Chapter 59: Strange in the chaos

However, my master and I were not thrown into a panic by this bad situation. After all, we had gone through so many storms, and we had simply trained our mental fortitude.

If we want to make the best judgment now, the only way is to run towards the mountain, and that will also give us a chance of survival. So we looked at each other, and without any luggage, my master and I ran towards the mountain with perfect synchronization.

In order to guard against the so-called poor and strange soul, I secretly practiced my skills in my heart, preparing to forcibly release Shitu at a critical moment. I could withstand it for a while, and my only hope was that the old man would definitely be concerned about the situation in the town and would not focus on stopping us from going up the mountain.

Before I could take two steps, the old man’s voice came over the hill: “Do you think the ancestral spirit is that simple? Don’t force me!”

I didn’t want to stop, but I had to because I sensed a huge aura coming from behind us. If we had kept running, I would have believed the old man’s words and that the stone statue of Qiongqi was hiding even more power.

Master obviously sensed this aura as well, and it was impossible to ignore it. Almost at the same time, Master also stopped following me.

We both stared at the old man, our eyes full of helplessness and anxiety… In fact, even though he was so insistent, I don’t know why I couldn’t hate the old man. I always felt from his previous words that the old man was somewhat uninviting and tough, but his character was still straightforward and direct.

After all, the men of Xiangxi, whether they are Miao, Han or other ethnic groups, are mostly like this.

The master obviously shared my thoughts, so I didn’t feel his disgust for the old man… But in the face of our almost pleading gaze, the old man was still very stiff. He said to me and the master, “Go down… Although my people are very important to me, what’s more important is that we have to protect the mountain… You go down, these people are only looking for trouble with me and my people. You take advantage of the chaos and find an opportunity to leave.”

His tone was beyond doubt, but what he didn’t know was that once these people on the cart recognized us, they would probably be the first to cause trouble for us. And I believe that it is almost impossible for Yang Sheng not to have shown my appearance and that of my master to his subordinates, at least the important ones. It seems that it is not so difficult for him to obtain first-hand information about me and my master.

“Get down!” Seeing that I and Master were dawdling, the old man roared, as if he was tired of talking to me and Master.

Master and I looked at each other and knew that we couldn’t delay any longer. Staying here and fighting against the almost certain spirit of Qiongqi was not a wise move either. It wasn’t that Master and I were really afraid of Qiongqi and dared not fight against it. Rather, in that case, what was the difference between holding a banner and telling those people below that Master and I were here?

“Forget it, let’s go down. We’ll see what happens.” That’s what Master said to me.

I took off my backpack and threw it casually in the grass on the side of the mountain, then started to take off my clothes… Master was stunned for a second, but quickly reacted and started to take off his clothes as well.

“What the hell.” The old man turned his face in confusion, but did not stop us from doing this.

This was not a display of hooliganism by my master and I. We just wanted to take off our slightly conspicuous hiking clothes… After all, although not all the people in this town were wearing Miao costumes, they were still relatively simple and could be said to be outdated. If my master and I went on like this, we would just be two targets.

We threw the hiking clothes we took off into the grass, and shamelessly changed into our normal pants in front of the old man. Then I pulled up a clump of grass, carefully smeared the mud on it all over my body and face, and looked more… well, like someone who had worked hard and was particularly unkempt. After that, my master and I decisively headed down the mountain.

What can we do? Since we can’t stay on the mountain, we might as well go down quickly and see if we can seize any opportunities.

The road from the town to the mountain was not on the main street in the town, but a lane that branched off from the main street… It wasn’t remote, but the houses on both sides also provided good shelter… This was actually a blessing in disguise, at least giving my master and I some buffer.

Soon we re-entered the town from the mountain, but when we were going down the mountain, we also took a look at the situation. That is, after these cars entered the town, they almost dispersed, and soon surrounded this small town… and some of the people in the cars got off, and some stayed in the cars, as if to guard… in short, they completely blocked the small town, and it was unclear what they were going to do for a while.

The people who got off the car were also very purposeful. After getting off the car, they didn’t care about the people in the town who were glaring at them, but instead methodically divided into small groups and began searching the streets, brazenly breaking into people’s homes, as if they were trying to force everyone in the town out.

This is all I and my master saw. After that, it was too late to see what happened. During this process, my master and I almost never communicated, and we both quickened our pace and rushed toward the town. There was no need to communicate about this kind of thing. Any fool could see it. If we delayed any longer, we would not be able to escape the search teams. The best option for us was to blend in with the crowd without making a sound.

When we entered the alley leading up the mountain, neither my master nor I rushed into the alley, but instead used the houses on either side to hide and observe the situation for a few seconds.

The alley was quiet, and at this time of morning, the dew had not yet dried, and the uneven cobblestone road in the alley was still wet… The air was filled with a wild mountain air, and everything seemed normal.

My master and I quickly ran into the alley… but it was obviously not practical to go straight out of the alley, because it would be very conspicuous for us to suddenly appear on the street. After all, the alley was so quiet and on the edge of town… there was not a single person in sight. It was unclear whether these people had gone out or were hiding in the house. My master and I were obviously not willing to be the two most conspicuous people.

So when we were halfway down the alley, I stopped my master and whispered to him, “Go around this house, then go down a few alleys and come out the other side. I just looked around, and the street behind this house is close to the main street, so it won’t be conspicuous to go out that way.”

The master didn’t say much, just nodded…

The houses here still retain some of the characteristics of the Miao people’s stilted houses. My master and I ran up the stairs, but the door was closed. It would be inappropriate for my master and I to force our way in. If we disturbed the owner, it would be a troublesome matter.

So, my master and I decided to go for broke. I squatted down, my master stood on my shoulders, and then I used the force of my body to throw my master almost to the window on the second floor… My master grabbed the window sill tightly, then used the force to pull himself up, then bent his elbow and used the force to break open the wooden window and climbed in smoothly.

There was no place to run up to the window in the narrow corridor, so I had to take a step back and then leap forward, stretching out my hand. Master grabbed me in one go… With this little bit of strength, I managed to climb up to the window and into the room.

At this time, my master and I had just stopped to catch our breath when we heard footsteps coming from the alley. My master quickly closed the window quietly, peeking through the gap behind the window. I followed suit and, by chance, saw a patrol approaching the alley.

What is this called? How many times have my master and I narrowly escaped such danger? Although I was impressed by my own luck, I didn’t think it was anything to be alarmed about. I’ve seen many books where the protagonist often escapes at the critical moment due to various coincidences, and I don’t think it’s so-called “dog blood.”

It’s because I believe in the saying that the world is full of righteousness… If a person is doing the right thing, or even the righteous thing, and does it a lot, it’s only natural that some luck will come their way.

Even kindergarten children who help others are praised and encouraged by their teachers… Whether or not this is meaningful to many people, it is at least a kind of affirmation of “righteousness,” and the heavens are like a shy girl who expresses herself in the most subtle way, but no matter how euphemistic, she always expresses herself.

At that moment, I had this thought, and my repeated experiences proved that I was right. But time was running out, and almost subconsciously, I followed my master out of the room and began to look for a back window. According to the architectural customs of the Miao village, there should be a back window.

But I didn’t want to leave the room just yet, because I saw an old man with one blind eye standing in the dimly lit hallway of the house, watching us. We had to go to the opposite room to get to the window of that room and then to the street.

I suddenly became nervous, and my master’s body also became a little stiff… The old man looked up at us, and the only remaining eye was dim and blurry, and we couldn’t see what kind of eyes it was.

At that moment, the atmosphere seemed to be completely tense and frozen, turning into a substance like glue. Five seconds? Or ten seconds? The old man’s nose suddenly twitched a few times, his eyes closed, and I didn’t know what he was thinking. Suddenly, he pointed to a room with his hand.

My master and I were stunned. What did this mean? I had just prepared myself for an extreme reaction from the old man, and I was prepared to rush over and stop him no matter what. Now he had made such a gesture, what did it mean?

“There is a window in that room,” the old man said lazily, then turned around… and went downstairs.

Leaving me and the master completely unable to react.