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Chapter 173 Rewriting the Fate of Junior Sister and Mistress
"?!"

Huo Qiao'er was startled and quickly hid behind Wang Xi, peeking out with a surprised expression:
"Junior brother, this is..."

“His name is ‘Green Duck,’ which is the transformation of a copper coin.”

Zhang Fuyun said in a deep voice.

“At first I was scared, but then I realized he meant no harm… It was because he sensed my obsession that he brought my shadow to life.”

It can bring shadows to life...

Is this the ability of the Five-Coin Boy?

Wang Xi turned around, took a string of candied hawthorns from the paper bag in his junior sister's hand, squatted down, and waved to the boy, saying, "Come here."

The child's bright black eyes were fixed on the candied hawthorn in his hand, and he was sucking on his index finger, drooling.

He was clearly very tempted, but instead of going forward, he looked up and glanced at Zhang Fuyun first.

"Go ahead, your senior brother won't harm you."

Zhang Fuyun called out gently.

The boy with five coins nodded, timidly stepped forward, and accepted the candied hawthorn from Wang Xi.

He immediately beamed with joy, opened his mouth and bit into one, his cheeks bulging as he chewed with a crunching sound.

Wang Xi patted the child's head and stood up.

After a brief test, he determined that this monster was of a relatively docile type and would not harm people indiscriminately. It could also protect his junior brother if it stayed by his side.

Wang Xi had no intention of taking back the "five-qian duck".

The peddler must have had his reasons for choosing such a strange item for Zhang Fuyun... According to him, perhaps it was fate, and also his junior brother's good fortune.

Let's wait and see, and let nature take its course.

"Fuyun, you should treat Fuzhan well. I'm looking forward to drinking your wedding wine."

Wang Xi smiled.

Zhang Fuyun was taken aback, and even Huo Qiao'er was surprised.

My senior brother accepted such a bizarre and strange thing so quickly, and didn't object at all.

"...Thank you, senior brother."

Zhang Fuyun was moved, his eyes reddened again, and he clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I will definitely not forget my senior brother when the time comes."

He then turned to Huo Qiao'er and said, "And Senior Sister."

"Fuyun, this matter must not be told to anyone other than Qiao'er and me."

Wang Xi gave instructions.

Zhang Fuyun said seriously, "I know."

Soon, the boy with five coins finished his candied hawthorn and, imitating Zhang Fuyun, clasped his hands in a fist and bow to Wang Xi, saying in a childish voice, "Thank you, young master."

After saying that, he transformed back into the five ancient bronze coins strung together by the red thread, falling back into Zhang Fuyun's hand.

The two said goodbye.

Wang Xi and Huo Qiao'er watched Zhang Fuyun enter the door before leaving together.

On the way back to the martial arts school, Qiao'er looked worried.

"Senior brother, tell me... is Junior Brother Fuyun's situation good or bad?"

"I don't know," Wang Xi shook his head.

He indeed found it difficult to judge.

When the lantern boy was sent to the peddler, the peddler lamented that humans and monsters were on completely different paths, yet this "five-coin duck" was also destined to be with Zhang Fuyun, which was quite a contradiction.

"I always have a bad feeling..."

Huo Qiao'er muttered something, then quickly spat twice, blaming herself.

Wang Ximo remained silent, yet his expression was solemn.

In the main world...

But there is a "Qilin's Child" maze.

This means that Zhang Fuyun will become a demon in the future.

Wang Xi was unsure whether this was related to the matter.

As for Tang Mu, the sycophantic city lord in "Disaster Zone No. 12", he is more like a manifestation of some kind of obsession of "Qilin'er" Zhang Fuyun, rather than himself.

The true labyrinth demon king is probably even more powerful.

...

...

The next morning.

Wang Xi was practicing martial arts moves with his fellow disciples in the courtyard when he suddenly saw his master's wife, Huo Shenglan, dressed in plain clothes and carrying a blue cloth bundle as she walked out.

"Mother, where are you going?"

Huo Qiao'er dropped the wooden sword and chased after him in a few steps.

Huo Shenglan paused, a worried look on her face: "A letter came from Maoli Village saying that your cousin is seriously ill, and I have to go back to take care of her."

"Cousin?" Qiao'er's eyes widened. "Last month at the market, she was carrying two sacks of grain, walking briskly!"

"The letter didn't explain things in detail..."

The master's wife gripped the bundle strap tightly and sighed.

"Then I'll go with you!" Qiao'er suddenly assumed a horse stance, her sleeves fluttering with a surprisingly professional air. "I haven't been wasting all these years of beatings from my senior brothers!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Huo Shenglan poked her forehead and said irritably, "Do you think it's fun to walk through a muddy road for more than ten miles, like going to a temple fair?"

Qiao'er giggled and skipped off to the corridor to get her straw hat.

Wang Xi stopped talking to Yu Ruiyang, his brows furrowing slightly. Based on the predictions from the "Seclusion Preview," he knew that his junior sister and master's wife's departure was a one-way trip.

“Master’s wife, I’ll go with you.”

He strode forward and said.

Huo Shenglan was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Xizhi, don't trouble yourself. I don't know how many days you'll be gone, and it will interfere with your training."

“What are you saying, Master’s wife? What do you mean by delaying us? The journey is remote and difficult, and the world is not peaceful. We can’t guarantee what we might encounter on the way. It’s always safer to have a man accompany us.”

Wang Xi smiled and offered words of advice.

His words were reassuring, and Huo Shenglan agreed, her tense shoulders relaxing and a hint of warmth spreading across the fine lines around her eyes: "Xi Zhi is always so thoughtful."

She raised her hand, intending to ruffle his hair as she used to when they were children, but instead patted his shoulder lightly and said, "Then let's go together."

"Is Senior Brother going along too?"

Huo Qiao'er came over carrying two bamboo hats and heard their conversation. She looked very happy.

"Okay, okay!" She playfully hooked her arm around Wang Xi's and said, "I'll go get a straw hat for my senior brother too."

"No need, Qiao'er. You and your master's wife can wear them. I'm used to braving the wind and rain," Wang Xi said.

Huo Qiao'er responded with a "Yes," put the green bamboo hat on her mother's head, and then reached for the blue cloth bundle: "I'll do this!"

With a flick of his fingertips, he twirled the bundle, making it look like he was twirling a sword.

"Junior brother." Before parting, Yu Ruiyang stepped forward and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Wang Xi. "Take good care of your junior sister and mistress."

The call was both loud and slow, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he ultimately said nothing more. Qiao'er waved her hand and leaped across the threshold.

Wang Xi smiled and returned the greeting.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slender figure behind a pillar in the porch, quietly watching them.

He then nodded and clasped his hands in a fist salute to his senior sister Huo Siling before turning and leaving.

...

...

Maoli Village is located south of Qingwei Town, about ten miles away.

It is said that Wang Xizhi was stranded here when he was young, and was found by Huo Mingchuan in that village.

This is the second birthmark that I was destined to have.

The three of them left the town and headed south along the path.

Huo Shenglan's blue cloth bundle was filled with dry food and water, as well as several packets of sesame candy that Qiao'er had bought yesterday.

The vegetation in the countryside was growing thicker, and the dirt road was riddled with potholes from the rain. Ploughs of miscellaneous trees grew on both sides, their branches leaning outwards. Whether it was a wild rabbit or a pheasant, they darted through the bushes, startling the animals with a few flapping sounds.

Along the way, Qiao'er was like a cheerful lark.

One moment she would tiptoe and hand the water pouch to her senior brother, calling out in a clear voice, "Senior brother, have some water!" The next moment she would magically produce sesame candy, her eyes crinkling as she said, "Senior brother, have some candy."

Seeing this, Huo Shenglan deliberately rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile, her eyes full of doting affection.

"You silly girl, you only have your senior brother in your heart and eyes, you've even forgotten about your own mother," Huo Shenglan scolded playfully.

Qiao'er blushed instantly, her ears burning, and she quickly stuffed the food into her mother's hands, saying, "Mother just loves to tease people."

"I think you're getting too ambitious and want to get married."

Huo Shenglan smiled faintly, her gaze shifting between her daughter's flushed cheeks and the gentle, refined young man in the black robe beside her, her eyes filled with satisfaction and contentment.

She secretly thought that it would be wonderful if her daughter could marry Xizhi, as the two knew each other well. Xizhi was also handsome, reliable, and dependable; Qiao'er's future would surely be peaceful and happy.

At this moment, Wang Xi deliberately changed the subject and asked:

"By the way, Master's wife, I remember there was a bandit problem near Qingwei Town a few years ago, right?"

"That's true." Huo Shenglan nodded, stepping through the mud. "They were fishermen who couldn't make a living on the lake and turned to banditry. They mainly rob caravans, but they don't harm the local villagers."

As she spoke, she sighed.

"Alas, later the Black Eel Army came to suppress them and shot dozens of them in public... It was all because of the harsh realities of the world."

Wang Xi and Huo Qiao'er exchanged a glance, both reading the same thoughts in each other's eyes.

The two went to see a play yesterday, and the Jinghong Troupe's performance of "The Black Eel Swallows the Moon" left a lasting impression.

Master Han's army ran rampant in the countryside, forcing fishermen to turn to banditry when they were truly desperate. But once they became bandits, he turned his guns on them and killed them.

Either way, it's a dead end.

Ultimately, they could not escape the butcher's knife of these "government troops".

Just like the resounding question uttered by the female warrior in the play: "Are you a soldier, a bandit, or the King of Hell?" In this world, it's hard to tell who the real bandits are.

At noon.

Maoli Village was in sight, yet it was eerily quiet.

"Hey, that's strange, there's not a soul in sight."

Huo Qiao'er raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, looked around, and her face was full of doubt.

Although it was lunchtime, not a single farmer was to be seen in the fields. The distant villages were shrouded in silence, devoid of any sign of life.

Like an empty village.

Even the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs have vanished without a trace.

As the three were wondering what was going on, they suddenly saw two people dressed as villagers walking straight towards them from the end of the road.

"Hey, isn't that Uncle Zhao from next door to my aunt's house?"

Huo Qiao'er pointed to one of the thin old men, her voice filled with surprise.

"And that guy next to him, is he... is he the second son of the Li family at the village entrance?"

Old Zhao was my cousin's neighbor and often came to visit. When Huo Qiao'er was a child, he would often coax her to call him "Grandpa" with malt candy when she went to Maoli Village.

"Old Zhao!" Huo Shenglan stepped forward and waved, a smile spreading across her face. "Is my sister feeling any better?"

The two villagers ignored them and continued walking forward with stiff steps.

Just like a walking corpse.

not right...

Wang Xi frowned.

"Mao Koi Villager (Demonized/Nemesis/Three Stars)"

Crimson entries appeared above their heads.

Wang Xi immediately stepped forward and discreetly protected his master's wife and junior sister behind him.

Old Zhao's neck suddenly twisted eerily, and wriggling lumps of flesh bulged under his skin. Accompanied by a chilling cracking sound, his head split open from the middle, transforming into the grotesque mouthparts of a locust!

"what--"

Huo Qiao'er screamed and trembled with fright.

The second son of the Li family next to him also underwent a strange change at the same time. His coarse cloth clothes were torn apart, revealing bluish-gray skin covered with tumor-like protrusions, and his ten fingers twisted into sharp hooks.

Huo Shenglan's face turned deathly pale, and she gripped Wang Xi's sleeve tightly: "What...what is this?!"

"Step back," Wang Xi said calmly, turning his head slightly.

Having said that, he flashed out like lightning.

He blurred past, appearing before the two villagers in the blink of an eye, and swung his right arm out like a splash of ink—

Without waiting for the other party's response.

Bang!Bang!
Wang Xi's terrifying fists and palms directly shattered the heads of the two men. The powerful gust of wind swept away the disgusting blood and gore, leaving him spotless.

Huo Qiao'er, still in shock, stared at the headless corpse on the ground that twitched a couple of times and gradually stiffened, her voice trembling: "Senior...Senior Brother...they?"

Wang Xi did not answer.

His expression was grave as he gazed at Maoli Village, shrouded in an eerie silence in the distance, and said in a deep voice:

"It seems there are no survivors left in this village."

(End of this chapter)