The hunter quickly apologized when he realized he had said the wrong thing. "Ah, I said the wrong thing. I saw this young master was petite and thought he was the young hero's wife. It's my poor eyesight."
"Dad, Dad, how are you? I heard from Uncle Seven that you met those hateful bandits again on the mountain. Are you hurt?" Not far away, a young girl came running towards them.
The girl's features were not extremely delicate, but she had a small and charming beauty. Her light-yellow dress complemented her skin tone, making her look fair and tender. With her falling-horse hairstyle, she appeared innocent and cute.
She pulled the hunter nervously, checking if he was injured. From her address to the hunter, it was obvious that she was his daughter.
The hunter smiled, looking a bit embarrassed. "This is my little girl. I'm sorry for making you laugh. Since her mother passed away, she has become as fussy as her mother. Xiaozhao, these are my saviors. If it weren't for them, I might have to hand over the prey I caught again."
Hearing the name Xiaozhao, Shu Yao couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. It seemed that Xiaozhao had the same fresh and sweet temperament when she was a child.
Looking closely at her features, one could still clearly see the traces of her childhood.
But Xiaozhao didn't seem to recognize them. Her eyes lit up when she saw Shu Yue's face, which made Shu Yao feel uncomfortable.
Whether it was because Xiaozhao didn't recognize them or something else, Xiaozhao shyly lowered her head. The blush on her face was ambiguous yet thought-provoking.
"Thank you two for saving my father. I'm really grateful. I have no way to repay you. How about staying at our humble abode tonight? I'd like to cook a good meal to entertain you. Look, the sun is shining brightly. You can go to the market with my father quickly and then come back with him. Can you set off tomorrow?"
One may have feelings, but the other may be indifferent. Shu Yue coldly refused Xiaozhao's offer and turned around to pull Shu Yao away.
But the hunter blocked their way. The hunter smiled obsequiously. "Young hero, please wait. Since you don't want to stay, how about we go down the mountain together? If the bandits come to take revenge, we can take care of each other."
Perhaps the hunter was just afraid that the bandits would come to find trouble later, so he insisted on pulling them along. They saw through the hunter's intention but didn't expose it.
Shu Yue and Shu Yao nodded as an agreement. The mountain road was treacherous, and they walked and stopped several times. Then they stopped by a small stream to take a short rest.
The weather was hot. Shu Yao couldn't bear the heat anymore and simply took off his hat. Finally, his true appearance was revealed.
The hunter was stunned. Such a beautiful face belonged to a man. Even women would be jealous of such good looks.
His long black hair, as black as sesame seeds, was tied into a ponytail. His fair skin seemed crystal clear under the sun. His delicate features were like a masterpiece carved by God.
It turned out that the word "beauty" could also be used to describe a man. Forgive his limited vocabulary, as the words in his mind were not enough to describe his beauty.
"Is this really a young master?"
Shu Yue was quite dissatisfied with the hunter's stunned look at Shu Yao's face, so he ignored the hunter's question.
Soon, they set off again. Compared with before, the hunter, who was now drooling over Shu Yao's beauty, became much more enthusiastic. Shu Yue deliberately wanted to keep some distance between them.
So he separated the two of them forcefully, which also made Shu Yao heave a sigh of relief.
"I wonder what you two are going to do after going down the mountain. I'm going to sell the newly caught prey to pay off debts. If it weren't for your help, this batch of prey would have been snatched away by those bandits again. They have robbed me many times. The rice jar at home is almost empty."
The hunter tried to start a conversation. Shu Yao thought that the hunter often went down the mountain and might know some stories about the small town below. Maybe he also knew Aunt Li.
Thinking of this, Shu Yao wanted to ask him about Aunt Li.
"You're a hunter and often go down the mountain to sell your prey. You should know some things about the town, right?"
The hunter nodded excitedly when he heard Shu Yao talking to him. "Yes, I know some things about the town. Our hunters' prey is divided into good and bad, expensive and cheap. Some of the expensive ones are hard to sell in the town because there are many people who can't afford them, and people dislike the cheap ones. We often have to wait for a long time to make a deal. During this boring time, we also chat with the vendors in the market. Those vendors know a lot."
Shu Yao nodded thoughtfully. "So you know a lot. I want to ask you about a family. They are a widow and her children. There may have been some problems in recent years. I want to know about their current situation. Do you know Aunt Li's family?"
The hunter pretended to scratch his cheek. "Hmm, Aunt Li's family. Oh, I know this family. They are a widow and her children, but they made some money through her unfilial son's improper business. Their life was not bad. In recent years, I don't know why. Maybe they made too much immoral money, and God came to punish him. He just died in a strange way. But Aunt Li insisted that it was a monster that killed him."
Hearing the hunter's words, Shu Yue was rarely silent. He gently put his arm around Shu Yao's shoulder and patted his back comfortingly, coaxing him like a child.
Shu Yao felt extremely uncomfortable. Didn't the monster in Aunt Li's mouth refer to him?
He was that ungrateful white-eyed wolf monster, the hateful one who killed her son.
But it was also a result he couldn't control. He couldn't stay in Aunt Li's house forever. Even without Xu Yi, there would be other factors.
It was just that the way and result of his leaving were different. Now that Aunt Li was alone in this world, he still felt sorry for her. He wondered if he should help her.
Seeing Shu Yao's bad complexion, the hunter realized he had said the wrong thing. He laughed awkwardly. "Hahaha, let's not talk about this. What are you going to do after going down the mountain? How about considering coming to my house for a meal?"
Shu Yue pouted unhappily. He was unhappy when he saw the hunter's enthusiasm towards Shu Yao. The change in his attitude towards Shu Yao was simply because he lusted after Shu Yao's good looks.
This was the original reason why Shu Yue didn't want Shu Yao to go down the mountain. He didn't want his rare treasure to be admired by others. He just wanted to hide his treasure in his arms.
"No need. We don't like to bother others. We'll leave on our own after we find out what we want to know." With that, Shu Yue pulled Shu Yao away with a dark face.
When they got to the bustling market, Shu Yao put on his hat again. Shu Yue didn't care at all. He held Shu Yao's hand without a care in the world.
People who saw them thought they were a perfect couple. The little girls who always paid attention to Shu Yue were heartbroken when they saw this.