"That's because zombies are far more formidable than they are," a voice echoed in Shen Xiaoyan's mind.
Startled, Shen Xiaoyan asked, "How did you read my mind again?"
"You thought of this cat, so this cat knew!"
The implication was that it was her fault? Shen Xiaoyan was speechless but decided not to argue.
To the west lay the spot where Baili Hao had been resting. However, as Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei approached, they realized Baili Hao wasn't there.
"Did he run away?" Shen Xiaoyan asked in surprise. It didn't seem right; his injuries hadn't healed yet.
"No, don't hit me, mmmph..." At that moment, Baili Ziyun's shriek interrupted Shen Xiaoyan's thoughts.
Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei exchanged a puzzled look. Baili Ziyun had just cried out for someone to stop hitting her; who was doing it? The view was partially obscured, so Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei moved slowly. Finally, they saw three figures amidst the construction site. It appeared Baili Ziyun was among them.
They approached cautiously. As they got closer, Shen Xiaoyan could clearly see who the three people were. The one lying on the dirt, clutching her head and crying out in pain, was Baili Ziyun. And the one hitting her was none other than Baili Hao. Standing beside them was another person: Grand Princess Zande. Grand Princess Zande watched the scene with an impassive expression, her gaze fixed on the two, her thoughts unreadable.
"What are you doing?" Shen Xiaoyan asked.
Perhaps startled by the sudden sound of a voice, Baili Hao's actions paused. He slowly turned his head and looked at Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoyan standing there, a look of surprise on his face. It was August 15th; how did they have time to come over?
"Help, help, help me..." Perhaps sensing Shen Xiaoyan's arrival offered a chance for rescue, Baili Ziyun, while Baili Hao was momentarily stunned, scrambled on all fours to Shen Xiaoyan's feet. She clutched Shen Xiaoyan's trouser leg tightly, her entire body curled up. Her words trembled as she cried, "He's going to kill me. I don't want to stay here anymore. Take me somewhere else, and I'll do anything you ask. Truly, anything. I'll work hard digging during the day, just please take me away at night." Baili Ziyun pleaded with Shen Xiaoyan, tears streaming down her face, as if she would die the next moment if Shen Xiaoyan refused.
"Why is he hitting you? Don't you have a deep father-daughter bond? What, are you putting on another show for me?" Shen Xiaoyan looked down at Baili Ziyun beside her, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"He's gone mad. He's been like this since you left the day before yesterday. Whenever he's idle, he hits me. When he gets tired of hitting, he curses." This was strange. Had Baili Hao truly been driven to madness? Shen Xiaoyan looked at Zheng Wei, who wore a similar expression of confusion.
"You're not going to intervene with your daughter being beaten like this?" Shen Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow and addressed Grand Princess Zande.
"Isn't it natural for a father to discipline his daughter?" Grand Princess Zande retorted. Shen Xiaoyan was momentarily speechless. What else could she say? Although she had forced this family to work, their personal lives were truly not her concern, nor did she wish them to be.
"I didn't expect you to understand what's important," Zheng Wei said with a hidden meaning. Grand Princess Zande, not being foolish, immediately understood his implication.
"This has nothing to do with you. You should go back quickly," Baili Hao said, walking over, clearly out of breath. Seeing this, Shen Xiaoyan shrugged indifferently and turned, pulling Zheng Wei along.
"Don't go. Don't go..."
"Shut up." Behind them, Baili Ziyun's cries were followed by sounds of pain and anguish. Shen Xiaoyan knew she was being beaten again.
"What do you think they're doing? Putting on a show for us? But what's the point?" Shen Xiaoyan genuinely couldn't understand what this family was up to.
"Ignore them. It's just ugly people making a fuss," Zheng Wei said casually. Hearing this, Shen Xiaoyan burst into laughter. "I didn't expect you to learn so quickly, using it right away." Shen Xiaoyan said this because, a couple of days prior, she had found solar-powered electronic devices in her spatial dimension. They had also found some portable hard drives containing various music and dramas. Zheng Wei had been incredibly interested in these items. At bedtime, he would ask Shen Xiaoyan to bring him to the spatial dimension, where he would spend the night studying them alone. During the day, he would secretly take them out and place them in a spot where they could be exposed to sunlight without being noticed. The phrase "ugly people making a fuss" was something he had just learned and was now using.
"Naturally. Your husband here has an IQ of 180," Zheng Wei said proudly. He then couldn't hold back and burst into laughter himself. Shen Xiaoyan joined him, laughing along. She found this side of Zheng Wei endearing, and they could share common interests. They discussed Shen Xiaoyan's past life and the world she had lived in, asking and answering questions. The distance between them, already close, became even closer, making them feel like one.
When they returned to the main courtyard, they saw Yue Qingxin and Sima Han still sitting there. As soon as they saw Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei return, they quickly asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Shen Xiaoyan walked over and sat down, chuckling. "They said it was a family matter and didn't want us to interfere."
"Family matter?" Yue Qingxin didn't understand Shen Xiaoyan's meaning and looked bewildered. "It's nothing, just a father disciplining his daughter." Shen Xiaoyan finished speaking and took a sip of her tea, only to realize it had gone cold. She supposed it had been a long time; it should have cooled down by now. Fortunately, she only took a sip to wet her throat and then put it down.
"What exactly happened?" Sima Han looked at Zheng Wei, confused. Zheng Wei's lips curved into a sarcastic smile. "Nothing much. Baili Hao was just hitting Baili Ziyun."
"Why was he hitting her?" Yue Qingxin found it even stranger. Didn't he defend Baili Ziyun against Shen Xiaoyan during their earlier fight, even resorting to sneak attacks?
"Who knows? Perhaps he's putting on a show for us. Or perhaps he's feeling suffocated..." Shen Xiaoyan's words, spoken lightly, fell heavily on their ears. If Shen Xiaoyan's first possibility was true, it could be dismissed. But if it was the second, then Baili Hao was...
"Don't think too much about it. Let's go back to sleep," Zheng Wei said, breaking the somber atmosphere. "Right, sister, let's go back to sleep. Didn't we agree to go to the mountains tomorrow?" Shen Xiaoyan said, pulling Yue Qingxin to her feet. Yue Qingxin no longer hesitated. Regardless of the truth, they would wait and see.
The next morning, Shen Xiaoyan and the others were up and had finished breakfast early. They thought it had been a long time since they had visited the mountains. With the clear autumn sky and the abundance of wild game in the mountains, it was the perfect time for a stroll. However, they decided not to bring the four little ones, as they were too young, and bringing them would also necessitate bringing nurses and servants, which would be too troublesome.