Chai Xiaomi stopped in surprise, and the giant human pendant firmly held by her also stopped.
She subconsciously looked up at Wu Li, only to see his thin lips pressed tightly together. There was a subtle stiffness in his expression, and he was still holding that small sugar figurine in his other hand. This candy was surprisingly sturdy; from the crowd until now, it hadn't shown the slightest sign of being knocked or broken.
Strange, how come ever since she hugged his arm, this person suddenly became so obedient?
Could it be that there was a mute button hidden on his arm?
She took a step, and he moved a step with her.
She stopped, and he stopped too.
From beginning to end, he didn't say a word, as docile as a dog kept on a tight leash.
Before she could delve into his abnormal behavior, a rough shout sounded not far away, coming from the direction Song Yueyao was looking.
Under the eaves on the east side of the overpass, two burly men in foreign attire had a skinny young man pinned against the wall.
The two men were as burly as bears, with dark skin and long hair woven into dense dreadlocks hanging down their backs, dry and coarse like grass.
They wore animal skins tied diagonally across their bodies, wolf fang necklaces around their necks, and metallic ornaments on their foreheads, upon which were carved ferocious wolf heads with their bloody maws wide open.
With rugged face shapes and deep-set eye sockets, they obviously did not have the appearance of Central Plains people.
Their Central Plains language was also extremely stiff, their rough voices mixed with a strange accent:
"You blind fool walking without eyes! Kneel down and kowtow to apologize to your grandpas!!"
Song Yueyao stared fixedly at them, flames seeming to churn in her eyes, her hand quietly resting on the hilt of the blade at her waist.
Jiang Zhiyu, who had been paying attention to her expression, immediately noticed this subtle movement.
He quickly raised his hand, gently pressed the back of her hand, and slowly shook his head at her.
Jiang Zhiyu casually asked Madam Liu, who was leading the way ahead, "How come there are barbarians in this place?"
The barbarians came from the desert and had invaded Liangya Province over ten years ago.
When Song Yueyao was eight years old, her grandfather Nie Yue, as the commander-in-chief, and his Nie family army were all buried at the hands of the barbarians, and the Nie family declined from then on.
Although reinforcements from Lingyu Province arrived later and ultimately helped Liangya Province defeat the barbarian army, and the war had been over for many years, a deep blood feud always lay between her and these barbarians.
Because of this past, the people of Liangya Province and the barbarians always had a grudge against each other, barely maintaining a situation of minding their own business for many years.
But how could they appear in Qianwu Town?
For business people, as long as the money was right, there was absolutely no reason to push guests away.
Madam Liu tugged at the silk handkerchief in her hand and casually glanced over there. When her gaze swept over the skinny figure cornered by the barbarians, she frowned imperceptibly.
This blind man really doesn't give people peace of mind!
She lazily retracted her gaze, her tone mixed with a bit of accustomed perfunctoriness: "Aren't they here for the Shuoyue Archery Tournament? This time, the Ouyang family has really invested heavily in the prize. It's a rare magical artifact called the Ice Bow and Mystic Arrow."
"I heard it's a divine artifact used by ancient gods to shoot down nine suns during Emperor Yao's era. With it, any demons or evil spirits can be pierced with a single arrow."
"Ice Bow and Mystic Arrow!?"
The white cat squatting on Jiang Zhiyu's shoulder suddenly cried out.
"Hmm?" Madam Liu suddenly turned her head, her suspicious gaze sweeping over everyone and finally landing on the cat. "Who was speaking just now?"
That voice was old and deep, obviously not something these two young gentlemen could produce.
"Oh, it was my husband," Chai Xiaomi smiled to smooth things over. "He caught a cold, and his voice has been terribly hoarse these past few days."
Saying that, she even patted Wu Li's back with feigned seriousness.
Wu Li gave her a lukewarm glance but ultimately didn't say a word.
Chai Xiaomi knew about the barbarians' invasion of Liangya Province in the original novel, and she took the opportunity to ask, "If such a powerful magical artifact falls into the hands of the barbarians, wouldn't it be an endless disaster for the people of Liangya Province?"
"Who says it isn't." Madam Liu raised her hand to tidy her hair at her temples, not caring much either. "This archery competition is open to everyone, welcoming people from all directions regardless of their background or region. Since they are here, we can't possibly exclude them alone. It's a pity, though. Such a good magical artifact is probably going to fall into the hands of foreigners. What these barbarians are best at is horseback archery."
As she spoke, Madam Liu's eyes casually swept over the longbow on Wu Li's back.
"Miss, your husband is so handsome, I wonder how his archery skills are? If he can snatch this Ice Bow and Mystic Arrow from those barbarians, it would be a great merit for the people of Liangya Province."
At this juncture, anyone carrying a bow was assumed to be here for the archery competition.
Chai Xiaomi didn't deny it either. She just raised her chin and said with certainty, "If my husband makes a move, absolutely no one can beat him!"
After saying that, she hugged Wu Li's arm a bit tighter to her chest and shook it proudly.
Wu Li only felt his heartbeat suddenly lose its rhythm, and his ears burned all the way down to his neck.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he inexplicably choked on his own breath, coughing violently.
Seeing him like this, Madam Liu thought to herself that he really had caught a cold.
His fair, handsome face was flushed, and his eyelashes drooped slightly, truly showing a bit of a pitiable sickly state.
She was just about to offer a few words of comfort when the cursing from the corridor suddenly escalated, mixed with a humiliating sneer:
"Hahahaha! What kind of rubbish is this? You Central Plains people use this kind of bullshit wooden stick as a bow?"
She saw the two barbarians snatch a half-polished wooden stick from the young man's arms. It looked like an unformed bow blank.
The next moment, with a snap of a thick wrist, the wooden stick broke. It was casually thrown on the ground by them, and they heavily crushed it with the soles of their boots, trampling it wantonly.
"My bow..."
The skinny young man hastily threw himself to his knees on the ground, his hands trembling as he groped around.
When half of his face turned around, it was completely covered in hideous burn scars. His eyes also seemed unable to see clearly, and he could only blindly grab at the ground.
Seeing this, the two men laughed even more arrogantly, raising their feet to viciously step on the back of his hands.
Seeing one of them raise his leg high, about to kick the young man's head—
Two swift shadows of objects suddenly flashed across the air.
One was a cold gleam, spinning straight ahead, accurately hitting the sole of the barbarian's boot with a sharp ding,
It then bounced back into the air. Song Yueyao leaped up and steadily caught the hilt of the crescent blade in mid-air.
The other red light, however, slowly drew an arc in the air, and then with a thump, it impartially and inexplicably... smashed right onto the top of the young man's head.
Roll, roll.
A red date rolled to his feet.
Chai Xiaomi: "..."
Oops, friendly fire.
She really didn't want to admit that she was the one who threw that date. Probably no one saw her throw it, right?
However, the young man beside her who had been out of it all along slowly lowered his eyelashes at this moment. He turned his head close to her ear, whispering in a voice that only the two of them could hear clearly, with an uncontrollable hint of laughter in his tone:
"So, you're a spy sent by the barbarians."
Feeling insulted, Chai Xiaomi glared at him, not wanting to speak.
