Chapter 15

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Ning Chen was happy only after getting Xie Tingyun's promise.

Little did he know that Xie Tingyun was in a trance at the moment. He always felt that he had missed something, and the situation had suddenly developed to such an outrageous point.

A sword cultivator's natal sword will never be touched by others. Once it falls into the hands of others, there will be only two possibilities.

One is to kill the sword owner and steal the sword, and the other... is that the two of them have formed a Taoist relationship.

The time I fell into the Merciless Ghost Rift was an accident and it was an emergency, so there is no need to consider any special meaning.

But this is completely different from openly borrowing a sword practitioner's natal sword to play with for a few days.

Tianxiao... can't you do that?!

They have been enemies for so many years, it's impossible that they would suddenly have such thoughts, right?

Could it be that he has come up with some new way to toy with and torture people?

But……

If Tian Xiao really did this, wouldn't he be telling everyone in the Three Realms that he and his old enemy Xie Tingyun, with whom he had been fighting for hundreds of years, had an unspeakable secret?

How much did Tian Xiao hate him to be willing to take away his natal sword even at the cost of being a "couple with his old enemy".

No...what is he going to do with it? ! !

Xie Tingyun was silent.

Xie Tingyun is a person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment. What happened between him and Tian Xiao is one thing and one thing, and when it comes to returning a favor, Xie Tingyun will not be vague.

Even though the person in front of him had tried every means to kill him, he suddenly changed his nature for some unknown reason.

"Then what about your natal sword? Can you get it back?" Ning Chen asked.

The meaning behind this sentence is actually "Does this lord still get to play with your natal sword?" Unfortunately, Ning Chen found his dazed expression amusing, so he didn't say it out loud, and out of kindness didn't give him any more exciting toys.

It makes no difference to Xie Tingyun whether he said it or not.

Xie Tingyun said: "...the natal sword usually has a forced recall function. As long as the distance from the sword master exceeds a certain degree, it will be forcibly recalled to the sword master's side."

Ning Shen let out an "oh".

It's OK, not bad. If he didn't have his own weapon, he would have tried it.

No wonder Xie Tingyun is not in a hurry.

It was late in the day, and Achao's mother had her hair tied in a simple bun, with her long hair draped softly behind her body. The white hair on her forehead was already faintly visible.

She just watched the two benefactors chatting with each other in front of her, and in her ears she heard Ah Chao whispering to her how safe the two brothers looked and wouldn't pose any threat, not to mention that their injuries made it unsuitable for long journeys. "Mother, how could you treat your benefactors like this?" Suddenly, her doubts were dispelled.

That's right, these two people could flirt with each other for so long in such a dangerous place at the gate of Endless Forest as if no one was around. They don't seem to be very smart.

Ah Chao's mother couldn't imagine what motive they had in taking advantage of them.

There is only entry but no exit from the Endless Forest. People in their village have to make full preparations before entering. Basically, no strangers have been seen coming out of it.

No one knew what was above the Endless Forest, but there were often sounds of falling objects in the forest. However, the people in their village went in to explore carefully, but each time they found nothing, and finally had to return the same way.

This was the first time she had seen a living person inside.

No matter what, if it weren't for these two benefactors, Achao would never have come back today.

Ah Chao's mother slowed down her tone and said carefully, "If you two gentlemen don't mind, I will take you back to the village to spend the night. If you two want to leave in a hurry, it will be more convenient and safer during the day."

Ah Chao jumped down from his mother's arms, ran over and grabbed Xie Tingyun's sleeve, and whispered as if he was afraid that they would not come, "Let's go, brother?"

It's getting late, so we can find a safe place to rest.

Ning Chen did not reject the suggestion. He glanced at the little kid following closely behind Xie Tingyun and reached out his hand as if he was going to hit the kid on the head again, but Ah Chao shouted and he quickly dodged.

He didn't dare to fight back, because that brother didn't look as easy to talk to as the brother in white, so Ah Chao could only stare at Ning Chen with a resentful and reproachful look, trying to stare a hole in him.

Ning Chen sneered and ignored the childish trick.

After coming out of the endless forest, there are still many unknown plants all around. Tall and thick tree trunks stand silently on both sides. The edges of the leaves are a strange light blue, and at a glance there are many tiny flashes of phosphorescence.

Achao's mother raised her hand and whistled with her fingers. The crow standing silently on the tree trunk began to make a hoarse cry, circled around Achao's mother three times, and then flew away into the distance.

The crow, with its black feathers, is the messenger of the night and represents the summons of the dead. In many folk legends, it represents an unknown omen.

Ning Shen stared at Achao's mother's back. For some reason, he always felt that something was wrong with her aura.

But after all, he had only been in this world for a short time, and many of his cognitions had not yet been established. He could not perceive the differences in the surrounding environment as keenly as ordinary high-level monks.

Ning Chen vaguely felt that something seemed to be different, but he couldn't tell what was wrong or why.

Ning Chen turned his head to take a look at Xie Tingyun's expression, but saw that he had his head down, holding the jumping Achao in one hand and following him forward, and he didn't seem to notice anything wrong.

He had no choice but to swallow what he was about to say.

The four of them turned many turns in the rugged valley, and finally a ray of dim light broke through the darkness, illuminating the shabby words "Pingjing Village" at the entrance of the village.

Two dim lights were lit at the entrance of Pingjing Village, which were usually used to guide people returning home.

Many people were gathered at the village gate, whispering to each other. They were all anxious and worried about the mother and son who had not returned since the evening.

The village chief was particularly conspicuous among them. He was wearing an old long gown similar to Achao's style. He looked to be a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, with a slightly fat body. He must have a limp in one leg, so he walked with difficulty and seemed to be injured. He could only stand steadily with the help of the villagers beside him.

As soon as he saw the village chief, Achao's eyes lit up.

He let go of Xie Tingyun's hand, ran to the village chief in front of him, hugged the village chief's waist happily, and said, "Dad! Mom and I are back safely! Don't worry, your leg is not healed yet, go back and lie down quickly."

Seeing that both mother and son were safe, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief, and the originally solemn whispers turned into relieved and relaxed chats.

But when the village chief saw the mother and son were followed by two strangers, his expression changed involuntarily. The other villagers who were about to leave also stopped and stared at Ning Chen and Xie Tingyun with full vigilance.

The village chief took Ah Chao and his wife behind him, and said in a vigilant tone: "Who are you? What are you doing here? If you have nothing to do, please leave. We don't accept outsiders here."

Ning Chen thought the way Ah Chao's father spoke was quite interesting. He asked, "What if something happens to us?"

"..." The village chief's expression did not relax. He maintained the posture of protecting everyone behind him and said in the same tone and posture: "What do you want? If you really need it, we can provide some limited help, but we cannot let you stay overnight. Please forgive us."

Ning Chen really thinks it's quite interesting.

Given their vigilant attitude, Ning Chen thought they would refuse to provide any help, but in fact the chief of Pingjing Village actually gave in and was able to provide some limited help.

Ning Chen initially thought that they must have encountered something that made them so wary and cautious towards outsiders, but it seems that this is not the case.

Xie Tingyun looked at the two pavilions on both sides of the door, and suddenly asked: "If you don't welcome outsiders, why do you set up these pavilions at the door for people to cool off? Isn't it a waste?"

The village chief followed his gaze and glanced at the simple pavilion made of tiles and straw. The stone table and stone benches inside were covered with a thick layer of dust, and it was obvious that no one had used it for a long time.

The village chief said calmly, "Because it was useful in the past, but not now. If you want to rest there, please go ahead."

The young lady gently tugged at the corner of her husband's clothes and explained something in a soft voice.

Ah Chao, who was hugging the village chief's waist, also said something coquettishly and told him everything that had happened in the Endless Forest before.

When the village chief heard that Ning Chen saved Ah Chao but only asked him to save one person and did not take any further action afterwards, a hint of surprise flashed across his face.

But soon, he regained his indifferent expression, but his attitude was a little better than before: "It's just that the situation in our village is special now, and we really can't take in outsiders to stay overnight. Please forgive me."

Ah Chao was an honest child. When he saw his father refused so decisively, he couldn't help but get anxious: "Dad! Our village doesn't have any good things or resources. What do they want to do by sneaking in? Besides, given my benefactor's injuries, I can't leave at all, Dad. If I walk a long distance so late at night, something bad will happen... Dad!"

Ah Chao held the village chief's arm tightly, "Dad, the beast tide is coming soon. If they run into the beast tide outside, won't they be dead? We are just staying here for one night. They will leave here the next day. They will be fine!"

At this point, Ah Chao pursed his lips, tried to hold back some pitiful tears, and said, "Dad, they saved your son! What's wrong with keeping them for one night to show their gratitude for saving his life?"

Village Chief: “…”

The village chief was worthy of being the village chief. He snorted coldly with a heart of stone and said in a tone that was not sarcastic: "What if something really happened? Ah Chao, I understand that you want to take them in. But this is not the Endless Forest where no one is allowed at night, and the dangerous beast tide will not definitely appear tonight. We can provide some magical herbs to temporarily relieve the benefactor's injuries. It is not as dangerous for them to leave now as you said."

"..." Ah Chao whispered, "Dad, why don't you take a look at the white-clothed brother's injuries and see if he can walk all night? I think it's good that he didn't pass out. I had to use the juice of the forget-knowing grass to force him to wake up."

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Don't want to anymore.

Ning Chen laughed out loud.

So that's how it is.

This kid is quite smart. He woke the person up and asked him directly what the problem was and whether he could solve it himself. This is much more efficient than Ah Chao trying to figure out the problem himself.

Even after Ah Chao had said so much, the village chief still refused to give in. The villagers behind him had originally fully supported the village chief's decision, but now they were a little shaken after listening to the round of arguments. They couldn't help but whisper to the village chief: "Village chief... otherwise, we will stay for one night. We will listen to you, but I don't think they have any bad intentions. What can they do to us?"

"Yeah, it's just one night. The youngsters will recover quickly and will be full of life tomorrow." Another villager said cheerfully, "We don't have anything here to begin with, what are they trying to do, right?"