Bergbanditen sind unterwegs

Kapitel 25

"In all these years, you are the first person who dared to hurt me." Young Master Mu looked down at the blood gushing rapidly from his wound. "Do you think I won't let this go?"

“Brother, I’m not a mind reader, how would I know if you’d let this go? But it doesn’t matter, I never regret what I’ve done.” Mo Xibei turned to look at Murong Lianyun beside him. Crimson bloodstains were scattered all over her snow-white face, each one crystal clear, like a red bean of longing. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell which drop was his and which was someone else’s, which made Mo Xibei feel a little regretful.

"Brother Mo?" After a while, Murong Lianyun looked around as if waking from a dream, and saw Mo Xibei standing beside her. For a moment, she could hardly believe her eyes.

"How did you guess?" Young Master Mu didn't even bandage his wound, just stared at Mo Xibei.

"It was a lucky accident," Mo Xibei said casually.

"Brother Mo, how did you get hurt?" Murong Lianyun was a little anxious when he saw that Mo Xibei showed no pity for him after their reunion. He was about to lose his temper, but when he tugged at Xibei's sleeve, he got blood on his hands.

"Oh, it's just a minor injury, you won't die." Mo Xibei raised his arm, easily reassuring Murong Lianyun.

"Oh dear, my legs are a bit slow, how come we're all injured in such a short time?" The little eunuch who had led the way either had just arrived or had been too afraid to come in earlier, but he finally entered the door now. "The Grand Eunuch ordered me to take good care of our distinguished guests, what should we do?"

"What's so hard to say? I hit it off with Young Master Mu at first sight. We sparred, and I only slipped up slightly." Mo Xibei smiled slyly, and as if to prove his point, he patted Young Master Mu's right shoulder forcefully with his uninjured hand while speaking.

"Who said that? We've not only hit it off immediately, we've fallen in love at first sight." Young Master Mu didn't say anything more, but as revenge, he raised his left hand and squeezed Mo Xibei's injured arm hard. His eyes, visible outside the mask, were now chilling and indifferent.

“That would be best, Young Master Mo. The Grand Eunuch was very pleased to hear what you said and is waiting for you up ahead. Let’s go there soon so he doesn’t have to wait too long,” the little eunuch said.

"Alright, let's go!" Mo Xibei nodded and quickly turned to leave, but Young Master Mu did not let go immediately. Instead, he leaned closer to Mo Xibei and whispered, "Huang Jin can't control me either. I'll remember this debt for you today."

Chapter 48, Part 1, uploaded by a netizen.

"The factory supervisor summoned me late at night. I wonder what I can do for you?" Mo Xibei settled Murong Lianyun and Mengmeng in her temporary lodgings, and quietly told Mengmeng not to say too much. Before she could turn around, she was invited to Huang Jin's tent. After half a night of commotion, it was nearly four in the morning. The moon was setting and the stars were dim. She was at her most exhausted. However, Mo Xibei had a feeling that Huang Jin had summoned her. All that had happened before was just a test. The real hardship was just beginning. So, as soon as she entered the tent, she spoke first.

“Young Master Mo speaks frankly. If we beat around the bush any longer, it would seem petty of us.” Huang Jin was still dressed as he had during the day, his clothes and hat brightly colored, and he had a beaming smile. “It is just that there are some small matters that I would like to discuss with Young Master Mo.”

"Alright, Director, please speak frankly. What do I need to do? Let me emphasize, I only want to know what I need to do. As for the rest, you don't need to waste your breath." Mo Xibei nodded, found a place to sit in the tent, and sat down. The dim candlelight made her want to sleep, so she honestly yawned.

“The less you know, the fewer worries you have. Young Master Mo is indeed an interesting person. Well, the matter I need your help with isn’t actually that complicated. Tomorrow I will send someone to hang that Miss Rongrong on the city gate. Of course, we will announce to the outside world that she is Miss Murong. I think Murong Songtao will most likely not believe it, but he will probably come to me to rescue his daughter. At that time, I would like to ask you to follow along and leave a mark for us along the way. That’s it, not complicated, right?” Huang Jin said.

"Leaving aside whether Senior Murong will come to rescue Lianyun, even if he does, he is the leader of the martial arts alliance, and his cunning is undoubtedly deep. I don't know if he will suspect me. Similarly, I don't know just how high his martial arts skills are. So, I can't guarantee what will happen then. Therefore, the factory supervisor has indeed given me a difficult problem." Mo Xibei sighed, his brows furrowed.

"Whether Murong Songtao comes or not is none of your business, young master. We'll only keep you here for three days. If Murong Songtao doesn't come after three days, it means he doesn't care about family ties. The Eastern Depot will naturally have other ways to get him out. At that time, you can take Miss Lianyun back to Jiangnan. The people from the Eastern Depot will definitely not bother you. Of course, if Murong Songtao does come, we believe that young master Mo will definitely have a way to do this small thing." Huang Jin smiled, quite confident that Mo Xibei would not refuse.

"It's a deal, three days from now. I hope the factory supervisor will keep his word tonight." Mo Xibei got up and tiptoed back to his tent. Murong Lianyun had already taken over the only makeshift sleeping mat in the tent and was curled up into a small ball. Only the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he were having a good dream. Mo Meng, who was sleeping on the carpet, was startled awake. Seeing Mo Xibei enter, he was about to get up.

"Go to sleep," Mo Xibei said softly. At the same time, she glanced around the tent and saw that the only place to sleep was on the floor. She was so sleepy that she didn't care and fell asleep immediately.

"Brother Mo, when are we leaving here?" Murong Lianyun asked Mo Xibei early the next morning.

"It might take a few more days." Mo Xibei felt aches and pains in his shoulders and back, and the wounds on his arms were burning. He forced himself to stay awake and answered the question.

“They say my father is a wanted criminal by the imperial court. My father is a good man. They must be mistaken, right, Brother Mo?” Lian Yun asked again.

"As long as you know what kind of person your father is, you don't need to care what others say." Mo Xibei got up from the ground. Since Lian Yun had woken up anyway, and the bed was just sitting there, she relaxed and lay down. However, she forgot that not all beds are the same. As a result, the three people in the tent heard a rather crisp collision sound, the kind of sound that only bones and wood could make when they clashed violently.

In the afternoon, the usually quiet East Depot camp finally stirred. Beforehand, Mo Xibei was instructed not to leave his tent because he was told to make the performance convincing. Now, he could only walk to the door and see several Imperial Guards dragging a man covered in wounds into the tent.

"Who did you arrest?" Mo Xibei asked, as the young eunuch who had led the way yesterday happened to be passing by.

"I heard they caught a simpleton. Today, they hung that dead girl outside, and before the morning was over, some idiot rushed over like a madman to try and kidnap her. He only had a few moves, and he got beaten half to death. He's probably some kind of江湖人 (jianghu person, a term referring to people from the martial arts world), so they caught him along with her." The little eunuch covered his mouth and laughed for a while before walking over.

She's quite the romantic, Mo Xibei thought, and couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. There are countless people in the martial arts world who admire Lian Yun, but how many are willing to risk their own safety to rush out in times of crisis? True feelings are revealed in times of trouble, and she should let Lian Yun see this kind of person clearly.

However, before she could call Lian Yun out to see, the man, covered in wounds and with his face especially covered in blood, was dragged past the tent. Not only did he pass by, but he also suddenly broke free of his restraints and lunged at her. Of course, he didn't touch Mo Xibei before being held down by more people. But the voice sounded vaguely familiar; he was shouting, "Mo Xibei, you beast! You're the one who killed Lian Yun!"

"It's him?" Mo Xibei was taken aback.

"What, does Young Master Mo know this person?" The wind around him shifted slightly, and someone approached.

“Just an ordinary disciple of the Qingcheng Sect,” Mo Xibei said without turning around. “I misjudged this person. I didn’t expect him to be such a loyal and righteous man.”

"He's just a scoundrel, knowing it's impossible but still doing it. He'll die a foolish ghost." The person next to him sneered.

“That’s true. Talking about feelings with cold-blooded animals is like talking to a brick wall,” Mo Xibei shrugged, shook his head, and prepared to leave.

“Only cold-blooded people can survive in this world. Those with too much hot blood are bound to get into trouble. If you’re trying to provoke me, you’d better come up with something different next time,” the person behind me said. “But next time you talk to me, don’t turn your back to me.”

"Alright, if next time you don't wear that glaring metal mask and insist on standing in the sun to talk to me, I'll consider looking at you before I speak," Mo Xibei laughed. "I also want to say that I don't want to provoke you; fighting is too tiring. So, on the contrary, I hope to make you laugh." With that, she turned and went into the tent, casually pulling down the curtain. There were no footsteps behind her for a long time. She figured that someone as clever as Young Master Mu would carefully consider the meaning behind her words. But only heaven, earth, and she knew that she had no intention of saying anything. Hehe, she felt that she had finally found some amusement in her boredom.

"Brother Mo, please don't tease Young Master Mu. He's a good person." Unexpectedly, Murong Lianyun came out from inside and suddenly said this.

"He's a good person?" Mo Xibei was taken aback. "Lian Yun, he arrested you, and now he's a good person?"

“Yes! Although he captured me, he didn’t make things difficult for me. Before you came, many people wanted to bully me. If it weren’t for him, I was afraid…” Murong Lianyun’s eyes reddened and her head drooped. Mo Xibei glanced at Mengmeng’s changed expression and felt a pang of pain in his heart. He could only say, “Let’s not talk about what happened before. It’s all in the past. You say he’s a good person, so let’s just say he’s a good person.”

"Brother Mo, are you jealous? I didn't mean anything by it." Seeing that Mo Xibei had turned his head away from him, Murong Lianyun tugged at his sleeve, somewhat at a loss.

"Cough cough..." Mo Xibei choked on Lian Yun's words and remained silent because he didn't know how to respond.

Murong Songtao did not appear that night. The second night was equally calm and uneventful.

Only Murong Lianyun would occasionally say to the wilderness outside the tent, "Father will definitely come back to save us."

The third night was the last night that Huang Jin and Mo Xibei had agreed upon, and Mo Xibei stayed on the ground next to Lian Yun as usual.

At midnight, there was a strange noise outside the tent, like a burlap sack falling to the ground with a dull thud.

"Lianyun!" Mo Xibei hurriedly shook Murong Lianyun, but before Murong Lianyun could open his eyes, the tent had already been slashed open from the side.

"Who?" Mo Xibei asked.

"Father?" Murong Lianyun opened his eyes, looked at the figure outside the tent, and called out.

"Shh!" A figure flashed into the tent, shushed him, and then picked up Murong Lianyun in one swift motion. Turning around, he said to Mo Xibei in a deep voice, "Come with me."