Chapter 88

When Nangong Du stepped into the Cirrus Valley without difficulty following the directions on the array diagram, Zixiu was squatting on the mound in front of the door, waiting anxiously like a statue for his father to return.

As the night fell, it was getting even colder. Zixiu tightened his clothes, shrank his neck, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and warmed his hands under his armpits.

‘Dad would return within a day and a half whenever he went to the town. But this time, he has been away for three days. How come he hasn’t come back yet? Could something have happened to him?’

With his eyelid twitching, Zixiu had a growing sense of foreboding that something bad had happened. However, he was too feeble to think about anything for the moment. The evening two days before, he had eaten up all the food his father had prepared before he left. After that, Zixiu rummaged through the house and ate everything he could eat! Since the night before, he had to relieve hunger by drinking the water he fetched from the mountain spring with a barrel. As he didn’t know how to make a fire, he could only drink cold water all day long. At this point, not only was he dizzy from hunger but his stomach freezing as well, which made him feel very sick!

‘How come I’m so stupid that I can’t even tell the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms, nor can I tell weeds from wild vegetables no matter how hard I try? How come I can’t get even a rabbit after practicing Qing Kung for a few months? How come I still don’t know how to make a fire and cook? How come… Gosh, if dad doesn’t come back soon, I’ll be starving!’

In the midst of his constant self-reflection and self-criticism, the last bit of the sunset glow sank into the clouds, and it grew even darker.

Helplessly, Zixiu took another gulp of the cold water, feeling chill to the bone. Unable to stand the coldness outside, he decided to go back to the room.

However, when he was about to stand up, he found his feet numb. At the thought that he had accidentally burned up the paper roll he was using to start the fire the night before when he was trying to light up the oil lamp, he hated himself even more. ‘Seems I’m really a good-for-nothing…’

‘Fire?’ As if he had just found out a new world, Zixiu suddenly raised his head and saw a blaze in the path in front of their house.

“Dad!” In spite of his numb feet, he threw away the barrel in his hands and rushed to the torch excitedly.

‘Dad?’ Nangong Du had just lit up the torch when he suddenly heard someone cry out in the valley of silence. Following the sound, he lifted the torch, tilted his head backward 90 degrees, and found in surprise that a thatch-roofed hut perch high on the hillside! If it weren’t for the cry, he wouldn’t have looked up and seen it. ‘Who could that be?’

Holding the torch high, Nangong Du saw someone, who was as portly as a burlap bag with his hair as messy as a bird nest, run to him clumsily. That person was running increasingly faster as if the next second he was going to rush over and throw himself into his arms!

“Darling?” Nangong Du called tentatively.

‘What?’ Hearing the voice very similar to that of the pervert and the intimate form of address for him, the overjoyed Zixiu was scared out of his wits and halted in urgent. Without a second thought, he turned to run instinctively.

“Hey, watch out!” Seeing the clumsy look of that person, Nangong Du couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. ‘Er… Wait! Is that the pregnant Liu Zixiu?’

Seeing that person’s swollen belly, Nangong Du felt his heart skip a beat. He was so thrilled that he immediately strode to that figure.

“Ah!” Zixiu let out a shriek while running desperately. “Heavens! Here comes the damned pervert! The bastard has finally come to me!!”