THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Medicine Part 2

"Even if you really can catch up with him, none of our other brothers are here, what'cha gonna do? And if there's nothing you can do about it, what you just said, that you wouldn't let it go at that, is only bluffing then," he said.

"Even if I am bluffing, it will at least scare the enemy and slow him down. It's still better than not bluffing," Branch Fairy argued.

"Can't you tell that the meatball is still maintaining a good running speed and is not slowing down at all? I don't think your bluffing is getting us anywhere," Fruit Fairy mocked.

"Well, he hasn't slowed down yet, but trust me, he will slow down after a while," Branch Fairy disagreed. Even with Fruit Fairy in his arms and while debating endlessly, he was still able to maintain his speed and showed no sign of slowing down.

One after another, running in a straight line, the three of them kept running toward the northeast, and the road gradually turned into a rugged and rough mountain path.

Yue Buqun suddenly thought of something. "If the meatball man had set up an ambush here in the valley, and as soon as I run into their trap, the many elite fighters suddenly launch an all out attack, it would be extremely dangerous."

At the thought, he slowed down and pondered over the possibilities, meanwhile, the meatball man had run toward a house by the hillside and quickly climbed over a wall into the house. After a quick check around, Yue Buqun resumed the chase. By then, carrying Fruit Fairy in his arms, Branch Fairy had also climbed over the wall and went in. Suddenly he uttered a loud cry, apparently falling into some kind of a trap. Yue Buqun sneaked closer to the wall and then heard Fruit Fairy's voice.

"Didn't I tell you before to watch out for yourself? See, you just wouldn't listen to me. Well, I guess you like being trapped in this fishing net like a big fish!"

"First of all, it's TWO big fish, not A big fish. Secondly, when the hell did you tell me to watch out?" Branch Fairy said sulkily.

"Remember that time we went to that courtyard to steal guavas on the tree when we were still kids, and I told you to watch out for yourself. Don't you remember?" Fruit Fairy reminded him.

"That was like thirty years ago. What has that gotten anything to do with right now?" Branch Fairy disputed.

"Of course it does. That time you were so careless and fell off the tree. Then you got caught and took a good beating. Only after big brother, second brother, fourth brother, and fifth brother came by in time were they able to rescue you and kill that entire family. Now you are being careless again and got caught again," Fruit Fairy said.

"What's the big deal? At the most we'll just have to wait till the rest of our brothers get here and kill this entire family, once again," Branch Fairy replied.

"Humph, you two Peach Valley's Goblins, even just moments before your own death you are still thinking about killing people. Now shut the hell up and spare my ears some peace," the meatball man said in a chilling tone. Some muffled voices from Branch Fairy and Fruit Fairy followed and soon they both fell silent. Apparently the meatball man had placed some kind of anesthetics in their mouth to shut them up.

Yue Buqun inclined his head and listened warily for a good while, but all he heard was silence on the other side of the wall. He crept closer to the wall and found a big jujube tree right next to the wall, so he gently leapt up the jujube tree and then looked inside. A small hut stood about a dozen feet from the wall. Since Branch Fairy fell into the fishing net right after he climbed over the wall, Yue Buqun figured that the space between the hut and the wall most probably had all kinds of booby traps. Hiding himself behind the dense leaves of the jujube tree, he loaded the "Divine Art of Violet Twilight" and listened carefully.