Chapter 67 After lunch, Wen Mao got up...
After finishing lunch, Wen Mao got up and hurried to Uncle Yu's house.
Just before he was about to leave, Wen Conglan called out to him, "Mao'er, it looks like it might rain. Take your raincoat and straw hat with you."
The sun, which was dazzling before dinner, is now obscured by clouds.
A hazy shadow fell over the scorching hot earth. The sweltering weather was like a steamer, with sticky, humid vapors spreading through the air, making it hard to breathe.
Even Xie Zhuoqing's handsome face was covered with a few beads of sweat.
A while ago, someone came to the door seeking medical help. Wen Conglan carried a medicine box and grabbed an umbrella before hurriedly leaving.
Xie Heng had already abstained from grains. He only finished the meal prepared for him by the Wen family, and then found an excuse to go to the village to inquire about demons and monsters before leaving after Wen Mao.
At this moment, only Xie and his son remained in the Wen family courtyard.
Xie Baoqiong looked up from the vegetable pancake that Wen Conglan had given him, her eyes fixed on the water droplets trickling down Xie Zhuo's forehead.
He could see clearly that the water droplets didn't flow from Xie Zhuo's eyes, but rather appeared out of thin air on Xie Zhuo's forehead and slid down his eyes.
"Dad, you're sweating."
Fortunately, he had read in a storybook that the water flowing from human eyes is tears, and the other water that seeps out is sweat.
Xie Zhuo raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, glancing sideways at Xie Baoqiong's dry appearance:
"The weather's a bit stuffy these days, isn't Xiaobao hot?"
Even disregarding the fact that he is a cultivator, his ability to sense warmth and cold in a single stone already surpasses that of most stones in the world. Xie Baoqiong shook her head while biting into a vegetable pancake.
A hint of worry flashed across Xie Zhuo's face. Being completely unafraid of the heat wasn't necessarily a good thing; it could be a sign of yin deficiency and a cold constitution.
Are you feeling unwell?
As Xie Zhuo spoke, Xie Baoqiong quickly finished the remaining vegetable pancakes in a few bites, puffed out her cheeks, and continued to shake her head.
After hearing Xie Zhuo's words, she suspected that Xie Zhuo had gone crazy from the heat, and reached out her oily hand to grab Xie Zhuo's sleeve.
Xie Zhuo's forehead twitched, and he grabbed Xie Baoqiong's outstretched wrist with his other hand, feeling its smooth, warm texture.
He wiped the crumbs from Xie Baoqiong's mouth with his fingers, and watched as his cheeks gradually thinned. Xie Baoqiong swallowed all the extra food Wen Conglan had given her. He immediately felt that his worries were not unfounded.
The claws clenched in his hand made a few sudden, random scratches.
Xie Baoqiong's mouth, which had finally been free, was able to speak for itself:
"Dad, why are you holding my hand?"
Xie Zhuo's eyebrows twitched, and he pretended to be stern as he said:
"Did you put Dad's clothes for wiping your hands?"
Xie Baoqiong's flailing hands suddenly stopped, and her expressionless face went blank for a moment.
He clearly wanted to test whether Xie Zhuo was suffering from heatstroke.
But recalling how he had grabbed Xie Zhuo's sleeve to wipe his face yesterday, his eyes involuntarily shifted away from Xie Zhuo's sleeve guiltily.
Seeing his expressionless face, with only his eyes darting around, Xie Zhuo suppressed the smile on her lips.
After spending these days together, he realized that he had no power of intimidation in the eyes of the little brat in front of him, or rather, there was nothing in the world that Xie Baoqiong was afraid of.
Normally nothing much happens, but the encounter with bandits in the mountains made Xie Zhuo wonder if his overly indulgent parenting style was inappropriate...
But Xiao Bao didn't have parents around before, and he wasn't a criminal. Occasionally, he would act a little temperamental, lazy, or sly, but that was just childish behavior, and he didn't think much of it.
His expectations of Xie Baoqiong were always limited to the child herself.
With his thoughts turning to this point, Xie Zhuo's expression relaxed, and his tone, no matter how serious he tried to be, no longer sounded as stern as before:
"Go outside and wash your hands."
Xie Baoqiong withdrew her hand, responded, and ran outside.
A cheerful voice came from outside: "Dad, it's raining outside."
Xie Zhuo followed Xie Baoqiong slowly as they walked out.
After stepping over the threshold, Xie Zhuo pulled back Xie Baoqiong, who was reaching out to catch the raindrops from under the eaves, and dragged her to the water vat.
"Reach out your hand."
Xie Baoqiong obediently stretched out her two hands, which were wet with raindrops.
Xie Zhuo scooped up a ladle of water and slowly poured it down.
The sound of raindrops falling was drowned out by the sound of water being poured from the ladle.
The small puddles on the ground reflected the shadows of the two people under the eaves.
Thunder roared in the sky, illuminating a dark corner of the world.
The figure leaning against Xie Zhuo was awakened by the thunder.
Xie Zhuo put down the palm-leaf fan in his hand and covered his ear on the side of his head.
Xie Baoqiong's sleepy eyelids drooped again, and the deafening thunder sounded muffled with the obstruction of her hand.
The sky was dark, and the humid and sweltering weather was broken by the sudden downpour, bringing a touch of coolness. Xie Zhuo's patient and persuasive voice could be heard in the background.
In this situation, Xie Baoqiong, who was still sitting in the chair, tilted her head to the side and naturally closed her eyes.
Awakened by the thunder, his sleepiness dissipated somewhat. He vaguely heard Xie Zhuo's voice mixed with the muffled thunder, ringing in his ears:
"Xiao Bao, if all goes well, we will set off for Luozhou County tomorrow."
Xie Baoqiong was still struggling with sleepiness when another voice rang out before him:
"You're leaving tomorrow?"
Xie Baoqiong's eyelids lifted a crack.
Through the rain, a figure carrying a sword, without an umbrella, approached, bringing the rain with him.
Stepping inside, I found myself completely dry, without a single drop of water.
"I have important matters to attend to, and besides, my son and I are just ordinary people, so we can't be of any help here."
The thunder gradually faded away, and a few flashes of light occasionally appeared in the clouds. Xie Zhuo removed his hands from Xie Baoqiong's ears, and the sound became clearer.
Xie Heng put down the sword on his back and sat down on the bench next to the father and son, his gaze thoughtfully falling on Xie Baoqiong.
"Father, how do we get to Luozhou Prefecture?" Xie Baoqiong's consciousness gradually returned under his gaze.
He sat up straight, shifted slightly, and turned his back to the gaze behind him.
Xie Zhuo tenderly stroked the red mark left on Xie Baoqiong's face:
"A carriage will come to pick us up tomorrow."
...
The next morning, Xie Baoqiong changed back into the clothes that Wen Mao had mended.
There were fine stitches where the cuff was cut by the blade; if you didn't look closely, you would just think it was the original pattern on the clothes.
Xie Zhuo, who pushed open the door, had a solemn expression on his face.
Xie Baoqiong didn't notice Xie Zhuo's strange expression, and stepped forward to pull Xie Zhuo aside to ask:
"Father, when are we leaving?"
"Xiao Bao, I'm afraid we won't be able to leave today." Xie Zhuo's tone revealed a hint of worry as he stuffed the steamed bun in his hand into Xie Baoqiong's hand.
"Why? Hasn't the carriage arrived yet?" Xie Baoqiong asked, taking a bite of her steamed bun.
"Not entirely," Xie Zhuo said vaguely, pulling the person towards the door.
The door was opened a crack, and the noise that had been pouring into the room became clear.
"You shameless bastard, my third son has been acting strangely ever since he came back from your place yesterday..."
A shrill voice drifted in from outside the courtyard, and a crowd of onlookers gathered nearby.
Wen Mao stood in the courtyard gate, blocking the people who wanted to enter.
Through the gaps in the crowd, Xie Baoqiong saw a somewhat familiar figure lying on a straw mat at everyone's feet.
Before he could see clearly, a hand blocked his view. Fragments of light pierced through the gaps, preventing the world from falling into complete darkness, but making it impossible for his naked eye to see the outside world.
Don't look.
The owner of the hand spoke in a cool, clear voice behind him.
Xie Baoqiong's consciousness had already emerged from his body and was probing towards the straw mat in the center of the crowd.
The figure lying on the straw mat had exposed, bluish-gray skin, and eyes that were wide open like copper bells but appeared cloudy, unable to reflect anything around them.
The skin below the eye sockets showed signs of tearing, and the cracked areas appeared pale due to blood loss.
The look of fear remained forever on Feng Laosan's face as his life was taken away.
Xie Baoqiong's divine sense swept downwards.
Feng Laosan was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, his abdomen was flat and concave, and large brown stains were spread on the upper part of his clothes, while his lower body was covered with grass clippings and mud.
The weather has been hot and humid lately, and mosquitoes and flies have been swarming above the abdomen of the corpse.
Just as his gaze was about to sweep downwards again, he suddenly felt a sharp gaze fall upon him.
He extended his divine sense upwards and saw the figure on the roof.
Xie Baoqiong stopped in her tracks, having completely forgotten about Xie Heng.
He slowly swaggered toward Wen Mao, finally landing on Wen Mao's shoulder.
Wen Mao glanced over his shoulder as if he sensed something, then looked at Xie Heng standing on the rooftop in the distance.
Xie Heng's eyes sharpened, and he gracefully landed beside Wen Mao. His gaze first fell on Wen Mao's shoulder, and then moved to Wen Mao's face.
The cursing woman's voice suddenly caught in her throat when she saw Xie Heng appear.
The next moment, as if grasping at a lifeline, he said excitedly, "You must be the immortal the village chief was talking about."
Granny Feng stepped over the corpse of Feng Laosan on the ground and took a few steps forward to try to grab Xie Heng, but Xie Heng dodged her with a sidestep.
Her hands froze in mid-air, awkwardly rubbing together twice, before her sharp, agitated voice rang out again:
“Immortal Master, you can’t just stay at the Wen family’s house temporarily and start helping them.”
She slapped her leg with one hand, crying out but without tears, her voice clear, and pointed at Wen Mao:
"My third child was killed by this little bastard..."
"Old Lady Feng, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. What makes you think Mao'er harmed your son?"
Wen Conglan stood in front of Wen Mao and sternly refuted him.
"Yes, Granny Feng, Wen Mao borrowed Old Yu's oxcart yesterday afternoon to go to town to buy grain. How could he have time to harm anyone by going back and forth like that?"
Wen Conglan has helped many people over the years, and now many people are willing to step forward to testify.
“I saw Wen’s son return the car. Granny Feng, your family had bad luck and got eaten by a demon. Don’t drag Wen’s son into this…”
"What do you know?"
Granny Feng interrupted the conversation around her, glaring fiercely at Wen Conglan. If it weren't for Wen Mao behind her and Xie Heng beside her, she probably would have pounced on him and started a fight.
"That little bastard from the Wen family was lost in the mountains for so many days years ago; even an adult wouldn't necessarily survive."
Not only did this kid survive, but he also changed his personality; who knows, he might have already been possessed by a mountain demon.
Granny Feng spat in Wen Conglan's direction:
"Everyone respects you, Doctor Shengwen, but I don't think you're a good person. That's why all those who have offended you over the years have been harmed by demons."
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Author's note: I've made some minor revisions to the illustration; it will be re-uploaded once it passes review.
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