The moment An Xiao lifts her face to take a look at the person who had been comforting her, she was startled and inevitably flinched. Because the person turns out to be a hideous filthy man with a deformed left eye, left inclined jaw, and a hunched back. It was none other than Wu Chen, the fugitive.
Wu Chen was also startled by An Xiao's sudden movement. He recoiled in dread, he hastily covered his face and stood up in a flurry to run away, apprehensive at the idea of An Xiao screaming in disgust. However due to his clumsy movement, An Xiao was able to swiftly capture his calloused hand. Wu Chen became more fearful and began to shake his captured hand in alarm to get away, yet somehow An Xiao's grip was firm enough to hold him in place.
"Why are you running?? I won't do anything bad to you!" An Xiao persuaded him.
Wu Chen didn't open his mouth at all, he only kept struggling to get away, his brows was scrunched in fright as his eyes was moist in the verge of tearing up. His whole figure displayed dread resembling a small animal to be devoured by a beast, inviting pity from An Xiao.
"... You poor thing, what have you gone through? Have you ate?" patting the hand she had been gripping gently, An Xiao asks in a soothing concerned voice, "there there."
Finding no ill intent in both An Xiao's eyes and gesture, Wu Chen slowly calmed himself down and ceased to struggle. The constant gentle pats on his hand works like a tranquilizer, eventually induced him to sit back in place. Thus Wu Chen was easily tamed.
After witnessing Wu Chen obediently sat down, An Xiao let out a helpless smile. "Wait a bit," she then took out a soft small towel from her dress and walked up to the river. She dipped her towel and squeezed it half dry, only to kneel before Wu Chen to softly wipe his wet muddy face. Wu Chen flinched at the sudden cold touch to his cheeks, however he maintained his stoned posture as it wasn't uncomfortable for him, feels good even.
Finished wiping Wu Chen's whole dirty face, it was now visibly cleaner and fresher. No one might ever looked as closely at him as An Xiao did, thus no one noticed, although his left eye was deformed, the shape of the right eye was unexpectedly sharp and bright. Wu Chen's nose was straight, his one visible cheekbone was high, and his lips was moist and thin. After observing for a while, An Xiao noticed that if only he wasn't deformed, he would be a handsome man.
'growwllll~'
Wu Chen widened his eyes as hot blood tinted his cheeks.
"Pft- ahhahahaha! Are you hungry? I have a bit of delicious chive pancake, would you like some?" An Xiao generously offered the food she have yet to eat.
Wu Chen became even more embarrassed, he wanted to shake his head yet his stomach said otherwise. Being a lone fugitive who have no one to run to, he have been surviving with only the little edible things he could find in Xuyin forest. The forest was scarce in neither fruits nor animals, compelling Wu Chen to mainly eat bitter edible vegetable-like leaves, and thus causing him to crave good food he could actually drool. He ended up nodding faintly with eyes riveted to the ground. Actually Wu Chen have never been treated this gently by someone before, rendering him bereft of speech, lost at how to respond.
An Xiao handed Wu Chen the chive pancake, only to be eaten with vigor by the deformed man. Witnessing the edacious starved munching, An Xiao yet again lifts the corner of her lips and casted her eyes sideways. Seeing the starving filthy deformed man, An Xiao felt pity, but at the same time she felt a bit cheered up at the thought that there are still so many people out there more unfortunate than her. She arrived at the conclusion that it's embarrassing to break just because of this level of frustration. Even a person like Wu Chen could manage, so why wouldn't she? She decided to make do and be grateful with what she currently have, because although everyone thought of her as trash, Qing Rui thought of her as precious, and what's important is the thought of the person she loves. Qing Rui is a merciless tyrant, initially An Xiao wasn't really fond of this trait of him, but how many girls out there could be treated so gently and specially by such a loyal tyrant? Compared to other people, having no parents and had to work hard for the sake of continuing a day was indeed unfortunate, however the existence of Qing Rui by her side had changed it all, it was as though Qing Rui was the most fortunate thing that god bestowed especially for her. An Xiao felt cheered up at the thought.
"... I don't know who you are, but, thank you," she smiled to Wu Chen who have just finished his meal.
Although the pancake was not nearly enough, Wu Chen thought that he should be the one thanking her, but couldn't really express his sincerity smoothly, "N-n-n-no.. I.. Should be.. I should be.. One.. To t-t-t-thank you.." he blushed again, cursing his stuttering that never gets better.
An Xiao widened her eyes in surprise as she originally thought that Wu Chen was mute, and then she softly giggled, "You're welcome."
"Well you're welcome too.." Yamato chimed in like he pops out of nowhere.
Both An Xiao and Wu Chen recoiled in shock as they hastily turned their heads backwards, only to find a white fairy like figure standing tall beside the tree behind them.
The forest was quiet, with only the bare sounds of rustling leaves and flowing river, if anyone were to walk behind them, being unnoticed was an impressive feat. Moreover turns out it wasn't only Ren Xiu, but also Baili Haoyue, Jian Yu, and even two kids was with them and unnoticed. Because the image of the dark and devilish Ren Xiu changed to a bright and heavenly one, in a split second An Xiao even doubted that it was just some kind of illusion.
Wu Chen instantly became alarmed and panic-stricken as he began to run away like a headless chicken. However Jian Yu quickly captured and twisted his arm in a joint lock, rendering Wu Chen immobile as he fell on his knees. The quiet atmosphere quickly turned messy.
"Don't be so rough with him! He didn't do anything to me!" An Xiao shouted in consternation.
Yamato almost rolled his eyes, he glanced coldly towards An Xiao and slowly walked up to the crouched and trembling Wu Chen, "Yeah he didn't do anything to you but he kidnaps and kill women."
After widening her eyes in shock, An Xiao quickly shifted her head towards Wu Chen confirming his pitiful exposition, she then gazed back sternly at Ren Xiu, "... I'm disappointed in you Ren Xiu, i have thought too highly of you.. I didn't think you were this low of a person to accuse innocent people out of nowhere just because you dislike them!"
It was now Yamato's turn to be surprised, he silently pinched his arm as a form of restraint from laughing out loud at the blatant reproach.
There was notably too many things he want to retort but didn't bother to actually do, hence he continued to gaze coldly at Wu Chen, "How about saying anything about my accusation then? Deny it."
It was clear how Wu Chen's pupil was contracted and filled full with trepidation and disquietude, such display really invites pity from the soft hearted, and thrill from the psycho.
"Of course you didn't do anything of the sort right? You don't have to say anything, just shake your head," the soft hearted An Xiao stick up to him.
Yamato was restraining himself from rolling his eyes, maintaining his serious exterior, "Well then? Shake your head?"
However betraying An Xiao's expectation, Wu Chen nodded in submission, as an acquiesce to wherever fate might place his gallows to receive retribution. His eyes was closed hard with a furrowed brows and gritted teeth, until he finally just breath out in relieve and helplessly smile. After running away all this time, in the end he was unable to escape.
An Xiao was in utter disbelief, everything just now was too fast for her to process, "H-hey.. It's a lie isn't it? There's no way he could- i mean he-"
"He nodded himself? Do you want to plead him as not guilty? ," With a calm face, Yamato kneeled in front of Wu Chen.
An Xiao hastily approached them, "W-what are you gonna do to him?!"
"Nothing? Or maybe escort him to Lu Zhen to receive lingchi?" Yamato took Wu Chen's chin and examined his facial feature casually, while Wu Chen himself shivers at the mention of lingchi.
"Wha-! How could you do that!? Can't you look at how skinny and weak he is!? Do you not have a human heart?" An Xiao was beginning to be emotional as she started tearing up.
"Jian Yu, tie him up, you have rope right?"
Ignored at a precarious moment, An Xiao flared up, "Hey!! Could you do anything beside ignoring me!?"
"Then could you do anything beside spouting hypocrisy to make yourself feel righteously good?? Just shut up."
An Xiao flinched as she was subconsciously hurt by those words, "W-what are you even talking abou-"
"Haoyue-ge," Yamato beckoned Baili Haoyue to get close enough to hear a faint whisper, "this is out of our plan, now could you pretend to kidnap and run away with Wu Chen and An Xiao for the time being? He could really be killed if this continues, act as naturally as possible so as not to arouse suspicion from the person on our tail."
"Are you really sure he's not the true culprit? Anyway i can't run for too long with two baggage on me, anyone who chases us would catch up in a few days."
"I'll tell people that you two just eloped, that way no one would chase after you, just act as though Wu Chen was just being dragged in by An Xiao, her emotional speech seemed convincing enough for our spectator anyway."
"Then how do you plan to inform us when we're okay to get back?"
"I'll go here once again and place a bouquet of flowers in the morning for you to see, then i'll pick you up at night. In case you're out of town, i'll place Jian Yu in the border."
"Understood, i place my faith in you your highness, please don't betray this humble servant."
Yamato casted a serious smirk, "May lightning struck me if i did betray you."
Suddenly Baili Haoyue shoved Ren Xiu lightly, though Ren Xiu herself was exaggerating it by purposely falling on her butt. An Xiao who was gritting her teeth out of frustration of being ignored, was dumbstruck at the sudden act.
"How could you shove me general Baili? Who do you think i am!?" Yamato glared and gnashed his teeth.
All of a sudden, Baili Haoyue was already standing beside An Xiao while gathering his arm around her waist, "My apologies your highness, but your evil scheme will not reach my beloved!" he shouted with confidence.
An Xiao widened her eyes as she was astounded, unable to catch up with whatever currently happening nor coping with the situation.
Feeling uncomfortable with the arm around her waist, An Xiao was starting to struggle out of it when Baili Haoyue's face got closer without warning as though he was trying to kiss her cheeks. She reflexively evaded in vain as Baili Haoyue held her in place, then he whispered, "I'm sorry, cooperate with me, i'll explain later."
In that moment, Baili Haoyue displayed a helpless apologetic smile, inducing the soft hearted An Xiao to decide to go along with it although she got no slightest idea of what's currently happening.
Yamato stood up while staggering, obviously exaggerating his fall while restraining himself from laughing, "How dare you general Baili! I've treated you with kindness, i've given you an inch and now you ask for a yard! How shameless!"
"There is nothing more shameless than what you were trying to do to my beloved," Baili Haoyue totally looked like a convincing hero, "Let's go Xiao'er, i will protect you."
"HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
A blaring sound of laughter which reverberates through the whole forest came out of the blue. The voice was husky and playful, yet very chilling it sent shivers down ones spine. No one knows where the voice came from, because it sounded like it came from every inch of the forest itself.
Baili Haoyue quickly put up his stance and shielded both An Xiao and Wu Chen. While Jian Yu also put up his stance and sword to protect Yamato and the kids who had been hiding behind the bushes. Everyone was vigilant and apprehensive of the sudden undetermined source of voice, even Yamato was pale as he hastily gathered the two childs inside his arms.
"Who's that?!" Baili Haoyue shouted with firm voice, he was after all distinguished for his fearlessness.
"Who? Me?" the playful chilling voice replied, it was as though the forest itself who answered, "Well i guess i've got no choice, i'm Xie Hei."
Out of nowhere, a bulging black mist appeared before them, everyone stayed away as they watched the mist gradually materialize. It became thicker and thicker, until eventually it formed a large, fierce, hairy, and fearsome black wolf.
The black wolf smirked as it displayed it's sharp and menacing set of fangs, "Good afternoon everyone! The guardian, man eating wolf Xie Hei is at your service!"