After a busy day, Li Yue was so tired that she yawned in the carriage. She had just finished an injection, and the old doctor, who had been administering the needles for several hours, also opened his mouth. The old man and the young woman both emitted a dispirited aura, without a trace of their previous vitality.
Although it was too late to return to Shuo Zhou City, Tie Chuanjia's driving speed did not slow down. His attention was not only on the road, but also on both sides of the road. Not long after, he actually found a suitable place to rest.
The place to rest was an inconspicuous cave. The entrance was mostly covered by a pile of snow, and the situation inside could not be seen clearly. The surrounding terrain was flat, and they did not feel any cold wind.
Tie Chuanjia parked the carriage on the flat ground about ten meters away from the cave. He instructed the old man and the young woman to not get out of the carriage for the time being. He rolled up his sleeves and pushed the snow away from the entrance. Holding a torch, he entered the dark cave.
Li Yue opened the carriage's curtain a crack, and quietly observed the surroundings through the gap. She saw the light in the cave gradually dim, and suddenly, without any warning, it was extinguished. Then, the roar of a wild beast came from the depths of the cave. After a few loud noises, the fire lit up the cave again, and Tie Chuanjia walked out with a torch.
"Little Miss, Doctor, I have cleaned up the inside. You can get out of the carriage."
Without waiting for Tie Chuanjia to reach out his hand, Li Yue was the first to jump out. She walked around Tie Chuanjia to make sure that there were no injuries on him, and only then was she relieved.
Li Yue had just stood at the entrance of the cave when she smelled a strong smell unique to wild beasts. But now was not the time to be picky, so she pinched her nose and did not say anything.
Tie Chuanjia was worthy of his title as a golden nanny. He took out some herbs from the carriage, and sprinkled them along the way. The unpleasant smell instantly dissipated a lot.
The cave did not have many twists and turns, and the path under their feet was dry gravel. When Li Yue and the old doctor entered the interior together, both of them gasped in unison.
There was no other reason than the fact that there was a huge black bear lying in the cave. It was unknown whether it was dead or alive.
Needless to say, Li Yue knew that this black bear must be the original owner of the cave.
Black bears usually hibernate until March or April before waking up. In modern times, they were hunted by humans and had become endangered and protected animals.
This one must have encountered Tie Chuanjia while it was half asleep. Not only did it lose to the two-legged beast to defend its territory, it was also easily killed by the other party. It was simply miserable.
Looking at the crescent-shaped white fur on the black bear's chest, Li Yue couldn't help but feel her hands itch. She glanced at Tie Chuanjia, and when she got his nod of approval, she ran all the way to the black bear's side. She used her hands to rub it, and the warm, furry feeling spread from her hands to her whole body.
If it wasn't for the strong body odor of the black bear, Li Yue would have buried her face in the black bear's fur. But after she touched it for a while, her face suddenly turned pale.
"Uncle Tie, this … this bear is still alive!?"
"It's not dead, it's just fainted. We're just staying here for one night. Moreover, we left in a hurry this time, so we didn't bring all the knives. Killing it would be too troublesome. The bear's meat is rough and hard, so it's not easy to deal with it. The carriage also can't fit it.
But little miss, don't worry. Wild beasts are very clever. Even if it wakes up, it won't have the guts to hurt us. "
"That's not the problem … Uncle Tie … you … I …"
"Little miss, what else do you want to ask?
I see that little miss seems to like this black bear's fur very much. How about this, when we set off tomorrow morning, I'll take the black bear's fur and take it away. It won't take much time to just take the fur. "
"… Forget it, Uncle Tie. I'll just touch it. It's not easy for it to live."
After much persuasion, Li Yue finally dispelled Tie Chuanjia's idea of skinning the black bear and taking its gall bladder. The two of them cleared out the surrounding hay and cleared out an empty space. They also gathered some dry firewood from the cave and piled it together to keep warm.
The bonfire burned their cheeks and made them sleepy. The old doctor was old, so his body swayed as he hugged his medicine box. He leaned against the stone wall and fell asleep.
Li Yue originally wanted to keep watch with Tie Chuanjia, but after a while, she couldn't bear it anymore.
Seeing the little girl's eyelids repeatedly closing and opening, Tie Chuanjia used the hay in the cave to make a space. He took off his coat and laid it on the hay, coaxing the little girl to sleep.
Lying on the small bed that was made at the last minute, Li Yue's blurry vision was only left with the crackling of the bonfire and the tall and sturdy figure beside it. As she closed her eyes, she secretly made up her mind.
No matter what would happen in the future, she wouldn't let Tie Chuanjia have no one to rely on.
When Li Yue woke up in the morning, Tie Chuanjia was still guarding near the extinguished bonfire. She was just about to yawn when she suddenly noticed that the black bear on the ground seemed to be moving.
Li Yue's hand, which was originally covering her mouth, froze in mid-air. After a moment, she rubbed her eyes repeatedly to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. The black bear was indeed awake.
The little girl's actions naturally attracted the attention of the Bearded Man. His first reaction was to raise his eyes to look at the black bear. The ferocious beast that was slowly moving its body on the ground was far more agile than its size suggested. It actually stopped moving the moment the Bearded Man moved.
Looking at the black bear that was pretending to be dead on the ground and the grievance in its black bean-like eyes, the little girl burst out laughing.
The wind and snow outside the cave had unknowingly stopped. Because Tie Chuanjia had been guarding the entrance all night, the entrance was not covered by snow like before. Li Yue rubbed her hands as she walked out of the cave, only to see a silvery white sky.
Tie Chuanjia originally planned to hunt some game with the old man and the little girl. However, the outskirts were too cold, and they would return to Shuo Province City in a few hours. Li Yue and the old doctor didn't agree to let Tie Chuanjia go hunting. They didn't plan to eat a sumptuous breakfast and just ate some dry rations to fill their stomachs.
When they left, they were filled with anxiety. Li Yue always felt that the journey was too long. When they returned, she didn't feel any pressure. She even had the leisure to joke with Tie Chuanjia, but the old doctor, who was planning to catch up on sleep, glared at her.
The old man and the little girl fooled around like this, filling the carriage with a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere. Even Tie Chuanjia's face showed a rare smile.
When the carriage arrived at Shuo Province City, it was already late in the morning.
The Lantern Festival temple fair was still in progress. Most of the people in the city were gathered there, so there weren't many pedestrians on the road.
Tie Chuanjia drove the carriage to the old doctor's clinic and stopped in front of it. He helped the old doctor put the medicine box on the table and paid the old doctor extra for the consultation. The old doctor didn't refuse and went to the backyard with his little disciple.
After confirming that the old doctor went to rest and that the clinic wasn't going to open for business today, Tie Chuanjia brought Li Yue back home. The two of them bumped into Li Xunhuan.
After living together for so long, Li Yue already knew that Li Xunhuan was a handicap. However, she didn't expect that without Tie Chuanjia by his side, Li Xunhuan couldn't even put on his clothes properly.
Not to mention the underwear, the inner garment was carelessly worn on Li Xunhuan's body. The belt of the outer garment was also tied in the wrong place. Even the belt looked loose, as if it would fall off at any time.
In a sense, the person who came in third could also be considered to have a slender waist and a figure like a crane. Fortunately, he had this appearance and temperament. If an ordinary person were to dress up like this, they would sooner or later be beaten up by the aunties on the streets with rolling pins.
Li Yue wanted to laugh, especially when Tanhua Lang looked at her with a blank face. She even wanted to whistle. However, when she thought of the name that was like a magic spell, she stopped all thoughts of teasing.
Tie Chuanjia skillfully went forward to tidy up Li Xunhuan's clothes. Li Yue sat on the wooden chair and pondered. Tanhua Lang called her a few times before she came back to her senses.
The neatly dressed Li Xunhuan walked in front of Li Yue. He knew that Hoodlum was Li Yue's new friend, so he simply asked about the illness of Hoodlum's family and whether they encountered anything else after leaving the city.
When Li Yue replied that Hoodlum's mother had a mental illness and that the illness had entered her lungs and could not be cured, Li Xunhuan seemed to have thought of something and his expression became rather gloomy.
She went forward and hugged Li Xunhuan's waist. Li Yue's voice was incomparably clear.
"Uncle Li, even if it is for your own sake, please take care of your body."
Tanhua Lang did not directly answer. Almost when Li Yue thought that he would not agree, Li Xunhuan answered Li Yue with a voice that was so soft that it could not be heard. Then, he gently patted the little girl's head.
In the end, Li Yue did not tell Li Xunhuan what Bai Feifei said. The Blue Dragon Society was enough for Tanhua Lang to worry about, but in Li Yue's heart, Shi Guanyin was far more terrifying than the Blue Dragon Society. This woman was an unscrupulous devil who played with everything.
If Li Xunhuan provoked Shi Guanyin because of her, then Tanhua Lang's woman who was far away in the Central Plains would definitely be implicated.
Similarly, the engraved jade pendant that Bai Feifei gave to Li Yue was not pawned by Li Yue. Instead, she kept it close to her body to prevent it from being lost.
The jade pendant was indeed very valuable in terms of material and size, but to some people, it was a priceless treasure.
Li Yue was not short of money at the moment. If there was a day, the jade pendant could be used to prove Hoodlum's identity.