As night fell, Jiang Bai took out his basket after having dinner.
Are you going out again?
Ji Yanwen frowned as he watched her actions.
She had just gotten married yesterday, but spent the night outside and slept all day at home. Now that it's dark, she's going out again.
The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.
But when she returned today, her face looked as if some wild spirit had drained her life force. Now that she's going out again, it's hard not to have some doubts.
"Sister, where are you going?" Jiang Lu was also a little worried. Even the silly Jiang Songwen seemed to have a moment of clarity, staring straight at her with his eyes.
With three pairs of eyes watching him from home, Jiang Bai had no choice but to explain, "I went to Pingshan to take care of some business."
"What?"
"What are you doing in Pingshan so late at night? Are you planning to kill a few wild boars again?"
Ji Yanwen had dealt with those wild boars with Jiang Bai before, and knew better how much they could be sold for. Hearing that she was going to Pingshan at this time, he couldn't help but feel a little complicated.
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Although my studies cost a lot of money, you don't need to risk your life in the middle of the night for my sake."
Besides this, he really couldn't think of any other reason why Jiang Bai would go to Pingshan so late at night.
Isn't it true that I'm just being delusional?
Jiang Bai rolled his eyes and explained, "Don't overthink it. I really have something to take care of in Pingshan."
Ji Yanwen didn't say anything, but it was clear he didn't believe it.
Jiang Lu tugged at Jiang Bai's sleeve and said, "Sister, can you not go?"
The little girl pursed her lips, her eyes filled with worry.
"Sister has important business to attend to."
Jiang Bai's tone softened immediately as he spoke to Jiang Lu, coaxing, "Er Ya, be good, your older sister will be back soon."
She bent down and whispered in Er Ya's ear, "Remember to lock the door after you go back to your room, and remember to practice the martial arts that your older sister taught you."
Jiang Bai had long ago found an opportunity to teach Jiang Lu martial arts. Before, when she was not at home, Jiang Lu practiced in the yard. When Ji Yanwen married into the family, Jiang Bai had her secretly practice in the house so that Ji Yanwen would not find out.
Jiang Lu nodded and stopped trying to stop her.
After speaking with Jiang Lu, Jiang Bai looked at Ji Yanwen and said, "Let's go inside. I have something to tell you."
Ji Yanwen believed it and got up to walk towards the room, but unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the door, Jiang Bai suddenly pushed him into the room from behind, hooked his hand and pulled the door shut. The lock rattled and locked Ji Yanwen inside.
As soon as Ji Yanwen steadied himself and turned to pull the door open, he found that it was locked from the outside.
When I pushed the window open again, it was locked from the outside.
"Jiang Bai, what are you doing? Why did you lock me up?"
Jiang Bai's sudden move infuriated Ji Yanwen. He instinctively reached for the dagger in his sleeve, only to find it empty. Startled, his eyes immediately reddened, and he demanded of Jiang Bai outside, "You took my dagger?"
"Don't worry, I'm just borrowing it for a bit. I'll return it to you when I get back."
"I've put a chamber pot in the room for you. If you need to pee, just use the chamber pot."
"Of course, if you want to get a big one, just bear with it, I'll be back soon."
Jiang Bai, holding the key in his hand, was very confident. Ignoring Ji Yanwen's roar in the room, Jiang Bai led Jiang Lu to her room and handed her the dagger that Ji Yanwen had given her.
Jiang Lu asked worriedly, "Sister, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to treat your brother-in-law like this?"
Jiang Bai flicked her forehead and scolded, "Silly girl, what do you know? Your older sister is doing this for your own good."
"For my own good?" Jiang Lu didn't understand.
Jiang Bai's gaze was deep, and he simply instructed, "This dagger can cut through iron like mud. Your sister is only entrusting it to you for safekeeping temporarily. Make sure to lock the doors and windows at home. If you encounter any danger, use the dagger to cut the lock on my room door and let your brother-in-law out."
Jiang Lu was even more confused. Her sister clearly had the key, so why did she use a dagger to cut off the lock?
Jiang Bai did not explain.
In fact, if she hadn't been afraid that Ji Yanwen would run out of the house in the middle of the night, she wouldn't have taken his dagger at all.
After all, after she left, only Ji Yanwen and Jiang Lu, the siblings, were left at home. Jiang Lu was not old, but she was not young either.
Boys and girls should not sit together after the age of seven. Although Ji Yanwen does not seem like that kind of person, it is always good to be on guard. Otherwise, if something happens, it could ruin Jiang Lu's life.
Jiang Bai will never underestimate the evil in human nature.
As for giving the dagger to Jiang Lu, it was because the village wasn't entirely peaceful. There were petty thieves, and the group of people at the old house were keeping an eye on things. You never knew someone might take the risk and break in at night.
Holding a dagger, she also had some means of self-defense.
If all else fails, she can cut the lock to release Ji Yanwen. Although that kid's martial arts skills are no match for hers, he can still handle a few ordinary villagers without any problem.
After settling things at home, Jiang Bai carried a basket on his back and went up the mountain.
She had already made it once last night, and tonight she was even faster. In order to save time, she didn't even use a stick to drive away the snakes, which resulted in her encountering several snakes that tried to bite her along the way.
Without exception, she crushed all the snakes with her bare hands and stuffed them into the basket on her back.
If anyone were to appear here and see the worms in her basket, they would probably shudder.
Those strands were tangled together, soft and slippery, and looked quite frightening.
When she arrived at the wild boar cave, it took her half as long as the night before.
Jiang Bai emptied the worms from the basket and set it aside before carrying the basket into the passageway.
Perhaps because the entrance to the passageway was open, the stone walls on both sides of the passageway were slightly damp. Having already walked through it once yesterday, Jiang Bai didn't need to be so careful today and arrived at the stone gate at half the speed of yesterday.
The torch in her hand illuminated the stone gate in front of her, and on either side of her body were piles of feathered arrows.
Holding the torch, she moved forward and came to the right side of the stone gate. There was a stone wall there, with a pattern resembling the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) drawn on it. In the center of the pattern was a Yin-Yang fish, and at the eye position of the Yin fish was a very small keyhole.
Jiang Bai took out the key from the silver lock and inserted it into the keyhole.
'Click'
With the lock fully engaged, Jiang Bai turned it slightly to the right, following the usual direction for unlocking.
'Splashing'
'Click click click'
The sound of gears turning echoed behind the stone gate, and the stone gate beside it began to tremble. Layers of mud and sand spilled down the stone gate. Jiang Bai stepped back a little, tore off a piece of his clothes to cover his mouth and nose, and stared at the trembling stone gate with shining eyes.
'Boom!'
A sound like muffled thunder rang out, and the stone door seemed to be pulled upwards by something. Jiang Bai dared not stay in place and quickly retreated with his torch until he was out of range of the arrows before he stopped.
The stone gate finally rose to the top. After waiting for a while, no arrows were shot out from the front, so Jiang Bai stepped forward with his torch.
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