Bai Sheng drugged Wen Zhi Mo's entire family and brought them into her spatial dimension, transporting them to Qing Huang.
Wen Zhi Mo was greatly shocked to learn that he had arrived in Qing Huang Kingdom on the same day. He had originally thought it would take over a month for the arduous journey, especially given the difficulty of crossing the desert. He never expected to arrive in the blink of an eye.
Bai Sheng explained it away as a teleportation illusion, asking him to keep it a secret. Wen Zhi Mo forced himself to accept this explanation, though in his heart he was more inclined to believe that little Sheng was a celestial fairy who could perform magic.
Feng Cheng had already prepared a residence for him, and Bai Sheng directly moved all the furnishings into the house. After settling Wen Zhi Mo's family, Bai Sheng took the Four Cubs, Zuo Hua, Ga Mei, Lu Huo, Qiu, and Lu Yin to the Western Territory for an outing. Firstly, the Four Cubs hadn't seen their father in a while, and Bai Sheng wanted to take them to meet him. Secondly, she wanted to take Zuo Hua out to relax, as the matter with Yan Shuo had made Zuo Hua somewhat melancholy and listless. Near the western border defense, there was a small stream filled with stones, and the water was very clear. Bai Sheng planned to take everyone there to catch fish and have a barbecue.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Upon seeing Zuo Ye, the Four Cubs joyfully rushed towards him.
"My cubs!" Zuo Ye, with the characteristic kindly smile of a father, crouched down, spread his arms, and embraced two of them at a time.
"Daddy, we haven't seen you in so long. Hua Hua misses you so much," Hua Hua said, hugging Zuo Ye's neck and pouting playfully.
"Daddy misses Hua Hua too," Zuo Ye's heart nearly melted upon hearing his little "cotton-padded jacket" say she missed him. The other three cubs followed suit, hugging Zuo Ye's arms and shaking them, saying they missed him dearly. At this moment, Zuo Ye's eyes were moist with emotion. It turned out that he, their biological father, still held a significant place in the cubs' hearts, and they actually missed him.
This was the Four Cubs' first time visiting the Western Territory military camp, and their appearance immediately drew everyone's attention. The soldiers all swarmed around them, laughing and playing with them. There were such beautiful little children in the world, truly more adorable than the celestial children in heaven. For the entire morning, the Four Cubs' feet never touched the ground; soldiers held them, passing them from one to another, reluctant to let them go. Zuo Ye ordered a clean tent to be prepared specifically for Zuo Hua, Ga Mei, and the other girls. The soldiers were all excited to see the girls and busied themselves with great enthusiasm, all eager to help set up the tents.
After a night's rest, Bai Sheng took everyone to the stream the next day to catch fish and shrimp for a picnic. Zuo Ye also brought several people, including the children Zuo Yun and Zuo An, as well as Shi Sheng, Da Li, and Lang Ya. Lang Ya primarily led the vanguard scouts, so he was often out on patrols, and Bai Sheng didn't see him often. Shi Sheng mentioned that it was Lang Ya who, upon hearing Huang Lian Sheng claim she was an imposter princess at the Saintess Palace, had rushed to notify Shi Sheng and the Great General to settle the score. Although Commander Jin had also dispatched soldiers to deliver a message at the time, Bai Sheng still felt a sense of gratitude towards Lang Ya in her heart.
The sun was brilliant, and the clear stream flowed gently along the lush green canyons on both banks towards the distant ends. Beneath the stream were smooth pebbles, and one could clearly see fish swimming happily in the water. Zuo Hua, Ga Mei, and the other girls went to gather firewood to start a fire, while Shi Sheng, Da Li, and the children were catching fish in the deeper parts of the stream. The youths rolled up their pant legs and speared fish in the water. As the fish escaped, the youths exclaimed and cheered, splashing water everywhere, creating a lively scene. The Four Cubs also wanted to join them, but their legs were too short, so they could only play in the shallow water.
The second cub, Ye Ye, watched as the many uncles managed to catch only a few small fish after half the morning. He sighed helplessly and turned to Hua Hua, saying, "Sister, why don't you help them?"
"Yes, sister, I'm getting a little hungry. I want to eat fish," the third cub, Rui Rui, said, sitting on a small rock and resting his chin on his hand.
Hua Hua, like a little adult, looked at the people catching fish and shook her head helplessly. Then, she shouted towards the stream, "Fish, fish, hurry over! Don't run away when my uncles and brothers try to catch you."
As soon as Hua Hua finished speaking, schools of fish swarmed towards them in the stream. "Ah! So many fish! So many fish!" everyone cheered, and fish spears were cast down one after another.
After Zuo Hua and the others had built the fire, they went to the stream to wash their hands. Seeing how happily Zuo Yun and the others were spearing fish, they ran over to watch. Da Li speared a large fish weighing several pounds and excitedly shouted to Shi Sheng, "Shi Sheng! Look, isn't this Da Li awesome?"
"Awesome!" Shi Sheng laughed.
"Here! Catch!" Da Li threw the lively fish to Shi Sheng. As Shi Sheng reached out to catch it, the fish slipped right through his hands and flew out. It landed precisely towards Zuo Hua, who was standing in the stream watching the commotion. Seeing the large fish about to hit Zuo Hua on the head, Shi Sheng leaped forward, intending to intercept the fish. However, his foot slipped on a stone, and he lost his balance, stumbling towards Zuo Hua. If a fish and a person were to hit Zuo Hua at the same time, the consequences were unimaginable, especially with stones all around. Zuo Hua's head would surely be injured. Zuo Hua looked at the fish and the person flying towards her and froze.
At that critical moment, Shi Sheng grabbed Zuo Hua by her collar and lifted her, taking the impact himself. Zuo Hua landed steadily on him, and the large fish also happened to hit him squarely in the face. With a clang, everyone heard the sound of Shi Sheng's head hitting the stones. Zuo Hua was completely stunned by the sudden event. She lay on Shi Sheng, watching blood flow from the back of his head, dyeing the stream water beneath him red.
"Shi Sheng!"
"Brother Shi Sheng!"
Everyone rushed over. Zuo Hua finally came back to her senses, pushed herself up, and moved off Shi Sheng's body. Shi Sheng's body was not much softer than the stones, and Zuo Hua felt a sharp pain from being pressed against him. The splash of water soaked Zuo Hua's clothes. Shi Sheng looked at her, momentarily stunned.
"Shi Sheng, are you alright?" Da Li ran over.
Shi Sheng grinned, "I'm fine, just a little scrape on my head." Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye, who had been sitting on a large rock not far away, basking in the bright sunlight and chatting happily, also rushed over after seeing what happened.
Everyone helped Shi Sheng up from the water. Bai Sheng checked the back of his head and confirmed it was indeed just a minor scrape with no serious injury. She then applied some wound medicine and bandaged it simply. Although Shi Sheng and Zuo Hua were both drenched, it was early summer, and the temperature was not low. Shi Sheng said he didn't need to change clothes, as they would dry in the sun. Bai Sheng only called Zuo Hua into the tent to change into clean clothes.
There were enough fish speared, and they had also brought plenty of other meat, so everyone began preparing lunch. The young men started cleaning the fish, and the girls were responsible for marinating them with salt and other seasonings.