dmims Chapter 34 Dongfang Qinlan Zhou Xiaoxiao
Chapter 34 Dongfang Qinlan Zhou Xiaoxiao
Chapter 34 Dongfang Qinlan Zhou Xiaoxiao
Yang Yan was already standing by the courtyard gate at some point.
She didn't utter a sound, but simply watched the small figure outside the fence, sobbing uncontrollably, almost fainting. The setting sun bathed the hem of her simple dress in a warm gold, but it couldn't dispel the deep, still silence in her eyes. After a moment, she stepped forward, her steps light, as if afraid of disturbing something.
She didn't speak, but simply squatted down, reached out her hand, and with somewhat awkward movements, gently pulled the trembling little child into her arms. Dongfang Qinlan froze at first, her crying abruptly stopping. She blankly raised her tearful eyes, meeting Yang Yan's calm yet inexplicably reassuring gaze.
The next moment, an even greater surge of grievance welled up in her heart. Dongfang Qinlan seemed to have finally found a safe haven she could completely trust. She buried her dirty little face in Yang Yan's clean clothes, sobbing and whimpering. Her cries gradually subsided, turning into intermittent, utterly exhausted sobs. Yang Yan patted her back very gently, once, again and again, with a slow and steady rhythm.
Before long, the intense emotional strain and long-term exhaustion combined to make Dongfang Qinlan's sobs weaker and weaker until she finally fell into a deep sleep in Yang Yan's arms, her face still covered with wet tears and mud.
Inside the courtyard, Zhou Yi had already stood up, silently watching this scene. Only after Yang Yan picked up the sleeping child did he speak, his voice low and deep: "Her name is Zhou Xiaoxiao. From now on, she will live here."
Yang Yan glanced at Mu Mie, who was trying to hide himself, and her gaze lingered for a moment on the bloodstains on his chest and the overly conspicuous longsword in his hand. Without asking any questions, she simply nodded and said, "I'll take her to clean up."
Mu Mie didn't dare to utter a sound, but subconsciously hid the sword behind his back even more.
"Thank you for your trouble," Zhou Yi said to Yang Yan.
After Yang Yan turned and went back into the house with the child in her arms, Zhou Yi's gaze fell on Mu Mie, examining the injuries on his body. "You stay here." After saying that, without any apparent movement, his figure rose into the air, transforming into an inconspicuous stream of light, and disappeared into the darkening mountains.
He wandered through the mountains and forests, finding a few hemostatic herbs with mild medicinal properties and a few ginseng roots that could strengthen the body. While gathering herbs, he stopped by the waterfall and deep pool. The traces of the fight were still there: broken bamboo pieces, a messy stream bank, churning water in the pool, and—that patch of scorched, muddy land that had been repeatedly drenched.
Zhou Yi paused before the muddy ground, his gaze deep and unfathomable. He raised his only remaining right hand, palm down, and pressed it lightly. An invisible force seeped into the ground, turning over the surface soil, which was soaked with the pure Yang Flame aura, and pulling it deeper beneath, then covering it with the uncontaminated soil, smoothing out the traces. After doing all this, there was no trace of the remaining divine fire in the surroundings.
He didn't linger, following the almost imperceptible eerie aura and stench of blood in the air, tracing the path the monsoon had taken. His figure flickered like a ghost through the mountains and forests, finally stopping beside a rushing river. The river wind howled, the water vapor filled the air, and by then, all traces had been washed away. He gazed at the vast mountains on the opposite bank of the turbid, surging river, stood still for a moment, then turned and went back.
"Hiss—!" The cold herbs were crushed and applied to the wound, and Mu Mie gasped in pain, grimacing.
"Uncle Zhou, that monster—that monster said that the fire Xiaoxiao used was—it was the Demon-Slaying Divine Fire, Pure Yang Flame." Mu Mie said in a low voice, enduring the pain.