Chapter 65: Rescuing Tuo Tuo

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”

The little sparrow came to report again: Lord Tuo Tuo and the others were almost at Dongwang Village.

Hua Qi, who was slicing cucumbers, hurriedly set down the knife in his hand. “I’m going to the back to check on the house. Xi Jue and Qiu Sheng aren’t here today, so I need to keep an eye on things.”

“The people hired for your family are all honest workers who are willing to put in effort. You can rest easy,” Xiu Niang said, looking worriedly toward the courtyard gate. “Qiu Sheng and the others have been out for so long. Why aren’t they back yet? Could it be that they didn’t find Tuo Tuo?”

Hua Qi pretended to look worried and said nothing. Seeing how anxious he looked, Xiu Niang quickly comforted him. “Maybe Tuo Tuo got carried away playing and was delayed up on the mountain. You know how young Tuo Tuo is. He’s at the age where he loves to play.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Hua Qi said. “I know he’s always loved playing. All day long, aside from eating and sleeping, all he does is play. There’s no room in his head for anything else. When Tuo Tuo comes back from the mountain, I’m definitely going to give him a proper scolding.”

Xiao Cong secretly glanced up at Hua Qi, then hurriedly lowered his head again. Hua Qi clearly knew that Tuo Tuo had gone out on a mission.

“That, that isn’t necessary, is it?” Xiu Niang pleaded on Tuo Tuo’s behalf. “I think Tuo Tuo is quite sensible. He even knows to bring Yun Shan along when he goes somewhere. He can help me watch Chun Hua too. He’s a very good child.”

Just then, Chun Hua woke up, so Xiu Niang carried her out for a stroll as well.

Xiao Cong quickly picked up Yun Shan and followed.

“They’ve built so fast. How many days has it been? The walls are almost done,” Xiu Niang said, carrying Chun Hua and not daring to go too close.

“After the Reunion Festival, they’ll be able to raise the roof beam.” Xiu Niang said to Hua Qi, “This afternoon, I’ll go back to my parents’ home and ask if they still have any peanuts. When we raise a roof beam here, we have to scatter peanuts, and some copper coins too.”

Hua Qi answered absentmindedly, “All right.”

He was currently using magic to check the situation. The carriage carrying Tuo Tuo was less than one li away from them.

“I’ll hold Yun Shan. Xiao Cong, go to the field and pick up some stones.” Taking the chance while bending down to take Yun Shan, Hua Qi said quietly to Xiao Cong, “The carriage will be here soon. Just stand there and let it hit you. That way I’ll have a reason to stop it.”

Xiao Cong was shocked. This was the new plan?

The original plan had been for Tuo Tuo to shout for help inside the carriage, then for Xi Jue and Dou Ming to stop the carriage and rescue the human children. But Uncle Qiu Sheng had insisted that Xi Jue and Dou Ming lead him up the mountain to look for Tuo Tuo, so the plan had changed.

But the new plan was to make him get hit by the carriage?

In an instant, Xiao Cong went over everything he had said and done recently in his mind and didn’t feel as if he had offended Hua Qi anywhere.

“What, you don’t want to?” Hua Qi looked at Xiao Cong coolly.

“No.” Xiao Cong answered in a small voice and hurriedly ran toward the wasteland. As he ran, he thought that Hua Qi really was the hardest demon on Yunling Mountain to get along with! This, this was bullying a little demon.

Xiu Niang called, “Xiao Cong, it’s so hot right now. What are you going into the wasteland for? If you want to pick up stones, wait until the sun goes down and it’s cooler, then go.”

“It’s fine. I, I’m not hot.” Xiao Cong ran forward without looking back.

“How sensible,” Xiu Niang said enviously. “Who in our village doesn’t say the children in your family are good?”

“They’re passable,” Hua Qi said. “It’s not as if every one of them is obedient.”

“Who else isn’t obedient?” Xiu Niang said. “You’re blessed and don’t even know it. From what I see, in your household, when you say east, who dares say west? Xi Jue and the three children all listen to you.”

“Is that so?” Hua Qi thought to himself that Tuo Tuo did not really listen to him much.

The two of them stood chatting in the shade of the tree when they heard a rapid string of hoofbeats drawing closer and closer.

A carriage came speeding over from the distance.

Xiu Niang wondered aloud, “There are carriages passing through our village too?”

Hua Qi asked, “Why wouldn’t carriages pass through our village?”

“Only wealthy families have carriages. Our village is out of the way, and wealthy families don’t really come here,” Xiu Niang said. “The last time I saw a carriage was one that came from Li City last year.”

From far away, Liu Wu saw that there was a child in the field ahead. He hurriedly drove the horse left, wanting to avoid him.

Xiao Cong heard the movement behind him but didn’t turn his head. Using magic to detect that the hooves had gone left, he pretended to run to the left to pick up stones.

At this point, it was already too late for Liu Wu to dodge again. From the carriage, he shouted viciously, “Get out of the way!” With one hand, he yanked hard backward on the reins.

Xiu Niang’s heart leapt into her throat, and she shouted in panic, “Xiao Cong, run!”

Her shout drew the attention of the men building the house.

When Tuo Tuo heard Xiu Niang’s shout, he excitedly cried, “Mmph! Mmph!” But Ma Daming immediately covered his mouth.

Xiao Cong turned around. Before he could even clearly see what the carriage looked like, he was sent flying by the galloping horse crashing into him. He hastily cast a spell, wrapping an invisible protective barrier around himself to make sure he would not be hurt when he landed.

But in everyone else’s eyes, Xiao Cong flew one zhang away, then fell heavily to the ground and lay there without moving.

“Xiao Cong!” Xiu Niang screamed, carrying Chun Hua as she ran over.

Liu Dali, Mao Shan, and the others hurriedly ran toward the wasteland.

The moment Xiu Niang cried out for the first time, Hua Qi had already rushed into the wasteland with Yun Shan in his arms. As he ran, he shouted, “Xiao Cong! Xiao Cong!”

Seeing that the child had already been knocked down and that villagers were chasing from behind, Liu Wu knew that if he didn’t run now, the children in the carriage would definitely be discovered. If he were caught, he would have no way to survive.

Crack! Crack!

The horsewhip lashed down heavily twice. Liu Wu urged the horse to run faster.

Hua Qi shouted, “You hit my family’s child and still think you can run?”

The horse had already started running, and Hua Qi charged straight toward it while holding Yun Shan.

Xiu Niang was practically about to faint from fright. She screamed shrilly, “Huaniang, come back! Come back!”

Liu Wu’s eyes widened. He had not expected there to be someone this reckless with their life. Clenching his teeth, he gave the horse another lash. Since she didn’t want to live, then he would send her on her way. It would also give the three of them mother and children some company on the road.

But who would have thought that, in the instant before the collision, Hua Qi would suddenly leap into the air and kick Liu Wu off the carriage. He then quickly turned around and grabbed the reins.

Liu Wu rolled dozens of times across the ground before he finally stopped. Ignoring the pain all over his body, he scrambled up and tried to run, only for Liu Dali, who had rushed over, to press him down with one hand. “You hit someone and think you can just run?”

“Huaniang, you nearly scared me to death.” Xiu Niang ran over with Chun Hua in her arms, feeling that this short stretch of road had been terrifying enough to make her heart stop. “Are you all right? Why did you rush forward while holding Yun Shan? That was a carriage! A carriage!”

As she spoke, Xiu Niang’s tears began to fall.

Hua Qi asked, baffled, “Why are you crying?”

“Because you scared me.” Xiu Niang angrily slapped Hua Qi’s arm. “Don’t you ever frighten people like that again.” Then she said, “Hurry and check whether Yun Shan is all right. I’m going to check on Xiao Cong.”

Before Xiu Niang could go check on Xiao Cong, she heard muffled “mmph, mmph” sounds coming from the carriage. A moment later, they turned into a whole clamor. It sounded like the noise a group of people would make after having their mouths stuffed with something.

Mao Shan yanked open the carriage curtain. He saw three adults inside the carriage sprawled miserably to one side. Behind them, more than a dozen children all had their mouths stuffed and were squeezed into the carriage.

“Child stealers! We caught child stealers!” he shouted.

At his shout, everyone except Liu Dali, who was holding Liu Wu down, charged over.

Ma Daming hurriedly got up and was about to jump down from the carriage when Mao Shan grabbed him by the leg. “Come quick! They’re trying to run!”

Everyone swarmed forward and blocked the carriage. After pulling the three adults inside out, Mao Shan was shocked to discover that Tuo Tuo was also tied up inside the carriage.

They all knew that Xi Jue, Dou Ming, and Qiu Sheng had gone up the mountain that morning to look for Tuo Tuo. They had never expected that Tuo Tuo really had been stolen away by people.

He quickly carried Tuo Tuo down from the carriage and untied the cloth strip binding his mouth.

The moment his mouth was freed, Tuo Tuo immediately shouted, “Untie me! I’m going to beat these three bad people up!”

Xiu Niang was so stunned by this turn of events that she couldn’t speak, and for a moment she actually forgot Xiao Cong, who was lying not far away. She looked at Tuo Tuo in delighted surprise. “This is wonderful. Tuo Tuo, you’re finally back.”

The right side of Tuo Tuo’s face was swollen high. His arms were covered in bruises, his whole body was filthy, and there were even several shoe prints on his bottom. The sight made people’s hearts ache. These people had been far too vicious. In less than half a day, they had beaten a five-year-old child into this state.

Hua Qi was shocked. How had the little ginseng spirit gotten himself into such a state? The other children in the carriage did not seem to have been beaten much. How had Tuo Tuo alone been tormented into this condition?

Xiu Niang angrily cursed Ma Daming and the other two. “Are you even human? Such a young child, and you used such a heavy hand? You black-hearted things, your hearts must have been eaten by dogs. May you have no descendants. After you die, may Lord Yan throw you into an oil cauldron in hell.”

Finally freed, Tuo Tuo picked up the stick that had been used to tie him up and lashed it hard at Ma Daming. “This is for kicking me! This is for kicking me! You called me a little bastard. I think you’re the bastard!”

Mao Shan, who was holding Ma Daming, was amused by the little adult Tuo Tuo and encouraged him, “Put a little more strength into it, Tuo Tuo. These people aren’t human.”

After beating Ma Daming, Tuo Tuo went over to Hei Pi. He used the stick to strike Hei Pi’s head hard and said angrily, “This is for hitting my head. I’ll hit your head too.”

After striking Hei Pi, Tuo Tuo threw down the stick and used both hands to twist the madwoman’s thigh. “You stinky woman, you just loved twisting my flesh. I’ll let you have a taste of it too.”

“You’re a child, so you don’t have much strength in your hands. I’ll vent your anger for you.” Fifth Auntie, who had come over to watch the excitement, knew these people specialized in stealing children and took the initiative to help punish them. She pinched a piece of flesh on the madwoman’s arm and twisted it hard halfway around, making the madwoman scream in pain. “You old woman, are your claws made of iron? Ouch, ouch, that hurts so much!”

Fifth Auntie slapped the madwoman twice across the face. “You still have the nerve to shout that it hurts? When you were pinching a child, why didn’t you know that children hurt too? Look at Tuo Tuo’s arms. Is there a single patch of good flesh left on them? At your age, you don’t look like someone without children of your own. How could you do something this devoid of conscience?”

Ma Daming and Hei Pi at the side did not get off lightly either. No one treated them as human anymore. The villagers who had rushed over kicked and punched them, one after another. In just a few moments, they had beaten the men into covering their heads and begging for mercy.

“Xiao Cong?” Xiu Niang looked in surprise at Xiao Cong, who had appeared beside Tuo Tuo. “You’re all right?”

“I’m all right,” Xiao Cong answered her.

He had lain on the ground for ages and no one had paid any attention to him, so he had simply gotten up by himself.

Hua Qi merely glanced at him and said nothing.

Yun Shan smacked his little mouth and woke up. Hearing the clamor around him, he turned his head in Hua Qi’s arms and looked everywhere, following along with the excitement.

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