The two little buns looked up and saw the masked man descend from the trees.
The sun had already risen, and the temperature in the forest was gradually increasing.
Xiao Xitian pinched her chin and carefully examined the man, then let out a soft "Yi..."
"Your nose and mouth resemble someone!" Xiao Xitian said thoughtfully.
The man let out a hiccup. He had been drinking while escaping, and the half-gourd of sorghum wine was almost gone.
"Is that so? Then tell me, who do I look like?" the man asked with a smile.
Xiao Xitian's eyes curved into crescents, "Like my second brother..."
If only he could take off his mask.
With Xiao Xitian partially obscured, it was difficult to judge.
Upon hearing her words, Xiao Jinheng also felt it was similar, "There's a bit of a resemblance!"
The man reached out and ruffled the heads of the two little buns, "Whose children are you two? Which village are you from? Did you have a falling out with your parents and run away from home?"
Xiao Xitian: "..."
Do we look like disobedient children?
Even if we ran away from home, we wouldn't head for the mountains.
Xiao Jinheng shook his head, "We're from Dashui Village, we didn't run away from home!"
He briefly recounted how they were washed away by the flood. The man's eyes widened upon hearing this, "My heavens, to be washed away by the flood and still be alive, what kind of luck do you two have..."
It must have been the blessings of the Bodhisattva.
With their small arms and short legs, if they were swept into a river bend or a flooded area, they would surely die.
Xiao Xitian shrugged, "That's just how we survived!"
Not only did they have good luck, but they also weren't eaten by black bears.
They survived entirely on their own skills...
The man twitched his lips and sighed, "Since you've been away for so long, your parents must be frantic. How about this, we'll send you back to the village, and you can get me a pot of wine, alright?"
Without sorghum wine, he didn't even have the mood to deal with those assassins.
Xiao Jinheng said calmly, "Let alone a pot of wine, even a cartload would do!"
The man heard this, squatted down, and stared at Xiao Jinheng for a long time. He reached out and pinched his little face, "Little fellow, you're not old yet, who did you learn your bragging skills from?"
A cartload of wine, is your family in the wine-making business?
You don't even need a draft to lie...
"I'm not bragging!" Xiao Jinheng slapped his hand away, "If a cartload isn't enough, this young master will give you two cartloads, as long as you can safely deliver us to Dashui Village!"
"Huo!" The man stood up with exaggerated surprise, "Are children these days so extravagant? Deal, two cartloads. If you can't produce them, I'll carry you back up the mountain, how about that?"
Xiao Jinheng: "..."
Drunkard.
It's just two cartloads of wine, he could buy them in minutes.
It's just that he was trapped in Tuofeng Mountain right now and couldn't produce them.
"Deal!" Xiao Jinheng nodded in agreement.
The man pursed his lips and smiled, looking at the surrounding terrain, muttering to himself, "Uh... let me see, which way should we go to Dashui Village!"
He looked towards the north, where dense pine trees grew, and the forest was somewhat dim, with not much light.
"It shouldn't be that way!"
He then looked towards the south, which was a sheer cliff face with many precious herbs growing on it. Climbing it would be harder than ascending to heaven...
"It shouldn't be that way either. Alas, this is bad, where exactly is Dashui Village?" the man fell into a dilemma.
Xiao Xitian: "..."
Xiao Jinheng: "..."
So, after all that, you don't know either!
And you were so confident about taking them back to the village.
You're no good at this!
"Hey, can you actually get out of this forest?" Xiao Jinheng asked with suspicion.
With this skill, he still dared to ask for two cartloads of sorghum wine?
Xiao Jinheng didn't even want to give him a single jar of wine now...
"Don't be so impatient, let me look again!" The man spun around several times in place, finally judging a direction, "Aha, that's it, let's go!"
Xiao Xitian looked in the direction he pointed, a string of little question marks appearing on her forehead, "Brother, are you sure?"
The direction he pointed was completely opposite to the direction on the compass...
"Why don't you two believe me? If I couldn't judge the direction, would I dare to wander alone in this mountain, right?" The man winked at Xiao Xitian.
He really liked this little girl.
She was like a little mascot, and he really wanted to just take her away and not return her to her parents.
Xiao Xitian took out a compass from her pocket and blinked her big eyes, "Did I make a mistake?"
Xiao Jinheng asked the man, "Have you been to Dashui Village before?"
If he hadn't been there, he would be leading them astray, wouldn't that mean they'd get further and further away...
The man said, "I passed by once, is that enough?"
He hadn't gotten lost in the desert, let alone this forest.
"It's agreed, if you don't take us back to Dashui Village before dark, those two cartloads of sorghum wine will be gone!" Xiao Jinheng crossed his arms and slightly raised his chin.
The man saw this and couldn't help but laugh, "Little thing, you've learned to threaten people now. Deal, it's settled..."
So the two little buns followed the man, walking slowly into the depths of the dense forest.
Xiao Xitian took out three large apples from her space and distributed one to each person.
"I say, are you two from the same family?" the man asked while eating an apple.
They didn't look very alike, so they must be children from the same village, but not from the same family...
Before Xiao Xitian could answer, Xiao Jinheng said, "We are from the same family!"
Living in the same large courtyard, aren't they from the same family?
The man looked back at them, then at Xiao Jinheng's clothes, "Your clothes don't look like those of village children. Are you a local resident of Dashui Village?"
You look too strange...
This little boy's demeanor and speech were not in line with ordinary village children.
Could he be the illegitimate son of an official or a wealthy family, sent to the village to avoid disaster?
Xiao Jinheng didn't want to answer this question.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" the man asked again.
Xiao Jinheng frowned, "You ask too many questions. You just need to lead us out, can you talk less?"
The man stopped, turned around, and picked up Xiao Jinheng.
"You... what are you doing?" Xiao Jinheng's limbs flailed as he was lifted into the air.
Xiao Xitian couldn't help but burst into laughter.
This brat looked like an overturned turtle.
It was too funny!
The man flicked Xiao Jinheng's forehead, "People shouldn't be too silent. You have a mouth, and besides eating and drinking, isn't the rest for talking? If you don't say a hundred words a day, you'll regret it when you die..."
Xiao Jinheng's cheeks flushed red. Just as he was about to retort, a strange sound came from ahead.