Chapter 505: Again, No One in the Well

Masked Man shook his head: "Sir, you've misunderstood; I don't intend to kill her."

Teng Qingxing stared in surprise.

Masked Man looked at Tuan Tuan's portrait: "I just want to know why she is so unlike anyone else, and then I want her to serve me."

"I won't take her life unless absolutely necessary."

Teng Qingxing showed a puzzled expression: "You Central Plains people really have strange ideas."

"If you intend to deal with this child, just kill her—why bother using her?"

"What can a little child do, even if she has boundless fortune?"

Masked Man waved his hand: "Sir, you don't need to understand; you only need to know that what I want right now is merely to know what she is doing."

Teng Qingxing's eyes flickered: "Sir, if that's all, there are experts in the Central Plains; why go to such trouble to summon me from afar?"

Masked Man did not answer: "Sir, you've come far and are weary; please stay temporarily at my residence."

He called out: "Attendant! Take the sir to the side rooms and attend to him well."

"Yes!"

Teng Qingxing bade farewell and left.

In the evening, a rich meat aroma wafted from the Xibei Daying.

Three little beansprouts sat around the table, holding their small bowls; the bowls contained golden, glossy meat broth with several pieces of tender bird meat inside.

Tuan Tuan gnawed on a bird leg, oil dripping from his mouth: "So fragrant!"

"Don't forget to leave a bowl for Second Uncle! He's the one who hunted this bird!"

"Okay!" Xiao Jin sipped the soup slowly, his brows relaxing: "So fresh!"

Gongsun Yue nodded vigorously: "Delicious!"

A few days later, Tuan Tuan ran into Xiao Ningxun's tent: "Third Brother, what are you doing?"

Xiao Ningxun embraced the dashing sister: "I'm looking at this Heavenly Son Sword."

Tuan Tuan climbed onto his leg, gazing at the Heavenly Son Sword on the desk: "Wow! Six points are lit now!"

"Exactly, once Feng Zhou reassembles those nine keys, this seventh dimple should also light up."

Tuan Tuan reached out a small hand and touched the last still-dim dimple: "Feng Zhou hasn't finished it yet? I haven't seen him in ages."

"He's been obsessing over those nine keys, nearly driven mad, trying countless methods, but always falling short—poor guy."

Tuan Tuan nestled in Xiao Ningxun's arms, chattering intermittently about the fun times playing with Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin, while Xiao Ningxun listened patiently with a smile.

Not long after, Xiao Er's voice sounded outside the tent: "Miss, Xiao Yueyue and the Twelfth Prince have come to play with you!"

Tuan Tuan slipped from Xiao Ningxun's embrace, legs pumping as he ran out: "Third Brother, I'm going to play with them!"

Xiao Ningxun laughed and called after her: "Go on, but take it easy!"

Tuan Tuan waved a hand: "Got it!" and darted out of the tent.

Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin saw her and asked: "Tuan Tuan, where shall we play today?"

Tuan Tuan thought: "How about we play at the Bitter Water Well?"

Lu Qi furrowed his brows: "Miss, that Bitter Water Well is very deep; its water isn't drinkable, only good for mixing mud—what's fun about that?"

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up: "Mixing mud? Great! We can play in the mud!"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi: "..."

"Miss, you're a Princess (Commandery)! Playing in the mud?"

Tuan Tuan took Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin's hands and ran toward the Bitter Water Well.

Xiao Er and Lu Qi resignedly followed.

Soon they arrived at the edge of the Bitter Water Well located below the slope at the northwest corner of the Main Camp.

The three little ones lay prone at the well's edge, looking down.

At first, a short stretch, the stones on the well wall were visible—various sizes, interlocking like jagged teeth.

Further down, the well wall could no longer be seen; sunlight plunged straight down, striking the deep water surface and forming a tiny, trembling spot of light.

Xiao Er stood behind Tuan Tuan: "Miss, be careful—don't fall in."

Tuan Tuan looked back at him, smiling: "I know!"

Turning around, he lay again on the well's edge and exclaimed: "How deep!"

The sound carried into the well, causing a peculiar, humming resonance that rolled down layer by layer.

The sound grew deeper and fainter as it rolled, finally striking the water surface and becoming a muffled echo.

"Hey—hey—hey—"

Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin found it amusing and both started shouting into the well.

The three little beansprouts vied to shout loudly, laughing, making Xiao Er and Lu Qi shake their heads helplessly.

At the same moment, Teng Qingxing in Jingcheng covered his ears, brows furrowed.

"What's all the shouting for!"

"I finally found this water source with great difficulty, intending to use it to scout a bit, and you've come delivering yourselves to my door."

The Masked Man sat opposite him, gazing at the basin of clear water before him: "Sir, what did you see?"

Teng Qingxing replied: "I just cast a spell and located a water source in the Xibei Daying."

"The child you wish to observe is now by the water."

"But there, it's not just her; a bunch of kids are gathered around the water source, making a racket."

The Masked Man nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, sir."

Tuan Tuan, bored of shouting, said: "Second Uncle, Seventh Uncle, could you help me haul up two buckets of water?"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi did as told and hauled up two buckets for her.

Tuan Tuan squatted on the ground, gathered the yellow earth beneath their feet into a mound, lifted the ladle from the bucket, scooped half a ladle of water and poured it onto the mound, and the muddy water flowed everywhere.

Tuan Tuan put the ladle back into the bucket, extended a small hand to mix the water and the earth mound, and stirred them into mud.

Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin's eyes widened: "Tuan Tuan, can this really be played with?"

Tuan Tuan seriously kneaded the mud in their hand into a small ball of just the right softness, pinched it and said, "It works! Look, it's easy to shape!"

Gongsun Yue and Xiao Jin exchanged glances, copied her posture, squatted down, formed a few mud balls, and each tried to shape the form they wanted.

The two shouted with surprise, "It really works!"

"So much fun!"

Tuan Tuan proudly lifted their head: "Fun, right? What shall we shape?"

They tilted their little head and thought, "I want to shape my home! Ning Prince's Mansion!"

Xiao Jin nodded, "Then I'll shape the Dezheng Palace where I live with Mother Consort!"

Gongsun Yue thought, then glanced back at Main Camp, "I'll shape the big tent where I live with Mother Consort."

The three little ones began to bustle, while Xiao Er and Lu Qi kept adding water beside them.

Soon, a cluster of crooked houses rose on the ground.

It made Xiao Er and Lu Qi grin with their teeth showing.

The two exchanged a look, "Miss, the Ning Prince's Mansion you built, if anyone actually lived in it, it would probably collapse in less than half a day."

Xiao Er squinted and examined the Dezheng Palace that Xiao Jin had piled up, larger than Tuan Tuan's Ning Prince's Mansion.

If this were submitted by the Ministry of Works, His Majesty might be so angry that he would chop off that overseer's head.

In Jingcheng, Teng Qingxing frowned slightly.

The Masked Man asked, "Sir, what did you see?"

"There are three children, they are…"

The Masked Man hurriedly followed, "What are they doing?"

"Playing with mud."

The Masked Man: "…"

The three little ones finished their work and evaluated each other.

Tuan Tuan looked seriously at the results of the little companions: "Xiao Yueyue, yours looks the most like it!"

"Twelve, is that the Dezheng Palace? I couldn't tell."

Xiao Jin smiled shyly, "Tuan Tuan, yours doesn't look like Ning Prince's Mansion either."

Tuan Tuan retorted, "Have you ever been to my house?"

Xiao Jin shook his head, "No."

Tuan Tuan's eyes shifted, "So that's why my house looks like this! When we return to Jingcheng, I'll take you to see it and you'll know!"

Xiao Jin thought for a moment and agreed, "Really, you shaped it well!"

"Shall we play something else?"

Tuan Tuan stood up, looked around, and clattered over to pick up a stone nearby, swung their little arm in a circle and tossed it into the well.

"Dong!" echoed, big and muffled, much louder than the echo of their earlier shouts.

The three children jumped happily, "Sounds great!"

"Tuan Tuan, you really know how to play! I want to throw too!"

The three little ones scattered, picking up more and larger stones, and kept throwing them into the well.

Then, satisfied, they listened to the continuous "Dong Dong Dong" reverberating.

Suddenly, Tuan Tuan tilted their head and stopped.

Xiao Er hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Miss?"

Tuan Tuan tilted their ear and listened for a moment, waved a little hand and said, "It's nothing, I just thought I heard someone go 'aiyo' a moment ago, I misheard! There's no one in the well."

After speaking, they turned their head and went back to throwing stones.

In Jingcheng, Teng Qingxing covered one eye with one hand, and angrily, with the other hand, pulled out a talisman paper depicting the Big Dipper.