Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 46 - 28 Arrows Like Rainbows_2

Chapter 46: Chapter 28 Arrows Like Rainbows_2
""Sister, are you alright now?" Xiao Qi, hearing Lian Manman say this, hurriedly took hold of Lian Manman’s hand.
"I’m fine, not a single problem." Lian Manman didn’t want Xiao Qi to worry about her, "Let’s hurry back."
The two returned to the stream at the foot of the mountain, where Wu Lang was setting up a bonfire to grill fish.
"You’re back just in time, the fish will be ready any minute now." Wu Lang said.
"This fish is sure to be delicious." Xiao Qi set down the basket and sat down next to the fire with Lian Manman, "You used quite some pepper salt there."
Lian Manman and the others had been working in the fields and going up the mountains in the past few days, sometimes catching sparrows, other times foraging for bird and wild chicken eggs, and sometimes they simply ate fresh wild vegetables. These foods always tasted better with some seasoning, but the Lian Family only had coarse salt. Lian Manman took some coarse salt and processed it into fine salt, ground some Sichuan peppercorns into powder, and fried them in an iron pot to create pepper salt.
Food grilled with pepper salt, of course, tasted even better.
"Manman, this is for you." Wu Lang, having grilled the fish, picked the fattest one and handed it to Lian Manman.
Lian Manman took over the fish, which was coated with pepper salt both inside and out. The skin of the fish was already crisped to perfection, and even before it entered her mouth, the aroma was tantalizing. As Lian Manman brought the grilled fish closer to her mouth, she suddenly remembered the man in the mountains. Her safe return meant the man did not wish to kill her. Perhaps she had thought too much. She wondered how the man was doing now.
...
The man saw Lian Manman’s figure disappear before he softly snapped his fingers, and immediately, over a dozen stout men clad in strong attire leapt out, as if they had sprung from the ground.
The leader was a tall man, who approached and knelt on one knee before the man.
"All the assassins have been wiped out. My lateness has alarmed you, my lord, please punish me."
The man simply waved his hand, and the tall man hurried to help him up from the ground.
"My lord, your injury..."
"It’s nothing serious, I have already taken care of it." the man said, "Let’s head back to Prefecture City first, and deal with the rest later."
"Yes, my lord, a carriage is ready down the mountain."
The man nodded his head.
"My lord..., do we need to tidy up any loose ends?" The stout man hesitated a bit before asking. What he referred to was not merely the corpse lying next to them, for he had already commanded two of his brothers to move and dispose of that body earlier. His question concerned Lian Manman.
"My lord, your mission is of the utmost secrecy, and should even a hint of it be inadvertently revealed..." the man spoke carefully. Under normal circumstances, he would not have needed to ask. The lord’s actions were always decisive and without mercy. When he saw the lord send the young girl away, he thought it was because the lord, remembering the girl stemming his bleeding and bandaging the wound, did not wish her to die in front of him. Then, he had already decided which brother to assign for the task. However, contrary to his expectations, the lord had called the young girl back and asked for her name.
Lian Manman.
If the lord wanted Lian Manman dead, he wouldn’t have taken such measures.
Although he thought this, he still asked. Because, no one must know of the lord’s whereabouts.
"Secrets..." A cold smile touched the man’s lips, "If it were truly secret, whence came these assassins?"
"It is my oversight." The tall man quickly said.
"Not you, it’s me... I underestimated them." The man said, gesturing to a young man of short stature nearby, "Thirteen, come here."
The one called Thirteen hurried over to the man.
"You..." The man whispered a few instructions into Thirteen’s ear.
"Your subordinate obeys." Thirteen responded and disappeared behind the bushes with a few leaps.
...
Wu Lang and Xiao Qi each held a fish, munching away deliciously when they looked up to see Lian Manman staring at her fish, not having taken a single bite.
"Manman, what’s the matter? Isn’t the fish tasty?" Wu Lang asked in a hurry.
"No, I just remembered something important that I forgot." Lian Manman said.
"What is it?"
"When I left this morning, Mother told me to pull two baskets of grass to bring back, but only from the grassland below Nanshan at our land." Lian Manman said.
"Oh, that? Don’t worry about it, Xiao Qi and I will go. We’ll have two baskets in no time." Wu Lang said.
Xiao Qi nodded repeatedly.
"It’s getting late, we should head back home." Lian Manman added.
"Then Xiao Qi and I will go now."
"Alright, I’ll wait here for you to come back." Lian Manman said.
Wu Lang and Xiao Qi took up the baskets and, with roast fish in hand, headed towards the fields.
Watching Wu Lang and Xiao Qi walk off until they were out of her sight, Lian Manman quickly wrapped her roast fish with leaves and made her way briskly toward the ravine at the back of the mountain.
As she walked, Lian Manman couldn’t help but think about what she was doing. The excuse of finding food was just a ploy for her to get away. She had no intention of taking food to that man. She had finally gotten away safely; what was she doing running back to bring him roasted fish? She loved fish so much, yet since she had been here, she had never had fish.
Lian Manman was torn inside, but her feet didn’t stop. For some reason, she just really wanted to see that man again, to know he was safe. If he was still there, she would lead him out. Lian Manman told herself this.
When she arrived, Lian Manman couldn’t help but freeze in place.
Below the dirt slope, where the man had been sitting, was now deserted. Not even the traces of blood-soaked ground were visible. He had left, but curiously, there were no footprints.
Lian Manman thought for a moment, then mustering her courage, she walked over to where the attacker had fallen. His body was gone too, and there were no blood traces around.
Could all that just have been a dream? No, of course, it wasn’t a dream; if she looked more closely, there were signs of the weeds having been pressed down, a few blades with faint red spots on them, and the earth beneath the slope showed signs of disturbance.
The man had gone, and someone had taken him away.
He was reluctant to let her call for help; he must have been waiting for someone here. Then he must be safe. Running back here, was she just making an unnecessary fuss?
The roast fish in her hands had cooled down somewhat. A breeze blew, and Lian Manman felt somewhat forlorn.
...
Lian Manman with her basket walked into the entrance of the village, where several girls were sitting under a large willow tree, enjoying the cool and chattering away.
"Isn’t that Lian Manman?" one of them said, looking up.
"Lian Manman, come over here."
*********
Ruoyan dived back in to continue typing, aiming for a second update.
Seeking recommendations, seeking collections.