Chapter 504: I Will Surely Get Rid of Her for You

Is it her?

Masked Man nodded: "Not bad."

Teng Qingxing froze for a moment, then couldn't help laughing: "My lord, you give me a city and want me to deal with such a yellow-mouthed brat?"

He seemed to have heard some huge joke, his laughter grew louder, full of contempt, not concealed at all.

The Masked Man did not respond, merely silently watching him.

Teng Qingxing restrained his laughter: "My lord, what do you want me to do?"

"I want to know what she is doing."

"Now?"

"Now."

Teng Qingxing took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from his bosom, its surface polished to extreme brightness, the back engraved with densely packed runes.

He placed the bronze mirror on the table, then felt out a thumb-thick bronze bell from his sleeve.

The bell's body was dark, engraved with fine, indistinct patterns.

"This object," Teng Qingxing raised the bronze bell, "is made from deep-sea cold iron, combined with the feathers of a hundred birds' souls, refined for forty-nine days by a secret method."

"Shaken, it makes no sound, yet it can enter the ears of flying creatures, summoning birds to my use." A flash of self-satisfaction crossed his eyes: "The arts of Zhongyuan cannot achieve this."

The Masked Man remained silent, evidently waiting for him to display his skill.

Teng Qingxing vigorously shook the bronze bell, making no sound, yet the bronze mirror on the table trembled slightly, its surface rippling like water.

At the same time.

Xibei Daying, the sun was just right.

Tuan Tuan squatted on the grass outside the tent, pointing with her small hand: "Xiao Yueyue, hold this side down!"

Gongsun Yue pressed down a grass stem as instructed, and Tuan Tuan carefully transferred a grasshopper from the blade into her small bamboo cage.

Xiao Jin squatted to the side, his eyes wide as saucers, not daring to breathe.

"All right!" Tuan Tuan covered the cage lid, lifted it to the sunlight, and exclaimed, "Another one caught!"

Gongsun Yue wiped sweat from his forehead: "How many have we caught?"

Tuan Tuan counted: "One, two, three... five!"

Xiao Jin whispered: "Tuan Tuan, can this really be eaten?"

"Of course!" Tuan Tuan shoved the bamboo cage into his hand: "Uncle Zhang said we can't always wait for others to bring food; we have to get it ourselves."

"He told me, this is delicious! Tonight let the kitchen uncle fry it for everyone to eat!"

Xiao Jin held the bamboo cage, smiling and nodding: "Good!"

"Little ancestor!"

A rough shout came.

The three looked up, only to see a scar-faced man from the horse gang striding over.

He carried half a side of fresh mutton on his shoulder, followed by several horse gang brothers holding strings of dried game.

Tuan Tuan ran over to him: "Uncle Daoba!"

Daoba set the mutton down, bent over, scooped her up, and placed her on his shoulder: "Little ancestor, you've been away for days, did you miss me?"

"I did!" Tuan Tuan hugged his big head: "Uncle Daoba, you're so good! Did you bring more tasty food again?"

"Surely not!" Daoba set her down, took a string of dried wild birds from a brother behind him, waved it before her eyes: "See what this is?"

Tuan Tuan leaned in to look: "Bird?"

"This is called sand half-chicken!" Daoba grinned: "This thing is great—fatty, tender, fragrant!"

Gongsun Yue leaned over: "Is it tasty?"

"Tasty?" Daoba's eyes widened: "This is a treasure of our Xibei!"

"You've timed it well; this season the sand half-chicken is plump—two taels of meat, one tael of oil!"

"Roasted, its aroma can drift two li away! Stewed soup is so fresh it could make your eyebrows fall off!"

Xiao Jin whispered: "I... I've never eaten it."

"Then you must try it today!" Daoba pointed the bird string toward the kitchen: "Later the kitchen brothers will prepare it, giving you kids a taste of meat!"

Tuan Tuan clapped her small hands: "Great!"

Suddenly, her small hand stopped.

She tilted her head, eyes slightly narrowed, gazing at a withered tree not far away.

"What's wrong?" Daoba followed her gaze.

On the withered tree's branch perched a dusty-gray bird, exactly a sand half-chicken.

Just like the one Daoba was holding.

"Uncle Daoba," Tuan Tuan tugged his sleeve, "that bird seems to be staring at us all the time."

Daoba stared intently; the bird indeed remained motionless, head slightly tilted, its black-bead-like eyes fixed straight on them.

He muttered: "Sand half-chickens are very clever, hard to catch, but this one looks rather stupid."

Tuan Tuan tilted her head: "Its eyes are weird, why does it keep staring at me? The eyeballs don't move."

Gongsun Yue also looked over: "Really! It hasn't moved at all."

Xiao Jin shrank back behind Tuan Tuan.

The bird suddenly tilted its head, yet its eyes didn't move, still staring fixedly at them.

Tuan Tuan furrowed her brows, turned and shouted: "Second Uncle!"

Xiao Er saw the kids playing together, so he stood nearby chatting with a few soldiers.

Hearing the shout, he took a few steps over: "What's wrong, Miss?"

Seeing Daoba, he raised his hand and patted his shoulder: "You've worked hard, brother."

Daoba laughed and shook his head.

Tuan Tuan raised her hand and pointed at the bird: "That broken bird keeps staring at me, how weird."

"Second Uncle, Daoba Uncle said that's a very tasty bird, can you shoot it down for me? Tonight we'll stew it for soup!"

Xiao Er looked up and saw that the bird was motionless, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on his young lady.

Really annoying!

He frowned, reached into his waist, pulled out a copper coin, and flicked his wrist.

Whoosh—

The copper coin shot through the air and struck the bird squarely in the chest.

With a soft "pfft", the bird fell straight from the branch, feathers scattering.

Several children clapped and cheered: "Hit it! Hit it!"

Xiao Er walked over, bent down, picked up the bird, and shook it by the wing.

He walked back and handed the bird to Tuan Tuan: "Quite plump, miss, enough for a pot."

Tuan Tuan beamed: "Second Uncle, you're amazing! You hit it right away!"

Daoba came over: "Xiao Er, you've got great aim!"

"Wow! This bird is really fat, fresh from the hunt—perfect to stew together!"

"Great, great!" Tuan Tuan clapped her hands: "I want soup!"

"Come on, come on, come on!" Daoba waved his hand: "I'll head to the kitchen now and have them add extra scallion and ginger, stewing it until it's falling apart!"

Meanwhile, in Jingcheng.

Teng Qingxing shuddered all over, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood onto the bronze mirror.

He clutched his chest tightly, the smug look on his face vanishing, replaced by sheer horror.

The Masked Man stared intently at him.

"That bird," Teng Qingxing panted, his already halting Zhongyuan speech growing more fragmented, "has been killed."

The Masked Man frowned: "What do you mean?"

Teng Qingxing stared at the blood-stained mirror, a flicker of fear in his eyes: "That child! She actually saw me."

"You saw me?"

"The bird's eyes are my eyes." Teng Qingxing's voice trembled: "When I looked at her, she actually saw me!"

The Masked Man fell silent for a moment: "So?"

Teng Qingxing slowly lifted his head, blood still tracing his lips, the contempt in his eyes gone: "I underestimated her."

His face solemn: "My lord, do you know whether she possesses any arcane arts?"

The Masked Man shook his head: "As far as I know, no."

Teng Qingxing's face filled with shock: "No? Then this child's fortune is truly astonishing."

He wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth and slowly rose to his feet.

"Rest assured, my lord, I will certainly eliminate her for you and not let your city be given away for nothing."