Tuoba Yan was also observing the movements outside with great attention.
"I buried them on the spot. The bodies were beyond moving, so I didn't have time."
A Jiu then noticed the disturbed earth where people had just died, her palms starting to sweat. Burying them on the spot was hardly a proper way to deal with it.
Tuoba Yan suddenly glanced at A Jiu, "Ninth Sister, in that situation, my mind went completely blank. I didn't mean to disobey you."
"Stop talking," A Jiu said, her mind filled with worry at the thought of it.
Tuoba Yan immediately fell silent, staring blankly at Ninth Sister. She was indeed angry.
Not long after, the three reunited at their original spot. A Jiu nervously swallowed.
"Boss, we didn't find them."
"I didn't find them either."
"That's strange. River Dam Village is this small, where could they hide?"
"Boss, maybe they've hidden in the farmers' houses."
"Impossible. If farmers were hiding refugees, there would be some movement. Look at how quiet this village is." The leader analyzed,
"Let's go back for now. We'll search house by house tomorrow."
With the sound of receding hooves, A Jiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Hurry and bury the bodies, then we'll go back."
Tuoba Yan had no complaints. He descended the mountain and started digging. Finally, he jumped on the soil a couple of times to pack it down firmly.
Now that was more like it.
Then he returned to the mountain, picked up the large basket, and went down again.
A Jiu subconsciously glanced back in the direction where the bodies were buried.
Seeing it, Tuoba Yan opened his mouth but dared not speak.
"Little Yan, I know you care about my safety, but I think you should still go with Zhao Kun, bypass Nanming City, and head to Lingnan."
A Jiu had always intended this.
Tuoba Yan was too unsafe here. If he were discovered, he would be dead. It was better to make plans in advance.
"Ninth Sister, are you trying to send me away?" Tuoba Yan stood at the doorway, looking down at A Jiu blankly, his heart cracking by more than half.
A Jiu cautiously pushed open the door and placed the bamboo basket in the kitchen, hiding it under the haystack.
Seeing her silent, Tuoba Yan imitated A Jiu and covered the bamboo basket.
"I'm not sending you away, I'm afraid you'll be caught," A Jiu looked up at Tuoba Yan.
Tuoba Yan was stunned for a few seconds. So Ninth Sister was worried about him. The heavy stone in his heart finally lifted.
"Ninth Sister, you don't need to worry about me. My subordinates are in Nanming City. I really can't leave now."
As soon as A Jiu heard this, another thought arose in her mind. "You always mention your subordinates. That means you're at least an officer, right? But you're not. Can't you tell the truth for once?"
He was just a nobody, a nobody who could only eat steamed buns, yet he always claimed to have subordinates.
"Ninth Sister, what I said is true. The subordinates I mentioned are my former subordinates, not subordinates in this world."
Tuoba Yan was most afraid that Ninth Sister wouldn't believe him.
"Former ones? Then what were you? Were you perhaps a boss in the underworld? The King of Hell?"
A Jiu couldn't think of anyone else who would have subordinates in this world besides the King of Hell that would be suitable for him.
"In that world, I was the boss. Perhaps what you understand as the King of Hell."
What Tuoba Yan wanted most now was for Ninth Sister not to send him away and to see her smile.
But if he explained that world, Ninth Sister wouldn't understand. She thought calling him the King of Hell was fine, so let it be.
"You... you mean," A Jiu's heart was in a mess. "All your subordinates are ghost messengers?"
"Yes, they all take my orders and were in the same world as me."
Tuoba Yan quickly explained, afraid that if he didn't explain something clearly, Ninth Sister would want to send him away again.