Why did he leave without saying goodbye in Chapter 18?
A short figure darted swiftly through the dense forest of Fangze Mountain.
The figure initially resembled a human, but after running for a short while, its body transformed into a four-legged leaping form, causing the broken branches and leaves on the ground to crunch and creak.
At the same time, a white sword shadow flashed past behind the figure, chasing it closely at an equal speed, and the voice of a child could be faintly heard.
"Wenren Jing—don't run away!"
Hearing the voice, he chased after Se Sha and shouted with all his might.
But the sword and the rabbit were running too fast, and now that they heard human voices, they couldn't turn back into their original forms. They could only try their best to chase after them on two legs.
Fangze Mountain is, after all, the number one mountain in Xiangcheng. There are many steep slopes on the mountain. Once you hear people's voices and rush down the slope, you can't stop for a while. You sway and look like you're about to fall down the mountain.
"Hey! Hey! I'm going to fall!"
Just before he rolled into a ball, someone pulled him back by the back of his collar.
He Mu, suspended in mid-air, crouched down and lifted up a voice, frowning as he said, "You're running so fast! I called you but you didn't stop."
Hearing voices, it was lifted into the air like a puppy, its limbs flailing wildly.
Seeing that his struggles were futile, he could only shout angrily, "Why doesn't the Mountain God use the Shrinking Earth Technique?!"
He Mu remained calm, shook his head, and said, "The area is too small. If we knew where he would run off to, we could have caught up with him in advance."
"Well……"
After listening to the voice and pondering for a moment, he said,
"I don't know where the clan chief and the others are living now, but this direction should lead to Xiangcheng, right?"
He Mu nodded: "Okay, then let's go straight to the foot of the mountain and stop him."
As soon as he finished speaking, He Mu pulled Wen Rensheng back into his arms and landed at the foot of Fangze Mountain on his sword in an instant.
There was some distance between the foot of the mountain and the city gate of Xiangcheng. The two of them blocked the area at the foot of the mountain and hid in the bushes on either side.
Hearing voices made my heart pound so hard it felt like it would jump out of my chest.
He could never mistake that figure or that face.
It must be the clan leader!
He didn't even blink when he heard voices. He stared nervously in the direction of the mountain entrance, his body and breathing tense, ready to grab the fleeing chieftain at any moment.
However, after waiting for a while, there was still no movement from this place.
"...Didn't they catch up?"
Hearing voices, he stamped his foot in frustration and couldn't help but complain.
"How can the clan leader run so fast at his age!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a gust of wind suddenly swept over Wen Rensheng's head, lifting his bangs off.
He looked down and saw that a huge shadow had fallen over him, as if a colossal creature was passing right over his head.
The next second, they rushed straight towards Mu's direction!
Hearing the voice, he was startled and hurriedly looked in the direction of He Mu.
Only then did he realize that the giant creature was a white rabbit whose size had been magnified several times!
Although the rabbit pounced quickly, He Mu was, after all, a god. He slightly shifted his body to dodge, raised his hand to summon the Se Sha, circled behind it, and the blade directly blocked the rabbit's vital point.
"Don't move!" He Mu shouted.
The sound startled the rabbit, causing it to tremble and transform into human form with a "bang".
Sure enough, it was the little old man who had been spying from not far away. Judging from the voices calling out just now, his name seemed to be "Wenren Jing".
"Clan leader?" the voice hesitated, "You..."
Wenren Jing's body was trembling uncontrollably, but when he saw Wenren Sheng, he gritted his teeth, as if he had made up his mind, and with a fierce look on his face, he pounced on He Mu, rolled around, and stood in front of Wenren Sheng.
"Chen, Chenchenchen, is that right?"
Wenren Jing stammered and called out to He Mu,
"Let me tell you, if you dare to cause him any more trouble, I'll... I'll bite you to death, I'll... I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"
He Mu raised an eyebrow, sheathed the sword from his back, and a glint of light flashed across the golden pattern between his brows.
He glanced at Wenren Jing.
"You don't recognize me?"
Wenren Jing stepped back again, almost squeezing behind Wenren Sheng.
He bared his teeth and grinned menacingly, saying, "I recognize you! I've heard you bullied Wenrensheng for a long time! I rushed back today just to... to kill you!"
Hearing the voice, he seemed a little flustered. He quickly put his arm around the clan leader's shoulder and whispered, "Clan leader! He is the mountain god of Fangze Mountain, not Chen Lian. Chen Lian is dead!"
"What?!" Wenren Jing shuddered. "Mountain God? He looks even younger than me!"
Hearing the voice, he frowned, thinking to himself that there probably weren't many people in the world older than the clan chief, this old rabbit.
It's normal that he didn't recognize He Mu, after all, the statue of the Azure Jade True Lord in front of the temple doesn't resemble He Mu at all; He Mu is much more handsome.
He Mu took a step forward, leaned slightly forward, and looked at Wenren Jing with a scrutinizing gaze.
"So, you're the clan chief who adopted Wenrensheng before?"
Perhaps it was because He Mu's gaze was too sharp, but Wenren Jing was so frightened by just one glance that his legs began to tremble.
He cried out and hurriedly hid behind Wenrensheng, his voice trembling as he said, "No, no, no, no, I just came to see the child, I didn't mean to do anything else!"
He Mu countered, "Looking after the children?"
Wenren Jing stammered, "Yes, Wenren Sheng, I came to see Wenren Sheng, his... his birthday... no, no, it's Chen Lian... uh..."
Seeing that he was stammering and couldn't explain clearly, He Mu pulled Wen Rensheng to her side, turned her head and asked in a low voice, "Is he your former family member?"
Wenren Sheng looked at Wenren Jing with some concern in his eyes. He nodded and took He Mu's hand.
He Mu then asked, "Would you like to catch up with him?"
Reminiscing?
"ah……"
Hearing voices, he made that extremely conflicted expression again.
He didn't really want to have much contact with the clan chief, but he was genuinely curious about the rabbit clan's life over the years.
When did they leave Yoshizawa Mountain, and where are they now? Just thinking about these questions makes him itch with curiosity whenever he hears voices, as if someone is tickling his heart with a feather.
Without Wenren Sheng's protection, Wenren Jing was caught between a rock and a hard place, so he could only break off a branch and point it tremblingly at He Mu.
"Even the mountain god won't do... No one can bully him..."
Judging from his voice, he looked older than before, with all his hair and beard turned white and his body thin as a skeleton, giving the impression that he was nearing the end of his life.
Hearing the voice, he pondered for a moment, then finally released He Mu and stepped forward to extend his hand to him.
"Chief, are you hungry?" He looked at the old man with concern. "Why don't you go and get something to eat first?"
*
Mu Yiyan led Wenren Jing to their usual teahouse and ordered the same tea and snacks as last time.
He had only intended to eat a few bites casually, but to his surprise, Wenren Jing devoured all the food on the plate in less than half an incense stick's time, as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated.
Hearing someone's voice, he sat on Mu's lap, barely able to reach the table.
He only carefully tasted a small piece of his favorite pastry, leaving the rest for Wenren Jing, since he looked really hungry.
“You really are a family,” He Mu leaned down slightly and whispered in Wen Rensheng’s ear, “You all really enjoy the tea and snacks here, and you’ve eaten so much without gaining any weight.”
He pinched the flesh on Wen Rensheng's waist and thought to himself that he hadn't skimped on food in the past six months, so why couldn't he gain weight?
He was ticklish from the sound of human voices, so he squirmed and muttered:
"It's so itchy!"
He Mu stopped scratching him, held the child in his arms, and the two of them blinked at each other, waiting to see when Wenren Jing would finish eating.
After watching for a while, He Mu couldn't contain himself any longer and seized the opportunity to ask, "Wen Rensheng, when you were little, you lived with rabbits, did you also think you were a little rabbit?"
Hearing a soft hum, someone said, "I'm not that stupid."
He Mu then asked, "So, do you eat grass like them?"
“I don’t like to eat them, so I’ll go down the mountain to buy steamed buns myself.”
"Won't the rabbit be very scared?"
"I'm not a rabbit, so I don't know what they're thinking."
He was already annoyed by the sound of voices, and He Mu's incessant chatter only made him more irritable. He felt an urge to bite He Mu in the face.
Fortunately, Wenren Jing seemed to have finally filled his empty stomach. He picked up the teacup next to him and took a big gulp, which finally made him swallow the dry food.
When I looked up, I found two pairs of eyes staring straight at me.
He was immediately startled.
"Oh! W-what are you doing?!"
He Mu spread his hands and said, "Now it's time to talk about your matter, isn't it?"
Wenren Jing swallowed hard and glanced nervously at Wenren Sheng.
"...What is it?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
Mu Liang was a relative of Wen Rensheng, and he patiently asked a second time, "I heard from Wen Rensheng that your clan has been away from Fangze Mountain for a long time, why have you come back?"
Upon hearing this, Wenren Jing abruptly lowered his head, his eyes darting around, clearly troubled by something, yet hesitant to speak.
He Mu narrowed his eyes, his tone slightly harsher: "Not speaking, are you feeling guilty?"
"No, no, no, no!" Wenren Jing quickly shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"and you--"
"He just said something like he came back to celebrate my birthday with me."
Before he could finish speaking, Wenren Sheng, who had been silent until now, finally interrupted He Mu.
But his expression didn't show much happiness; instead, he pursed his lips, looking like a bitter gourd.
“Does your birthday matter?” Wenren muttered softly. “More than that, I want to know why you left so suddenly.”
For most people, a reunion after many years may be more important than old memories, but the sound of voices doesn't have to go through so many twists and turns.
He simply followed his first instinct, stubbornly wanting to know why his cherished family had suddenly left without saying goodbye.
Was it because he did something wrong? Or was he disliked?
We have to give him an answer.
Upon hearing Wenren Sheng's words, Wenren Jing's gaze finally stopped wandering. His eyes darkened, and he turned his face away to avoid Wenren Sheng's gaze.
He hesitated and began to speak:
"...The Heavenly Spiritual Root, is it still within you?"
A note from the author:
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