Chapter 353.1: Leave the City AgainOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
“Take a day off?”
“Aiyah, Brother, look, with me like this, even if I go to roll call, the supervisor will still get annoyed. If the supervisor becomes unhappy and takes it out on all of us, I’ll feel really bad for dragging you guys down.”
“Alright, alright. Brother Hu! In a little bit, help this guy ask for a day off. Look at how he is. His brain’s completely muddled and he keeps spouting strange nonsense.”
There came a deep ‘en’ from the side.
“Liu Da, Brother Hu has agreed, so don’t worry and just rest well. When it comes time to patrol at night, stop with your antics, alright?”
“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t screw up.”
“Alright, everyone, get ready to head out!”
The people of the military were very efficient. It only took a few moments for them to all head out the doors.
Tang Doudou loosened a breath in relief when they were finally gone. She felt for the soot on her face, then decided to go rest for now. During the night patrol, she’ll try to scout out Plum Garden.
However, scouting Plum Garden was nowhere as easy as infiltrating the patrol guards. She’d need to prepare some additional things.
As she was thinking about these things, she gradually drifted off to sleep.
She woke up just in time to see that the sun was setting. Rubbing her growling stomach, she stood up and prepared to go look for food.
It turned out that she had great timing, because the people on the day patrol had just gotten back. When they saw that she was awake, they called for her to go eat with them.
However, inwardly Tang Doudou remarked that these people looked like incarnations of starved ghosts. If she ate with them, she probably wouldn’t even be able to get the remains of the soup stock. Although her current situation was dangerous, she still couldn’t allow her stomach to suffer.
“Ahem, you guys should go first. I just got up so I’m still really drowsy. I’m going to wash my face first.”
“That’s probably a good idea. There’s so much soot on your face that you look like a monkey. You should hurry up and go wash, then go eat. The night patrol will be starting soon! And it’s weird, we searched the entire city today, but there was no trace of that Li Xueyi.”
Someone else commented, “She’s probably hiding somewhere, but she’ll definitely show up at night again to cause trouble. We have to pay attention tonight!”
“Aiy, I have such bad luck. I thought it would be a good idea to become a soldier since we’re currently in a peaceful and prosperous time, and it was quite nice for a while, there was stable income and meals, but now this happened. I heard that if we don’t find Li Xueyi within half a month, we’ll all be severely punished!”
“Stop talking about it! If the supervisor hears, there’s no need to wait for half a month, we’ll be punished immediately!”
They were walking as they spoke, so now they were already quite far away. Tang Doudou furrowed her brows. It seemed that after tonight, she couldn’t afford to stay in the patrol group anymore. If they couldn’t find her in other places, they’ll probably start searching amongst their own.
However, since they’ve already searched those other places, they probably wouldn’t search them again anytime soon. Still, she’d have to wait til tonight and see the situation first.
When Tang Doudou’s thoughts reached this point, she started walking towards a small alley at the side.
She had scouted out this place last night. In this direction, there was a small concealed door that led to outside.
It was already pretty dark right now, so her features couldn’t be made out clearly. With this outfit added on, she blended in very well on the streets.
However, she didn’t dare to head towards a well-lit restaurant and just ordered a bowl of plain noodles in broth from a street vendor. Then she sat down on one of the short tables and started eating while listening in on what the neighboring tables were talking about.
They were discussing last night’s event, but it was all very irrelevant. After she finished the bowl of noodles, she prepared to head back and rest while she waited for the night patrol.
Just as she stepped back onto the street, someone crashed into her from behind and almost caused her to fall over. She was just about to curse when she felt that something was stuffed into her hand.
Her back instantly became covered with cold sweat. Her eyes whirled, then she cursed, “Damned bastard, do you even have eyes?”
That person quickly ran off. She continued cursing angrily for a while as she slipped the thing into her sleeve.
When she got to a place without anyone around, she quickly pulled out the item to look at it. It was a small bamboo tube containing a message—10pm, west of the city, Phoenix Store!
After reading it, she hastily put it away again and walked to a well to drop it into the water.
Who sent her this?
It was written in the writing of the Saint Tribes, so the people from the Alliance Head Residence could be eliminated.
What was left was Mu Ye, Jun Xin, and Nan Maner. However, if those three wanted to find her, they wouldn’t use such a troublesome method.
That left Yiling!
Baili Yiling was very clever and filled with tricks. Having someone deliver her a letter by bumping into her really was her style, but how did Yiling know that she had infiltrated the patrol troops? And how had she been able to find her so accurately?
Forget it. If she could actually guess what Baili Yiling was thinking, that’d really be strange.
She should just go check out Phoenix Store when the time came.
She was actually quite familiar with that place because back when she was staying at the Alliance Head Residence, Xiao Bai loved to take her to Phoenix Store. Of course, this wasn’t the name of a store but the name of a location.
It was located west of Huai City. A lot of people from wealthy families liked playing there.
The troublesome part was, how was she supposed to leave the city?
All four of the city gates closed at night. If it wasn’t a very special circumstance, no one was allowed in or out.
In addition, the group she was in was in charge of patrolling within the city…
__________
Chapter 353.2: Leave the City AgainOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
“Liu Da! What are you still doing here? You didn’t go eat or wash your face, it couldn’t be that you really got infected by something unclean?” When the other guards saw that Tang Doudou was ambling back and forth in the courtyard, someone came up and clapped her shoulder. “What exactly is with you?”
Infected with something unclean?
A lightbulb lit up in Tang Doudou’s mind. She made her gaze vacant as she looked towards that person. “Huh? What?”
“I’m asking, why are you here?” said that person.
Tang Doudou’s eyes immediately cleared up. She looked at him for a few moments, then looked around. Suddenly, she cried, “That’s not right! I was clearly heading over to go eat! Why am I still here?”
That person was so alarmed by her antics that his mouth twitched nervously. “Y-you’re saying that you were walking towards the dining hall this entire time? But you’re still here?”
“That’s right! It’s already this late, of course I’d head to the dining hall to eat!”
That person was so frightened that his back became covered with cold sweat. He had a feeling that this guy was a little off since last night, but he never thought that this guy would encounter a ghost wall again today.
Tang Doudou inwardly was amused by how nervous he was, but on the surface, she made a troubled expression. “It couldn’t be that I encountered a ghost wall?”
Upon hearing this, that person immediately said, “I-I-I still have things to deal with, so I’ll leave first!”
After saying that, he ran off as if hell was on his heels.
Tang Doudou found it funny at first, but then she smiled wryly. In reality, relying on something like being possessed as an excuse for her actions wasn’t very reliable. If she wanted to leave the city without anyone knowing, she’d have to come up with some other idea.
But really, why couldn’t Baili Yiling have chosen a place within the city? Wasn’t this clearly messing with her?
What Tang Doudou didn’t know at that time was that the rumor of Liu Da being possessed had already spread through the entire patrol group. Once the supervisor found out, he first berated the people for spreading nonsense, then secretly came to the living quarters to find Tang Doudou.
“Liu Da, what exactly are you doing? Why are they all saying that you got touched by something unclean?” The supervisor got straight to the point.
Had he not spoken, Tang Doudou wouldn’t have known that he was the supervisor. However, she immediately realized his status by his tone and she hastily replied, “Supervisor, what do you mean? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“The entire patrol group is talking about this, but you’re saying that you don’t know?”
Tang Doudou replied helplessly, “Supervisor, I really don’t know. I haven’t spoken to anyone since I got back! If you don’t believe me, you can go ask them!”
“The fuck would I ask?” replied the supervisor angrily. “I think you should sit out on patrol tonight as well and reflect properly! Stop spreading rumors. If the higher ups found out about this, you can just wait to be dismissed!”
“Supervisor!” Tang Doudou hastily grabbed the supervisor to stop him from leaving. “I-I really didn’t do it!”
“What use is there in telling me? Just stay here and don’t cause anymore trouble!” The supervisor rapped Tang Doudou’s head in a vexed and troubled manner. “You ah, seriously! Back them, what had you promised me when your mother brought you here? But you’ve already been here three years and you haven’t made a single good achievement! You’re always doing dumb things!”
Tang Doudou was surprised. Fudge, this Liu Da had actually gotten in through connections!
That wasn’t right, if they really did know each other, then wouldn’t the supervisor be blind to not be able to spot the differences between her and the real Liu Da?
Tang Doudou’s mind whirled rapidly and came to the conclusion that there were probably other reasons.
Connections had different levels. The fact that the supervisor didn’t see through her disguise probably meant that this connection wasn’t that strong. After Liu Da was sent here, although the supervisor promised his mother to help look after him, he didn’t actually do it and left Liu Da to fend for himself.
The fact that he brought up this old incident was probably because he wanted to dismiss Liu Da and was trying to come up with an excuse to!
Once Tang Doudou reached this conjecture, she came up with an idea and put on an apologetic expression. “Supervisor, I’ve been pulling late nights every day this past period of time, so I haven’t been very focused. I’m sorry, I’ve caused trouble for you.”
“Everyone has been working very hard this past period of time.”
“My health has been weak since childhood. My mother sent me here so that I could become stronger and earn a bit for the family while at it… But I’ve been here three years already and still haven’t made any contributions. It’s seriously letting down my mother’s hopes and your considerate care!”
“You know yourself rather well.”
“But, Supervisor, I’m begging you. I know what you mean, but my mother has so much hope in me. If I, I… If I lose this job, she’ll definitely be very disappointed!” cried Tang Doudou beseechingly. Inwardly, she was considering her options. This supervisor meant to take this opportunity to fire her, so should she give him the chance?
It wouldn’t affect her much. Moreover, if Liu Da’s family lived outside the city, she could take advantage of this chance to leave the city.
However, it’d be rough on the real Liu Da.
As she was thinking about all of this, that supervisor said, “Liu Da, about this, you know, I’m not the one that makes the decisions. It’s really up to the higher ups… you understand, right?”
“I understand!” Tang Doudou quickly came up with an idea. She clenched her shirt, then asked, “Supervisor, how about this? I’ll use my savings from these past years as an apology. I hope you’ll help speak a little on my behalf in front of the higher ups.”
The supervisor’s expression turned stern. “Nonsense, what kind of person do you think of me as!?”
Weren’t you precisely this type of person? Who were you kidding? Tang Doudou inwardly rolled her eyes. If he wasn’t here because of money, why didn’t he go straight off to dismiss her and came all the way here to waste time chatting with her?
“Supervisor, t-that’s not what I mean!” Tang Doudou rubbed her hands nervously. “In my heart, you’re an upright and plainspoken gentleman that’s extremely fair! You’re like a lofty tall mountain that can only be seen and not reached! These savings are my apology and my thanks for your care all these years. If you don’t accept them, I wouldn’t be able to rest easy my entire life!”
“When you put it this way, it really, it really…”
Fits what you want too perfectly, right?
Tang Doudou curled her lips slightly in disdain, then continued, “Sir, actually, I have one additional presumptuous request!”
“Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll listen. Say it!” The supervisor was already calculating how much Liu Da could’ve possibly saved in these past three years.
Tang Doudou said, “I just hope that you can keep this matter from the higher ups.”
The higher ups were so busy recently that they didn’t even have time for breathers, why would they waste their time meddling in the matters of these small workers? The supervisor’s expression was happy since his mental calculations showed that there should be quite a sum in Liu Da’s savings. However, to put on a front, he sighed and said, “The only way to keep people from finding out matters is to not do them in the first place.”
“Then supervisor, how about this? I’ll take a trip home and wait until events calm down before coming back. At that time, they’ll probably have forgotten about this.”
“You want to go home?” The supervisor looked at her weirdly. “Your family lives outside the city. You haven’t gone back to visit them even once in this past three years. If you leave right after this happens, I’m afraid… it’ll arouse suspicion.”
Chapter 354.1: Phoenix StoreOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
Her guess had been right on the mark! Liu Da’s family lived outside of Huai City!
This meant that she had hope for getting out of the city!
Of course, she hadn’t been guessing blindly. When she had been taking off Liu Da’s shoes earlier, she found that he had hidden banknotes in his shoes. Would a normal patrol guard have something like banknotes?
So Tang Doudou’s conjecture was that he had probably accumulated this sum since he didn’t go home often.
Since her guess had now been confirmed, the following matters would be much easier to carry out. As for her actions being suspicious, she was sure that this supervisor would deal with that for her.
“Supervisor, to tell the truth, I’ve been wanting to go back for a long time, but I never had the chance to tell you. There’s one more matter that I feel like I need to tell you.”
When the supervisor saw her mysterious and hesitant manner, he couldn’t help but become curious.
He did have a slight impression of Liu Da. He was very timid and weak, so the higher ups didn’t have much hopes in him. He didn’t command much respect from the newcomers either and would often get bullied.
After rumors about him running into a ghost spread, some people were saying that Liu Da was off the hinges. When he heard this, he thought that Liu Da may have become unhinged due to being in such depressing circumstances for so long.
That was why he had come to take a look for himself. After seeing this, he felt that it wasn’t as bad as they’ve made it out to be. However, he clearly hadn’t gotten any smarter. The higher ups were the ones that formed the patrol group. If a member hadn’t commit some great offense, who would dare to casually fire a member?
He was the supervisor, but he was only in charge of managing these youngsters and really didn’t have much power. When he saw the higher ups, he’d still have to grovel and curry favor with them.
“Just say it! Stop dawdling like an old lady, I still have to go patrol!”
“Supervisor, actually, I know where Li Xueyi is!” Tang Doudou had glanced around cautiously before leaning close to the supervisor and whispering this.
The moment she said this, the supervisor hastily covered her mouth and shouted harshly, “Shut up! What nonsense are you saying!? Don’t try my patience, I’ll beat you to death!”
Tang Doudou was dumbfounded when he started yelling at her. Normally, shouldn’t he be happy to hear this news?
But he was practically choking her to death, how hateful!
When the supervisor saw that Tang Doudou didn’t struggle, he hastily released her. “You little brat! You’re seriously hanging the god of longevity! You feel like life is too long? So you’re seeking death?”
A trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes. “How about this, it’s fine if you want to go back. When we go patrol later, you can head straight out of the city. Make sure to bring your luggage.”
Tang Doudou asked delightedly, “Really?”
“Would I lie to you?” The supervisor paused for a minute, then whispered, “Was what you said earlier true?”
Tang Doudou was well aware that if she didn’t give the supervisor some concrete proof now, this tactic would end up backfiring and he might even start suspecting her, so she said, “Earlier, I saw a bamboo tube in the well over there. Inside was…”
The supervisor immediately made a hush movement, then whispered, “Take me there.”
“Understood!”
A few moments later, Tang Doudou was fishing up the tube she had thrown into the well. She handed the message to the supervisor and said, “It’s this one.”
The supervisor looked at the message, then his face flushed slightly because he didn’t freakin’ know how to read!
Tang Doudou noticed but she didn’t point it out and just continued explaining as if talking to herself, “Back then, I had no idea what this was. I was just thinking that the bamboo tube was quite nice-looking and might be useful to have in the future, so I shook it to shake out the water and the letter ended up falling out. I looked at it and couldn’t understand it at all, but I could still make out a few characters. This is definitely ten in the evening and then there’s those words at the bottom. It really looks like the words on the sign of Phoenix Store!”
The supervisor nodded in an understanding manner, then asked, “How did you know that this message was for Li Xueyi?”
Tang Doudou scratched her head embarrassedly, “I-I guessed.”
“You guessed?” The supervisor glowered and was barely able to stop himself from throwing the bamboo tube at this guy’s face. This guy actually dared to blindly guess about such an important matter!?
When Tang Doudou saw that the supervisor was angry, she inwardly celebrated. Then, she said, “It’s better to believe in a possibility than to let a possibility slip by. Supervisor, even if you don’t believe me, you should still show it to the higher ups. Even if it isn’t about Li Xueyi, it might be about some huge secret!”
“What you’re saying makes quite a bit of sense.” The supervisor considered it for a moment, then said, “How about this, you should go with the group to patrol for now. I’ll go meet with the higher ups and then help you out of the city once I get back.”
“Supervisor, if it’s too late, the city gates will close,” reminded Tang Doudou.
“Alright, then I’ll send you out first. I’ll just have them wait for a little while before rotating shifts.”
Tang Doudou knew that the supervisor wasn’t doing this out of sudden kindness. He was definitely thinking that once she left, there wouldn’t be anyone to compete with him over the credits for this achievement. His little schemes were clear as day to her.
After all, from the start, she had brought this up with the intention of making use of the supervisor’s greed.
The supervisor gave his word and had her head back to wait for the group to gather.
After an hour, Tang Doudou headed onto the streets with the patrol group.
She was with the group for about ten minutes, then the supervisor told her to follow him and they went towards the city gates.
When she got there, she discovered that there was barely anyone at the gates, but she didn’t dare to ask anything and just followed silently behind the supervisor. She saw the supervisor walk up and talk to the guards at the gate, then he turned and beckoned her over.
She thought that she would be inspected and was very nervous. She quickly glanced towards the city gates. She could probably rush out with qinggong if it was just this distance…
“Liu Da, you can go now! But don’t forget what I told you and remember to head back early, got it?” Unexpectedly, this was what the supervisor told her when she headed over.
She was elated to hear this, but on the surface, she just nodded dumbly. “I got it, don’t worry, Supervisor!”
“En, take care.”
Tang Doudou cupped her fist towards them and bowed, then turned to leave the city. This process had been too easy, it felt as surreal as if she was walking on cotton.
It was only when she walked out of the city and saw the flat open fields that it finally hit her that she had gotten out of the city.
Chapter 354.2: Phoenix StoreOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
She glanced around and saw that there were still a lot of people lined up waiting for the guards to inspect them. From the looks of it, the only reason that she had been able to get out so easily was because it didn’t occur that anyone that she would hide in the patrol group. It probably hadn’t occurred to them either that after all that effort she put into getting into the city, in the blink of an eye she’d leave the city again.
She walked to a concealed location, then took off all her armor. After making sure that no one was around, she shoved the armor into the underbrush, dusted off her hands, and started dashing towards Phoenix Store.
That message would definitely reach the higher ups really quickly. Layer by layer, the news would be passed up, so Phoenix Store would soon be guarded so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through. She had to get there as soon as possible and find Baili Yiling so that they could find another location to talk.
Phoenix Store wasn’t very far away, so when she utilized her qinggong to the fullest, it only took a few moments for her to get there.
“Yiling? Yiling! Yiling? Are you her…”
Before she even finished her question, her mouth was covered and a familiar voice appeared behind her. “Sister-in-Law, I’m not trying to be mean, but in the future, could you be a little more clean with the way you handle things? If you keep doing things like this, you’ll definitely be caught. It’s enough that you’re impersonating someone else, so at the very least, couldn’t you disguise your features?”
Tang Doudou peeled off Baili Yiling’s hand, then turned around and said quickly, “We can’t stay here. Let’s head somewhere else first, then I’ll tell you everything in detail!”
Baili Yiling had been waiting here for so long that she was starting to get hungry and her scout still hadn’t come back yet, so she had no idea what had happened and could only rely on Tang Doudou to explain.
“Heavens! Sister-in-Law, how could you give that message to someone else!?” Baili Yiling expressed that her heart was dripping blood. She had spent so much effort to deliver that message without a trace, but the receiver of that message had actually passed it to the people she had been trying to keep it from!
So then, Tang Doudou filled Baili Yiling in on everything that happened earlier.
Baili Yiling became even more speechless. “Of all the ideas out there, you insisted on choosing the stupidest one!”
Tang Doudou just smiled. She patted her stomach that was hurting slightly and said, “We’d better leave!”
After walking for a little while, they reached the old temple she had been staying at earlier. From the lack of fire, it was obvious that no one was there.
Baili Yiling still checked the surroundings after walking in. When she confirmed that there was no one around, she hastily walked up and grabbed Tang Doudou’s wrist. She observed her pulse for a while, then looked towards Tang Doudou and asked, “Sister-in-Law, did you find my brother?”
Tang Doudou was confused as to why Baili Yiling suddenly took her pulse. “What are you doing? I’m feeling fine?”
“That’s good. If you feel off anywhere, you have to tell me! If you don’t tell me, I can’t give the right prescription.”
“En, I will.”
After a moment, Tang Doudou said, “I found your brother, but he’s lost his memories.”
“Huh?” Baili Yiling cried out in surprise, “Big Brother lost his memories? Are you sure? How could he lose his memories?”
Tang Doudou rolled her eyes. “I’m a dog if I’d lie to you. We had managed to get to Green Maple City together, but he seemed to recall something and said that he had to leave for a couple days. Later, I thought that our identities had become exposed so I rushed here. You already know about the events that happened after that. Actually, I’m really curious. How had you been able to guess that I was in the patrol group?”
“It’s simple ah!” Baili Yiling smirked, “Based on how simple that brain of yours is, you’d definitely think that the most dangerous place is the safest. However, it’s also fortunately that you think in such a silly way. Those people were so busy looking for you that they didn’t even stop to think hard yet. If they actually stepped back and considered your style, you’d be out of luck!”
Upon hearing this, Tang Doudou rapped her forehead. “Pei! Brat, you’d be the one out of luck. How could you talk about your sister-in-law this way?”
Her luck was already bad enough lately, if she completely ran out of it she’d probably be done for!
“Oww! Fine, my good sister-in-law, what do you plan to do now?” Baili Yiling rubbed her forehead with a pout. She had come here to help her out of good intentions, this rap was completely unfair.
“Did you come to find me yourself or?”
“Me? Jun Xin was the one that sent me.”
“Him?” Tang Doudou looked at her with surprise. “You have to tell me in detail what exactly is going on. What exactly happened with Jun Xin? Why didn’t he come himself?”
“I’ll tell you everything in detail once we get to a safe place.”
“A safe place? Where do you plan to bring me?” It definitely wasn’t Huai City. If there was a safe place in Huai City, Baili Yiling wouldn’t have met up with her outside of the city.
Baili Yiling smiled mysteriously. “You’ll know once you get there!”
And she was still trying to make it mysterious?
Tang Doudou got up. “Then wait for a little bit. I’m going to go grab something. We can leave once I get it.”
There was no way Baili Yiling would let her go off alone in such a dangerous time. She hastily got up and followed after Tang Doudou. “I’ll go with you.”
The two left the temple. Tang Doudou estimated the distance with her strides, then pushed apart some fallen leaves and lifted the stone slab beneath.
She had hidden the black chest outside the first time she came to this old temple.
Now that she was leaving, of course she had to retrieve it.
Once she got it out, Baili Yiling put her fingers into her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. Immediately following that, a white horse started galloping over. It was a very strong and handsome horse and it reached Baili Yiling in the blink of an eye. It lowered its head and snorted, then intimately rubbed the side of its head against Baili Yiling’s hair.
“Sister-in-Law, this is Little Bell.” Baili Yiling was very happy to see this horse and immediately introduce the horse to Tang Doudou.
Chapter 355.1: There’s a Lot of Big Brothers and Sister-in-LawsOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
“Little Bell?” Tang Doudou reached out to stroke the horse, but before she could, Little Bell snorted at her.
Tang Doudou’s smile turned rigid and she embarrassedly moved her hand away.
“Pfff!” Baili Yiling giggled. “Little Bell really likes you!”
“If it likes me, why’d it snort at me?” Tang Doudou rubbed her chin contemplatively. “Are we going to leave on Little Bell?”
“Feng Long was the one who gave Little Bell to me. Little Bell is really fast, I was only able to shake off those annoying guys due to him!” Baili Yiling patted Little Bell’s neck. “Little Bell, this is my sister-in-law, got it? You can’t throw a tantrum!”
After saying that, she jumped onto the horse before turning to offer a hand to Tang Doudou. “Sister-in-Law, let’s go.”
The two rushed through the night on horseback as countless figures followed behind them. The whistling of the wind was so loud even Tang Doudou noticed the presence of the people behind them.
“Can we shake them off?” Tang Doudou glanced behind them worriedly as she hugged the black chest tightly. “Oh, that’s right. Yiling, do you know Feng Long very well?”
“Don’t worry! Sister-in-Law, it’s just a few pieces of trash, Little Bell can shake them off easily!” Baili Yiling laughed, then patted Little Bell’s head as she said, “Little Bell, help Big Sister shake off those bad people, alright? If you do, Big Sister will give you tanghulu!”
…
Tang Doudou gazed at the sky. Could this horse even understand what they were saying?
And what the heck was with tanghulu? Why did this horse have the same tastes as Jun Xin?
What was a horse eating tanghulu for…
However, the moment Little Bell heard ‘tanghulu,’ he reacted like he was hit up with chicken blood and lifted his hooves high before shooting forward like an arrow. If it weren’t for Baili Yiling’s quick reaction in grabbing Tang Doudou who was behind her, Tang Doudou definitely would’ve fallen off the horse.
“Little Bell, don’t mess around. I’ll spank you!” Baili Yiling’s expression turned stern and she slapped Little Bell’s ear firmly.
Little Bell snorted sulkily. He didn’t slow down, but the ride became a lot more stable.
“Little Bell is really smart!”
“Sister-in-Law, don’t praise him, he’ll get smug.” Baili Yiling glanced behind them. “It’ll only take a little while longer to shake those people off, but there’s one person that I can’t shake off.”
“There are still people?” Tang Doudou looked backwards as well. Suddenly, a figure crossed her mind. “Is it Mu Ye?”
“My dear sister-in-law ah, that Demonic Sect Leader has been following you this entire time. Could it be that you didn’t know?”
“Fudge! No way, right?” Baili Yiling’s words stunned her. If Mu Ye had been following her this entire time, why hadn’t he shown himself when she was at Dream Mountain?
Baili Yiling asked slowly, “Sister-in-Law, it couldn’t be that you don’t even know how many people are following you?”
Tang Doudou didn’t reply. Baili Yiling burst out laughing. “Sister-in-law, you’re so cute.”
“Alright, alright, stop laughing at me.” Tang Doudou glanced behind them and saw that there was no longer anyone following them. “Since they’re gone, let’s slow down. I want to call for Mu Ye.”
“He won’t show himself.”
“Why?”
“If he was going to show himself, he would’ve done so already. Something is probably stopping him from showing himself. Since he doesn’t want to show himself, you shouldn’t try to get him to come out.” Baili Yiling giggled, then said, “If you look for him, my brother will get jealous.”
Tang Doudou blushed and stopped speaking.
She understood as well that if Mu Ye had been planning to appear, he would’ve already done so the last couple of times that she was in danger. He wouldn’t wait until she went to look for him. However, she couldn’t quite understand what he was trying to do.
And where did Nan Maner go?
The skies had been very clear during the day, so at night, the stars were particularly bright. She recalled what Baili Yu said about going stargazing with her every night. However, since he left, it had been raining non stop, so she couldn’t go stargazing even if she wanted to.
There were finally stars tonight, but he wasn’t here.
With the stars as a location reference, Tang Doudou was able to figure out that they were heading towards the south side of Huai City. That was the direction she had headed in the first time she left Huai City. That time, she had been heading towards Azure Water Valley, where were they heading this time?
A night passed, and the morning caused drops of dew to condense on the surface of the leaves and flowers. As the horse galloped past, those droplets of water flew up and gradually soaked its fur.
“Sister-in-Law, Little Bell needs a rest, so let’s take a break!” Baili Yiling pulled on the reins, then leapt off the horse before turning back to help Tang Doudou.
Tang Doudou hastily said, “I can get down by myself.”
“That won’t do, what if my nephew gets hurt?” Baili Yiling glanced towards Tang Doudou’s abdomen. It was probably about five months old now, why was it completely not visible? It couldn’t be that something was wrong with her nephew?
Tang Doudou asked, “What nephew?”
Baili Yiling came back to her senses and said with a laugh, “What I mean is, Sister-in-Law will be giving birth to my nephew in the future, it’d be terrible if you get injured!”
There was nothing Tang Doudou could say in response to Baili Yiling’s weird way of thinking. Even when she tried to present reason, in front of Yiling, she felt like a child that was completely being played around with.
However, she really was sore from riding the horse all night, so she took Baili Yiling’s offer of help and jumped down while pressing on her hand. Then, she sat down on a nearby rock to catch her breath.
“Little Bell, you can go. I’ll call you when we’re about to leave!” Baili Yiling allowed Little Bell to roam off so that he could graze, then she sat down next to Tang Doudou. “There’s no one here so, Sister-in-Law, tell me what happened these past couple of months. What exactly did you run into?”
“There’s actually nothing much… Ever since I set off from Huai City, I was just rushing to travel…”
Since Jun Xin had sent Baili Yiling, this meant that this matter didn’t have much to do with Baili Yiling. The question was, why was Yun Hai restricting Jun Xin’s movements and not Baili Yiling’s? However, she couldn’t very well ask Baili Yiling this.
She was hoping that after she finished talking about what she went though, Baili Yiling would also talk about what happened in Huai City. However, unexpectedly, after Baili Yiling finished listening to her narrative, she nodded and said, “Based on what you’re saying, it’s not certain that Big Brother is Big Brother?”
This sentence stunned Tang Doudou. “What do you mean? I’m certain that he’s your brother!”
A strange expression flashed across Baili Yiling’s face. She didn’t continue speaking about it and called Little Bell over so that they could continue traveling.
During all their breaks, they chatted happily. The only thing was, whenever something related to Baili Yu was brought up, Baili Yiling would either change the topic, or make an excuse to go do something.
This made Tang Doudou even more certain that something was up. In the end, she decided to just stop cooperating until Baili Yiling told her what was going on.
When Baili Yiling saw that Tang Doudou wasn’t going to budge, she sighed, then finally said, “Sister-in-Law, do you know why Jun Xin took over the Heng Xuan Chamber of Commerce?”
If she knew, would she be asking right now? Although this was what Tang Doudou was thinking, she just shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
Baili Yiling pulled her to the side of the road and had her sit down. She still hesitated a little. “Sister-in-Law, don’t get too stirred up from what I’m about to say!”
“Just say it, I’ll be fine!” Though she said this, her heart was already starting to pound uneasily.
“Actually, a couple days after you and Jun Xin left, the Heng Xuan Chamber of Commerce ran into trouble…” Baili Yiling only started talking about it after confirming that Tang Doudou seemed pretty calm.
Tang Doudou furrowed her brows. If something had happened just a few days after they left, could it be that someone knew of their plan to leave?
This timing would be way too much of a coincidence otherwise.
The following words Baili Yiling said truly stunned her.
“You saw the arrest posters sent out for you and Big Brother in the cities, right? Actually, those crimes weren’t randomly pinned on.”
Tang Doudou laughed. “How’s that possible? Even if I know how to make a doppelganger of myself, I still wouldn’t be able to do so many terrible things in such a short period of time! Moreover, I spent that entire time rushing to Hibiscus Garrison. Once I got there, I was with your big brother the entire time.”
“Sister-in-Law, are you really sure that he’s Big Brother?” Baili Yiling leaned closer and asked this question while peering at her seriously.
Chapter 355.2: There’s a Lot of Big Brothers and Sister-in-LawsOriginal and most updated translations are on volare. If this is being found anywhere else, it has been stolen. Don’t support theft.
Tang Doudou felt helpless. She was very clear on whether he was Baili Yu or not. After all, other than Baili Yu, who else would have those peerless looks and aura?
Even if they disguised themselves…
A light bulb suddenly lit up in her brain and she abruptly turned around to stare at Baili Yiling. She stammered, “C-could it be… you’re saying that someone is pretending to be Baili Yu!”
Baili Yiling sighed before saying in a helpless tone, “Sister-in-Law, you’ve finally realized it.”
When Tang Doudou heard that definite answer, her hair rose up on end and her scalp felt numb. She had actually flirted with a fake Baili Yu for near two months?
No! That wasn’t right!
She quickly pushed this thought away, then grabbed Baili Yiling’s shoulders and faced her seriously. “Yiling, you have to trust me. He’s definitely your brother!”
Baili Yiling’s eyes flickered when she saw that Tang Doudou seemed so confident. “Sister-in-Law.”
“You have to believe me! Even if the eyes can be mistaken, this wouldn’t lie!” Tang Doudou pressed a hand against her chest. “I’m certain that he’s the real big evil spirit. This feeling wouldn’t lie. If that person was a fake, I’d be able to tell!”
Since Tang Doudou was speaking of it by feeling, Baili Yiling didn’t dare to blindly agree. After all, she was a very rational person and tended to believe in logical analysis and evidence over feelings.
The reason Tang Doudou might feel that the person she found was Big Brother might’ve been because the first impression was the strongest and so she didn’t feel like it was possible for there to be a second, much less a third and a fourth ‘Big Brother’…
In addition, that person’s acting was probably so good that not even the closest people to him would be able to tell the difference. Like that, based on feeling, he would seem to be the right person.
However, there was no point arguing over this with Tang Doudou. It might even make her depressed again and that wasn’t good for the pregnancy.
When Baili Yiling’s thoughts got to here, she said with a smile, “Sister-in-Law, if that’s how you feel, then alright. I just wanted to tell you that, a lot of Big Brothers and you appeared in places other than Hibiscus Garrison…”
Tang Doudou was confused. “What do you mean by other Big Brothers and me? Aren’t there only one of each of us?”
“It’s probably surgical transformation! I’ve investigated before. Those people don’t have anything on their faces, and they’re not using human skin masks either.” Baili Yiling propped up her chin with both hands, vexed. “Those people seemed like clones of you and Big Brother. If it weren’t for the fact that Mu Ye wasn’t following them, I really would’ve mistakened them for you.”
After she said that, she turned and looked towards Tang Doudou with a crafty smile, “Sister-in-Law, do you understand?”
Tang Doudou shook her head honestly. But then, she felt that she couldn’t let Baili Yiling laugh at her, so she nodded.
“So you’re saying you kind of understand?”
“That’s right, there’s some I understand and some that I don’t.”
“Sister-in-Law, it’s really simple. Basically, some people that look pretty much like you guys appeared on the Jianghu and are going around committing all sorts of crimes. That’s why the imperial court sent out an arrest order for you. People on the Jianghu itch to kill you too!” Baili Yiling sighed. “If it was just you, Sister-in-Law, I would’ve understood, but why would people disguise themselves as Big Brother to commit crimes? It’s rather easy to disguise like you, but it’s not easy to mimic Big Brother at all… The person behind all of this is definitely very scary, don’t you agree? Sister-in-Law?”
Tang Doudou’s lips twitched. This stinkin’ brat. If she wanted to praise the big evil spirit, she should just praise the big evil spirit, why stomp on her to do it?