Chapter 425: Confrontation
Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Confrontation
Staying in Tian Village was indeed the most relaxing. Bai Suihe had been making frequent trips into the mountains these days, venturing deeper each time.
She gathered an increasing amount of medicinal herbs, occasionally smuggling some into her spatial pocket. Since she had started learning medicine, she knew these would come in handy sooner or later. However, she only planted them in the backyard vegetable patch, leaving the front fields and orchard entirely untouched.
With the couple’s return and the busy farming season over, the villagers of Tian Village focused all their attention on them. One family would bring over a few eggs, while another would drop off a handful of vegetables. All of them came with the same underlying question: could they hire a few more hands?
Gu Kaiyuan had originally delegated all these matters to Zhuang Datou. However, these people had bypassed Zhuang Datou and come directly to him. He didn’t coddle them; he simply told them to go discuss it with Zhuang Datou. If he had to handle everything personally, wouldn’t he die of exhaustion?
He hadn’t joined Bai Suihe and Nanny Pang on their mountain trips the past few days, but this time, he simply picked up Gu Xingyang and followed along.
Gu Xingyang waved her little hands joyfully. "Daddy, I told you the mountains are more fun!
"Didn’t you say there were baby bears? Let’s go see them."
Gu Kaiyuan didn’t even have the energy to complain about this bold little girl. She hadn’t even learned to walk yet, but she was already thinking about hunting. Still, he couldn’t bear to refuse her.
Bai Suihe had no choice but to take the blame. She turned to Nanny Pang and coaxed, "Nanny, why don’t we go take a look at those bears? I’ve never seen one in my entire life."
Nanny Pang said, "Let alone you, Madam, I haven’t seen one either.
"But one shouldn’t be overly curious. Even though we have some self-defense skills now, who can guarantee nothing will go wrong?"
Nanny Pang was truly at her wits’ end with them. While she wasn’t afraid of a few bears, she couldn’t encourage this kind of behavior from Bai Suihe and the others. If she let them grow too bold, who knew what terrible ideas they would come up with in the future. She had to teach them the principle that there was always a wider, more dangerous world out there. Thus began a long lecture.
Bai Suihe groaned inwardly. She was merely a messenger, yet she ended up being nagged for half the day. As for the two "innocent" instigators, one was SNORING away, and the other had used the excuse of taking care of the baby to make a clean getaway.
"Nanny really loves me the most," Bai Suihe said as she stood on the hilltop. Looking at the bear cave ahead, she was already crying tears of regret in her heart. The wind direction was terrible today, and the stench was absolutely choking.
Nanny Pang took out a handkerchief and covered her nose. Her nose was meant for sniffing medicinal herbs; she couldn’t let this stench ruin it. "This is quite different from your drawing, isn’t it?"
Recalling the adorably naive little bear Bai Suihe had drawn on paper the day before, and comparing it to the filthy family of three in front of them, Nanny Pang couldn’t help but ask.
Gu Xingyang blinked. This was nothing like the fluffy toys she had seen in her past life. In fact, it looked rather terrifying. What on earth was stuck to their fur? At first glance, they even looked like they had bald patches. They were the polar opposites of those cute plushies.
Gu Xingyang tried to cover her nose and mouth with her little hands, but they were too small. The newly grown nails scratched her tender little face, and in an instant, she felt wronged and burst into tears, wailing, "WAAAH!"
She wasn’t about to hold back her grievances. Sure enough, her daddy immediately picked her up carefully and began to coax her. "Baby, what’s wrong?
"Oh dear, your nail scratched your face. These nails just got clipped and they’re already growing out again. Daddy will trim them for you when we get back."
Gu Kaiyuan patiently comforted her. His daughter was so delicate now; the moment she opened her mouth to cry, he grew anxious. He would rather she bickered with him in his mind; at least that would make him feel better.
Bai Suihe scoffed inwardly, "That’s enough. She’s been especially fond of fake crying these past few days. Do you see a single tear on her face?"
Gu Xingyang was speechless. She had been busted so quickly, and she had just started having fun.
How could Gu Kaiyuan not know his daughter was faking it? But it was rare to see her acting her age like a normal child, so he was more than happy to play along.
"She’s just a baby. A little coaxing is all she needs," Gu Kaiyuan said, holding her and gently rocking her.
Bai Suihe rolled her eyes at this. One was happy to spoil, and the other was happy to play the victim. She couldn’t be bothered to play the bad guy between them. Looking ahead at the bear family nervously scanning their surroundings, she decided there was no point in staying any longer. "Nanny, let’s go to a different hill to pick herbs."
Just as they were about to leave, Nanny Pang suddenly grabbed her arm. Bai Suihe was puzzled. Following Nanny Pang’s subtle gesture, she looked over again. Only then did she notice a sounder of wild boars lumbering toward them from a distance.
She blinked, making sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her, and asked in a low voice, "I thought these animals were territorial. Why are these wild boars coming over here?"
Nanny Pang and the others didn’t know either. However, they knew that if these two sides clashed, it would inevitably end in mutual destruction. Those bears were already theirs for the taking. If the boar pack ruined them, it would be a massive loss. But it was unrealistic to go out and lure the boars away at this juncture. They could only stay put and observe the situation.
As if summoned by their worries, the wild boars and the bear family clashed right then and there. No one knew what they were howling at each other in their respective animal languages, but a fight broke out without warning.
The wild boars charged recklessly, and the bears met them head-on, relying on their sheer brute strength. However, due to the difference in numbers and the fact that the two adult bears had to protect their cub, they fell to a disadvantage in no time.
Seeing that things were going south, Gu Kaiyuan handed the baby back to Bai Suihe. He then wrapped an arm around them and leaped directly up into a towering tree nearby. "Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to take a look."
Nanny Pang also flew up, landing lightly beside them. This display of beautiful agility made Bai Suihe’s eyes sparkle again. She wondered if she could still learn some Qinggong at her current age. Miss Long’s graceful and fluid Qinggong had been a frequent dream of hers during childhood. Just the thought of robes fluttering in the wind was breathtakingly beautiful.
Having ensured they were safe, and with Nanny Pang watching over them, Gu Kaiyuan was about to go check on the situation when Bai Suihe suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
"Don’t put yourself in danger! They’re seeing red now. There’s no way to stop them or lure them away. We just need to stay here and watch." They were wild beasts, after all. Did Gu Kaiyuan seriously want to go break up their fight?
She ended up voicing her thoughts aloud. Gu Kaiyuan was amused by her logic. He had no idea what his wife and little baby talked about every day, but he noticed she was acting increasingly childish without even realizing it. "Don’t worry, I’m just going to take a look. Even if my Martial Arts were the best in the world, I couldn’t handle both sides at once.
"I’m just going over to watch. It’s rare to see two groups of wild beasts fighting."
Bai Suihe finally let go of his sleeve. "Then don’t take any risks. And take this with you."
It was a self-defense knockout powder she had only just learned how to make. "This is a knockout powder. If push comes to shove, just throw some at them."