Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-Two: Water Has No Constant Form (2)

  Huo Xiao Xie listened and followed Shui Yao Er's instructions to stretch out his hand to feel, and indeed, inside the rope on his ankle, he felt several bulges like tendons. If the cow yellow rope was a thick and large tendon, then these bulges were the tendons within that tendon. Huo Xiao Xie stretched out his hand to pinch, with each hand pinching one hard lump, squeezing them, it seemed to be movable. Huo Xiao Xie wanted to use other fingers to pinch the other hard lumps at the same time, but found it extremely difficult.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè tried for half a day, wiped the fine sweat on his forehead and said: "How is it possible to pinch five hard blocks at the same time?"

  Shuiyao'er said: "You certainly can't do it, but Huojia people can."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié tried again, but it was still impossible. The rope was as thick as a finger and had five hard knots that were slippery and flexible. It required great force from the fingertips to hold onto them, and if one's attention wavered or their strength faltered, they would slip away. Holding two or three at the same time was possible, but holding all five simultaneously and squeezing them in one direction was beyond human capability. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié sighed: "I can't do this! Does that mean it can't be untied?"

  Shuiyao'er said: "Fazi has told you, whether or not you can understand it depends on yourself!"

  The little demon scratched his ear and cheek, saying: "You've told me the method, but it's like knowing the moon is in the sky - you still have to pluck it down. How can I do that by myself?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè said, his brain turned again, and he quickly said: "Shuǐ Yāo ér, the two of us can do it together, right? I'll pinch two, you pinch two, and I'll bite one with my teeth. One, two, three, squeeze together, and it's done."

  The water demon child smiled slightly and said, "You're quite clever, but I only promised to tell you the method of untying the cow's yellow rope, not that I would untie you. If I really wanted to untie you, a single cut with a knife would do, why bother with such trouble?"

  "Ah, yes, I'm the prisoner and you're the guard. How could you possibly let me go?"

  The water demon child closed her eyes and slowly nodded, seemingly a bit tired.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè looked at Shuǐ Yāo ér, unsure of what she was going to do.

  The water demon's eyes closed tightly, then suddenly snapped open, staring with a terrifying ghostly face at Huo Xiaoyao!

  Shuiyao's face suddenly changed from calm and mature to a ghostly face, which was hundreds of times faster than Huoxiao's change in expression. It was as if she had been possessed by a ghost, and in an instant, she became a completely different person. Huoxiao was so frightened that he let out a loud cry, quickly shrinking his body, causing the weeds to fly wildly everywhere. Shuiyao relaxed her ghostly face and laughed, saying: "I told you, didn't I? Monkey!"

  "Ah! You can change your face! You scared me to death!"

  "Ha! Earth Monkey, don't howl like a wolf and wail like a ghost, you've really been scared, have you? How amusing!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé struggled to sit up, brushing off the weeds from his hair, and said with a quivering voice: "This move of yours, if it were at night, could scare someone to death! Is this... is this a skill of your Water family?"

  "Ha ha, I won't tell you now! Haven't I told you before? In Zhang Siye's house, I was a maid named Xiao Cui. Have you seen me before? Don't I look completely different?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē still looked frightened and said: "Even if it's you now, I wouldn't believe you're that maid even if you beat me to death."

  "Really? Then how about this?"

  Shuiyao'er said, turned around, took out a white handkerchief to cover her shoulders, blocking the upper half of her black clothes. She also combed her hair, revealing her forehead and temples, and tied it into a ponytail at the back of her head with a card clip. Only then did she turn around, looking at Huo Xiaoxie, and said cautiously: "Zhang Siye, just now, were you calling for Xiao Cui?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié looked at Shuǐ Yāo ér, and was stunned again. The person in front of her was clearly a little maid, even the demeanor and movements were those of a timid and shrinking little maid.

  "Is you, is you! You're the one who saved us when I was stealing food!"

  The water demon child still had a maid-like appearance and said with a bit of shyness: "Ah, I didn't intentionally want to save you guys..."

  The little demon was measuring the water monster child with a small fire, clicking his tongue in wonder, from head to toe.

  Saw the foot. Shuiyaoer twisted and said: "Sir, don't look at Xiaocui like that... I'm afraid..."

  "Huo Xiao Xi sighed: "Amazing, amazing! Water demon, you're really too powerful! Who did you learn from? But, but, what is your true appearance?"

  The water demon chuckled and removed the handkerchief from her shoulder, tilting her head to one side and covering her face with her hand. She slowly turned back around, reverting to her usual mischievous appearance. The water demon said, "Monkey, stop flattering me! Do I need you to tell me how intimidating I am? As for what my true form is... hmm, heh heh, what do you want it to be?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé said: "I don't know either... Ah, why don't you just stay like this for now? I think you're about the same age as me, and we can have a good conversation."

  "Alright then! Just take me as I am now as the real me!"

  The fire is small and evil, no matter how I listen to this sentence, it feels awkward, but I also can't think of what's wrong with it, so I just smiled stupidly twice.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié said: "What's his surname, Yan? Where did those people go?"

  Shuiyao'er said, "Yan Jingtian, big brother Yan, they went to Tonghe Town and should be back by now." After finishing speaking, Shuiyao'er looked outside and pointed into the distance, saying, "Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives, they're back!"

  Yan Jingtian, Yan Shouyi, Yan Shourong and Yan Shouzhen rode six horses from the small road on the side of the mountain to the broken temple where Huo Xiaoxie and Shui You'er were located in the front mountain col. Yan Jingtian was running at the forefront, with a anxious expression, whipping the horse desperately, wishing that the horse could fly.

  Yan Song was a tall and big-faced man with thick eyebrows and small eyes, and at this time he was also covered in sweat, shouting at Yan Jing Tian's back: "Master Yan, are we still afraid of Zhang Si and those people? Let them come and catch us! Do the Huo family still need to hide from them?"

  Yan Jing Tian turned his head and scolded, "What do you know! After receiving the Water Demoness and her two companions, we immediately detoured a hundred miles to avoid Zhang Si's hook soldiers!"

  Yan Song still refused to give up and shouted: "Master Yan! Either you leave first or I'll go eliminate these little insects!"

  Yan Jing Tian pulled the reins tight and shouted: "Yan Shou Chen! Are you going to defy the Fire King's orders? Say one more word, and you'll face family punishment!"

  Yan Song was extremely displeased in his heart, but he could only respectfully say: "I dare not! Everything will be done according to Master Yan's orders!"

  Four people and six horses continued galloping away!

  Yan Jing Tian and Yan Shou Yi brought the Water Demoness, the unconscious Huo Xiao Ya, and rushed to Tong He Town overnight. At dawn, they arrived at the outskirts of the town and found the mark left by Yan Shou Zhen, knowing that Zhang Si's large team had passed through and hadn't gone far, seemingly intending to rest in the mountain valley outside the town.

  Yan Jing Tian was afraid that bringing Huo Xiao Xie and Shui Yao Er would be inconvenient, so he took a detour to the side of the mountain, where he saw a dilapidated temple. He tied up Huo Xiao Xie with a cow-yellow rope and instructed Shui Yao Er to wait for their return.

  Yan Jingtian and Yan Shouyi waited outside Tonghe Town for a long time, and when they finally met Yan Shouzhen and Yan Shourong, they asked and learned that the place where Zhang Si was repairing was called Fengbo Village, which was one of Zhang Si's secret residences. Yan Jingtian thought about leaving as soon as possible and didn't enter Tonghe Town to rest. The four of them hurried back to the mountain to meet Water You'er and Fire Xiaoxie. On the way, they saw a cargo station with horses tied up, so they let Yan Shourong steal two fine horses to prepare for later use, and naturally left twice the amount of horse money as compensation to the original owner of the horses.

  Yan Jing Tian and his group were about to approach the broken temple, but from a distance, they noticed Zhang Si's hook-handed soldiers patrolling horizontally across the mountain, seemingly having discovered their trail. It turned out that Yan Jing Tian was anxious, but Zhang Si was even more anxious! As soon as Zhang Si's large team arrived at Fengbo Village, after making some adjustments, he dispatched two groups of hook-handed soldiers along with the martial artists from Fengbo Village to search for people. Given that Tonghe Town was a bustling town where merchants and cargo passed through from north to south, there were many merchant caravans on the move, and it was already daytime, it was not suitable to release the leopard dogs, so they relied solely on the hook-handed soldiers to conduct a human search.

  Zhang Siye's hook soldiers were familiar with the local terrain and knew who to ask, so they quickly found out about Yan Jingtian's whereabouts. They even discovered that there was a woman among the five people in Yan's group. The hook soldiers reported back to Zhang Siye while keeping one step ahead of Yan's group, narrowing down their search area to the mountain pass.

  Yan Jing Tian did not want to clash with Gou Zi Bing for the time being, so he detoured twenty miles and secretly returned to the mountain, heading towards Huo Xiao Ye and Shui Yao Er.