Chapter 173: Little Genius
The denser the woods grew, the more the sunlight was blocked, and the environment gradually turned cold and gloomy.
Chu Xu scratched his head in confusion. This didn’t seem like the way back?
Rustling sounds were incessant, as if something was crawling on the ground.
The child belatedly felt afraid, shrinking his little neck and vigilantly looking toward the direction of the sound.
The bushes shook, and Chu Xu instinctively stepped back. Suddenly, a gray thing jumped out from inside.
Chu Xu saw a gray shadow flash by, too scared to see clearly before crying out “Ah!” He fell on his butt, startling several birds into flight.
The wild rabbit was even more frightened, its long ears twitching as it hurriedly hopped away.
“So it was a rabbit.” Chu Xu patted his pounding chest. With a “plop,” a fresh dollop of bird droppings landed right on his shoulder.
“Ah!” Chu Xu jumped up and quickly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe it.
Aunt Xiao Huan had just made him these new clothes; he couldn’t let bird droppings ruin them.
His small hand wiped frantically. The bird droppings were wiped off, but a large patch of his clothes was ruined, with the stench lingering.
“Why am I so unlucky?” Chu Xu scrunched up his little face, tossed the bird-dropping-stained handkerchief into the bushes, and looked around. “Which way should I go?”
The child closed his eyes and spun in place three times, then pointed randomly.
“I’ll go this way!”
He refused to believe he couldn’t find his way back!
Chu Xu once again set off bravely with his little short legs.
Shang Wan in the shadows: “…”
How did this silly child escape the assassins’ pursuit back then? By sheer recklessness?
The wind howled, lifting robes and blowing hair into a mess.
Chu Xu stared blankly at the familiar cliff.
Strange, wasn’t he going down the mountain? How did he end up here?
“Yuan Yuan!” He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted down the cliff.
“Yuan—”
“Yuan—”
“Yuan—”
Echoes resounded.
“I’ll just wait for Aunt Shang to come find me.” Chu Xu sat down cross-legged, took a bite of a wild fruit picked along the way, and stuck out his tongue at the sourness.
He tossed away the wild fruit and continued shouting for Yuan Yuan toward the valley, then shouted his own name Chu Xu a few times, purely out of boredom.
Unexpectedly, he didn’t summon Yuan Yuan but attracted assassins.
Not too many, not too few—exactly four.
Chu Xu: “!”
Waa, he would never dare shout randomly again.
Four blades slashed down simultaneously, blocking all escape routes. Chu Xu hugged his head and squatted down, instinctively yelling at the top of his lungs: “Aunt Shang, save me!!!”
“Ah—” The echo rang through the valley.
“Bang bang bang bang!”
Sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground.
“Eh?” Feeling that he was still alive, Chu Xu opened one eye and looked up. A familiar figure entered his view, and he burst into tears with a “Wah,” reaching out to hug Shang Wan’s leg, rubbing tears and snot all over it.
Shang Wan: “…”
She still wanted her skirt.
“Good boy, don’t be afraid, it’s all taken care of.” She bent down to rub the child’s head, her voice gentle. “Not a single one got away. You won’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Chu Xu sniffled his crying-red nose, rubbed it on Shang Wan’s skirt again before standing up, and carefully poked out his little head to look at the green-clothed men’s corpses.
Yep, green clothes.
The assassins were dressed entirely in green, blending into the dense forest—hard to spot if not looking closely.
He sobbed, “H-how are they here? Didn’t they… leave?”
Shang Wan’s tone grew even gentler. “Silly child, you know they were ordered to kill you. How could they leave so easily?”
“Ah?” Chu Xu tilted up his little head and stared blankly at Shang Wan. His cat-like eyes blinked, and a teardrop on his thick lashes slid down his cheek.
Shang Wan reached out to pinch his cheek, softly saying four words: “I was teasing you.”
Chu Xu: (⊙⊙)
Shang Wan: “Do you know about fishing? If you didn’t get separated, how could we lure out the assassins?”
Chu Xu: Waa!
The young master felt his tender young heart had suffered serious damage.
Shang Wan said affectionately, “Though your scouting and counter-scouting skills are lacking, you do have one outstanding strength.”
Chu Xu buried his face in Shang Wan’s skirt to wipe his tears, then looked up upon hearing this, his little voice choked as he asked: “What strength?”
Shang Wan smiled. “You’re a little genius at getting lost.”
Chu Xu froze for a moment, then burst out crying with a “Wah.”
“Good boy, no more crying.” Shang Wan took Chu Xu’s small hand and walked back. “Let’s find a place to bury the corpses.”
Chu Xu: ?
·
The study room door creaked open. Lu Chengjing paused in his writing, looked up, and upon seeing it was Shang Wan, his expression softened involuntarily. He asked, “Did you lure out the assassins?”
“Mm, not a single one left.” Shang Wan had already changed into a new skirt. As she walked toward the desk, she said, “This time they were cautious, following Chu Xu in circles five or six times, until the last one showed up at the cliff edge.”
“You’ve worked hard, Niangzi.” Lu Chengjing poured a cup of tea and pushed it toward Shang Wan.
Shang Wan held the tea cup and took two sips, set it down, then bent over to gently wipe the green ointment from Lu Chengjing’s neck with a handkerchief, leaning in for a close look.
Though it was ordinary ointment, it was effective for mere tooth marks.
“The mark is almost gone.” Shang Wan simply dampened the handkerchief with tea water to wipe away all the ointment. Recalling his embarrassed look at breakfast, she couldn’t resist teasing, “If you like it that much, I can bite you in places others can’t see.”
Lu Chengjing pursed his lips, his slender white fingers unconsciously tightening on the writing brush, the tips of his ears visibly reddening.
“Speak.” Shang Wan smiled and pinched his earlobe. This habit of his ears turning red first when shy was impossible to hide.
Lu Chengjing coughed lightly twice, then said softly, “We’ll talk tonight.”
“Really waiting until tonight?” Shang Wan’s tone rose playfully as she leaned even closer, so close she could count his curled lashes and see the faint lines on his thin lips clearly.
A faint fragrance lingered with each breath, waves surging in the depths of his dark eyes, his distinct-knuckled fingers gradually turning white from gripping.
Hmm, the fox was about to extend its claws.
Shang Wan’s almond eyes curved, she straightened up to pull away, and turned. “I’m going out—mmph!”
A large hand wrapped around her slim waist, pulling her onto his lap, lips meeting, breaths hot.
Darkness filled the depths of his black eyes, his movements fierce and urgent.
Shang Wan tsked inwardly, lifted her hand to circle Lu Chengjing’s nape, her fingers gently kneading to comfort.
The actions at their lips gradually softened, becoming lingering and tender.
The ink-dipped writing brush, without its master’s control, rolled onto the white paper, dragging out a long curved ink line.
Sunlight poured through the diamond-shaped window paper, casting irregular light spots on the floor tiles, swaying with the breeze.
In the study room, the water sounds faded.
“Alright.” Shang Wan pushed away the handsome head before her, her fingertip lightly rubbing his ear, her almond eyes watery with amusement. “We’ll talk tonight.”
—Returning his exact words.
“Niangzi.” Lu Chengjing blinked in bewilderment, his deep voice laced with dissatisfaction and grievance.
His originally pale lips had turned rosy from the contact, adding a touch of allure to his usual cool, pallid demeanor.
Shang Wan’s almond eyes curved, her fair fingers trailed along his cheek to press on his reddened lips.
