To the east of Qinghe Palace, among the rolling mountains, clouds and mist cover a sea of dark green trees.
There is a small group of figures faintly visible in the sea of trees, slowly climbing along the ridge.
At noon, the sun shines.
There are four people in this small group. There is a man and a woman in front of them. The man is tall and handsome, and the woman is petite and plump. They are Chen Wuyou and Xiao Qingying, disciples of Qinghe Palace who are out for an outing.
The two people behind were holding large and small bags. One of them was so tired that he was covered in sweat, while the other was a little better, but still panting slightly.
They are Chen Wuyou's disciples and Zhang Rongfang who came with Xiao Qingying.
These four people were all wearing light blue Taoist robes. The Taoist robes were slim-fitting and tied around the waist, and the cuffs were tightened. They were quite suitable for activities in the mountains and forests.
Zhang Rongfang didn't have many things in his hands. He didn't bring anything for Xiao Qingying, but only brought some preparations for himself.
After all, he is also a practicing disciple, not a martial artist, and not Xiao Qingying's servant, so it is normal for him to refuse to bring anything.
But the other disciple was completely different. This man named Zhang Ke was a handyman disciple. In order to curry favor with Chen Wuyou, he had to move to this position with great difficulty. Naturally, he was ordered around a lot.
Zhang Ke glanced at the two people in front of him, then glanced at Zhang Rongfang, who was carrying a few things, with a flash of displeasure in his eyes.
But there was nothing he could do.
"Brother Wuyou, look, look at the little monkey over there, it's standing up!"
"It's actually peeing on us!"
"This fruit here is so strange. I wonder if it can be eaten?"
"I have never seen this kind of butterfly before. Can I catch it and keep it for a while?"
Xiao Qingying's cheerful silver bells continued to spread in the forest.
Zhang Rongfang looked forward from behind and saw Xiao Rong with a gentle look on Chen Wuyou's face, constantly responding to Xiao Qingying's questions.
It looks like a picture of a summer outing.
only....
Zhang Rongfang looked at Chen Wuyou's behavior attentively, always feeling a little uncoordinated.
And the voice of this guy's voice... sounded familiar to him.
From his angle, he could see that Chen Wuyou was wearing a blue Taoist robe, with his long hair combed into a Taoist pattern and tied with an jade crescent crown.
His facial features are straight, his sword eyebrows slant into his temples, his lips are wide and thick, and his facial bones are sharp and angular.
At first glance, he has an upright appearance.
Moreover, whenever this person encounters a difficult place, he will reach out to help Xiao Qingying, without direct contact, but he can ensure the safety of the other person.
Being so aware of etiquette and considerate made the smile on Xiao Qingying's face brighter and brighter.
A group of four people unknowingly climbed over a hill and came to a depression with thick shade.
Crash, a sound of branches and leaves suddenly came from the front right.
A few people immediately saw an extremely fast object, carrying the bushes and rushing towards the distance.
"It's a squirrel! Sister Ying, wait a minute, I'll catch it for you and enjoy it!" Chen Wuyou's eyes lit up, and he rushed forward without waiting for anyone to say anything.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed into the bushes and chased after the squirrel.
Xiao Qingying was about to reply, but it was already too late.
"Brother Wuyou's body skills are getting better and better." She praised, straightened her chest, and felt some back pain, so she leaned against the black and gray tree trunk beside her.
*
*
*
A hundred meters away, in a woodland.
Four strong men dressed in black and wearing brown and yellow scarves were standing or sitting, waiting at the same place.
After a while, Chen Wuyou quickly rushed out from the bushes.
"It's your turn. Please be sure to get it, otherwise we won't pay any further remuneration."
The four men in black stood up one after another.
One of them, a short and stocky man wearing a black round hat, clasped his fists and said, "That Xiao Qingying has not even entered the rank yet. Let's separate two people and quickly capture her, leaving two people to deal with the other two Taoist priests. It's absolutely foolproof."
"Then I'll wait for your good news." Chen Wuyou clasped his fists.
These four masters are all at least first-rate, and they all carry human life lawsuits on their backs.
It was extremely easy to deal with a little girl who had no actual combat experience and had not even passed the level assessment.
As for the other two young Taoist priests, they are ordinary people who have never practiced. It is indeed not a big problem to handle this matter successfully.
Soon, four men in black rushed towards the direction where Chen Wuyou came.
*
*
*
Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.
He actually had some suspicion that Chen Wuyou was the man whose voice he eavesdropped on before. But because it had been so long, he was not sure.
It had been a long time since he had informed Xiao Rong. After such a long time, his memory was only at the level of an ordinary person, so it was naturally much blurred.
Before coming out this time, he advised Xiao Qingying to be careful of danger and not to go out.
But Xiao Qingying responded, saying that with Chen Wuyou's protection, she would be fine. Then she stopped caring about Zhang Rongfang.
Moreover, the place where they came out was not far from Qinghe Palace. It was just two hills away. If anything happened, they could run back to the mountain gate in time.
The third point is that Xiao Qingying herself is also a martial arts disciple. Although she has not reached the level, her physical fitness is far better than that of ordinary people.
Seeing that he could not persuade anyone, Zhang Rongfang could only report it to Xiao Rong in advance, and then he had to follow him out as a last resort.
Seeing Chen Wuyou suddenly disappearing at this time, coupled with his previous suspicions, Zhang Rongfang suddenly became more vigilant.
He secretly glanced at Zhang Ke beside him. The guy had a confused look on his face and was still taking out a sweat towel to wipe his sweat.
The bright attributes listed on its head are, 'Zhang Ke - Life 9-9, Skill: None.'
And Xiao Qingying’s attributes are, ‘Xiao Qingying—life 12-14, skill: Seventh Mountain Talisman of the Rejuvenation Purifying Time Talisman.’
In this attribute, life is only two points higher than Zhang Rongfang's own. If he encounters any danger...
He himself doesn't know any martial arts at all, and he can't beat anyone who knows a little bit about martial arts. Xiao Qingying alone can't deliver food.
"Senior Sister Xiao, I just saw that you dropped something in front of you. I think it's your belt!" Zhang Rongfang suddenly said.
"Waist tag?" Xiao Qingying was stunned and quickly touched her waist. Sure enough, she didn't see the waist tag. She couldn't remember whether she didn't bring it with her when she went out or dropped it on the way.
"Where do you remember it is?" Xiao Qingying turned around and looked at Zhang Rongfang impatiently.
"It's right behind. I didn't see it clearly just now, so I thought it was a branch or a piece of mud or something." Zhang Rongfang said seriously. In fact, he didn't see Xiao Qingying's waistband as soon as he went out. The reason why he said that was just looking for it at random.
An excuse.
This kind of excuse, even if it is wrong, will only cause you to be blamed and will not cause any problems.
"Go and help me look for it." Xiao Qingying said impatiently.
"I probably can't do it alone, let's go together, otherwise it will be troublesome if it is picked up by a monkey or something." Zhang Rongfang suggested.
"Okay." Xiao Qingying thought and quickly found Brother Wuyou and came back to wait for her brother Wuyou. As for being cheated, she didn't think Zhang Rongfang dared to lie to her.
Zhang Rongfang was brought up entirely by her father for her sake. If he dared to lie to her, he would have his father kick him out of the door when he returned.
"I'll help you find him too," Zhang Ke, Chen Wuyou's follower, said quickly.
"No, there must be someone waiting for Brother Wuyou here. Otherwise, if he can't find anyone when he comes back, wouldn't it be easier for him to get separated?" Zhang Rongfang replied. He couldn't trust this guy.
"That's right, you can stay here and wait for brother Wuyou to come back." Xiao Qingying nodded.
soon.
She and Zhang Rongfang walked quickly back along the route they came from, one behind the other.
"Here, let's go faster." Zhang Rongfang urged.
"Where is it?" Xiao Qingying lowered her head and kept scanning the grass.
ah!!
Suddenly, Zhang Ke's scream came from the forest not far behind him.
The two men suddenly raised their heads and looked in the direction of the sound.
"Where are the people? Why is there only one? Are there two more?" A male voice floated faintly.
"It must be nearby, not far away, search!" the rough voice replied.
"Someone is looking for us!? Zhang Ke, how is Zhang Ke!?"
Xiao Qingying's pretty face turned pale. Although she was good at martial arts, she had never fought in actual combat. When she encountered danger, she immediately panicked.
"It's true! Come this way!" Zhang Rongfang grabbed her and ran in a certain direction.
Before Xiao Qingying could react at all, she followed Zhang Rongfang and ran around.
After running for a while, when she came to her senses, she had already hid in a tree hole under a slope.
The gap in the tree hole is narrow, it is humid and hot inside, and there are many black ants carrying things up and down along the edge of the hole.
"Stay here, don't make a sound, don't come out! Don't come out no matter who tells you, even if it's Senior Brother Chen Wuyou, don't come back! I'm going to see what's going on!" Zhang Rongfang said a word, turned around and ran away.
.
Before he came out, he had anticipated that he might encounter danger.
During these days, he and Senior Sister Zhao Dacong learned Guanxu Kung Fu, practiced morning exercises together, and gained a certain understanding of martial arts masters.
So on the way here, he secretly observed the hiding place.
Zhang Rongfang knows very well that simply hiding in a tree hole is just as dangerous and he will be found sooner or later.
The only way is... to bring in reinforcements.
Of course he could just leave, but why was he promoted? It was because Xiao Rong wanted him to remind Xiao Qingying more.
Because of the righteousness he showed.
So if something happened to Xiao Qingying, and he was fine, Xiao Rong would never let him go.
Therefore, when he came out this time, as a precaution, he made an appointment with someone in advance.
Jogging all the way, Zhang Rongfang soon came to a slightly higher place, stood on a stone, and took out a cylindrical bamboo tube from the bag.
Then he quickly took out the flint and struck it hard, causing sparks to ignite a fuse on the side of the bamboo tube.
hiss.
The fuse burned quickly, and soon as it was approaching the top of the bamboo tube, Zhang Rongfang raised the bamboo tube and pointed it towards the sky.
I saw a yellow fire ignited inside the bamboo tube, shooting out a bright line of fire and exploding in the sky between several tree crowns.
Bang.
The sound of huge fireworks, accompanied by yellow flames like flowers, spread rapidly above the sea of trees.
Hundreds of meters away, two figures who had been waiting for a long time immediately raised their bodies and looked in the direction of the fireworks.
"Sure enough, something happened! Let's go!"
Without saying anything, the two of them picked up a knife and rushed towards the fireworks.
In a tree hole.
Xiao Qingying shrank down and trembled slightly.
She had never encountered anything like this before, and Zhang Ke's scream before made her still feel cold all over.
The sound of banging fireworks came from outside, giving Xiao Qingying a sense of hope.
"It's daddy's message fireworks!" She calmed down slightly and continued to remain quiet.
"Dad, they will definitely come to save me!"
Xiao Qingying hugged her body tightly with her hands and kept looking out of the gap in the tree hole.
Not long after, the sound of rapid footsteps came from outside.
"It's a communication tube. Move quickly, people from Qinghe Palace are coming!" a rough male voice said urgently.
"I'm looking for you here!"
"Spread out. After fifty breaths, no matter whether you find them or not, you will leave on your own and meet at the same place!"
"clear!"
Several people responded together, with obvious northern accents in their voices.
Xiao Qingying didn't dare to make a sound and waited until the footsteps quickly disappeared and disappeared completely.
Only then did she dare to relax a little.
After waiting for more than ten breaths, a lowered voice suddenly floated from far away outside.
"Junior Sister Xiaoying, where are you? Come out quickly, the bad guys are gone!"
The voice was very familiar, and it was clearly the voice of Senior Brother Chen Wuyou.
Xiao Qingying carefully identified it and confirmed that it was indeed Senior Brother Chen Wuyou, and her heart suddenly relaxed.
Just as she was about to rush out of the cave, she suddenly remembered Zhang Rongfang's advice.
"You stay here, don't make a sound, don't come out! Don't come out no matter who asks you, even if it's Senior Brother Chen Wuyou, don't come back!"
Xiao Qingying paused, her heart wavering between Senior Brother Chen Wuyou and Zhang Rongfang.
Soon, compared to the unfamiliar Zhang Rongfang, the gentle and handsome senior brother Chen Wuyou was much more trustworthy.
At that moment, she no longer hesitated and rushed out of the tree hole, rushing in the direction of Chen Wuyou's voice.
"I'm here, Brother Wuyou!" she shouted as she ran.