Chapter 22
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As a natural-born Rui Beast, Ling Rui not only had the ability to foresee the future, but also had an intuition for danger. However, these abilities were not stable from birth.
When Ling Rui, this little Rui Beast, first came into this world, he was so small that he couldn’t even eat enough food.
If he were asked to foresee at that time, he estimated that no matter how hard he clenched his little fists, he wouldn’t be able to foresee anything.
Now, growing up day by day in the palace, perhaps because he had grown up a bit, or for other reasons, Ling Rui’s abilities were gradually emerging.
“Big Brother.”
Feeling only a sense of danger, Ling Rui, with a frightened look on his little face, said to Ling Chen, “Let’s go home.”
He didn’t want his big brother to go any further.
Seeing Ling Rui’s expression not right, Ling Chen picked him up and put him on his lap: “We just came out, why do you want to go back so soon? Be good, let Big Brother finish his work and then take you back.”
Ling Rui couldn’t explain why he wanted his big brother to go back. He grabbed his big brother’s hand, feeling anxious.
The carriage continued to move forward.
Ling Rui clung to Ling Chen, still trying to get him to turn back.
But with the coachman’s “whoa” sound as he pulled the reins, the carriage suddenly stopped, and the coachman reported from outside the curtain, “Your Highnesses, we’ve arrived, and Young Master Murong is ahead.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Chen opened the curtain, carried Ling Rui, and got off the carriage.
Their carriage stopped in a meadow, and Ling Chen asked the coachman to rest in place while he carried Ling Rui and walked towards Murong Xu ahead.
“Little Seven, come and let Uncle hold you.”
Seeing Ling Rui in Ling Chen’s arms, Murong Xu forgot to even greet them, reaching out his hands directly towards the little child.
Ling Rui also gave him face, stretching out his little hand and leaning out his small body, letting his uncle hold him.
Murong Xu looked at his beautiful little face and sighed again: “I don’t know if it’s because my sister raised him well, or if this little baby is naturally adorable. Look, he’s so soft and chubby, really cute.”
Ling Chen thought about how he felt when he held the child just now, then looked up at the child’s face. He rarely agreed with Murong Xu’s observation.
Among all the princes and princesses, indeed, Little Seven was the most good-looking.
After holding the child for a while, Murong Xu teased Ling Chen, “Your Highness, let’s go. I’ll be your attendant today.”
Ling Chen: “…”
Ling Chen was speechless. “Clearly, you wanted to hold Little Seven.”
As they walked and talked, they were now within the territory of Guang County. If they continued forward, they would enter Guang County itself.
Guang County consisted of ten villages, and the people in these ten villages lived relatively well-off lives.
Ling Chen had a task this time. He had heard that a group of refugees had disappeared after fleeing here, so he came to investigate whether anyone was harboring them.
Harboring refugees was a serious crime.
“Murong Xu, don’t call me Your Highness. I use a pseudonym outside the palace. Just call me by my pseudonym, Chen Yi,” Ling Chen reminded Murong Xu.
Upon hearing this pseudonym, Murong Xu couldn’t help but comment, “Your name is so casual.”
Ling Chen didn’t mind. “It’s just a pseudonym, not my real name. Any name will do.”
Murong Xu: “Okay.”
Murong Xu: “Then I’ll call you Young Master Chen. Your demeanor doesn’t suit a commoner.”
As they discussed their titles, Ling Rui laid on his uncle’s shoulder, earnestly looking around, especially at the surrounding bushes.
After looking around for a while, Ling Rui became a little anxious.
He leaned close to his uncle’s ear and asked, “Uncle, where’s Ah Wu?”
Having looked around but not finding Ah Wu, he was worried.
Murong Xu teased him with a smile, “Ah Wu didn’t come, only Uncle did.”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui opened his mouth in disbelief, looking at his uncle. “Ah Wu didn’t come to see me?”
To Ling Rui, his uncle’s words were like a bolt from the blue.
Seeing the child looking so hurt, Murong Xu quickly changed his tune. “I was just kidding. Ah Wu is here. He probably saw your big brother and didn’t come out.”
“Find Ah Wu.”
Ling Rui struggled in his uncle’s arms, wanting to get down. “I want to find Ah Wu to play.”
Although his uncle and his big brother got along well, he wanted to play with Ah Wu now.
Murong Xu, struggling to hold him steady, said, “Okay, okay, I’ll let you find Ah Wu. Don’t move.”
After reassuring the child in his arms, Murong Xu turned to Ling Chen and said, “Young Master Chen, I’ll go with you. Let Little Seven go play.”
Ling Chen: “?”
Ling Chen frowned. “Let him play alone?”
Murong Xu smiled. “Of course not. We have a servant nearby. We have a little pet at home that Little Seven likes. I’ll have the servant take him to play with the pet. When we’re done with our business, we’ll come back and get him.”
“Is it safe?” Ling Chen wasn’t very reassured.
Murong Xu assured him, “It’s very safe. Someone will protect him.”
This was just Murong Xu’s way of reassuring Ling Chen. He didn’t actually have anyone follow them. Ah Wu’s appearance wasn’t suitable for too many people to see, and with Ah Wu, there wouldn’t be any danger to Little Seven.
With Murong Xu’s assurance and Ling Rui’s eager gaze, Ling Chen finally relented. He agreed to let Murong Xu send Little Seven over.
Not long after.
Ling Rui saw Ah Wu on a deserted hillside.
He ran towards Ah Wu eagerly, shouting, “Ah Wu, I’m here!”
Seeing him running so eagerly, Ah Wu walked forward to meet him and catch him.
Seeing the two of them hugging each other, Murong Xu instructed them, “You two have fun. I’ll go with Ling Chen to do some work. We’ll meet up before it gets dark.”
Worried that they might wander off, Murong Xu even attached a signal flare to Ling Rui, telling them to release it when they were done playing.
Seeing the signal flare, he and Ling Chen will come over to pick them up.
Ling Rui patted the small package containing the signal flare and said to his uncle, “I remember! Goodbye, Uncle!”
Seeing Ling Rui’s eager expression to play with Ah Wu, Murong Xu pinched his chubby cheeks without hiding his affection. “Forget about Uncle once you have Ah Wu, you ungrateful little brat.”
The ungrateful little child hummed, “I didn’t forget about Uncle.”
He leaned over and kissed his uncle’s handsome face, which made his uncle laugh and immediately changed his mind and called him his little darling.
After his uncle left, Ah Wu’s voice immediately sounded, “What were you doing just now Zaizai?”
Ling Rui nestled in his arms and rolled around. “Just now, I kissed my uncle.”
Ah Wu’s face darkened slightly. He knew what a kiss meant in the human world—it was an expression of intimacy. He had seen the consorts in the harem kiss the emperor.
He didn’t like that kind of kiss.
Ling Rui looked up at his expression and reached out to pat him gently, “Don’t be upset. I won’t kiss people indiscriminately.”
His Niang Niang taught him that he could only let close adults kiss his little face, and he couldn’t kiss others indiscriminately either.
Seeing Ah Wu’s still serious expression, Ling Rui blinked and hugged his head, kissing him several times more than he had kissed his uncle.
Feeling Ling Rui’s kisses on his head, Ah Wu instinctively licked his little cheek.
The two little beasts used to lick each other often. Ah Wu licked him to check his body, while Ling Rui didn’t need to check his body. He just thought it was a gesture of love.
“No fur.”
Ah Wu muttered, “When can you change back?”
Now Zaizai, except for his hair, was completely bald. Fortunately, such a little bald Zaizai didn’t live in the world of mountains and seas, otherwise he wouldn’t survive three days.
Ling Rui shook his head and honestly replied, “I don’t know.”
He also wanted his fur to grow back, to change back.
But he didn’t know when he could change back.
“Never mind.”
Ah Wu didn’t insist either. He lowered himself and let Ling Rui sit on his back. “Come up.”
Ling Rui grabbed his sturdy fur and climbed up. Sitting on Ah Wu’s back, his little face was full of pride. “I’m so tall now!”
His little hands gripped Ah Wu tightly. Once he was seated securely, he said, “Look, is there any danger!”
He predicted danger on the carriage earlier, but he didn’t know where the danger was.
So now, he wanted to investigate danger with Ah Wu!
Ah Wu growled softly, reminding him to sit properly. Then, a figure flashed by, difficult to catch, darting from the hillside and disappearing in an instant several meters away.
Such speed was unmatched by any beast in this world.
Ling Rui used to be so small that he could hide entirely in Ah Wu’s fur on his neck. Running with Ah Wu used to be stable and comfortable.
But now, he wasn’t a little round Zaizai anymore.
“Ah, Ah Wu, slow down a bit.” Ling Rui couldn’t hide in the fur anymore. He faced the wind head-on as they ran, and it was hard for him to breathe!
His voice was also scattered by the wind, and his small body swayed.
Just as he was about to give in, Ah Wu noticed something was wrong and finally stopped, saving the cub just in time.
“Zaizai?”
Seeing the child falling, Ah Wu caught him in time. “What happened?”
Ling Rui wiped his cold face with his hand. He wasn’t angry; he just told Ah Wu gently, “Run slower.”
He hugged Ah Wu’s head and rubbed against him with his cold face, asking him to warm him up.
Feeling the warmth from Ling Rui’s little face, Ah Wu realized that the child on his back was different from before.
“Sorry.”
Ah Wu stretched out his claws to let Ling Rui lean against his warm abdomen. “I neglected you.”
Ling Rui rubbed against him and gradually warmed up his little face, smiling softly. “It’s okay, I’m just too small now.”
If he were a little bigger, as big as his uncle, he wouldn’t be so fragile.
After resting for a while, Ling Rui climbed onto Ah Wu’s back again. This time, he learned from his mistake and sat facing away from the wind. Although his small body still swayed in the wind, at least he could breathe.
A figure leaped through the woods.
Ling Rui, with renewed vigor, observed carefully around him, inspecting for danger for his big brother.
Meanwhile, Ling Chen had arrived at a remote little village in Guang County. It couldn’t even be called a complete village because there weren’t enough houses to form one.
Ling Chen walked on the difficult path, and his footsteps kicked up dust when he stepped a bit harder.
He turned to Murong Xu, relieved. “Good thing we didn’t bring Little Seven. It would have been difficult with him. By the way, we might not have time to find him at noon. Did the servant you brought have food? Little Seven needs to eat.”
Murong Xu: “…”
Murong Xu recalled and realized he hadn’t brought any food for Ah Wu.
But Ah Wu had been praised so much by Little Seven, and he had said Ah Wu had been taking care of him for a long time. So letting Ah Wu take care of one meal shouldn’t be a problem.
“He has food.”
Murong Xu said so, but he quickened his pace honestly.
Ling Chen followed him, walking side by side. They didn’t talk much, afraid of choking on dust.
After walking for a while, Ling Chen approached a crossroad and frowned at the dilapidated houses. “Why would anyone live here in these few households?”
“Who knows, let’s go in and take a look.” Murong Xu was unfamiliar with this area as well, so he couldn’t answer.
“Wait.”
Seeing Ling Chen about to go over, Murong Xu stopped him.
Under Ling Chen’s puzzled gaze, Murong Xu lowered his voice and chuckled, “Master, you wait outside. Let me go in first to see if there’s any danger.”
After saying so, Murong Xu walked up and didn’t even knock on the door. He just peeked inside through the window.
Inside the house was a simple wooden bed, and on the bed lay a sickly person, whose face couldn’t be seen clearly but could be heard coughing severely.
He looked for a few seconds, then turned back and knocked on the door.
After a moment, the sound of coughing echoed through the room, accompanied by a frail voice, “Who is it? Fen Er is not home. If you have any business, come back later.”
Murong Xu continued knocking, but this time, he didn’t just knock. He cautiously opened the door a bit.
The door creaked open.
Apologizing for the disturbance, Murong Xu walked in. He approached the bed where an old, sickly man was lying, and their eyes met.
The old man’s eyes were cloudy, and his face was pale and gaunt, giving the impression that he didn’t have much time left.
“Old man, I was passing by and was hoping to ask you for a bowl of water,” Murong Xu said with familiar ease.
The old man stared at him with a steady gaze and replied, “I only have cold water here. If you want hot water, you’ll have to wait until my daughter returns to boil some.”
“Cold water is fine.”
Murong Xu said this as he went to pour himself some water.
After drinking, he sat on a broken chair and continued to chat with the old man. He wanted to ask about the refugees, but the old man asked him back, “Are you a noble from the capital?”
Murong Xu thought for a moment. “Sort of.”
Hearing this, tears welled up in the old man’s cloudy eyes. “Noble, please help my daughter! My poor daughter.”
Murong Xu wasn’t a high-ranking official, but seeing the old man’s pitiful state, he patiently said, “Old man, please tell me.”
Murong Xu listened to the old man recounting Fen Er’s hardships. He spoke about how Fen Er had also been deceived and taken advantage of by a nobleman who refused to take responsibility.
While he was listening to the old man’s grievances, on the other side, Ling Rui encountered a bit of trouble.
“Ah Wu, look!”
Next to a pond, Ling Rui saw a girl lying on the ground. She wore simple clothes, both her clothes and the rock beneath her stained with blood.
He climbed down from Ah Wu and hurried over, squatting beside the girl and reaching out to feel her breath.
After sensing that she was still breathing, Ling Rui turned back to look at Ah Wu.
Ah Wu also surveyed the area and casually remarked, “Probably fell from above.”
Above this pond was a slightly high cliff.
Ling Rui looked at Ah Wu, then at the girl with faint breathing.
He looked a bit at a loss. “How do we save her?”
Being so small, he couldn’t carry this sister back.
Ah Wu glanced at the girl on the ground.
Seeing Zaizai looking at him so expectantly, Ah Wu, who usually minded his own business, still stepped forward to check.
“Her injuries are severe. Without timely treatment, she’ll die.” After examining her, Ah Wu concluded.
Ling Rui nodded at his words. “Then let’s treat her.”
Ah Wu: “…”
Ah Wu fell silent for a moment, then compromised with a “Mmm.”
He turned around to find herbs for treating wounds. Searching for herbs was a skill both he and Ling Rui possessed.
In their world, there were no royal physicians. Even for serious injuries, they had to find their own herbs for internal or external use.
While Ah Wu searched for herbs, Ling Rui sat on the rubble, continuing to watch over the girl.
After a while, Ah Wu returned with herbs in his mouth.
“This one is to apply to the wounds.”
“This one, you crush and feed her the juice.”
Ah Wu explained the effects of the herbs to Ling Rui. Then, Ling Rui took a stone and crushed the herbs that needed to be juiced.
After busying themselves for a while, Ling Rui’s face was flushed with exhaustion.
Ah Wu looked at his red face and commented lightly, “Saving her is really troublesome.”
Hearing this, Ling Rui glanced at him.
He continued to work hard at making the medicine and applying it to the wounds of this stranger. As he worked, he also educated Ah Wu, “Ah Wu, it’s important to do good deeds like this.”
Once, he had met a great Rui Beast who told him that doing good deeds could accumulate blessings.
The more good deeds he did, the greater a Rui Beast he would become in the future!
Ling Rui’s words didn’t resonate with Ah Wu.
Rui Beasts were different from ferocious beasts.
Rui Beasts cultivated virtue and righteousness, and the more good deeds they did, the better they became. He was a ferocious beast, and doing good deeds had nothing to do with him.
After some time passed, Ling Rui finally finished treating all the girl’s wounds and fed her the medicine.
He sat down heavily on the ground, saying softly to Ah Wu, “So tired.”
Ah Wu didn’t say anything, just picked some fruit for him to eat first.
The sweet fruits burst with juice when bitten into.
Ling Rui ate happily, but after finishing one and a half fruits, he couldn’t eat anymore.
Ah Wu reached out to touch his stomach. Seeing his little belly bulging, he took the remaining half of the fruit and bit into it himself.
After finishing the fruit, Ling Rui yawned. He laid on Ah Wu’s back, his round eyes not as round as before.
He rubbed his face against Ah Wu’s neck, his sleepy voice sounding a bit muffled, “Ah Wu, when will she wake up?”
“When you wake up, she might be awake.”
After saying this, Ah Wu looked at the girl again.
She was lucky. If she hadn’t encountered Zaizai, she would have died by now.
The herbs he found weren’t ordinary herbs.
“Zaizai, go to sleep.”
Ah Wu’s voice was calm, lacking the softness of comforting a child at night, but as Ling Rui listened to his voice, his eyelids grew heavier.
Soon, Ah Wu lowered his gaze and saw that the child in his arms was fast asleep.
He found a nearby place to sleep and put the child in it before turning to catch a rabbit.
After the rabbit was cooked and fragrant, Zaizai would love eating it.
Once, when a small forest caught fire, he saw Zaizai, with his short legs, rushing into the woods without hesitation.
At that time, he thought his Zaizai was going to put out the fire. But before he could rush in and call him back, he saw Zaizai, blackened by the smoke, holding a rabbit roasted by the fire in his mouth, running towards him like a coal ball.
After rushing to him, the coal-ball Zaizai placed the rabbit in front of him and then turned back to grab another rabbit.
Thinking of Zaizai’s greedy appearance when eating the rabbit, Ah Wu skinned the rabbit even faster.
He cleaned the rabbit, dunked it in the stream, and then skewered it on a stick.
He performed these actions without any hesitation.
After more than an hour, Ling Rui woke up groggily. Although he slept a lot despite being small, he couldn’t sleep for long.
As soon as he woke up, he tasted the roasted rabbit.
“Ah Wu, my teeth hurt a bit.”
After Ling Rui forced himself to eat a few pieces of rabbit, he tilted his little face up and opened his mouth for Ah Wu to examine his teeth.
His little white teeth didn’t look as strong as before.
Ah Wu leaned over, carefully examined him, blew on him, then took away his rabbit meat, and instead caught him a fish to roast and eat.
Ling Rui’s little belly was easy to fill.
After eating and drinking his fill, he squatted down in front of the girl again, his hands propping up his cheeks, waiting for her to wake up.
This time, he didn’t have to wait long before he saw the girl’s eyelids flutter.
“Ah Wu, hide.”
Seeing the girl waking up, Ling Rui’s first reaction was to hide Ah Wu so she wouldn’t see him.
Ah Wu was reluctant, but pushed by Ling Rui’s little hands, he walked into the nearby bushes.
From this position, Ah Wu could clearly see Ling Rui and hear him speaking clearly.
A few minutes later.
The girl, lying there until now, slowly opened her eyes. Upon waking up, the first thing she saw was a baby so beautiful he seemed like a little fairy.
The baby leaned in front of her, his voice soft and gentle, “You’re awake.”
“You, you are—”
“I’m Little Seven. I walked here and saw you.”
Ling Rui explained, “You’ve lost a lot of blood. I’ve applied medicine for you. You won’t die.”
Although his words were somewhat disjointed, the girl still understood his meaning.
“Thank you,” the girl whispered in a hoarse voice.
Ling Rui shook his head, “No need thank. Are you still in pain?”
The girl’s wounds were not healed yet, so of course she was still in pain. However, compared to her life, this pain was nothing.
She struggled to sit up, thanked Ling Rui again.
Ling Rui supported her and, once she was seated securely, handed her the fish that she hadn’t finished eating.
After the girl took the fish and started eating, Ling Rui hesitated for a moment before asking, “How did you?”
The girl, just returning from the brink of death, was emotionally unstable. She chewed on the fish, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“It’s the General’s Manor, they want to kill me.”
As soon as the girl spoke, Ling Rui’s young face froze.
She choked out, “I was deceived by the Fifth Young Master of the General’s Manor. He said he would marry me, and I couldn’t refuse, so I agreed. But he never intended to marry me. He’s afraid I’ll talk, so he’s come to silence me.”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui listened, stunned.
He thought of his own little uncle and couldn’t believe he would do such a thing.
“Are you sure you haven’t mistaken someone else?” Ling Rui asked her.
The girl shook her head, tears in her eyes. “I haven’t mistaken anyone. When he was with me, he showed me his waist token, which had his name on it.”
Ling Rui still couldn’t believe it.
Though he didn’t believe her, this wasn’t the time to argue.
“I’ll, I’ll take you home,” Ling Rui decided to take her home, note down her address, and then bring his little uncle with him.
As long as his little uncle came, and they met face to face, she would realize she had mistaken him.
Ling Rui was kind-hearted in wanting to take her home. The girl leaned on his shoulder, reluctantly stood up.
Her foot was injured and she limped. On the way back, she suddenly said, “If I die today, the Fifth Young Master won’t have an easy time either.”
Ling Rui was startled.
He looked up at the girl and asked, “Why?”
The girl bit her lip and replied, “I told my father. If something happens to me, it must be the Fifth Young Master.”
“I know a kind young master who will help me seek justice.”
As Ling Rui listened, his young mind turned.
He thought that if he and Ah Wu hadn’t saved this sister, even if his little uncle was falsely accused, it would be hard to clear his name.
What Ling Rui thought of in his little head, Murong Xu, standing at the broken door, also thought about it.
But Murong Xu, compared to this little cub, thought a little deeper: “Young Master, if I hadn’t come with you, or if we had no contact like before, and knew nothing about each other, what would you think after hearing these old man’s words?”
Ling Chen fell silent.
After a while, he spoke honestly, “I would doubt you and verify if this matter is true.”
Murong Xu’s lips curled slightly, a coldness in his eyes. He turned to look at the old man coughing inside the broken house and asked, “What if the old man died after telling you this?”
Ling Chen: “…”
Ling Chen’s heart sank.
Murong Xu looked at the severely ill old man and continued to speculate, “And if, after the old man dies, his daughter also encounters trouble, what would you think then?”
With everyone involved facing troubles, there would be no witnesses left.
And Ling Chen, who just happened to learn about this, even if he couldn’t find evidence, would still harbor negative feelings towards Murong Xu and the General’s Manor.
After Murong Xu finished speaking, Ling Chen locked eyes with him, and after a moment of mutual gaze, Ling Chen spoke in a calm voice—
“I won’t suspect you now.”
His Little Seven liked this Uncle so he deserved a bit more patience from him.
Moreover, someone who loved children so dearly, Ling Chen didn’t think would be capable of something too despicable.
Thanks to the little cub’s influence, Murong Xu made a good impression on Ling Chen.
Meanwhile, Ling Rui, still led by the girl, listened as she talked about how she narrowly escaped death this time and planned to retaliate against the Fifth Young Master.
As she spoke with determination about her methods, Ling Rui, hanging his head, didn’t dare utter a word.
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