Chapter 2 First Encounter

  Grandma Zheng's voice was extremely soft, but it made Zhou Chengzong's heart skip a beat.

  In a flash of inspiration, the black-clad figure standing on the high wall of Shen Nong Fu had seized the opportunity and leapt into the air, like a large black bat swooping over the heads of the crowd, disappearing in the direction of the south city gate with a whoosh.

  "Go after him!" Zhou Chengzong immediately ordered his subordinates, but he himself looked at Zheng Dainai and asked: "Why are you blocking me? Do you know that my son is still in his hands?"

  Grandma Zheng saw that man running so fast, and she felt a little regretful. However, she didn't regret her previous actions. If she had shot the arrow at that time, the black-clothed man might have been fine, but that child would definitely have been killed!

  "General Zhou, I don't want you to harm the life of an innocent child. That child... that child is a blind girl, didn't you see?" Zheng Dainai said calmly to Zhou Chengzong.

  "Women's benevolence! You still like to be a good-for-nothing...” Zhou Chengzong looked deeply at Zheng Dàniáng and turned his horse around, about to leave. However, as he turned back, he saw an exceptionally handsome man riding a fast horse over, anxiously calling out to this side: "Wife! Wife! Are you alright?"

  When she saw Zheng's grandmother, the man dismounted and rushed to her side, anxiously grasping her hand and looking her up and down. It was indeed her husband, Wu Changge, the eldest son of Wu Guogong's family.

  "It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine. How did you come?" Zheng Dainai smiled from the bottom of her heart as soon as she saw Wu Changge.

  Wu Changge glanced at Zhou Chengzong and sneered, "I heard that General Zhou led his troops to Shen Nong Fu. It's just right that you came to Shen Nong Fu today to pay your respects. I rushed over in a hurry. How was it? Didn't he give you any trouble?"

  Zhou Chengzong gave them a cold glance, snorted, and was about to leave with a flick of his whip.

  "What does General Zhou's capture of the rebel have to do with me?" asked Madame Zheng in a gentle and soft tone.

  The man was still uneasy, with his hands behind his back and a slanted glance at Zhou Chengzong on horseback. "Brother Zhou, be more careful next time. You've startled my wife, can you take responsibility for that?"

  Zhou Chengzong's face was as gloomy as the weather in December, becoming increasingly overcast.

  In the gaze of two equally extraordinary men, Wang, who had just been knocked unconscious, came to.

  She looked up and saw that the high wall of Shen Nong Fu was empty, her own daughter had disappeared without a trace. She couldn't help but ask in shock: "Where is my daughter? Where is my daughter?"

  The three people on the scene finally looked at Wang.

  Zhou Chengzong suddenly remembered that he still had to chase after the culprit who had taken away his own son, so he said: "Your daughter has also been taken away, wait a moment, my men have already caught up."

  Wang cried until she became a tearful person and followed Zhou Chengzong's hand to wait on one side.

  Madam Zheng saw her crying pitifully, and had someone send over some food and silver to comfort her, saying: "Don't be anxious. General Zhou is a divine general of the Great Xia Dynasty. No evil-doer can escape his grasp."

  Wu Changge heard his daughter-in-law praise Zhou Chengzong, feeling very displeased in her heart. She pulled Zheng Dainai's hand and said, "Let's go, Suzhen. We're going back. Our daughter is waiting anxiously."

  Zheng's wife's name is Su Xiang. Wu Changge usually wouldn't call her by that name, unless he was very unhappy, and then he would use this way to express his discontent.

  Zheng Suxin smiled and helped Wu Changge onto the carriage, while Wu Changge rode a horse alongside, hastening back with swift horses and urgent whip cracks.

  Although Zhou Chengzong was leaning his head to one side, seemingly not looking in the direction Zheng Suheng's carriage had gone, it wasn't until her carriage was out of sight that he shouted, "Form ranks! Head for the South Gate!"

  ……

  The man in black took advantage of Zhou Chengzong's distraction while talking to Zheng Suhuan and escaped from the Shen Nong Mansion with Sheng Siyan, heading straight for the city.

  To shake off Zhou Chengzong's men, he deliberately took a few detours in the city and finally left Beijing from the North Gate.

  The south gate is a low-lying wetland, while the north gate is a mountain forest with towering trees and dense grass.

  Sheng Siyan only felt as if she was being swept away like a cloud, and then suddenly found herself being carried by someone to a place, where she was thrown down.

  "Alright kid, keep going!"

  Seemingly dazed and disoriented, she suddenly fell from the sky and landed in a warm embrace.

  His breath was very clean, with a hint of coolness, much like the fresh and refreshing scent of his favorite men's perfume in his previous life.

  She sniffed hard again, but the smell was gone.

  "Who are you?" Sheng Siyan asked without any reserve, as if she was a guest who had come to visit.

  The man stared at her in astonishment.

  A four or five year old little girl, with skin as white as snow in the depths of winter, hair as black as the darkest ebony, lips soft like rose petals, yet tenderly red like fresh blood.

  All of this put together is nothing compared to her dull and gloomy eyes that are shrouded in a haze, which is even more stunning.

  She was originally a blind girl...

  He thought silently, his voice involuntarily softer, "I am Zhou Huaixuan. Who are you?"

  Sheng Siyan's head turned towards the direction of the sound, revealing a sweet smile. "I'm Sheng Siyan. Your voice sounds really good. And your name sounds nice too... Zhou Huai Xuan? Are you the son of that God General?"

  Zhou Huai Xuan raised an eyebrow, "How did you know?" He didn't remember ever seeing this little girl before, and she was definitely not a relative of his...

  "First, when that scoundrel caught me, General Zhou was just arriving at the Shen Nong Manor, and I heard him say to hand over his son. Second, that scoundrel took me to his den. Third, you said your surname is Zhou. Putting it all together, you are the son of General Zhou."

  Looking at a four or five-year-old child with an innocent face, seriously debating with someone, Zhou Huai Xuan's heart was even more depressed, but he couldn't help but laugh.

  He patted her head, "Not bad, quite clever."

  Sheng Siyan smiled shyly, as innocent and lovely as a little white rabbit.

  Zhou Huai Xuan's heart softened a bit more, and he asked her: "Are you hungry? Are you cold? This is a broken temple, later there will only be cold rice balls to eat. At night, that person will come and start a fire."

  Sheng Siyan was taken by the man in black, and at this time she was covered in sweat. She shook her head hastily, "I'm not cold, nor am I hungry." After thinking for a moment, she added, "It may be cold and hungry tonight."

  Zhou Huai Xuan saw that although the little girl was young, she had encountered such a situation, but she didn't take it to heart at all. She calmly and composedly chatted with people, answering their questions. He couldn't help but praise her, saying warmly: "Tonight I'll roast some mantou for you over the fire..."

  Two people chatted and talked about food that can be roasted over a fire, and they were very much in agreement.

  That man in black was sitting cross-legged on the top of the broken temple, took out a bottle of strong liquor from his bosom and poured it into his mouth. He heard two "meat tickets" inside the broken temple, as if they were going out for a wild outing, and he was very angry. He shouted towards the house: "Hey! If you keep talking, I won't give you steamed buns to eat tonight!"

  Sheng Siyan's face changed as soon as she heard it, and suddenly burst into tears.

  She looked small, but when she cried, her voice was loud and clear, shaking the roof, and even startling the crows perched on the trees beside the broken temple into flying away in a flurry.

  The man in black on the roof listened for a while, only to feel that the magic sound was piercing his brain and extremely painful. He stood up and scolded: "If you cry again, I'll throw you into the mountain to feed the wolves!"

  Sheng Siyan's crying paused for a moment.

  The next moment, her crying voice suddenly rose again, and the black-clothed man who was just self-satisfied on the rooftop, thinking that he had scared the crybaby, was almost shocked to fall off the roof.

  Zhou Huai Xuan looked at Sheng Si Yan with curiosity, who was wailing loudly with a hoarse voice, without a single tear on her face, but crying miserably...

  The man in black could no longer bear it and suddenly jumped up again, leaving the broken temple.

  Sheng Siyan stopped crying when she heard the man's voice fade away.

  She anxiously asked Zhou Huai Xuan, "That person has left, can we escape?"

  Zhou Huai Xuan smiled and stretched out his own leg for her to see, with a thin golden thread wrapped around it, binding him tightly.

  Sheng Siyan couldn't see anything and was pulling Zhou Huai Xuan's sleeve, "Let's escape, what are we waiting for?"

  Zhou Huai Xuan suddenly remembered that the little girl in front of him was blind, and sighed: "I can't leave. You... shouldn't leave either. Outside is all mountains, you're just a child, going out will get you lost." Not to mention she's blind, going out would be even more terrifying...

  Sheng Siyan suddenly understood and said with a hum: "I said that thief, how can he be so at ease, running away alone. Hmph..."

  Zhou Huai Xuan smiled and shifted slightly inside, making room for Sheng Si Yan to sit down.

  Sheng Siyan was a restless person, at this time when there was nothing to do, she would find her own fun.

  "Brother Huaixuan, what do you look like?" Sheng Siyan supported her cheeks with both hands, and a pair of dull grey eyes "looked" in Zhou Huaixuan's direction.

  Zhou Huai Xuan didn't know how to answer, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, hair, face, ears, and chin..."

  Sheng Siyan: "......" Big brother, you're too dull and boring.

  "Huai Xuan brother, can I 'take a look' at what you look like?" Sheng Siyan tilted her head, revealing an even sweeter and more obedient expression.

  Zhou Huai Xuan looked at Sheng Si Yan, very hesitant. --- Obviously a blind girl, how could she "see"? But to say the truth like this, and directly refusing her, seemed equally hurtful.

  Zhou Huai Xuan could only remain silent.

  Sheng Siyan was very self-satisfied, "You don't say anything, I'll just assume you agreed." As she spoke, she smiled and stretched out her hand to touch Zhou Huai Xuan.

  Zhou Huai Xuan remained expressionless, allowing the small white hand with five small fleshy whirlpools on the back of it to touch and pinch him all over his body.

  Her small hands first went along his neck and came to his lower jaw, continuing to touch upwards.

  One hand stroked, while the mouth muttered: "Hmm, the chin is well-shaped, with a small groove in the middle. The nose is high and straight, the eyebrows... the eyebrows are quite long, and the eyes... ah, what fine and narrow eye slits, are they phoenix eyes? But there's double eyelids! I like..."

  Her small hands had touched all over Zhou Huai Xuan's face, then slid down his neck, poked around a bit before continuing from the opening of his collar to his warm chest.

  "Where did you touch?" Zhou Huai Xuan asked calmly.

  Sheng Siyan was stunned for a moment, but her small hands were still buried in the warm place and didn't want to come out.

  She thought for a moment and asked: "How old are you?"

  Fifteen.

  "I'm only five years old! What's wrong with you?! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?! Don't be so petty!" Sheng Siyan puffed out her chest, extremely dissatisfied with Zhou Huai Xuan. She wasn't some weird auntie teasing a little boy! She was the real deal, a genuine little loli, and on top of that, she was blind!

  "......Alright, you continue." Zhou Huai Xuan remained calm once again.

  Sheng Siyan couldn't bear to continue eating the 15-year-old boy's tofu, so she withdrew her hand and stroked his neck, tracing it down to his shoulder blade, pinching it slightly, with a hint of dissatisfaction. "You're too skinny, you need to eat more meat, finish your meal and go out for a walk, exercise more, only then can you grow strong and sturdy... just like my dog Ah Cai, after it finishes its meal, I take it out for a stroll, now it's grown plump and robust..."

  "Ah Cai?" Zhou Huai Xuan's eyebrows slightly furrowed, why did he have a feeling that this little brat was taking advantage of him?

  "Yes, it's my little hedgehog, I call it ā Cái." ā Cái is Sheng Siyan's only companion.

  "Shouldn't 'A Cai' be a dog's name? How did you give this name to the hedgehog?" Zhou Huai Xuan's eyebrows relaxed, and his mouth corners subtly curved into a faint smile, extremely light and shallow, even if one was looking directly at him, they might not necessarily notice.

  But Sheng Siyan keenly felt it, stretched out her hand to explore Zhou Huai Xuan's mouth, touched that thread of smile that couldn't be hidden in time, and happily said: "Huai Xuan big brother, you're so naughty..."

  Zhou Huai Xuan: "=.= " Little sister, you're overthinking!

  Two people chatted and laughed, time passed very quickly.

  But the man in black never came back.

  No one gave them fire, and no one gave them cold rice balls.

  Sheng Siyan didn't call out for cold or hunger, she just curled up in Zhou Huai Xuan's arms and fell asleep from exhaustion.

  At night, the weather on the mountain became even colder.

  Zhou Huai Xuan woke up from his dream with a start, beads of sweat the size of soybeans appearing on his forehead, and his whole body trembling.

  He knew that his illness had recurred. The disease he had brought with him since birth, after Old Master Sheng's death ten years ago, no one had treated it for him again.

  Zhou Huai Xuan endured the intense pain and placed Sheng Si Yan on the empty ground beside him, grabbing onto the leg of the offering table and gritting his teeth to bear it.

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