Chapter 27: The Spy

"I originally intended to lure you away, but since you were asleep, I gave up on that plan."

"As soon as Yi-Yue left, I followed Grandmother's instructions and came up here to talk things over with San-Yue."

Yu Jinzhen raised an eyebrow. "Talk things over? I think you were sent up here to deceive San-Yue."

Mu Xiaoyun’s body was still trembling. "You... you heard everything I just said?"

Yu Jinzhen replied, "I heard every word."

Mu Xiaoyun looked as if she were about to cry. She immediately knelt before Yu Jinzhen. "I'm sorry, I was forced by Grandmother. If I don't do as she says, she won't give me any food. I just want to survive, please don't hit me."

Yu Jinzhen: "..."

Was it really necessary to go that far? Kneeling already? Was she really that terrifying? However, she didn't intend to let her off the hook that easily.

Just then, Mu Guhuai and his two sons appeared within her line of sight. Once they arrived, Yu Jinzhen noticed their clothes were exactly the same as when they left, so she asked, "Are you all right?"

Mu Guhuai shook his head, looking at the sheepish Mu Xiaoyun with a complex expression. "We're fine."

When Mu Yiyue saw that Mu Xiaoyun was still there, still kneeling on the ground, he roared in anger: "Mu Xiaoyun, you are truly despicable! My father and second brother are perfectly fine, so why did you curse them by saying they fell into a pit, and why did you intentionally send me in the opposite direction?"

Under the intense gaze of the third branch family, Mu Xiaoyun looked ready to burst into tears again.

Yu Jinzhen briefly summarized what the two had just said. "That’s how it is. The old Mu family refuses to give up; they still want to squeeze benefits out of us."

Hearing this, Mu Yiyue clenched his fists and was about to step forward to teach Mu Xiaoyun a lesson, but Mu Guhuai stopped him.

"Father, let me teach her a lesson. She actually dared to lie to us!"

Seeing that Mu Xiaoyun looked terrified, Mu Guhuai sighed helplessly. "Enough. Today, it was a close call, but no harm was done. Let your older sister handle it."

Yu Jinzhen motioned for Mu Xiaoyun to stand up.

Mu Xiaoyun was overjoyed and quickly got to her feet. "Are you sparing me?"

Yu Jinzhen raised an eyebrow. "If you want me to spare you, you must agree to one thing. If you do it well, I might even give you something delicious."

Mu Xiaoyun’s eyes widened, and she asked excitedly, "What is it?"

Yu Jinzhen said with a smile, "It’s very simple. From now on, whenever anyone in the old Mu family has designs on our third branch or wants to harm our family, you must come and report it to us."

Mu Xiaoyun was stunned. "So, you want me to be a spy in the old Mu family?"

Yu Jinzhen replied, "Exactly."

Mu Xiaoyun hesitated. "But those people are my family, after all."

Yu Jinzhen looked at her as if she were a fool. "You’re just reporting news, not killing them. Besides, they are the ones attacking, and we are the ones defending. As long as they don't cross the line, our defenses won't be excessive either."

But if they were to strike with lethal intent, she would show no mercy. She would make them pay with their lives for the death of her foster parents' eldest daughter.

Mu Guhuai urged, "Xiaoyun, I am your third uncle; you know my character by now, don't you?"

Seeing Mu Xiaoyun waver, Yu Jinzhen knew she had a chance. She turned and went to the tent, returning shortly with four soup dumplings left over from that morning. Although they were leftovers, they had been kept in her storage space and were still warm.

"As long as you agree to my terms, every time you come to report useful information, I will give you food."

Mu Xiaoyun stared at the steaming dumplings in Yu Jinzhen's hand, swallowing hard. "Really?"

Yu Jinzhen nodded. "Of course. I have no interest in lying to a child. I can guarantee that as long as your information is useful, the food you receive each time will be at least as good as these four dumplings. But the information must be useful to us. If you fabricate stories just for food, I will expose the fact that you’ve been secretly getting food from me, and you won’t be able to stay in the old Mu family anymore."

Mu Xiaoyun agreed without a second thought. "Okay, I agree."

*You’re a child, too,* Yu Jinzhen thought to herself, finding it amusing how the girl spoke as if she were much older.

Yu Jinzhen smiled. "Take off your outer robe."

Mu Xiaoyun was startled, clutching her clothes tightly in fear. "Why do I need to take off my clothes?"

Yu Jinzhen explained helplessly, "If you don't want to go back and have someone smell the aroma of the food on you, exposing your identity, then take it off."

Mu Xiaoyun suddenly realized and quickly took off her robe, eating the soup dumplings as fast as she could. "Delicious, these dumplings are so delicious! I want to eat them again next time."

Yu Jinzhen gave her a cup of water to rinse away the lingering scent. "Of course, as long as you are obedient."

Mu Xiaoyun couldn't bear to spit out the water and swallowed it all instead. "I’ll be obedient, I promise."

Yu Jinzhen raised an eyebrow. "Since you’ve eaten my food, I have a question: did you encounter the Gao Dali quartet before you came here?"

Mu Xiaoyun looked terrified. "You even know about that? I... I didn't do it on purpose. I'm just a girl; if I don't agree to their demands, they won't let me have an easy time later. I really had no choice."

Yu Jinzhen said, "So you did meet them. When you go back, tell them this... do you understand?"

Mu Xiaoyun nodded. "I understand, I will do exactly as you say."

Yu Jinzhen exchanged a few more words with her before letting her go.

Seeing his niece leave, Mu Guhuai sighed and said, "She is a poor child, too. Zhenzhen, thank you for helping her."

Yu Jinzhen didn't take it to heart and said softly, "She helped herself. I heard you mention that back when San-Yue had just learned to roll over, he nearly fell off the bed, and it was she who caught him in time."

Mu Guhuai was stunned. It turned out Zhenzhen was repaying the debt of gratitude on behalf of him and San-Yue. Feeling a bit ashamed, he said, "Zhenzhen, thank you, truly."

Yu Jinzhen smiled. "Don't mention it, Godfather."

...

After Mu Xiaoyun left the cave, she headed toward the small woods where she had previously agreed to meet Gao Dali.

The Gao Dali quartet had been waiting in the woods and was growing impatient. When they saw her, they hurried over.

Gao Dali asked irritably, "You kept us waiting! Hurry up, did you find out anything?"

Mu Xiaoyun didn't hesitate; she looked toward the direction of the mountains. "I found out. Mu San-Yue is still young, so I said a few sweet words and he believed me. He said their family really has moved to another place every day. In that direction, there’s an old wooden hut left behind by a hunter, and they stay there every night and come back during the day."

The four men looked in the direction Mu Xiaoyun was pointing, and their expressions darkened.

Gao Dali frowned. "Is what you’re saying true? You’re not lying to us?"

Mu Xiaoyun nodded nervously. "It's true."

The sky was growing darker by the minute; had there been enough light, the idle quartet would have clearly seen the nervous look on her face.

Chen Ada was skeptical. "In the middle of the night, with so many children in their family, how could they possibly go into the mountains?"