Xuanfeng's world is in dire straits.
After getting dressed, Su Yuyao quickly ran out of the cave and curiously ventured into the bustling crowd.
What are you doing?
"Miss Ningbao, we're preparing the snow sleds!"
"Then what are you doing?"
"Miss Ningbao, we're packing our rations! It'll be a round trip that takes several days!"
"Oh! Then why do you need to prepare firewood?"
"Miss Ningbao, we've been on ice the whole way. How are we going to roast meat without firewood?"
"Barbecue? We can have barbecue?" Su Yuyao asked excitedly.
“Of course, Ningbao, look! Grandma is cutting meat!” Madam Sa said, pointing at Ta Shuang.
Ta Shuang stood next to a tree stump, holding a curved knife, cutting a large piece of purple meat into small pieces.
"I want to try too!" Su Yuyao ran over and said to Ta Shuang, "Grandma Ta Shuang, can I try?"
Ta Shuang smiled and handed the knife to Su Yuyao, "Miss Ningbao, be careful!"
"Don't worry!" Su Yuyao took the curved knife with both hands and slashed fiercely at the flesh on the tree stump. With a thud, the curved knife pierced through the flesh and cut into the tree stump.
"This is so much fun!" Su Yuyao drew her curved sword. "I want to chop some more!"
Madam Sa watched Su Yuyao slicing meat with a knife, thought for a moment, then turned and went back into the cave. A short while later, she came out again, holding a crescent-shaped knife with a leather sheath and a hilt inlaid with green gemstones.
"Ningbao, come here!" Madam Sa called softly to Su Yuyao.
Su Yuyao quickly returned the scimitar to Ta Shuang and ran to Madam Sa's side, "Godmother! What's wrong? I was just playing with it!"
"This crescent-shaped sword was part of my dowry. Now, I'm giving it to you!" Madam Sa tied a rope to the crescent-shaped sword and slung it diagonally over Su Yuyao's shoulder.
Su Yuyao stroked the crescent-shaped sword at her waist with delight, "Godmother, you're giving me this precious crescent-shaped sword?!"
"Ningbao, this knife has already been sharpened, so be careful when using it," Madam Sa said, stroking Su Yuyao's head affectionately.
"Okay!" Su Yuyao drew her crescent blade, a chilling aura emanating from it. "Wow! What a beautiful blade! Thank you, godmother!"
Su Yuyao, carrying a knife, ran to find Ruixue. "Ruixue! Ruixue! We're going to the Heavenly Gate in the Wuji Path to collect our monthly stipend! Are you coming?"
"Of course I'll go. I'm always the alpha wolf." Ruixue was carefully adjusting her cuffs.
"Can I ride you?" Su Yuyao asked excitedly.
"cannot!"
Su Yuyao pouted and said, "Then I'll go ask my godfather if he agrees to let me ride you!"
Ruixue's nose started twitching again.
"Godfather! Godfather!" Su Yuyao searched for Sa Hanyi's figure in the crowd again. "I want to ride Ruixue there, is that okay?!"
"Hahahaha!" Sahan's hearty laughter rang out from the crowd. "Ningbao, how could you be so naughty!"
Su Yuyao followed the sound, but before she could see Sa Hanyi's figure, she was grabbed and lifted up by the waist.
"Ah! Put me down!" Su Yuyao shouted.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!" Su Yuyao received three solid slaps on her buttocks.
"Ouch! That hurts!" Su Yuyao cried out.
"It's good that you know it hurts!" Sahan grabbed Su Yuyao and put her on the sled, then used a double-hooked strap to secure her waist.
Su Yuyao twisted her body and said, "I still want to ride Ruixue..."
As Sa Hanyi helped Su Yuyao fasten her hat, he said, "At home, you can ride however you want, but now that we're going out, Ruixue is on a mission, so you're not allowed to disturb him, understand?"
"Okay, I know," Su Yuyao said, rubbing her bottom. "It hurts so much..."
"I'll make you suffer so you'll remember!" Sahan stood on the sled, hooked on the double hooks, and said with a smile, "Next time you cause trouble, your godmother won't need to intervene; your godfather will just slap you across the face, understand?"
"Godfather, don't you want to tickle Godmother's itch anymore?"
"Um?"
"Yesterday I saw you scratching my godmother's itch with your mouth, and just now you used your hand..."
The surrounding crowd suddenly fell silent.
"Shut up!" Sahan's already dark face turned even darker.
"My lord, bring two jugs of wine, they're warmed up," Madam Sa said as she emerged from the cave carrying two jugs of wine.
The quiet crowd suddenly began to chuckle.
"What's wrong?" Madam Sa looked at everyone in confusion. "What are you all laughing at? Sir, you don't look too well."
"Godfather doesn't want to scratch your itch anymore. He said if I cause any more trouble, he'll slap me..." Su Yuyao's words added fuel to the fire for everyone's laughter.
Mrs. Sa blushed and tapped Su Yuyao's head, "Ningbao! You little rascal!"
Everyone had packed their supplies and bags. "Let's go!" Sahan gave the order, and the wolf pack set off...
...
"Auntie! What did you say?!" Xuanfeng couldn't believe his ears. "The girl... is lost?!"
Qi Men was also anxious, "When was it lost?"
“I heard from the fairies who stayed at home that… as soon as I stepped out the door, Yao’er rushed out with Bai’er… Later, the carriage returned, but there was only Bai’er inside. Yao’er… never came back…” Qingyue said softly.
Seeing Xuanfeng's increasingly haggard appearance, she couldn't bear to tell him the news.
Xuanfeng frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Bring Bai'er here, I want to ask her questions."
Bai Er's eyes were red from crying. For so many days, she had been blaming herself every day. If only she hadn't drunk that wine, she could have kept an eye on Miss Yao'er and prevented her from running around; if only she had stopped Miss Yao'er from going down the mountain, this wouldn't have happened...
She knelt before Xuanfeng with a blank expression, too lazy to even greet him.
"Bai Er, tell me what happened." Looking at Bai Er like this, Xuan Feng couldn't bear to scold him anymore.
Bai Er mechanically opened her mouth and said calmly, "After Her Majesty and Granny Su'e left, Miss Yao'er took me down the mountain. We had no money, so Miss Yao'er said she would earn money by telling fortunes for others. She earned money and bought delicious food. Later, Miss Yao'er used her last two copper coins to buy a pot of strong liquor. I only drank one sip and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was already back, but Miss Yao'er... didn't come back..." As she said this, Bai Er's eyes became even redder.
That's exactly the kind of thing a brat would do!
"Has anything unusual happened along the way?" Xuanfeng asked.
Bai Er shook his head. "No."
"So, do you know when the girl got off the bus?"
Bai Er shook his head.
Xuanfeng and Qimen exchanged a glance, completely clueless.
The master and apprentice then went to the stable at the mountain gate to see if there were any clues on the carriage.
Unexpectedly, the white rice cake in the stable did not eat the fodder as usual, but just stood there in a daze, and its belly was obviously thinner.
Upon seeing Xuanfeng and Qimen, Baimi Gao immediately paced restlessly, chirping incessantly.
"Baimi Gao, do you know what happened to Yao'er?" Qi Men gently stroked Baimi Gao's head and asked tentatively.
"Chirp!" The white rice cake nodded.
The white rice cake stood up straight, its eyes shooting out a cold light, and then kicked forward with its front hooves.
"What does this mean?" Xuanfeng looked at Bai Migao's performance with a puzzled expression, pondering, "A person raised their hand?"
The white rice cake chirped twice.
Then, the white rice cake suddenly paused, then lay down stiffly.
"She's fallen?...Oh no!" Xuanfeng said, pulling Qimen along. "Immortal Master, the girl is probably in danger!"
"White Rice Cake, where are these things you see?" Xuanfeng asked anxiously.
The white rice cakes bobbed their heads.
Qimen quickly untied its reins, and Bai Mi Gao raised its head and let out a long howl before rushing out of the mountain gate.
Beside the snow slope, Bai Migao stopped.
"Here?" Xuanfeng gazed at the vast expanse of white snow.
Bai Migao looked around. The heavy snow of the past few days seemed to have buried Bai Migao's memories.
It paced more anxiously, and finally tentatively stepped into the snow.
"Immortal Master!"
"Yes, sir!" Qimen transformed into a climbing vine with a bang and quietly slipped into the snow-covered ground where Bai Migao had stepped.
After a long time, the snow suddenly began to churn like ocean waves, and a white warm hat gradually emerged from the snow.
Xuanfeng looked at the warm hat in his hand; it was all too familiar. This was the hat he and Qimen had custom-made for Su Yuyao, except that a tear on it looked completely unfamiliar.
"Sir, what caused this opening?"
"It's hard to say, but there's no blood on the hat..."
"Chirp chirp!" Bai Mi Gao was so anxious that it kept pacing around. It raised its front paw and gently tapped Xuan Feng's chest, then froze and fell straight down.
"Chest?" Xuanfeng frowned and said, "You're injured in the chest?"
Bai Migao nodded.
"Immortal Master, have you investigated everything? Is there... anything else?" Xuanfeng asked conflictedly. He wanted to get news about Su Yuyao, but he was also afraid to get it here.
"My lord, don't worry too much. Since nothing has been found, it means... Yao'er is probably safe now..." Qi Men said, feeling guilty himself. He also realized that Su Yuyao was probably in grave danger.
Xuanfeng naturally understood that after such a long period of time without seeing anyone alive or dead, the chances of survival were probably slim.
However, the master and apprentice were very tacit, and even though they both regretted it, neither of them said a word of complaint.
Su Yuyao's disappearance was even more devastating for Xuanfeng than Feihua's broken engagement. At least Feihua was safe, but Su Yuyao's fate was unknown...
Xuanfeng kept releasing dandelions, but not a single one brought back news of Su Yuyao.
"You brat! Where are you?!" Xuanfeng's nose involuntarily stung with tears.
"My lord, a message just came back from Flying Eagle," Qimen reported in a low voice, "The eight generals have all wavered upon hearing that you intend to return the Wuji Dao. General Guan Xiao, who guards the Heavenly Gate of Xun Palace, was the first to resign. Hearing that you were at Lüshuang Peak, he led his men here. In the market of Huangshang City, he met a young lady from a prominent family who was skilled in divination. He spent a few copper coins to ask her a few questions, but unexpectedly, that divination lady also said that there was no future in following the new Daoist Heavenly Lord, so... he told the other generals this news..."
The more Qimen talked, the more something seemed off, and the more Xuanfeng listened, the more familiar this routine sounded.
"Girl!"
"Yao'er!"
Xuanfeng quickly called Bai'er over and asked her in detail about the events that Su Yuyao had divined that day.
Bai Er thought for a long time before saying, "This humble servant really can't remember. I only remember that the first time I cast a divination was at a noodle stall. There were five people in total. Miss Yao'er said something about going with the wind and naturally finding her place. A refined-looking person gave her a lot of copper coins, but Miss Yao'er only took nine..."
"That brat! I never imagined the resignations of the eight generals were related to her!" Xuanfeng said angrily. "Once we find her, we'll definitely teach her a lesson..."
Xuanfeng suddenly felt dejected. Could he still find the girl?
"My lord! There's more news: someone at the Dui Palace Heavenly Gate is planning a rebellion! Lord Zeyuan wants us to go there immediately..."
"What?! Rebellion?!" Xuanfeng frowned, rubbing his temples vigorously.
Qi Men looked at Xuan Feng's bloodshot eyes and said with heartache, "My lord, why don't you rest for a while? You haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Besides, you don't need to manage the Wuji Dao anymore..."
"How can I possibly sleep?" Xuanfeng said, rubbing his temples. "I thought that after handing over the Wuji Dao Sect, I would have some free time, but I didn't expect... so much trouble... The Eight Generals resigned, Feihua broke off her engagement, that brat went missing... I didn't even have time to go back to the Immortal Mountain, and now there's a rebellion at Tianmen..."
He forced himself to stand up and said, "Let's go see what's going on..."
...
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