Chapter 83 Azu
"Qin Tiedan! You're back!"
On the shore, someone was waving a torch and shouting at Qin Tiedan. Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at that person, then her gaze fell on what was behind him.
"This is too exaggerated..." Fan Xiaoxiao muttered to herself. She had only ever seen all of this in anime in the real world.
It was a water fortress surrounded on three sides by cliffs, clinging to the cliff face in an arc shape. The scattered lights above illuminated it clearly, revealing many houses stacked upon each other, making it look like a monster lurking in the darkness. The boat continued its slow journey, and the people on the shore followed it, running towards the fortress.
As they drew closer, Fan Xiaoxiao finally saw a tall wall stretching out in the distance, completely enclosing the water fortress. Directly in front of them was a wooden gate, nearly six or seven meters high, flanked by tall towers, each guarded by several men.
As solid as a rock.
This was the first word that popped into Fan Xiaoxiao's mind. She frowned; escaping from here would likely be quite difficult. Qin Tiedan, seeing Fan Xiaoxiao staring solemnly at the water fortress, assumed she was speechless with shock at the sight before her. His mood instantly brightened, and he boasted with smug pride, "Impressive, isn't it! We're the largest water fortress for miles around! Once you're inside, even if you grew wings, you'd have a hard time getting out!"
Fan Xiaoxiao's gaze darkened slightly. No wonder these river bandits didn't tie them up; they simply disdained to do so.
Someone was waving something at the bow, and another horn blast came from the towers on either side. Then, the wooden lock creaked and slowly rose. By the time the ship reached the lock, it was at the correct height for passage.
Once inside, there was a circular inner lake, with many boats of various sizes moored around it. Fan Xiaoxiao's lips unconsciously pursed into a thin line, and her hands tightened slightly.
"What did you see?"
Ye Niangzi's voice was a little cold, and Fan Xiaoxiao then realized that she was holding the other person's hand too tightly, so she quickly loosened her grip.
"What did you see?" Ye Niangzi asked again, having received no answer. Fan Xiaoxiao licked her dry lips, her voice strained.
"A city that is as solid as a rock."
Yes, the village before them could clearly no longer be called a village. If one had to choose, it would certainly be more appropriate to call it a town. Madam Ye showed little surprise; she nodded and then asked a completely unrelated question.
Why did you push that short guy aside?
Fan Xiaoxiao was taken aback, clearly not following Ye Niangzi's leap of thought. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she gave the other woman a strange look and said...
"Why is there a reason? I just can't stand his disgusting appearance." She had encountered several such perverts who liked to take advantage of others when she was in college. They were utterly repulsive, so when she saw the short man's lecherous look, she instinctively pushed him away.
"What? Do you have some kind of special fetish?" Fan Xiaoxiao imagined the scene and immediately felt a chill run down her spine, giving her goosebumps all over.
Lady Ye's brows twitched, but instead of getting angry, she smiled. However, the hand that Fan Xiaoxiao was holding was turned around, and then Fan Xiaoxiao felt a sharp pain as her hand was squeezed.
"Ouch!!! It hurts, it hurts!" Fan Xiaoxiao almost jumped up from being grabbed so tightly. How could this person be so stingy, not even allowing her to say a word?
"What are you doing!" The commotion of the two caught Qin Tiedan's attention. He raised his eyebrows and glared at them with an unfriendly tone.
"Behave yourself!"
"Thump."
The boat finally docked, and Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were pushed and shoved off. On the shore, a burly man walked over, followed by a number of people. However, they all seemed to be centered around him. Looking closer at the man, he was eight feet tall, and his full beard made it difficult to make out his features. One could only vaguely make out his fierce, wolf-like eyes and a bulbous nose.
He walked up to Fan Xiaoxiao and the other two. As soon as Qin Tiedan and the others saw him, they immediately knelt down on one knee and shouted in unison, "Welcome, Chief!"
"Hahaha! Good brother! This is the beauty I found for me!?" The man looked down and carefully examined Ye Niangzi's face, then leaned close to her and took a deep breath.
"Hmm~ She's a beauty! Hahahaha! Good! I'm so happy! Hmm? Who is this?" The chief of Huilong Village noticed Fan Xiaoxiao standing to the side and looked at the man with the mole with some confusion.
"Oh! Chieftain! This is the maidservant prepared for the lady! The lady's eyesight isn't very good, so we found a maidservant for her in advance." This was a clever way of putting it, neither implying that Fan Xiaoxiao was just there to make up the numbers, nor deserving credit for himself. His constant mention of the lady further pleased the chieftain, and the bandit, as strong as an ox, laughed loudly, his laughter like thunder, making Fan Xiaoxiao's ears ache.
"Hahaha! Good! Very good! What are your names?"
"My surname is Ye." Lady Ye didn't seem to care about the chieftain's vulgar laughter. Her voice was soft, and she looked exactly like the person Fan Xiaoxiao had first met.
"Best Actor! Oh no, Best Actress!" Fan Xiaoxiao mentally gave this pretentious older sister a thumbs up. She glanced up and saw the chieftain staring at her. She quickly lowered her head and mumbled a reply.
"I..." She hesitated slightly, then her eyes darted around before she gave herself a fake name.
"My surname is Ma, and everyone calls me Ma Yatou."
"Hmm...that's a good name." The chieftain nodded, seemingly quite pleased with it. Then, he turned around excitedly and shouted into the crowd:
"Grandpa! There are still a few days until the auspicious day!"
An elderly woman walked out of the crowd with her hands behind her back, her body trembling. She wore an indigo dress adorned with many silver ornaments, which looked somewhat similar to the clothing of the Miao people in the modern world.
However, unlike Miao silver ornaments, the silver ornaments on this old woman's body did not make a clear, crisp bell sound as she moved, but rather a somewhat eerie, dull sound.
Fan Xiaoxiao rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. The old lady's cloudy eyes slowly swept over her and Ye Niangzi. Her wrinkled face showed little expression. Just as she was about to speak, she coughed.
"Cough cough cough, the day after tomorrow is an auspicious day for a wedding! Eldest brother, this bride looks like a vixen. She must be properly identified before she can enter our house! Don't let it be like last time, where you find an unclean woman! Cough cough cough cough."
Upon hearing this, Fan Xiaoxiao felt a wave of physical discomfort rise from her stomach; the goosebumps she had just gotten hadn't subsided before another layer appeared. What did that old woman mean? A physical examination?!
She glanced at Lady Ye subconsciously, only to find that the other woman's face remained expressionless. She forced a smile, her heart filled with panic and fear of the unknown.
The chieftain of Huilong Village seemed to have great respect for the older woman; he nodded to her.
"Do as Azu says!"
"Okay, good girl. Iron Chicken, take these two women to my place. I need to examine them myself in a bit! Cough cough."
"yes!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
