Murong Xu reported to Emperor Ling for a while, and Emperor Ling’s intention was clear: bring the little one back.
“You’ll personally lead a group to bring Little Seven back. Ignore everything else.”
Emperor Ling had no particular relationship with Guan Shan Residence. If his little one hadn’t been attending school there, he wouldn’t have paid any attention to the place.
Now that Guan Shan Residence seemed to be in trouble, he wasn’t going to send his troops to help.
Their military forces were already stretched thin, and they didn’t have extra to spare for aiding others.
So, Emperor Ling’s only priority was bringing his little one home.
The team Emperor Ling assigned to Murong Xu was an elite squad. After receiving his orders, Murong Xu set out immediately.
The Murong family had already heard the news, so when they saw Murong Xu heading out without delay, they had no objections.
Just before Murong Xu set off, the Fourth Prince also arrived.
He had requested permission from Emperor Ling to travel with Murong Xu.
Emperor Ling agreed.
Murong Xu glanced at the Fourth Prince, who had been granted permission, and then at the Eldest Prince, who also seemed eager to join. Murong Xu raised his eyebrows and subtly shook his head at the Eldest Prince.
There was no need for so many princes to go just to bring back Little Seven.
Murong Xu and the Fourth Prince, Ling Hao, set off together. Both of them, worried about the little one, quickened their pace without even discussing it.
They hurried along, occasionally exchanging a few words.
Their conversations were always about the little one.
“I wonder if Little Seven is scared.”
Murong Xu thought about the current situation at Guan Shan Residence and the little one who had gone there to study. He couldn’t help but feel that their little one was rather unlucky.
How could things have turned out like this? They sent him to school, and now it seemed the school might be on the verge of falling apart.
Ling Hao speculated about whether Little Seven was scared.
Of course, the little one was scared.
But he wasn’t afraid of Guan Shan Residence being attacked—he was afraid of being held accountable by the chief examiner.
After the chief examiner had pulled out the bill, the little one’s face had almost twisted in fear.
He frantically kicked his paws, biting the bill as he jumped out the window and fled without looking back.
He was so scared that as he ran, his paws nearly split apart.
The chief examiner watched the panicked little one flee. Once the little one’s figure had disappeared, he turned around and calmly began writing up another bill.
Did that little rascal think that by taking this one bill away, everything would be fine? Wishful thinking.
After running far enough away, the little one finally stopped, far out of sight of the chief examiner’s house.
He placed the bill on the ground.
Looking at it, his eyes started to tear up. He had broken so many things, and there was no way to pay for them.
The little one now regretted his actions. The teachers had always said in class that destroying other people’s belongings was bad behavior.
He had been a naughty little one just now.
Not wanting Ah Wu to find out about his bad behavior, the little one stared at the bill for a long time before he started digging a hole on the spot.
He dug a shallow hole with his little paws and buried the bill inside.
Ah Wu had been following him for a long time.
When the little one had entered the chief examiner’s house earlier, Ah Wu hadn’t gone inside but had stayed outside, waiting patiently. So, he didn’t know what had happened in the house.
He only saw the little one come out after a while, carrying something in his mouth, and then he saw the little one digging a hole and burying it.
Ah Wu waited until the little one left, then walked over to where the little one had been. He easily dug up the spot the little one had carefully packed down.
“A bill?”
Ah Wu looked at the bill, a trace of confusion in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the little one, who had buried the bill, had no idea his hiding spot had been uncovered. He tried to calm himself down, planning to play dead in front of the chief examiner.
As long as he didn’t admit to anything, the chief examiner wouldn’t be able to say for sure that he had been the little one from earlier.
The little one wandered around outside until it was quite late.
When he finally turned back to normal, he found that Ah Wu hadn’t returned yet. Feeling a bit guilty, he quietly stayed in the room for a while.
Still feeling uneasy, the little one decided to bathe himself and grabbed his clothes to get ready for a bath.
After his bath, he carried over a small basin and started washing his clothes.
When Ah Wu came back, what he saw was a little one washing clothes.
The little one had never washed clothes by himself before, so the clothes were in complete disarray, his body was soaked, and there was a large puddle on the ground, as if the basin had been knocked over.
“Why are you washing clothes, Zai Zai?” Ah Wu walked over to him in a few steps, standing in front of him.
The little one had bubbles on his face, looking at Ah Wu obediently, his soft little voice saying, “I’m washing your clothes too!”
In the basin, there were also Ah Wu’s clothes!
Looking at the soaked little one and the messy clothes, Ah Wu knew that both the clothes and the little one would need to be washed again.
“You’re still too young, you don’t need to do these things,” Ah Wu said, though he himself wasn’t much older than the little one. But in his mind, his little one was still small and needed his care.
As long as Ah Wu was there, the little one didn’t have to do anything.
“Come here.” Ah Wu asked the little one to move closer so he could wipe the bubbles off his face. Then he had the little one stand aside.
“Stand still, don’t move. I’ll clean up the floor.”
Ah Wu mopped up the water on the floor, set the basin aside, and refilled the bath.
Once he finished, he carried the little one back into the tub.
“Ah Wu, I’ve already finished bathing,” the little one said.
“Let’s give you another wash.”
Ah Wu had touched his little arm earlier and found there was still some soap left on it.
The little one sat in the tub, blinking as Ah Wu bathed him again.
Time passed slowly.
The little one was soon cleaned up and carried back to the room.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Ah Wu said. He still hadn’t washed himself or the clothes, so he had more to do.
“Ah Wu, I can help wash you!” the little one offered.
“No need,” Ah Wu replied, ruffling his hair with a smile, appreciating the thought.
After tucking the little one in, Ah Wu left the room.
The little one sat on the bed, watching Ah Wu’s figure as he left. With a flop, he laid down flat on the ground, gazing at the ceiling, and sighed softly.
“Sigh.”
He wondered if the big boss would come looking for him.
After sighing, the little one originally intended to wait for Ah Wu to return, but as he waited, his eyes slowly closed.
By the time Ah Wu came back after tidying up, the little one had already fallen asleep.
The little one had had a long, tiring day, and now his belly rose and fell gently as he slept, barely reacting even when Ah Wu poked him.
Ah Wu gave him a few light pokes before covering him with a blanket.
“Chirp, chirp chirp,” the little one mumbled in his sleep. Don’t catch me!
He was dreaming about being caught by the chief examiner. In his animal form as a small ball of fur, he struggled and wriggled, trying to keep up his fib. “Chirp, chirp howl,” he mumbled.
I don’t know Little Seven!
In his dream, the little one kicked and flailed his paws, and in the real world, his little hands and feet were also moving around.
Ah Wu grabbed his little hand and furrowed his brow.
“Zai Zai?”
He tried to wake the little one up, but the little one squeezed his eyes shut tightly, showing no signs of waking.
Ah Wu called him twice more but then stopped.
Holding the little one’s hand, Ah Wu spoke softly into his ear, “No one is going to catch you. I’m here. I won’t let anyone catch you.”
As Ah Wu repeated these words beside him, the little one, as if hearing them in his sleep, gradually stopped mumbling.
The two of them laid close together and soon fell asleep.
The next day.
The little one received notice to continue with his lessons, and everything resumed as normal. The teachers were all present.
However, in between lessons, one teacher mentioned something extra: “Soon, Guan Shan Academy will show you something.”
Before the teacher could explain what it was, Teng Liang asked during class, “Teacher, with bad people surrounding Guan Shan Academy, is it still safe here?”
“Of course,” the teacher responded confidently. But after a moment, he added, “Guan Shan Academy is the safest place in the world, but if you’re determined to seek death, not even Guan Shan Academy can save you.”
The students burst into laughter after the teacher’s words, playfully reassuring him, “Don’t worry, teacher, none of us are looking to die.”
They were children of both high status and low worth.
Born into wealthy families, yet somehow considered unnecessary within those same families.
The class continued its playful chatter, but the teacher clapped his hands to bring them back to order.
“In any case, there’s no need to worry about safety. Just focus on your lessons.”
The teacher concluded his speech, “When your lessons are over, I will personally take you to see how the people outside fail.”
The teacher remained calm and composed from beginning to end, and his confidence quietly reassured the students.
Though they joked and teased, there was a hidden layer of concern behind their laughter.
As strange as Guan Shan Academy might be, it was also their last safe haven.
“All right, let’s continue with the lesson,” the teacher said, turning the page of the book to resume teaching.
The little one was also in class at that time, trying hard to focus and not let his mind wander.
When class was over, Dundun came over and asked, a little puzzled, “Little Seven, are you worried about something?”
The little one shook his head.
Dundun didn’t believe him. “I can see it on your face. If something’s bothering you, just tell us. We can help you.”
After Dundun finished speaking, the other kids nodded in agreement.
The little one rubbed his cheeks but still didn’t say anything.
His main concern was that the chief examiner had discovered his disguise, and he wasn’t sure if he could keep the secret. This was something the other children must not know about.
After rubbing his cheeks, the little one simply flopped onto the table, burying his face against it.
While the little one was hiding his face, Murong Xu and Ling Hao were exhausted from their journey to Guan Shan Residence.
They had rushed all the way on horseback but still arrived behind the army that was besieging Guan Shan Residence.
Seeing such a massive army, Murong Xu couldn’t help but curse them under his breath.
“They’re blocking the way ahead; we can’t get past them easily.”
Murong Xu looked at the soldiers, his eyes darkening. “Fourth Prince, I’ll sneak in and see what their real purpose is.”
The excuse of besieging Guan Shan Residence was complete nonsense, something even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe.
Of course, he didn’t believe it either.
He wanted to find out what these people’s true intentions were.
Ling Hao thought it was too dangerous and tried to stop Murong Xu. “We’ll find a way to bypass them. I don’t think you should take the risk. The general leading this army is the famous Li Wei.”
“He’s never lost a battle.”
Ling Hao was surprised that someone had managed to bring such a renowned general here.
Ling Hao was well-versed in military affairs and knew all the famous generals by heart. He didn’t want Murong Xu to take unnecessary risks. “Our mission is to rescue Little Seven; there’s no need to complicate things.”
If their sole goal wasn’t to rescue Little Seven, Ling Hao might have chosen to sneak into the army with him. But since they had more pressing matters, he wanted to be cautious.
Murong Xu, being young and fearless, didn’t think much of Li Wei’s reputation.
He smiled. “Fourth Prince, just watch. I can sneak in and out of Li Wei’s army three times without a scratch.”
Ling Hao couldn’t stop him and could only watch as Murong Xu headed towards the army.
And true to his word, Murong Xu managed to sneak in and out three times, though he did get slightly injured on his last escape.
Even so, Ling Hao was quite impressed by him.
Everyone knew the Murong family was famous for having Murong Xue, the nation’s military heroine. But few realized that the fifth young master of the Murong family was also beginning to show the same promise as General Murong.
Though still young, given a few more years, Murong Xu would undoubtedly become the next national guardian general, following in Murong Xue’s footsteps.
The Murong family was truly a blessing for the Qi Dynasty.
“Are you alright?” Ling Hao asked, watching Murong Xu bite down on a cloth to bandage his own wound. He frowned. “Should we rest here for two days?”
“No need.”
Murong Xu finished bandaging his wound, remaining calm. “If we rest for two days, by the time we get there, the whole thing will be over.”
Before wrapping the bandage, he applied some medicine.
The medicine, given to him by Shui Shui, worked wonders.
As soon as the powder touched his wound, the effects were almost instantaneous.
Murong Xu glanced at his arm, silently marveling at Shui Shui’s skills. At the same time, he began scheming—once Shui Shui was a bit older, he could coax him into becoming the army’s physician.
With Shui Shui as their doctor, the army’s casualty rate would surely plummet.
His plan was solid, but he had no idea whether the Third Prince would be willing to let him go.
While Shui Shui was officially part of the Imperial Hospital, it was rumored that his daily expenses were funded privately by the Third Prince.
“Oh well,” Murong Xu muttered to himself. “If he refuses, I’ll just talk to his big brother.”
The Third Prince was notoriously protective of the Eldest Prince.
After muttering about Shui Shui, Murong Xu and Ling Hao continued their journey.
This time, they headed straight for Guan Shan Residence without any distractions.
Ling Hao was curious. “Murong Xu, what did you find out during your three trips in and out?”
Murong Xu paused, then summarized briefly, “Guan Shan Residence has treasures. These people found out and got greedy.”
After hearing this, Ling Hao fell into a moment of contemplative silence.
He recalled the weapons schematics Little Seven had sent him, along with the warning not to reveal anything about Guan Shan Residence…
All these things started coming back to him.
He had long suspected that Guan Shan Residence housed numerous treasures, but he hadn’t expected others to move so quickly.
“We should focus on getting Little Seven out. Guan Shan Residence is too dangerous. Little Seven’s safety is our top priority.”
If Guan Shan Residence was full of rare treasures but lacked the means to defend itself, Little Seven would be in grave danger.
Murong Xu agreed with a simple “Mm.”
With the army in front of them, they couldn’t just charge through.
After weighing their options, Murong Xu and Ling Hao decided to travel light and follow the army closely.
Two days later, a large contingent of troops had completely surrounded Guan Shan Residence.
There were people everywhere, all armed to the teeth, seemingly ready to storm the residence at any moment.
Murong Xu and Ling Hao took in the scene and both silently cursed their bad luck.
Their little one was really unfortunate. Even just attending school, he had to face such chaos.
Thinking of their little one, they both imagined that once they rescued him, he would surely be teary-eyed, complaining about the bad guys.
“Murong Xu, we need to figure out a way to get inside.”
Just standing there and watching wasn’t going to help. If they waited any longer, Guan Shan Residence might fall.
They couldn’t save the entire residence, but they could still protect their cub.
Murong Xu nodded, contemplating how to enter Guan Shan Residence.
Before he could come up with a plan, something seemed to shift in the scene they were watching.
Murong Xu and Ling Hao continued observing the army.
Meanwhile, the children of Guan Shan Residence stood in front of their teacher, watching the scene unfold as well.
“Are there a lot of people?” the teacher asked.
“A lot!” the children responded in unison.
There were so many people that it was making them all nervous. The total number of people in Guan Shan Residence didn’t even amount to one percent of these soldiers.
The stark contrast in numbers seemed to go unnoticed by the teachers.
They stood with their hands behind their backs, their expressions calm.
The little one looked at the army, then at the teachers. He tugged on Master Jue’s hand and whispered, “Master, has the Big Boss come yet?”
The little one hadn’t seen the Big Boss.
Master Jue held his hand and replied softly, “Not yet, but he’ll be here soon.”
Hearing this, the little one nodded.
Master Jue looked down at him, seemingly lost in thought, and added, “Little Seven, since you’re closer to the Big Boss, why don’t you go check how far along he is?”
The little one: “…”
The little one froze for a moment. He wasn’t particularly eager to see the Big Boss at the moment.
But Master Jue let go of his hand, gently ruffling his hair, and encouraged him, “Go on.”
With that gentle nudge, the little one, like a duck being pushed into action, had no choice but to go find the Big Boss.
Before leaving, his face was full of reluctance. “Master, the Big Boss is a grown-up; he can walk over by himself.”
Master Jue, knowing the Big Boss was fond of the boy, smiled at the sight of his hesitation. He figured something must have happened between them.
Given that, it was all the more reason for them to meet and talk things out.
“Go on, the Big Boss likes you the most. If you go call him, he’ll definitely come right away.”
With that, Master Jue smiled and sent the little one off to fetch the Big Boss.
The little one walked away, looking back at every step, his eyes pleading at the teacher.
But Master Jue, watching him from afar, didn’t call him back.
The farther the little one went, the less visible the teacher became.
He scrunched his little face, dragging his feet slowly.
After a while, he heard a clear, cheerful voice, “Hey, little one, are you out for a stroll?”
The little one: “…”
He looked up and saw an uncle he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Uncle!”
The little one exclaimed in surprise, “I’ve found you again!”
The young man smiled at him, his boyish face lighting up, his eyes full of youthful energy. He patted the spot next to him and asked, “Wanna come up?”
“Yes!”
The little one, eager to stall for more time, quickly scrambled up the tree and sat beside the man.
As soon as he sat down, the man pinched his cheek, muttering, “So cute! I have no idea how you got such a cute little face.”
The man liked to pinch his cheeks, and the little one had gotten used to it.
“Uncle is handsome too!”
The little one snuggled up to the man and even complimented him.
“Haha, I’m not as good-looking as you.”
“We can’t compare. I’m little, and Uncle is big.”
They were different—one was a child, the other an adult—so it wasn’t fair to compare them.
After a round of mutual compliments, the man urged, “I’m hungry. It’s mealtime. How about asking your Big Boss to cook some noodles for you, and you can share some with me?”
At the mention of the Big Boss, the little one’s previously happy expression drooped instantly.
He said, dejectedly, “Big Boss will never cook noodles for me again.”
The man: “?”
The man paused, surprised. “Why not?”
The little one didn’t know where to begin. He pouted, and finally said, “Big Boss said bad things about me. I got mad and did something wrong, and now the Big Boss is going to settle the score with Ah Wu.”
By “settle the score,” he meant it literally.
The man looked at the little one, who was pouting, in disbelief. “He said bad things about such a cute little one?! That’s too much!”
Touched by the man’s words, the little one nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it’s too much!”
Recalling how the Big Boss had criticized him, the little one felt wronged and defended himself, “I’ve been really good, only a little bit not good.”
Even Ah Wu said he was the best-behaved little one!
The man pulled him onto his lap, took the opportunity to pinch his cheeks again, and said, “Exactly, you’re such a good boy.”
“How could someone be so cold to such a good and cute little one? I swear, he’s turning into a ninja turtle!”
The little one caught the unfamiliar term and asked in confusion, “What’s a ninja turtle?”
“It’s a kind of turtle,” the man explained vaguely. “A turtle that’s very good at holding back its emotions. He’s basically a turtle.”
The man kept bad-mouthing the Big Boss, and by the end, the little one felt the need to cover his mouth.
“Big Boss isn’t that bad.”
“It was me who wasn’t good first.”
“Uncle, stop saying that.”
The little one defended the Big Boss, covering the man’s mouth. The man smiled through his eyes but stopped talking.
“Alright, you should head back. I’ll go call your Big Boss for you.”
The man patted the little one’s cheeks and sent him back down the tree.
The little one was still hesitant. “Are you really going to call the Big Boss?”
The man nodded.
The little one seemed unsure. “But, but Uncle doesn’t seem to like the Big Boss…”
The man: “…”
He seemed momentarily speechless.
He wanted to argue back, but seeing the child’s innocent face, he swallowed his words and said, “Adult matters are too complicated for kids.”
With that, he waved the little one away.
After the little one left, it didn’t take long for the Big Boss to arrive.
Seeing the Big Boss, the little one quietly hid behind Ah Wu.
Big Boss glanced at the boy, then at Ah Wu standing in front of him.
“Big Boss, the students are all here.”
The teacher said to the Big Boss, “Those people have been challenging us for a while now.”
At the forefront of the army, a man was shouting for them to open the main gate of Guan Shan Residence and welcome them in.
His words were quite arrogant.
But the teacher knew that when the Big Boss arrived, he would be even more arrogant.
“I understand,” the Big Boss said to the teacher, then signaled for the security team to move forward.
A security team of ten men faced off against a massive army.
The head of the security team, also the laid-back deputy director of the office, carried an object no one had seen before and confronted General Li Wei, who sat on horseback with his sword raised.
Li Wei, with a cold voice, said, “Within three moves, I will slaughter all of you.”
Zhang San smiled, and the next second, aimed the object on his shoulder at Li Wei.
“Boom—”
A deafening sound rang out, and the next moment, General Li Wei, who had never known defeat, was blown apart, his blood splattering everywhere. He died on the spot.
The entire scene seemed to be muted in an instant, as if all sound had been sucked away, and the silence was so profound that you could hear a pin drop.
The little one’s mouth hung wide open.
All the children’s eyes widened in shock, and even the uncle hiding in the shadows, ready to rescue the boy, along with the Fourth Prince, were completely dumbfounded.
It was as if a moment had passed, or perhaps an eternity.
Zhang San, standing before the massive army, smiled and asked, “Who else dares to break into Guan Shan Residence?”
Not only do they have sounds/movement detecting light but also bazookas.
I had guessed that they had firearms but a bazooka ?
And I had already thought sounds/movement detecting light was already very impressive and way beyond just having electricity. And now with the bazooka, I am wonder what else do they have.