At this moment, Qing Niang gracefully entered the room carrying a tea tray, her alluring figure exuding the elegance of a noblewoman.
“Dear husband, be careful on your journey. Don’t rush so much that you miss inns along the way. Never stay overnight in the wilderness!” Her gentle voice brimmed with concern. At this moment, Qing Niang appeared utterly convincing in both manner and appearance. Finally, with a subtle wink from Shi’er to Qiao San behind the scenes, the dazed fellow snapped out of his trance.
Once the plan was decided, Qiao Da suddenly recalled something. After a brief hesitation, he finally asked with a serious tone, “Brother San, when I head to the capital, should I deliver a visiting card to your second mother’s family? I heard your maternal grandfather still holds an official position in the court.”
“Hehe… Brother, do I even have a maternal grandfather?!”
Qiao San expressed his stance with a mischievous laugh, then added contemptuously, “That old rascal actually wanted to offer my mother as a gift to the nobility. I won’t even skin him alive for that, but you expect me to acknowledge him as family? Haha…”
With Qiao San’s thorough preparation, Qiao Da, sensing the tense atmosphere, wasted no time. After only minimal preparations, he secretly left Liumang Town and headed straight for the holy city of Aolai Country – Zunlong City!
“Whoosh!” Watching his older brother disappear into the horizon, Qiao San finally let out a long sigh of relief as he faced the rising sun.
Instinctively stretching lazily in his usual rascal fashion, Qiao San turned his head and asked Shi’er, “What’s happening at the county yamen lately? Have they discovered my true identity yet? And…”
“Giggles… Third Young Master wants to ask about Miss Beigong, right?”
The little fox spirit was so clever that when Qiao San hesitated slightly, she immediately saw through his thoughts, “Don’t worry, she’s fine! But… it seems your identity can’t be kept secret anymore. Beigong Ping is really good at investigations, and I can sense that he must be a cultivation expert in the human realm!”
At this point, the fox spirit intentionally teased Qiao San, “Third Young Master, if Beigong Ping finds out what you did to his daughter… giggles… do you think he’ll take his demon-slaying sword and… giggles… chop you up?”
As Shi’er spoke, she made a chopping motion with her hand, but instead of aiming for the neck, she gestured toward a place far more important to a man.
Brave Qiao San instinctively clenched his legs together, transforming into timid Qiao San, then tried to act brave again, “Hmph, what’s there to fear? If I can’t fight him, I’ll just hide!”
“Giggles…”
The human and fox laughed together. The fox’s mischievous nature and the rascal’s cheekiness made them surprisingly compatible, as if they were truly a match made in heaven.
As the morning sun gradually rose, their elongated shadows danced together. Amidst their playful banter, Qiao San casually asked, “Shi’er, you’re a yao, so how did Cai Lao Da manage to capture you?”
The sudden question caught the fox spirit off guard. Even the usually clever fox blurted out, “I let him! Do you think he could really capture me?!”
“Is that so?!” Qiao San slouched with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head like a typical rascal as he scrutinized the little fox spirit, staring until Shi’er blushed and felt uneasy in her heart.
The man’s suspicion made Shi’er break out in cold sweat. She wanted to use her fox spirit secret techniques, but for some unknown reason, her usually miraculous techniques seemed to encounter a natural enemy and became ineffective.
“Third… Third Young Master, I… I just… wanted to play… wanted to see… what the human world was like! Waaah…”
Her heart pounding and face flushed red, Shi’er couldn’t understand why she felt so strange in front of Qiao San. Under the man’s persistent gaze, she could only stammer painfully.
At a critical moment, without her fox spirit techniques, the little yao used her naturally feminine weapon—a crystal tear rolled down her cheek as she cast a pitiful glance, instantly confusing the man’s already weakened heart.
“Waaah… Third Young Master, Shi’er really didn’t mean to deceive you! Waaah… Please don’t send Shi’er away!”
The beautiful young girl’s moving words immediately made Qiao San switch to a smiling face. Thinking further about how Shi’er had turned against her own kind for his sake, Qiao San took the initiative to reconcile, “Alright, Shi’er, don’t cry. Third Young Master will never chase you away!”
“Pfft!” The little fox spirit couldn’t help but laugh through her tears, and playfully added, “Third Young Master, you have to keep your word. Come, pinky swear!”
“Alright then! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye – a hundred years, no changes!”
Thus, the fingers of the man and woman lightly hooked together. Neither realized that this was not just a game, but a spiritual vow that would last a hundred years, a thousand years, even ten thousand years!
“You little brat, I’ll kill you!” Inside the Liumang Town county yamen, before the teeth-gritting hatred could finish, a “puff” sound was heard as a swallow dart firmly embedded itself in the center of the hated portrait on the wall.
“Puff, puff…” More dull sounds followed. The poor portrait of brave San was completely ruined. However, something strange happened – no matter how many darts flew, the annoying eyes on the portrait always remained unscathed, continuing to mock Beigong Zhen with their grin.
“Master, we’ve found a clue!” The Three Eagles and Ten Guards were no ordinary officers. After several days and nights of thorough investigation, they could find a needle in the ocean, let alone track down a person.
“Thank you, seniors,” said the disguised young master, now reverted to Bei Gong Zheng, as he bowed deeply. His respectful words revealed the true identities of these thirteen loyal experts.
They were actually junior disciples of Bei Gong Ping from Aolai Country’s Chenyuan Taoist Sect.
“Swish, swish…” A large stack of documents flew through Bei Gong Zhen’s hands. Bit by bit, the picture of the bold San emerged. This needle named Qiao Sheng, who had mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, was finally “fished” out from the sea of people.
“Hmph, bold San, so you’re not really alone!” When Bei Gong Zhen saw the information about Qiao Da and Qing Niang, a glimmer of satisfaction flashed in her beautiful eyes hidden beneath her furrowed brows. She knew she had finally found the weak spot of that annoying rascal.
“Master Iron, have we identified the supernatural creature accompanying Qiao San?”
Bei Gong Zhen not only couldn’t forget the little demon accompanying Qiao San, but also clenched her teeth in hatred. The humiliation from that lustful fox haunted her like a shadow, causing the leggy beauty to frequently dream about that shameful scene. What made the goddess detective most intolerable was that even after several days had passed, her memory of that rascal San’s “thing” was becoming increasingly vivid…
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