Chapter 14

Xiao Ai hurriedly followed everyone's gaze upward. Rows of arrows were poised directly above her head; rolling left or right would have left her skewered.

Seeing the smirk curl on He Mei's lips, Xiao Ai knew it was bad. Without time to think, she lunged forward in a frog-like leap from the ground, then scrambled desperately on all fours. She only stopped when she reached He Mei's feet, just as a series of 'whooshes' sounded behind her and a chill grazed her rear.

Xiao Ai looked back. An arrow was embedded in the ground, mere inches from her butt. It had missed by a hair's breadth; her backside had almost bought the farm for real.

In that instant, Xiao Ai was utterly traumatized, her emotions spiking into a frenzy. She glared venomously at He Mei standing right before her, who was still stunned by Xiao Ai's ridiculous antics. Suddenly, Xiao Ai exploded into action, grabbing He Mei and slamming her to the ground with a shoulder throw, then immediately following up with another.

The onlookers pivoted from shock to delight in the blink of an eye, the emotional whiplash too fast for their minds to follow. Jing Yuan closed his mouth, which had been hanging open, and let out a startled hiccup. He sighed in amazement, "I never thought I'd live to see our junior sister have such a noble and righteous moment."

Lao He, standing behind him, snapped out of it and kicked Jing Yuan forward, scolding, "What are you gawking at? Get over there and help!"

Quickly, Lao He, Jing Yuan, and A Duo grabbed the specially treated long rope from Mr. Jiayuan and rushed over. In a flash, they had He Mei tied up tight.

Mr. Jiayuan also hurried over, muttering an incantation under his breath. He then pointed a red light at He Mei's forehead. He Mei, who had been struggling fiercely, instantly went limp and started to slump toward A Duo. But A Duo, remembering the bodies in that house from earlier, flinched and jumped back in fright.

And so, the four of them just stood there, watching a delicate beauty like He Mei collapse onto the dirty courtyard ground, none willing to lend a hand. Luckily, after a moment, Mr. Jiayuan called over a few of his men to carry He Mei away. The others stayed behind to clear the corpses from the house.

They had arrived with a large, spirited group but returned utterly bedraggled. Everyone was covered in bloodstains and dust, stinking to high heaven. The four had initially planned to take the carriage back, but crammed inside, the stench became unbearable. One by one, they climbed out and ended up walking back with Mr. Jiayuan and the others.

By the time they got back to the inn, it was pitch black. The group was exhausted, starving, and dead tired. Mr. Jiayuan and the two constables saw them to the inn door and quickly took their leave. The four of them, leaning on each other, trudged painfully inside. Their filthy state scared quite a few guests. The inn's waiter recognized them and rushed over to help.

Once inside, Xiao Ai and Lao He didn't want to deal with anything else. They dashed to their rooms for a nice, comfortable hot bath first. Only after feeling fresh and clean did they rush back out to find food.

As soon as they got downstairs, they saw A Xu, the Fatty, and Little Wu relaxing, listening to music and snacking.

Xiao Ai walked over, looking deeply wronged, and asked in a plaintive tone, "Bro Haozi, when did you guys get back? Have you eaten?"

Hearing her voice, A Xu turned his head. Seeing Xiao Ai and Lao He standing there, he quickly pulled over two chairs and replied with a smile, "We could have been back by around three in the afternoon, but the County Head invited us to a meal at his place, and it would have been rude to refuse. We actually just got back from there a little while ago."

"How did you guys get back so fast?" Lao He, beyond complaining now, couldn't even wait for a proper meal. She snatched the melon seeds and pastries right from in front of the Fatty and Little Wu and started eating.

Mentioning that got Little Wu and the Fatty all fired up. Little Wu sprang to his feet, saying excitedly, "Sis Lao He, you have no idea! When we got there, we were actually spotted by that Xu Haoyue. And that Xu Haoyue was faster than the wind; he almost got away."

The Fatty slapped his teacup down. "You said it! Luckily, we came prepared and brought that Mr. What's-His-Name's treasure. We trapped him in that area. With his speed, we could've chased him for ten years and never caught him otherwise."

"Was it that Youyou?" A Duo chimed in, joining the conversation.

Little Wu, his mouth full of pastry, mumbled in agreement, "Mhmm, mhmm, that's the one."

"This Mr. Jiayuan sounds really impressive!" Xiao Ai couldn't help exclaiming. The Fatty rolled his eyes and went on, "Impressive or not, he still needed us to catch the monsters. You should've seen it! Brother Haozi saw his chance when that A Duo got knocked down by the treasure. He charged in, grabbed him, and slammed him into the ground a few times. Even after that, the guy still tried to make a run for it. Little Wu was quick too—he locked his legs around the guy's head and slammed him again. In the end, it was my 'Thousand-Pound Press' that did the trick. That's when he finally stopped moving."

Listening to them talk, and thinking back to how she'd nearly died, Xiao Ai felt more wronged and angrier by the second. She shot to her feet, slammed her cup down hard, and glared at the Fatty and Little Wu, her lips jutting out. At a loss for words, she just let out a few furious snorts before storming back to her room.