Book 5: Chapter 20: Inescapable Net (Little Huang's Limited Edition)
Seeing that the color in the sky was already nearing evening, I brought Aleya out and set off for the south of the city.
The granary is very easy to find. Even without the threat of the assassin, this place is one of the safest places in the city. In the surroundings of the granary is a plot of empty land that prohibits anyone from passing through. If someone attempts to approach the granary, they must show either Moon or my direct token.
But problems still exist. For example, due to having insufficient manpower, it’s very difficult to arrange relatively concentrated sentry posts, so there is still a certain distance between each post. Another example would be on a moonless, windy night like today. With jet-black clouds layered on top of one another, the stars in the sky and the moon are both hidden and just walking on the streets requires one to hold a torch to even see one’s feet.
It’s reasonable to say that it would be strange if nothing happened with an atmosphere like this.
As soon as I arrived at the south of the city, I saw Bai Huang hiding behind a house poking out her head to look left and right. While she was holding a half-eaten meat bun in her mouth, I brought Aleya with me to stealthily sneak up behind her. Then, we stood behind her and I called out with a gloomy, ghostly cry:
“Little Huaaang……”
Bai Huang leaped up with a “wah!” like a cat whose fur spiked up in fright, turned around to face me and hurriedly retreated. As a result, she tripped over her legs and began falling backwards. I hastily extended my hand and pulled her back. But because I didn’t control my strength well, Bai Huang directly ended up in my arms.
Then I ruthlessly pushed her away.
Bai Huang looked regretfully at the steamed bun that had fallen onto the ground when she was frightened and flared up in anger:
“How can someone so old like you still scare people with such tricks?”
I retorted:
“How can someone so old like you still be scared by such tricks?”
Bai Huang snorted:
“Can’t you see that this grand aunt is in the middle of standing guard with single-hearted devotion?”
I smiled with a mix of amusement and anger:
“Is what you’re doing useful? You weren’t even able to discover Aleya and I getting near you; if by any chance an assassin truly came, wouldn’t you be the first to deliver your head?”
Bai Huang slapped her thigh and forked her arms:
“Hey! Would you be able to scare me if you were someone else just now? Heji! Come out and show them!”
A sudden movement from the firewood pile in front of a house not so far away. Several pieces of dry firewood from the top toppled down and a head popped out; it was Heji. He gave Aleya and I a wry smile and a wave before diving back in, not forgetting to place a few pieces of firewood on top of his head and buried himself.
Bai Huang crossed her large, round eyes, gave me a cold stare, and exposed a self-confident expression.
She patted her larger-than-Aleya’s chest as if she were an intelligent child, exposed her canines, and said to me:
“Stupid! This grand aunt planned it all. Do you know what this is called? It’s called ‘pulling a snake from its hole’. Me standing guard here is to act as bait; when that assassin quietly approaches me, Heji will come from the skies like a godly soldier. That assassin won’t even have enough time to begin and will naturally flee after being beaten by us two to one. This is ‘using an opponent’s own methods to obtain retribution’ and can be said to be a genius stratagem. If it weren’t you two just now, Heji would have already set out. Hmph hmph, she dares to provoke I, her grand aunt, so I must wipe the floor with her today!”
I expressionlessly clapped my hands as these words came out of my mouth:
“Amazing, awesome.”
In my mind, however, I was thinking ‘it’s truly hard on old buddy Heji, how can such a good young man follow such an idiot??’
Let’s first not mention if that assassin would be so idle to come over and beat you up. Even if she were to act, the firewood pile that Heji’s in is at least 30 meters away from you, would he even have enough time to save you?
No wonder Heji was bitterly smiling right now, I reckon that he thinks there’s no chance.
Bai Huang appeared to have awakened her spirit of talking since she grabbed me and continued to explain:
“Apart from this, I’ve already laid out an inescapable net in this area. So long as the assassin dares to come, I’ll absolutely be able to hang her up and beat her without giving her an opportunity to escape.”
“Is it really that strong?”
Seeing the doubt on my face, Bai Huang pulled my arm and veered me over to a sentry post without the slightest hesitation. A soldier was stationed there, holding a spear tightly in his hands. Upon seeing Bai Huang bring Aleya and I over, he stood up even straighter and puffed out his chest.
Bai Huang stood before the soldier and asked me:
“Are you able to see any difference?”
I examined him and answered:
“No.”
Bai Huang told the soldier:
“Extend your hand.”
The soldier extended his hand and only then did I see a thin thread tied on the soldier’s finger with the help of the torchlight. The thread stretched far into the distance and seeing the direction it stretched into, it appeared to be the location of the next sentry. Bai Huang self-confidently stated:
“See it? This is the ‘Silver Thread Trapping Dragon Formation’ that I came up with, it can make up for us having insufficient soldiers. Using a thread to link everyone together, other soldiers will be able to immediately feel whoever collapses or lands himself into a fight and run over to provide support. A slight change will affect anything; even if a supernatural entity were to come, they would not be able to sneak in silently.”
The soldier shouted with great enthusiasm:
“Please rest assured sir City Lord, sir Bai Huang!”
Seeing his self-confident appearance, I patted his shoulder and encouraged:
“Be on full alert! Endure through tonight and receive your bonus tomorrow!”
The soldier loudly called out:contemporary romance
“Yes!”
Bai Huang continued:
“In addition to this, I’ve arrange all sorts of traps here……hey! Slow down, there’s a pitfall here. Stop! Wait a minute, don’t touch the little bell over there. Oh! Don’t go over there, there’s an ambush over there. Right, walk here, following me is the safest. Ah, that’s right, do you see those bushes over there? I broke up the patrol into teams of twos and threes and scattered them into the surroundings. The guard maintaining security is now composed of one in the light and one hidden. No matter how strong the assassin is, it’s impossible for her to hide from all these eyes.”
I looked at the surroundings. Night was already a time of day where many things couldn’t be seen clearly and with Bai Huang using such thin threads to make simple trigger trips in the vicinity, it resembled those red infrared laser traps that secure banks in those movies. However, these traps are obviously much more primitive. Even so, it can be seen that she’s spent a considerable amount of effort. No wonder she was gnawing a meat bun by herself at night, she probably didn’t even have time to have a proper meal.
So, are these traps useful or useless??
I can only say that it depends on that assassin’s IQ.
But I still had another question at this point in time:
“Little Huang, where did you get so many threads?”
Bai Huang knocked her head and replied:
“Oh, will you look at my memory. Isn’t your bed made of silk? I felt that the thing’s toughness was quite good and quite invisible, so I tore it up for use. But the bed wasn’t enough, so I also tore down the quilt and bedding for use. When we return, I’ll make sure to collect it all and return it to you.”
I asked dumbfounded:
“Then where will I be sleeping tonight??”
Bai Huang smiled meaningfully:
“Didn’t you send that bed of mine over to Fang Thirteen? She’s currently not in West-Resisting City, so can’t you just sleep in her room and consider it done. She won’t mind in any case and you also don’t care, so you may as well live together in advance.”
Yep.
I looked at the wooden-faced Aleya and thought in my mind: I indeed can consider it done, I’m done for.
While looking at Bai Huang’s unsmiling smile, I scratched my head.
Woman, they indeed hold grudges.
done.co