"Do you want to check, or not?"
Before Huangfu Yue could decide whether to check or not, she suddenly heard a child shout, "Dad, look at the sky! There are crows."
The shout came from behind Xiao Hei.
When Xiao Hei turned his head, he saw a father and son on the ground about ten feet behind him. The father was clearly a hunter, with a bow and arrow slung over his back, and a dead pheasant in his hand.
The hunter's son, who looked about seven or eight years old, was also carrying something – a large, dead rabbit. Both the pheasant and the rabbit had arrow wounds, indicating they had been shot by the hunter.
It seemed the hunter had just returned from hunting with his son.
"Why would crows fly into the village... Crows are such bad omens, symbols of death, they bring death." The hunter stared at Xiao Hei, frowning with disgust.
Xiao Hei: "..."
Huangfu Yue: "..."
"Dad, what should we do? Grandma Zhang in the village said that seeing crows means someone will die." The hunter's son said worriedly.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hei: "..."
Huangfu Yue: "..."
"Superstition is bad!" Huangfu Yue sighed inwardly.
"Don't panic! Seeing crows means death, but only if you see them in the evening... It's still the last watch, still the afternoon, we're fine." The hunter comforted his son.
"But to be safe, just in case, it's best to shoot this crow down." The hunter stared at Xiao Hei in the sky, revealing a strong killing intent.
"Xiao Wangzi, remember this, crows represent death and bring death. But if you kill a crow, it means you've killed the god of death, and thus death will not come, and no one will die... This is a way to break the curse."
As the hunter spoke to his son, he took the shoulder quiver off his back and was about to draw an arrow from his quiver to shoot Xiao Hei.
"Xiao Hei, hurry and leave! Don't get shot!" Huangfu Yue called out to Xiao Hei, a little worried.
"Don't worry, he can't shoot me," Xiao Hei said confidently.
"Even if he can't shoot you, you should still leave quickly and come back to find me and rendezvous." Huangfu Yue said.
Because of the crow's "death omen," the hunter was clearly fearful of Xiao Hei and determined to eliminate him. If he missed the first shot, he would shoot a second, then a third, then a fourth.
She saw there were still seven or eight arrows in his quiver. Although Xiao Hei was a spirit, he was different from the powerful spirits in novels who could cast spells. To prevent it from being shot repeatedly by the hunter, as there would eventually be a time it couldn't dodge, it was better to let it retreat quickly.
"What about that bad smell? Are we not going to investigate?" Xiao Hei remembered the matter of the smell.
"You don't need to worry about that. From what you saw in the village earlier, this village seems peaceful. There shouldn't be any murder cases or anyone dying unnaturally." Huangfu Yue said.
"Okay, then I'll go back right away..."
"Whoosh—"
Before Xiao Hei could finish speaking, he saw the hunter had already drawn his bow and shot an arrow. A sharp arrow, glinting cold, flew towards him with a "whoosh," and he agilely dodged it.
"Dad, it dodged!" Xiao Wangzi called out disappointedly to the hunter, looking regretful.
"I didn't expect this beast to be so fast... But it's okay. After I shoot one more arrow, it definitely won't be able to dodge this time." The hunter was also a little disappointed and annoyed. He immediately reached behind his back to get an arrow.
But Xiao Hei wasn't foolish enough to stay still and wait to be shot. After giving him a glare, he flapped his wings and flew away.
"Dad, oh no! It escaped! What do we do?" Xiao Wangzi cried out anxiously, pointing at Xiao Hei.
"Chase." The hunter uttered a single word and bolted, immediately giving chase to Xiao Hei, while simultaneously drawing an arrow and nocking it to shoot at Xiao Hei again.
But how could Xiao Hei, who was as fast as the wind, be caught by his legs and arrows?
Seeing Xiao Hei disappear in the blink of an eye, flying out of the village, and the arrow falling to the ground without even touching a feather, the hunter looked stunned, a look of disbelief on his face.
Xiao Wangzi, who was chasing behind his father, also wore a stunned expression, a look of disbelief.
How could this crow fly so fast!
Birds fly fast, but a crow flying this fast was something they had never seen before.
This crow was incredibly fast... fast like the wind.
Since they could no longer see Xiao Hei, the hunter and his son had no choice but to give up the chase.
After flying out of the village, Xiao Hei did not look back for the hunter and his son. He was absolutely confident that he had shaken them off.
Humans could never catch up to him. When he flew at top speed, they couldn't even see his shadow.
"Why does this little crow seem a bit arrogant? Its tail is cocked."
Huangfu Yue, who could hear Xiao Hei's thoughts, inwardly grumbled and then curved her lips.
Just then, Feng Maoyuan, who was riding beside her, turned his head to look at her. Seeing her smile, a flicker of confusion crossed his eyes.
"Miss, what are you smiling about?" Feng Maoyuan asked curiously.
"Nothing." Huangfu Yue quickly put away her smile.
Hearing her say that, Feng Maoyuan didn't press further.
"Yue'er, when will we reach the mountain you mentioned? Why haven't we seen any mountains yet?" Yang Wanqian's voice suddenly came from behind.
Yang Wanqian had seen her sister-in-law leading them for some time but hadn't seen any sign of mountains, so she wanted to ask.
"It should be about another incense stick's worth of time. The mountain isn't far from here. If we walk a bit longer, we should be able to see it faintly." Huangfu Yue turned back and said to her fourth sister-in-law.
Hearing this, Yang Wanqian nodded gently at her sister-in-law and said nothing more.
She figured it wouldn't be long now, just a little more than an incense stick's time.
"Miss, are you tired from driving the carriage? Would you like me to drive for a while?" Ying'er, sitting next to Huangfu Yue, asked with a helpful expression.
"Okay, you drive for a bit." Huangfu Yue looked at Ying'er and handed her the reins and the whip.
Since she wanted to help so much, she decided to indulge her and get some rest herself.
Although driving the carriage wasn't tiring, it was still nice to rest without driving.
"Ah—! Someone suddenly jumped out!"