Inner Thoughts Exposed: Reborn General's Farming Daughter Has a System
Chapter 141: A Threat
"What..." Xiao Yuxi’s words abruptly stopped. Her heartbeat nearly ceased to exist at that moment.
A slightly rough ball filled with fur landed on her hand as soon as that person passed by. Xiao Fenghao’s pupils constricted, and he hurriedly snatched the thing from his younger sister’s hand.
"Hahaha..." A boisterous laughter echoed in the forest. "Die, you two unlucky things!"
It was Zhou Shiming’s voice.
"Second Brother!"
Before Xiao Fenghao could throw the baby bear away, a dark figure was already heading toward them.
"Damn!" Xiao Fenghao cursed, trying to shake off the baby bear. Alas, it was holding onto his arm so tightly, biting on his sleeve and refused to let go.
"Let go, you cursed thing!" He muttered angrily, a hint of urgency in his voice.
Xiao Yuxi hurriedly pulled him away, dragging him to run away. At this moment, she would be stupid if she didn’t realize it was Zhou Shiming who was lurking after them.
He had set them up, luring a danger into their way!
"Run, Second Brother!" Xiao Yuxi gasped as she desperately tried to push her feet to move quicker.
Xiao Fenghao ran beside her, still trying to shake off the baby bear which seemed like it had glued itself to him. Alas, its grip was oddly too tight for such a small body.
At this moment, they suddenly heard an earth-shaking roar again. A brown bear was chasing after them with a belly full of anger and vengeance at the humans who had snatched its cub away.
"Xi’er... " Xiao Fenghao was panting as he ran. "Run... in the opposite direction!"
Xiao Yuxi bit her lip, and she resisted the fear that had taken roots in her heart. She shook her head vehemently and refused in a gasping, yet determined tone. "No!"
She didn’t want the huge bear to go after Xiao Fenghao alone. Since the baby bear had latched itself on him, if they separated, the bear would definitely go after the person who had most of its cub’s scent.
Xiao Fenghao was already aware of Xiao Yuxi’s stubbornness and didn’t hold much hope in persuading her. She would always run in the direction he was heading, which was currently following Zhou Shiming’s lead.
Their only choice was to outrun him. They were sure once the bear reached him, it would tear him to pieces.
It would give them time to breathe and pry the bear away. Since Xiao Fenghao was still running, he could only mainly channel his energy to push his feet to run faster.
They didn’t realize they were actually going deeper into the mountain. In the distance, Zhou Shiming was still running, his figure gradually turning into a small dot.
Xiao Fenghao had an odd feeling in his heart.
This Zhou Shiming really had good stamina; he could run much faster than them.
"Xi’er!" Xiao Fenghao gasped, coughing slightly. "Let’s... turn away!"
Alas, his words were spoken too late.
The two could feel a blur in their eyesight, and then everything went dark.
***
"Mother, I have been looking for Xi’er and Hao’er’s traces everywhere." Xiao Jingran muttered in a low voice. "Even in the cabin they spoke of, but I still didn’t find them."
He supported his mother who looked like she was on the verge of collapsing.
At this moment, small footsteps followed by little meows pattered into the room. Xiao Qingya was stunned upon seeing her deathly pale-faced mother.
"Mother!" She hurriedly grabbed her mother’s other arm worriedly, her eyes were full of questions.
[System, what happened?]
What answered her was the sound of a notification as a mission was triggered.
[Mission Triggered!]
[Mission Objective: Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi have encountered danger after a malicious person plotted against them. Save them from danger and thwart Zhou Shiming’s scheme.]
[Rewards: 1500 points.]
It was the damn Zhou Shiming again!
[Host, your eldest sister and second brother have gone missing in the back mountain.] The System explained.
Before they entered the room, it had heard the conversation between Xiao Jingran and Zhou Anran.
"Jing’er, you go to the Village Head." Zhou Anran shoved her eldest son with a sense of urgency. "Tell them we are going to give anyone who helps with the search dozens jin of paddy rice seeds."
However, before Xiao Jingran could take a step forward and execute her order, they heard a familiar voice belonging to the culprit who had caused all of this.
"Ran’er, what’s wrong with your face? Why do you look so pale? Do you want me to go and ask Physician Li to come over?" Zhou Shiming entered the house in a haughty manner. His face was far from concerned, unlike the words he had said to her.
Zhou Anran pursed her lips together, and she took a deep breath, squeezing Xiao Jingran’s arm tightly.
"Eldest Brother..." she began. "Jing’er had just returned from the back mountain, and he couldn’t find his younger siblings. Have you seen them by any chance?"
Zhou Shiming stroked his chin, he looked over the room as if he was inspecting his future house. "I think I seem to see them. I have just returned from the back mountain."
"Uncle, can you tell us where my younger siblings are? I am afraid they will be in danger since it’s going to be dark soon." Xiao Jingran looked at him deeply.
Zhou Shiming gave a light chuckle. "Of course, of course, you are my good nephew. Your younger siblings are my nephew and niece too, and I also care about them."
"But... you two are their closest kin. One of you is their mother and the other is their eldest brother..." he trailed off with some deliberation. His eyes glinted.
"You two must care more about them compared to me. How about this, let’s see how much you care about them... what are you willing to give in exchange for this important piece of information?" Zhou Shiming raised his eyebrows.
"Before you name your price, I can give you an example." He smiled almost triumphantly, gesturing toward the surrounding in the house. "For example, this house... or your fifty mu of land."
"You should decide fast, because the longer it drags on, the more likely some wild beasts will eat them."