbrella to catch the lion dog's fangs, and took the time to answer: "The umbrella didn't ask--"

'Crack', the umbrella broke.

Okay, no need to explain.

The incident happened suddenly, and Qing Bai only had time to grab a dry branch that was sticking out from a nearby persimmon tree. It wasn't very strong, but it could hold out for a second... Turning his feet, Qing Bai swung the branch and smashed it forward - bang!

Qing Bai's wrist was held by a thin, pale hand.

"You're putting your hands right into their mouths."

Jiu Nian's fingers were long and slender, and there was still plenty of room when he grasped Qing Bai's wrist. He lowered his head to glance at the wrist in his hand and suddenly said, "It's too thin..."

Qing Bai curled his fingers, gripped the branch tighter, and said coldly, "Let go."

Jiu Nian let go as he was told, then took the branch from Qing Bai's hand while saying sorry.

I don't know whether he saw the potential of this dead branch in fighting the enemy, or he was afraid that Qing Bai would "fall into the dog's mouth" again.

Qing Bai calmly raised his hand and held the slightly trembling wrist, his fingers gently stroking the circle of cold temperature that did not belong to him.

It’s too cold…

"Ah! What the hell is that?" Fat Qi jumped and hid behind Qing Bai, who was a little distracted.

Qing Bai looked down and saw that after the umbrella broke, the lion dog in front did not take the opportunity to attack, but bit the broken umbrella for a while, and then bit out a pool of black water that was still wriggling... The lion dog behind also arched its body and let out a vigilant roar at the black water.

It's as if their target from the beginning to the end was just the thing inside the umbrella...

So he knew it from the beginning? Qing Bai thought of the unidentified black object that had been stuffed into the umbrella nine years ago, and his brows furrowed slightly as he slowed down his movements when confronting him.

Seeing the black water flowing out of the broken umbrella, Jiu Nian's expression became a little solemn. He waved his hand casually, and the dry branch in his hand broke with a sound. Then it shot towards the wriggling black water on the ground with a whistling sound. The shriveled branch was like steel nails at this moment, nailing the black water to the ground from different directions.

Water has no fixed shape, so it shouldn't be pinned down. However, this pool of water was not only firmly pinned down, but it was also struggling and twisting, making continuous howling sounds, which was creepy to watch.

"What...what is this?" Fat Qi, who was frightened by the repeated mishaps, muttered to himself.

"Don't worry about what this is!" Li Canglan's voice was sharp and piercing, and he was obviously frightened. "Teacher Xiaopang, you, you——"

"Me? What's wrong with me?" Fat Qi lowered his head and stretched out his hand, then screamed for who knows how many times today, "Ahhhhhhh whose hand is this - Brother Qing!"

The little hand is round and chubby, with cute dimples on the back. If it wasn't on his body, Qi Xiaopang would definitely grab it and kiss it a hundred times madly, but it's horrifying that his hand suddenly became like this.

"Shut up." Qing Bai bent down and pressed down Qi Xiaopang's head, physically silencing him.

As for why he had to bend over... it was because Fatty Qi and his hands had shrunk. Now he was only as tall as Qing Bai's knees, with a round head and belly. He looked like an exaggerated cartoon character in a cartoon, or a cotton-stuffed doll. In short, he didn't look like a real child.

“Puff——”

After the shock, Qi Xiaopang, who was furious, looked in the direction of the voice. He was stunned for two seconds and said unhappily, "What are you laughing at? What are you laughing at? You're not much better, little classmate!"

The little girl, who was also three heads tall, widened her eyes and said, "What did you say?!"

"Stop it, something's wrong." Qing Bai frowned even more. "Both the man and the dog are gone, and...do any of you remember when it got dark?"