In the room, the old man's grandson sat at the table. Hearing the soft knock on the door, his eyes lit up. He quickly stood up, went around the table, and hurried to the door. He opened it, looked at the little girl with a tear-streaked face, and exclaimed, "What's wrong with you?"
"Young Master, someone bullied me."
"Who bullied you?" the old man's grandson asked, taking the little girl's hand. "Come, come inside and tell me about it."
"I don't want to go in," the little girl said, shaking off the old man's grandson's hand.
The old man's grandson froze. He looked down at his hand, then listened to the little girl's sobbing voice and her cautious expression. He said, "My wife took the children back to her mother's house. Don't be afraid."
"..." The little girl looked up at the old man's grandson for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "He's still here."
"Who?"
"The man who bullied me."
"Bully you... Where is he?" The old man's grandson had initially thought this was just the little girl being spoiled. When she said this, he was suddenly startled.
"When I went to the outhouse just now, I heard someone knocking. I thought I'd go and see. As soon as I opened the door, the man outside said he was looking for the Young Master, but he didn't say which Young Master. So I said..." Fearing the old man's grandson would misunderstand what happened between her and Mu Anxiao, the little girl thought for a moment and continued: "I said there are many young masters here. Then, I looked him up and down and realized he was just a beggar..."
"Be concise."
"Young Master, I'm almost done," the little girl said plaintively.
Every time the old man's grandson saw that expression on the little girl's face, he would soften. As expected, he suddenly felt it was wrong to interrupt her.
"You go on, I'm listening," he said, and didn't forget to reach out and tidy her messy hair.
The little girl then politely said, "Thank you," and continued, "I realized he was just a beggar, so I told him to leave. Who knew..." She stopped, lowering her head.
However, the old man's grandson's heart was instantly gripped by her words. "Why did you stop again? What did he do to you?" he asked, quickly supporting the little girl by her arms.
The little girl gave a dry sob, looked up at the old man's grandson, and said, "He looked me up and down."
"What?" The old man's grandson froze.
Seeing the astonished look on the old man's grandson's face, the little girl said, "Young Master, please let go of my hands first."
Hearing the little girl's words, the old man's grandson let go.
At that moment, the little girl raised her hand to wipe her dry eyes, took a step back, and mimicked Mu Anxiao's previous action, scanning the old man's grandson from head to toe. Finally, she looked up into his eyes and said, "Young Master, this is how he looked at me."
"Just that?" The old man's grandson didn't think it was anything.
Then, seeing the old man's grandson's indifferent expression, the little girl deliberately patted her chest and said, "He mainly looked at me here."
Upon hearing this, the old man's grandson was taken aback and then became angry. "Damn it, it seems he doesn't want his eyes anymore."
"Mm," the little girl pouted.
"Is he still at the door?"
"He should be."
"So he's still there," the old man's grandson said, turning around and rushing into the room. He then stopped at the dining table, thoughtfully looked at both sides, then turned and walked to the bed. He squatted down, pulled out a sword from under the bed, stood up, walked out of the room, and stopped in front of the little girl, saying, "Follow me."
Seeing this, the little girl looked down at the sword in the old man's grandson's hand and quickly reached out to grab his arm. "Young Master, it's not worth it for me to do this."
"What are you talking about?"
Hearing this, the little girl frowned, released her hands, pointed at the sword in the old man's grandson's hand, and said, "Aren't you going to kill that guy for me?"
"I was just going to scare him. Of course, if he did anything more excessive to you, I might..." The old man's grandson thought of his wife and child and lowered his tone, "report him to the authorities for you."
"Young Master." The little girl stared at the old man's grandson for a few seconds, pursed her lips, and smiled. "You are so good to me."
"Of course, I have to be good to you," he said, then walked around the little girl towards the manor gate.
The little girl smiled as she lowered her eyes, pulled her clothes straight, and turned to follow him.
Outside the manor gate.
Mu Anxiao nervously looked around, then casually conjured a wooden stick.
The old man looked at Mu Anxiao's nervous expression with confusion and chuckled. "There's no need to be so nervous. My grandson is useless. He's been a bookworm since he was a child."
"Old man, you don't understand. Many children don't want to show off their abilities in front of their relatives. Perhaps," Mu Anxiao tightened his grip on the wooden stick, "your grandson secretly practices martial arts."
"This..." The old man's thoughts were indeed led astray by Mu Anxiao. "I don't know about that."
"See, you really don't know. So," Mu Anxiao swallowed, his eyes fixed on the manor gate, "I need to be fully prepared, lest I don't have time to react and get beaten up by your grandson."
"Then I should hide further away," the old man said, intentionally moving a few steps to the side.
Mu Anxiao glanced at the old man and hopped twice on the spot. "Old man, he can't even touch you. You're being too dramatic."
The old man said, "If his fist goes through me when he's hitting you, I'll still feel uncomfortable. After all, he's my grandson."
"...." Mu Anxiao couldn't argue with the old man's words, so he shrugged and said, "Then you'd better hide well."
"I will," the old man nodded.
At the same time, the old man's grandson and the little girl stood on the other side of the door.
Unexpectedly, they happened to overhear Mu Anxiao's last sentence.
The old man's grandson immediately stopped his hand that was about to open the door and turned to the little girl, asking, "How many people were outside just now?"
"One."
"One?" the old man's grandson repeated, frowning. "Then who is she talking to?"
Hearing the confused tone of the old man's grandson, the little girl thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps..." She wasn't sure what was happening outside, so she frowned and guessed, "Perhaps he found some help, to accompany him?"
"Help?" the old man's grandson repeated.
The little girl blinked innocently and said, "It's possible."
"Then..." The old man's grandson immediately conceded, "Then I can't go out." Saying this, he removed his hand from the door.
The little girl asked, "Young Master, are you abandoning the battlefield?" She grabbed the old man's grandson's arm.
"Who..." The old man's grandson looked down at the little girl's hand tightly gripping his arm and pretended to be calm. "Who said I'm abandoning the battlefield? You said earlier that there was only one person, right?"
"Yes."