"Ah!" Ajiu stumbled back two steps.
Her face was exceptionally pale as she looked up at Tuobayan in disbelief. When she was little, she had heard the elders talk about powerful ghosts that were not afraid of the sun and could kill without a trace.
"Little Yan Yan promised Ajiu younger sister that if you ask, I will tell you the truth."
Tuobayan took a step forward but noticed Meng Shaode, not far behind him, deliberately drawing his longbow taut, wary of him.
He slowly lowered his hand, maintaining a certain distance from Ajiu:
"Ajiu younger sister, I did kill people, but they were all bandits and bad guys. Moreover, that was my former subordinate, and the carriage they prepared was not stolen or snatched. It's very clean."
Ajiu went limp all over. Without a word, she turned and stumbled, her knees hitting a rock with a thud.
"Ajiu younger sister." Tuobayan stepped forward to help her up, but his hand suddenly retracted.
Meng Shaode's bow was drawn so taut that it creaked.
Ajiu got up, ignoring her bruised knees, and walked step by step away from Tuobayan towards her parents.
"Ajiu, are you hurt?" Meng Shaode pulled Ajiu over and asked anxiously.
Ajiu turned and looked at Tuobayan. The anger in his eyes had subsided, leaving only a deep, still pool of desolation. She slowly shook her head:
"Daddy, I'm fine."
"Daughter, what did he say to you? Did he threaten you? Tell Mommy." Cai Lihua snatched her daughter from her husband's arms, clasped her small hands, and asked with concern.
Over there, Tuobayan looked back three steps at a time before heading down the mountain.
Ajiu shook her head, still unable to escape the fear from moments ago:
"He said the carriage was clean, and the second boss was his subordinate who got separated later and became a bandit to survive. He said he wouldn't wait at the foot of the mountain, but the carriage was still there."
"Subordinate?" Meng Shaode was naturally surprised.
Wu Dalei and Meng Big Brother exchanged glances: "Could they be government officials?"
"If they were government officials, they would have reported us long ago if they had been with us for so long."
Wu Dalei was naturally happy. If the carriage had been left at the foot of the mountain, his wife, children, and mother wouldn't have to suffer.
Meng Shaode also realized that what Wu brother said made sense. If that were the case, both he and Old Wu would have been captured as conscripts.
Thinking of this, Meng Shaode relaxed his bow and arrow.
Even after saying those words, Ajiu could not calm down. It didn't matter to her that he admitted to killing; after all, in times of war and chaos, one was bound to encounter bad people.
But the method... Ajiu shuddered at the thought, and his words echoed in her ears.
That meant, if he killed bad people, then he was at most a good ghost.
Meng Shaode felt as if he had done strenuous labor and was too tired to speak at the moment.
He was afraid that Tuobayan had ulterior motives towards Ajiu. He had been too tense just now.
Snakes are beasts, but humans can do things worse than beasts.
Thinking of this, Meng Shaode glanced at the small bamboo basket on his daughter's waist. This snake was much more well-received than people.
Ajiu dared not explain to her parents that Tuobayan was a ghost, for fear of frightening them.
With this thought, Ajiu knitted her brows and looked up. Tuobayan was descending the mountain path, his figure disappearing into the woods.
Meng Shaode squinted and watched. Thinking of Wu brother's words, his heart was filled with mixed emotions. He muttered:
"If he was indeed colluding with the bandits, he would have stabbed me in the back that day."
"Lihua, what do you think? He didn't harm us, right? Perhaps what he said was true."
Meng Shaode said cautiously to his wife.
"You, you're just too soft-hearted. If he didn't harm us, perhaps it's because he has designs on our daughter."
As soon as Cai Lihua said this, Ajiu was stunned:
"Designs on me? What designs?"