Chapter 223: You Are My God

Next, it's time for the hunt.

Du Ruo treated that monster like a sandbag, punching and throwing it, wishing she could tear him to pieces.

Magistrate Li and his men had finally brought those bandits completely under control, panting as they rushed over here.

Just as they climbed to the mountaintop, they saw this bizarre scene.

A woman held a young child, slamming him hard onto the ground, throwing him at trees, smashing him against rocks, acting like a madwoman.

The shrill wails echoed in the mountain gorge, refusing to subside for a long time, sending chills down everyone's spines.

Everyone was stunned.

Magistrate Li shook his head hard, doubting he was hallucinating.

Only after confirming it wasn't an illusion did he shout urgently, "Quick, quick, pull them apart!"

The constables behind also came to their senses; Wei Ming, the fastest on his feet, shot forward like an arrow, and only with great effort managed to snatch the child from Du Ruo's hands.

"Oh dear, sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

Du Ruo's eyes were bloodshot with killing intent; she glared at him fiercely, "Get out of the way, or I'll beat you too!"

Wei Ming: "……"

The monster then slipped into Wei Ming's arms, crying pitifully, "Wuu-wuu-wuu, I'm so scared, brother, save me…"

Wei Ming was no saint.

But the child before him was truly too small; in Wei Ming's view, no matter what wrong he'd done, he didn't deserve such a brutal beating.

"Sister-in-law, let's talk this out properly."

Wei Ming handed the child to a nearby constable, then spread his arms to block Du Ruo, smiling sheepishly, "If this kid did something wrong, we should go find his parents—no need to quarrel with a child, right?"

Magistrate Li also walked over, his face grim.

"Madam Du, what exactly happened? Why are you beating this child?"

Although he had always been lenient toward Du Ruo, to strike so harshly in his presence showed he didn't even regard himself as the local magistrate, nor the Da Zhao law.

Such behavior absolutely cannot be tolerated.

"A child?" Du Ruo glanced at the monster crying like it had lost its mother, smirked, "Don't be fooled, sir—he's no child; by his age, he's actually older than you."

Magistrate Li found it hard to believe, "No way? I see him as just a little kid; he must be a hostage those bandits snatched."

Du Ruo didn't argue with him either.

Without proof, and with that old monster's deceitful appearance, ordinary people would find it hard to believe.

Then let the facts speak.

Du Ruo gestured for Magistrate Li to look at Wei Ming nearby and began counting, "One, two, three…"

Thud—Wei Ming swayed and collapsed straight to the ground.

Everyone gasped in shock.

Someone immediately stepped forward to help him up, only to discover Wei Ming had lost consciousness.

"What's going on?" Magistrate Li's expression shifted sharply; he finally sensed something wrong and hurried to look at Du Ruo.

Du Ruo pointed at the boy shrunk in the constable's arms and squeezed out a voice from between her teeth, "Then we'll have to ask him."

Everyone's gaze snapped onto that boy.

The boy's small body stiffened.

Then he lifted his head, tears still clinging to his long lashes, and said in a sobbing voice, "Sister, I was wrong; I shouldn't have called you an ugly monster. I didn't mean it—please forgive me? I'll never dare again…"

Such an attitude makes it easy to think Du Ruo is being petty, deliberately taking revenge on him.

Just because he said Du Ruo was ugly.

Yet it was precisely this remark that exposed him.

Only someone truly ugly would care if others called them ugly; a good-looking person would just laugh it off.

With Du Ruo's looks, how could she possibly fuss over such a trivial matter?

Moreover, Du Ruo was anxious as burning, only wanting to find her husband Jiang Li—she had no mood to quarrel with a child.

It's obvious the boy is lying.

Such a young child, yet with such deep scheming—no simple matter…

Magistrate Li immediately grew wary and asked, "Madam Du, do you mean Wei Ming's fainting is related to him?"

Du Ruo nodded, "Exactly; Wei Ming fainted because he was poisoned by a rare toxin that paralyzes the limbs, causes deep unconsciousness, and eventually leads to death by starvation."

"And the source of the poison is his tears."

Thud—the constable holding the boy turned ashen with fright and hastily tossed him aside.

Good grief, what in the world is this thing?

It's terrifying.

The boy fell onto his rear, pain making him grit his teeth, tears streaming down in successive drops.

Too bad no one felt sorry for him; everyone leapt far away.

Magistrate Li waved his hand, "Come on, tie that child up and take him back!"

"Yes, sir." Two constables removed their outer garments, wrapped their hands for protection, then approached the boy.

Seeing the situation turn bad, the boy clenched his teeth.

No way—those ugly women seem to have some skill, and they hate me to the bone; if I'm really taken back, I'll surely not escape disaster.

In that case, I might as well pull a cicada's shell trick.

Anyway, no matter how badly I'm hurt, I'll eventually heal.

Thinking this, the boy suddenly sprang forward on his short legs, ran to the cliff's edge, and leapt.

Holy shit!

Everyone was startled.

Li Xianling was dumbstruck, and he believed Du Ruo's words even more.

A normal child could not make such an astonishing move.

"Forget it, let him die." Li Xianling waved his hand, ordered someone to take Wei Ming down the mountain to see a doctor, then asked Du Ruo, "Where is Jiang Li?"

Du Ruo's lips trembled, and she pointed with difficulty toward the cliff, "My husband, he fell……"

Jiang Li fell off the cliff?

Everyone was shocked, and someone hurried over to look down.

Du Ruo looked at Li Xianling, "Please, sir, send more people down to search; no matter what, we want to find him alive…"

In death, we want to see the corpse.

Li Xianling was also very upset, but he still comforted, "Don't worry, Jiang Li's martial arts are superb; he'll surely be fine."

Du Ruo forced a slight smile.

She also harbored a sliver of hope, hoping Jiang Li would land safely.

But reason told her that hope was slim.

Given Jiang Li's martial arts, for him to be so easily pushed off the cliff by that monster shows he had no power to resist at that time.

Either he suffered serious injuries;

or he was poisoned.

Either way, the situation is not optimistic.

Du Ruo looked up at the sky, struggled to hold back her tears, then hurried down the mountain.

She needed to find Jiang Li as soon as possible.

At the very least, we must not let his body be devoured by beasts……

"Chief!" Having walked only a few dozen steps, a surprised shout suddenly came from behind.

Immediately afterward, more voices rang out.

"Chief!"

"Chief!"

"Jiang Bu Tou, are you still alive?"

Du Ruo's steps halted, and she abruptly turned around.

At the cliff's edge, a man stood ramrod straight, his dark robe soaked through with blood, his handsome, outstanding face bearing a chill.

Standing there, he was like an unbreakable spear.

It was Jiang Li.

Du Ruo's nose soured, the tears she had held back for so long finally poured forth, unstoppable.

For the first time in two lifetimes, she understood what it means to cry from extreme joy.

What it means to regain what was lost.

At this moment, she really wanted to throw herself into Jiang Li's embrace, pour out all her worries and fears, and then punch him a few times.

But Du Ruo ultimately did not do that.

She simply stood where she was, eyes red, smiling, watching him speak with his colleagues.

"I say, chief, you're too amazing! To climb such a high cliff barehanded!"

"Not only that, you even brought up that poisonous child—how did you manage that?"

"Chief, you are my god!"