Chapter 34 - You Still Believe That? (2/2)

Mister Zhong paled. Right. His son wasn't there! Being relieved, that his wife was alright, he hadn't even noticed. ”Where is he? Why isn't he with you?” He certainly could lose his son, but this was his wife, they were talking about. How could something like that happen?

”I was afraid, you wouldn't be able to defeat him, so I send Jing Yi into the forest by himself. I thought, he … he'd have a better chance by himself. If that bandit came after someone, it would be me. I just wanted our son to live.” She teared up again.

Mister Zhong hugged her again, but his body was tensed. How would they find their son in this forest? His wife had done so, because she reckoned, that the bandits wouldn't be able to. But what about them? They knew even less about this forest than the bandits!

”That … certainly, nothing will happen to him. Doesn't he still have that bracelet? If he doesn't know, what to do, he'd call that daoist.”

”You're right.” Madam Zhong nodded and wiped her tears again. ”Let's go back to where I sent him off. If that cultivator comes, he'd certainly bring him back there.”

Mister Zhong nodded. He took his wife's hand and together, they started going up the hill again. Madam Zhong looked at her husband, still a little doubtful, that everything had turned out well until now. ”That bandit … How did you …?”

”I didn't.” Mister Zhong scratched his head. He was a little embarrassed. If not for that man coming to his rescue, he would be dead by now and his wife might not have managed to escape the bandit. ”I was just lucky. A daoist immortal came by and saved me.”

”A daoist immortal?” Madam Zhong looked up to the top of the hill. ”That should be the one from our village. Most likely Jing Yi called him.”

Mister Zhong shook his head. ”Didn't you say, he was old? Jing Yi also calls him grandfather. But that man looked really young. Even younger than me.” Seven years had already passed since Zhong Jing Yi's birth. His father had already exceeded thirty years of age. Qiu Ling on the other hand still looked to be in his twenties.

Madam Zhong just smiled. ”That man … when I first saw him, he looked just like that. He probably figured, that it was safer to appear as an older man, to avoid needless gossip. He probably knew of the rumors concerning Jing'er's birth, that's why he appeared as an slightly older man the next time, when Qiguan Cheng Da visited.”

”Ha?” Mister Zhong stopped. ”Didn't he look like that in the first place? Mister Pi said, Madam Shen had looked wrongly.”

”Looked wrongly.” Madam Zhong slapped his shoulder. ”You still believe that braggart?”

”It seemed to be true. At least, you didn't say anything.”

”Why would I say anything? Wasn't it good for Jing Yi that way? If people had seen how that man really looked, wouldn't they still have seen an evil heretic practitioner in him?”

Mister Zhong thought back to the man he had seen on the hill. The man had given him a majestic feeling. He definitely had to be a practitioner. If he was a heretic practitioner … ”The man up there wore black robes. Chun'er, are you sure, that he's really not a heretic practitioner? Maybe Madam Shen was ri—”

Madam Zhong whacked his head. ”You dare to say that! He saved the lives of your wife and child and now even your own life! Even if he was a heretic practitioner, you should still kneel down and swear to serve him until your dying day!”

”Oh, yes … yes, of course. I should.” Mister Zhong rubbed his head and turned around again.

The two wanted to climb further, but just then, the clip-clop of hooves approached them. Mister and Madam Zhong shared a glances. From the top of the hill, several men on horses made their way down toward them.