"Ah? No, no."
Tuoba Yan, who had been vomiting incoherently, suddenly turned to look at Ah Jiu.
He raised his hand and wiped his mouth, saying word by word, "Do I make you feel like an anomaly?"
"A little," Ah Jiu replied directly. Her arm, which had blocked the knife, was unharmed. It was true that she might have been wearing golden armor. If she truly was, she would be disabled.
"No, no, you're not that strange."
Ah Jiu waved her hands frantically, her large eyes looking up at Tuoba Yan's reaction.
"Old Meng, this isn't going to work if it continues," Cai Lihua had already noticed.
She was especially sure of Old Meng's guess. The way that kid looked at her daughter was always as if his eyes were blooming with peach blossoms.
Meng Shaode withdrew his gaze. "You can't just send him away. You said it yourself earlier, he saved us."
Meng Shaode sighed. "One cannot be ungrateful and repay kindness with vengeance. Fortunately, we two are watching, so he shouldn't have a chance to bully our daughter."
Cai Lihua frowned. She understood this logic.
"If you want to see, I'll show you," Tuoba Yan rolled up his sleeves.
Ah Jiu suddenly covered her eyes and shook her head repeatedly. "I won't watch. I believe you." If she watched and knew he was disabled, it would deeply wound his pride.
Tuoba Yan's pupils, however, contracted. "What's wrong?"
"Won't watch, won't watch," Ah Jiu waved her hand and turned to run.
Tuoba Yan looked down at his arm, where there was a fine scratch-like mark.
In fact, he didn't understand why it was like this either. He could only find out what exactly happened that day by finding his subordinates.
...
After a full afternoon of eating and drinking.
"Why isn't Grandma here yet?" Ah Jiu looked around.
Logically, didn't she always dote on her spiritual spring water?
"Exactly, we've been waiting so long, why isn't she back yet?" Cai Lihua touched her chest. This usually stingy old lady, could it be she really didn't want this money anymore?
"Uncle isn't here either. Where did he go?"
Tuoba Yan's mention of "Divine Constable" made Cai Lihua jump. "That damned scoundrel, he left without telling me a word."
"..." Tuoba Yan looked at the cleaver in her hand and took a few steps back. This auntie's knife skills were too terrifying.
He happened to step back next to Ah Jiu and leaned in to whisper, "Maybe there's clear water now. I'll go and fill up some more."
"Mm," Ah Jiu turned her head to watch Little Yan Yan go. In truth, he was indeed quite cute sometimes, just as she had said.
Thinking this, Ah Jiu chuckled stealthily.
Just then, Cai Lihua looked behind Ah Jiu. "Old Meng, you're back."
Ah Jiu turned around and saw.
Before her father had even arrived, he was holding up the pheasant he had caught to show off, shouting,
"Ah Jiu, Lihua, look what I caught."
"Uncle, these feathers are good. They can be made into fletching for arrows," Tuoba Yan straightened up and looked back, smiling like a child.
Meng Shaode's pupils contracted, and the scar across his nose instantly stretched out as he smiled.
"Heh, why didn't I think of that? You've got some good ideas, kid. We'll do just that."
Perhaps because they had only encountered this patch of green foliage so far on this journey, even Ah Jiu felt like staying a bit longer, preparing everything that could be utilized.
Because although the Qiming Mountain range wasn't a dangerous peak or steep mountain, it stretched endlessly. Who knew how long it would take to encounter another settlement after leaving this shady spot.
"Dad, on the way here, I noticed a patch of dried solid bamboo. I'll go chop some for you to make fletching for arrows."
Ah Jiu picked up the ox horn knife, but Little Yan Yan, who had just returned, snatched it away. "Little Sister Ah Jiu, you rest. I'll go."
"I'll go with you," Ah Jiu grabbed a few loaches and followed. It wouldn't do to just eat and not work.
Besides, no matter what Ah Jiu said, she hoped he could try it, to remove that rejection reaction.