Ajiu was the first to look up and saw Tuobayan squatting on the exposed rock like a monkey.
Meng Shaode reacted the most, spreading his arms to block the advance of those behind him.
Wu Dalei had heard about this little doll, and his heart sank.
Cai Lihua was also scared at this moment, hugging her daughter tightly.
"Xiao Yan... you..." Meng Shaode, who always remembered that this child had saved him, dared not speak directly.
"We don't want your carriage," Cai Lihua never softened her words.
"Why?" Tuobayan looked wronged, his eyes seeking help from Sister Ajiu, but Ajiu didn't look at him.
"Auntie, I... my carriage is very clean."
"Uncle Meng?"
No one was willing to pay attention to him.
Tuobayan's eyes visibly cooled down.
"If uncles and aunts don't believe me, I'll leave the carriage at the foot of Mount Qiming and leave immediately."
Tuobayan turned and walked two steps slowly, feeling conflicted. He had never met anyone as kind as Sister Ajiu.
If he left now, the misunderstanding would remain forever. Perhaps he should explain clearly to Sister Ajiu.
Suddenly turning back, Meng Shaode raised his guard again with a look of vigilance.
"Then... if Uncle dislikes me so much, I'll leave. But can I say a few words to Sister Ajiu?"
Tuobayan said the latter half of his sentence through gritted teeth.
"No, I said I don't care about your carriage," Cai Lihua showed no sign of relenting.
"Mom, I'll be back soon." Ajiu had never seen such a lonely and humble look in Tuobayan's eyes.
"Ajiu, he's colluding with bandits, are you risking your life?"
Cai Lihua couldn't stop her, watching her daughter's small back with worry in her eyes.
"Don't have any malicious intentions towards my daughter, and don't go too far,"
Meng Shaode drew his bow and arrow and exhorted.
Watching the two walk more than ten meters away, he kept aiming and vigilant. As soon as Tuobayan made any improper move, he would shoot him.
"Sister Ajiu, that second-in-command was my former subordinate. We just got separated back then. He turned to banditry to survive, it's not what you think."
Tuobayan looked at Uncle Meng's bow and arrow and had to speak briefly.
"You... your subordinate?" Ajiu asked back in surprise. In fact, she also had something to say to Tuobayan.
That is, to persuade him not to associate with bandits. He was originally a good person.
Upon hearing this, Ajiu was speechless.
"Yes, actually, I... I don't belong here. I have a very powerful army, but they all got scattered when something happened that day."
Ajiu was confused, only understanding that she said the second-in-command was his long-lost subordinate who was forced to become a mountain bandit and the second-in-command.
"Then you are... a general? Are you going to conscript people?"
Ajiu was still afraid. If he was a general, wouldn't he be an official?
Tuobayan forced a wry smile, looked down at Sister Ajiu, she was indeed endearingly foolish.
"I'm not that kind of general. Strictly speaking, I'm not a general of this world. But I fell here, and there are many things I haven't figured out, so I don't know how to explain it to you."
Not of this world? Ajiu scrutinized Tuobayan.
"You... you're not a ghost, are you?"
Fear appeared in Ajiu's narrowed eyes.
She had encountered that corpse just now, and it made her connect the dots. She thought it might be a demon or a ghost, and now he said this, didn't that mean...
Seeing the fear in Sister Ajiu's eyes, Tuobayan asked, "Sister Ajiu, what are ghosts?"
Ajiu gasped. It was over. Only ghosts didn't know they were ghosts.
Ajiu stuttered and reminded him, "It's that thing that becomes after death."
"Die?" Tuobayan was stunned, but he thought about it. He and his army did seem to have died, but he had already left his original world.
"It seems to be as Sister Ajiu said, called ghosts."
Ajiu took two steps back in fright, almost losing her balance.
"Then... did you kill those two people?"
"Sister Ajiu knows?" Tuobayan's pupils contracted.
"I was afraid they would come back to harm you, so when I killed those two, I realized that the second-in-command was my former subordinate, so... I didn't kill him."