"That's more like it." Hong Xiaoduo muttered as she left the space and gently woke up her roommates Feiyan, Yuheng, and Yaoguang, who were already asleep.
Then she arrived at Quan Jinghuai's room. Before she could knock, there was a response from inside: "Coming."
Seeing the two doors open almost simultaneously, and the five energetic masters and disciples walking out, Hong Xiaoduo understood that none of them had slept.
Looking back, Yuheng was snoring, and Feiyan was holding Yaoguang in her arms, her little hands rubbing her eyes.
Actually, the three of them hadn't planned to sleep. It was Hong Xiaoduo who told them not to force themselves to stay awake and to sleep when they should, and that she would wake them up when it was time. That's when they finally went to sleep.
What surprised Hong Xiaoduo was that she hadn't mentioned not turning on the lights last night, yet they had all tacitly agreed to keep it dark. However, her eyes had already adjusted, and even without light, it wasn't inconvenient.
At this moment, another door opened, and Lan Zechen and his two servants came out. The difference was that the master looked radiant, while the coachman and guards were snoring.
Lan Zechen's eyes lit up even more as he looked at Hong Xiaoduo and her group. This kind of spectacle meant that the excitement that was about to unfold was going to be very—exciting!
In order not to disturb the other guests, everyone tacitly kept quiet and nodded.
Lanterns hung in the corridor outside, and the group walked downstairs quietly.
The shop assistant, who was dozing off with his arm propped up on the counter, vaguely saw what was going on. He was quite surprised and wanted to ask what was happening, but he saw several customers put their fingers to their lips, signaling them to be quiet.
"It's okay, it's okay, you can go to sleep. We'll just take a stroll." Hong Xiaoduo said in a low voice as they approached.
Take a stroll? It's the middle of the night, and it's raining outside. Oh, I'm not going out for a stroll!
The waiter was even more puzzled as he watched Hong Xiaoduo and the others walk towards the stables. The stables were filled with goods, horses, and miscellaneous items from the inn.
I wanted to go and see what was going on, but then I remembered what the shopkeeper always said: just do your job well.
Besides, guests like them, with such a grand display, don't seem like they're going to steal from other guests.
Don't underestimate him just because he's just a shop assistant; he has a good eye for distinguishing good people from bad ones.
"Uncle Pavilion Master, if something really happens later, please tell your men not to make a move. We want to practice ourselves." Yao Guang, who was in Fei Yan's arms, perked up now and whispered a reminder.
Huh? Practice?
Lan Zechen quickly understood what the little girl meant and nodded with a smile to show that he understood.
Tian Shu turned his head to look at the little sister Fei Yan was holding, and sighed inwardly speechlessly. Since she knew she had to practice on her own, shouldn't she get down and walk by herself instead of having Fei Yan carry her?
The guest rooms weren't far from the stables, and we arrived quickly.
In a location in the stable where a fire wouldn't occur, lanterns were hung; though not very bright, they were enough to see the surroundings clearly.
Hong Xiaoduo, who was walking at the front, stopped, and the others naturally followed suit. When they saw the scene in front of them, they were all stunned.
At this moment, a small figure wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat was struggling to pull a donkey out. The donkey had something covered with tarpaulin on its back.
No matter how hard the figure tried, the donkey just wouldn't move.
Helpless, the figure pulled out an apple from his pocket and held it to the donkey's mouth, trying to lure it into obeying him.
The donkey lowered its head and started nibbling at the apple, but after only a few bites, the apple moved forward a little.
The donkey lifted its hoof and moved, then bit the apple in the figure's hand, before immediately retreating back to its original position.
The figure quickly reached out to try and snatch the apple back from its mouth, but the apple nimbly turned its head and swallowed it in a few gulps.
"You beast, you're playing me for a fool?" the small figure wearing a straw hat said angrily.
Tian Shu and the others confirmed that the voice belonged to A Ping!
When we first arrived, we were worried that someone was stealing Little Grey. Why didn't we hear A Ping warn us? Was he sleeping too soundly, or was he tied up and had something stuffed in his mouth?
Despite the figure's height, the children and Feiyan didn't suspect Aping; instead, they were worried about his safety.
Upon hearing A-Ping's voice, everyone turned to look at Hong Xiaoduo, only to find that she showed no surprise whatsoever.
Could this be the excitement she was talking about tonight?
Perhaps because he was too nervous, A-Ping, who was focused on pulling Xiao-Hui away with his back to them, did not notice the group of spectators behind him.
"Brother Ping? Is that you? What are you dragging Xiao Hui to do?" Yao Guang asked in a soft, sweet voice, full of curiosity.
The figure froze on the spot, then slowly turned around, looking at them in horror.
How could this be? He tried hard to recall his actions over the past few days. Even if he had occasionally lost focus, it shouldn't have led to this level of suspicion, right?
This clearly shows that they had already suspected him and had been secretly watching him all along.
"Hey, Ping, you haven't responded to Yaoguang's words yet?" Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
"I, I, Little Gray might not be used to being kept here for so long, I, I was thinking of taking it out for a walk," A-Ping said in a flustered and stammering voice.
"Keep making things up, keep making things up. Do you think we're fools?" Tianji said coldly, her face grim.
Although we don't know what happened or why A-Ping is acting this way, we are certain that A-Ping wants to leave, secretly, and even tried to abduct Little Grey.
“Have we been bad to you? No matter the reason, no one will stop you if you really want to leave, but at least say so openly, right?” Tianxuan also spoke up.
Hong Xiaoduo looked at Tian Shu, whose face was even more unpleasant, but he did not open his mouth to question her, his fists were clenched tightly.
"Why don't you open your mouth and explain? Are you mute?" Yuheng was also very angry.
“He doesn’t dare to say it because his name isn’t A-Ping. People have names and surnames, and naturally they have families. Hu Jiawang, am I right?” Hong Xiaoduo looked at the children’s reactions. Although she felt a little reluctant, she still had to teach them this lesson.
Hong Xiaoduo's words terrified Hu Jiawang even more. He stared at her blankly, not understanding how she knew, since it was such a long distance from Jiaozhou and Xishan Town!
He wanted to deny it, but he knew that since she could clearly call out his name, there was no point in denying it.
"You investigated me?" Hu Jiawang asked Hong Xiaoduo angrily.
Hong Xiaoduo walked forward slowly with her hands behind her back, and the others followed suit: "You started acting strangely as soon as you heard we were going to Jiaozhou. Naturally, I was curious about what was going on, so I looked into it. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Since you know everything, I have nothing more to say. Thank you for taking me in for so long. Farewell." Hu Jiawang tried his best to calm himself down and not panic. He finished speaking with feigned composure, clasped his hands in a deep bow to Hong Xiaoduo, and walked towards the small door.
Now that things have come to this, the donkey definitely can't take anything with it...
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