A smile suddenly appeared on Yang Xue's sad face. She asked uncertainly, "Great Sage?"
"It's me." His voice was inexplicably gentle. He quickly looked around and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? And where did these kids come from?"
"I saved them." Yang Xue pressed her wildly beating chest to calm herself down a bit. "Let's send the kids back first."
Sun Wukong didn't intend to ask in detail. He helped drive the vehicle and took the kids into the city.
The female guards at the city gate were extremely shocked that so many kids had been taken away by human traffickers right under their noses.
Yang Xue analyzed with them that perhaps the traffickers had taken the kids out of the city one by one and were about to send them to other places together.
They decided to conduct strict inspections and take this matter seriously.
Some of the older kids who remembered their way home were escorted back by the guards at the city gate. The remaining few kids, who didn't want to go back and didn't know where to go, all cried and hugged Yang Xue's legs.
"Wu... Sister, save me. I don't want to go back, don't want to go back!"
"Sister, save me. I don't have a mother anymore. Please take me in, sister..." This was Xiao Shan, who was crying the most.
"Sister, save me. If I go back, my mother will sell me. My family is too poor, and she regrets giving birth to me." A ten - year - old girl grabbed her trouser leg and looked at her pleadingly.
Yang Xue couldn't bear it and decided to take these three kids with her for the time being.
She said to the guards at the city gate, "Don't worry. If I can't find a place for them, I'll send them back to you for placement."
Seeing that this girl was kind - hearted, and since she had saved these kids, she surely wouldn't harm them.
"By the way, I suggest that you conduct strict inspections on the men who come to the Kingdom of Women in the future. They are the most likely to buy and sell kids. And some women can't be taken lightly either. Bad people don't care about gender." After much thought, Yang Xue decided to remind the guards.
Although the guards were quite competent, there was still such an oversight, allowing the human traffickers to be so rampant.
"Don't worry. This matter is of great importance. We'll report it to the queen, and she'll handle it personally." The female guard looked solemn. "We're to blame, and we'll surely give everyone an explanation."
Yang Xue nodded with relief. "Thank you for your hard work."
Sun Wukong had been holding the three kids all the way. Watching Yang Xue calmly handle these things, he couldn't help but look at her with new respect.
After not seeing her for more than ten days, she didn't seem like an ordinary demon of four or five hundred years old.
They returned to the Fulai Restaurant. The owner, Hua Er, saw the three lovely little girls and personally arranged for their accommodation.
Although the kids trusted Yang Xue and were all clinging to her, grabbing her clothes, Hua Er still managed to coax them into taking a bath with delicious pastries.
Finally, they had time to sit down and talk alone. Sun Wukong felt a bit nervous.
But it was just a flurry in his heart. On the surface, he seemed like a different person.
Yang Xue ignored the feeling of her cultivation base suddenly soaring because of saving people. She shyly entertained Sun Wukong, inviting him to drink tea by the window on the second floor.
Sun Wukong was wearing a neat and well - tailored dark gray silk robe tonight. There were delicate bamboo patterns embroidered on the lapel. In the candlelight, he looked like a graceful and handsome young master. His three - dimensional and handsome features were bathed in the soft candlelight.
If it weren't for the uneasiness and slight fluster in his eyes, Yang Xue would surely have guessed that this might be another form of Sun Wukong.
"Great Sage, you haven't come for a while. Were you scared?" Yang Xue took the lead to speak. Holding the teacup with both hands, she explained seriously, "I was too impulsive last time. Please don't take it to heart, Great Sage."
"No, I wasn't scared. It's just that..." He quickly spoke up, sounding a bit anxious. "You did something so unforgettable. Now you ask me not to take it to heart. Do you think my heart is made of stone, Miss Yang?"
"Ah?" Yang Xue was very surprised by his reaction. She hesitated and said, "Aren't you angry, Great Sage? And isn't your heart made of stone?"
Sun Wukong was helpless. He scratched his head and took a sip of the sake. Then he lowered his head and slowly said, "Although I was born from a stone, there's not a single part of my body made of stone. If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself!"
Saying this, he angrily stretched out his arm in front of her. "I'm made of flesh and blood, just like you."
"Okay." Yang Xue held back her laughter and gently pinched his arm. "It is indeed made of flesh and blood."
Noticing that Yang Xue was holding back her laughter, Sun Wukong coughed twice and pretended to be calm.
Then he took out a delicate wooden box from his bosom and handed it to her. He said seriously, "This is for you."
"What?" Yang Xue couldn't help but feel nervous. Her heart skipped a beat. "Why are you giving me a gift?"
Could it be that he wanted to keep a distance from her?
"If you, Great Sage, are using this gift to comfort me and asking me not to pester you in the future, then there's really no need..."
"Open it and take a look. There's no other meaning. I just asked the old Dragon King for something nice. I thought girls would like it, so I brought it for you." His voice got louder. "I didn't come these days because it was inconvenient, not for any other reason. Don't think too much."
"Okay." Yang Xue tried hard to hold back her lips. Suddenly, a sweet feeling welled up in her heart. She tried very hard not to laugh out loud.
It turned out that he wasn't angry. That was good.
She opened the lid, and there was a night pearl as big as an apple. It was of excellent quality.
"They say girls like shiny things. This one looks quite shiny. Do you like it?" Sun Wukong looked at Yang Xue's wide - eyed and dazed expression. He wasn't sure if she liked it. "Is it too big and not delicate enough? The old Dragon King lied to me and said the bigger the better..."
"I like it very much." Yang Xue reached out and touched the night pearl with a smile. "The old Dragon King is right. It is indeed better when it's bigger. Bai Longma must know. The one he burned back then wasn't small either."
The straightforward Yang Xue quickly covered her mouth. "Oh no, don't ask. It's not nice to expose someone's scar."
"It's okay. It was because of his suggestion that I went to the old Dragon King." Seeing that Yang Xue liked it very much, Sun Wukong relaxed a bit.
"Do you mean, Great Sage, that you asked a lot of people for advice for this gift?" Yang Xue couldn't believe it. What did she just hear?
Did Sun Wukong do a lot of research these days?
Going to so much trouble, not being angry, and giving a gift. Did it mean that he liked her too?
"Not really. It's just that..." Not expecting her to ask so directly, Sun Wukong scratched the back of his head. "If you like it, put it away. I came this time just to ask you..."
"Ask away, Great Sage. You can ask anything." Yang Xue beamed with joy. Holding the night pearl, she smiled like a flower. "You didn't come these days. I thought you were angry and decided never to see me again in this lifetime."
Sun Wukong shook his head repeatedly. "No. These more than ten days... After much thought, I still think it's better to clarify a question."
"Okay, go ahead." She sat upright, like a well - behaved student.
"Before... that day, you said you gave me your first kiss and asked me a question. It wasn't just a momentary impulse, was it?" Stuttering through this sentence, his face turned red again at a visible speed.