Chapter 67 Return to Fengtian (1)

  Zhang Siye and his large team of men were hot on their heels, and it seemed that they would catch up to Yan Jing Tian's location in just a short distance of one li.

  Zhang Siye whipped the horse to run faster, but after a night of rapid galloping, the horse was exhausted and foaming at the mouth. Zhang Siye urged it on again with another lash of the whip, but the horse could no longer hold out, its front legs gave way, and it fell forward with a thud. As the horse collapsed, Zhang Siye cursed loudly, then leapt from the horse's back, landing in front of it, rolled once, and stood up unscathed.

  The horses ridden by the hook soldiers behind Zhang Siye were not many that could still hold on. The hook soldiers saw Zhang Siye fall off and hurriedly pulled tight the reins, stopping the running horses. These horses from galloping to sudden stop, couldn't withstand this force, just stopped steadily, suddenly neighed loudly, stumbled and fell down several matches.

  Zhang Siye walked to his horse's side, pulled the reins to make it stand up, but the horse struggled and couldn't get up no matter what. The leopard dog panted heavily, its tongue hanging out, it had run all night with the horse and was extremely tired, it could only nuzzle the horse's back with its head, making low whimpers, trying to help Zhang Siye make the horse stand up, but it was still in vain.

  Zhang Siye turned his head and saw that more than 20 horses behind him had fallen down, nearly half of them lying horizontally or vertically.

  "Zhang Siye slapped his thigh and cursed: 'These inferior horses!'"

  Mr. Zhou walked over and said: "Zhang Siye, humans can hold on, but the horses can't take it anymore. I'm afraid we won't be able to chase after them again."

  Zhang Siye's face turned fierce as he gazed southward. He slapped his thigh and cursed, "Just a few more miles and we could have caught up! Now they've escaped again!"

  Mr. Zhou said quietly: "The mules can't hold on either, Zhang Siye, let's rest here."

  "Alas! Heaven is not helping me! Heaven is not helping me!"

  Mr. Zhou said: "I'm afraid our journey is endless, it's definitely not a matter of one or two months."

  Zhang Siye looked south, gritted his teeth and said: "Even if it's ten or eight years, I'll accept it!" Zhang Siye turned around and called out to the soldiers, "Brothers, let's rest on the spot! We'll make further plans later!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié turned west and climbed over two small hills, already quite far from Yan Jing Tian and the others. Only then did he change direction and head north. In this hilly region, the further north one went, the higher the hills became. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié walked along the mountain top for a while before seeing smoke rising up from below.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī kàn fāng wèi, sì hū jiù shì yán jǐng tiān cóng luò mǎ kè zhàn chū lái, yí lù qián xíng de dào lù fāng xiàng.

  Huo Xiao Ye hastily rushed forward along the mountain road, and then lay down behind a large rock to look down. Sure enough, more than 20 people were sitting in a circle on the edge of the mountain road two miles away, roasting something over an open flame. From their appearance, it was indeed Zhang Siye and his gang.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé shuō huí shēn zǐ, jīng dào: "zěnme tāmen méi yǒu zhuī shàng qù? háishì tāmen yǐjīng zhuā zhù le Yán Dàgē tāmen?"

  Huo Xiao Ye poked his head out to take a look, saw that Zhang Si Ye and the others were just resting by the side of the road, and only then did he feel at ease. He tidied up his luggage and was about to continue on his way.

  Who would have thought that behind him, someone coldly said: "Aren't you afraid of being seen by Zhang Si?"

  Under the sudden shock, there was a burst of joy in his heart. He slowly turned his head to look over and saw that Water Demon was leaning against a tree with an expressionless face, but her eyes were exceptionally beautiful at this moment, staring tightly at Huo Xiao Xie, blinking slightly and continuously.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié didn't know whether to be happy or worried, so he lightly said: "Shuǐ Yāo ér, how is it you..."

  The water demon child walked two steps forward, still saying coldly: "Do you know the way back to Fengtian? I look at you like this, don't mention going back to Fengtian, I'm afraid that after a while, you'll get lost and die in this mountain ditch."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xiào laughed and said: "This person's life is cheap, he won't die easily."

  Shuiyao'er took a few steps forward and stood beside Huoxiao Xie, not looking at him, and said lightly: "Do you hate me for killing your brother?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé didn't respond and just stood there quietly.

  The Water Fairy said:

  "I'll take you back to Fengtian, help you rescue your brother. You can follow me or go on your own! It's up to you!" The water demon said, walking past Huo Xiaoyao and heading towards a mountain path on the side.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié turned around, looking at the back of Shuǐ Yāo ér, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He let out a soft sigh and quickly caught up to her, following closely behind. "Shuǐ Yāo ér, slow down! I'm going back to Fēng Tiān with you."

  Shuǐyāoér stopped in her tracks, lowered her head, and turned her face to the side that Huǒ Xiǎoxié couldn't see. Her shoulders slightly heaved up and down. Huǒ Xiǎoxié was startled in his heart, hastily jumped forward, grabbed Shuǐyāoér's arm, and anxiously said: "Shuǐyāoér, you..."

  The little water demon suddenly let out a loud laugh, raised her face, and had a mischievous look on her face. She said: "Monkey monkey, what's with you? You think I'm crying?"

  The fire is small and evil, with a tongue-tied mouth, and doesn't know what to say that's good.

  Shuǐyāoér xiào dào: "Hóuzi, nǐ shì fǒu xǐhuān wǒ de lěngbīng bīng de yàngzi?"

  Translation:

  "Water demon child smiled and said: 'Monkey, do you like my cold icy appearance?'"

  "Stop it, stop it, Water Fairy! Don't tease me anymore..."

  "Who still likes to tease you? Stop being so smug! Never mind, let's go, let's go!" She said, bouncing and jumping forward.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē cried and laughed at the same time, couldn't think of a way to deal with this water demon, so he had no choice but to quickly follow up.

  The water demon child seemed to be very familiar with the mountain roads in this area, and led Huo Xiao Xie over the mountains with ease. When asked, the water demon child said that her father, the Water King, had drawn a map of this area before, which she had memorized by heart before coming to Feng Tian. As for Yan Jing Tian's side, the water demon child also mentioned it briefly.

  Shui Yao'er saw Huo Xiao'e leave, and after a moment of silence, she bid farewell to Yan Jing Tian, wanting to find Huo Xiao'e together to return to Fengtian. Yan Jing Tian thought for a moment and didn't stop her, only asking if Shui Yao'er wanted to leave the Linglong Mirror with them to distract Zhang Siye and his men. Shui Yao'er didn't respond and bid farewell to everyone, following Huo Xiao'e's trail. In fact, with Shui Yao'er's skills, she had already caught up with Huo Xiao'e, but she didn't approach immediately, instead following Huo Xiao'e until she saw him observing Zhang Siye and his men below the mountain, then came out to meet him.

  Huoxiao Ye and Shuǐyāoér didn't say much on the way, hastening their journey, only resting a few times along the road. By nightfall, they had already arrived at Tongshan Town, which was nearly 200 miles away from Fengtian City. The two did not enter the town but instead found an abandoned and uninhabited farmhouse to rest in.

  Shuiyao'er had Huoxiao Xie wait for her in the room, and she went out alone. After about an hour, she came back with a package of clothes. Shuiyao'er spread out a set of clothes and let Huoxiao Xie change into them. Huoxiao Xie saw that the fabric was exquisite but not new, and guessed that it must have been stolen by Shuiyao'er.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé had grown accustomed to his life of thievery and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He changed into the clothes, which fit him perfectly, and looked like a decadent young master from a wealthy family.

  The water demon hid to one side, fiddling with something for half a day, then coughed and walked out. Fire Xiao saw him and burst out laughing. It turned out that the water demon wasn't dressed as a girl, but rather as an old man slightly hunched over, every move extremely realistic, without any flaws.

  The little water elf spoke with a strong Beijing accent, sounding like an old, fallen Manchu noble: "My grandson, how do you think your grandfather looks in this outfit?"

  "Who is your grandson!"

  The old man's voice scolded: "You ungrateful grandson, don't you even recognize your own grandfather?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē le yè zuǐ, shuō dào: "Hǎo le, Shuǐ Yāo ér, bú yào dòu le, nǐ shì dǎ suàn wǒmen yòng zhè ge yàng zi, hùn jìn Fèng Tiān Chéng qù ma?"

  The water demon changed into a female voice and chuckled: "Of course, what did you think? A lone man and woman attracting attention?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé scratched his head and said: "That's right, that's right."

  The water demon changed into an old man's voice: "Monkey, I'm going to dress you up so that no one can recognize you. From now on, your name is Hou Jinguo, and I am your grandfather Hou Jinren."