Dongfang Minghui was unaware of what Seventh sister and Uncle Wood had discussed. When she returned, Qian Ziyan had already retreated to his own room. She hesitated several times to knock on his door but eventually backed away. Upon returning to her own room, she found Qian Wanyu sitting cross-legged, immersed in cultivation.
Little Chubby was sound asleep, leaning against Toothless, who was emitting a fiery red energy shield. Probably because the energy shield was too slippery, Dongfang Minghui saw her slide down bit by bit several times, until she couldn’t bear to watch anymore and picked her up.
Tossing her onto the bed, Little Chubby automatically wrapped herself in the blanket and continued to sleep soundly.
Dongfang Minghui found a window facing the street and looked down to see a fairly bustling street below. The faces of the passersby rarely bore smiles; they hurried along, coming and going in haste, like fleeting visitors. It was as if the words of the teahouse owner were confirmed—people were dying every day in the town, leaving everyone in a state of panic, unable to live their lives properly.
“Those beastified people…”
Had the beastified people hidden in the tribal fighting grounds been waiting for this moment to be released all at once?
Dongfang Minghui’s thoughts were in turmoil, one moment thinking of the Cass tribe, then next of Wei Junlan. This fellow villager had almost ended up in a lifeless state, and she was secretly relieved that they had taken a detour to the merfolk tribe after leaving the elf tribe.
“Sigh.”
“At such a young age, if you have any troubles, you can talk to Seventh sister. Sighing too much can become a habit,” Qian Wanyu said, her fingers gently brushing through Dongfang Minghui’s hair, her voice unusually tender, almost a whisper.
“It’s nothing.” Before, she had a thousand words to say, but now, in just a short while, she had digested a lot of it. “Seventh sister, I just asked someone downstairs, and they said it takes at least five days on foot to reach Dali City.”
Dali City was a small city with a relatively good economic situation, located in the border region. It was not part of the three major tribes but existed independently.
She guessed that Nangong Yuntian’s decision to hold the auction in Dali City was partly with the intention of bringing the entire city into the Cass tribe’s fold, but she wondered how well this plan would work out and if it would exceed expectations.
Qian Wanyu’s fingers weaved through her hair, noticing the bits of leaves and such, murmuring, “I should book another room to give you a proper wash.”
True to her word, as soon as Qian Wanyu finished speaking, she personally went downstairs and booked another room. The two of them took a thorough hot bath in the separate room. Dongfang Minghui felt as if she had crawled out of a pile of mud, the water changing color from the dirt.
“Seventh sister, I’ll have Little Chubby come over for a wash too.”
Little Chubby was naturally very beautiful, with snow-white and tender skin. After several days of travel, her skin had turned yellow from the sand and wind, as if covered in a layer of dust.
Dongfang Minghui instructed the innkeeper to bring another bucket of water, and she gently placed the sleepy Little Chubby into the warm water. Contrary to expectations, there was no resistance; Little Chubby floated on the surface, her little arms instinctively paddling.
“This little one isn’t afraid of water at all.”
“Mhm.” Qian Wanyu squinted at Little Chubby playing in the bucket of water, curious, “Why does it seem like those stains on her won’t wash off?”
“Really, huh.”
Dongfang Minghui reached out and grabbed the still backstroking Little Chubby, rubbing her delicate arm vigorously, but nothing came off. “Seventh sister, could Little Chubby’s skin have been sunburned during those days?”
“Ninth Sister, it’s a medicinal plant, it can’t be affected by just a bit of sun, you’re too anxious,” Qian Wanyu would rather believe that its color changed on its own than think it turned like this after just a few days in the sun.
“Medicinal plants indeed can get sunburned, but whether it can change their skin color is hard to say,” Qing Mo explained from within the soul sea, “Actually, to find out if it is the Gold-swallowing Mouse, it’s quite simple, just test it.”
Qing Mo hinted no further.
Qian Wanyu naturally understood Qing Mo’s meaning, but she was afraid Little Chubby wouldn’t fall for it. Gold-swallowing Mice indeed love to eat, especially precious metals. Thinking of Ninth Sister mentioning before that Little Chubby isn’t picky with food, she already had some plans in mind.
“It’s over for you, Little Chubby.” Dongfang Minghui washed Little Chubby back and forth, only to find that the dust-like color on its body couldn’t be washed off, and she started to worry about Little Chubby’s drastic change in skin color.
Qian Wanyu saw Ninth Sister’s attention diverted by Little Chubby and was happy to be at ease.
When the two returned to the house, they found the door wide open, and the beastman who had been bound by the Immortal Binding Rope was gone. Mu Sheng and Qian Ziyan stood inside the house, with Qian Ziyan still holding the Immortal Binding Rope.
“The beastman has escaped.”
Qian Ziyan threw the Immortal Binding Rope to Qian Wanyu, after they checked around the window and the door, “He must have been rescued.”
Qian Wanyu threw the Immortal Binding Rope into her space ring, she had actually intended to secretly let the person go to see where he would head to, but someone couldn’t wait and was so impatient, “Let him go. The group of beastmen will appear again tonight, and we’ll catch a live one then.”
Mu Sheng quickly understood what Qian Wanyu wanted to do. His gaze shifted to the chubby doll in Dongfang Minghui’s arms, “Minghui, who is this Little Chubby baby?”
“Take a guess.”
Dongfang Minghui handed the warm Little Chubby to Mu Sheng. It was Mu Sheng’s first time holding a baby, and he was slightly nervous, but soon adjusted his hold, weighing Little Chubby in his arms, “Is it a medicinal plant?” But he didn’t smell any scent of herbs on it.
After saying that, Mu Sheng quickly denied it, “It doesn’t seem to be a medicinal plant, and it’s quite heavy.”
Dongfang Minghui looked surprised, “Mu Sheng, are you mistaken? Little Chubby might look a bit chubby, but actually, it has no weight at all.”
She effortlessly scooped Little Chubby back from Mu Sheng’s arms with one hand and weighed it, “See, isn’t she weightless?”
Little Chubby then climbed up her arm to her shoulder and dangled its little feet.
Mu Sheng looked at her in astonishment, then at his own hands. When he was holding it, it felt like he was holding a heavy stone. He looked at Dongfang Minghui with confusion, seeing Little Chubby sitting on her shoulder, seemingly weightless. He had wanted to ask before, isn’t it tiring to have a chubby baby sitting on your shoulder?
“Minghui, could it be that it has a different weight in your hands compared to mine?”
“It’s very likely.” Qian Wanyu felt that the seemingly innocent and harmless Little Chubby was actually very cunning. Only Ninth Sister was fooled by her, and if it weren’t for the fear that Ninth Sister would worry about Little Bean Sprout and the missing Tianyin Helmet, she would have already shared her suspicions about Little Chubby with Ninth Sister.
Qian Ziyan’s gaze also curiously fell on Little Chubby, who behaved very obediently. Her large eyes, black as ink, watched them intently, and eventually, she yawned and fell asleep leaning against Dongfang Minghui’s neck.
“Put her on the bed.” Qian Wanyu was reluctant to let this unknown element get close to Ninth Sister.
“Okay.”
The four of them sat together again, and Qian Wanyu said, “Uncle has also seen that the current situation is perilous. It’s not just the beast tribes ceasing war that signifies the end of their troubles. The beastified humans you saw yesterday were a batch developed at the beast fighting base. Among them, there might be humans or people from other tribes.”
“These beastified humans are very rampant. Along our journey, we passed through eleven towns, three large cities, and six tribes. In every place, these beastified humans would appear, mostly at night.” Mu Sheng, thinking of the experiences along the way, spoke indignantly, “They are fierce in battle and know how to coordinate and cooperate, not like the beast tribes who have lost their senses.”
If Qian Wanyu hadn’t witnessed them tearing apart a child of only five years old, she might have thought their lethality was average. But all these people were trained by the fighting base. Back in the arena, these beastified humans had to fight continuously; to not fight meant death.
They are a group of weapons more lethal than the undead. If controlled properly, they could indeed bring a lot of trouble.
“Mu Sheng, you might not know how they were created, so you think they have lost their senses. But in fact, every time they transform, their lives are shortened.” Dongfang Minghui mentioned this and unconsciously glanced at Qian Ziyan. Among those present, Uncle Wood was the one who had experienced the most profound pain of being transformed.
Qian Ziyan could guess their thoughts. He sat motionlessly, his mind automatically filtering out the memories of being forcibly injected with drugs by the madman Meng Ruoyu in the Dragon Valley and being submerged in the blood pool. However, some memories after that were blurred, no matter how hard he tried to recall. Clenching his fists, he vowed that one day he would find that madman Meng Ruoyu…
“Do you have any leads on the person behind the scenes?”
They couldn’t keep being led by the nose; that feeling was too frustrating.
Just as Mu Sheng finished speaking, they heard a series of loud clangs, one after another, the sound of locking doors and windows. The noise continued for a long time, like a unique signal. All the doors and windows in the town were closed at the same time, creating a significant disturbance.
The only window not closed was probably the one in their room. Dongfang Minghui stood up, walked to the window, and noticed that night had fallen without her knowing. She glanced outside; the night had descended, and the lights in the rooms of the town had gone out, leaving everything pitch black. She turned around and said, “Seventh sister, should we close the window?”
“We probably should—” Mu Sheng was about to suggest closing it when he saw a dark shadow suddenly flash outside their window.
Qian Wanyu’s Water Thunder Whip reacted faster than anyone else, striking out in a flash. Little Chubby grabbed Dongfang Minghui, who was about to be caught, and even managed to pull the beastified human back into the room with them.
“Ouch, ouch.”
She hadn’t felt it at first because the other party moved too quickly. Dongfang Minghui was a bit dazed when she was pulled down, but now that she had come to her senses, she felt terrified. If they had been even a moment slower, she might have been taken to some research base and injected with some random blood or something else…
She didn’t dare to continue the thought. The pain brought her soaring thoughts back to reality. Her ankle had been pierced by the beastified human’s blade and was hurting terribly. She immediately took out disinfectant and hemostatic pills, performing a series of actions with practiced ease.
As for the beastified human pulled back by Little Chubby, he wasn’t as lucky as the one from yesterday. Seventh sister was decisive, forming a sharp blade with her spiritual power and without a word, chopped off the wrist that had pierced her ankle. She quickly bound the beastified human with the Immortal Binding Rope.
“How’s it going?” Qian Wanyu’s palms were still sweating coldly as she squatted down to check Dongfang Minghui’s ankle. “First, we need to make sure there’s no poison on the blade that the enemy used to transform into a beast. After all, we don’t know what kind of magical beasts they’ve killed with it.”
“There’s no poison.” Little Colour spoke in the soul sea, “Your Seventh sister did the right thing. That blade has been stained with your blood. If someone with ill intentions got hold of it, they might use you for experiments.”
“Mhm.” Dongfang Minghui quickly treated her wound, and despite feeling nauseous, wiped off the bloodstains on the blade. “Seventh sister, what do you plan to deal with this person?”
A cold light flashed in Qian Wanyu’s eyes. “Kill him.”
“Wait.” Qian Ziyan suddenly spoke up to stop her, “Let this person go back.”
“Seventh sister, Uncle Wood is right. If we let him go, he might foolishly lead us to their hideout. Maybe it will give Yulong Town a moment of peace.” Dongfang Minghui said, holding onto Qian Wanyu’s wrist with a hopeful look in her eyes.
“Mhm.” Qian Wanyu didn’t want to meddle in these affairs. She always believed that the way to solve the problem completely was to find the mastermind behind the scenes and deal with them once and for all, rather than this sporadic hitting and hammering. It seemed like startling the snake without catching it, and it might even bring more dangerous retaliation to these small towns. But now, seeing Dongfang Minghui’s injured leg, she felt an unusual surge of anger. “Throw him out of the window in the latter half of the night.”
Mu Sheng pressed his ear against the window. Apart from the whooshing wind, he couldn’t hear any other sounds. After a while, he said, “Could it be that they’ve all left?”
“They shouldn’t have.”
“Seventh sister, why do these beastified people only act at night? Are they afraid of sunlight?” Dongfang Minghui found it strange. They weren’t zombies, so what was there to fear about sunlight? “How about this, Seventh sister, later we need to catch another beastified person and test it during the day?”
“If Ninth Sister likes it, then it’s good.” Qian Wanyu’s extremely doting words made Mu Sheng and Qian Ziyan look over repeatedly.
Dongfang Minghui felt a bit guilty under Qian Ziyan’s cold gaze and quickly turned her head away, playing with Little Chubby for a while. Everyone sat quietly waiting for the latter half of the night, but then they heard a loud crash from the next room.
“Ah—help—”
“Seventh sister.”
Qian Wanyu’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Is that Myron next door?”
“Mhm, it seems we’ve forgotten about him.” Dongfang Minghui touched her nose guiltily. Her mood had been like a roller coaster that day, hitting rock bottom, and she had forgotten about Myron. After he returned to his room, there had been no movement. “Seventh sister, should we go save him?”
“Ah—help, help—”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to catch another beastified person to see their reaction during the day?” As Qian Wanyu spoke, she drew out her Thunder Whip, opened the door without a second word, and kicked open the door to the next room.
“Seventh sister, be careful.” Dongfang Minghui hopped on one leg, wanting to check the next room, but Little Chubby held onto her other good leg.
Mu Sheng couldn’t help but chuckle, “Although she can’t speak, she seems quite concerned about you.”
Just now, at that critical moment, it was thanks to this little chubby’s quick reflexes that she managed to pull the person to safety. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened.
Qian Ziyan also glanced at Dongfang Minghui, “If you’re injured, rest and heal properly.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go check on Wanyu for you,” Mu Sheng said, and then closed the door again.
Now, only she and Uncle Wood were left in the room. Dongfang Minghui hopped over to her spot on one leg, cradling little chubby in her arms, and sneakily observed Qian Ziyan.
Qian Ziyan sat upright and expressionless, staring straight ahead, his thoughts inscrutable.
Dongfang Minghui was sneaking peeks at first, but seeing no reaction from him, she began to openly stare. She felt that this Qian Ziyan was different from the one in her memory, too cold, and lacking something.
“Have you looked enough?”
“Uh—” Caught in the act, Dongfang Minghui felt a bit embarrassed, but then plucked up the courage to ask, “Uncle Wood, do you remember everything?”
Qian Ziyan glanced at her indifferently, “What do you want to know?”
Dongfang Minghui touched her nose guiltily. She was actually quite curious about many things, such as how he managed to escape from the Dragon Valley years ago, and whether he still remembered Lu Xing… But she felt it would be very impolite to ask these questions so bluntly. After pondering for a moment, she shook her head.
“Save me, save me.”
Myron was dragged over by Qian Wanyu, looking rather pitiful, covered in blood, with a vacant look in his eyes, muttering the words “save me” over and over, as if severely traumatized.
At the same time, another beastman who had been knocked unconscious was dragged over by Mu Sheng and tied up with the previous one, making the room even more crowded.
“Seventh sister, has he gone mad?”
“I’m not sure.”
Qian Wanyu hadn’t intended to save this person. She found this beastman to be quite troublesome. He was already seriously injured and had recklessly opened the window, allowing another beastified person to enter the room. If not for that, he wouldn’t have almost been dragged out of the window, “For now, help him stop the bleeding. Those beast people seem to get excited by the smell of blood.”
“Ah, excited?”
No sooner had Dongfang Minghui spoken than they heard a loud banging on the window and door, bang bang bang…
“Hey, they really came.”
Mu Sheng guarded the window, and Qian Wanyu stood behind the door. The two of them stood their ground, as if to say that if those beastmen dared to come in, Seventh sister would make sure they regretted it.
Dongfang Minghui quickly took out the alcohol for disinfection and the pills for stopping bleeding, and swiftly checked Myron’s wounds. She found that his injuries had worsened and his consciousness was unclear. When she touched his wound, he shrank back, apparently terrified by the previous beastman’s attack.
“I am a pharmacist, please let me look at your wounds, I will heal them slowly,” Dongfang Minghui said softly and gently, her voice soothing, even her facial expression carried a faint professional smile.
“You look like you’re luring a child,” Little Colour commented bluntly in the soul sea.
“Shut up, I’m trying to get him to relax. If he keeps moving, how can I treat him?” Dongfang Minghui added at the end, “Maybe he’s just pretending. My tender approach is to give him a way out. Otherwise, if he bleeds out and dies before achieving his goal, he won’t rest in peace.”
“Tsck, that makes sense.”
“Come, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” Dongfang Minghui smiled until her face stiffened, “Myron, be at ease, I will definitely heal you.”
With her coaxing and deceiving, it didn’t take long for Myron to let down his guard, allowing Dongfang Minghui to disinfect his wounds with alcohol, apply new hemostatic medicine, and re-bandage them. After all this, she threw several medicinal pills around the room, which emitted a faint fragrance.
Soon, the thick smell of blood in the room dissipated.
Myron, sitting to the side, couldn’t stop himself from dozing off, and Dongfang Minghui cooed in his ear, “Myron, go to sleep, just sleep, and when you wake up, everything will be gone.”
Watching Ninth Sister repeatedly approach the beastman, Qian Wanyu’s eyes flashed with displeasure, only relaxing when Myron’s breathing became even. She then gestured to Dongfang Minghui.
Dongfang Minghui approached excitedly, “Seventh sister, I sprinkled a bit of a sleeping drug on his hemostatic pills. He’ll definitely sleep until tomorrow.”
Qian Wanyu reached out and scraped her cheek hard, “So that was your plan.”
“Mhm, I don’t want him to know what we’re going to do next. I always felt like his appearance in the sand was too coincidental, and besides, he was brought back when Little Chubby was fetching water.” The place to fetch water was the Nine Dragons Pool in the Dragon Trapping Valley. Could his appearance there be merely because he was thirsty?
“Ninth Sister has grown up.” Qian Wanyu said with a double meaning.
The four of them waited until late at night when Qian Wanyu suddenly said, “It seems quiet outside, could it be that the beastmen have all left?”
Mu Sheng understood Qian Wanyu’s implication and promptly replied, “Wanyu sister, I’ll open the window to check.”
Dongfang Minghui brought one of the separated beastmen to the window, and as Mu Sheng quickly opened it and glanced outside, confirming that no one was there, he nodded slightly.
Dongfang Minghui quickly threw the beastman out, and as soon as it reached the outside, it became active again. She screamed, “Not good, Seventh sister, the beastman has run away.”
Qian Ziyan watched the three of them go back and forth, quickly wrapping up the whole play.
He pushed open the window and leaped out.
“You all stay here, my uncle and I will be back soon,” Qian Wanyu instructed before leaving, “Close the windows and doors, and don’t answer to anyone knocking.”
“Alright, Seventh sister, be careful,” he said.
“Mm.”
Dongfang Minghui watched as Qian Wanyu’s figure disappeared into the darkness before she closed the doors and windows. She began to regret and paced back and forth in the room. Mu Sheng stood guard at the door, listening to the sounds outside, and turned to see her frowning anxiously.
“Minghui, stop pacing around; you’re making my eyes dizzy,” Mu Sheng said helplessly.
“But I’m a bit worried about them.”
“Don’t worry, don’t you trust Wanyu’s strength?” Mu Sheng tried to reassure her, adding, “Wanyu is always measured in her actions, and besides, this time Uncle is with her. You might not be aware, but ever since Uncle regained his memory, he has never stopped cultivating, and he’s even more formidable than before.”
“Really?” Dongfang Minghui remembered that Uncle, who was already a very powerful Spiritual Master at the Spiritual Emperor level, had never thought that a Spiritual Emperor-level undead could improve after regaining consciousness. “Has Uncle advanced in his cultivation?”
Mu Sheng saw that her attention had shifted, “Not yet, but I feel that Uncle’s aura is becoming more and more domineering.”
Sometimes Mu Sheng would spar with Uncle Wood and often get beaten black and blue. At first, he couldn’t adapt at all, but now he could barely manage. In Mu Sheng’s view, Uncle Wood even at the Spiritual Emperor level was a master among masters.
So he praised him without stinginess.
Dongfang Minghui was also very happy to hear this, happy for Qian mama that her brother had recovered and for Uncle Wood himself, “Do you know the purpose of Uncle Wood’s trip this time?”
“This…” Mu Sheng hesitated, “Actually, I’m not too clear either. Uncle Wood has been cultivating all the way and hardly talks about his own matters. The questions he occasionally asks seem very strange to me.”
Dongfang Minghui’s curiosity was piqued by Mu Sheng, and she quickly asked, “What questions did he ask? You can tell me.”
Mu Sheng had forgotten many of the questions, as he found them too bizarre, but after racking his brains, he remembered, “Once, Uncle Wood suddenly woke up from cultivation and asked, ‘What would happen if one often thinks of someone else while cultivating?'”
Dongfang Minghui’s eyes widened in surprise; that was a question someone with lovesickness would ask. Sometimes when she was tired from cultivating, she would also think about what Seventh sister was saying, “So how did you answer?”
Mu Sheng scratched his head, “I said that one should concentrate fully while cultivating, otherwise it’s easy to become possessed.”
“Cough cough cough—” Dongfang Minghui almost choked on her saliva.
“Did I say something wrong?” Mu Sheng looked confused.
Dongfang Minghui quickly shook her head and smiled, “No, absolutely not, you answered correctly. One shouldn’t think too much while cultivating. What else? Were there any other strange questions?”
Mu Sheng thought for a moment, “Yes, but I’ve forgotten them. However, I know Uncle Wood often carves something on a piece of wood. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I always feel that Uncle Wood is missing someone.”
Dongfang Minghui squinted her eyes and smiled, it seemed that Mu Sheng wasn’t too dull after all. Uncle Wood must have remembered the time he spent with Lu Xing, and because he wasn’t sure, he sometimes tormented himself. But Mu Sheng was also an emotional idiot; even with numerous questions, without meeting the right person, he probably wouldn’t find the correct answers.
“Who do you think Uncle Wood is missing?”
“I think it should be Sister Wanyu’s mother,” Mu Sheng said his guess out loud, “I heard from the old lady that in the Qian Family, only Uncle Wood and Sister Wanyu’s mother had a somewhat close relationship, like a typical brother and sister. As for the others, despite being blood-related, they were distant. Moreover, Uncle Wood has been very self-reproachful since regaining his memory, saying that it was because of him that Sister Wanyu’s mother never returned to the Qian Family. So, I think Uncle Wood must miss Sister Wanyu’s mother a lot.”
Dongfang Minghui stared at Mu Sheng for a while, not knowing what to say. It was normal for Qian Ziyan to miss Qian Mama; twenty years had passed between the siblings, but it was absolutely impossible to carve a statue just because he missed his sister. Such an act of wanting to keep someone in one’s mind, other than a lover, what else could it be?
But…
Lu Xing’s current situation was indeed not very good.
Whenever Dongfang Minghui thought of Lu Xing, her heart ached. She sat there, unsure of what to do.
“Minghui, what’s wrong?”
“I’m fine, just thinking that it would have been better if Uncle Wood had woken up earlier.” Perhaps some things could have been changed; at least he could have confirmed his feelings and protected Lu Xing by his side, preventing the series of unexpected events that followed. In the end, Dongfang Minghui felt somewhat dejected, “I just miss Lu Xing a bit.”
The Elf Queen’s tolerance made her feel guilty. If even the Queen couldn’t do anything, could Lu Xing still wake up?
“I miss him too,” Mu Sheng murmured, “If only we hadn’t separated that time.”
“Yeah.”
The two quietly reminisced about the past for a while, and dawn broke suddenly. They were brought back to reality by the noises from outside, realizing that a whole night had passed. Mu Sheng hurriedly opened the window, and the startled crowd cautiously poked their heads out. Seeing that everyone was fine, they started to chatter lively.
Little Chubby had been hugging Dongfang Minghui’s leg and sleeping soundly. Hearing the noise, he sat up straight, his bright eyes still a bit confused.
Dongfang Minghui looked at Little Chubby’s comically adorable face, and her mood inexplicably improved, “Thank you for saving me yesterday, Little Chubby.”
Toothless also woke up from its sleep, stood up, walked a couple of rounds, and finally fixed its gaze on the beastified person. It circled the beastified person twice, “Mother, bad guy.”
“Yes, a bad guy.”
Remembering her mission, Dongfang Minghui stood up and checked her foot injury. She applied some hemostatic medicine, and with her own healing abilities, the previously unbearable wound had healed overnight.
Mu Sheng leaned in, curious, “Minghui, why hasn’t this beastified person woken up all night? He’s not dead, is he?”
Dongfang Minghui checked and saw that the other party was still in the same posture as yesterday, never having woken up. This beastified person was the one who injured her yesterday, and Seventh sister had chopped off one of his claws. His wound was also very strange, with no blood flowing, he just shriveled up as if he were a mummy.
“When the sun is at its peak, we’ll hang him outside this window and see if there’s any reaction.” Dongfang Minghui noticed that Myron seemed to be waking up, so she quickly took the opportunity to check his wounds and applied the hemostatic pills again, of course, these were the specially treated hemostatic pills.
“Miss?” After regaining consciousness, Myron found himself lying on the ground, and the room didn’t seem to be his own. He looked surprised and asked, “Why am I in your room?”
“You fainted in your room yesterday, and I was worried that you might get a fever again at night, so I had Mu Sheng bring you here. That’s why you are in my room instead of your own,” Dongfang Minghui said with a smile, winking at Mu Sheng from time to time.
“Yes, I also took care of you all night.”
Myron nodded in confusion, blinked his eyelids, tilted his head, and fell back into a deep sleep.
“Who is this beastman, Minghui, and why are you so cautious around him?” Mu Sheng had already sensed everyone’s wariness towards this person.
“I’m not quite sure who he is either; Little Chubby picked him up from somewhere,” Dongfang Minghui said with a headache, “Seventh sister always says I’m easily deceived. I’m worried about his uncertain identity, so I try to keep him in the dark about as much as possible.”
“I see.” Mu Sheng still puzzled, asked, “Since you are wary of him, why not take this opportunity to leave him behind in Yulong Town?”
“I asked him about his background before, and he said he was part of a merchant group under Nangong Yuntian. I plan to go to the auction with Seventh sister, and we’ll need him to show us the way.” If the other party was deceiving them, it wouldn’t be too late to abandon him later.
“What a coincidence, Uncle Wood also wants to check out the auction.”
“That’s even better, we can keep each other company on the way.” Dongfang Minghui concocted some poison and injected it into the beastman, but he showed no reaction at all, which made her frown and say, “No wonder my plum blossom nails were useless against them before. But as long as they are human, they should be able to absorb the poison, unless their circulatory system is completely dead…”
Dongfang Minghui was truly shocked by this conclusion; these beastmen could no longer be considered living beings…
Mu Sheng had been sitting outside the window watching. When the sun rose high in the sky, the intense heat radiated continuously, and even the breeze that blew in through the window carried a scorching breath.
“Now is the time, Mu Sheng, come help me.”
Together, they used the Immortal Binding Rope to half-suspend the beastman below the window. Fortunately, there was a large tree outside their window that provided some cover, preventing people from noticing too quickly.
Dongfang Minghui watched for a while, but the beastman did not wake up, and there seemed to be no significant change under the sunlight.
“That’s strange. If beastmen can appear during the day, why do they sneak around and attack at night? And why don’t these beastmen break in directly?”
“Minghui, let’s wait and see.”
“Alright.”
Sunlight streamed directly into the room, forcing Toothless, who was sprawled comfortably on the ground, to shift positions to avoid the scorching sun. As for Little Chubby, she clung to Toothless like glue, following wherever Toothless went.
Yet, she couldn’t manage to climb up, so they seemed to be in a standoff, neither willing to give in, their tense relationship at a stalemate.
Dongfang Minghui watched this unfold but had no time to mediate. Ever since Little Colour was bitten by Little Chubby, no matter how much she tried to persuade her, Little Colour adamantly refused to communicate with Little Chubby, as if to say, “If she’s here, I’m not; if I’m here, she’s not.”
“Ah, there’s a fire—”
Hearing the commotion outside, Mu Sheng curiously went to check and discovered that the fire was emanating from the beastman they had dropped outside the window. A blue flame spread rapidly, engulfing the beastman in moments, leaving nothing behind, and nearly catching their window on fire.
“How could this happen?” Dongfang Minghui managed to extinguish the fire with difficulty. Outside the window, nothing remained except for a rope that swung back and forth as if on a swing. She quickly retrieved the rope and temporarily stored it in her space.
“There’s something there.” Mu Sheng pointed sharply at the pile of ashes on the ground below, “Let’s go down and take a look.”
“Gentlemen, if I may say so, it’s best to play with fire less in this dry climate. What if you set my inn on fire?”
As soon as they descended the stairs, the innkeeper blocked their path, rambling on and on.
“Mu Sheng, you talk to the innkeeper.” Dongfang Minghui pushed the innkeeper towards Mu Sheng and slipped out from the staircase. She went to the window they were at, and under the tree, there was a pile of ash-like substance, but within the ashes, there was a glint of something shiny.
A gust of hot wind blew, and some of the ashes scattered.
It was fortunate she came down quickly; otherwise, the innkeeper’s delay might have meant that the wind would have blown everything away by the time she arrived. She quickly took out a cloth from her space and wrapped up the pile of ashes before tossing it back into her space.
The fire incident caused many to point and gossip at their window, but fortunately, the fire started and ended so quickly that the ordinary people outside didn’t realize that what burned was a beastman. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have ended with just a small commotion.
Upon returning, Dongfang Minghui heard the innkeeper still nagging, so she took out five spirit stones from her space to appease him, “Innkeeper, sorry, we won’t play with fire again. Please forgive us this time, thank you.”
Seeing the five spirit stones, the innkeeper’s eyes lit up. After all, his entire room was worth only one spirit stone, “Of course, of course, but the air is dry, and you and this young master should still be careful.”
“If I had known that five spirit stones would settle it, I wouldn’t have had to listen to his endless chatter.” Mu Sheng complained as he came up, then asked, “What did you see down there just now?”
Happy new year everyone! I haven’t had the time to update in awhile on holiday, I’m glad this novel still gets love on Ko-Fi ~ There will be 2 full chapters next week as well as thanks.