Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty-One: Water Has No Constant Form (1)

  The fire was small but the shock was great. He stopped in his tracks and looked around, shouting: "Who?! Who's playing tricks on me?! I'll kill the whole family!"

  "Monkey! Your mouth is really too reckless!" A woman's voice came from the beam, a soft sound, and a figure swung down from the corner of the beam, amazingly using her toes to hook onto the wooden beam, hanging upside down with both hands clasped in front of her chest, tilting her head to look at Huo Xiao, saying: "You think you can untie the Cow Yellow Rope like this? Even if you jump for a few more years, it's useless." After speaking, she relaxed her toes, and her body rotated once in mid-air before landing steadily on the ground.

  This woman is Shuiyao'er.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī was somewhat embarrassed and shouted: "How did you end up here? When did you arrive?"

  The Water Fairy walked a few steps with her hands behind her back, kicking at the weeds on the ground as she said, "I've been here all along."

  "Get out!" Xiao Xie shouted.

  The water demon child turned her face, with a mischievous and cunning smile: "Who lied? Who was it that just now was dreaming and shouting loudly, 'Dad! Mom! Save me!' And who cried before going to sleep? Shameful, shameful!" As she spoke, she scratched her own face, stuck out her tongue, and made a ghostly face at Huo Xiao.

  Huǒ Xiǎo's face turned even redder, knowing that Shuǐ Yāo'er wasn't lying, and shouted: "I, I didn't see you at all!"

  "Ha! You think you can find me, Water Elf? I'm afraid it'll take you another hundred years of practice! I'm a member of the Water Clan, after all! Hmph, never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway, you country bumpkin!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié really didn't know what Shuǐ Yāo ér was talking about on the mountain top, mentioning Water King, Huǒ Jiā, Shuǐ Jiā, and Yuè Fēng Shén Bǔ. He only felt that he had touched upon some unknown secrets in the Jianghu world. This Shuǐ Yāo ér in front of him looked like just a young girl similar to his age, yet she knew so many things he didn't dare think about and possessed abilities far surpassing his own. For some reason, Huǒ Xiǎo Xié felt a surge of reverence towards Shuǐ Yāo ér.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's tone softened, and he said: "Ah... I really don't understand what? Big sister, Water, can you teach me how to untie this knot?" Huǒ Xiǎo Xié had been a thief since childhood, and was skilled at being both hard and soft. In Fengtian City, he had even begged for food by pretending to be an orphan. This time, his question really embodied the ancient saying "not ashamed to ask".

  Shuiyao's eyebrows twisted, and she shouted in great discontent: "Don't call me Shuidajie, it's so disgusting! You northeastern bumpkin, do you call every three-year-old girl 'dajie'? Do you call everyone 'dajie'? How disgusting! Call me Shuiyaoer! Shui! Yao! Er!" Although Shuiyao's accent was a mix of northern and southern dialects, making it impossible to pinpoint her origin, she seemed particularly averse to the term "dajie" used in northeastern dialects when addressing someone with a close relationship.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yā Huì zhe shuō huà, kǒu qì gèng ruǎn: "Hǎo, hǎo! Shuǐ, shuǐ yāo ér, shuǐ yāo ér."

  Translation:

  Huoxiao Ya learned to speak softly: "Good, good! Water, water demon child, water demon child."

  Shuǐyāoér didn't expect Huǒ Xiǎoxié to actually soften his tone, and was somewhat surprised. Looking at Huǒ Xiǎoxié's smile, he said: "What's wrong, Monkey? You've suddenly softened up? Have you surrendered to me?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē grabbed his hair, gave a charming smile and said in a sweet tone: "I concede, I concede, please Water Demon, condescend to teach me!"

  "Kneel down and ask for instruction? How disgusting!"

  Huo Xiao Zhe hastily said: "Kui, Kui Kui, please enlighten me! I beg of you to enlighten me! I'm not well-read and don't know what to say!"

  "You rascal monkey, you look like a soft mouth, but I bet your belly is full of evil water! You're taking advantage of others with your mouth."

  "No no no, absolutely not! I'm really convinced!"

  The water demon covered her mouth and giggled, saying: "You want to watch the web, mobile station."

  "I'm really convinced! Kneel down and knock three loud heads, call me Grandma, and I'll tell you!"

  Huo Xiao Xie heard this, originally wanting to joke around, but after thinking about the sentence for a moment, his pride surged up, and his face immediately turned cold. With a "pa" sound, he slammed down the rope and sat down with a thud, cursing: "Not saying is fine! What's there to be proud of!"

  "Hey, you're changing your tune faster than flipping a book! This monkey temper of yours is really too much!"

  "Shut up! And another thing, if you call me a monkey again, I'll get angry with you!"

  The water elf jumped up and down, shouting: "Monkey, monkey, monkey, earth monkey, wild monkey, red-bottomed monkey!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī yì yuè ér qǐ, zhǐ zhe shuǐ yāo ér mà dào: "nǐ hái jiào!"

  Translation:

  Huo Xiao Yi suddenly jumped up, pointing at Shui Yao Er and scolding: "You still dare to shout!"

  The water elf stuck out her tongue and continued to jump and sing: "Earth monkey, wild monkey, red-bottomed monkey! Haha, monkey monkey monkey!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo's face turned red with rage, and he was about to let out a loud roar, but then his mind suddenly changed. He thought: "This little demon is so unpredictable, pretending to be crazy and silly, I reckon she's doing it on purpose again! With me tied up here, I can't hit her even if I want to, and scolding her won't make her angry either. If I keep making a fuss, I'll really become a monkey!"

  Huoxiao Ye thought to himself, feeling a bit relieved, and whistled softly before sitting back down, saying in a lackluster tone: "I'm too lazy to bother with you, I'm going to sleep." Huoxiao Ye's ability to save face for himself was also top-notch among the lower-class thieves of Fengtian City. As he spoke, he truly leaned against the haystack and closed his eyes to take a nap.

  The water demon child sang a few more sentences about the monkey's length and shortness, seeing that Xiao Yao had really closed his eyes and ignored her. With a faint smile... In an instant, the mischievous look on the water demon child's face disappeared, and she seemed to have grown up seven or eight years in an instant, looking elegant and mature, like a noble lady.

  Shui Yao'er's tone also changed, and she said in a soft and crisp voice: "Huo Xiao Xie, don't you really want to know how to untie this cow yellow rope?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié closed his eyes, and when he heard the voice of Shuǐ Yāo ér speaking, he was startled again: "How did you change to a little demon's mother's voice? My old heaven!" Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's body shook, and he opened his eyes to sit up. Indeed, the Shuǐ Yāo ér in front of him seemed to have changed into another person, with a gentle and elegant demeanor that moved people.

  Huoxiao Ye and Shuixiaoer were tired of arguing, seeing Shuixiaoer's expression, he couldn't help but sit up straight and carefully said: "You... you... are you Shuixiaoer?"

  The Water Nymph smiled lightly and said, "A woman from the Water family has a temperament that changes in countless ways, so you don't need to be surprised. I am indeed the Water Nymph."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé said: "I really want to know, but you, you..."

  The water demon child said: "I see you've already admitted defeat and have a bit of sincerity, I'll tell you."

  "What else can Xiao Ye do? Ziran nodded vigorously and said: "Then thank you!"

  The water demon sat down with his legs crossed, pointing at the rope on Huo Xiao's foot and said: "This cow yellow rope is not afraid of pulling or rubbing, it's just afraid of being cut by a sharp knife... look at the knot on your foot."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè lowered his head and looked at the knot, saying: "It's tied in a strange way, but I just can't untie it. Is it because it's too tight?"

  The Water Nymph said faintly, "This knot is just a blindfold. The cow yellow rope isn't tied up, but locked up. The knot is actually a lock head. One end of the rope is inserted into the lock hole of the knot and it's locked."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī wàn fēn chī jīng, bǎ jié jié fān qǐ yī kàn, zhòu méi dào: "Kě shì, zěn me kàn dōu bù xiàng néng sài jìn qù de ā, yī diǎn sōng dòng dōu méi yǒu……"

  Shuiyao'er said, "This cow-yellow rope requires the secret technique of the Huo family to open. You stretch out your hand and feel it, you can't find many hard lumps inside the rope. The Huo family only needs to pinch five of them at the same time and squeeze them in one direction, then the rope will be opened."