Chapter 67
Madam Bai had been watching from the side with a hidden smile, and only now did she walk over, tapped Bai Shan Jun’s shoulder and laughed, “Enough, enough. Don’t tell me you really want to turn the play into reality, satisfy your own desires under the pretense of work, taking advantage of the situation. If this act continues, I am going to be jealous.”
She tapped Tie Ping Gu’s body and said with a smile, “This is just an act, don’t be angry.”
Tie Ping Gu closed her eyes, her tears finally flowing out.
Madam Bai furrowed her brows and said, “Look at you, you hateful old man, to scare a little Miss thus.”
Bai Shan Jun laughed, “If she’s angry, she can rip my clothes off as well.”
Madam Bai removed her outer clothing and wrapped Tie Ping Gu in it, saying gently, “When men sees pretty ladies, they can’t help but want to take some advantage, you don’t have to feel bad…”
She carried Tie Ping Gu out and placed her gently next to Jiang Yu Lang, saying with a smile, “Better let you two little lovebirds get cozy.”
It’s not known whether it was deliberate or not, but she did not unseal Tie Ping Gu’s acupoint, as if she knows that after this incident, Tie Ping Gu would secretly run away. Although Jiang Yu Lang has turned pale from the pain, but he still pretended to laugh and said, “Still a kid after all, others just played a trick and you cried.”
Tie Ping Gu can’t help but berated him, “You… you… are you still human?”
Jiang Yu Lang looked around, and seeing that Bai Shan Jun and his wife were still in the house, he heaved a long sigh and said with lowered voice, “When in the house of others, one has no choice but to acquiesce. Now that we’re in such straits, if we were to be stubborn, can we still live?”
Tie Ping Gu gritted her teeth, “I am not afraid of death. I’d rather die than to be bullied like a dog.”
Jiang Yu Lang replied, “Those who are not afraid of death are all fools. But do you want to take revenge to vent your anger?”
“Of course.”
Jiang Yu Lang smiled, “Then you should know that the dead are unable to seek revenge!”
Bai Shan Jun and his wife sat in the house, looking at each other, their expression indescribably downcast. After much difficult planning, they managed to steal Hua Wu Que from Su Ying’s hands, for the purpose of again trying to find out the secret from him.
But now all their hard work is for naught.
Madam Bai heaved a long sigh, stood up and walked out of the house. Bai Shan Jun was not in the mood to ask her where she was going as well, but just stared at Hua Wu Que with a bitter smile.
After a moment, suddenly he heard Madam Bai exclaiming in shock outside, “Come out quickly and take a look, what is this?”
Bai Shan Jun rushed out of the house, but only saw Jiang Yu Lang and Tie Ping Gu lying there, heads together, as if asleep. Madam Bai was standing under the tree in a daze.
There’s nothing under the tree at all, only a pile of fallen leaves.
There was surprise and excitement on Madam Bai’s face, and she said, “Look what is this?”
Among the fallen leaves, there’s a little hole, like a rabbit’s hole, or a fox’s lair.
Bai Shan Jun replied, “But this is just a hole, have you never seen such a hole before?”
Madam Bai suddenly turned her head back and stared at him with large eyes, as if a gingko tree has suddenly grown on Bai Shan Jun’s face.
Bai Shan Jun smiled and commented, “Have you never seen me before as well.”
She bent down and swept away the fallen leaves around the hole, and now it can be seen that the four edges of this hole were smooth and neat, and there is no other way out underneath.
Madam Bai said, “Take a closer look at this hole.”
Bai Shan Jun’s expression changed, “I understand! This hole is dug by a person!
Madam Bai clapped her hands, “That’s it, such a small hole, who can hide in it?”
Bai Shan Jun furrowed his brows, “But he has not shown himself for twenty years, and it’s rumored that he has died long ago.”
Madam Bai replied lightly, “Think, would a person like him die? Who can kill him?”
Bai Shan Jun sighed, “That’s right, the good do not live long, the bad will live a thousand years…”
Madam Bai giggled, “You’re still jealous of him?”
Bai Shan Jun replied with a stern look, “Even if your old lover is coming soon, you need not smile so happily in front of me.”
Madam Bai hooked her arms around his neck and smiled coquettishly, “Silly old man, if I like him, why would I have married you?… come…”
However Bai Shan Jun pushed her away and said loudly, “No.”
Bai Shan Jun kicked violently at the fallen leaves and said, “The thought that that lad might be around here, I have no mood whatsoever. I am staying here.”
Madam Bai asked, “Why?”
Bai Shan Jun said each word slowly, “To wait by the tree stump for the rabbit.”
Jiang Yu Lang is in so much pain that he could die, so how could he have fallen asleep… he only closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
When he heard the couple making so much commotion over a hole, he can’t help but feel perplexed as well, and on hearing the couple flirting with each other, he felt hilarious. But when he heard that the small hole can actually hide a person, he almost wanted to blurt out, “Such a small hole, even a five year old kid would find it difficult to hide in there, how can an adult hide in it? Unless this person is a dwarf?”
Lastly he heard Bai Shan Jun said, “To wait by the tree stump for the rabbit!” (Chinese idiom)
A thought suddenly passed through his mind and he secretly thought, “The person they’re waiting for, could it be the ‘Rabbit’ of the Twelve Zodiacs?”
It must be known, although the Twelve Zodiacs are the bandits and curse of the martial arts realm, but they thought that being called cows or horses too uncouth, so they referred to the classics and found themselves graceful names.
The rat is called ‘Wu Ya’; the cow ‘Yun Liang’ (Transporting the grain); the tiger ‘Shan Jun (Master of the mountains); the rabbit ‘Dao Yao’ (Pounding medicine); the dragon ‘Si Ling Zhi Shou’ (Leader of the Four Supernatural Beasts); the snake ‘Shi Lu Shen Jun’ (Deer Consuming God); the pig ‘Hei Mian’ (Black face); the horse ‘Ti Wei’ (Kicking the stomach) but also known as ‘Tiger’s wife’; the goat ‘Chi Shi’ (Shouting at stones); the chicken ‘Si Cheng’ (Heralding daybreak); the monkey ‘Xiao Guo’ (Offering fruits), the dog ‘Ying Ke’ (Welcoming Guests). These twelve graceful names, came from poems. The ‘Rabbit’ of the twelve zodiacs is surnamed ‘Hu’, and the name is taken from ‘Pounding medicine on the moon’, but no one knows if this person is male or female.
Because there is not many people in the martial arts realm who can see the real face of this Herbalist Hu, so no one knows what he actually looks like!
Bai Shan Jun really sat under the tree and ‘waited by the tree stump for the rabbit’
Madam Bai looked at him quietly for a moment, and suddenly smiled, “You’re going to spend so much effort waiting here, what if the rabbit doesn’t come?”
Bai Shan Jun replied, “Since he was here before, he will surely know that you will come back here. With you here, would he not come?… Heh heh, maybe he is already secretly following us, waiting for a chance to meet you.”
Madam Bai giggled, “I’m already an old woman, what’s there to see?”
Bai Shan Jun smiled icily, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. To others, you may be an old woman, but in his eyes, you may still be a little beauty.”
On hearing this, Jiang Yu Lang really felt like laughing. He cannot imagine that this old couple would actually be flirting right here.
Suddenly Bai Shan Jun exclaimed softly, “He’s here!”
Jiang Yu Lang can’t help but open his eyes to peek, and saw a dried log about three feet long and a little thicker than a person’s head, rolling over from afar.
Not only can this log roll on the ground on its own, but it seemed to have eyes as well. Where there are wood or stones blocking the way, it can actually change direction on its own. To actually witness such a strange sight in the abandoned woods, if it were other times, even if Jiang Yu Lang has guts, he would surely be frightened as well.
But now he already knows that this dried log must be related to that Herbalist Hu, and guessed that Herbalist Hu may very well be hiding inside this log, so it doesn’t seem so frightening anymore. He just felt perplexed and thought, “This log is not much bigger than a pillow, can a person hide in it?”
Bai Shan Jun stared unblinkingly at this log, his eyes seemed to be smoking, his hands clenched tightly into a fist.
Madam Bai lightly pressed on his hands and smiled flirtingly, “It’s an old friend we have not met for a long time, you can’t behave like the past and fight upon seeing each other.”
That log actually laughed and said, “We have not met for years, I did not expect you virtuous couple to be still as loving as ever, it really calls for congratulations.”
Bai Shan Jun shouted, “How do you know if we’re still as loving, have you been spying on us all this while.”
That log laughed, “If it’s not as loving as ever, why would there be such a strong air of jealousy. This fact is very obvious, and need no eyes to look, right?”
A head actually emerged suddenly from the log.
Although Jiang Yu Lang already knows that there’s someone in the log, but he can’t help being startled at that moment… that a human head would suddenly pop out of a log, no matter what, this is a very creepy sight.
This hair on this head is all white, but there’s not much beard on the chin. His eyes were round and bright, like two enormous pearls.
The weirdest thing is, not only is this head not small, but it’s a little larger than the average person. The log may be hollow, but it would still be a tight fit for the head.
Not only is the head big, but the ears are even bigger, and they’re big and pointed, almost identical to a rabbit’s ears but twice as big.
How can a dwarf have such a large head, such large ears?
Jiang Yu Lang can’t help but feel even more startled. Although he still wished to pretend to be asleep, but he cannot bear to close his eyes. Looking at Tie Ping Gu, she was also staring with wide open eyes.
Madam Bai giggled, “We have not met for more than ten years, I did not expect you to be as playful as ever.”
That person laughed, “This is called, a leopard can never change its spots.”
Bai Shan Jun laughed frostily, “If you think that women still like playful men, you are wrong.”
That person grinned, “Oh, has the trend changed now? I remember that playful men have always been popular.”
Bai Shan Jun retorted, “Playful men are naturally still popular, but playful old men… heh heh, it will only give one goose pimples, makes one feel nauseous.”
Seeing that there are still men fighting over her, Madam Bai was indescribably overjoyed and thought, “It seems that I’m not old yet.”
But she pretended to be angry and said with a stern face, “Whichever of you start quarrelling, I will ignore that person.”
Bai Shan Jun roared, “Don’t you forget, I am your husband, you cannot ignore me even if you want to.”
Madam Bai giggled, “Look at you, it’s not as if I’m really ignoring you, why must you be so uptight.” Her eyes shone, her cheeks reddened, she really looked like she is now suddenly ten over years younger.
That person sighed and said with a laugh, “Old Brother Bai, it seems that you’re really lucky. I’m afraid even when you’ve gone into the coffin, this little sister-in-law of mine would still be as young as a miss.”
Bai Shan Jun roared, “Are you cursing me? Even if I’m dead, you won’t get a chance as well.”
Amidst his roar, a punch struck out.
With a ‘whoosh’ sound, that log was actually smashed to smithereens by the gush of air from his punch and a person jumped out from the log and dashed up a tree.
Jiang Yu Lang could not even catch a good glimpse of this person’s shadow,
This person’s large head poked out among the leaves and grinned, “The man has no heart to harm the tiger, but the tiger has the intention to injure the man… But Old Brother Bai, the reason I came this time, is not to fight with you.”
Bai Shan Jun roared, “Why are you here? This tiger may not eat humans, but eating a rabbit is nothing at all.”
That person smiled calmly, “If you hurt me, I’m afraid you will never have the fortune of hearing the secret to ‘Shifting Flower Grafting Jade’ in your life.”
Bai Shan Jun was stunned, and his face immediately was full of smiles and he laughed, “Younger Brother Hu, you and my wife are old friends, have you forgotten her character?”
That person asked, “What about her character?”
Bai Shan Jun replied, “She loves others being jealous over her. Since I am her husband, naturally I often have to think of ways to make her happy, actually…”
Before he could finish his words, he was slapped in the face. Madam Bai stared at him and asked, “Actually what?”
Bai Shan Jun was not angry at all, but grinned, “Actually I really like you too, but I like that ‘Shifting Flower Grafting Jade’ as well.”
Madam Bai rolled her eyes, but smiled as well. She stared towards the tree and laughingly chided, “Irritating rabbit, aren’t you coming down?”
That person laughed loudly, “Yes, I’m coming right down.”
He leaped down with a smile, but he’s not a dwarf at all, but a seven feet tall man, and seems to be a head taller than Bai Shan Jun.
Jiang Yu Lang’s eyeballs almost popped out. He really cannot imagine how such a large person can hide in such a small piece of log.
Suddenly he saw Bai Shan Jun walking over and looked at him with a smile. “So you have been awake a long time.”
Jiang Yu Lang did not even blush, and said with a smile, “I am in a daze, and did not actually sleep very soundly.”
Bai Shan Jun added, “Let me tell you, this is the world famous Herbalist Hu. Those in the martial arts realm, not a single person does not know that Herbalist Hu’s ‘Locking Shrinking Bone Skill’ is a rare skill in the martial arts realm, and there is no other like it in the world.”
Jiang Yu Lang exclaimed hoarsely, “Locking Shrinking Bone Skill? Could it be the secret that Priest Wu Wei had in yesteryear but which he will not impart?”
Bai Shan Jun laughed, “So you do have some knowledge. So now you should understand.”
“I understand.”
Bai Shan Jun suddenly stared, “Since you understand, why aren’t you going further away. Or could it be you want to listen to that secret as well?”
Although he was extremely reluctant, he had no choice but to leave. Tie Ping Gu also gritted her teeth and stood up, and helped him into that house.
The wind blew past, and blew up the robes Tie Ping Gu was wearing, revealing a pair of long, straight and legs so pale that it makes one giddy.
Herbalist Hu’s eyes seemed to have been locked, and smiled “This lady’s legs are really not bad.”
Bai Shan Jun walked over and whispered with a smile, “Not only are her legs extremely nice, other places… heh heh.” Before he could finish his words, his ears were suddenly pinched.
Madam Bai gritted her teeth and scolded with a smile, “Old lecher, to see how improper you are, I wonder how many women you have toyed with outside without my knowledge, is that right? Speak quickly!”
Herbalist Hu laughed, “From what I know, Old Brother Bai have always been faithful to you.”
Madam Bai stared at him, “You need not speak up for him, you’re not much better.”
Herbalist Hu exclaimed, “Aiyo, then you’re really misunderstood the good.”
Madam Bai guffawed and released her hands, “Men… out of ten, nine are lechers.”
Bai Shan Jun rubbed his ear and smiled, “Let’s not talk about inconsequential things, back to the topic, Younger Brother Hu, do you really know that secret?”
Herbalist Hu laughed loudly for a moment before continuing, “I saw you drag Old Man Wei’s eldest disciple Wei Ma Yi here, and after muttering for half a day, asked him for look for a lady named Su.”
Madam Bai interrupted, “Su Ying, that is Old Man Wei’s precious, don’t you know?”
Herbalist Hu smiled, “Of course I know now, but at that time I was puzzled, since you have a way, why ask others to walk it for you. Later I saw you secretly following him.”
Madam Bai replied, “That lass refused to learn martial arts, but Old Man Wei taught her all about traps and machines, and it seems that she has surpassed Old Man Wei in that aspect!”
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