Chapter 23 - The Mad Chicken-Stealing Devil
Late into the night, the Scented Cloud Mountain was enveloped by inky darkness. It was so dark that if one extended their hand, they would not be able to see their fingers. Apart from the wailing winds which swept through the valley, the surroundings were quiet, as though even birds and beasts were afraid to break the silence.
In the inky darkness, Bai Xiaochun took out the ribbon given to him by Zhou Xinqi and tied it to his arm. He nonchalantly walked forward, straight along the small path leading towards the Spirit Tailed chickens’ yard. His shadow was rapidly shifting from one place to another. It wasn’t long before he had passed through the bamboo shrubbery, arriving close to the chickens.
From there, he could see the Spirit Tailed chickens resting in the yard. Still, there were a few which would occasionally wander about, most notably, a certain Spirit Tailed chicken that was heading in his direction.
Bai Xiaochun squatted amidst the shrubbery and licked his lips. After waiting for a short while, when that Spirit Tailed chicken had come closer, he slowly approached the enclosure. Just when he was about to take out his bamboo rod, he was suddenly startled and his eyes turned serious.
At that moment a low bellow suddenly resounded from behind him. Silhouettes appeared one after another, some of them even producing fireballs, brightening the surroundings with blinding light.
“Damned chicken thief! You’ve finally appeared!”
“I’ve waited here for many days and have laid traps all over the place. Let’s see how you’re going to escape!” The bellow resonated in the air. Seven to eight shadows instantly shot towards Bai Xiaochun, surrounding him completely.
These shadows were the disciples in charge of rearing the chickens. They had been painstakingly waiting for numerous days, and never imagined that today, their efforts would actually pay off. Hatred had accumulated deep within their hearts, so every sinlge one of them wanted to execute this chicken thief on the spot.
After hearing their words and seeing their approach, Bai Xiaochun was initially shocked. Then he rolled his eyes, before humphing coldly.
(ED Note: rolled his eyes means that he suddenly thought of an idea.)
“Be quiet! All of you lower your voice!” He unceremoniously spoke with a serious tone. Without even trying to conceal himself, Bai Xiaochun swaggered as he stood up. Then, he purposefully revealed the ribbon tied on his arm.
This sudden and unexpected sight stunned the seven to eight people that were rushing towards him.
“All of you look carefully. I am the leader of the thief-catching group.” Bai Xiaochun furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction as he looked at the people standing in front of him.
Some of the disciples in charge of rearing the chickens had seen Bai Xiaochun before in broad daylight. At that moment, as they inspected him carefully, they started hesitating.
“It’s Junior Brother Bai...It’s already so late. What are you doing here?” Among these disciples, there was one whose face revealed suspicion as he fixed his gaze on Bai Xiaochun. Following this question, the others also cast him suspicious glances.
“Since Sister Zhou has asked me to lead the small group of thief-catchers. I must give it my all to nab this chicken thief. Even if that includes sacrificing my cultivation time, I will still come here in the middle of the night to guard the chickens. But with your shouting, even if there really was a chicken thief here, he would have been scared away.” Bai Xiaochun unhappily spoke with a flourish of his sleeves. He furrowed his brows, looking as though he had spared no efforts towards catching the thief.
The disciples in charge of rearing the chickens glanced at each other before embarrased expressions adorned some of their faces. The disciple who initially questioned Bai Xiaochun also looked a lot less suspicious of him, but still seemed doubtful.
When he saw that the suspicions of the other party had not been fully dispelled, Bai Xiaochun coldly humphed. Without giving the disciples a chance to raise another question, he seized the opportunity to speak first. His voice was filled with dissatisfaction regarding the disciples’ efforts.
“No wonder your Spirit Tailed chickens always go missing. You’re too careless! You’re all waiting here but this fence is already broken!” Bai Xiaochun pointed at the fence behind him. There was indeed some damage on the fence which was hard to notice. It had been Bai Xiaochun himself who broke it when he had tussled with a Spirit Tailed chicken during his first theft.
Hearing his words, the disciples in charge of rearing the chickens looked towards the direction of Bai Xiaochun’s finger one by one. When they inspected closely and noticed the damage on the fence, they were all shocked. Previously, they had never paid too much attention to these kinds of subtle and minor details.
“Also, that Spirit Tailed chicken just ran all the way here! Just how have you been guarding this area?” Bai Xiaochun displayed his displeasure and even raised his voice which caused discomfort to the surrounding disciples.
“According to my observations, this place is the most isolated part of the territory. You should have focused more on guarding this place, but I’ve already been here for quite a while and only now do you guys show up.” The more Bai Xiaochun spoke, the angrier he became. When he finished speaking, he heaved a long sigh.
“If you’re all like this, how are we going to catch the thief? With my thief-catching experience, if I’m guessing correctly, this is the place where you have lost the most chickens.” The moment he said this, the disciples in charge of rearing the chickens were all dumbfounded. They looked at each other and saw shock in each others’ eyes. According to their knowledge, this was precisely the spot where the largesst number of chickens had disappeared.
This was why they had chosen to guard this place. Bai Xiaochun had actually unravelled their entire plan at first glance. As they looked towards Bai Xiaochun, their gazes now exposed a sliver of respect.
Even the disciple who was previously suspicious had been humbled. He thought about Bai Xiaochun sacrificing his training time to help them catch the thief, as well as the eagerness to help he had displayed during the day. Then, he quickly sucked in a breath and cupped his hands before bowing deeply.
“Junior Brother Bai, please do not take our actions to heart. We are sincerely grateful for your generous assistance. We will definitely repair this fence as soon as possible, and from now on, we will definitely guard this place more carefully!”
One by one, the other disciples also cupped their hands. From the bottom of their hearts, they truly felt that Bai Xiaochun’s kindness was rare and precious, and that he was truly trying his best to assist them. They felt even more apologetic for their thoughtless behaviour earlier.
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