Chapter 2878 - 2879: Came Too Hastily

Chapter 2878: Chapter 2879: Came Too Hastily

Li Shufang began to cry, "Sister, if I don’t leave here, I’ll have to marry someone from the Village, and there’s only one fool not married yet."

"What if Kuai Xian hasn’t left?" Bai Ruozhu asked.

Li Shufang looked a bit embarrassed, "We are few, and offspring are difficult. According to our tribe’s rules, we have to marry at sixteen. We’re almost sixteen, but there are hardly any single men in the tribe, so they want one of us to marry the fool and the other to become a concubine to the strongest man under twenty-five in the Village."

"We’re all poor folks who came here seeking refuge, none of us have concubines, and I don’t want to be a concubine, so I chose to marry the fool," Li Shufang said angrily.

Bai Ruozhu nodded. Putting aside anything else, this girl’s values weren’t skewed. She’d rather marry a fool than be a third party.

"Given the circumstances, why doesn’t your village chief allow you to go down the mountain?"

"This..." Li Shufang glanced around nervously and said, "I can’t say, but you can see for yourself tonight."

With that, she dashed off as if something was chasing her.

Strange, there’s something peculiar about this place, definitely unusual.

Bai Ruozhu went back to find Ao Song and the others to ask about their findings.

"Many people want to go down the mountain, but they don’t dare. They’re afraid of something and don’t dare to speak," the Astrologer said.

"I also suspect some demon has been intimidating them, but I checked everywhere and even used my family’s secret technique, yet found no trace of Demon Qi," Ao Song remarked.

Jianqi pointed to the west, "There’s a forbidden land there, only the village chief can go there, others aren’t allowed near. We checked it out, found nothing, but the area is hidden by an illusion, or there’s some special way to enter it."

"Later, the Astrologer and I will go take another look," Ao Song said.

Bai Ruozhu stopped her, "Let’s hold off for now. We’ll see what’s going on tonight first."

Then she recounted her conversation with Li Shufang to everyone, especially how Li Shufang said to see for themselves tonight.

"Alright, let’s see what happens tonight, so we don’t alert the snake prematurely," Ao Song said.

...

"What, you said they approached the forbidden land?" Kuai Zheng asked angrily.

A middle-aged man nodded, "I saw them clearly, they’re investigating us, village chief, what should we do now?"

"They won’t find anything and will leave soon. Don’t have any conflict with them; these people aren’t ordinary," Kuai Zheng said.

"They won’t find out our secret, will they?" the middle-aged man asked worriedly.

Kuai Zheng gave him a look, "Be cautious tonight and closely watch those youngsters."

"Alright."

...

In the Tree House, Bai Ruozhu was having a private conversation with Ao Song.

"You’ve been getting along quite well with the Astrologer lately," she said with a smile.

Ao Song quickly looked at her, "You’re playing matchmaker again."

"Isn’t matchmaker nicer? It sounds better," Bai Ruozhu replied.

Ao Song shrugged, "It’s all the same to me. The Astrologer is really nice, but there’s no spark."

"Take it slow. You never know, it might happen later," Bai Ruozhu smiled.

"Are you helping the Astrologer or Sangta?" Ao Song asked, resting his chin on his hand, confused.

"I’m helping you. I want you to be happy," Bai Ruozhu said seriously.

Ao Song smiled sweetly and linked her arm, "I knew Sister Ruozhu treats me the best!"

Bai Ruozhu smiled as well. Previously, she’d seen Ao Song and Sangta as a potential match and felt guilty towards Sangta, hoping for a good outcome for him. In hindsight, she realized she was too hasty and hadn’t thought it through carefully.

Of course, love isn’t something calculated and meticulously considered.

In the evening, Kuai Zheng personally invited Bai Ruozhu and the others to a gathering. But it was a simple barbecue, not the wild game one might imagine. Instead, it consisted of tree roots, bark, those dry morning sweet potatoes, and some insects.

The only meat was insects.

Bai Ruozhu felt nauseous at the sight, unable to accept grilled bugs. Forgive her for being too delicate.

"We’re really primitive here, apologies for making the guests laugh," Kuai Zheng said with embarrassment, "I wonder when you plan to descend the mountain?"

"I’m waiting for my husband to come and fetch us; descending from here is more challenging than climbing up," Bai Ruozhu chuckled, "If the village chief decides, you can come down with us, and I’ll help you settle for a peaceful life."

Many people showed a look of yearning, but the elders remained firm like Kuai Zheng.

"Thank you, madam, but we’re used to living in seclusion. We wouldn’t want to trouble you," Kuai Zheng politely replied with a bow.

Bai Ruozhu smiled, "Alright, we respect the village chief’s decision. It’s just that I’ll soon return to the Capital City; if you change your mind later, I won’t be able to help anymore."

She said this for the young ones wanting to leave; it’s now or never.

"We’ve decided to live here for generations, thank you for your kindness," Kuai Zheng replied with an unchanged expression.

Bai Ruozhu nodded and said no more, knowing that more words would only make them more wary.

Just then, someone ran towards the gathering, excitedly shouting, "Village Chief, more people have come up here, saying they’re here to fetch his wife!"

Bai Ruozhu’s mouth twitched. Doesn’t Achun get the urgency? Didn’t she signal him to be prepared? Why did he come up?

With him here, wouldn’t they have to descend immediately?

Kuai Zheng looked relieved and let out a big sigh of relief, getting up to say, "Let’s go greet the guests."

Bai Ruozhu stood up too, smiling, "It must be my husband, wonderful."

Yeah, right, she really felt like hitting Jiang Yichun now.

The group headed towards the Entrance of the Village. Halfway there, they met Jiang Yichun, who rushed over with a concerned look, grabbing Bai Ruozhu’s hand and asking, "Are you alright?"

Seeing his worried expression, she couldn’t bear to be angry at him.

"Nothing happened, we just accidentally saved a young girl and discovered there’s another paradise here," Bai Ruozhu signaled to Jiang Yichun, indicating they shouldn’t leave immediately.

Suddenly, raindrops began to fall from the sky—it was raining!

Bai Ruozhu and Ao Song exchanged a glance, both feeling delighted.

"Why is it raining?" Jiang Yichun asked cooperatively, "The cliff is slippery; descending would be too dangerous."

"We don’t know when the rain will stop, so it seems we’ll have to impose on the village chief for another night," Bai Ruozhu added.

Jiang Yichun took out a gold ingot and handed it to Kuai Zheng, "This is a token of gratitude from our group to the Village."

"This- this is too generous," Kuai Zheng said courteously, but his eyes showed little joy. Clearly, gold meant little to him.

There’s likely no currency trade here, and no place to spend gold.

"Achun, did you bring food?" Bai Ruozhu asked.

Understanding her hint, Jiang Yichun signaled the guards to bring a large pack of dried meat.

This time, Kuai Zheng’s eyes lit up. It was dried meat, not dried insects.