Chapter 52 Just Passing By
"Explain in detail."
Although Chen Hui was anxious, she still recounted what had happened that day.
"Today we agreed to visit Lin Sui's younger brother in Huangxi Village after admiring the flowers. When we arrived at the village, we heard from the villagers that Lin Sui's younger brother had been forcibly taken to the back mountain by a group of noble sons who had gone hunting."
"Nonsense! Those with my son are all young masters from various families, of noble character. They would never force anyone." Madam Xue stood up, happy to know her son's whereabouts, but also furious at Chen Hui's slander, and couldn't help but rebuke her.
Bai Xiuming looked at Xue Shi with icy eyes: "I'm asking you a question. If you dare to say another word, get out."
Madam Xue shrank back, not daring to speak again.
Chen Hui continued, "Last time, Lin Sui's younger brother led those people into the mountains and encountered a monster. As a result, he was pushed out by those people and almost died in the mountains. Lin Sui was worried that those people would not let his brother go this time, so he rushed into the mountains to search for him. A Chan stayed at her brother's house, and I went into the mountains with Lin Sui."
"What time did you enter the mountain?"
"I don't know the exact time, but it's not noon yet."
Bai Xiuming nodded: "Continue."
"Lin Sui and I searched in the mountains for a long time, but only found some traces and a large pool of blood. Just as we were about to continue searching, fog suddenly rose in the mountains, and four ghostly figures emerged from the fog. They grabbed Lin Sui and ran away, and I was unable to catch up."
Are you sure it's a ghost?
Chen Hui hesitated slightly: "I can sense the yin energy on them, so they must be ghosts. But at first glance, they are no different from ordinary people. They just come with the mist and leave at an extremely fast speed."
“Going out during the day…” Bai Xiuming pondered for a moment, then turned to Princess Fu Ning and said, “Please do me a favor, Your Highness.”
"Tell me." This was the first time Princess Fu Ning had personally experienced something like this. She was worried about the missing people, but also felt excited.
"Please send someone back to the capital to summon Jiang Kai and Feng Yang to the Mingjing Division with their men."
"Alright, I'll send the guards back to the capital right away."
It only takes an hour or so to get from Heyuan to Shangjing, but curfew will be in effect soon. Princess Fu Ning has a golden token bestowed by the Emperor, which can be used to open the city gates.
After speaking with the princess, Bai Xiuming asked Chen Hui, "And then?"
Chen Hui said, "I saw that those people dressed up like villagers from the foot of the mountain, so I went down the mountain to look for Achan. After I got back, Achan was gone. I asked my neighbors and villagers, and they all said they hadn't seen Achan."
After saying this, Chen Hui solemnly bowed to Bai Xiuming: "My lord, A Chan is physically weak. If she really encounters danger, she may not be able to resist. Please help her."
"Take me to Huangxi Village."
After Bai Xiuming finished speaking, Chen Hui was still wondering how to get there, but the next moment he grabbed her arm, and in the blink of an eye, they had already arrived outside the Lotus Garden.
Chen Hui was surprised and wondered to herself, "Could this be the legendary 'shrinking the earth to an inch' technique?"
Bai Xiuming glanced at her with some impatience, and Chen Hui immediately pointed in the direction of Huangxi Village.
During this time, Chen Hui pointed out the direction to him twice more, and in a short while, they had already entered Huangxi Village.
Chen Hui brought Bai Xiuming to Gao Luo's house. At this time, the gate of Gao Luo's house was still open, just as it was when A Chan left.
Bai Xiuming did not enter the courtyard, but stood at the gate for a while. He raised his hand and touched the edge of the gate, finding it damp.
It didn't rain during the day, but the wooden door is so damp; there must be some evil spirits coming to the door, and not just one or two.
"Where did you enter the mountain from?" Bai Xiuming asked.
Chen Hui pointed in the direction of the back mountain and described the general route she and Lin Sui took to find the person.
“My lord, those ghosts don’t seem interested in me. Why don’t I go into the mountains with you and show you the way?” Chen Hui suggested.
"No."
At this moment, Bai Xiuming seemed to hear a sound, looked up at the mountains that were gradually being shrouded in the black sky, and then his figure disappeared.
The black tiger demon led Achan through the forest. The sky grew darker and darker, and the moon seemed to be obscured by the mist surrounding the tiger demon.
The rolling hills and lush forests during the day turn into dark shadows at night, and what's even more infuriating is that even the tiger beneath you is black.
Achan gave up on finding a place to look in the mountains and could only let the black tiger demon lead her down the mountain.
On her way down the mountain, she kept thinking about how Lin Sui had been captured by the demon, but Hui Niang hadn't. She figured it was because she wasn't human, and the demon wasn't interested in her.
If Hui Niang discovers that she is missing, based on her understanding of Hui Niang, she should go to find Bai Xiuming.
Will Bai Xiuming come looking for her?
Achan wasn't sure, and she wouldn't put her life on someone else's decision, so she urged the tiger demon to go find Bai Xiuming.
Unfortunately, Achan didn't know the route directly from this mountain range to the Lotus Garden, so she could only send the tiger demon to Huangxi Village first to find the way.
As the branches on both sides of the road gradually thinned out, Achan knew that they were about to leave the mountains.
Just then, the tiger demon suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Achan asked, puzzled.
"A human cultivator has come up the mountain."
Ah Chan's heart skipped a beat for no reason: "It seems that someone has finally discovered that the group of noble young masters are missing and has come to look for them."
"That's quite a coincidence, saving me the trouble of going to find him myself."
Black Tiger's tone was not tense at all; on the contrary, it was excited.
It had already sensed the aura emanating from that person, and judging from the aura around him alone, he was only at the third realm and definitely no match for it.
Achan chuckled, then bent down and patted the black tiger demon's neck: "Mountain Lord, please put me down, lest I get in your way when you fight that person later."
"Alright, after I've eaten him, I'll give you his head."
"In that case, I will wait here for the Mountain Lord to return victorious." Achan looked down the mountain, but unfortunately, she could not see anything.
Bai Xiuming stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up at the distant forest swallowed by the night.
The mountain scenery unfolded before his eyes, and he naturally saw Ah Chan riding on the back of the black tiger demon, wearing a vibrant red dress and smiling radiantly.
This is what the living corpse meant by "the body is weak and probably unable to resist".
She had only been captured for half a day, but she and the tiger demon seemed to have known each other for half a year.
"Roar—" A whooshing sound came from the mountains, the trees rustled, and most of the birds in the mountains took flight.
As the black tiger demon pounced on Bai Xiuming, it was still fantasizing that once it devoured the human cultivator and then consumed the demon core, it would immediately become a great demon of the fourth realm.
But the humans who were previously powerless against its claws were now able to hold it off with a single hand.
The black tiger demon opened its mouth to bite, but the human figure suddenly disappeared from its sight.
Then, it felt a sharp pain in its back: "Roar—"
As Chan leaned against a nearby tree, listening to the continuous roars of tigers below the mountain, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, gradually calmed down.
With her screaming so pitifully, that tiger demon probably won't have a chance to give Bai Xiuming's head to her.
As the final tiger's roar rang out, Achan also heard the black tiger demon's shrill scream: "Fox demon, you lied to me!!!"
Ah Chan smiled and said, "How can you call it a lie?"
At most, she simply forgot to tell the Black Tiger Demon that the human cultivator it wanted to devour had once killed a fourth-realm black dragon.
After the black tiger demon's scream, the surroundings became completely quiet, and even the chirping of insects and birds could not be heard.
Ah Chan leaned against the tree and waited for a while, but no one came. She frowned.
Could it be that Bai Xiuming left after killing the tiger demon?
She's still on the mountain, her fate unknown. Hasn't he even thought about looking for her?
Achan suddenly got angry. She tentatively took two steps forward, but her delicate toes hit a stone. She cried out in pain and was about to squat down when someone grabbed her waist and lifted her into the air.
"Huh?" Achan flailed around, feeling herself being carried down the mountain on someone's shoulder, like a sack.
"Lord Bai, where is your horse?" Achan patted his waist, afraid he wouldn't respond.
Bai Xiuming paused for a moment: "I didn't ride it."
"Could we try a different position? My head is spinning."
"So many demands."
Achan sniffed: "I just escaped from the jaws of death, I was almost eaten by the tiger demon, don't you feel any sympathy for me?"
Bai Xiuming stopped and put Achan down. He bent down and leaned close to Achan: "More than sympathizing with you, I want to know why that tiger demon called you a fox demon?"
"Oh, of course I lied to it," Achan said casually. "If I hadn't lied to it, I would have been eaten long ago, and I wouldn't be able to wait for you."
"What else did you lie to it about?"
"There are so many... Lord Bai, I wasn't even wearing shoes when I was arrested, my feet hurt so much," Achan complained to him in a low voice.
Bai Xiuming stared at her for a while, then bent down with his back to her. A Chan immediately smiled and pounced on his broad back, climbing up on all fours.
Bai Xiuming gripped her thighs with both hands and carried her steadily down the mountain on his back: "Can you talk now?"
"I promised to give it a demon core from a fourth-level fox demon to help it improve its cultivation level, and I'll also introduce it to a tigress."
"It believed you?"
“I believe it, I didn’t lie to it.” Achan said naturally. “Although I didn’t see it with my own eyes, everything I told it exists in my memory.”
"Is that all?" Bai Xiuming asked.
“Uh…” When it came to the crucial point, Achan began to stammer, “The rest isn’t important.”
"for example?"
“For example… I also recommended you to it.” Achan carefully chose her words.
"Recommended." Bai Xiuming repeated the word. No wonder the black tiger demon couldn't wait to pounce on him; it had been fooled by her.
"I had no choice," Achan tried to defend herself. "If I hadn't let it come to you, it might have taken me far away."
How embarrassing it would be if people found out that I eloped with a tiger demon.
"What about the others who were arrested?"
"They're still on the mountain," Achan boasted smugly. "Thanks to my intervention, the tiger demon forgot to eat them and went straight down the mountain."
Speaking of this, Achan suddenly realized that Bai Xiuming had actually carried her down the mountain without going to find those people.
So, he really came specifically to find him?
"My lord." Ah Chan's face was pressed against his neck. She turned her head slightly, her long eyelashes trembling. "Did you come here specifically to save me?"
"no."
"Oh, so what are you doing here?"
"Just happened to be passing by."
Ah Chan laughed out loud, tightening her arms around his neck: "Liar, you came here to save me."
Bai Xiuming remained silent.
Amidst this rhythmic swaying, Achan's eyelids gradually drooped. Before falling asleep, she whispered in his ear, "Thank you for coming to save me."
This is the second time.
For many years, no matter what danger she encountered, she never expected anyone to lend her a hand.
Bai Xiuming is the only one who will come to save her.
After Bai Xiuming left, Chen Hui waited at the foot of the mountain.
She had just heard the roar of a tiger from the back mountain and was feeling uneasy, hesitating whether to go up and take a look, when she saw Bai Xiuming coming down the mountain.
When Chen Hui didn't see Achan by his side, her heart skipped a beat, and a lot of bad thoughts immediately flooded her mind.
When she got closer, she found that Achan was sleeping soundly on Bai Xiuming's back.
Chen Hui was about to suggest that she could hand A Chan over to Bai Xiuming when Bai Xiuming turned to her and said, "The tiger demon is dead, and the cougars will all disperse. You can go up the mountain to find people now."
Chen Hui was taken aback. As a living corpse, she was naturally not afraid of the mountains and forests at night.
Lin Sui and Gao Luo's fate is unknown; it might not be too late to go find them now.
only……
She hesitated for a moment, glanced at Achan, and finally said, "Then I'll leave Achan in your care, Lord Bai."
"Um."
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