Ajiu was bewildered.
Cai Lihua looked at her daughter's confused expression and felt relieved.
"Daughter, don't overthink it. Your mother has no other intentions. Why don't you make the decision?"
"Ah?" Ajiu looked at the Wu family, then at her parents.
The decision for this important matter was now pushed onto her. Uncle Wu looked at her with shining eyes.
"I..." Ajiu lowered her head. She felt that Uncle Wu made sense. Tuoba Yan was at most a very powerful good ghost, and sometimes human hearts were more terrifying than ghosts.
As she lowered her gaze, Ajiu saw the small bamboo cage at her waist and made up her mind:
"I'll listen to Father and trust Xiao Yan this once."
"See, our daughter is reasonable." Meng Shaode had the same intention.
Cai Lihua rolled her eyes. "It's always the same words. Can't you change how you praise someone?"
"As you wish. If anything goes wrong, it's not my responsibility."
Saying that, Cai Lihua led the way down the mountain.
The mountain ahead was the largest and highest, estimated to take a whole day.
As the saying goes, it's easier to go up a mountain than down. Ajiu carefully supported Madam Wang.
"Given how kind-hearted you are, girl, I guarantee it will rain within two months."
The grandfather and granddaughter walked at the very back.
"Didn't you say you couldn't?" Ajiu was distracted. She remembered that when Xiao Yan was hit by the bullhorn knife earlier, he hadn't bled or been injured.
All the strange occurrences proved he was a ghost, and he himself had admitted it.
"When did I say I couldn't?" This girl could make him so angry he'd die.
"You..." Meng Shaode, who was at the front, suddenly stopped. "What are you doing here?"
Ajiu craned her neck to look and saw Tuoba Yan standing in the mountain valley, scratching his head and smiling like a child.
"Uncle, Aunt, seeing you makes me very happy. It shows you still trust me."
Upon hearing this, Meng Shaode felt awkward, as his suspicion of Tuoba Yan had been deeply ingrained.
"Little brother, what are you saying? Uncle, I don't think you're a bad person, and you're willing to help us, so how can we not trust you?"
It was Wu Dalei who greeted them with a smile.
In Ajiu's eyes, if Uncle Wu knew what happened, he would probably be too scared to move at this moment.
"Shall we continue on our way? We should be out of Qiming Mountain by dark."
Tuoba Yan felt the atmosphere was a bit awkward and took the lead, stepping into the dry grass at the bottom of the valley.
Ajiu followed slowly, occasionally glancing at Xiao Yan Yan's retreating figure. A ghost with an army, it seemed he was a general.
Madam Wang, acting as if she were detached from worldly affairs, said:
"Granddaughter, if you can give me some spiritual spring water every day, I can recover well. Then, making it rain will be no problem."
After all, he still had to coax this girl into providing him with spiritual energy.
"If you want it, I'll give it to you. Don't make excuses, Grandma." Saying that, Ajiu actually handed the water pouch to Madam Wang.
For now, there was enough drinking water. She had only felt that the water was insufficient at first.
In Grandma's eyes, she seemed stingy.
They walked for seven or eight hours before reaching the mountainside.
"Brother Meng, you go up first. My mother really can't make it, and Zhaodi still needs to nurse."
Wu Dalei was so tired he held his knees, unable to climb any further. Sweat dripped onto the scorching stones and vanished instantly.
Zhaodi's face was sallow, and she slumped on the ground, gasping for air like a bellows.
Ajiu's stamina was the best. She quickly ran to the top to get some peaches and distributed them to the Wu family.
"Mother, let's rest too. We're not far from the summit," Ajiu said. Suddenly, she noticed Xiao Yan standing on a higher spot, looking at her with a long-lost curve of his lips.
"Then let's rest." Cai Lihua wiped the sweat from her face, fanning herself vigorously with her feather fan.
This spot was on the back mountain, halfway up. The wind blew, and only the treetops were moving, while the lower areas were suffocatingly hot.
Madam Wang remained silent, took a bite of a peach, and started climbing the mountain.
Wu Dalei's eyes widened.
"Granddaughter, if you're not foolish, come with me to the mountaintop to catch some air."
As soon as Madam Wang said this, the atmosphere instantly turned cold.