Yan Tuo felt his blood boiling and couldn’t help but raise his gun as he started to stand up.
Just as he began to rise, Xiong Hei across from him was faster, leveling his gun: “What are you doing, want to die?”
Lin Xirou’s voice remained languid: “Your whole family is just like this. I raised you for over twenty years and couldn’t tame you—would’ve been better off raising a dog. Given how things stand, I don’t see much chance for reconciliation. This journey will likely end in someone’s death, either yours or mine. If you want to fight now, then come—one against five, oh no, one’s unconscious, so one against four. I’m confident I can kill you and escape before the Bai Tong Gui arrives.”
Nie Jiuluo listened until she nearly ground her teeth to powder, both feeling pain for Yan Tuo and having an urge to tear something apart. Lin Xirou had miscounted—it should be two against four. If Yan Tuo made a move, she would seize the chance to break out and coordinate with him.
However, Yan Tuo didn’t move.
He remained frozen in the darkness for a moment, then slowly sat back down.
Lin Xirou let out a cold laugh but said nothing more.
The atmosphere dropped to freezing point, with a deathly silence that was chilling. The demonic wind rose again, howling and moaning. Whether it was imagination or not, Nie Jiuluo vaguely sensed there seemed to be the sound of water mixed in with the wind.
After a pause, Yan Tuo spoke again: “What about my father’s death then? Did you have a hand in that?”
Lin Xirou sneered: “What, are you trying to settle all accounts with me one by one?”
“Your father’s death had nothing to do with me. He was just a coward who thought he could be the head of the household and support half the sky, but once your mother died, he completely collapsed. His eventual death from illness was entirely self-inflicted. Why couldn’t he just let things go and be more open-minded?”
Yan Tuo laughed in extreme anger, his tone becoming calm: “Why did it have to be my family?”
Lin Xirou responded nonchalantly: “How am I supposed to answer that? Who made it so that I met your father? If it wasn’t your Yan family, it would have been the Zhang family or the Wang family. I suppose this is what they call fate.”
Yan Tuo nodded: “Fine, Aunt Lin, I have one last question. Since you’ve come this far, let me die with understanding.”
Lin Xirou was somewhat surprised but knew Yan Tuo was just trying to get information: “Go ahead, whether I answer depends on my mood.”
Yan Tuo asked: “Why is only my father a Chang Gui, but not my mother or me?”
This question hit the mark, and Nie Jiuluo also wanted to know why some people became Chang Gui.
Lin Xirou replied flatly: “Want to know? Too bad I’m not in the mood to tell you.”
Nie Jiuluo nearly choked with frustration. Just from listening to these few exchanges, she had begun to understand Lin Xirou’s personality: she was the type who would never give people satisfaction, determined to upset them right up until the end.
Feng Mi suddenly spoke up: “Someone’s coming.”
Judging by her indifferent tone, it wasn’t the Bai Tong Gui. Nie Jiuluo’s heart lifted: although the Chan Tou Jun had been scattered, this increased the chances of running into others. Those approaching were likely either Yu Rong’s team or Xing Shen’s team, or at worst, hostages who had escaped from Lin Xirou. Either way, they had to be allies.
Xiong Hei said casually: “Are they heading straight for us? Maybe they’re just passing by. Their dog noses can’t be relied upon anyway…”
As he finished speaking, he suddenly realized: damn, there was still an unconscious, untransformed Di Xiao lying at their feet. While the Chan Tou Jun’s dog noses couldn’t smell them, they could certainly detect this one.
Sure enough, Feng Mi cursed: “Damn it, they’re coming this way!”
Lin Xirou didn’t want additional complications. She stood up: “Let’s go.”
Li Yueying glanced at the unconscious one: “Should we take it? If we do, we won’t be able to shake off their dog noses, right?”
“Leave it.”
Yan Tuo was reluctant to let these people escape. They knew the terrain well, and once they left, it would be hard to find them. However, sitting opposite with some distance between them, and with Nie Jiuluo still among the clay figures even further away, a surprise attack to detain them wouldn’t work.
Besides, two people couldn’t hold four anyway.
Nie Jiuluo was also unwilling to let them go: if they could just delay for a while longer, reinforcements would arrive. What a perfect opportunity.
She felt around her surroundings. The clay figures in this area had been damaged before, and she quickly found a broken piece. She aimed at the head of a nearby clay figure and threw it.
With a loud bang, almost everyone was startled and instinctively looked toward the sound. Xiong Hei even shouted: “Who’s there!”
Nie Jiuluo seized this opportunity to sprint several steps forward, quickly hiding behind another clay figure—she was now closer to Lin Xirou’s group than before.
Yan Tuo guessed it was Nie Jiuluo causing trouble. Although they hadn’t coordinated beforehand, he still tried his best to play along, even acting very frightened: “What was that? Is it… is it the Bai Tong Gui?”
Nie Jiuluo found another piece in her hand. She used the same trick, hitting a clay figure far from herself, then used the chance to move closer to Lin Xirou’s position.
However, after two times, Lin Xirou became alert: “Let’s go, ignore it!”
Nie Jiuluo assessed Lin Xirou’s position, feeling it was worth trying. Steeling herself, she went all in.
She suddenly burst out from among the clay figures, charging straight at Lin Xirou.
On the other side, seeing her make her move, Yan Tuo couldn’t hold back anymore—creating chaos should be synchronized. He launched himself at Xiong Hei in the same way.
Lin Xirou’s reaction was incredibly quick. Seeing something rushing at her but unsure what it was, she didn’t dare meet it head-on but also didn’t predictably dodge to the side. There was a tall earthen mound nearby—she grabbed it with both hands and instantly lifted herself. By the time Nie Jiuluo reached her, she was already one or two meters off the ground.
Without thinking, Nie Jiuluo grabbed her boot ankle. She originally wanted to shout “Come down!” but felt it lacked impact, so she opted instead for a string of ghostly feminine laughter.
In a fight, frightening your opponent can be effective.
The laugh had a shocking effect—not only did it startle Lin Xirou’s group, but even Xiong Hei and Yan Tuo, who had crashed to the ground, were scared. For a moment, Yan Tuo even doubted whether this suddenly appearing person was Nie Jiuluo.
Taking advantage of everyone’s momentary shock, Nie Jiuluo forcefully pulled Lin Xirou down. As she landed unsteadily, Nie Jiuluo immediately slapped her across the face.
Damn, she’d wanted to teach her a lesson for a long time.
Lin Xirou had never encountered someone who fought by slapping in a fight. Her mind went blank for a moment. Nie Jiuluo pressed her advantage, grabbing her hair, intending to slam her head against the earthen mound when Feng Mi pounced from the side.
Seeing this aggressive stance, Nie Jiuluo didn’t dare engage directly—she was now protective of her arms and fought with some restraint.
Without letting go of the hair she gripped, she used the pulling force to spin and sweep her leg. With a heavy thud, all three of them fell, piling on top of each other.
Lin Xirou fell because Nie Jiuluo had pulled her down by the hair, while Feng Mi fell because her legs had been swept out from under her.
As soon as she hit the ground, Nie Jiuluo let go and rolled away on all fours.
She feared Di Xiao biting or scratching her while wondering: wasn’t there someone called Li Yueying too? Why hadn’t she joined in for a three-on-one?
Looking up, she saw Yan Tuo and Xiong Hei rolling on the ground ahead, locked in fierce combat, while at the same time, voices drew closer, sounding familiar, with Xing Shen’s voice faintly audible among them.
Lin Xirou shouted: “Go, don’t waste time!”
Before her words faded, she and Feng Mi had already vaulted over the earthen mound. Hearing the command, Xiong Hei seized an opportunity to forcefully throw off Yan Tuo and, in his urgency, scampered away on all fours like a beast into the darkness.
On this side, Nie Jiuluo could now see the figures rushing over, while on the other side, Lin Xirou’s group was about to disappear…
A sudden inspiration struck her, and she called out loudly: “Lin Xirou, don’t you want to see your son? Your flesh and blood! He’s right here!”
Lin Xirou’s fleeing figure wavered and suddenly stopped.
Nie Jiuluo got up from the ground. That slap she’d given Lin Xirou had used considerable force—her palm still stung fiercely.
Yan Tuo also stood up, leaning on his knees to catch his breath. Those few exchanges with Xiong Hei had been pure brute force—he hadn’t felt it during the fight, but now that he’d stopped, it was killing him.
Not far away, Lin Xirou had stopped running and slowly turned around.
Nie Jiuluo felt mixed emotions: after all, she was a mother who still cared for her son. Using this method to trap Lin Xirou—it was hard to say whether it was appropriate or not.
Looking back, the approaching group was indeed Xing Shen’s team, though their numbers were fewer than when they’d set out, appearing sparse. They weren’t using flashlights but had light sticks: compared to flashlight beams, the brightness wasn’t as harsh but still allowed visibility.
Xing Shen came straight over, first scanning the surroundings, and not bothering with pleasantries, got straight to the point: “Where are Yu Rong and the others?”
“We encountered Bai Tong Gui, those white-eyed things, and got scattered.”
Xing Shen nodded; it was as he’d expected—they’d had the same experience.
Nie Jiuluo pointed at the light stick: “Using this light, aren’t you afraid of attracting the Bai Tong Gui again?”
Xing Shen: “For now, it doesn’t matter much. I saw them leave. Later I’ll go to higher ground, it’s better to keep watch there.”
Saw?
Nie Jiuluo was confused at first, then realized: that Xing Shen’s eyes could “see” without needing light he could see more and further without it.
Xing Shen looked toward Lin Xirou’s direction: “Those people are…”
Nie Jiuluo lowered her voice: “Lin Xirou’s group. They also encountered Bai Tong Gui, and Uncle Jiang’s group got scattered. Where’s Macha? I want to use Macha to hold her back and find a way to capture her. If she escapes, it’ll be hard to find her later, and she’ll keep causing us trouble.”
Xing Shen nodded and whistled backward.
Macha came over, still wearing children’s clothes. Probably due to their hasty escape from the Bai Tong Gui, it had lost one shoe.
As before, it was afraid of Nie Jiuluo, shrinking back slightly when it got close before trembling to a stop.
Nie Jiuluo called out to Lin Xirou in the distance: “Standing so far away, won’t you come look?”
Lin Xirou laughed: “Come look and fall into your trap? You’ve set bait, trying to catch me, right?”
Quite clever. Nie Jiuluo kept smiling while secretly anxious, and quietly asked Xing Shen: “If Macha goes over, can it follow your orders to attack Lin Xirou?”
Xing Shen pondered for a moment: “Going over… that’s possible, but attacking would be difficult. Macha is still quite fearful of Di Xiao.”
That instinctive fear of powerful peers—last time it hadn’t dared attack Xiong Hei either.
He bent down, stroking Macha’s neck while murmuring something softly.
Macha hesitated for a while before continuing forward, half walking, half crawling. Everyone on both sides of the standoff remained still; only it moved, its thin frame and twisted form appearing pathetic and laughable in the pale cyan lamplight.
As Nie Jiuluo watched, she suddenly shuddered.
She felt she was quite terrible herself, coming up with the idea of using a son to trap his mother. There were many ways to deal with Lin Xirou—why use this method?
She couldn’t get over it morally.
Macha stopped at some distance in front of Lin Xirou, raising its head as if sizing her up.
Xing Shen said: “It’s quite difficult.”
Nie Jiuluo didn’t understand: “What’s difficult?”
“Only Lin Xirou is watching Macha; the others around her are on guard. Our people can’t get around them. Setting up an ambush would be very difficult—we probably can’t capture her.”
Nie Jiuluo made a sound of agreement, then suddenly had a strange thought: “Would they… recognize each other as mother and son, and then Macha runs away with her?”
Xing Shen was startled: “That… surely not? Macha has been with us for many years.”
But what did many years matter? Perhaps blood ties and instinct could overcome everything else.
Nie Jiuluo bit her lip, unable to explain her current feelings.
Just then, something strange happened.
Macha’s whole body shuddered, like a small animal bristling before battle. Its back arched high, and even from behind, they could see it was full of aggression. It paced back and forth restlessly in place, several times seeming ready to spring—clearly showing intent to attack.
Lin Xirou had no particular reaction, just kept staring at Macha. Her facial expression couldn’t be seen.
This was odd, even Xing Shen found it puzzling: “What’s… wrong with Macha?”
Before he finished speaking, Macha charged straight forward.
It attacked.
Unfortunately, this kind of attack was too amateurish against people like Lin Xirou. Xiong Hei at her side rushed forward one step and with a single kick sent Macha flying, tumbling several times as it hit the ground.
This turn of events completely confused Nie Jiuluo, and she blurted out: “He’s… not your son?”
After a brief silence, Lin Xirou burst into laughter, somewhat eerily. Listening carefully, there was less joy and more desolation in her laugh.
She said: “He is my son, no mistake about that. Looks like he recognized me. Such a connection between mother and son, able to recognize me after so many years.”
As she finished, her laughter suddenly ceased, her tone not without mockery: “You bunch of fools, from over two thousand years ago right up until now, you thought Macha was stolen by the Chan Tou Jun? That I was a mother desperately searching for her son? You thought you were hunting Di Xiao? From the very beginning, from the very start, it was us hunting you.”