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Capítulo 45

Xiao Dao opened his mouth, then realized he was also a bit of a fool, and couldn't win the argument. Just as he was about to start arguing, he heard the sound of carriages and horses behind him, and a horse team was approaching.

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan were still standing in the middle of the road when Xiao Dao got upset. Xue Beifan tried to pull her to the side of the road, but Xiao Dao shook him off and walked forward.

Xue Beifan had no choice but to chase after him, begging for mercy, "Alright, alright, I'll admit it! I'll admit it, okay?"

Xiao Dao ignored him, while Xue Beifan shouted at the top of his lungs from behind, "I'm stupid!"

He spoke in a drawn-out voice, and many people who had passed by stared at him, some even laughing.

Xiao Dao couldn't help but chuckle. Xue Beifan, flicking his sleeves, followed, "Want to be my second sister-in-law?"

"Pah." Xiao Dao spat lightly and continued walking, when he heard someone call out from behind, "Wait a moment, you two!"

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan thought together—"Another two?"

The voice sounded familiar. Xue Beifan turned around and frowned – it was Wei Xinjie.

32

The Story of Shadows

Wei Xinjie chased after him. The way he dismounted, the height of his leg lift, and the way his sleeves flowed like floating clouds—Xiao Dao couldn't help but click his tongue twice—flawless! Just plain irritating!

Xue Beifan looked at Wei Xinjie and knew that this person was up to no good. He turned to look at Xiao Dao. He had originally thought that this girl would find him pleasing to the eye because of his handsome appearance and polite manner, but Xiao Dao turned her face away and pouted, seemingly quite disgusted.

Xue Beifan found it interesting; Yan Xiaodao was no ordinary woman, she had an excellent eye for men.

When Wei Xinjie arrived, he dismounted and bowed to Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan, saying, "Please wait a moment, you two."

The two had already stopped, so they had no choice but to turn around and look at him.

"I heard that you two saved my deputy general, so I came to express my gratitude." Wei Xinjie said very sincerely, "Please tell me your names, I will definitely visit you in person to thank you another day."

Xue Beifan and Xiao Dao knew that Wei Xinjie was trying to extract money from their family. In any case, they couldn't involve Old Madam Chong.

"Just passing by." Xue Beifan smiled.

"No entry here." Wei Xinjie said "No entry" but smiled, "Why are you two passing by?"

Xue Beifan glanced at Xiao Dao, his expression saying—"Aren't you good with words? Deal with him!"

Xiao Dao secretly rolled his eyes, put his hands behind his back, and thought, "This Xue Er is too shrewd!"

"My surname is Wei, and my name is Wei Xinjie. May I ask your name, young lady?" Wei Xinjie's attention was still on the knife. "Thanks to your knowledge and experience, young lady."

"My surname is Hao," Xiao Dao replied.

"How did you get into the forbidden area?"

Xiao Dao squinted and smiled a little foolishly, "Just passing by."

Wei Xinjie raised his eyes slightly, clearly not believing it, but since the person had said so, he couldn't refute it.

On another note, every powerful official has a few capable assistants, and Wei Xinjie has a middle-aged man helping him. He stroked his beard and said, "Sigh, young lady, you're talking nonsense. We're surrounded by soldiers on all sides. How did you get into the mountains?"

Xiao Dao glanced at him and, as was her habit, examined his face. The man was tall and thin, with a fair complexion, lean and very capable. His thin mustache gave him a refined look, and he possessed both a scholarly air and a warrior's strength. Xiao Dao rarely encountered this type of middle-aged scholar, and this man's experience and abilities were probably extraordinary; he even seemed somewhat unfathomable. Xiao Dao remembered what her mother had told her: "When you meet someone you don't know well, it's better to play dumb than to pretend to be smart; less talk is better than more talk; the best thing is to not talk at all."

So Xiao Dao smiled and said to him, "Just passing by."

As the saying goes, "You can't hit a smiling face." Wei Xinjie is a high-ranking official, and this teacher is obviously not a low-ranking one either. There are many tall and strong soldiers around looking at Xiao Dao, a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. She is pretty and cute but also a bit silly. How can they take her seriously? Maybe she is just passing by.

Wei Xinjie had no choice but to press her further, as she was, after all, the deputy general's savior. So she changed the subject, looked at Xue Beifan, and bowed to him, "Brother, you are..."

Before Xue Beifan could speak, Xiao Dao waved his hand, "I'm a servant."

Xue Beifan almost bit his tongue and swallowed his anger. Whatever this girl said, she would do it, and no one could stop her.

"A servant?" Wei Xinjie chuckled. "Miss, are you perhaps the daughter of some wealthy family?"

Xiao Dao blinked. "Isn't it from the Hao family?"

Wei Xinjie felt a sense of powerlessness, like punching cotton wool. After talking for a while, all she said was that her surname was Hao, that she was just passing by, and that she had nothing else to say.

Wei Xinjie could only look to Xue Beifan.

Xiao Dao turned to him and waved, "Er Niu, let's go back."

Xue Beifan really wanted to tie her up like he did that day, like he tied up the little yellow cat... Erniu?!

Xiao Dao was quite pleased with the bargain he had gotten, so he bid farewell to Wei Xinjie and the teacher, and prepared to leave with Xue Beifan.

"Wait a moment." Wei Xinjie quickly caught up. "Miss Hao saved my deputy general. How about I send someone to escort you back?"

Xiao Dao turned around and looked at him, puzzled. "Why should I take you? I know the way."

"Oh, no, just in case there's danger."

“It’s not dangerous, Erniu is strong.” Xiaodao said, patting Xue Beifan’s arm. Xue Beifan gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement, thinking to himself, as an ox… and a second-rate ox at that, how could he not be strong?!

Wei Xinjie probably realized that Xiao Dao was pretending to be naive, so he wasn't in a hurry and stalled, "I'd like to treat this nice girl to a meal."

"Okay, but I'm busy today." Xiao Dao hesitated for a moment, then clapped his hands. "How about this, you wait here at this time tomorrow, and when I come, you treat me to dinner."

The teacher behind Wei Xinjie couldn't take it anymore. This girl was pretending to be crazy. He was about to speak when Wei Xinjie waved her hand slightly and nodded, "Okay, I'll wait for you. Are you coming?"

"Okay." Xiao Dao led Xue Beifan away.

"General!" Seeing that Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan had quickly disappeared at the end of the road, the teacher hurriedly reminded Wei Xinjie, "That woman is clearly up to no good!"