The tall one and short one were both thoroughly excited. The tall one pulled the short one aside to whisper privately.
“About this—should we maybe not tell the Guardian first?”
The short one was alarmed. “Boss, are you actually planning a rebellion?”
The tall one smacked him first, then answered, “Rebellion, my foot. What I mean is, we don’t tell the Guardian yet—we work with this scholar first, and then surprise the Guardian with it later! He’ll be amazed, no doubt about it!”
The short one thought it over for a moment, then immediately gave a thumbs up. “Great idea, Boss, you’re really smart!”
So the two of them returned to Baili Weisheng. “Scholar, we’ve decided—we’ll work with you.”
Baili Weisheng had just finished treating Jun Yaotiao’s wounds. Since she was a young girl, he hadn’t examined the wounds directly, but had instead sealed off the flow of her blood qi to stop the bleeding.
He held her sleeping form and gestured for silence toward the two of them. “Shh… don’t wake her.”
The tall one lowered his voice and repeated, “Scholar, we’ve decided—we’ll work with you.”
Baili Weisheng had already expected this outcome and wasn’t the least bit surprised, nodding calmly.
The tall one felt rather deflated—no sense of accomplishment at all.
So he lowered his voice again. “Scholar, Li Qinqin is extremely fast. Let’s go, we’ll lead the way—otherwise you’ll never make it there by the full moon on the fifteenth.”
Baili Weisheng carefully wrapped Jun Yaotiao’s outer robe around her, his expression serious and focused, which left the tall one and short one both puzzled.
“Boss, why do I get the feeling he’s actually her father?”
“Have you ever seen such a young father? Doesn’t even look like her, either.”
After a good while, Baili Weisheng finally finished fussing over her and stood up, glancing at the two of them. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to Xijing—you two lead the way once we’re close.”
At this, the tall one and short one burst out laughing.
“Boss, he definitely didn’t hear what we said earlier,” the short one said, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
The tall one managed to compose himself somewhat, clutching his stomach. “Scholar, you say you’ll take us there—are you planning to walk, or ride horses? How long do you figure it’ll take?”
Baili Weisheng smiled brilliantly. “I’ll swim there.”
“What?” The tall one was stunned, then burst out laughing again.
Baili Weisheng laughed right along with him. “Hahaha, hahaha!”
His laughter drowned out theirs entirely. At the same time, Jun Yaotiao stirred groggily awake in his arms. She blinked her sleepy eyes open and asked curiously, “Who are you people?”
Jun Yaotiao had been injured by Consort Li while asleep and had no memory of what had happened. Groggily, she realized she was being held by a scholarly-looking man—she froze for a moment, then let out a startled scream!
Baili Weisheng quickly covered her mouth, only to have her bite down hard on his hand and start struggling to escape.
At this, the tall one and short one grew curious—weren’t they told he was her godfather?
“Hey, hey, hey! Kid, settle down for a second! Listen to me!” Baili Weisheng hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Jun Yaotiao—this was his first time holding a child this size, and he wasn’t quite adjusted to it yet.
“Let go of me, or my mother won’t let you off! Who are you people!” Jun Yaotiao shouted. Young as she was, her martial skill was quite respectable—she genuinely couldn’t be pried loose.
The harsh reality forced her to realize this scholar was formidable indeed.
Baili Weisheng was about to answer when the tall one rushed over to snatch her away. “Scholar, you’re lying—she doesn’t even know you! You’re not her godfather!”
The short one hurried over to help as well. Baili Weisheng had no choice but to dodge—but unfortunately, the tall one and short one were remarkably fast, sticking to him relentlessly!
As Jun Yaotiao continued struggling, Baili Weisheng, thoroughly flustered, finally snapped at her, “Stinking brat, settle down! I’m Baili Weisheng, damn it!”
At this, Jun Yaotiao froze for a moment—then suddenly shouted right back at him. “You wretch, you’ve finally shown up!”
Uh…
“Boss, these two seem… pretty familiar with each other.”
“Guess so, maybe…”
The tall one and short one stopped in their tracks. Baili Weisheng was no longer holding Jun Yaotiao in his arms—he’d shifted to gripping the back of her collar instead, slowly setting her down on the ground.
For the first time in his life, called a wretch by a snot-nosed little girl, Baili Weisheng found himself momentarily at a loss.
Han Ziqing, oh Han Ziqing—you gave birth to two children, one who’s spent her whole life mouthing off at me, and now the other curses me out the first time we meet? How does this even happen?
Once she realized it was Baili Weisheng, Jun Yaotiao stopped worrying entirely, too lazy to keep struggling. She let her head and limbs go limp and said listlessly, “Where’s my mother and everyone?”
Baili Weisheng didn’t rush her either. He sat down lazily and said, “They all left to save you.”
At this, Jun Yaotiao suddenly leapt up, tearing herself free of his grip. “What did you say?!”
Baili Weisheng scooped her back toward him, pressing down on her shoulders to make her sit. Jun Yaotiao grew frantic. “What exactly happened! Where are my parents, where’s my brother?”
Only then did Baili Weisheng tell Jun Yaotiao everything, start to finish. As she listened, Jun Yaotiao clenched her jaw tight, her teeth grinding without her even realizing it.
“That’s how it is. Now, we’re heading to the bloodline clan. You go back to Da Zhou on your own—don’t get in the way,” Baili Weisheng said lazily. He’d actually planned to send the child back to the Da Zhou capital while she slept.
Baili Weisheng hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her, but the tall one and short one beside them were trembling with fear.
“Boss, do you feel that?”
“So obvious, it’s terrifying—she really is…”
Before the tall one could finish speaking, Jun Yaotiao, who had been keeping her head lowered the whole time, suddenly snapped it up—and in that instant, her once-clear, bright eyes were filled with red. She stared at Baili Weisheng, her mouth slightly parted, revealing two small fang-like teeth, faintly visible, a terrifying crimson!
“Ah… Sky Wolf fangs! Help!”
The tall one and short one screamed in unison, clutching each other in a terrified huddle. They were nowhere near as powerful as Li Qinqin; their cultivation was far too low to withstand the presence of Sky Wolf fangs!
Fortunately, Jun Yaotiao was still just a small child, and this was the first time her fangs had ever emerged—otherwise, instead of huddling together, these two would have been fleeing for their lives in separate directions.
Baili Weisheng froze. In his hazy, half-conscious state earlier, he’d heard Meng Duo’er explain everything—he’d assumed Jun Yaotiao’s fangs wouldn’t emerge so soon!
But as it turned out…
“Wretched scholar, if you dare ditch me and go on your own, I’ll never let this go!” Jun Yaotiao snapped furiously, seemingly unaware that her teeth had changed, mouth wide open, both fangs fully bared.
The tall one and short one squeezed their eyes shut in terror. A natural predator, so unbearably cruel!
Baili Weisheng watched her, the corner of his mouth twitching, and swatted her hand straight across—knocking Jun Yaotiao clean unconscious.
He shuddered, muttering to himself, “I’ll take you there—just, please, don’t bite me?”
Thank goodness, thank goodness this girl hadn’t yet developed the addiction and could still be controlled, could still be knocked out cold—otherwise, who would have let her bite them!
Not only did Baili Weisheng relax, but the tall one and short one breathed sighs of relief as well—how fortunate they’d run into this scholar. Otherwise, if Li Qinqin had simply dumped this child on them, the consequences… didn’t bear thinking about!
“Scholar, should we bring her along?” the tall one asked, concerned.
“Of course. If she doesn’t come, who’s going to bite Li Qinqin?” Baili Weisheng shot back. Jun Yaotiao’s Sky Wolf fangs had emerged at just the right time, as it happened. With that, he stood up to leave.
He’d originally intended to carry her properly, but on second thought decided to just sling her over his shoulder like cargo instead—carrying children in his arms really wasn’t something he was used to.
At this point, the tall one worked up the nerve to speak again. “Scholar, let us carry you instead—we can get there in a day.”
Baili Weisheng shot him a disdainful glance. “By water, half a day.”
Care to race him through the water, if you dare!