Chapter 7: A Celestial Encounter and a Perilous Predicament

“Grandpa, why do you have a hoe slung over your shoulder right here at your doorstep? Are you perhaps heading out to the fields?”

A gentle breeze swept past her face, whispering softly by her ears, and stirred the surrounding foliage into a delicate dance.

“Uh…”

At this very moment, Hu Junan’s gaze was utterly transfixed upon her.

The beautiful Dream Maiden, advancing gracefully towards the Old Man, seemed to him a celestial being descended to the mortal realm.

The pale inadequacy of idioms like ‘skin like solidified fat’ or ‘face like white jade’ failed entirely to capture her essence.

The tips of her light brown, shoulder-length hair shimmered with a faint, goose-yellow luminescence. Her clear brown eyes, like pools of starlight, seemed to hold countless scattered constellations.

A captivating cherry blush adorned her delicate lips, drawing the eye, while an antique-styled, sky-blue gauze dress further enhanced the ethereal grace that radiated from her.

The instant his eyes met hers, Hu Junan froze, his mind an utter blank. His heart gave a violent tremor, as though it had been jolted by a powerful defibrillator.

Throughout his life, he had encountered no shortage of beautiful women, yet in his eyes, she possessed an unparalleled uniqueness.

What captivated him was neither her stunning looks nor her graceful figure, but rather an innate, ethereal elegance—much like a lotus emerging unsullied from the mud.

There was no hint of affected restlessness about her; she simply presented to the world a beauty rooted in profound tranquility.

Upon seeing her, the Old Man immediately set the hoe down, leaning on it as if it were a walking stick.

“Wujia’s Eldest Daughter, you’ve arrived at just the right time. Hurry and report to the village chief—it seems there are Hermans lurking near Luohai Shore.”

“Hermans?” Hearing his words, the Dream Maiden’s face showed a hint of confusion.

Tilting her head, she asked, “They’re all in the north, aren’t they? How could they possibly appear in Huangnan Prefecture?”

“Absolutely true!” the Little Boy exclaimed excitedly. “Sister Xiyu, Ling’er and I both saw him! That guy was hiding in a cave by the shore. He didn’t have a qilin horn or a qilin tail, and his skin was really pale. He must be a Herman!”

Despite such a bizarre account, the Dream Maiden’s expression remained remarkably serene as she patiently listened to their childish words.

“Sister, Brother Jie is right, we really did see a strange person without a qilin horn or a qilin tail,” the Little Girl timidly chimed in. “But… his eyes weren’t blue, and his skin wasn’t very pale either. He looked quite similar to you, Sister.”

The Dream Maiden seemed to have realized something, for she opened her mouth to speak, only for the words to catch in her throat, leaving her to hesitate several times.

The Old Man’s brows furrowed tightly, his expression exceedingly grave.

“Wujia’s Eldest Daughter, what ill intentions could children possibly have? What they say must be true. If such a strange person is truly lurking nearby, it spells disaster for the entire village. Heaven knows if he’ll sneak out in the dark to devour people!”

“Don’t fret, Grandpa…”

“In all of Tianmen Village, your father is by far the most capable. This old man wants to ask him to go take a look at the cave by Luohai Shore, to see if such a strange person is truly hiding there.”

“If there truly is a strange person lurking about, Father will certainly lend his aid. But… I now have a question I wish to ask Jie’er and Ling’er.”

The Dream Maiden smiled as she half-squatted before the Little Boy, gently stroking his head with a warm hand.

As she caressed him, she asked, “Jie’er, you just said you witnessed a strange person in a cave by Luohai Shore, but isn’t that where I store my Jade Dew Cherries?”

“Uh…” The Little Boy’s face flushed crimson instantly. “I-I-I, I only took Ling’er to Luohai Shore to collect seashells, and we just happened to encounter the strange person…”

“And the seashells you collected?”

“I-I-I…”

Ling’er leaned close to his ear, gently whispering a reminder, “Brother, your face is so red…”

The Dream Maiden said nothing more, simply listening quietly to his answer, all the while maintaining a smile that was gentle to her very core, like the warm morning sun, capable of making one feel an irreplaceable warmth.

Knowing that there was no hiding the truth, like fire beneath paper, the Little Boy could only nod and admit his mistake.

“Alright, I confess. I was the one who took Ling’er to sneak a snack, and we accidentally ran into the strange person.”

Far from scolding him, the Dream Maiden instead took his hand.

“Jie’er, in the future, don’t take your sister to places where there are no adults. See how dangerous it is to encounter a strange person?”

“Hm?”

“If you want to eat Jade Dew Cherries, just tell Sister from now on, and Sister will find a way for you to have them.”

The Little Boy wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, pouted his small mouth, and said with a wronged expression,

“Sister is pretty and gentle, but Uncle Wu is like a fierce demon. Last time, Ling’er and I went to his door to ask for some honey dates, and he immediately chased us out, saying that children shouldn’t eat too many sweets because it would ruin their teeth.”

“Alright, if Father scolds you, Sister won’t give him any from now on. How about I give more to you two instead?”

“Wow~~~ Slurp…” Jie’er and Ling’er, two little gluttons, swallowed their saliva in unison and simultaneously pounced into her embrace. “Sister is so good, we love you the most—!!!”

“Hehe,” after comforting the two children, the Dream Maiden stood up and faced the Old Man.

“Grandpa, Father should be hunting in the forest right now and probably won’t be home until later. Before we fully ascertain the strange person’s identity, please keep your doors tightly shut and don’t go out casually.”

“Alright, alright, Wujia’s Eldest Daughter, you should hurry back to the village. It’s too unsafe here!”

“Yes, I’ll head back now. You two, hide inside the house and don’t come out.” With that, the Dream Maiden turned and left, and the grandfather and the two grandchildren also retreated into the thatched hut.

***

At this moment, Hu Junan emerged from his concealed spot and sprinted back towards his hidden cave. Yet, halfway there, he realized he had taken a wrong turn, finding himself inexplicably within a small copse of trees.

‘Did I pass through a forest just now?’

Hu Junan glanced at the unfamiliar path stretching behind him, then at the even more foreign grove ahead, and a surge of panic seized him.

Having no other recourse, he steeled himself and plunged deeper into the woods. He had no idea how long he walked, but in an unguarded moment, his right foot snagged in a trap.

In an instant, his world inverted, and he found himself dangling upside down.

“Ahhhhhhhh—!!!”

The events unfolded with such startling speed that Hu Junan had no time to react. By the time he regained his senses, he was already suspended like a piglet awaiting slaughter.

‘How unlucky…’

He attempted to curl his body, hoping to untangle the hemp rope cinched around his ankle.

Alas, his core strength proved inadequate, and given the naturally limited flexibility of male ligaments, self-rescue became an utterly impossible feat.

As he struggled instinctively and fruitlessly, a hulking, seven-foot-tall man, rugged and unkempt, strode into view. His towering physique instantly cast a vast shadow, completely obscuring the sunlight.

“Hmph—I thought I’d caught some formidable beast, but it seems I’ve snared a man with his bare backside exposed.”

His weathered face, though deeply tanned, was sharply defined and rugged. Beneath bushy brows and piercing eyes, his mouth was devoid of any hint of a smile.

A long, narrow scar scored the side of his face, giving him the striking appearance of a gang leader.

“Big brother, don’t eat me! I’ll be your little brother!”

“Little brother?”

The big man carried an old wooden hunting bow on his shoulder, and a not-so-aesthetically pleasing quiver of arrows was slung across his back.

A rusty single-edged saber was strapped to his waist. As expected, a pair of slightly yellowish horns sprouted from his head, and a tail, bearing several scars, trailed behind him.

“Hey, kid,” he suddenly bent down, leaning close to Hu Junan, whose face instantly turned ghastly pale with fright. “What exactly are you?”

“Big brother, that question is rather difficult for me to answer. Is it better to say I’m ‘something’ or ‘nothing’?”

“If you want me to let you go, then answer my question honestly: Where are you from?”

Unlike the children he had met earlier, the big man showed no fear; instead, he questioned him out of curiosity.

“I am a person from the Donghua Nation.”

“Donghua Nation?” The big man stroked his chin. “Heh… I’ve lived most of my life, and I’ve never heard of a Donghua Nation.”

Hu Junan muttered under his breath, ‘What a coincidence. I’ve lived half my life, and I’ve never seen anyone with horns and a tail either…’

Without another word, the big man swiftly moved to the other end of the trap. He decisively used the single-edged saber he carried to cut the rope, allowing Hu Junan to free-fall heavily to the ground.

Fortunately, Hu Junan had learned survival techniques for low-altitude falls. In less than a second, he reacted quickly, protecting the back of his head with a perfect posture.

Thud—

Though the back of his head was safe, the same could not be said for his face, which had been the first to hit the ground. The distinct fragrance of soil immediately filled his nostrils and mouth.

“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—!!!”

Seeing him prostrate on the ground, the big man couldn’t help but let a fleeting smile play on his lips, then seized the opportunity to mock him.

“Kid, your ‘Toad Prostrates on the Ground’ move is truly masterful. You certainly seem to be a formidable fellow.”

Hu Junan had no desire to lose his life in such a strange place. Ignoring the big man’s words, he nimbly scrambled to his feet, turned, and bolted away like a wisp of smoke.

Before he could get far, a noose descended from above and bound him securely. The big man gave a forceful tug, causing Hu Junan to tumble headfirst to the ground.

At that very moment, the other man rushed over like a gust of wind, pressed firmly on Hu Junan’s back, and expertly pinned him to the earth. “Kid, what are you running for? What’s there to be so guilty about?”

Fear, like a virus, swiftly invaded Hu Junan’s body, robbing him of his basic ability to think.

“Big brother, I was wrong! Please release me, I swear I won’t run again! Whatever you say, I’ll do!”

“I can spare your life for now, but you must come back to the village with me to confront the villagers. If you haven’t harmed anyone, it won’t be too late to let you go then.”

“How could I possibly have harmed…”

Mid-sentence, the helpless and panicked expressions of Jie’er and Ling’er suddenly flashed through Hu Junan’s mind, and his face instantly darkened.

‘Does scaring children count as harming people?’

“Of course it does.”

“Ah, this…”

Like an eagle snatching a chick, the big man effortlessly lifted him, hoisting him onto his shoulder as if he were a mere piglet.

He then tore off a piece of animal hide from his own person and casually draped it over Hu Junan. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, consider this animal hide my apology.

If you have, then this hide will serve as your shroud. How about that?”

‘A shroud, really…’

And so, the physically and mentally exhausted Hu Junan, plagued by bad luck, was inexplicably taken to their village… Heaven knew what kind of calamity awaited him?