The Villain Recognizes the Female Lead as His Master [Transmigration] - Chapter 3

Seeing that she couldn’t command the two men, Chi Jinnian flashed her rooster-head waist token: “See this? I’m your boss’s sworn brother! Hurry up! What are you standing around for? If you slack off like this, how long will it take to finish the repackaging? There’s a wedding waiting over there!”

The fat one, annoyed that the skinny one was still frozen, impatiently kicked him in the rear: “Move it! Didn’t you hear ‘our boss’s sworn brother’ giving orders?”

The skinny one seemed to take the hint and quickly resumed his task.

After a while, the two were drenched in sweat: “Done packing!” They turned to Chi Jinnian: “Boss’s sworn brother, any further instructions?”

Chi Jinnian directed them to load the empty vats onto the small two-wheeled cart in the yard: “Alright, you’re done here. Go clean up inside!” Then, humming a tune, she pushed the cart out of the courtyard gate.

Once Chi Jinnian had left, the fat one kicked the dazed skinny one again: “What are you waiting for? Get the Qiankun Bag out! You want her to come back and tie us up?!”

“Oh… oh!” The skinny one snapped out of it and hurriedly pulled out the Qiankun Bag, stuffing the small jars filled with sesame oil inside. In no time, the bag became heavy,manageable in human form, but quite a burden if they were in their rat forms.

The two mice carried the bags back to the hole in the wall, but the bulging sacks wouldn’t fit no matter how hard they tried. Left with no choice, they had to take another route the main gate.

“Shizun, come out and see!” Chi Jinnian’s voice rang from outside. When Yuan Shao opened the door, she saw a girl dressed in fiery red standing under the golden sunset. Her sleeves were rolled up high, and the hem of her skirt was damp with water stains.

Tiny beads of sweat glistened on her forehead in the evening light, and her long lashes cast faint shadows under her eyes. The girl’s lips curled into a smile, her eyes crinkling with joy, brighter than the setting sun itself.

“Shizun, look what I found!” She sidestepped, revealing the small cart and vats behind her.

“Ta-da ” Chi Jinnian added her own sound effects: “Shizun can hide in this vat later, and I’ll take you out.” Noticing Yuan Shao’s pristine white robes, she quickly added, “Don’t worry, Shizun. This vat used to hold sesame oil, but I washed it thoroughly before coming back. It’s clean and won’t dirty your clothes.”

The protagonist must maintain their dignity always keeping their robes spotless!

Yuan Shao had initially suspected her little disciple of colluding with the villains and had prepared for a desperate fight. To her surprise, she had wronged the girl. Watching Chi Jinnian’s flushed cheeks from the heat, she rolled up her sleeves and gently wiped the sweat from her disciple’s brow.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s my duty as your disciple.” The sudden closeness made Chi Jinnian uneasy. She instinctively took a step back before turning away casually to gesture at the vat.

“It’s quite big. Shizun, can you curl up inside comfortably?”

Yuan Shao’s hand, mid-wipe, froze in the air before slowly lowering.

It seemed she had treated this disciple so harshly before that even the slightest kindness made her flinch.

As Yuan Shao adjusted her sleeves, she silently vowed: If we survive this ordeal, I’ll treat her well.

“Shizun?” Chi Jinnian’s voice brought Yuan Shao back to the present. “Try getting in see if it fits.”

With that, Chi Jinnian naturally extended her hand to help Yuan Shao up. Yuan Shao gave a slight nod and placed her hand in Chi Jinnian’s without hesitation.

Chi Jinnian’s hand was soft, while Yuan Shao, who had trained in martial arts for years, had a thin layer of calluses on her palm.

The vat wasn’t particularly large, but Yuan Shao was slender enough to curl up inside it comfortably.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, they couldn’t afford to delay any longer, Huang Er’s wedding was scheduled for that evening.

“Hold tight, Master. I’ll get you out of here,” Chi Jinnian said, loosely covering the vat’s opening while leaving a gap for Yuan Shao to breathe. She then pushed the cart straight toward the mountain gate.

At the entrance, two weasel guards predictably stopped her. “What are you doing here?”

Chi Jinnian calmly halted the cart and produced the rooster-head token again. “Huang Er’s wedding is tonight, but they didn’t buy enough wine. They sent me down the mountain to fetch more.”

“But, we always brew our own wine! Why today ” one guard began.

“Enough nonsense! Your master’s token is right here!” Chi Jinnian adopted an authoritative tone. “Move aside, unless you want to be responsible for delaying the wedding!”

The two guards examined the token it was indeed their master’s. Moreover, they had heard rumors about Chi Jinnian’s close relationship with their leader. They hadn’t expected him to entrust her with his token, which spoke volumes about their bond. The rule was clear: seeing the token was as good as seeing the master himself. Plus, Chi Jinnian’s firm demeanor left them no choice but to let her pass.

Chi Jinnian pushed the cart forward, finally clearing the gate. Ahead lay a dirt path sloping downhill, which made maneuvering the cart easier.

She exhaled in relief. The foot of the mountain was a bustling market, teeming with people. Once they made it down, catching them would be nearly impossible.

But before she could take more than a few steps, that familiar, pungent odor filled the air again. Huang Er’s shrill voice rang out from behind: “The bride has escaped! Have you seen anyone suspicious?”

Hearing this, Chi Jinnian quickened her pace, but it was already too late.

“Boss, apart from the two oil merchants who left earlier, only Miss Chi passed through. She said she was following your orders to fetch wine.”

“Bullshit! We brew our own wine, we never buy it! Useless idiots, after them!”

From the gate, Huang Er spotted the flash of red in the distance. “You there, in red! Stop! Why are you running?” His underlings, realizing something was amiss, immediately gave chase behind their leader.

Seeing the situation escalate, Chi Jinnian sped up. But just then, Yuan Shao burst out of the vat.

“So it’s you, Chi Jinnian! How dare you steal my bride!” Huang Er recognized Yuan Shao instantly and barked at his lackeys, “After them!”

Chi Jinnian had no time to dwell on whether Yuan Shao had just sabotaged their escape. She grabbed Yuan Shao’s hand and sprinted downhill.

As they ran, she gasped, “Why did you come out?!”

“A master should never hold her disciple back, even if she can’t help.” Yuan Shao already felt she owed her disciple too much, how could she let Chi Jinnian push her to safety while she hid?

She had to stand up, side by side with her disciple, and face whatever came together.

Chi Jinnian looked into Yuan Shao’s resolute eyes and exclaimed, “Master! You really are the death of me!”

At that moment, the two figures one fat and one thin ahead of Yuan Shao and Chi Jinnian heard the commotion behind them. When the thin one turned around, he saw Chi Jinnian sprinting toward them like her life depended on it.

“Uncle! Bad news! That woman is chasing us she must’ve found out!”

The fat rat glanced back casually but was instantly terrified by the sight. Holy damn! It wasn’t just her, behind her was a whole swarm of weasels, all hot on their tails.

The shock sent both of them reverting to their original forms tiny scurrying mice.

But the fat rat wasn’t about to give up. “Found out? What’s in our paws stays in our paws!” he declared, urging the thin mouse to run like hell.

Ignoring exhaustion, the weight on their backs, and the disadvantage of their small stature, the fat rat pushed his tiny legs to their limit. As he ran, he shouted back, “So we stole a bit of your oil was it really worth the whole village chasing us down like this?!”

The seemingly peaceful mountain was now the stage for a frenzied pursuit.

At the front, two mice carried stolen oil on their backs. In the middle, Chi Jinnian and Yuan Shao ran side by side. Behind them, a pack of weasels, their fluffy tails whipping through the air, screeched as they joined the chase.

“Why don’t you use the immobilization spell to stop them?” Yuan Shao asked. The immobilization spell was the most basic of spells, the first one every cultivator learned, everyone should know it.

“Exactly!” Chi Jinnian, still running, felt her eyes well up again. “Master, you’ve always disliked me, ignored me, you never even taught me the most basic spells! Every time, you just told me to get lost!”

Hearing this, Yuan Shao’s expression darkened. So this was how cruel her past self had been. The hand that Chi Jinnian had been holding suddenly tightened around hers, taking the lead. “How about I teach you now? Remember the incantation!” She leaned in, her lips brushing Chi Jinnian’s ear as she whispered the spell.

“Master. are you sure you didn’t mess up the spell?” Chi Jinnian was baffled. Was this really the incantation? Was the world in this novel, this wild?

Yuan Shao met her gaze with absolute sincerity and nodded firmly.

So, Chi Jinnian turned slightly and, mustering all her strength, shouted at the weasels behind them:

“I AM YOUR DADDY!”

Huang Er, hearing this, only grew more furious. “Chi Jinnian! First you betray your word, now you insult me?! I’M YOUR DADDY!”

Seeing Huang Er’s rage intensify and the spell having zero effect, if anything, making him run faster Chi Jinnian’s brows furrowed in frustration. She shot Yuan Shao a wounded look, as if questioning why she’d lied to her.

“What I said was: ‘Wǒ shì nǐ dà yé.’ Did I say it too fast for you to hear clearly?” Yuan Shao’s tone held no blame, she took full responsibility for the misunderstanding.

Chi Jinnian: Even if she had heard it clearly, it would’ve been hard to pronounce correctly!

Meanwhile, the two mice ahead of them kept running. The thin one glanced at the fat one and panted, “For a bit of oil, they chase us this far and now they’re insulting us?! Uncle, they called you out!”

The fat mouse beside it had already exhausted all its energy from running and had no mind to deal with this: “Shut up! Run faster!!”