Chapter 739 Jiaojiao is here
The sky gradually darkened.
Two little ones were hiding in a shady cave.
The hole wasn't deep, just enough for two little kids to hide in.
The young princess had already eaten the last candied fruit and the second-to-last piece of osmanthus sugar.
The two little ones had their clothes torn and their faces were dirty; they looked nothing like noble students.
If I walk down the street, I'm afraid people will mistake me for some kind of homeless vagrant.
Two little kids were sitting with their backs against the wall.
Xiao Jingkong sat outside, while the little princess was protected inside by his body.
"Are you still hungry?" Xiao Jingkong asked her.
The young princess nodded, then quickly shook her head, swallowed hard, and said, "I'm not hungry."
As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach started growling.
She covered her tummy and whispered, "I didn't tell it to bark, it barked on its own."
The young princess experienced being kidnapped, locked in a dark room, escaped with her friends, and hid in this dark and damp cave in a single day. She was no longer the young princess she was in the morning.
She's a princess who can go hungry!
Xiao Jingkong took out the last piece of candy, broke off half for her, and carefully put the other half back in his pocket.
“There are fruits on that tree over there. I’ll go pick some,” Xiao Jingkong said, glancing at the candy in the little princess’s hand. “I’ll be back when you finish this candy.”
"Yes." The little princess nodded obediently, taking his small hand in hers. "You must come back."
"I will."
Xiao Jingkong sneaked out to pick fruit.
With his superb tree-climbing skills, he swiftly climbed the tree, and the fruit looked even plumper and brighter than it had appeared from a distance.
Picking them one by one was too slow, so he grabbed the branch and shook it violently, causing the fruit to fall to the ground with a clatter.
He climbed down, scooped up the hem of his shirt, and filled his pockets to the brim.
He ran back, panting heavily.
However, when he ran back to the cave, he found that the little princess inside was gone.
He frowned slightly.
Just then, a scream came from not far to the east: "Let me go!"
"Over there!"
Xiao Jingkong decisively discarded the fruit he had been carrying the whole way and ran towards the direction of the sound!
In a shady open space, two guards were locked in fierce combat.
The first to discover the young princess and carry her out of the cave were the Chen family guards.
However, the Chen family guards hadn't gone far when they encountered the Dong family guards here.
When the Dong family guards tried to snatch the young princess, the Chen family guards naturally wouldn't let him succeed so easily.
However, because he was holding the little princess, his movements were restricted, and after a dozen or so moves, he gradually felt exhausted.
However, he was unwilling to hand over the young princess.
A guard from the Dong family swept his leg out, and the guard from the Chen family was unable to dodge in time and was tripped and fell hard to the ground!
The little princess in his arms fell out.
"ah--"
The little princess shouted!
The Dong family guards leaped to snatch it.
No one expected that just as his hand was about to grab the young princess, the Du family's guards would suddenly appear out of nowhere!
The Du family guards only rushed over after hearing the little princess's cries, but they were so lucky that they benefited from the conflict between the Dong and Chen families.
He had secretly seized the opportunity and rushed out even before the Dong family guards, catching the young princess.
The Dong family guards missed their target, so they slapped the ground with their palms to gain momentum and leap up to steady themselves.
The Dong family guards angrily rebuked, "That's too underhanded!"
The Du family guard sneered, "It's all robbery, don't try to portray yourself as so noble!"
The young princess was tossed around by them, her face already pale with fright, her big eyes brimming with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let herself cry.
She is a junior member of the family.
She can't cry.
The Du family guards gently coaxed, "Princess, don't be afraid, I will escort you back to the palace right away."
The Dong family guards seized the opportunity to smooth things over: "Little Princess, don't listen to him! He's a bad person!"
The Du family guard looked at him disdainfully and said, "What kind of good thing could you possibly be!"
The Chen family guards who had been swept to the ground got up.
When the Dong family guards saw him rushing towards the Du family guards, they were not to be outdone.
What started as a two-person fight turned into a three-way brawl.
Actually, a battle involving only three people wouldn't be too difficult. The difficulty lies in the fact that the little princess's voice is so loud that it attracts more than just the Dong and Du families.
Before long, guards from the Feng and Yang families arrived at the scene and joined the scramble for the young princess.
The young princess was being fought over by several people, and finally, the scene became too chaotic. Someone let go of her, and the young princess was thrown out hard.
"Little Princess!"
The Dong family guards went to fetch her.
As soon as he took to the air, guards from the Du and Yang families each grabbed one of his feet.
"I'm going to fall to my death! I'm going to fall to my death!"
The young princess screamed with her eyes closed and fell heavily to the ground.
Huh?
It doesn't hurt.
Soft husband (hu) husband (hu) de.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Xiao Jingkong, who was rolling his eyes back and sticking out his tongue, after she had hit him.
Little princess: 嘤嘤嘤~
Xiao Jingkong recovered his health in three seconds, then scrambled to his feet, grabbed the little princess's hand, and ran away with her!
As the five men were fighting, a Chen family guard suddenly shouted, "Stop fighting! The person has disappeared!"
The four of them turned their heads at the same time, and sure enough, the little princess was nowhere to be seen!
They were so engrossed in the fight that they didn't even notice which direction the young princess had escaped from.
"Why did the young princess run away all by herself? Is she really that bold?" the Chen family guard asked in surprise.
When he found the young princess, she was clearly a frightened little rabbit.
The Dong family guard asked, "Was it done by another aristocratic family?"
The Du family guard snorted, "What's the use of saying all this now? The five of us fought tooth and nail here, only to have our efforts benefit others. I'm sure none of us can swallow this insult."
The Chen family guard gritted his teeth: "If I find out who did it, I'll kill him!"
Little Jingkong led the little princess on a wild run.
As darkness fell, a sense of danger permeated the forest.
We can't go any further in; we have to find a way out!
The moment Xiao Jingkong had that thought, a figure descended from the sky, blocking his and the little princess's path.
"It's you!"
Xiao Jingkong recognized him; he was the peddler who had taken the little princess away during the day.
The vendor curled his lips into a playful smile: "Young man, you have a good memory. Oh, what's this called? In your scholarly terms, shouldn't it be 'Searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly'?"
Xiao Jingkong looked at him warily.
"You, you're not allowed to come any closer!" the little princess said, both timid and fierce.
The vendor smiled and said, "Princess, please rest assured, I have no intention of hurting you. As long as you come with me obediently, I guarantee I will send you back unharmed."
The young princess gripped Xiao Jingkong's hand tightly: "You're a big bad guy, a stinky brat! I won't go with you!"
The child was introduced to the young master by Xiao Jingkong and the young princess while they were in the cave.
The vendor coaxed, "It's getting dark, and the wolves and tigers in the forest will slowly come out. Little princess, if you don't come with me, do you want to be eaten by those wolves and tigers?"
"I...I..." The little princess trembled with fear.
She...she doesn't want to be eaten.
Xiao Jingkong pulled the little princess and turned to run back, but then he saw the man in black on the other side.
This is what it means to be caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Stop talking nonsense. That group of people will be here soon. I know you are skilled in martial arts, but I heard that Master Qingfeng from the Feng family and Qi Xuan from the Han family have come out looking for the little princess."
The vendor frowned. "Alright, take the little princess with you, let's go!"
Where is this kid?
"Leave him here to feed the wolves."
Upon hearing this, the timid princess, who was on the verge of tears, suddenly found the courage to open her arms and protect Xiao Jingkong: "You can't let Jingkong go to feed the wolves!"
The vendor smiled, seemingly unconcerned about the little princess's threat, and swaggered towards the two toddlers.
Suddenly, Xiao Jingkong reached into his pocket, squeezed it, and threw a round object at him.
The vendor pinched the fruit between his fingers and laughed out loud. "A fruit indeed," he thought, "a foolish child who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth."
Xiao Jingkong had just picked up a lot of fruit; he threw away the ones in his clothes but kept the ones in his pockets.
He quickly pulled out seven or eight and threw them at the vendor.
The vendors didn't even bother to hide anymore.
Just when he thought the last one was also a fruit, it exploded with a bang!
Fortunately, he was good at light footwork and dodged quickly, otherwise he would have been injured by the explosion!
The peddler landed on a tree branch, looking at the stubborn and frightening child with disgust.
The little guy remained calm and showed no sign of panic throughout.
There was an indescribable determination in his eyes.
This child isn't afraid of him!
The vendor clenched his fist.
He's just a child, so why can't he look the other person in the eye?
and--
He seemed to sense some kind of threat from the child.
This is so strange!
A thought flashed through his mind—this child cannot be allowed to live; this forest cannot kill him! One day, when he grows up, he will become a force to be reckoned with!
A fierce glint of murderous intent flashed in the vendor's eyes.
He leaped through the air, extended his demonic claws, and mercilessly twisted them toward Xiao Jingkong's neck!
The force of this move is such that a five-year-old child cannot dodge it.
His demonic claws gripped Xiao Jingkong's throat.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, a sharp eagle's cry came from the sky above, followed by a sound of air being torn apart beneath the eagle's cry!
A gleaming silver spear with a red tassel shot towards him with lightning speed and unstoppable force!
What fast weapons!
He quickly dodged!
Unfortunately, it was too late. He was sent flying by the immense force, and his entire arm was sliced off by the red-tasseled spear!
He fell heavily at the feet of the man in black, blood splattering everywhere!
The red-tasseled spear, after severing one of his arms, showed no sign of diminishing its force and plunged deeply into the large tree behind the two men.
The man in black broke out in a cold sweat.
He looked incredulously to the other side of the woods, where he saw a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old galloping towards him on horseback.
The boy was thin and had sharp eyes. He didn't seem to have come from the depths of the forest, but rather from purgatory seeking revenge.
He is a god of death, and also a demon!
The horse the boy was riding wasn't a particularly outstanding steed, but it seemed to sense the boy's fighting spirit and became incredibly brave, moving nimbly through the complex jungle as if it were flat ground.
As the horse galloped past the two little ones, Gu Jiao lashed out with her whip, pulling the two little ones up with it.
"Close your eyes."
She said.
The two little ones raised their tiny hands and obediently covered their eyes.
Gu Jiao squeezed her legs tightly around the horse's flanks, held onto the two men with one hand, and spurred her horse over the heads of the men in black with the other.
The moment the horse's hooves landed, she coldly pulled the red-tasseled spear from the tree.
The red-tasseled spear, which had almost pierced through the tree trunk, was pulled out by her with ease.
She gripped the red-tasseled spear tightly, spun it over her head, and swung it backward with a backhand motion.
The man in black and the vendor who had just stood up to attack her both fell to the ground.
...His head rolled off with a clatter.
...
Five guards followed the clues and rushed here, only to be stunned by the bloody and cruel scene.
"What... what's going on? Who did this?"
They were all seasoned veterans, but such a tragic scene was still extremely rare.
If it were on a battlefield, it wouldn't be too strange.
But this is nothing more than a forest in a grand city!
The Dong family's guards recognized one of them: "This man dressed as a peddler is the expert that the Mu family hired from the underground martial arts arena."
Everyone was even more surprised.
The Chen family guard checked the surroundings. He was the most meticulous, otherwise he wouldn't have been the first to find the little princess.
He touched the hole in the tree and said, "The other side used a long spear, and there are children's footprints on the ground. The little princess has been taken away."
The Yang family guards asked, "Who did this?"
The Dong family guard said, "It's definitely not one of our five families. Although more than five of us came, none of us used long spears. Can we all agree on that?"
The other four nodded.
If we exclude the Dong, Yang, Chen, Feng, and Du families, then we are left with the Wang, Han, Mu, Su, and Feng families, as well as the Imperial Preceptor's Hall and the Nangong family.
The Nangong family had just lost Nangong Li and was too busy taking care of themselves to seriously participate in the search and rescue.
The incident involved a member of the Mu family. The Wang family, the Su family, and the Mu family are all part of the same family, so their suspicion can be ruled out.
That leaves the Han family, the Feng family, and the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
The suspicion against the Imperial Preceptor's Hall can be ruled out; given their status, they wouldn't bother with any aristocratic family.
Moreover, this was no longer a mere act of coping; the cruel method clearly carried a terrifying murderous intent, almost as if it were an act of revenge.
It's impossible for the Feng family either, since Daoist Qingfeng doesn't use a long spear.
The Dong family guard frowned: "Could it be the Han family?"
The Han family has a tradition of practicing marksmanship.
The Chen family guard speculated, "The Han family and the Mu family are at odds the most, so it's highly likely they are."
The Yang family guards sighed, "If the young princess falls into Qi Xuan's hands, we're afraid we won't have a chance to snatch her back."
That's Qi Xuan from the Tang Clan, one of the top ten masters in the underground martial arts arena of the Great Yan.
The Dong family guard revealed a sinister and cunning sneer, just like the Dong family head: "Then why don't we join forces to kill Qi Xuan first, and then the five of us can slowly compete?"
...
Gu Jiao led the two little ones to a stream, while Xiao Jiu circled in the sky.
Gu Jiao carried the two of them off the horse.
When there were no adults around, the two little ones could manage, but now that Gu Jiao had arrived, all their grievances welled up in their hearts amplified.
The little princess burst into tears: "Teacher... I'm so scared... They kept taking me away from them, and I even fell down... Waaah..."
Gu Jiao placed the red-tasseled spear on the ground beside her, knelt down on one knee like a knight guarding her, gently wiped away her tears, and comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, no one will take you away again."
The young princess threw herself into Gu Jiao's arms and burst into tears.
Xiao Jingkong held back his tears, which welled up in his eyes.
Gu Jiao pulled him into her arms as well.
She knelt on one knee, holding a child in each arm. She didn't often do such gentle things, and her movements were a little stiff.
But this doesn't stop the two little ones from feeling a reassuring power emanating from her.
That's a belief.
The two children cried until they were tired.
The little princess was only four years old and a delicate girl. Feeling safe, she fell into a deep sleep in Gu Jiao's arms.
Xiao Jingkong lowered his head in self-reproach: "I made Jiaojiao worry. I couldn't even chase away a bad guy."
Gu Jiao patted his little head, her lips curving slightly: "No, you did a great job. You protected your companions and yourself, and you didn't make me worry. You are the bravest little man, and I am very proud of you."
Xiao Jingkong's nose tingled: "Jiaojiao..."
Suddenly, the cry of an eagle came from overhead.
Gu Jiao's eyes turned cold.
"Over there!"
Someone has come into the woods.
Not just one, but a group.
They were not the five guards from before, but the heads of the five great families and their pillars of strength, who were surrounded by several guards.
From left to right: Head of the Dong family, Head of the Yang family, Lord Feng, Lord Du, and Lord Chen.
Gu Jiao had seen portraits of several people in the library of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
Gu Jiao gently placed the sleeping little princess on the ground, which was covered with a cloak, and said to Xiao Jingkong, "Cover your ears and don't turn around."
"Mmm!" Little Jingkong obediently replied, sat down facing the stream, and raised his hands to cover his little ears.
Gu Jiao picked up the red-tasseled spear and walked towards them step by step.
Little Nine spread its wings and circled above her head with high spirits, as if waiting for her command to swoop down fiercely on its prey.
As everyone watched the boy approaching under the moonlight, exuding a murderous aura, and the eagle protecting him, an ominous premonition inexplicably welled up in their hearts.
A guard drew his sword and stepped forward, shouting, "Who are you! Hand over the young princess if you know what's good for you, or you'll die a horrible death!"
Before he could finish speaking, the boy shot him through the neck!
He knelt on the ground, staring at the boy in disbelief.
The boy kicked him in the chest and coldly pulled out the red-tasseled spear!
Blood splattered onto the boy's face, with one drop landing squarely between his eyebrows, resembling a blood-red cinnabar mole.
The Dong family head's eyes trembled violently: "Xuanyuan Sheng..."
The boy raised his hand, casually wiping the blood from his face, and looked at the crowd with a sharp and murderous gaze: "Who's next?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com