"We'll arrange a guest room for this lady to rest in later," Ye Sui said. "However, I still have a few questions for you."
"What would you like to ask, Mr. Ye?" Shen Wu asked.
"I wonder who and where Young Master Shen and Miss Wen saved Qiu Shui from?"
"It was a masked man dressed in black. Miss Qiu fell off the cliff as I was battling him, and my junior sister dived off the cliff as well in order to save Miss Qiu."
Ye Sui immediately gave Wen Ran a grateful look.
Wen Ran felt a little awkward, "Speaking of which, I'm thankful to Miss Qiu for taking care of me after I fell off the cliff."
Ye Sui smiled. "You're taking this too seriously. We've been protecting Qiu Shui a little too much and she's a playful character. We're helpless against her antics most of the time and she is the one who has caused you trouble on this occasion."
Qiu Shan expressed his agreement from one side. "Qiu Shui has a bad temper. We've spent so much time and effort searching for her and worrying about her all these days, but she didn't so much as look at us the moment she returned."
Truth be told, Wen Ran felt that Qiu Shui was a good person, who—despite having a young lady's temper—was not as hopeless as everyone described.
Then again, she did not have much of a relationship with those from the Hidden Abyss Valley, and she had only interacted with Qiu Shui for a short period. As a result, she neither had the right nor was in a position to evaluate Qiu Shui in front of those people.
Ye Sui rubbed Qiu Shan's head, indicating to the latter that there was no need to say anything more. He then looked at Shen Wu. "You mentioned having exchanged blows with that masked man, Young Master Shen. Did you see that person's face?"
After all, no ordinary person could just waltz into the Hidden Abyss Valley in the middle of the night and kidnap their eldest miss of the Hidden Valley.
It was only natural for them to wonder which enemy of theirs dared to be so bold.
If Shen Wu could see what that person looked like and draw a portrait of him, there was a possibility of finding out who the other party was.
Unfortunately, Shen Wu shook his head. "He was wearing a face cloth, so I couldn't see his face. His movement and technique was superb, and it was the first time I've ever seen something like that. However, I was too worried about my junior sister and Eldest Miss Qiu, so I rushed down the cliff to find them instead of chasing after him when he fled."
'Sure. He was so worried about us that he roasted a pheasant to eat while searching for us!' Wen Ran jibed in her heart.
She genuinely admired his ability to lie through his teeth. Had it been the first time he saw him, she might have really believed all that nonsense.
Ye Sui looked at the strange girl in white."And you are?"
Wen Ran hurriedly explained, "Miss Bai was someone we met at the bottom of the cliff. She was the one who saved me and Miss Qiu because she wanted to go out and look for her family. It was very inconvenient for someone like her to be all alone, so we decided to bring her with us."
Ye Sui bowed to Bai. "On behalf of Qiu Shui, I sincerely thank you for saving her life."
"She stepped on my flower and crushed it," Bai said unhappily.
"We will make the necessary compensation for what Qiu Shui has damaged," Ye Sui immediately said.
"It's not something you can—"
"Ahem! Cough, cough!" Wen Ran coughed and interrupted Bai's complaint. She even turned his head slightly and gave Bai a few glances.
It did not understand why, but it still shut its mouth.
A pair of hands turned Wen Ran's face back to its original position. The force was rather firm, and she felt a little pain on her face. The other party, however, still asked concernedly and kind-heartedly, "Are you feeling unwell, Ranran?"
Wen Ran flashed a fake smile. "A little."
AYe Sui knew that he was no longer able to get anything out of them, so he said, "Thank you all for your trouble. It's already late, so please feel free to go back to your rooms and rest. If there's anything else we need to talk about, we'll do so tomorrow."
Wen Ran and Shen Wu remained in the adjacent guest rooms, while Bai's room was arranged on the other side from Wen Ran's room.
Once the people from the Hidden Abyss Valley had left, Bai stood at the door while clenching pitifully at the hem of her clothes. "There are so many men here and I'm scared of sleeping alone."
She previously lured many good-looking people—both men and women—in order to understand the preferences of good-looking people.
The women were not too difficult to handle, but the men had gone so far as to follow her to her room door. She might not have been very skilled, but she had no problem dealing with ordinary people.
By contrast, the Hidden Abyss Valley was full of cultivators, and Wen Ran had warned Bai countless times not to use the demonic arts. As a weak and easily-bullied damsel, what was she to do if someone tried to sneak into her room in the middle of the night?
Wen Ran consoled her, "Don't be scared. I'm living right next door. Just shout my name if anything happens. I'll rush over immediately."
Bai became coquettish. "But..."
There were no buts. She was pushed into the room and the door was closed with a slam.
She wanted to open the door and come out, but a smiling young man who was snacking on a green plum said, "I'll chop you up if you make any more noise."
There was no longer any movement inside.
Wen Ran looked at him speechlessly.
Shen Wu glanced at the half-eaten green plum in his hand and hesitated for a while before handing it to her.
Wen Ran smacked his hand away. "No thanks."
"Suit yourself," he said. He retracted his hand happily and continued munching on the sour green plum.
He was glad that she did not accept it because he no longer had to worry about sharing the food with her.
Wen Ran was used to Shen Wu's unruly personality. She crossed her arms and looked at him with a frown. "Can't you be gentler to girls?"
Shen Wu's paused. "Gentle?"
"Well, you pushed her in so violently and threatened her."
"She's lucky I didn't kick her."
Wen Ran recalled the scene on the cliff that day and fell silent, almost as if she came to realize that Shen Wu's words made some sense. After all, he could easily kick a beautiful woman without the slightest hesitation.
"Did you really let the masked man run off?" she asked.
"I didn't let him run off. He fled because couldn't win against me." He had a strong desire to win and so corrected her.
"But he did run away, didn't he?" Wen Ran asked.
He pursed his lips. "Fled. F-L-E-D."
"Alright, alright, whatever you say."
Shen Wu lost interest in his plum and threw the core away. Moments later, something else appeared in his hand. "See? He fled because he just couldn't beat me!"
Wen Ran was greeted by the sight of a severed arm. She was completely unprepared for that and her expression was one of confusion.
"This is my trophy," he said proudly.
Seeing that Wen Ran still did not react, he waved the broken arm in front of her eyes like a child who had won a quarrel. "Ranran," he called out to her with a smile. Even the corners of his eyes had curved into arcs. "Did I scare you again?"
Wen Ran kicked him. "You're crazy! Hurry up and throw that thing away! And stop eating!"
Shen Wu dodged her kick with ease and was just about to take a bite out of a steamed bun when he heard her words. His face was filled with confusion. "Why should I?"
"Who the hell keeps broken limbs in their storage space?!" Wen Ran felt like she was losing her mind. "It's unclean! Everything's unclean! You need to discard everything you kept in your storage space! Don't come running to me if you get sick after eating that!"
'Was that all she cared about?' he wondered.
Shen Wu looked at the broken arm in his left hand, then at the steamed bun in his right hand. Finally, he looked at Wen Ran, who was hugging her head and was on the verge of breaking down.
He blinked, let go of everything slowly, and allowed it to fell onto the ground. He then negotiated pitifully with her, "Can I not throw the rest?"
"No!"
Shen Wu's expression sank.