Chapter 4: Knight Squire Examination (IV)
Making use of the sunlight that passed in the space between the trees, Long Hao Chen clearly saw a black-clad guy’s appearance and almost cried out in alarm because his face was unexpectedly covered with black hair, his yellow eyes looking especially ferocious, and his nose unceasingly twitching, as if he was trying to smell the odors.
It is also at this moment that an ice-cold voice resounded through the woods, “Don’t go further! Since we chased her, it is useless to go back on our steps.”
Then, a sparkling light appeared silently in the sky, taking a graceful shape and rapidly twinkling a few times like lightning in the middle of the woods. The seven or eight pursuers, black-clad men, were all stiff, falling to the ground in the next instant.
Long Hao Chen could only see the bushes before him, as a white clothed person with a covered face suddenly appeared in their field of vision, after having closely followed them. Before that white-clad man’s movements were even seen, from his chest, multiple specks of light spurt. In this instant, it seemed that the whole forest was shaken by these rays of light. Long Hao Chen was dazzled and did not manage to maintain his eyes opened.
When he could finally see the scenery before his eyes, he found, to his astonishment, that the black-clad men had all disappeared, and only the white-clad man was left, standing calmly on the ground.
Everything happened too quickly: there were now only bushes in front of Long Hao Chen and everything else turned into dust. It looked as though the ferocious looking people didn’t appear at all.
The white-clad man slowly turned around, looking at the direction of Long Hao Chen and the mute girl, saying calmly, “Come out.”
Long Hao Chen felt tense. Obviously, he had been discovered. Meanwhile, he saw this white-clad man’s pair of eyes. Those eyes appeared emotionless, his black pupils seemed grey, long black hair grew from the back of his head, reaching his shoulder, and he was clad a simple white attire without decoration.
This formidable white-clad man made Long Hao Chen’s heart tremble. After all, he was still nine years old, but as he lowered his head and saw the messy and pale face of the little mute girl below him, a stream of blood was poured out from his body, turning into a surge of courage.
Calmly shaking his head towards the little girl, he hinted her not to make any noise and supported himself with both hands’ strength, jumping out from the bushes. At the same time, he took out his wooden sword from his back.
The white-clad man stood without moving, but even like that, Long Hao Chen could instinctively feel that the man in front of him was stronger than any wild beast he had ever met, as well as far more dangerous.
Long Hao Chen calmly took hold of his wooden sword, firmly looking upon this white-clad person. He now only hoped that he hadn’t discovered the mute little girl.
“We should go back.” The white-clad man’s voice was still expressionless, these simple words let Long Hao Chen sweat, his body soaking just like snow.
Also at this moment, with a whiz sound, a lovely silhouette appeared in front of Long Hao Chen’s body. He shockingly discovered that of which moved unexpectedly to a speed at which his eyes couldn’t even follow was precisely the little mute girl that was just protected by him an instant ago.
Her speed is quite fast! Long Hao Chen stared blankly at her.
The little mute girl stretched her arms, using her thin and weak little body to block Long Hao Chen, her firm gaze stubbornly gazing at the white-clad man before her, forcefully shaking her head.
It looked as though the expression in the shady eyes of the white-clad long-haired expressionless man changed and, in the next instant, his body moved, twinkling like a graceful white light. But unexpectedly and at an incomparably fast speed, the little mute girl in front of Long Hao Chen moved as well.
Long Hao Chen had much better observation skills than most people of his age, but he could only see something that seemed to be a little knife in the small hands of the mute girl, as her body made several irregular movements, just like those of a fierce and tough little tiger. That speed was something only someone with a spiritual energy higher than 20 could possibly have.
Unfortunately, the disparity of power between the two of them was insurmountable and before one can take a single breath, everything was finished.
The dagger in the little mute girl couldn’t be seen anymore and she was caught entirely under the armpit of the white-clad person. The white-clad person had taken hold of her, though Long Hao Chen fundamentally didn’t see what happened.
“Free her!” Long Hao Chen shouted. Using a very standard posture for knights, the wooden sword in his hand faced the white-clad man. At this time, he had totally forgotten the fearfulness of the person before him, only thinking about how to save the little mute girl.
Going all out, Long Hao Chen still held his wooden sword, preparing to attack, but his consciousness suddenly sank into darkness, as the white-clad man lifted an arm.
Under his armpit, the small mute girl struggled violently. The white-clad man was surprised by this sudden action because he felt that under his armpit, the whole body of the little girl started to send out a scorching hot heat, a layer of dark red colored radiance also coming out from her skin.
“Calm down, I will not injure him.” The white-clad man’s voice finally sounded like a human’s, though he looked helpless.
The little mute girl stopped struggling, raising her head to look at the white-clad man.
The white-clad man nodded, looking at her, then took a step forward before arriving directly before Long Hao Chen, picking up his body using a single hand, not letting go of his face.
After a short while, the white-clad man slowly wrinkled his eyebrows, “His innate qualities belong to the upper class, but his bones’ growth is insufficient, his temperament and innate qualities make him suitable to becoming an outstanding knight.” As he said this, he had already loosened the little mute girl.
She quickly made several hand gestures.
The white-clad man said, “His future prospects? It is hard to say. Looking only at his natural physical qualities, he can become an outstanding knight. He’s only eight or nine years old, but already possesses some qualities of a knight: pity, courage, perseverance, and sacrifice. His possibilities are limitless, he will become an outstanding knight who will protect the people around him and this mindset will be even more important than his natural qualities.”
The little girl pointed at her own body, then pointed at Long Hao Chen’s, making several hand gestures.
The white-clad man nodded and said, “Alright, the courage he just showed makes him indeed deserve a reward.”
A group of white light surged out from the white-clad man’s chest, forming a shape close to a small white stove, a stove from which thin blue flames glittered.
A moment later, the blue and white light disappeared, merging with the white-clad’s man’s body, and he clearly looked exhausted.
“Alright, I just used the spiritual stove to help him sort out twelve standards, it will allow him to promote his potential at least by a scale. Now that your trial is finished, let’s head back.”
After he spoke these words, the white-clad man stood up calmly, waving to the little mute girl.
However, against all expectations, the little mute girl ran towards Long Hao Chen, taking off a blue colored ring from one of her hands’ finger, golden colored at its bottom base and putting it on Long Hao Chen’s left hand’s middle finger. Strangely, when this ring arrived on Long Hao Chen’s finger, it enlarged a bit by itself and, in the end, fully fit around his finger.
“Cai’er, you…” The white-clad man cries out in a small voice. The next thing he sees is the inflexible stubborn gaze of the little mute girl. She also reorganizes the wild herbs beside him before coming back to the white-clad man’s side.
The white-clad man who has stayed completely silent for a long time wrinkled his eyebrows, nodded slowly, then pulled the mute little girl’s hand and disappeared with her into the depths of the forest.