Chapter 66: Jiang Jing: Jiang Xiazha, stop right there! System: Blech...

The man glanced at the night sky, feeling somewhat anxious, yet he dared not leave just yet.

His mission was to stand guard here and relay messages.

However, looking around carefully once more, aside from a few vaguely bruised pigs lying limply over there, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Clutching the peace lock tightly in his hand, right now he had no other option than to silently wait for instructions from above.

Unaware that the peace lock she had left behind was keeping the liaison officer awake all night, Jiang Xiaxia was riding her meticulously chosen pig across the main road. As it galloped along, she didn't forget to ask Xia Lin, whose face was growing paler by the second, "How much does a pig cost?"

This was a pig she had carefully handpicked, believing it had the greatest potential to grow into the fattest one. If she could buy it and give it to her grandma, grandma would definitely be happy.

At that moment, Xia Lin was shivering violently from the cold wind, being shaken every which way atop the wild boar, and still struggling hard to hold onto Lin Shengwen to keep him from falling off. Hearing Jiang Xiaxia ask about the price of the pig at a time like this, how could he possibly have the composure to think?

Stuttering out a reply that he didn't know, he was just about to ask how much longer they would be riding this pig when an urgent shout suddenly came from ahead.

"Dalin, get off the ox cart quickly! Move! Hurry and move to the sides, there's a wild boar ahead!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Xiaxia's eyes instantly lit up, and she cried out at the top of her lungs, "Grandpa!"

Jiang Zhuguo paused slightly as he shielded Jiang Hua, but his footsteps never stopped. He immediately dashed toward the roadside, muttering under his breath, "Wife, why do I feel like I heard Xiaxia's voice in the middle of those pig grunts?"

Jiang Hua felt like she had heard it too just now, but figured it was impossible: "Xiaxia is still with our third son. If she were here, he wouldn't not be. It must be the wind playing tricks on our ears. Let's not worry about that for now, we need to get out of the way immediately. Dalin, leave the ox cart here; your uncle and I will watch it. You have quick feet, take the shortcut and run back to warn everyone to be careful. Once the third son returns, you can all organize a group to head up the mountain and see if we can get rid of this pest!"

Ever since someone came by in the afternoon to inform them that the children had all been found, she had initially felt a wave of relief. But as the evening grew later and night descended, Jiang Hua's heart grew increasingly panicked, sensing that something bad was bound to happen.

By the time dinner was over, she could no longer sit still, so she discussed it with the old man—they decided to go take a look in the county town anyway.

As it happened, Jiang Dalin was also sitting anxiously at home. He had come over to ask when they planned to go tomorrow, and upon hearing the old couple's decision, he immediately made up his mind: they would take the ox cart into the county town by night.

Who could have guessed that the three of them wouldn't even make it far before running into a wild boar?

Filled with guilt, Jiang Hua opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Jiang Dalin's eyes widened in sheer terror as he stared fixedly ahead, his voice trembling: "Uncle, Uncle... a pig, a pig..."

"Haven't you ever seen a pig's head before!" Hearing the tremor in Jiang Dalin's voice, Jiang Zhuguo's anger flared up instantly. He let out a loud shout and raised his foot, ready to kick him. "What are you so scared for? Hurry back and deliver the message!"

Once Dalin left, given his and his wife's agility, their chances of climbing a tree to avoid the wild boar and escaping uninjured were still quite high.

Thinking along these lines, Jiang Zhuguo stopped paying attention to Jiang Dalin. He turned around, preparing to help his wife up a tree first, when Jiang Dalin let out a howl from behind: "Uncle, Xiaxia is a wild boar..."

Jiang Dalin had originally intended to say that Xiaxia was riding a wild boar, but he was too terrified by the horrifying sight before him. His tongue slipped, and it came out as Xiaxia being a wild boar.

Jiang Zhuguo heard that cry as well and had just let out an angry roar: "You damn fool..."

Yet before he could finish his angry shout, following the direction of Jiang Dalin's finger, he beheld the exact same horrifying sight. The cold wind rushed down his throat, choking him into a earth-shattering fit of coughing: "Cough, cough, cough..."

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Hearing her grandpa's coughing, Jiang Xiaxia gave a frightened start. She slid right off the pig's back with a whoosh and ran over to her grandpa in two or three strides: "Sick? Let's go, time for a doctor!"

As she spoke, she grabbed her grandpa and started pulling him toward the pig, as if she intended to hoist him up onto the pig's back so he could ride it to the county hospital for treatment.

Jiang Zhuguo waved his hands repeatedly, clutching his chest as he took a few steps back, firmly declining his dutiful granddaughter's proposal.

Only then did Jiang Hua snap back to her senses. She hurried over in a few swift steps and anxiously began inspecting her: "Xiaxia, are you hurt? Tell Grandma, are you?"

Seeing her grandma's reddened eyes, Jiang Xiaxia quickly raised her somewhat chilly hands and stroked her face: "No! So cool!"

Straightening her back with pride, Jiang Xiaxia pointed back at Xia Lin, who was still sitting on the pig: "Saved!"

Then she pointed to the figures lying across the pig: "A gift for Auntie!"

It took Jiang Zhuguo a good while to catch his breath. He stepped forward and asked, "Where is your uncle?"

Jiang Xiaxia pressed her little lips together, lowered her head, and kicked a small pebble on the ground, keeping silent.

Seeing that the little girl truly wasn't injured, Jiang Hua finally let out a sigh of relief. But watching the little girl droop her head and refuse to even mention their third son, the old couple exchanged a glance, sharing a tacit, unspoken guess: that useless son of theirs must have made a little girl act as bait to catch traffickers, and even managed to make her mad.

"Dalin, go... carry the two little ones off the pig!"

Seeing that Jiang Xiaxia refused to speak, Jiang Zhuguo turned his gaze to Jiang Dalin, who was still standing there with his mouth open drinking the cold wind as if trying to fill his stomach on it. With that thought, he landed a kick on him.

Only then did Jiang Dalin snap back to reality. He hurried over in two or three strides to lift the two children down from the animal.

As he picked them up, a jolt of horror struck his heart, and he quickly crept close to Jiang Zhuguo, whispering, "Uncle, let's head back quickly! The temperature of these two kids is much too low!"

Hearing that they were going home, Jiang Xiaxia's drooping demeanor instantly vanished. She looked happily at Jiang Hua and Jiang Zhuguo: "Miss Grandma! Miss home, miss Grandpa!"

Upon hearing those final words, Jiang Hua's heart melted into a puddle of absolute warmth.

Jiang Zhuguo's tense expression also softened nearby. Look at that, he even ranked third in this child's heart!

"Alright, then let's go back!"

Jiang Zhuguo nodded. However, noticing the hesitation on Jiang Dalin's face, he asked, "Xiaxia, where is Tiedan?"

Jiang Xiaxia gave a blank "ah." Oh right, there was a Tiedan too!

When she ran off, she had completely forgotten about him!

Xia Lin, whose legs had just regained some feeling after touching the ground, finally caught his breath and felt like he had come back to life. Hearing this, he immediately stepped forward to help explain for his sister: "That little brother was sleeping too soundly, he wasn't easy to carry!"

Besides, he wasn't within the scope of his sister's gift-giving, so naturally, bringing him along was out of the question.

Jiang Dalin felt that this reasoning was completely flawless, so he turned around and led the two kids toward the ox cart.

Yet just as they had taken a couple of steps, Jiang Xiaxia felt a gust of cold wind prickle down her spine, as if someone was staring at her back with intense fury.

She whipped her head around, gazing at the pitch-black stretch of road, then tilted her head in sudden shock: "Uncle?"

Hearing her words, the others immediately looked in the direction she was staring, but saw nothing at all.

Xia Lin had always known his sister was formidable, and having witnessed everything she did tonight with his own eyes, he trusted her implicitly.

Hearing her now, he didn't even hesitate. Looking at Jiang Hua and Jiang Zhuguo, he whispered an explanation: "Little Sister worked so hard to save us, and even had a secret agent point a gun at her! She just wanted to take a little hard-earned reward to support the family, but Uncle not only refused to give it to her, he even said that doing so would ruin Grandma's reputation!"

The moment his voice faded, Jiang Jing's deafening, furious roar erupted from behind them: "Jiang Xiaxia, stop right there!"

At the sound of this angry roar, Jiang Xiaxia instinctively opened her mouth to shout back a retort, but a wave of burning heat suddenly surged up her throat. The moment she opened her mouth, acidic bile spewed out uncontrollably: "Ugh..."

Seeing this, Xia Lin said, both heartbroken and indignant, "Uncle actually scared Little Sister so much she threw up!"