Chapter 287: Jar
E Ji was just teasing while talking to the little girl. She reached out and pinched the little girl’s filthy cheek, then went to the rice pot, sniffed it, and said to Yun Ce, “I’m hungry.”
Yun Ce smiled and said, “If you’re hungry, then eat.”
Just as Yun Ce lifted the pot lid, the little girl suddenly said, “My mother is also very pretty.”
E Ji laughed and said, “That’s for sure.”
Yun Ce stirred the cured meat rice in the pot, soon filled two rice bowls, gave one to E Ji and one to the little girl. As for the baby beans needed by the red date horse, they needed to be cooled first.
His act of giving the two meal was very natural, as if it was only right.
The little girl held a rice bowl, her eyes never leaving Yun Ce’s figure.
“Let it cool a bit before eating.”
Yun Ce gave the little girl a wooden scoop and took Yun Shuo from E Ji’s arms to make it easier for her to eat.
E Ji never minded her manners in front of Yun Ce. She scooped a spoonful of rice soaked in fat into her mouth, sucked in air while biting with her teeth, flicked it a few times with her tongue, and finally swallowed it down.
1 Seeing E Ji eating so enjoyably, the little girl also scooped a spoonful and ate it imitating E Ji’s way.
1 From beginning to end, Yun Ce never saw this child as a threat. Not only did he think so, but the red date horse thought so too. If it had been a strong man who came in instead of this little girl, he would probably already be embedded in the wall by now, hard to pry out.
1 Just like an ant crawling into a heavily guarded place and no one paying attention to it.
1 Yun Ce figured this little girl’s mother must have died not long ago, or she definitely wouldn’t have lived until now.
1 The little girl started eating very delicately, but soon the hunger made her lose control, and she began frantically shoveling rice into her mouth. Yun Ce’s rice bowls were always quite large because they were meant for noodles too, and the little girl finished that big bowl in no time. Seeing her bulging stomach, Yun Ce steeled his heart and didn’t give her a second bowl.
1 He poured her some rice soup left from the steamed rice and let her hold the bowl to drink it slowly.
1 E Ji had eaten her fill, but Yun Shuo was hungry. With only her husband and the little girl in the room, she didn’t avoid them and opened her collar to nurse Yun Shuo.
1 Yun Shuo nursed greedily, and the little girl watched without blinking. After a while, she set down her rice bowl, came to E Ji’s side, drooling as she poked E Ji’s breast with her finger and said, “My mother has them too.”
1 E Ji smiled and said to the little girl, “Yes, all mothers have them. Do you want to follow me from now on? I guarantee you’ll always have good food.”
1 The little girl slowly shrank back to the corner and squatted down, shaking her head. “My mother will come pick me up.”
2 E Ji said, “What’s your mother’s name?”
2 She thought the little girl would say something silly like ‘My mother is just my mother,’ but unexpectedly, the little girl said clearly, “My mother is called Shen Sanniang.”
2 Yun Ce smiled and said, “How do you know your mother is called Shen Sanniang?”
2 The little girl stood up proudly and said, “My mother told me, whenever I run into trouble, just say I’m Shen Sanniang’s daughter.”
2 Neither Yun Ce nor E Ji knew who this Shen Sanniang was, but seeing how much the little girl cared about her mother, E Ji went along and said, “Oh dear, so you’re Shen Sanniang’s daughter.”
2 The little girl nodded proudly.
2 E Ji leaned her mouth to Yun Ce’s ear and said, “Did you give this child a bowl of rice out of kindness, or do you think this girl has good potential?”
2 Yun Ce said, “The rice is cooked. If anyone hungry comes, I’ll give them a bowl.”
2 E Ji smiled and said, “I really like this child.”
2 “Then take her along. She has no way to live if left here.”
3 E Ji had made up her mind and wouldn’t let the little girl say anything. She tossed the milk-filled Yun Shuo to Yun Ce who had finished eating, had him boil a pot of hot water, pour it into a wooden bucket, add cool water to make it lukewarm, then stripped the little girl naked and tossed her into the bucket. She used Yun Ce’s remaining shampoo to comb the child’s hair, which was almost matted into felt.
3 It was only because Yun Ce’s military supplies were sturdy that he could comb the little girl’s hair smooth. But as the felt-like hair began to loosen, E Ji suddenly called Yun Ce over.
3 Considering she was just a small child, Yun Ce carried Yun Shuo over and looked where E Ji pointed. Yun Ce’s eyes immediately sharpened.
3 The reason the little girl’s hair had matted into felt wasn’t dirt, but blood—a large amount of blood. Now, under the combined action of the water and shampoo, it slowly dispersed, instantly turning the water in the big bucket inky black.
3 Yun Ce handed Yun Shuo to E Ji, squatted down himself, and personally bathed the little girl. He planned to wash her hair clean and then properly check her head.
3 This wash took a full hour and more, finally revealing the little girl’s true color.
3 And it also washed out many problems.
3 What made Yun Ce most suspicious was that this little girl wasn’t a child who had been hungry for a long time—her childish chubbiness was still there. Even if it wasn’t as watery plump as Yun Shuo’s, the baby fat was still clearly visible.
3 The child was very pretty, except for a depression on the back of her head with a glint of metal at the bottom, which immediately reminded Yun Ce of the Tiger Guards he had just subdued.
3 The Tiger Guards had a needle in their heads that couldn’t be removed, or they would die.
4 The little girl very likely had a needle in her head too, but with Doggy absent, Yun Ce had no way to confirm.
4 Having been washed for over an hour, the little girl was already very tired and fell asleep after the bath.
4 Looking at the little girl sleeping soundly wrapped in a blanket, Yun Ce said to E Ji, “This child’s meridians are open.”
4 E Ji’s gaze shifted uncertainly as she said, “You mean this child already has qi sensation?”
4 Yun Ce shook his head gravely and said, “Her meridians are open. How to put it—her current state is like a container. As long as internal breath is poured in, she would be a warrior.”
4 E Ji said in surprise, “Lei Ming just reached the hundred-man general realm, and that was only after you helped him with qi induction and he was tempered by the ancestral fire.”
4 “If this child…”
4 Yun Ce looked at the somewhat panicked E Ji and said, “I just tested it. Her empty meridians can accommodate the internal breath of one or two thousand-man generals.”
4 “He Junnian!”
4 E Ji looked at the little girl who looked like a New Year painting doll and couldn’t help crying out.
5 “Wu Tong begged the old divine official to help them get rid of He Junnian, who is also Gui Fang’s first priest Da Xuebeng. The old divine official refused and, to cut off Wu Tong’s hopes, expended great effort to forcibly perform the blessing sacrifice on Shuo’er and Tui’er.”
5 “Young Master, can you beat this He Junnian?”
5 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “If it were Shen Tingyu, I could clash with him now—win or lose uncertain. But if it’s the first priest Da Xuebeng, I probably can’t win.”
5 E Ji leaned against Yun Ce and said, “If we can’t win, we won’t fight. While He Junnian hasn’t discovered you yet, Young Master, you run first. I’ll go back to the Divine Dragon Hall right now. I dare him to cause trouble in the Divine Dragon Hall.”
5 Yun Ce shook his head. The strategy of running when unable to win had worked before, but not now. A child as small as this little girl had been turned into this state by He Junnian. Yun Ce didn’t dare imagine what this guy would do once he learned that the Yun clan’s two children had received the blessing sacrifice from the high priest.
5 No matter how good the little girl’s aptitude was, it couldn’t compare to Yun Shuo and Yun Tui who had received the blessing sacrifice from Liu Changsheng.
5 With his son’s safety at stake, how could Yun Ce as a father run? Run where?
5 E Ji gritted her teeth and said, “I knew there was no such cheap good thing in the world. Liu Changsheng is harming our child.”
5 Yun Ce looked at E Ji, thought for a moment, and said, “Take the children back to the Dragon God Hall and don’t come out unless necessary.”
5 E Ji said, “Husband, what about you?”
6 “I’m stuck in this quagmire.”
6 E Ji bit her lip and said, “What if…”
6 “Get out, get back to the Dragon God Hall immediately.”
6 Yun Ce sharply cut off E Ji’s words.
6 E Ji’s face pale, said, “Alright, I’ll go back now. I’ll use every means to protect our son.”
6 With that, she fiercely kissed Yun Ce on the face, hurried downstairs. Moments later, the black feathered eagle’s wings flapped in the courtyard. Yun Ce tore off the transparent hide covering the window and watched the black feathered eagle carry E Ji and Yun Shuo flying into the faintly visible imperial city mountain.
6 Sensing that Yun Shuo had landed safely, Yun Ce turned to look at the sleeping little girl. At this moment, he was unsure whether her appearance was an accident or deliberate.
6 If deliberate, then He Junnian was too terrifying.
6 With Doggy absent, he wasn’t at his strongest. After performing the blessing sacrifice, the old divine official wouldn’t be at his strongest for at least three years.
6 Yun Ce even began to suspect that easily obtaining the Tiger Guards was also part of He Junnian’s plan.
7 He hadn’t even met this old guy yet, and his mind was already full of this old guy’s shadow.
7 Now, Yun Ce only hoped this guy was still a carbon-based lifeform and not some strange thing.
7 Yun Ce’s gaze fell once more on the sleeping little girl before him—this was currently the only clue related to He Junnian.
7 Wu Tong should know something, and the old divine official should know something too, but Yun Ce didn’t want to seek them out yet. He was betting that He Junnian wasn’t as terrifying as he imagined, not as omnipotent as imagined.
7 Unknowingly, it started raining outside the window—this should be Chang’an’s first spring rain. This magnificent city was done for, but Shehuo was still there, still bringing Chang’an a spring rain on time, hoping this city could revive.
7 Yun Ce sat in the corner, the spot where the little girl had squatted before, trying to see his and E Ji’s earlier behavior from the little girl’s perspective.
7 The needle in the Tiger Guards’ heads allowed all Tiger Guards to link up, letting the commander sense the position and battle status of every Tiger Guards officer and soldier.
7 He was very worried whether He Junnian had many more children like the one before him.
7 Also, why hadn’t this child shown the dazed stupidity of the Tiger Guards.
7 Eyes don’t lie—Yun Ce was certain that the light flickering in this child’s eyes was the light of wisdom, not that of being controlled.
