Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 7 The World Is So Dangerous

So, this scene unfolded at the alley entrance: a child was riding on a woman, slapping her repeatedly and pulling her hair, while a man in the distance tried several times to get up but failed. Instinctively, everyone just stood there watching the spectacle, and no one stepped forward to help.

A pair of scoundrels snatched someone else's child; they definitely deserved to be beaten. Judging from the child's appearance, he has a bad temper, and neither of the adults got away with it.

"Hey kid, just teach him a little lesson, don't let it get to the point of killing someone," someone whispered a reminder.

"Thank you," Gu Qingyue said, pinching the woman's body a few more times to let her enjoy it a little longer.

When the group of people at the alley entrance saw how pitiful the two people were, they decided not to get involved and quickly left.

Gu Qingyue then stood up and kicked the woman twice more, saying, "Trying to take advantage of me? You really have a discerning eye! Aren't you afraid of death?!"

"Pick-----pick-----eh (please), bite------ooh (have mercy on me)," the woman's teeth were knocked out, her mouth was broken, and her face was swollen, making her speech unclear.

When Gu Qingyue finally let go of her, she struggled to turn over and leaned against the wall, her eyes filled with terror.

"If you dare to kidnap children again, don't blame me for acting on behalf of Heaven and wiping out you two scoundrels!"

Seeing the man and woman's miserable state, Gu Qingyue made a harsh statement, waved her hand, and told them to get lost.

She was new to the area and didn't know where the town's government office was. Judging from the situation along the way, she knew that the government office was just for show. Besides, she was very weak, mainly because she had just recovered from a serious injury and was starving after walking for most of the day. She was almost out of strength and had to leave quickly, otherwise, if anyone else came, she would be in trouble.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch," the woman covered her sore mouth and hurriedly agreed. Little did she know that her first order of the day would encounter such a troublesome little devil, almost costing her her life.

After glancing at the two of them, Gu Qingyue calmly and steadily walked out of the alley, though she was mostly forcing herself to walk, as her legs were already trembling.

Of course, she had no idea that, perched on a large tree at the end of the alley, a pair of eyes had watched this chance encounter from beginning to end with great interest, and even the usually aloof and expressionless face couldn't help but reveal a barely perceptible smile.

Once out of the alley and onto the main street, Gu Qingyue paused to slow her pace. Thankfully, she could still manage.

Once she regained some strength, she continued to look around at the commotion and search for an inn.

After walking for a quarter of an hour without finding an inn, at a bend in the road, someone covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

Of course, Gu Qingyue noticed the large hand reaching out a moment before it did. She immediately turned her face away, covering her cheek with the handkerchief. Gu Qingyue turned around nimbly and saw a plump woman in her forties holding the handkerchief. Not far behind her stood two men with mean and sinister faces.

Gu Qingyue realized things were going badly; she couldn't win!

Her eyes darted around, and she immediately gathered her strength, unleashing her most cunning move—"Help! Someone's kidnapping children!"

With this shout, Gu Qingyue used all her strength, shattering a stone! The hair of those nearby stood on end from the blast.

Turning around, holy crap! That skinny kid must have gone mad! He kicked, stomped, pinched, and pulled—he used every kind of violence a child could muster on the fat woman. The fat woman was beaten back and forth, and under everyone's curious gazes, the three guilty kids turned and ran away.

Watching the fat slave trader running faster than a rabbit, glancing back repeatedly with a look of terror on her face, Gu Qingyue revealed a wicked smile: "Hey, come on! Don't run so fast! It's just a few tugs of hair and tears of clothes, right? When I go crazy, I'll even hit myself! Want to try again? Hey, you dropped your handkerchief!"

The fat auntie who sells human slaves: ...I didn't believe your nonsense!

Having narrowly escaped being kidnapped by human traffickers twice, Gu Qingyue has come to understand the nature of this world—in a word, chaos! Especially in this town, anything can happen, and she must protect herself well.

She found a spot, smeared her face with black paint, and made it look messy so that her appearance wouldn't be so striking. She should have known better than to wash her face in the woods.

This world is so dangerous!

Finally, exhausted from walking, she found a cheap noodle stall in a very remote place. For three copper coins, Gu Qingyue was able to enjoy a bowl of steaming hot vegetarian noodles. For her, who hadn't had a hot meal for two days, the taste was quite good. She patted her belly, feeling satisfied.

It wasn't until sunset that Gu Qingyue found a secluded little inn, paid five copper coins, and stayed in a woodshed in the backyard of the inn.

Seeing the shopkeeper holding the coins in his hand with a big smile on his face, she felt a chill run down her spine. However, she couldn't care less. This was the only shopkeeper willing to take her in. Without money, you can't get anywhere!

Touching the remaining twenty copper coins, Gu Qingyue couldn't help but sigh deeply.

The moon hangs high in the sky, and all things are silent.

Gu Qingyue rolled over on the woodpile. Although she was very uncomfortable, she couldn't resist the fatigue of the past few days and gradually fell asleep. The town, which had been noisy all day, could only hear a few barks of dogs in the distance.

"Bang!" A heavy object crashed into the yard.

Gu Qingyue opened her eyes instantly, and before she could see what was happening, a strong smell of blood filled the air.

She sprang up nimbly, half-kneeling at the door of the woodshed, and quietly observed the movements in the courtyard.

A man in black lay sprawled outside the woodshed, blood flowing continuously from beneath him. He was motionless. Gu Qingyue twitched her ears and could hear that the man's breathing was weak; he must have lost consciousness due to excessive blood loss.

After waiting for a moment, Gu Qingyue approached quietly.

By the moonlight, it became clear that the man in black had a mask covering his face and his eyes were closed; he was indeed unconscious.

Gu Qingyue habitually took the other person's wrist, pinched the pulse to check, and found that the pulse was intermittent and weak, indicating a serious injury.

"Hey, wake up," Gu Qingyue called softly, but there was no response. Judging from the situation, if she continued to lose blood, she would probably die within fifteen minutes.

Gu Qingyue lifted the person's back with force and looked at him. It seemed that he had been stabbed diagonally in the back. The wound was deep and blood was still gushing out.

To save or not to save?

Gu Qingyue was a little irritated.

After thinking for a few moments, Gu Qingyue placed her right hand on the man's lower back. A ball of white light slowly emanated from her palm. After about half a cup of tea's time, the bleeding stopped and the wound healed slightly. However, Gu Qingyue also began to feel dizzy and lightheaded due to the exhaustion of her mental energy. She forced herself to feel the man's pulse, which gradually became deep and strong, indicating that the man was no longer in danger of dying.

Gu Qingyue dared not completely cure him, even though she could. She understood the principle that possessing a treasure is a crime.

She took out the hemostatic herbs she had picked from the mountains that morning, mashed them, and applied them to the wound. She then tore off a piece of the black-clad man's clothing and used it to bandage the wound. Don't ask why she didn't use her own; the reason is that the fabric on her body was already so torn that it barely covered her.

Fifteen minutes later, Gu Qingyue collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

This person was tall and slender, and was far too heavy for my bean sprout-like frame.

"Is it too much to ask what it looks like?"

Gu Qingyue glanced at the man she had dragged from outside the door to the woodpile, looking at him furtively over and over again.

The person next to him was breathing slowly and steadily, with the face mask still covering his face, revealing only a pair of narrow, tightly closed eyes.

Gu Qingyue felt a strong urge to try it.

"Saving him will definitely be a hassle, no doubt about it. But since I've already troubled myself and used so much of my healing energy, it shouldn't be too much to ask what he looks like," Gu Qingyue tried to convince herself. She couldn't explain why, but at this moment, she felt a strong sense of curiosity.

To be fair, she was quite curious about these ancient black-clad swordsmen and such.