chapter 23

Based on what Huo Ran knew about villagers, if they got in a fight, they wouldn’t have a problem with the younger villagers under the age of twenty, but with these older villagers above the age of thirty, they were likely to get beaten up for the most part.

Although it was three against three, he didn’t know about Old Yang’s capabilities, and his own abilities… he hadn’t really been in fights after all, so out of the three of them, it was probably only Braggart King Kou Chen who could counter a little.

So when Huo Ran struck, the first thing he went for was the rod in the villager’s hand: he admitted that at this sort of time he didn’t have the “guts” to hurt the villagers, in case he triggered the villager into unleashing a higher level of fighting prowess… he truly didn’t want to be beaten into rolling around on the ground in the mountain gully.

The baton smashes onto the wooden rod in the villager’s hand with great precision.

And after a ‘dang’ sound.

The wooden rod was still in the villager’s hand.

This was now very awkward.

And also rather dangerous.

With a raise of his hand, the villager’s wooden rod came waving towards his face, without a pose worth describing: compared to the way Kou Chen kicked people into flying, the villager’s movements were incredibly plain and without flourish.

His strength was abundant however; Huo Ran could even hear the sound of the air getting sliced when the wooden rod was being raised.

Whoosh.

As Huo Ran moves backwards in a dodge, Old Yang steps onto the wooden rod.

Careful!

When one stepped on a wooden rod, majority of the time they would slip and fall, and it would be considered a move that did 0.25 damage to the enemy and 804 damage to the self. As long as you ended up on the ground, the part of your body the other party wanted to greet with their rods only depended on the makings of that person.

However, Huo Ran’s exclamation only managed to flash by in his mind.

Old Yang didn’t slip, steadily crushing the rod into the ground from the villager’s hand, with the force bringing the villager along in a forward stumble. Kou Chen next to him then went over to jam an elbow into the villager’s back, smashing him into a sprawl.

What Old Yang was wearing was also Arc’teryx.

Arc’teryx Almighty!

Huo Ran was considering going back to have a discussion with his dad, to kowtow a few times in exchange for a pair of Arc’teryx.

But it could be told that Kou Chen hadn’t used his full strength either, and was probably just like him, afraid to truly agitate the villagers.

Huo Ran rushed over once again and joined the fray; Kou Chen and Old Yang’s weapons were a knife and dagger, and at the moment both were equivalent to props. They didn’t dare to use them, so the only one that they dared to utilise would be his baton.

So Huo Ran smashed at the rods, smashed the rods, retracted his leg, got hammered, smashed the rods, retracted his arm, got kicked…

Kou Chen was fighting completely barehanded with great joy, even using strategies that were completely different from the ones he had used in previous fights.

He waves his fists around as he shouts: “What do you all want to do! What do you want to do huh! Why are you hitting people —— ah —— what do you all want to do ——”

If it weren’t for Huo Ran seeing with his own eyes that he was right in front of him engaging in battle, just by hearing his voice, he simply would’ve thought that he’d already been beaten into rolling around on the ground by the mess of rods.

“What are you shouting for! What are you shouting for!” the villagers were incredibly ill-adapted to his fighting style, roaring back at him in fury, “What do you all want to do! You all snatched other’s daughter-in-law! What do you all plan on doing!”

“Bull-fucking-shit that we snatched someone’s daughter-in-law!” Huo Ran also started yelling, “You all abducted and sold women! Abducted and sold women! Abducted and sold women…”

Huo Ran felt like he was a cassette recorder, but at that moment he didn’t know what else he could shout.

“Who abducted and sold! Where did we abduct and sell!” the villager was now angered, immediately pouncing onto them, “That was after bride-price was paid! The Tang Fool’s family was paid the bride-price!”

Tang Fool?

Huo Ran recalls what Big Sister Gao had said, that her husband was called Old Tang, and always hit her.

He was a fool?

Bought a fool to be the wife of a fool? Euphemistically calling it ‘bride-price’?

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The sound of shouts from the other villagers came from the woods that Big Sister Gao had previously jumped into, and the few that were at this side in the middle of fighting paused slightly.

Huo Ran felt a wave of nervousness, prickling his ears up to listen with great difficulty.

He vaguely heard half of a “didn’t…” something something.

Those in the woods shouted once more.

Didn’t manage to find!

Huo Ran’s entire person exhaled a sigh of relief.

The few villagers that were currently exchanging blows seemed to be a little hesitant, and just then, Kou Chen suddenly did a two-step run-up, leaping up abruptly, and viciously gave the shoulder of the villager nearest to him a kick.

That run-up was so short it practically counted as a high jump in situ, his leg raised high enough with enough power, even Huo Ran was dumbstruck. The villager who was kicked crashed into the other two, the massive force of inertia causing the three of them to retreat a number of steps simultaneously, before collapsing onto the floor.

“Let’s go!” Kou Chen says with a calm voice.

He then grabs his backpack and starts running off towards the ditch Kou Xiao was waiting in, and further ahead was the woods.

Kou Xiao’s response was also shocking, she, who had been hiding in the ditch and observing the battle, the moment she saw Kou Chen going over, already started to climb out supporting herself using the side of the ditch, and by the time Old Yang and Huo Ran ran up to her, she was already running into the woods behind Kou Chen.

Kou Chen’s sense of direction was acceptable; after running into the woods, Old Yang and Kou Xiao were focussed on running after him, with Huo Ran right at the back, but he surprisingly didn’t head backwards, and was charging in the direction of Old XiKou.

The villagers hadn’t chased after them, Huo Ran looked back to confirm it twice.

But the group of them still continued running, not stopping.

The main thing was that the topography of the woods was complex, the ground littered with fallen tree branches and leaves, under them were also rocks and lumps of earth, they didn’t run quickly, and so could only run for a while longer to pull the distance further apart, to prevent the villagers from catching up.

“How is it!” Kou Chen, who was in the lead, asks as he runs.

“Didn’t chase,” Huo Ran answers, “There’s nobody behind.”

“Where do we stop?” Kou Xiao asks, her breathing slightly heavy, but she continued to dash ahead.

“There’s a slope ahead,” Huo Ran says, “After going down the slope we should be able to see the intersection, one goes to Old XiKou, another goes to the village for re-supplementation. We can rest at the intersection, there’ll be a lot of people there, both villagers and trekkers will pass through, so they probably wouldn’t follow us over.”

“XiaoHuo is really capable huh,” Old Yang says, “You even know what’s after we exit the woods?”

“I’ve trekked here once, when I was with others, a friend brought their dog, it ran into the woods, so we came in to look for it,” Huo Ran says, “The general direction is about the same.”

After running another stretch, Kou Chen started downhill: “It’s this slope isn’t it!”

“Yes, slow down, it’s steep,” Huo Ran says.

“Finally almost… the…” Kou Xiao was panting her words and had yet to finish when her foot suddenly gave out, sitting her right onto the ground, and following that, she started sliding out.

Old Yang had been behind her, pouncing and trying to grab her backpack, but his hands came up empty.

“Kou Chen!” Huo Ran shouts.

When Kou Chen turns back, Kou Xiao was already right behind him, he reaches a hand out wanting to grab her on the waist, but the speed at which Kou Xiao was sliding was too fast, knocking him right down.

The two of them slide down the slope together.

“Ah! Foot foot foot ow ow ow ow ow ow*!” Kou Xiao’s voice vibrates along with the bumps on the hill.

[*tl note: sort of lost in translation, but she basically just said 脚 (jiǎo) which means ‘foot/leg’ followed by a lot of ‘ǎo’s bc of the bumps, which is kind of a dramatic sound]

“What’s wrong with your foot!” Old Yang was in such a panic he jumped directly, sitting behind and also sliding downwards, his voice, too, a series of tremours, “Your foot foot ow ow ow ow… What’s wrong with it!”

“Kou Chen’s foot!” Kou Xiao had slid to the bottom of the slope, “I kicked his ankle!”

“It’s nothing,” Kou Chen sits onto the floor.

Just hearing this he knew that it wasn’t nothing, because if it really were nothing, with Kou Chen’s personality, he’d definitely be so smug he’d incur the wrath of God and Man.1

“Remove your shoe,” Huo Ran had run to the bottom of the slope, and tossed his bag to the side, retrieving a small, long drawstring pouch from the side pocket.

“Sanitary napkin?” Kou Chen asks.

“What sanitary napkin?” Huo Ran was stunned.

“My sister uses these small cloth bags to store sanitary napkins,” Kou Chen says, “But not this long.”

“…Get lost!” Huo Ran glares at him, pulling a ice-cream-shaped plastic bag out from the small pouch in an instant, which had small white flowers on the bottom, “Look!”

“No, RanRan,” Kou Xiao laughs out loud, “It really does look quite alike.”

“What’s this?” Kou Chen pinches it.

“Disposable ice bag,” Huo Ran sighs, taking the ice bag in his hand, and giving it a few hard squeezes.

“Ice bag?” Kou Chen was a little shocked, “It’s not cold though, how do you keep it cold?”

“Doesn’t need to be kept cold, just squeeze it a bit when you want to use it,” Huo Ran says, “About the same as the way you use heat packs.”

“There are these sorts of things?” Kou Chen curiously takes it over, squeezing it in his hand, “Just squeeze it like this? It’s fun… ai it’s cold now! It really became cold!”

“Let me touch?” Old Yang reaches his hand out.

Kou Chen hands it to him, and he gives it a few squeezes: “For real, this thing’s great.”

Kou Xiao also plays with it for a moment, before the ice bag returns to Huo Ran’s hand.

“Sprained your ankle didn’t you?” Huo Ran looks at Kou Chen, “Remove your shoe, stuff this into your sock.”

“It’s actually not serious…” although Kou Chen said this, he still swiftly took the shoe off his left foot, stuffing the ice bag into the sock, “How long can the ice last?”

It was probably a sprain, it was a little swollen, but wasn’t serious.

“20-30 minutes probably,” Huo Ran says, “If it stops being cold there’s more, I brought four.”

“I realise that you guys who are into the outdoors,” Kou Chen says, “Are like Doraemon.”

“These little things usually don’t get used even if they’re brought,” Huo Ran says, “But if we didn’t have them, when we meet a situation that requires their use, we’ll end up at a loss.”

“What other fun things do you have, take them all out for us to see,” Kou Chen takes his bag over, looking inside.

“Are you gonna pack it all back in if I take them out?” Huo Ran asks.

Kou Chen swiftly retracts his hand.

“What do we do now?” after Kou Xiao got over the initial excitement, she turns to look towards the woods, “We don’t even know what happened to that Big Sister.”

“I heard earlier that it seemed they didn’t manage to find her,” Huo Ran says, “I also hadn’t heard too clearly, we also had a hard time catching her before, and now she’s even wearing shoes.”

“Did those people earlier mean to say that she’d married into their village?” Old Yang says, “They paid the bride-price, so it’s considered marriage? Is this what they meant?”

“It did seem this was what they meant,” Huo Ran says.

“We still have to report to the police, doesn’t matter whether or not it was a normal marriage, whether or not it was a fool marrying a fool,” Kou Xiao says, “The way they were searching for her, no matter how I look at it, it wasn’t right! Even if it’s a misunderstanding, we have to call the cops for this! Did you see when she was wearing the shoes, there were old scars on her legs, she even said Old Tang hit her, even if it weren’t an abduction and sale, domestic violence is not fucking okay either! In the city there were even those who were fucking beaten to death, these sorts in the deep mountains and woods…”

“Calm down, calm down,” Old Yang pinches her chin, then gently pats on her face, “We’ll call the cops as soon as we get signal.”

“Are your hands dirty though just touching my face like that,” Kou Xiao rolls her eyes at him.

“…Then you give it a wipe,” Old Yang takes a wet tissue out and hands it to her.

“I’ve used face cream though,” Kou Xiao says, “If I wipe it off I’ll have to reapply, how troublesome!”

“I’ll help you apply it,” Old Yang says.

“Aiyo…” Kou Chen covers his ears and lays onto the ground, then turns to lay on his side facing Huo Ran, “I can’t take it anymore, you guys sold malt candy in your past lives didn’t you.”

“If you don’t like to listen then scram off to the side,” Kou Xiao sends his butt a kick.

“Go go go,” Kou Chen continues shuffling his way towards Huo Ran, pushing him to the side, “RanRan let’s go over there to smooch.”

“Even spraining your ankle can’t get you to shut up can it?” Huo Ran moves one metre off to the side.

Kou Chen swiftly shuffles over again: “I sprained my ankle not like it was my mouth…”

Huo Ran was just getting ready to get up and punch him when he suddenly hears a phone message tone.

Meow.

“Whose?” Kou Chen leaps up at once.

“Mine!” Huo Ran suddenly lunges for his bag, this was his message tone.

“Fuck is there signal already!?” Kou Chen also lunges for his own bag, his movements so swift one couldn’t tell at all that he’d just sprained his ankle.

After a few seconds, the group of them all had their phones cradled in their palms.

“No signal,” Old Yang says.

“Mine doesn’t have any either,” Kou Xiao says.

“Don’t have,” Kou Chen’s brows were furrowed.

“I don’t have any now either,” Huo Ran stares at the screen, on it was a message that Xu ZhiFan had sent him in the morning, “Earlier there probably was for a split second, normally we’d have to move forward a bit more before we’d get it, where the village is.”

– On your way back at Old XiKou see if there are still those butt-pink-coloured rocks you took pics of last year

What the fuck is butt-pink colour?

“Is it still not safe to go the village?” Old Yang asks.

“Just afraid we’ll bump into those people again,” Huo Ran says, sending the same message to both Xu ZhiFan and his dad, though when they’ll get sent out depended on luck.

– The 3-way intersection before Old XiKou, call the police, we might have met human traffickers and an escapee, we’re safe, no injuries, no troops in pursuit

“Let’s continue forward,” Kou Xiao stands up, “I’m done resting, Kou Chen can you walk?”

“I can,” Kou Chen stands up.

Huo Ran takes a strip of bandage and has it go a few rounds around the ice bag on his ankle, this way the ice bag wouldn’t fall out when he walks.

“This trip would count as an experience already,” Old Yang says, “I’ve yet to come across something like this.”

“As long as we get back safely, this will be a great asset to my brother’s boasts,” Kou Xiao says.

“After we call the cops… are we still continuing?” Kou Chen asks.

Huo Ran glances at him: “Not continuing probably? No matter whether it’s Xu ZhiFan or my dad who receives the message first, they’d inform your dad first thing, and your dad will definitely worry.”

“Might punch me,” Kou Chen says.

Xu ZhiFan gave Huo Ran two calls but none of them got through, he then dialled Kou Chen’s number and also didn’t get through, so he looked through his contacts, and found Huo Ran’s dad’s number.

The call had just gone out when Huo Ran’s dad picks up.

“Uncle, I’m ZhiFan,” Xu ZhiFan speaks as he puts his shoes on, “Did you receive Huo Ran’s message?”

“I got it, I’ve called the cops,” Huo Ran’s dad says, “I’m heading over right now.”

“I’ll be by the district’s main gate in a minute,” Xu ZhiFan says, “When you pass by take me with you.”

“What are you joining in for!” Huo Ran’s dad says.

“You’ve called the cops, I definitely have to join in the fun,” Xu ZhiFan says, “If I don’t go, what will Huo Ran think of me in the future.”

Xu ZhiFan starts running towards the district main gate as soon as he hangs up, and when he passes the first floor by he shouts towards the open door: “Granny I’m going out.”

“Who’re you?” Granny’s voice sounds from inside.

“Your grandson!” Xu ZhiFan runs out of the stairway.1

Huo Ran’s dad’s car made its way over very quickly, and when he hops in, Huo Ran’s dad was currently wearing earphones and on the phone.

“They should be fine at the moment, Huo Ran has enough experience with the outdoors, he said that nobody’s injured and nobody’s chasing them, so right now they wouldn’t be having any trouble,” he says, “Have you called the cops on your side too?”

Based on what was being said, the other party should be Kou Chen’s family.

“Okay,” Huo Ran’s dad says, “Right now there isn’t a jam, I’ll pass by your place in around 15 minutes, car plate 789.”

“It’s Kou Chen’s dad?” Xu ZhiFan waits for him to hang up before he asks.

“Mn,” Papa Huo nods, “Huo Ran left me Kou Chen’s house number, usually when he goes out he’d leave a few contact numbers, convenient for informing people if there’s anything.”

“His dad is anxious isn’t he,” Xu ZhiFan asks.

“More anxious about Kou Chen’s sister,” Papa Huo smiles.

The car passes Kou Chen’s family’s district by, one out of the two cruisers that were parked by the road then gave a press of the horn, the car door opens and a middle-aged man runs over.

“Are you Classmate Huo Ran’s father!” the middle-aged man lunges over and doesn’t even look, roaring at Xu ZhiFan who was in the shotgun seat.

This man was definitely Kou Chen’s father: he was dressed rather normally, of the kind that were better kept out of the average middle-aged man, but his whole person emitted an aura of “I’m telling you I am a member of the mafia, the kind that you can tell with a glance”, even if he were just standing, Xu ZhiFan felt that he would be able to guess that this was Kou Chen’s dad.

He hurriedly plasters his back to the seat, pointing at Papa Huo who was in the driver’s seat.

“Hello, just have your car follow…” Papa Huo had yet to finish, but Papa Kou had already whistled at the two cruisers.

The two vehicles start to move forward, and he gives Xu ZhiFan a push: “Little friend, you sit at the back.”

Xu ZhiFan was momentarily at a loss, he never thought that Papa Kou would want to squeeze onto this car, this was a three-doored one… but the issue was urgent, so he swiftly climbed into the backseat.

“Please lead the way,” Papa Kou got on the car, “Those two cars will follow.”

“…Okay,” Papa Huo accelerated ahead, and the two vehicles followed behind them. He then looks into the rear-view mirror, “Actually they should be fine, just two cars going over to pick them up would be enough.”

“Not using a car would also be fine,” Papa Kou says, “I went straight to look for a friend in the public security bureau to make a report. The police have to go over as well, there’ll even be police cars, and I’m not actually worried about Kou Chen, I’m mainly worried about my daughter, never suffered hardship*, I’m worried she’s injured.”

[*tl note: there’s this phrase 咋咋呼呼 (zǎzhā huhū) in front of this that I wasn’t sure how to translate, it means either ‘noisy’ or is simply gibberish meant to emphasise what was being said]

“She won’t be injured, the roads there are all normal mountain roads, this sort of small off-road car can enter…” Papa Huo smiles.

“I know, this Jimny of yours, number one mini off-roader,” Papa Kou says, “Those two at the back can’t, can they?”

“They’re too big, they won’t be able to get through a lot of roads,” Papa Huo says.

“Then I won’t bother, there are just three friends of mine in those cars,” Papa Kou says, “We’re planning to go on a trip but couldn’t find a suitable place, so while we’re at it we’ll head over to do some homework and look at the environment.”

“…Oh,” Papa Huo nods his head.