Chapter 4 The bird is so pitiful. The fish is so badly injured…
Xiao Jiang gazed at the merman's androgynous face and the faint curve of its lips. It was an extremely subtle smile, but when it appeared, it was like a pebble thrown into frozen water, instantly melting away the ice and snow, and allowing spring water to flow. She was somewhat stunned, speechless, unsure of what words to use to praise it.
Seeing the girl's expression, the merman knew perfectly well why. It simply tilted its head slightly, its gaze fixed on the void, and released a hint of sorrow with its beautiful eyes.
"You must really want to go home, right?"
What's there to not understand? Xiao Hai just can't speak, but its feelings are the same as a human's. Xiao Jiang felt that he understood everything.
What a pitiful fish, suffering such serious injuries and separated from its family.
"Don't worry, Xiao Hai. I will definitely help you get back to the sea!"
The girl looked at it resolutely, her hands gripping the edge of the tub tightly. A burning flame seemed to flicker in her golden pupils, making the merman almost believe that she would personally take it back to the sea.
But all it really wanted was to return to the river where it had been stranded. Since it had been able to swim upstream from the sea to this place, it meant that the waters here must be connected to the ocean. Once it returned to the waters, even without spiritual power, it could swim back to the sea on its own.
She seems too easily fooled, the merman thought.
It was so simple that it felt it could do anything for it with just a flick of its finger.
It was probably the first time the merman had done something like this, and a slight heat rose from the tips of his ears.
Xiao Jiang frowned and pondered, but she had never seen the sea and did not know where it was or which way it was. Suddenly, she looked at the merman in the bathtub with great care, her gaze sweeping from tail to head, and muttered to herself, "If only I could shrink you, I could carry you with me effortlessly and no one would notice you."
The merman looked at her, deep in thought and somewhat troubled, and realized for the first time that she was actually quite interesting.
The white-haired girl gazed out the window, then suddenly seemed to remember something, her golden eyes sparkling. Having lived in the deep sea for generations, merfolk were naturally drawn to anything shimmering. It followed her gaze out the window, seeing only a vast blue sky and a few birds flying by.
The scenery was unremarkable, but she ran away quickly.
Birds, birds...
Xiao Jiang suddenly remembered that she could ask the birds!
She couldn't remember when it started, but she began to understand the birds' language. The chirping outside the window, the trees, and even the calls from the sky all became a language she could understand, and the birds could understand her meaning from her imitations. Through these interactions, she often learned many useful things from the birds, such as which forest had delicious fruit, which mountain had tigers in mating season and it was best not to hunt, or even some minor magical arts that her father disapproved of her learning.
The wind swept past Xiao Jiang's feet, and she used her speed-running technique to run towards the tallest tree in the woods behind the house at a speed no ordinary person could achieve. Barefoot, she quickly climbed the tree, and in no time, she reached the top of the towering tree.
Xiao Jiang skillfully summoned the birds, and a flock of birds landed on the branches, chirping around the girl.
A grey magpie described the sea to her, telling her that it was far to the south and that she would have to fly over many mountains to reach it.
The black titmouse told her that although she didn't know the magic to shrink objects, she did know the magic to make objects invisible.
A turtledove also agreed to help her ask the mountain god.
Coo coo coo—
A pigeon suddenly fluttered over, making her look north.
Looking down from the treetop, one could see rows of houses scattered among the lush green forests. Along the narrow, winding road, Xiao Jiang saw a group of people slowly entering. They were dressed in clothing completely different from the Li and Yue people, and the weapons in their hands reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight.
It was the same group of unreasonable people she had encountered before.
They found the way into the village so quickly? Her intuition told her that the arrival of this group was not a good thing.
Xiao Jiang asked the birds to help her inquire about the sea and magic, then bid them farewell, wanting to hurry back and tell her father the news.
Jiang Liuyun should be on duty at the clan's temple at this moment, so Xiao Jiang ran straight to the temple.
Behind the high steps, the temple gates were wide open. Xiao Jiang, panting, climbed to the top and was about to enter when he was stopped by a shout.
"Stop! Jiang Yuhuo, where are you going?"
At the temple entrance, a young girl dressed in white emerged and stopped Xiao Jiang, who was in a hurry. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her almond-shaped eyes looked down at Xiao Jiang. "The clan leader is discussing matters with the high priest; you mustn't disturb him."
"...What are we discussing?" Xiao Jiang asked, panting heavily, and answered instinctively.
"This is none of your business. If you're looking for the High Priest, wait here." The girl in white spoke with her usual decisiveness, brooking no argument.
The person before him was Qingdai, the clan chief's most beloved youngest daughter. She had grown up in the temple since childhood, and therefore always spoke with an air of authority beyond her years. Although she was a few years older than Xiao Jiang, Xiao Jiang felt as if she were already an adult.
As the chieftain's daughter and a shaman serving at the temple, Qingdai was highly respected by her tribe. Naturally, she was also an idol among the children, a figure revered by all. But there was one thing she shared with them—she disliked Xiao Jiang. At this moment, Qingdai stood blocking the temple entrance, even ordering those around her to close the gate.
"I heard you bullied Wu Hu and the others?"
The expected attack didn't surprise Xiao Jiang at all. She just couldn't understand how Wu Hu and the others had managed it. Did they tell everyone they met? Otherwise, how could the entire tribe seem to know about it in just half a day? Thinking of the chubby little boy crying and tattling to everyone he met, Xiao Jiang couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"You still dare to laugh? You know, Wu Hu is my aunt's son." Qing Dai was even more furious when she saw her like this, but she still maintained the dignity that a priestess should have. "If you dare to lay a finger on them again, I will never let you off. Jiang Yu Huo, don't do anything that will bring shame to the High Priest."
What was clearly a threat sounded like heartfelt advice coming from her mouth; Qingdai knew exactly what Xiaojiang cared about. It was strange, though; the little monster, like everyone else, had a weakness.
On the steps, Qingdai, impeccably dressed in her shrine maiden robes, scrutinized Jiang Yuhuo below. Throughout their standoff, not a single feather on her head trembled. The little monster before her was always like this, her entire being exuding a careless air. Despite being nominally the daughter of a high priest, she knew nothing of etiquette. Even though everyone loathed her, she always maintained a lazy demeanor, as if she cared nothing for anyone.
She was nothing like the gentle and courteous High Priest, not only in her mannerisms but even in her appearance. The High Priest was as warm and refined as jade, while hers was sharp as a knife. Although her features hadn't fully developed, her face was already impossible to ignore, dazzling like the sun, shining brightly on its own. Especially her strange golden eyes, full of wildness, like the eyes of an untamed beast.
Perhaps she really was, as the rumors say, picked up from the mountains by the High Priest.
After all, no one had ever seen her mother.
Qingdai had overheard Wu Hu secretly mention that he had personally witnessed Jiang Yuhuo growing fur on his back, just like that of wild beasts in the mountains.
Is it really a monster?
Xiao Jiang had grown accustomed to this kind of gaze—doubt, disgust, defensiveness…and sometimes even a hint of fear. From childhood, aside from her neighbor Granny Fang, almost everyone in the clan, young and old, had looked at her this way. At first, they might try to show her kindness out of respect for her father, but their attitudes would immediately change the moment they saw her eyes. The adults would try to hide it, while the children would show it directly. Fortunately, no one had actually hurt her; they simply didn't accept her.
Perhaps he was tired from running, because Xiao Jiang didn't even bother to explain himself, and simply sat down on a step. Oh well, he could tell his father after he finished his meeting.
"Jiang Yuhuo, how dare you! This is no place for you to run wild in front of the temple." The usually mature and composed priestess was truly angry this time, and the few colorful feathers on her head were now shaking uncontrollably.
“Stand up. Do not behave rudely at the temple entrance.”
The temple is the most sacred place in the hearts of the Le Viet people, not to mention how important it is to a shaman like Thanh Dai who has served her for many years.
Xiao Jiang remembered that her father had said the same thing to her before. She didn't believe it, but she still obediently got up and said, "I'm sorry."
Upon hearing the apology, Qingdai choked, unsure of what she was apologizing for. Fortunately, the temple doors opened at that moment, and the clan chief and high priest emerged, rescuing her from this inexplicably friendly atmosphere. But she was still puzzled; when had the little monster become so obedient?
Along with the clan chief and the high priest, a middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes and with a somewhat plump figure appeared. Qingdai didn't recognize him.
But Xiao Jiang had already recognized the style of this person's clothes; they were the same as the style of the group of people they had encountered outside the village.
It turned out that people had been sent before the main force arrived. Xiao Jiang felt uneasy, increasingly convinced that these people had ulterior motives.
Jiang Liuyun saw Xiao Jiang at the bottom of the steps and gave her a look that asked, "Why are you here?"
Unexpectedly, Xiao Jiang rushed up and pointed at the middle-aged man in fine clothes, saying, "Father, it's them! A group of them beat me up outside the village!"
Never mind, I'll file a complaint first, and I'll do my best to smear this group of people as much as possible.
Even Qingdai looked at the well-dressed man with disbelief. The middle-aged man in fine clothes, a foreigner, was caught in the middle and felt the air around him suddenly thin. He could only stammer, "Uh... Is that so? I really don't know, and I've never seen this young lady before!"
He had indeed never seen Xiao Jiang before. When Xiao Jiang was forcibly asked for directions, he was dozing in the carriage. By the time he heard the commotion outside and came out to investigate, Xiao Jiang had already vanished. However, this didn't mean he was unaware of the fight that had taken place outside. His young prince had a volatile temper, and his personal guards were equally arrogant and domineering; he had lost count of how many people they had beaten and verbally abused along the way. But, as the saying goes, "If you don't ask, you won't know; if you do, you'll be shocked." This was the wisdom he gained from years of official service.
“Xiao Jiang, don’t talk nonsense. This is Magistrate Liu, who just arrived from Cangwu County. Why would he hit you for no reason?” Jiang Liuyun pretended to be angry and said, “Tell me in detail what happened.”
Xiao Jiang embellished her account of what happened by the river, but unfortunately, she had no wounds to prove it, otherwise she could have been nailed to the pillar of shame by these people.
Jiang Liuyun carefully examined her and confirmed that Xiao Jiang was not injured. However, he remembered the tattered fish basket she had been carrying at home earlier. He had assumed that she had broken it while playing, but now it seemed that was not the case.
"If my daughter had spoken recklessly, the clan would have punished her, but it seems that she has indeed done so. I urge you, Lord Liu, to inform the lord and seek justice for my daughter to avoid further discord. What do you think, Lord Liu?"
The middle-aged man in fine clothes looked at the young priest of the Li-Yue ethnic group whose expression changed in an instant. He had just thought that this person was not like a barbarian and had the demeanor of a gentleman. What an illusion! It was a complete illusion!
As he was making excuses, the commotion outside grew louder and louder. People on the steps all looked in the direction of the sound.
A group of people approached the temple from afar. At the head of the group, a young man rode a tall chestnut horse. Despite his young age, his posture was very upright, and his dazzling gold-embroidered brocade robe made him look extremely noble at first glance.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
