Just at this moment, with a thump, the carriage seemed to strike a small rock, the whole carriage bouncing up. The others were all leaning against each other and were unaffected, but the already sleeping Ma Hongjun sat with nowhere to lean on left or right. With this jolt, his large body immediately pressed in Bai Chenxiang’s direction.
“You……”
Bai Chenxiang forcefully pushed up Fatty. She didn’t dare be loud for fear she’d wake the others, and could only brace against him and call him to quickly wake up.
Bai Chenxiang was a pure speed Spirit Master, and as such, besides her speed and flight, she was no different from ordinary girls in other areas. And Ma Hongjun’s weight had long since surpassed a hundred kg[1], and with the shaking carriage she soon couldn’t hold out. She couldn’t just get out of the way either, if she dodged, Ma Hongjun would press on Xiao Wu’s legs.
What could be done? Bai Chenxiang was a bit anxious. Just at this moment, she saw Ma Hongjun’s flabby arm dangling in front of her. Her heart twitched, and she bit down on him through his clothes.
Ma Hongjun immediately came to and shivered from the pain, coming awake from his sleep. Seeing Bai Chenxiang push against him he immediately understood, and hurriedly say up, in a low voice saying: “Sorry, sorry.”
Bai Chenxiang’s eyebrows straightened, using all her strength to pinch the flesh at Fatty’s waist. Of course, she didn’t grab that much, using her fingernails to pinch a bit of flesh and twisting three hundred sixty degrees.
Fatty abruptly ached, opening his mouth to cry out. Bai Chenxiang leapt up, hastily covering his mouth with her hands, not letting him make noise.
Once Fatty’s expression gradually returned to normal, she let go, patting her high mountain peaks chest, glaring rebukingly at Fatty.
Bai Chenxiang was without a doubt very beautiful, and her rebuking appearance was even more adorable. There still remained a bit of the warmth of her hands on Fatty’s face and lips, and he almost subconsciously made a somewhat lewd gesture, sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.
Bai Chenxiang stared dumbfounded. She suddenly felt that she was like a lamb before a big lecherous wolf. She was extremely clear on Fatty’s strength, could it be this Fatty would…...
Thinking of this, she hurriedly stuck to Xiao Wu’s side, somewhat alarmed looking at Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun couldn’t help staring distractedly when he saw her expression, touching his round face, he thought, am I that dreadful? In his heart he couldn’t help feeling a stab of pain, Bai Chenxiang’s alarmed expression had hurt his self esteem, a faint cold intent flashed past the corners of his eyes. He no longer looked at Bai Chenxiang, but shifted to sit against the other corner of the carriage, leaning against the corner and once again closing his eyes. In his heart he thought, what’s so extraordinary, I’m a bit plump, a bit ugly. If you don’t want me that’s fine, Fatty won’t pursue you hereafter. Third brother was right, a twisted melon doesn’t grow sweet. I don’t believe I can’t find a pretty girl later.
Seeing Fatty sleeping on the other side, leaving behind an enormous space for her, Bai Chenxiang couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. However, just what expression did he have just now? She’d never seen him show such an expression in front of her before! Seeing Fatty leaning there, Bai Chenxiang couldn’t help being a bit disgusted.
In order to reach their destination as fast as possible, they didn’t rest in any of the towns they passed, only when the horses were tired would they rest a while, their living quarters were out in the fields.
As night descended, the Shrek Seven Devils awakened one after another. They didn’t plan to travel in the evening. After all, with the carriage shaking, cultivation was twice the effort for half the result. They couldn’t skimp on their routine nightly cultivation, and the horses also needed enough time to rest.
Tang San took out drinking water and food from Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges. It was autumn now, and the air already had a bit of chill. Dai Mubai used his tiger claws to cut up a large pile of firewood in short order, and Ma Hongjun’s phoenix flame swept past, creating a bonfire.
The girls took out water kettles, boiling water on the flames and roasting some rations. Everyone sat in a circle around the bonfire.
Tang San very quickly discovered something amiss with Ma Hongjun. If it was before, he would definitely sit next to Bai Chenxiang without the slightest hesitation, but now he sat on the other side, staring into the bonfire without so much as a glance at Bai Chenxiang.
Lightly holding Fatty’s shoulders, Tang San asked in a low voice:
“What’s up? Why let Xiangxiang sit alone? Not going to keep her company?”
Ma Hongjun curled his lips, lowering his head and saying indifferently:
“She thinks of me as a scourge, should I be going to provoke her dislike? Afterwards she is she, I am me. Fatty’s face may be thick, but it’s not limitless. I won’t harass her again.”
Tang San looked distracted, this was clearly Fatty and Bai Chenxiang falling out at some time. Fatty’s words clearly held resentment.
Even if Ma Hongjun’s voice was soft, everyone present except for Bai Chenxiang and the soulless Xiao Wu were Spirit Emperor level experts, and naturally heard it clearly.
Ning Rongring stifled a giggle, Oscar looked somewhat sympathetically at Ma Hongjun. Wasn’t he now much like he once was?
Dai Mubai frowned, raising his head to look at Bai Chenxiang, about to say something but hastily stopped by Zhu Zhuqing. Zhu Zhuqing didn’t need to ask to know what Dai Mubai was going to say. As the eldest of the Shrek Seven Devils, he was very protective of his brothers. Don’t judge by how he usually joked with Fatty, if Fatty really had something going on, this big brother absolutely wouldn’t be ambiguous. Right now Fatty’s mood was bad, and if he was allowed to speak up, maybe he would tell Bai Chenxiang: “What do you take yourself for, our Fatty doesn’t have any bad points”, and so on. And so Zhu Zhuqing hastily stopped him.
Just what is called one object being beaten by another, even though Dai Mubai was powerful, Zhu Zhuqing perfectly restrained him. She said a few sentences next to his ear, and Dai Mubai’s expression eased.
Tang San naturally wouldn’t be as impetious as Dai Mubai, patting Fatty’s shoulder, he said:
“Discouraged so soon? That’s not your style!”
Now Oscar also walked over, sitting on Fatty’s other side, handing over one of his recovery sausages:
“Fatty, this is a journey, how can you cause disagreements right at the start.”
Fatty seemed to vent by fiercely biting Oscar’s sausage in half, Oscar watching couldn’t keep his back from shivering,
“Fuck me, what grievances does my sausage have with you!”
Ma Hongjun smiled wryly:
“Alright, no need to mention it. I’ll think of something myself. Anyway, I’m a fucking brothel phoenix. Once we reach a town, I’ll go vent. Little Ao, are you saying I’m foolish? Don’t play some upright gentleman!”
“Eh……”
Oscar was speechless. Ordinarily he would already have shot Fatty a some derisive words, seeing that depressed expression again, but right now he couldn’t. Raising his head to look at Tang San, Tang San shook his head to him with a smile. Even though Tang San had some understanding of feelings, his insight still wasn’t any better than an ordinary person. From Ma Hongjun’s behaviour, he could clearly feel that Fatty truly liked Bai Chenxiang. He was no longer the kind of person driven to women by lust. His current appearance should be caused by worry.
When talking about things like feelings, what others said was useless, you had to depend on yourself to sort them out.
* * *
[1] As usually in the original Jin have been used for weight measurement, I’ll add a reminder for the conversion: 1 kg=2 Jin, so Fatty’s weight in Jin is two hundred.
Chapter 203: Shadow Hunter
Right at that moment, Bai Chenxiang brought over a plate of roasted rations, first of
fering them to Tang San. Tang San took some, then gestured at Ma Hongjun next to him.
Bai Chenxiang was an intelligent young lady, even though she hadn’t heard what Fatty said just now, she could still vaguely feel that something was amiss, and very casually walked over and sat down next to him, holding the rations in her hands in front of him.
The piping hot food made Ma Hongjun stare blankly a moment, turning his head to look at Bai Chenxiang. Bai Chenxiang placed all the food she held in his hands, then stood and walked away to the corner furthest away from the bonfire, sitting there hugging her knees, her chin placed on her knees, staring blankly.
The place she sat was away from the Shrek Seven Devils’ circle, alone by herself.
Ma Hongjun subconsciously turned to look at Bai Chenxiang. As he saw her sitting there alone, his just hardened heart softened again, and in a low voice he asked Tang San next to him:
“Third brother, hasn’t she eaten?”
Tang San shrugged, saying:
“I don’t know, go ask her yourself.”
“I……”
Fatty hesitated a moment. Looking at Tang San, who was feeding Xiao Wu, he suddenly stood and began walking towards Bai Chenxiang.
Just at this moment, suddenly, Bai Chenxiang issued a shrill cry, leaping up like an arrow. In her panic she couldn’t pay any attention to whether there were any obstacles, and just charged straight into Ma Hongjun’s chest.
“Careful.”
Seeing Bai Chenxiang about to run into him, Fatty also couldn’t mind the things in his hands, and hurriedly threw the food aside, using his fat body to meet Bai Chenxiang.
Bai Chenxiang only felt as if she had run into a soft cushion. Even though she wasn’t hurt, in alarm, she had already rebounded. Just at that moment, a pair of strong arms encircled her slender waist and back, again drawing her into a very flexible and soft cushion.
“What is it?”
Ma Hongjun asked, his little eyes flashing with light as he looked in the direction Bai Chenxiang came from. Chilling murderous intent radiated from him, along with him bracing his fat, but Bai Chenxiang still felt as if she was surrounded by a barrier in his arms - somehow comfortable - and her panic immediately subsided somewhat.
“There’s, there’s a mouse……”
Bai Chenxiang said somewhat stammeringly.
“Mo-mouse?”
Ma Hongjun’s eyes widened, his killing intent instantly vanishing like it had never existed. He was somewhat speechless, but he was very quickly attracted to the girl in his embrace. This was a kind of comfort he had never felt before. He had held a lot of women, but never one who had given him such a feeling.
Soft and fresh, a maiden’s slight fragrance was most attractive to people. Lowering his head to look at the girl who was like a little lamb in his arms, his heart shuddered, and his breathing immediately grew hoarse.
The other Shrek Seven Devils had only gotten up at Bai Chenxiang’s cry of alarm, but now they sat back down with considerable tactfulness, basically not looking in their direction.
“Ah!”
Bai Chenxiang cried out, struggling in Fatty’s arms. The instant Fatty was roused from the beautiful feeling and subconsciously let go, Bai Chenxiang knelt on the ground, going to pick up the food that had fallen on the ground. He clearly sensed that Bai Chenxiang’s soft little ears were already red, and was lowering her head, basically not daring to look at him.
The unhappiness from earlier in the day was now completely vanished, Fatty laughed foolishly, muttering to himself:
“So even a mouse could seem so cute to me.”
Bai Chenxiang clearly went rigid for a moment, raising her hand to forcefully pinch the flesh on Fatty’s waist, slightly lifting her head, “fiercely” glaring at Fatty. Foisting the food she had picked up on him, she turned and ran towards the bonfire.
Even if Fatty was even more stupid, right now even he knew what he should do. Hastily grabbing the food and groveling as he ran over, he sat next to Bai Chenxiang without a trace of politeness. Peeling off the dusty outer layer of the rations to eat himself, he handed the still warm center to Bai Chenxiang.
Even though Bai Chenxiang didn’t say anything, she still didn’t refuse, receiving the food and eating it bit by bit. The vicinity of the bonfire once again turned harmonious, en, very harmonious.
It was a night without events, and the next morning, at the first glimmer of dawn, everyone set out on the road. The atmosphere was also similar to last night, quite harmonious. Ma Hongjun still sat in the corner, giving Bai Chenxiang even more space, but he clearly wasn’t in a huff again. Bai Chenxiang didn’t seem any different from before but, if one carefully observed, one could discover that she avoided looking at Fatty as much as she could.
Besides occasionally dismounting to stretch or rest the horses, during the next several days everyone was hurrying on the way, stopping to truly rest only a while each night.
After ten days, they had already entered the western frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire. The carriage had also reached a town, where they traded for new horses that could bring them to the seaside.
“There’s a village ahead. Sect master Tang, won’t we rest a while?”
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School disciple coachman had long ago been repeatedly warned that it wasn’t Ning Rongrong who was in charge here, and that he would instead listen to Tang San’s instructions for everything.
Tang San said:
“Then we’ll rest a while.”
It was now already afternoon, and with the weather gradually turning cold, the horses were exhausted. Even though they had rested at lunch, they still had to rest once before the evening meal to maintain their speed.
The carriage continued forward for a while, then stopped. Just as all the Shrek Seven Devils believed they had arrived and were about to get off, soft knocking came from outside. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School coachman said:
“Sect master Tang, something seems wrong. We’re about to reach a village, but it’s too quiet, there’s nobody in the fields outside.”
Everyone looked at each other, and Dai Mubai said:
“Let’s go take a look.”
Everyone got off the carriage one after another, looking ahead.
Roughly half a li[1] from them was a small mountain village. The village didn’t seem large, around a hundred households. Around the village was a wide expanse of fields, and, just as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School disciple had said, the village was unusually quiet, with nobody in sight within the fields.
Tang San’s eyes focused, as when relying on Purple Demon Eye, his eyesight was naturally better than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School disciple, and the two hundred and fifty meters distance instantly zoomed in.
“It’s not right, the village seems to have been destroyed, a lot of the farm houses are damaged, seemingly by blunt weapons. There’s traces of blood as well. The bloodstains still aren’t dry, so it should’ve been recent.
That Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School disciple looked dumbstruck at Tang San. Inwardly he thought, he can see at this distance? Aren’t you acting? But the other Shrek Seven Devils had no intention of doubting it.
Bai Chenxiang said:
“Third brother, I’ll go take a look.”
Tang San nodded. Bai Chenxiang might not match up in battle, but in speed, even the agility attack type Zhu Zhuqing might not be stronger than her. She could also fly, so safety wasn’t an issue.
With a flash of white shadow, Bai Chenxiang had already left. Unfurling a pair of wings in midair, and in a moment she was like a white dot high up.
Through the fight between the Seven Devils and Sword Douluo, she had deeply understood the difference between herself and these talents of the young generation. This time the Seven Devils were going out to see, but she nevertheless displayed her own capability, performing the scouting work she was suited to.
It was still the first time Dai Mubai and the others saw Bai Chenxian
g use her spirit, and Zhu Zhuqing sighed:
“Such speed. Worthy of being a Pure Speed Clan Spirit Master. If her spirit power rises a bit higher, we might not even catch her shadow.”
Tang San smiled:
“We’ll wait here a while.”
Bai Chenxiang came flying back before long, her speed in no way inferior to when she left. They could practically still only see a white dot in the sky, and the next moment, she was already landing in front of everyone.
As she landed, the Shrek Seven Devils discovered that Bai Chenxiang’s expression was extremely unsightly. White as a sheet of paper. Her chest was constantly heaving, as if holding something back.
Ma Hongjun was just about to step forward and ask, when Bai Chenxiang leapt towards a tree nearby, and vomited.
The Shrek Seven Devils looked at each other, and Oscar couldn’t help saying:
“Fatty, did you do something outrageous to her? A good young lady like Xiangxiang, you have to take responsibility!”
Ma Hongjun rolled his eyes,
“Your face is outrageous, I didn’t even touch her little hand.”
While speaking, he was already running over, softly patting Bai Chenxiang’s back, softly infusing his own spirit power, easing her somewhat.
Dai Mubai said in a low voice:
“There might be trouble, she definitely saw something frightening or nauseating.”
Bai Chenxiang had thrown up practically everything in her stomach, gradually slowing, helped back in front of everyone by Fatty.
Tang San’s eyes flashed, asking:
“Xiangxiang, just what did you see?”
Bai Chenxiang’s eyes revealed intense alarm,
“Corpses, corpses everywhere. The earth is entirely dyed red with blood just behind the village. At least a hundred corpses. They died miserably, killed by a group of strangely dressed people, who are bringing their corpses into the back of the mountain. A lot of them are dribbling organs, and those strangely dressed people are even carrying childrens’ corpses by skewering them on pikes, I could smell the blood even at high altitude. Too miserable, really too miserable. It seems only some young women are alive. Bleagh…….”
Douluo Dalu - Volume 01-48 Page 356