Guigu
Yue Lang leaned out the window and saw a colorful dot streaking across the sky as it flew back. The closer it got, the faster his heart beat.
The mechanical kite landed steadily in front of the window. Before he could even utter the words he had repeated eight hundred times, he suddenly felt his body tilt and he fell outwards.
"Waiter, I'll pay on credit, including the umbrella—"
Meng Yan settled him in his seat, tossed a silver ingot to the hurried waiter, waved, and strode away.
"Then we owe the waiter—"
The young master's drawn-out voice lingered in the waiter's mind. He was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his face with a rag and slowly replied, "Alright, take care—"
He stuck his neck out of the window, stared at the passersby below, then quickly pulled his upper body back in and wiped himself with the rag a few more times.
Good heavens, is this still the second floor?
.
The morning breeze blew in their faces, causing their hair to flutter backward. Yue Lang had so much to say, but what came out was just an exhale.
Listening to his breathing, Meng Yan thought he could find something for him to do, so he pointed his thumb towards the cargo hold behind him.
Yue Lang turned his head and looked at him: "!"
His breathing stopped, and after a long while, a new voice floated up, sometimes sharp and sometimes deep, saying, "You brought everything back?"
Meng Yan glanced at him: What else?
Although I've been shocked every day, I was still astonished today. The treasure that was supposed to have been thrown away has returned, perfectly intact, with the sealed boxes unchanged.
Yue Lang wanted to exaggerate his praise and talk about other things, but considering the special occasion, he remained silent.
The two landed on the bird-stopping platform in the Valley of Peace amidst an eerie silence.
"Xiao Yan is back."
"Junior Sister Yan!" "Sister Yan Yan!"
The crowd swarmed around Meng Yan, but noticed Yue Lang sitting to the side and subtly averted their gaze.
When did Junior Sister Yan learn this hobby of picking up people to take home from Master?
“You…” Chu Ming recognized Yue Lang.
“I…” Yue Lang recognized her as well and introduced herself: “My surname is Yue, and my given name is Lang.”
Chu Ming nodded and left him to find Meng Yan.
If Meng Yan had managed to maintain some composure during the journey due to his emotional state, he was now completely out of it. He closed his eyes and rested on the back of his seat, his hands still gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Junior sister—"
Meng Yan raised his eyelids and glanced at the source of the noise. Who else could it be but Senior Brother Hao?
"Don't sleep here, go back to your room. Even a hard bed is better than a hard chair."
Amidst everyone's urging, Meng Yan shakily got up. The low railing was extremely difficult for her to climb over, and her legs trembled when she landed. She patted her head, feeling dizzy.
Li the Cripple frowned, stroking his beard into a curve. "Has anyone who can still use their hands and feet arrived?"
After looking around, two people stepped out from the crowd.
Chu Ming is frail. Let alone carrying Meng Yan back, even if she were to help him, everyone would worry that the two of them might fall down on the way.
Senior Brother Hao should be expected to be highly regarded; he's all eager to get started, but he doesn't seem to be here to help.
Large furniture is a silent thing.
Li Yi, the kidnapper, was also worried about him. Not only him, but everyone in the organization also openly expressed their concerns, showing no mercy to each other.
"Stop howling, I'm afraid you'll get hung up on a tree by Junior Sister Yan."
"Brother Hao, how about the rest of us put up a fight? That way we can put together a formidable force."
"What do you mean?" Senior Brother Hao rolled up his sleeves angrily. "I don't usually fall into ditches while walking. Are you looking down on me?"
The senior sister comforted her, saying, "You haven't fallen into a ditch, but you've certainly bumped into tree branches quite a few times."
Everyone: "..."
While his mind was racing, Yue Lang jumped to Meng Yan's side and gestured to everyone.
The senior brothers asked in unison, "No injuries, no illnesses, no hidden ailments?"
Yue Lang confidently stated, "Nothing has been detected so far."
"Then why did Junior Sister Yan take you back to the valley?"
"It's on the way, I forgot to get off halfway."
After glancing at Meng Yan's condition, it was already a miracle that both the person and the bird were safe. Let alone bringing back a person, even if they brought back a brick, they would feel that it would be of some use and would take good care of her.
"Then I'll leave Junior Sister Yan to you. Chu girl, go ahead and lead the way," the senior brother instructed.
"And what about you guys?" Li the Cripple scanned the group of men.
The senior students immediately replied, "We'll follow behind."
What are you saying, Master? Can we really entrust our junior sister to some pretty boy from out of town?
The crowd surged back along the path like a tidal wave, when someone noticed and asked, "Junior Sister Yan, are you taking your mechanical kite with you?"
All the senior brothers turned around in unison: "Yes!"
The weather has been unpredictable these past few days. The other mechanical kites are soaked to the bone. Since Meng Yan's kite can be put away, there's no need to make it suffer. It's a bit heartbreaking to see it like this.
Yue Lang, who was walking at the front of the group, paused, looked up at the sky, and after finding a few directions, turned around and said, "There are quite a few miscellaneous items in the cargo hold. It will be a hassle for you all to pack them up. However, there is no rain for the next week, so there is no rush. Let them dry in the sun."
The sunshine arrived as soon as it was mentioned, more than twice as bright as before. There was no rush to pack things up. With Meng Yan in charge, the group looked at each other and headed towards the foot of the mountain.
Senior Sister Zhang rushed over upon hearing the news, carrying her medical kit. Everyone standing outside in a daze wished they could hang themselves on the door so they could know immediately if there was any news.
After circling back to the gate for the fifth time, Senior Brother Hao frowned and squinted, "Still no news?"
Amidst the shakes of his fellow disciples, Yue Lang agreed with him: "I haven't eaten or slept for two days, and I've been venting my anger on my relatives and moving and throwing things around. Plus, I'm feeling really frustrated. I need to lie down and rest for a while."
"How do you know so much?" Senior Brother Hao suddenly rushed in front of Yue Lang and looked him up and down carefully.
"I figured it out." Yue Lang pulled out a talisman and handed it to him, silently thanking his master for accepting him into the sect, and said that extremely practical sentence—"I am a Taoist priest."
Senior Brother Hao doesn't care whether someone is a Taoist or not, as long as they're not targeting his junior sister. Who cares about their status?
"Wow!"
His shout attracted all the waiting fellow disciples.
"Did you draw this talisman?"
He passed the thin little sheet around in the crowd, and everyone looked at Yue Lang with less hostility and more kindness.
So this is the kind-hearted person I've only ever met and never heard of! No wonder he's so handsome!
"No, no." Yue Lang waved his hand and said, seeing the several beams of light opposite him dim, he grinned and said, "It's too ugly. This was made by my junior brother."
The calligraphy on the talisman paper was vigorous and the strokes were harmonious, clearly the work of a master, yet he found several flaws in it.
"You're a master! May I ask your honorable name, brother?"
Just as Yue Lang was about to introduce himself, the door opened a crack and Chu Ming called out, "Brother Yue... Brother Yue Lang, Senior Sister Zhang wants to talk to you."
"Did they look for us?" The senior students looked up abruptly, forgetting all about pleasantries.
Chu Ming, no longer shy around strangers, gently scolded, "When you have free time, go get some food for Sister Yan Yan. If you just stand by the door like a block of wood, will she recover faster?"
A group of people scrambled to get to the kitchen.
.
Meng Yan lay on the bed, his face deathly pale, his eyes tightly closed, sweat pouring down his face, and his brow furrowing from time to time, making everyone who saw him hold their breath.
As Yue Lang had expected, it was a sign of relief after being physically and mentally exhausted. If she hadn't returned to Ping An Valley, she might have been able to hold on for a while longer, but everyone preferred to accept her lying there rather than see her struggling alone.
After leading everyone out the door, Senior Sister Zhang gave a few simple instructions, all of which were the usual things about recuperation, but the people present remembered every word carefully.
"It's inevitable that she won't have a good appetite. You can coax her a little and get her to eat a few bites at each meal. You can manage that, right?"
Is it possible?
Li the cripple thought he needed to discuss it with the kids in the kitchen; Chu Ming was lost in thought, her eyebrows furrowed as she racked her brains for a way to persuade them.
Yue Lang, true to his name, nodded enthusiastically and answered "Yes" without hesitation.
When the senior brother who had brought the food did not return, everyone dispersed without waiting any longer, leaving Chu Ming and Guai Zi Li to walk at the very back.
"Xiao Ming," Li the cripple said in a low voice, stopping her.
"What's wrong, Master?"
He flicked the tip of his beard at Yue Lang's retreating figure, then immediately let go, pretending nothing had happened, and asked, "Who is that kid?"
"He..." Chu Ming was even more conflicted than when answering Senior Sister Zhang's question, her fingers even seeming to be thinking, "He seems to have a pretty good relationship with Sister Yan Yan, a really good relationship, an unusually good relationship."
In all honesty, she wasn't lying; every word she said was personally admitted by the two people at the temple fair.
Li the cripple's hand, still dangling from his beard, froze in place. The sky was vast and the wilderness boundless; was a wolf infiltrating his territory?
The wolf appeared before him in the blink of an eye, wagging its tail and looking at him expectantly: "Senior, are there any spare rooms in the valley?"
.
When the senior brothers arrived at the kitchen, they were surprised to find that there were too many people and only one junior sister. After a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors, Senior Brother Hao led most of the group to the back mountain to retrieve the mechanical kite. The remaining few who were squatting in the kitchen ordered Meng Yan's favorite dishes. As soon as the pot lid was lifted and the aroma had no time to escape, they were caught by Senior Brother Hao.
"How much...how much? Several boxes of gold and silver jewelry!"
In comparison, the painted mechanical kite was somewhat dim. Boxes of well-preserved valuables were placed unremarkably in the cabin. Looking around, all that could be seen were money and money in other forms.
The staff present also experienced touching the large coin, and seeing the dazzling box in front of them still gave them a new understanding of the world.
"Is this... the Taoist priests'... miscellaneous items?"
On her way to ask her master for permission, she happened to run into Senior Sister Zhang, who was returning home. She told them, who were empty-handed, that there was no need to bring them food today, and that Junior Sister Yan needed to get a good night's sleep and should not be disturbed.
“No problem, we suddenly don’t have time to bother her. Where is Master right now? We need to ask him to solve a difficult problem.”
.
Just as Li the kidnapper had arranged a place for the seemingly pitiful wolf to stay, he stumbled upon his own panicked flock of sheep, and his vision blurred; he nearly fainted.
The sheep pleaded, "Master, please don't fall asleep yet. Make up your mind before you go to sleep, okay?"
"What happened again?" He barely managed to steady the darkness before his eyes.
"Gu Li has made a fortune, but no one knows whose fortune it is."
Meng Yan was unconscious and could not be disturbed, so Yue Lang, who was with him, became the only person who knew the truth. Standing outside the door less than fifteen minutes after Meng Yan went in, the group knocked on the door three times, but still did not hear any response.
"Did he faint too?"
Senior Brother Hao said casually, and everyone immediately realized that it was indeed possible. If he had really accompanied Junior Sister Yan on that trip, the two of them would have a long sleep to take.
With no other choice, they had to move the gold and silver mountains to the warehouse and record them separately in the accounts, and make other plans after they woke up.
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