"Eighty-six."
"Eighty-seven."
"Eighty-eight."...
The naughty children followed the rules very well. They covered their eyes one by one, and no one peeked. They counted with laughter until they counted to "one hundred". Then they put down their blindfolded hands, jumped and dispersed, and started looking for people.
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi hid in a tree hole and could not see what was happening outside, but both of them were practitioners with sharp hearing and could hear sounds from far away outside. They had already heard the strange children finish counting and search everywhere with light footsteps.
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi's hearts were pounding. They could hear each other's heartbeats. Their bodies were tense and their hair stood on end.
Xu Lian took a deep breath to calm himself and slow down his heartbeat. He raised his hand and pressed it, signaling Xiao Xixi to relax as well. If his heartbeat was too fast, the strange child would easily hear it when he passed by the tree.
Xiao Xixi also learned from him to take deep breaths and adjust his nervous mood.
"There is an uncle here. Hehe, I found him. Uncle, why are you running away? This is not okay."
The laughter of strange children could be heard in the distance.
Then a shrill scream was heard, which stopped abruptly, echoing in the quiet forest.
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi, who had originally relaxed, became tense again.
This is the rule of hide-and-seek. Once you are found, you will die. As for how you will die, no one knows because those who are found will never come back.
So scary.
So scary.
"Rustle..."
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi heard the ghost boy's light footsteps walking towards them.
The footsteps became clearer and clearer, which meant they were getting closer.
The two looked at each other, held their breath, suppressed their heartbeats, and tried to reduce their vital signs.
The strange boy had already come to the tree, but he didn't seem to notice the two people in the tree hole. He didn't stop and walked to other places.
Xu Lian heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that he was not an unlucky person.
Maybe he was too nervous and suddenly relaxed. Xiao Xixi subconsciously retracted his legs, which hit the wall of the tree hole, making a slight "dong" sound.
Originally this slight sound was nothing, but it was particularly clear in this quiet forest!
The strange child who had been walking past the tree suddenly stopped, turned around and walked back, laughing strangely, "I seem to hear a sound coming from the tree hole. Is there someone hiding inside?"
Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi both changed their expressions, becoming pale and bloodless. They looked at each other and saw fear in each other's eyes.
Xiao Xixi's eyes turned red and she couldn't help crying. Her tearful eyes were full of self-blame. If her feet hadn't touched the tree wall, Guitong wouldn't have discovered this place.
She trembled, gritted her teeth, looked at Xu Lian farewell, and was about to crawl out of the tree hole so that Guitong would not notice that there was another person in the tree hole. Obviously, she intended to face the consequences alone and not let Xu Lian be implicated.
Xu Lian was quick to act and grabbed her. How could he bear to let her go out to die? Her actions moved and distressed Xu Lian. She was really a good woman.
"Rustle..."
The footsteps of the ghost boy were getting closer and closer.
what to do
what to do
Xu Lian was extremely anxious. He subconsciously pressed the hilt of the sword with his right hand and held the purple jade token with his left hand to find a sense of security.
With his strength at the ninth level of Ming Jin Stage and his three-star sword, he would dare to fight even if he met a practitioner at the first or second level of An Jin Stage. However, facing the unfathomable Gui Tong, he would undoubtedly be courting death.
As for the Purple Jade Plate, in Pingyang County, it is equivalent to an imperial edict, and one can almost do whatever one wants. But it is hard to say whether Guitong will buy into it or not. It may give the Yijiao some face, or it may anger Guitong and cause him to die a more miserable death.
Obviously, resistance and revealing one's identity are not good solutions.
Xu Lian had an idea. With Gui Tong's terrifying strength, it is impossible that he did not notice him and Xiao Xixi hiding in the tree hole when he passed by the tree just now. However, Gui Tong did not pull him and Xiao Xixi out. What does this mean
This means that he and Xiao Xixi are not shallow people like Fu Yuan, and Guitong actually does not want to catch him and Xiao Xixi!
However, Xiao Xixi accidentally made a noise, which triggered Guitong's rules for catching people, forcing Guitong to catch him even if he didn't want to.
After realizing this, Xu Lian's eyes lit up and he knew what to do!
He only needed to give Guitong a reason not to catch him and Xiao playing together, so that he would not violate Guitong's rules of catching people.
"Squeak!..."
Xu Lian quickly gritted his teeth and made a rat-like sound.
The strange boy who had already walked to the tree hole suddenly stopped and muttered to himself, "It turns out that the noise just now was caused by mice. It seems that there is no one hiding in the tree hole."
After saying that.
The strange boy turned around and left, going somewhere else.
Xiao Xixi, who was already crying out of fear, froze in a daze.
After the strange boy walked away, Xu Lian gasped for breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was also very scared just now. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and made amends in time, giving the strange boy a reason not to catch him and to smile.
Just like Xiao Xixi said before, when playing hide-and-seek, it doesn’t really matter where you hide!
Guitong arrests people based entirely on each person's fortune.
It doesn't matter where a shallow-minded person hides, he will be found.
People with great fortune can just find a place to hide and the evil boy won't catch them.
He and Xiao Xixi were people with deep blessings, and Guitong originally did not want to arrest him and Xiao Xixi, but Xiao Xixi accidentally "exposed himself" and violated the rules, so Guitong had to arrest him.
He made a "squeaking" sound and disguised himself as a mouse, which made up for the "exposure", which was equivalent to making up for the foul, so the ghost boy did not need to be caught.
It sounds complicated, but it is actually such a simple principle.
Xiao Xixi couldn't bear it any longer, and threw herself into Xu Lian's arms, hugging him tightly.
Xu Lian also hugged her and gently stroked her long hair to comfort her.
Considering the existence of the ghost child, both of them were very restrained, otherwise they would have to be intimate and celebrate their survival.
In fact, judging from the results, there is another possibility... Xiao Xixi is actually a person with little luck!
Therefore, Xiao Xixi accidentally broke the rules and his life was in danger.
Only by staying with him, a man with great fortune, could I escape danger and avoid this disaster.
This possibility is actually quite high. After all, Xiao Xixi was born into poverty and was sold to a brothel when she was young. She had a miserable fate. From this point of view, she is indeed a bit unlucky.
Just as Xu Lian and Xiao were playing and waiting for the game of hide-and-seek to end, they heard a few more screams. They guessed that a few more people were caught by the strange boy, and they didn't know how they died.
"The one-hour time is up, and the game of hide-and-seek is over."
"Brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts, you are amazing and hid them so well. We searched for so long and only found four."...
The strange children gathered together and laughed, announcing the end of the game of hide-and-seek.