Chapter 613: Chapter 613: Dirty Kid, Born in the Year of the Dog

As soon as Liu Ji’s voice fell, Yin Le stood on the edge of the carriage, fiercely launching his sharp dart!

The man was caught off guard, dodging clumsily as his arm was hit. He let out a cry of pain, and blood immediately spurted out.

The strong man was obviously shocked. He initially thought Liu Ji was the only man worth noting among the group, not expecting the woman driving the carriage to know martial arts.

He clutched his bleeding arm, his gaze shifting several times, but he didn’t move forward again. Instead, he stood in the roadside shrubs, glaring viciously at the little boy whom Qin Yao had hidden behind her, cursing:

"You little beast, you don’t even recognize your own father. Just wait till I break your legs when we get back!"

The boy was scared, curling himself up, clutching Qin Yao’s clothes tightly. She could feel the fear and trembling emanating from her clothes.

This was not the reaction of a child facing his biological father.

Liu Ji immediately shouted angrily, "You liar, spewing nonsense! Even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs. If he’s truly your son, would you treat him like this? Retreat quickly, or we won’t be polite!"

Yin Le immediately showed a glistening silver dart, causing the strong man to shiver all over. The pain he had managed to suppress seemed to become clear again, hurting him to the point of hissing.

The boy wasn’t completely scared out of his wits, urgently cried tremblingly, "Madam, save me! Madam, save me! That person isn’t my dad. My dad died long ago; at home it’s just my mom, my grandma, and my younger brother..."

When mentioning his younger brother, the boy suddenly intensified his tone, extremely emotional, his gaze also flicking towards the man in the bushes. But amidst such urgency, Qin Yao didn’t think too much, only assuming he was worried about his younger brother at home, deeply fearful.

Seeing the strong man still unwilling to leave, Liu Ji also got fired up—what nerve, truly unafraid to die? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Wife, since this person is so shameless, why don’t we turn him in to the authorities?" Excited secretly.

But before Qin Yao could speak, the strong man seemed to realize the danger; if not running now, it’d be too late to escape. Fiercely glaring at Qin Yao and the boy, he hurriedly turned and fled deeper into the forest.

Fearing that there might be accomplices nearby, who could gather and return to attack, Qin Yao promptly tossed the surviving boy onto horseback, "Let’s go, talk more in An County!"

Liu Ji quickly signaled Yin Le to drive the carriage in the middle.

Yin Le nodded, thinking that the old master had changed, having the courage to take the rear.

Little did they know, Liu Ji rode parallel to the carriage, looked around all over, and any rustle in the woods would suddenly startle people.

Yin Le: Ah, this!

Qin Yao curled her lips slightly, as expected, though remembering to watch over the four children was quite an improvement.

Looking again at the seemingly scared-silly boy in front, Qin Yao maintained a steady pace while asking, "How old are you? What’s your name? Do you still remember where your home is?"

After a while, a hoarse voice came from the front, "Ten... my name is Gouwa, my home is..."

Too slow, Qin Yao couldn’t wait and pressed, "Where?"

"...In a nearby village, called Wildcat Village." His voice was severely hoarse, tongue licking his lips, swallowing hard down his throat.

"Here." A jug of water was handed over.

Gouwa gratefully turned to glance at her, truly parched, grabbing the jug and drinking, yanking hard as the cap was tight, slipping twice.

After gulping down several large swigs, Qin Yao heard a relaxed breath, but soon it tensed again. Carefully returning the jug to her.

Though at a steady pace, Old Huang’s speed was not slow. Bouncing on horseback, Gouwa, possibly never having ridden a horse, was all tense and slightly trembling.

Qin Yao put away the jug, comforting, "Don’t be afraid, we’re arriving at An County soon. You said your home is nearby; shortly, the city officers will send you back, those villains won’t dare come again."

She further advised him to be cautious when out and not act alone, giving those villains a chance.

As for any more, Qin Yao dared not ask, fearing the child would recall bad encounters and become overreactive, focusing on soothing.

However, as the group reached a fork in the road, Gouwa suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

As if afraid they wouldn’t heed him, he repeated urgently, preparing to jump off the horse.

Thankfully, Qin Yao swiftly grabbed him, pulling the reins just in time, avoiding an ’accident’.

"What are you doing?" Qin Yao asked, suppressing her displeasure.

Behind, Liu Ji and Yin Le also looked over. Perhaps feeling sorry for the boy, Yin Le kindly comforted:

"Don’t be afraid; we’re not bad people, won’t sell you off."

As soon as he finished, the child trembled fiercely. Liu Ji gave Yin Le a cross look, "Really bringing up the wrong thing at the wrong time. Look, scared the child."

Yin Le knew he misspoke, sheepishly clearing his throat twice.

Da Lang and Second Lang stuck their heads out the car door, Second Lang tentatively asked, "Is he afraid of riding? Mother, let him come in the car."

However, the boy didn’t respond to anyone, struggling on his own to get down the horse, stubbornly repeating, "I want to return to the village, I want to return to the village!"

Qin Yao and Liu Ji exchanged a glance; Liu Ji rode ahead, taking a short way up the fork, then turned back and spoke quietly to Qin Yao, "Seems to be leading towards his village."

This place was mountainous and densely wooded. He couldn’t clearly see any farming estates or houses ahead, only seeing a direction marker. It pointed to the left fork leading to Wildcat Village.

Gouwa was still struggling, yet how could he break free from Qin Yao’s steel grip? Seeing he couldn’t escape, he suddenly opened his mouth to bite her.

Qin Yao, holding the reins with her other hand, didn’t have time to evade, so her arm was bitten.

Through her clothes, it only stung a bit and didn’t hurt much, but was very annoying nonetheless.

With a fiery temper, Qin Yao instantly let go, directly casting him down.

The height wasn’t much; he rolled on the ground once, then immediately stood up, recoiling back into the roadside bushes, crouching, his eyes watching Qin Yao. As she frowned, lifting her sleeve to look at the shallow, deep-red mark on her arm, guilt fleeting through his eyes.

"Hey, you dirty brat, are you a dog that bites people!?" Liu Ji jumped off the horse, rolled his sleeves up, intending to teach him a lesson.

The boy jerked up, trying to dodge, shouting while avoiding Liu Ji’s chase, "I want to go home! I want to go home!"

As he shouted, tears and snot ran down. Liu Ji only frightened him, never intending to do anything severe. Watching the child screaming and crying to go home, pointing at the fork angrily,

"Go! A ten-year-old should know the way home. If you’re not afraid of being caught by those villains again, then go!"

Then, astonishingly, the crying one suddenly stopped, as if lulled by Liu Ji’s ’not afraid of being caught by those villains again’. Standing at the fork, gazing tearfully at him.

He might have realized that among this couple, this fierce-looking man before him was actually the soft-hearted one.