This was a bamboo flute, slightly shorter than average.
Clutching the bamboo flute, Princess Ata gritted her teeth. She had initially thought she wouldn’t need this flute in Great Han, but unexpectedly, she had to use it so soon.
"Old monk, you forced me to do this!"
Seeing Monk Liao Kong reach out to grab Xiaosuisui, Xiaosuisui swiftly maneuvered away. Then, with her short leg, she aimed a kick at Monk Liao Kong’s chest.
Ideally, her kick should have landed on Monk Liao Kong’s chest. However, given her small size and short legs, she had to aim lower.
Liao Kong hastily retreated to dodge Xiaosuisui’s attack. Suddenly, the sound of a flute reached his ears.
Monk Liao Kong abruptly glanced in the direction the sound was emanating from. It was the laywoman who had been sitting with Princess Ata in the palanquin!
The more Liao Kong listened to the flute’s tune, the more unsettling it became. Suddenly, a large, dark flock of birds appeared in the sky.
The flock of birds CHIRPED AND TWITTERED as they flew over, attacking Monk Liao Kong. Their sharp little beaks darted towards him, trying to peck him.
Liao Kong repeatedly swiped his sleeves, but the swarm of black birds seemed to have gone mad. He drove one wave away, only for another to promptly descend.
Liao Kong was forced onto the defensive. Anger flashed in his eyes; he was clearly enraged.
Seeing this, Princess Ata shouted, "Great monk, you are a Buddhist! Buddhists must not kill! Otherwise, the Buddha will not forgive you!"
Upon hearing her words, Liao Kong dared not harbor killing intent. He could only conserve his energy to fend off the black birds.
Seeing that the black birds had successfully pinned Liao Kong down, Princess Ata grabbed Xiaosuisui and attempted to escape. However, they were unable to flee. It was as if they had encountered a thin, invisible barrier; they simply couldn’t get past it.
"Why can’t we get out? What has that monk done?" Princess Ata was extremely anxious. She held Xiaosuisui’s hand with one of hers and used her free hand to touch the barrier, searching for an escape route.
"Stop looking. This is that old bald donkey’s Array," Xiaosuisui said. "The only ones who can break it are my Second Aunt and my Eldest Uncle."
Xiaosuisui had some understanding of Arrays, but she had only scratched the surface and hadn’t fully mastered them. However, she remembered something Huo Xing’Er, her Second Aunt, had once told her.
"Learning about Arrays is a long process. You won’t master it in a short time. So, I, your Second Aunt, will teach you one trick: use brute force to overcome skill!"
"Use brute force to overcome skill?" Xiaosuisui tilted her small head back, her big eyes wide with confusion as she looked at Huo Xing’Er in her memory.
Huo Xing’Er nodded, even playfully tweaking her little nose. "You learn things quickly and have some innate Power. However, you’re still young. You won’t be able to break an Array set up by individuals at or above the Half-Step Grandmaster level. Therefore, if you use your brute strength well, hit its weak points hard a few times."
Remembering Huo Xing’Er’s words, Xiaosuisui yelled to Princess Ata, "Princess Ata, can you continue playing the flute to keep that bald donkey Liao Kong surrounded by those black birds? I’ll find the weak points in this barrier."
"Yes! Quickly!"
Just as the birds were about to become uncontrollable, Princess Ata resumed playing the bamboo flute. Meanwhile, Xiaosuisui began searching for the weak points in the Array Barrier created by Liao Kong.
「Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop」
Zhu Xiuxiu was quietly listening to the melancholic flute music. Watching the dark mass of birds swarm towards a particular direction, she squinted in confusion. Why does that location seem so odd?
Following the direction of the flock, Zhu Xiuxiu rushed over. From a distance, she saw Monk Liao Kong being attacked by the birds, and Princess Ata still playing the flute. She also noticed Xiaosuisui, who seemed to be waving her hands in the air.
Zhu Xiuxiu was puzzled. Xiaosuisui’s movements were strange; it appeared she had encountered some kind of invisible obstacle and was patting the air in a circle around herself.
Zhu Xiuxiu sensed something was amiss. "Suisui!" she shouted from the rooftop, not moving from her spot.
"Aunt Zhu!" Hearing Zhu Xiuxiu’s voice, Xiaosuisui looked up in pleasant surprise. Sure enough, Zhu Xiuxiu was standing on a nearby roof, looking as if she was about to come down and rescue her.
"Aunt Zhu, don’t come down! There’s an Array Barrier here!"
Zhu Xiuxiu nodded in understanding. "I guessed as much. Can you break it?"
Xiaosuisui’s face fell. "I can break it, but I definitely can’t outrun that old bald donkey Liao Kong! Aunt Zhu, you have to leave quickly!"
"No! I am not someone who fears death. You just wait, I’m coming to save you!"
Xiaosuisui didn’t react much to Zhu Xiuxiu’s words, but Princess Ata grew anxious and quickly said, "Madam Ji, you should leave quickly. Xiaosuisui mentioned that only her Eldest Uncle and Second Aunt can break this Array. If you come in, all three of us might not be able to get out."
Upon hearing Princess Ata, Zhu Xiuxiu nodded. "I understand. You two wait here! I’ll be back soon!"
With that, she turned and ran towards the Ji Mansion.
When Monk Liao Kong saw Zhu Xiuxiu appear, he knew this was trouble. If he couldn’t deal with these birds quickly, he probably wouldn’t be able to take his little disciple away today.
Although confident in his abilities, he knew the Great Han imperial family had some capable individuals. For example, the National Master. Although his strength wasn’t at the Half-Step Grandmaster level, being a Daoist Sect disciple sent by the Daoist Sect to gain experience in the mortal imperial court meant he was highly regarded by them.
With this realization, he no longer cared about the prohibition against killing. He unleashed a sonic attack on the birds swarming him, emitting sound waves from his throat that stunned them.
Instantly, the birds attacking Monk Liao Kong dropped to the ground, lying motionless as if dead.
Princess Ata instinctively stopped playing and covered her ears.
Xiaosuisui’s expression changed, and her chubby little hands flew up to tightly cover her ears. "What Cultivation Technique is this? This roar... how is it like the sound of the Abbot’s broken wooden fish? It’s giving me a terrible headache!"
Monk Liao Kong put his palms together and simply recited a Buddhist chant.
Princess Ata answered Xiaosuisui’s question, "This is the Buddhist Lion’s Roar!"
Xiaosuisui blinked. "So this is the legendary Buddhist Lion’s Roar! I’ve heard that Liao Kong’s Cultivation Technique has reached the Mahayana Realm. It’s truly formidable!"
After stunning the black birds, Liao Kong wasted no more time. He grabbed Xiaosuisui, who was still covering her ears, and fled.
Seeing this, Princess Ata panicked. "Release the Princess!" She immediately gave chase, not forgetting to habitually leave the secret spy markers of the Nanjiang King’s agents.
「Back at the Ji Mansion」
Zhu Xiuxiu rushed back. Seeing her return alone, the Ji Family were puzzled. "Why have you returned alone? Where is Suisui?"