CH 9.1

Hide?

The question was where should they hide!

Between the light and stone, Li Cancan suddenly launched herself.

With the 300% speed bonus, Bai Lixin only saw a flash of light in front of his eyes, and all the lit torches around him were extinguished.

She didn’t forget to carefully close the door of the ancestral hall and then grabbed Bai Lixin’s wrist, quickly pulling him under the altar.

Li Cancan finally looked at Bai Lixin with red eyes and blew out the candlestick in his hand.

On one hand, she was crying; on the other, ah! This little sister was a bit fierce!

In the darkness, Bai Lixin glanced at the shivering girl beside him.

The hand holding his wrist was trembling uncontrollably. The girl was clearly scared to death, yet she still clenched her teeth and did not make a sound.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, Li Cancan shook Bai Lixin’s wrist and spoke nervously, “The bronze padlock! The bronze padlock is not buckled!”

Bai Lixin suddenly felt the stream of water that had been wrapped around his other wrist move.

That water split a small line of water and whipped the inside of Bai Lixin’s wrist twice.

His wrist tingled a little, but it didn’t hurt.

This small stream of water then silently flew out and gently lifted the bronze padlock hanging on the door and slowly snapped it shut.

After doing this, the stream of water returned to the wrist and tightened hard, as if declaring its sovereignty or venting its emotions.

In his ears, a voice deeper than usual rang out, “In the end, I’m the one who has to clean up your mess. I’m more useful no matter which way you look at it.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

How was this suddenly *rolled up?

With both wrists being grabbed, Bai Lixin waited for the late arrival of the village head.

The door creaked open and the torches on the wall were lit one by one.

Light returned to their eyes, and Bai Lixin looked out through a gap in the altar.

The village head’s footsteps were heavy, and his legs looked like stiff bamboo poles that couldn’t bend. He could only move them slowly by the force of his hips in a strange and twisted way.

The village head carried a transparent bag containing clean fruits. He slowly moved to the desk and put the bag on it before picking up the leather whip on the desk.

The next moment, the sound of the whip landing on stone and fabric resounded throughout the ancestral hall.

Li Cancan’s body shuddered violently.

The village head kept cursing under his breath as he struck.

“I’ll beat you to death, you village head who doesn’t have eyes. Bao’er is a good girl, and she belongs to no one. For the sake of the village, why did you send her to that dog? And you’re still offering sacrifices to the river in the name of righteousness! Bah! You bastard!”

“I’ll beat you to death, you treacherous merchant! Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have a few crumbs of money and a few bags of grain? It’s all because of you. Everything is because of you. You deserve to die the most!”

“I’ll beat you to death, you old woman blinded by lard*, if you hadn’t persuaded Bao’er, how could she have gone so obediently! She could have escaped!”

“I’ll beat you all! I’ll beat you all to death! Damn you all!”

The sounds of curses and whipping echoed in the cramped and gloomy ancestral hall.

Finally, the village head got tired and he slowly put the whip back on the desk.

“Bao’er.” The village head’s hoarse voice echoed in the room.

Even after so many lashes and so much scolding, the village head’s voice was as stable as ever. It was stable, with its characteristic gloomy hoarseness.

“I’ve come to see you. Look, I’ve brought you your favorite apples.”

Just when the gloomy voice had finished speaking, something fell to the ground and rolled in front of Li Cancan.

It was an apple.

The village head froze, “I’m old and useless. I can’t even hold an apple. Let me look for it. Where did the apple fall?”

Li Cancan’s eyes were filled with horror as she watched through the gap. The body opposite her slowly leaned over, seemingly trying to bend down to pick up the apple.

She covered her mouth with all her might, not daring to let out a breath.

As she watched the body gradually bend over, a foot suddenly sprang up beside her and gently kicked the apple out.

The apple rolled twice on the ground and came to rest at the village head’s feet.

Li Cancan: “…”

The apple rolled out on its own? Was that acceptable?

Bai Lixin slowly withdrew his foot and silently smiled at Li Cancan. Don’t be afraid; we’re not weak in a fight.

Li Cancan didn’t know Bai Lixin’s fighting ability, and her heart was already in her throat.

The village head scratched his head in confusion and bent down to pick up the apple, completely ignoring why the apple ran out from under the altar on its own.

Li Cancan: “…”

It was really acceptable!

The village head wiped the apple and re-positioned it on the altar.

Incense was lit, and he knelt down to worship.

Although his movements were hobbled, success came from his skill.

The village head knelt before the altar: “Bao’er, tomorrow is the 30th year since your death and you still can’t quell your anger? It is my fault. I did not protect you in the first place. Bao’er, my Bao’er…”

The village head’s voice began to tremble, and Li Cancan peered through the gap to take a look.

It sounded like he wanted to cry, but for some reason, couldn’t shed tears. In the end, he contorted a face that separated flesh and skin to make a horrible expression and howled dryly in a hoarse voice.

Half an hour later, the village head picked up the replaced fruits and dragged his stiff body out of the door.

The door closed with a creak.

It clicked shut and was locked again.

Only when the sound of footsteps faded to the end did Li Cancan breathe a long sigh of relief, but then she turned her head and looked at Bai Lixin in despair, “What should we do? It seems like the village head locked the door.”

It was pitch dark all around, and Bai Lixin crawled out in the dark. He went to the door and gave it a gentle push, but the door was as solid as a rock.

In his ear, Dijia sneered, “Heh.”

Bai Lixin lowered his voice and said in a mosquito volume that only two people could hear, “Don’t sneer, hurry up and help.”

Dijia was stunned, “I can help you, but why should I?”

Bai Lixin, “Uh, because I am your most precious collection. If you don’t let me out today, I might die tomorrow. Would you be willing to let a once-in-a-thousand-year collection die like that? I’m not doing myself a favor, I’m doing you a favor. You open the door, I can leave, and you can protect your collection. It’s a mutual benefit that kills two birds with one stone, right?”

Dijia hesitated.

Bai Lixin was in no hurry. He turned back to the altar and rummaged around in the dark.

Li Cancan, “What are you looking for?”

Bai Lixin, “We’re already here, so we might as well take some souvenirs.”

A few seconds later, Dijia’s voice came in his ear.

“You’re right, but your ultimate goal is to get out. I’ll still help you, but I’m going to collect interest.”

A small stream of water burrowed off of his wrist, and a subtle sound of a lock turning came from outside the door.

Li Cancan finally came to the door after feeling around in the darkness.

“What should we do? Should we send a private message to Liang Xi and the others to come and rescue us?” She put her hands against the door, pushing as she said anxiously, “We can’t just starve to death here…”

With a creak, the door opened.

Li Cancan looked confused, “That… Bai Lixin, the door is open.”

Bai Lixin had already walked over with something from the altar, “Oh, you’re so lucky. It’s thanks to you today that I got a taste of your luck.”

Li Cancan blushed with embarrassment, “Ah! Is that so? Thank…thank you for the compliment.”

Dijia, “Hmph!”

Bai Lixin, “…”

They had put out their candles before in order to hide. So now they could only walk on the stone pathway in the dark.

It was pitch black all around them, and under their feet was uneven.

Because Li Cancan was afraid of the room behind them, Bai Lixin let her walk in front of him.

Li Cancan slowly moved forward while holding onto the wall. She could hear Bai Lixin’s calm breathing and footsteps not far behind her.

After about three or four minutes of walking, they reached the fork in the road.

After another two minutes of walking and Li Cancan stumbled on her feet.

A force grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up.

Li Cancan held onto the wall to catch her breath and thanked behind her, “Thank you, Bai Lixin.”

The force did not disappear and instead moved to Li Cancan’s shoulder.

Through her clothes, Li Cancan felt that the object was somewhat hard and sharp, like a candlestick.

Li Cancan was a little embarrassed, “Thank you for supporting me up. I’ve been holding you guys back since I woke up. I’m sorry.”

In the darkness, there was only the sound of ragged breathing.

Li Cancan took two more steps, and Bai Lixin still had no intention of taking the candlestick down.

Li Cancan, “Bai Lixin, you really don’t need to take care of me so much. I can…”

“Li Cancan, don’t turn around!”

Bai Lixin’s somewhat cold voice came from a little distance behind her.

It was slightly far away, but not so far away.

Li Cancan’s body suddenly tensed up, but she obediently did not turn back and stiffly moved her body forward.

If that was Bai Lixin’s voice, then what was the thing behind… her?

The sound of breathing behind her grew even heavier. It was so close that it seemed to be right next to her ears.

The pressure on her shoulder also gradually tightened, and Li Cancan stiffened. She realized that it was a claw-type thing.

Bai Lixin’s voice came again, “When I count to three, you will squat immediately! Do you hear me?”

Li Cancan’s voice trembled, “Okay.”

Bai Lixin, “1,2,3!”

The moment he reached the count of three, Li Cancan quickly squatted down without any hesitation.

She heard a loud bang coming from behind her, and she hunched over to look back. Her eyes gradually adapted to the dark, and her heart almost jumped out of her throat when she saw what was before her.

Four scarlet eyes glowed eerily in the darkness.