Shen Yuan Ring

"Little sister, look! I got you a whole chicken. This time you can not only have chicken legs, but also two."

The little boy happily took out a whole chicken, tore off two chicken legs, and handed them to his sister.

When the younger sister saw her brother hand her a chicken leg, she kept swallowing hard: "Brother, you're amazing!"

The little girl took one of the chicken legs and then pushed the other chicken leg toward the little boy's mouth: "Brother, you can have one of these two chicken legs, and I'll have one!"

The little girl looked at the little boy holding the chicken leg but didn't take a bite: "Brother, if you don't eat it, I won't eat it either."

"Brother doesn't like chicken drumsticks, so you can have them, little sister!"

"Brother, you're lying. You used to love eating chicken legs. If you don't eat them, I won't eat them either."

"Okay, brother, eat."

Seeing the little girl's determined look, the little boy picked up the chicken leg in his hand and started eating it.

After a while,

"Brother, do you think Father and Mother will come looking for us?"

"Yes! They will definitely come. Even if they don't, I will take good care of you, little sister." The little boy affectionately patted the little girl's head.

......

After Ji Daoyi and Ji Xiaohu had eaten and drunk their fill, they mounted their beast horses and galloped off towards Yi Village.

Unbeknownst to them, two children were standing in the corner watching them leave.

“Sister, we must remember our benefactor. He gave us a chicken today, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to eat such a delicious chicken leg.”

(Ji Daoyi, I've remembered your name. I'll repay you when I have the chance.)

"Brother, I've got it."

......

Ji Daoyi and his companion headed towards Yi Village, and along the way they saw many cross-shaped marks left by Wang Yueyue.

"Brother Dao, there are also marks left by Sister Yueyue here, which means that our direction is correct, and judging from the marks, it shouldn't have been long ago."

Upon hearing Ji Xiaohu's nonsense, Ji Dao rolled his eyes and retorted, "Isn't that obvious? They set off yesterday, and we're here today. The time marked on the map must not have been long."

"I wonder what the situation is like on their end."

"Sister Yueyue has gone on countless missions, she must be able to find out information about the wolf demon."

"It's not that simple. Otherwise, this wolf demon would have been dealt with long ago. Why would we need to handle it? I even doubt whether the wolf demon incident is real."

"Brother Dao, you don't doubt that the appearance of the wolf demon in Yi Village is a hoax, do you?"

"I just suspect there might be something fishy about this mission, otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain how the wolf demon can so accurately avoid people stronger than itself. I've never heard of any wolf demon having such keen senses."

"Should we report this to the family and have them confirm it?"

"No need. Didn't Sister Yueyue arrive a day earlier than us? I believe she should be able to find out some useful information. Besides, the most important thing right now is to reunite with Sister Yueyue and the others."

After making their initial guess, Ji Daoyi decided not to go to Yi Village first, but instead went with Ji Xiaohu to the neighboring Li Village to gather information.

After making inquiries from various sources, they discovered that no one in the neighboring Li Village knew anything about the wolf demon in Yi Village. They only mentioned that the village chief's son hadn't visited them for many days, whereas he used to come to Li Village every few days.

It turns out that Village Chief Yi's son is in love with Li Xiu'e from their village, but Li Xiu'e has always been reluctant to accept his advances. That's why he often comes to Li Village to see her, but for some reason, he hasn't been seen coming for the past few days.

After learning about these circumstances, they set off again for Yi Village. Upon approaching Yi Village, they split into two groups to investigate the area around the village.

Although Ji Daoyi did not find any traces of wolf demon activity around Yi Village, he made a new discovery: even as it was getting dark, some villagers were still working in the fields. He immediately wondered, "If there are wolf demons around, why are they still working in the fields so late? Aren't they afraid that the wolf demons will eat them?"

With some doubt, Ji Daoyi went up and had a conversation with the villager. Unexpectedly, the villager who was working was the village chief of Yi Village.

After parting ways with the village chief, he met up with Ji Xiaohu.

"This mission is indeed problematic, but we still don't know what this person's purpose is. The most important thing now is to meet with Sister Yueyue and the others as soon as possible."

"But the mark left by Sister Yueyue disappeared at the village entrance. We didn't find any other cross marks near Yi Village, nor did we find any trace of wolf demon activity."

"Yes, that means Sister Yueyue came to Yi Village, but she didn't explore the area around the village, otherwise she would have already known that there were no wolf demons in Yi Village."

After thinking for a moment, Ji Daoyi whispered a few words in Ji Xiaohu's ear.

"Brother Dao, I'll go to the village to find out what's going on. You go and get reinforcements."

"Your going would only make me uneasy. My cultivation is higher than yours; even if we ran, you couldn't outrun me. Besides, all of this is just our speculation. Even if it's a trap set for us, we'd only close the net after all the prey has been caught, wouldn't we?"

Seeing that Ji Xiaohu still wanted to persuade him, Ji Dao made the decision directly: "Alright, listen to me, we'll split into two groups. You also need to be careful and remember what I said."

"Don't worry, Brother Dao."

And so the two parted ways.

Ji Daoyi changed into plain clothes and walked towards Yi Village, while Ji Xiaohu walked on the way home.

As luck would have it, Ji Daoyi ran into the village chief, who had just been working in the fields, as soon as he entered the village.

Ji Daoyi stepped forward and greeted him, "Village Chief, are you done with your work?"

"It's you. I was worried it was getting dark and we might encounter wild animals. Are you asking for lodging in the village?"

"Yes, it was getting late, and it wasn't safe to be out at night, so I thought I'd go into the village to see if there was any kind family I could stay with for the night."

"It's quite a coincidence that we meet twice in one day. If you don't mind my house, why don't you come and stay here for the night? My son isn't home, it's just me, an old man."

"Since you've said so, village chief, I'd feel bad if I didn't go. I'll be bothering you tonight."

So Ji Daoyi went home with the old village chief, and many villagers greeted the village chief warmly along the way.

By sheer luck, he discovered Wang Yueyue's cross-shaped mark near the old village chief's house. Had he not seen it several times along the way, he probably wouldn't have noticed it at a glance.

Upon seeing the mark, Ji Daoyi narrowed his eyes and his brain worked quickly: "Village chief, I want to ask if you saw a beautiful girl with three children about my age come to stay in the village last night?"

The village chief shook his head and said, "No, no strangers came to the village yesterday."

(The village chief is lying. Sister Yueyue must have been to Yi Village, otherwise she wouldn't have left any trace here. And without even thinking, she just said she didn't.)

Ji Daoyi didn't press further, but instead pretended to say, "I wonder how they are?"

The village chief comforted him, "Don't worry, stay at my house for now, maybe they can come with you tomorrow."

Ji Daoyi sighed, "I hope so."