Chapter 179
Upon hearing that Fan Xiaoxiao wanted the brick, the old woman's eyes narrowed with a smile. She readily agreed three times and then led Fan Xiaoxiao and the others out of town.
"Hey! Auntie, please wait a moment."
Fan Xiaoxiao called out to the old lady again, and the old lady looked back at her with some doubt, her eyes seeming to be worried that Fan Xiaoxiao would change her mind again.
"Ahem, ma'am, I need to find someone to send a message home first. By the time we get there, it will probably be dark, and our families will be worried. Please wait here for us, we'll be right back."
Fan Xiaoxiao's argument was reasonable and well-founded, so the old woman had no choice but to nod and say that she would wait for them to return.
After receiving an affirmative answer, Fan Xiaoxiao directed Master Lu to drive the carriage towards the foot of Tianshan Mountain. They were gone for a short time and returned soon after.
"Come on, Auntie, come on up. We can go now."
After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao sat down in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and the entire carriage was open to the outside. She pointed inside, gesturing for the old woman to get on the carriage.
"You can just sit inside and give directions. Let's hurry and try to get the bricks back before dark."
After saying that, she turned around and got into the carriage. The old woman's cloudy eyes flickered slightly, and after silently pursing her lips, she followed Fan Xiaoxiao's back and climbed into the carriage, sitting opposite her.
Seeing that the two were seated, Master Lu gave the reins a slight twitch and started the carriage in the direction the old woman had pointed.
The three of them remained silent as they left Tianshan Town, with only the old woman occasionally pointing out the way.
Gradually, the outskirts of Tianshan Town disappeared from sight, and the old woman led them further and further away.
Half an hour later, they still hadn't seen the village the old woman had mentioned. Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at the old woman sitting opposite her, who noticed her gaze and smiled slightly at her: "Our village is a bit far, but we'll be there in another half an hour. Don't be afraid, my wife."
Fan Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, then called for the carriage to stop.
“Auntie, I’ve thought about it. Why don’t you leave me your address and we can go tomorrow? It’s getting late, and we’ve been walking for more than half an hour and we still haven’t arrived. By the time we get to your village, it will probably be dark.”
As she spoke, Fan Xiaoxiao silently reached for the edge of the carriage. The old woman didn't notice her movement; instead, after hearing her words, she lowered her head and let out a strange laugh. When she spoke again, it was a different man's voice.
When did you discover it?
The old woman looked up menacingly, her eyes no longer clouded as before. Fan Xiaoxiao's heart tightened, and she subtly gave Master Lu a wink.
However, the old woman did not notice the exchange of glances between the two. Her eyes changed, and she flipped her hand from back to front, pulling out a dagger from her sleeve. With a kick, she stabbed straight at Fan Xiaoxiao.
"Get out of the way!"
In a flash, Master Lu grabbed Fan Xiaoxiao and pulled her hastily out of the carriage. The dagger grazed Fan Xiaoxiao's arm and pierced the carriage wall. Fan Xiaoxiao felt a sharp pain in her arm, but she didn't care about being injured at that moment. She pulled the bamboo whistle hidden in her clothes with the free hand and blew it loudly.
In an instant, three or five Tianshan disciples dressed in white appeared in the forest. The old woman was not flustered when she saw the situation change so suddenly. She snorted and flew out of the carriage. Then she took out a signal arrow and flung it into the sky. The red light exploded in the air.
Fan Xiaoxiao frowned, looking at the old woman's expression, and felt that something was wrong. She subconsciously gripped the silver whistle that Gu Zhongtai had given her.
After giving the signal, the old woman let out two sinister laughs.
"You only brought this bunch of useless trash from Tianshan?"
With a flash, he darted into the forest. The Tianshan disciples in the forest looked around, but could only hear the wind rustling the trees; nothing else.
Cold sweat streamed down Fan Xiaoxiao's forehead. The surrounding sky was dark and oppressive, looking extremely eerie. Just as she was about to stand up, a scream came from the Tianshan disciples in the forest, followed by chaos.
"ah!"
"There's someone behind us! Everyone be careful!"
Fan Xiaoxiao was startled and, without time to react, pulled Master Lu back onto the carriage.
"Master Lu! We need to hurry back! We must get out of here! There's a trap here!"
Her voice was sharp and somewhat shrill, but fortunately, this wasn't the first time the two had experienced such a crisis, and they quickly regained their composure. Master Lu got into the carriage, gave the reins a sharp jerk, and the horse, in pain, immediately broke free and charged forward.
Seeing them move, Tian Shan in the forest leaped up and followed behind them. At this moment, the people chasing Fan Xiaoxiao and the others finally revealed their true faces from the forest.
It's those men in black!
Fan Xiaoxiao glanced back at them, her heart sinking. She hadn't expected this group to catch up so quickly.
"Ah! Who are you people?!"
The Tianshan disciples behind her were recruited by Fan Xiaoxiao at the foot of the mountain gate. Their skills were probably not very good, and they soon let out screams of pain. Fan Xiaoxiao's face twitched. She had repeatedly instructed them to inform the Heavenly Venerable and Sang Lan'er about this matter, but the group behind her was clearly not the ones she had summoned.
However, Fan Xiaoxiao couldn't stop the carriage to check on the disciples behind her. Master Lu drove the carriage very fast, and Fan Xiaoxiao could only barely hold onto the side of the carriage to avoid being thrown off by the jolts.
"Girl! What do we do now!?"
Master Lu's face was grim, and he gripped the reins tightly. The carriage sped forward, but the constant screams behind them reminded them that danger was imminent.
Fan Xiaoxiao took out a packet of powder that the Ghost Doctor had left her from her bosom. Ever since she knew that her life would be uneasy from now on, she never went out without any preparation.
"Master Lu, keep running forward!"
Suddenly, something seemed to fall onto the top of the carriage with a thud.
The horse was startled and neighed, followed by a lurching motion from side to side. Before Fan Xiaoxiao could even open the medicine powder, she was pulled into the carriage by the inertia.
A gleaming, sharp blade slashed in from the overhead carriage canopy, just grazing the tip of Fan Xiaoxiao's nose.
There was someone on the roof of the carriage! Fan Xiaoxiao was startled. Without thinking, she scrambled to Master Lu's side and threw the medicine powder in her hand at the carriage without even looking at it.
The person on the roof of the carriage hadn't expected Fan Xiaoxiao to react so quickly and was caught off guard, getting thrown right at him. After letting out a scream, he fell off his horse.
But as soon as one person fell, countless men in black swarmed up. Fan Xiaoxiao's heart sank, and she gripped the silver whistle on her chest—if there was danger, blow it, and the master would arrange for someone to protect you.
Fan Xiaoxiao made up her mind, put the silver whistle to her lips, and blew it hard.
(End of this chapter)
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