Chapter 15: 15 Better Safe Than Sorry

15 Better Safe Than Sorry

A young girl with a round face in a goose-yellow dress led the way, with Tang Zhao and Wei Zhangle following behind.

To say this girl had a much more approachable temperament than that spider-woman Yuan Qing, Tang Zhao could have chatted with her a bit, but she seemed to be a person of the government, which made one harbor a few more concerns. Tang Zhao was worried for a moment, just staring blankly at the huge butterfly knot on her back.

The butterfly knot swayed up and down as she walked forward; her pace seemed very rhythmic, and the frequency of the knot's swaying was also very regular. Once one's gaze fell into this kind of rhythm, one could gradually become immersed in it, unable to extricate oneself.

Suddenly, Tang Zhao's sleeve was tugged. He came back to his senses and saw Wei Zhangle looking over, giving Tang Zhao a wink.

Tang Zhao was puzzled for a moment and could only look back; the two of them were far from having a meeting of minds, so who could understand him just by blinking?

Steadying his mind, he looked around and felt a chill in his heart:

What a remote place!

Without realizing it, had they already walked to such a remote place?

While this mountain villa had a dark color scheme and an oppressive atmosphere, making it impossible to tell which part was main and which was side, the alleyways here were very narrow, and there was gradually a feeling of walking into a dead end.

Tang Zhao took a deep breath and forced a smile, saying, "Big Sister, are we going to see that official?"

The round-faced girl did not stop her steps and said, "You mean the Town Guardian? He has urgent matters today and cannot see you."

Her appearance was pretty, and she was dressed like a lively young girl, but her voice was tinged with three parts coquetry and three parts languor; it was originally very pleasant to the ear, but here and now, it was completely out of place.

Tang Zhao's heart sank further, and he said, "Then... where are we going?"

"To... where you want to go."

After saying this, the round-faced girl suddenly stopped and reached out to push open a door.

A gust of fresh breeze blew in.

An inconspicuous side door had opened on the dusty wall, like breaking a hole in a muddy ice surface, and the fresh wind rushed toward them.

Outside the door were trees, grass, fallen leaves covering the ground, and birds flapping their wings.

It was colorful, with a clear boundary from the darkness of the mountain villa.

That was the outside world.

"Go out."

She said with a smile.

Her voice was still the same, delicate and languid, but it sounded different now.

Tang Zhao could hardly believe his ears and said, "You are letting us go?"

The girl said, "You shouldn't have been here in the first place; is this a place for children like you to stay? The Town Guardian is thoughtless. Take advantage of the fact that he is not here today and leave first."

Tang Zhao was bewildered for a moment and asked, "But if we leave, what will happen to you?"

The girl said, "The Town Guardian acts without any scruples, so can't I also do as I please? It is not yet your turn, two children, to worry for me."

Looking at her face, she was only four or five years older than Tang Zhao, yet she called them children so naturally.

Tang Zhao saw that the outside world was just a door away and couldn't help but be tempted, but suddenly he heard Wei Zhangle say, "We don't want to go out."

Tang Zhao was stunned. Wei Zhangle stepped forward, blocked Tang Zhao, and said sternly, "Thank you, Big Sister, for your kind intentions. But we came here voluntarily. We trust the officials of the Land Inspection Bureau and will just wait for the Imperial Court's arrangements. Why should we flee privately and become thieves?"

Tang Zhao stopped talking. It wasn't that he agreed with Wei Zhangle, but he felt Wei Zhangle's determination in his tone, which was very rare and surely not without reason. Now that he himself had no doubts, he naturally had to respect Wei Zhangle's decision.

Even if there wasn't much tacit understanding between the two, there was still trust.

The girl squinted at Wei Zhangle; although he could not see her pupils, he could feel her condescending, piercing gaze.

And Wei Zhangle did not dodge, looking straight at the other party, though sweat began to fall down his back.

After a while, the girl relaxed and said lazily, "If the fish refuses to jump out of the net, can one force it? Anyway, the Town Guardian will be back tomorrow and will definitely see you. You only have today as your chance."

Although Tang Zhao supported Wei Zhangle, he felt that he had inevitably let down the other party's good intentions, so he stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Big Sister, for your kind help. It is we who have failed your good intentions. In any case, we will remember today's kindness, and if there is a chance in the future, we will certainly repay it."

The girl smiled and said, "Repay? You say you will repay in the future; are you telling the truth, or are you being sarcastic?"

Tang Zhao was startled and said, "I have always spoken the truth. How could I be sarcastic?"

Having said this, his heart stirred, and he stared at the girl.

A strange thought popped into his mind, but he felt he was overthinking, so he cautiously reiterated, "When I express gratitude, I mean it; this is the case for you, and it is the same for others."

The girl nodded, looking quite satisfied, and said, "So you are very smart, then? Fine, I will wait for you to repay me in the future. However, since you refuse to leave today, it is hard to say if there will be a 'future.' I hope you won't regret it." She looked up at the sky and suddenly said, "Do you want some candy?"

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment. The girl untied the pouch at her waist, let Tang Zhao hold out his hand, and poured out a large handful of colorful candies—taffy, crisp candy, dragon's beard candy, pine nut candy, osmanthus candy—all kinds of candies were there.

Tang Zhao was dumbfounded and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

The girl put away the pouch and said, "Eat this candy slowly; eating too much is bad for your teeth. Also... cats like to eat candy too."

After saying this, she gave a light leap and jumped onto the top of the wall, her posture graceful, landing without a sound. Tang Zhao had just looked up when he saw a flash of goose-yellow, and she had already disappeared.

Tang Zhao held the candy, lost in thought.

He always felt he had seen this jumping posture somewhere before.

After Wei Zhangle refused, he had been standing quietly. After a while, he said in a low voice, "Brother Zhao, I'm sorry, I may have implicated you in missing the chance to escape."

Tang Zhao said, "Did you see something? Did she have any flaws?"

Wei Zhangle looked around; the place was remote, and there was indeed no one else, so he said softly, "I was afraid she was here to test us."

Tang Zhao nodded; he had guessed the same just now, but how did Wei Zhangle determine it so quickly? Were there any flaws he hadn't noticed?

Wei Zhangle said, "There is a type of human trafficker who, after catching children, pretends to be a good person to test if they want to escape. The first or second time, they will definitely say they want to, and then the escape naturally fails, followed by a brutal beating. If this happens repeatedly, they are beaten until the children don't even dare to think about the chance to escape, don't dare to move, and don't dare to trust anyone anymore, becoming completely numb; only then are they considered tamed. Afterward, they can be sold or driven at will, with no more problems."

Tang Zhao felt a chill down his back and asked again, "This is the method of human traffickers, right? Does the Land Inspection Bureau do this too?"

Wei Zhangle was silent. After a while, he said, "I don't know, it shouldn't be the case. But I didn't dare to gamble. Based on my past experience, if a bad thing can happen, it will definitely happen."

Tang Zhao felt he had heard this theory before, something like a law; since it was called a law, it was probably true, so he asked, "Then if a good thing can happen, how likely is it to happen?"

Wei Zhangle said distractedly, "Originally, good things would never happen to me. But I had some luck meeting you, so maybe we really did miss a chance just now."

Tang Zhao felt that the girl had genuinely offered help, and besides his intuition, there was another reason only he knew, but he only realized this later when he thought it over. At the time, he was hesitant, and now that the dust had settled, he naturally could not look back and blame Wei Zhangle's caution, saying, "Better safe than sorry; even if there is only a one percent chance, one must be careful."

At this time, the girl had left, the door she left through was still ajar, and the two looked at each other.

After a while, Tang Zhao reached out, pushed the door shut, and said, "Since we aren't gambling, let's just avoid suspicion. Shall we stand over there?"

After waiting for nearly another half-hour, they finally saw Yuan Qing and a bailiff arrive in a hurry.

Seeing the two from afar, the bailiff let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Where is that woman?"

Tang Zhao replied truthfully, "She ran away. She just climbed over the wall and ran off."

The bailiff stared at the two with Fox-Doubt, but instead of asking further, he said to Yuan Qing, "How could your villa let such a suspicious person in?"

Yuan Qing said indignantly, "Isn't she one of your people?"

The bailiff said, "Did she say she was from the Land Inspection Office?"

Yuan Qing said, "She isn't from our villa either!"

At this moment, everyone understood; this girl in yellow had exploited the poor communication and lack of information between the two sides to deceive both, swaggering away with Tang Zhao and the other, and she had actually succeeded. If not for Wei Zhangle being overly cautious, the two would have successfully shed their shells like a cicada by now.

Thinking this through, everyone's expressions were unpleasant. Wei Zhangle regretted missing the opportunity even more. The bailiff said, "Since your villa can't even watch over two children, you had better hand them over to us. Don't you interfere anymore."

Yuan Qing said with a dark face, "As you wish, do you think we care? It's just that the place you are occupying is our Black Spider Villa's territory; without us, can you fly up to the sky?"

The bailiff kept a cold face and said to Tang Zhao, "Follow along, don't get lost." He flicked his sleeves and left.

Yuan Qing raised her voice and said, "You had better be careful; our Manor Master will return in a few days. The Land Inspection Office has such great official authority, bullying us little people is one thing, but our Manor Master won't fall for this!"

The bailiff couldn't be bothered to respond and left with his men.

Tang Zhao and the others did not return to that small side room, but instead stayed in a large courtyard.

This courtyard was spacious and magnificent, appearing to be the main hall of the villa. The guards outside were strict, but it was quiet inside; the two were each assigned a side room, complete with bedding and furniture, which could be considered a slight improvement in their treatment.

Of course, there was nothing to do, nothing more than waiting for the Town Guardian to return and make the decisions.

This wait lasted until evening, and still, there was no sign of anyone.

Tang Zhao was getting a bit restless from the wait. If that person didn't return, many things could not be settled.

He had experienced too many things in a single day, which could be described as full of ups and downs. Some things were his own choices, while others were inexplicable, even absurd and bizarre, like a dream.

The interweaving of reality and dreams made his heart chaotic. It was like a tangled mess of hemp, unable to find the thread.

If that lord returns, can he unravel a thing or two?