Chapter 57

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Ji Jin finally caught up to Shaowei.

To be precise, Shaowei was waiting for him at the mountain pass to lead the way, to go seek the location of the bloodstains he spoke of.

Ji Jin was panting unevenly, and his first words upon opening his mouth were still dissuasion: "Jiang Sister, this mountain is far too dangerous, and moreover it is already afternoon; it truly is not a place one can rashly enter! Listen to me this once, let us first return……"

Ji Jin's unfinished words turned into a cry of alarm: "Jiang Sister!"

Shaowei directly turned and strode into the mountain, using action to force him to follow.

Ji Jin anxiously looked back, only to see that still no one had come searching——originally it was also impossible for it to be this fast, even he had run all the way here!

Ji Jin was simply desperate; his feeling at this moment was like two civet cats jumping out of his hands uncontrollably, pouncing into a wolf den with high fighting spirit, and moreover the kind where the cats split up two ways——when he chased over, that Mo Li little brother's figure was already nowhere to be seen!

The desperate Ji Jin had no other method, he could only choose to follow close behind this little one before his eyes first, he had to at least watch over one head!

Shaowei's steps were very large, and walking in this rugged mountain she seemed as if treading a plain; facing those protruding rocks and tree branches that appeared from time to time, she could always nimbly dodge or use the long staff in her hand to push them away early.

Ji Jin was said to be guiding the way, yet could only barely keep up with her footsteps, hurriedly reminding her which direction to walk in all the way.

All this came truly suddenly; Ji Jin walked while watching through the swaying branches and leaves that overly agile shadow ahead, always having a sense of unreality as if his brain had been beaten bad by a monkey and he was hallucinating.

Until monkey cries sounded by his ear again, Ji Jin instantly felt as if facing a great enemy: "Bad, they've come again!"

Following Ji Jin's shout, sure enough a brown monkey figure appeared from the mountain slope to the front left; the monkey grabbed tree trunks shuttling through the mountain forest, and also leaping rapidly toward the two people.

In his panic Ji Jin reached out and grabbed one of Shaowei's arms, wanting to pull her behind his own body to protect her.

Ji Jin, who had just been beaten by monkeys this morning, this protective heart was originally a kind of strenuous fantasy, but what was even more strenuous was……he actually directly failed to budge the Jiang family younger sister who was a full head shorter than him!

In Ji Jin's disarray, the squeaking monkey cries had already drawn near before his eyes.

Shaowei's feet did not move a fraction, standing straight and firm in place, her left arm letting Ji Jin behind her grab it, her right hand gripping the staff raised high past her eyes.

That monkey with its mouth crying pounced down from the high stone to the side, first extending its claws to seize the weapon in the person's hand.

The monkey claws gripped that long staff, pulling hard, yet faced the same predicament as Ji Jin……it could not seize on the first try the long staff in the hands of that weak human in its eyes.

This move failing, there was even less chance next; Shaowei's staff-gripping arm tensed and exerted force pulling back, that monkey tightly gripping one end of the long staff was brought stumbling two steps, baring fierce yellow teeth, freeing one claw to scratch at Shaowei's face; Shaowei pressed down that shoulder and dodged her head at the same time, already pulling out the left hand grabbed by Ji Jin, one hand from the side backhand-grabbing the monkey's scratching arm, the next instant, her feet rooted deep stabilizing her stance, lowering her upper body, waist and core storing power, directly backhand throwing the monkey flying out!

The thrown monkey smashed onto a mountain slope to the side, tree branches snapped several, broken leaves flying wildly amidst squealing miserable cries, it scrambled away as if flying.

Listening to the monkey's miserable cries still by his ear, the dumbfounded Ji Jin's brain absurdly thought, if it was merely having his head beaten bad by a monkey, perhaps it would not yet reach the point of hallucinating to this extent……he would probably have to have mistakenly eaten at least two catties of mushrooms to see such a bizarre scene!

He still remembered when Father was still alive, someone sent a basket of Lingnan mushrooms, prepared by the servants and served on the dining table; he ate together with Father and Mother, and young him even watched with wide eyes as Father turned into a big wolf dog, Mother was carried away by a group of colorful little people, he drew twin swords in haste to chase, yet was trapped in a great mountain……only when he barely recovered a thread of consciousness did he discover himself lying under the bed, both hands each clutching a bamboo chopstick, dragged out by panicked servants, sent to a medical clinic.

The scene seen now and the absurd feeling then were simply not far apart; in a short moment, Ji Jin repeatedly recalled whether he had mistakenly picked and eaten some hallucinogenic thing when entering the mountain early this morning.

But Jiang Sister's voice was that clear and real: "This kind of monkey most loves to tease and bully the weak; the more you fear them the more arrogant they become; next time remember to be like me, otherwise every time you enter the mountain they will only bully you more and more severely."

Ji Jin blankly nodded, agreed with a "good" character, but then quickly realized his agreement was somewhat rash; he ought not to possess the ability to single-handedly throw a monkey flying.

The two people walked out not far, and on the mountain wall monkey cries rose and fell faintly again; Ji Jin's face was uneasy: "That monkey is afraid it went to complain, moved many reinforcements to come retaliate……"

"So what." Shaowei's feet did not stop, tone flat: "Pick the one with the largest build and most arrogant and beat it up, they will naturally scatter and flee."

Ji Jin only felt these words were cold/remote to an inconceivable degree……how could a person have such bottomless confidence?

"Follow close to me, otherwise if they drag you away from behind, I may not be able to attend to you."

Hearing this reminder, Ji Jin's action was faster than reason, hurriedly quickening two steps to follow close to Shaowei.

Morning attempting to drive away monkeys but instead driven by monkeys, afternoon originally wanting to protect a person but instead protected by a person, this frequent sense of reversal made Ji Jin feel somewhat dizzy, plus he had not managed to eat a single bite of food since rising early this morning.

Walking out several tens of steps more, suddenly an object was thrown down from the mountain wall; Shaowei jumped up and reached out to catch it, threw it to Ji Jin.

Ji Jin blankly looked at the fruit in his hand, raised his head and stared carefully, only to see a fruit tree growing on the steep mountain wall, a human figure climbing on that fruit tree——if not Mo Li, then who?

Mo Li's mouth stuffed with fruit, one hand climbing the tree trunk, the other hand busily picking fruit and stuffing into his lapel; he picked a large one, and threw it down to Shaowei below.

The mountain pears were precisely at ripening time; this fruit tree because its position was too steep had not been picked by people, and because sunlight was sufficient, the green-yellow pear skin had faintly reddened somewhat; one bite down, crisp and juicy.

The Ji Jin who came could never have imagined he would actually be walking in the mountain eating fruit like this at this time; his mood was still tense, but his conduct could already be called relaxed.

On the way there were still monkeys harassing, but what made Ji Jin feel strange was they did not gather to beat people, instead seeming to be observing, only throwing down some tree branches and broken stones from time to time. This behavior was within Ji Jin's tolerance range, yet still annoyed Shaowei; she aimed at a monkey squatting on a mountain stone chirping and directing, and fiercely smashed the half-gnawed fruit in her hand at it.

That monkey cried in pain covering one eye, sticking out its red buttocks twisted its body, crying and fleeing; the other monkeys seeing this also scattered in succession.

The following road became quiet a lot more; following the road Ji Jin pointed at and walking forward further, sure enough they discovered some bloodstains.

Having eaten quite a few fruits, physical strength and mental strength both recovered quite a bit, Ji Jin seriously persuaded Shaowei: "Jiang Sister, if that child truly was carried off by a wolf, I'm afraid further ahead there will be wild wolves appearing……we had better stop here and wait a bit."

Shaowei looked at him: "Wait for what?"

Ji Jin: "Jiang Sister entering the mountain, when I came I already entrusted someone to go inform your elder sister; she will certainly go seek the Village Head, presumably soon there will be people following, then by hunters……"

"You overthink it, she won't go seek people." Shaowei interrupted Ji Jin's words, continued walking forward: "She knows I entered the mountain."

Ji Jin incredulous——Jiang family elder sister this big-hearted?

"Even if there are wolves no need to fear." Shaowei said while walking: "I brought a blade."

Ji Jin already could not bother to be surprised again at Shaowei carrying a blade on her person; he anxiously caught up: "……It's not that having a blade means you can slaughter wolves; wolves and monkeys are ultimately not the same; monkeys are natively mischievous but daily mostly eat fruit, at most catch some insects to eat……wolves however eat people!"

"Wolves eat people, so people must fear wolves? By this logic, people also eat wolves, so wolves should also fear people." Shaowei while paying attention ahead said: "I've killed wolves and skinned wolves too; I understand them better than you."

Ji Jin stunned speechless.

Mo Li still busy searching for food all over the mountain, person also nowhere to be seen, but Shaowei has Zhan Zhan as a helper.

Zhan Zhan flies in front searching and scouting, always only using cries to remind Shaowei, and never once uttering a single sentence of human speech——this is the result of Shaowei's training.

Shaowei heard Jiang Fu say, parrots that can learn human speech are not rare in Chang'an City, but appearing in the countryside would be passed as a strange tale; villagers inform petty officials, petty officials transmit to county and prefecture, transmitting back and forth who knows Zhan Zhan might be seized, offered as an auspicious omen to the palace, from then on also becoming a caged bird that dies a death if today it eats one more grain of millet, tomorrow mistakenly drinks two more drops of water, sorrowing spring and grieving autumn.

Zhan Zhan doesn't understand Jiang Fu's admonishment, but it understands the forehead flicks Shaowei bounces at it; now if there are outsiders present, it simply does not easily open its mouth to speak.

Shaowei and Ji Jin following the intermittent bloodstains all the way arrived before a hidden mountain cave covered by weeds.

The bloodstains vanished completely here, and the weeds at the cave mouth showed faint signs of having been trampled and pushed aside.

Ji Jin whispered, "Could this be a wolf den……"

Though Shaowei had killed wolves, she had never dug out a wolf den, and for a moment she could not be certain, so she did not rashly charge in; instead, she took Ji Jin to hide in a nearby grass bush, drew her dagger and held it in one hand, while with the other she tossed two pieces of gravel inside.

Ji Jin wanted to be of some use and imitated Shaowei by throwing stones to probe, but the small stones he threw were blocked by the weeds at the cave mouth and fell, never making it into the cave.

Ji Jin silently drew back his hand, then picked up stones of suitable size, cupped them in his palms, and handed them to Shaowei.

Throwing stones seemed simple, but besides accuracy, it tested the coordination of arm and wrist strength. Shaowei took the stones from Ji Jin's hand, and every one flew precisely into the cave, but after throwing more than ten stones, not a single sound came back in response.

Shaowei then raised her hand to signal and sent out her Scout.

Zhan Zhan received the order and flew into the cave to check.

Such height of coordination between person and bird made Ji Jin marvel once again.

Not long after, Zhan Zhan flew out from the low cave mouth, landed on the stone wall above the cave entrance, chirped with its mouth, alternately tapped its claws a few times, suppressed the impulse to speak human words, then extended one snow-white wing, pointing at Shaowei and Ji Jin, after which it shrank its head, spread both wings wide to hug itself, and made a show of trembling.

Shaowei understood at once, immediately rose from the grass bush, bent over, and crawled into the cave.

Ji Jin hurriedly followed.

The cave mouth here was narrow and hidden, but inside it opened up, enough for Shaowei to walk upright; however, the light was dim and unclear, and her sight needed to adjust, so Shaowei did not rush to move about, first holding a stick before her as she surveyed the situation inside the cave.

After a moment, Shaowei's gaze fixed on a clump of shadow in the corner.

Ji Jin also saw that thing, his expression changed instantly, and without thinking too much: "……It's a wolf, run!"

He reached out to pull Shaowei, but heard Shaowei say firmly: "Not a wolf."

She said: "It's a wolfskin."

Shaowei's awareness and five senses were extraordinary; she saw more clearly than Ji Jin, and this was one reason.

Another reason was……this wolfskin, she thought she had seen it before.

The trembling shadow propped itself up against the stone wall with difficulty and stood; Ji Jin looked and indeed saw a human figure, presumably that child, and he let out a great sigh of relief, saying: "Little one, we've come to find you!"

Before Ji Jin finished speaking, he saw the child let out an angry low growl, raising a tree branch in his hand and stabbing at the two of them.

Shaowei used one hand to lift the stick and block it, the long stick pressing against the chest of the stumbling child rushing over; Shaowei stepped forward a few paces and directly pinned him against the stone wall.

Seeing the child struggling, Ji Jin hurriedly said: "Don't be afraid, we are good people, we won't hurt you!"

Shaowei very much wanted to say that she was not a good person, and there was no need to bring her.

At this moment, a streak of orange sunset light shone into the dim, cold cave; by this light, Shaowei's eyes looked into the child's eyes.

As their gazes met, the child's expression suddenly changed from struggling anger to bewildered astonishment.

His blank expression pulled Shaowei back to that broken Taoist Temple at dawn on a winter day.

Shaowei confirmed it was him, put away the stick, and the weak child slid down against the stone wall to sit.

"Don't be afraid." Ji Jin walked over and extended a hand toward him: "It's almost dark, let's leave the mountain first!"

The child did not move, but instead lifted his face to look at Shaowei.

Shaowei looked down at him from above and extended the long stick.

The boy reached out and grasped the long stick, slowly standing up from the damp shadows.

Outside, the setting sun blazed fiercely; the whole sky and wilderness seemed covered with a layer of transparent gold powder, fruit smelled fragrant and osmanthus flowers were fragrant, birds returning to the forest flapped their wings and sang; those coming out of the mountain cave found their sight, smell, and hearing all become lively and colorful for a time.

Ji Jin stood amidst such a scene, and because he had found the child as he wished, his chest felt exceedingly refreshed; he truly wanted to compose a poem, but time was limited and there was no time to carefully craft verses, so he only cupped his hands by his mouth and shouted joyfully toward the mountains, startling a flock of birds.

Shaowei did not feel such strong exhilaration as he did, but she imitated him, slightly poking her head toward the front, cupped her hands and let out an "ah——", frightening two passing monkeys into panicked flight.

That child, however, had neither the standing nor the strength to imitate; he had injuries on his body and could not move easily, so Ji Jin chose to carry him on his back.

Ji Jin had also been injured by the monkeys; logically, since Shaowei had expended less than one-hundredth of her strength, it would be more suitable for her to carry him, but Ji Jin insisted especially——if Jiang Sister carried the person out of the mountain, that situation, while fitting unknown inner circumstances, would violate obvious human nature, and he found it truly hard to accept.

Seeing that Ji Jin truly needed to exert this strength, Shaowei then went along with him.

The child on his back was very thin, so he was not heavy; he wore a tattered hemp cloth garment on his lower body, and his upper body was wrapped in half a wolfskin coat, his arms bare and bloody——Ji Jin had already figured out that this must be the reason the village old woman mistook it for "a wolf carrying off a child."

There were no wolves, only a child wrapped in wolfskin.

But why did he run into the mountains alone? Since his mind was still clear, and so many people came to the mountain to find him last night, why did he not respond?