CH 21

Translator: KongoIsamu

Editor: KongoIsamu

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Thoughts are italicized

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The river was flowing rapidly, Ran Fei Ze was not in a hurry to save Su Xiao Pei. He jumped several times on the debris that was floating the water, jumping towards Su Xiao Pei. He landed in front of Su Xiao Pei and with one clap, he managed to break a large tree in half, that was on the river bank, a distance away behind Su Xiao Pei.

A few meters behind Su Xiao Pei, the large tree that was broken in half landed in the water and with the current of the river flowing, Su Xiao Pei crash into the half-broken tree.

Su Xiao Pei ignore the pain and hugged the tree tightly, shouting, “Soldier, help!”

Ran Fei Ze apply a little pressure on his toes and stepped onto the tree trunk that he is standing on, he jumped to the center of the river, grabbing Su Xiao Pei’s arm, and quickly jumped back to shore.

Su Xiao Pei did not have enough time to process whether or not she should be afraid with the way Ran Fei Ze is holding onto her, as in no time at all, she had already landed on shore.

“Is Miss alright?”

Su Xiao Pei subconsciously nodded but she was still shocked, and her body was wet, and she was feeling cold, she could not help but tremble.

“Miss?” Ran Fei Ze called her again.

Su Xiao Pei wrapped both of her arms around herself and looked up at Ran Fei Ze, and saw the concern in his eyes, she could not help but feel touched.

“Soldier.” She returned his address, only to find out that even her voice was shaky.

Ran Fei Ze pulled Su Xiao Pei to the middle of the forest and found a clean and empty place for her to sit down. Then, he circled around place and picked up a bunch of dead branches. While Ran Fei was picking up dead branches, Su Xiao Pei’s heart managed to settle down a little and she did not observed how Ran Fei Ze made the fire.

She gradually felt warmer as the fire progressively became bigger and bigger in front of her.

“What happen to Miss?”

“How did Soldier find me?’

They asked their question in unison, a bout of awkward silence was met after.

Ran Fei Ze laughed and answered first, “I went back to the Wine Shop’s yard and did not see Miss and I knew something was wrong. There were traces of shoe prints in the corner of the courtyard and it seems that the person jumped over the wall to get inside. Therefore, I followed the footprints and jumped out and realize that it was a dark alley. I made a few rounds and checked the surroundings and found nothing unusual. Then, I went back, and asked Boss Song and he said that a Miss Tang came to look for you and he also saw that you sent Miss Tang out and that no one entered the courtyard again.

Su Xiao Pei nodded and interjected, “I did send Miss Tang out. Just as I got into the house after I came back, I was hit from the back and fainted on the spot.” Just as she said this part, she touched her neck where she was hit, it seems that it was still a bit tender. But when she was in the modern world, she did not feel any discomfort. She looked at her body again, she was still wearing the same clothes as when she was kidnapped.

Su Xiao Pei paused for while and then continued again, “When I woke up, I found myself being covered in a linen bag, the person who kidnapped me dropped me by the river bank so that he could drink water. I took the opportunity to break free, but he found out, and he chased me. He managed to catch up and pushed me, thus, I fell off the cliff and into the river.

“Did Miss saw his face?”

Su Xiao Pei furrowed her brows and tried to recall. She smacked him with the linen bag and turned around to swear at him, but it seems that she did not pay much attention to his face. She thought about it and it seems that she could not remember what he looked like. She shook her head.

Ran Fei Ze said, “After listening to Boss Song, I went find Miss Tang again. I went to ask if she had noticed if there was anything wrong, or if there were people in the backyard, but she said ‘no’. But she was flustered when she answered, and I felt suspicious, and thought that she was remembering her experience when she was kidnapped, so I went up to the mountains to find you. The rumors in town was that the mountain bandits would kidnapped people and bring them to the mountains. Although, I did not know where to look, I went up to the mountains to investigate.”

“Soldier.” Su Xiao Pei nearly wanted to rush over to Ran Fei Ze to hold his hands to show how much she is grateful to him. Good man, he is not only kind-hearted, he is a good person with a keen instinct. Otherwise, she would have died again.

“Please don’t be flustered, Miss.” Ran Fei Ze added some dead branches to the fire to make the fire bigger. “Miss is a person who have great fortune. I wasted quite a lot of time. I thought that it would be difficult to find Miss in the mountains, but I knew that I still must search. But I didn’t expect to hear Miss’s cries when I was walking around, so I saved you.”

“Did Soldier see anybody around?”

“No. I didn’t.” Ran Fei Ze knew what she meant, shaking his head. “There is no one around here, and I have not seen anything, if I did not hear Miss’s cries, I would go even higher up the mountains.

Su Xiao Pei frowned, if that was the case, how long was I in the water? The kidnapper would not have disappeared so quickly if I had just splash into the water and struggled. Yue Lao did say that when I died in the ancient world, I would return to the modern world. And that I would cross over again. And I did cross. But how long has it been?

She looked up at the sky and found that the sun was setting.

“Miss, the mountain bandits are fierce, I cannot forgive them, I will send Miss back to the wine shop and make sure that you are settle in and try to find a way to catch him.”

“Soldier, didn’t you say before that Tian Lian Mountain is famous for its mountains. If the mountain bandit’s lair is easy to find, wouldn’t the government have caught them ages ago?”

“He hasn’t appeared for a long time, therefore, there was no clues. Recently, he had been kidnapping people. I’m sure there will be some clues if I scout the area. I will send Miss back, then come back and search.

“Soldier.” Su Xiao Pei nervously gasped Ran Fei Ze’s arm. “Soldier, please don’t send me back.”

“Why?”

“You can find me easily if I had fallen into the river again.”

Ran Fei Ze raised his eyebrows.

“Soldier, I was scared after falling into the water, but I remembered something.”

“What did you remember?”

“My name is Su Xiao Pei, my hometown is in the east, quite far away from here. My father, he is also a constable. He is a learned man, he has the ability to read people, with just one look, he is able to determine if the person is a good or bad person, and he had passed the ability to me as well. The reason why I came here is to search for someone.”

“Then, why was Miss up in the tree when we first met?”

“I…” That’s right, why was in the tree?

“I passed by the mountain that day, but I had met a wild bear chasing after me. I was in a hurry, and somehow, I climbed the tree. After the bear left, I found out that I couldn’t climb down, and I was too tired, thus, I fell asleep on the tree.”

Once Su Xiao Pei told her lie, she looked up at stared at Ran Fei Ze.

Ran Fei Ze was also looking at her. In fact, Ran Fei Ze wanted to tell her that bears could climb tree, but her eyes were clear, as always. Ran Fei Ze could not help but swallowed back his words that wanted to spill out.

She lied, he knew about it, yet he didn’t expose her.

“The reason why Miss said this to me is you have an idea of how to catch this thief?”

Su Xiao Pei nodded her head, he was a smart person after all.

“That’s correct, Solider. My dad, I mean, my father taught me how to arrest bad guys, I know how to catch this mountain bandit.”

“Please speak, Miss.”

“This might be related to Miss Tang.”

“Didn’t Miss Tang get harmed by mountain bandits? Everyone knows this.”

“That’s right, therefore, she is ill. She can’t control herself. Soldier, please trust me, I am sure of it. Soldier knew that Miss Tang said that she doesn’t remember where the bandit’s hideout was.”

Ran Fei Ze nodded, he also inquired Miss Tang about this.

Su Xiao Pei said, “That’s why I can’t go back to Boss Song’s shop. I must let everyone think that I am dead. If Miss Tang knew that I am dead, it will remind her of her experience with the bandits.”

Is that the case?  Ran Fei Ze was suspicious. He was not convinced that someone is able remember memories that they had forgotten. Now that Su Xiao Pei said that she is dead, then Tang Lian will remember her trauma? He feels that it is very unrealistic.

Though he does not know why, although Su Xiao Pei is weird, her words are convincing. He thought about for a while, maybe Miss Su thought there was some sudden friendship between her and Miss Tang, so if Miss Su was killed by the bandit, then Miss Tang would be affected by it and suddenly remember things.

“Where does Miss plan to live?”

“I will listen to Soldier’s arrangement.” Su Xiao Pei put on a pretense and her words are polite and threw back the problem to Ran Fei Ze.

Ran Fei Ze smiled, “Once Miss remember her past, you became cheeky”

Su Xiao Pei coughed twice and pretend to be innocent, “Many thanks, Soldier.”

“Good, good. Then, Miss will wait here.”

“What am I waiting for?”

“Wait till the sky is dark, then I can secretly bring Miss back into town. Otherwise, does Miss want to hide in the mountains?”

Su Xiao Pei certainly does not want to hide in the mountains. Once the sky is dark, Ran Fei carried her and sneaked her back into Stone Town.

That’s right, this time Ran Fei Ze didn’t avoid the rumors and carried Su Xiao Pei on his back.

Firstly, it was because of Su Xiao Pei footsteps were slow, and secondly, Ran Fei Ze had to use his martial arts to avoid people’s eyes and ears. If he takes Su Xiao Pei back slowly, he is not able to avoid them.

Su Xiao Pei, who was on Ran Fei Ze’s back, asked, “Did Soldier got forced into a marriage by a lady before?”

“I can’t help it if the people I saved start to admire me.”

Puu, Su Xiao Pei suddenly have an urge to punch him.

“Solider can have a peace of mind.” Su Xiao Pei meant that she holds it against him.

“Miss is too polite. Miss is too polite.” Those ‘friendly’ words of Ran Fei Ze said makes Su Xiao Pei have the urge to punch him again, Ran Fei Ze just have that ability to twist the words to praises for him.

Su Xiao Pei sighed. This is the second time she came to this world, but this time, she is fully prepared.

The person she met was not Cheng Jiang Yi but he or she they will bring her to find Cheng Jiang Yi. Whether it was Tang Lian or Ran Fei Ze, are they going to bring her to find the mountain Bandit?

Cheng Jiang Yi, have you fallen to become a sinister bandit?