At this moment, his residual anger had not yet subsided; the death of the kidnapper was not enough to quell his rage.
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the fury in his heart, tossed the dagger into the valley below, and turned to descend the mountain.
In a clearing within the forest, Gan Yuan had already taken off her own shirt to wrap around the little one and was looking anxiously toward the direction of the slope.
She knew that with his skills, he was unlikely to be injured, but the scream from the mountain still uncontrollably made her turn her face away.
Gan Tang, with her arms around her neck, was equally concerned, watching for Huangfu Jue, "Uncle Huangfu won’t be hurt, right?"
"Don’t worry, he won’t be," Gan Yuan softly reassured.
By then, the man’s figure had emerged from the woods; only when she saw him unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The little one, too, obviously relaxed, greeted him with a smile from afar.
Standing up from the ground, Gan Yuan bent over to lift the little one into her arms.
"Let’s go, Mommy will take you home!"
As she had just stood up, Huangfu Jue had already caught up, and, stretching out an arm, took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, clad only in a thin T-shirt. Extending a hand, he took Gan Tang from her arms.
"Xiaotang, is it okay if Uncle holds you?"
"Mhm." The little one nodded gently, reaching out her little arms, trustingly hugging his neck, "Uncle Huangfu, what about the bad guy?"
"He fell down the valley and died."
Looking up in surprise, the little one gazed at Huangfu Jue, "Did you kill him?"
"Don’t talk nonsense," Gan Yuan hurriedly interjected, "Why would Uncle kill anyone?"
What that man had done was enough to make her wish he could die a thousand, ten thousand times over. She didn’t need to guess; it must have been Huangfu Jue who killed him. She could imagine approximately how it happened, and empathize with his feelings.
But some things are better understood than spoken.
Gan Tang was still young and didn’t understand these things; the only way she could help Huangfu Jue was to frame it this way.
With that, she turned her face toward Huangfu Jue and met his gaze.
"Mhm." His eyes meeting hers, Huangfu Jue reached out his hand to adjust the sliding jacket on her, "Your mommy is right, it was an accident."
To him, such matters were inconsequential, but he did not want to frighten the mother and child.
From the woods, the sound of footsteps emerged as Will and a few bodyguards also hurried over.
Seeing the three of them, Will, along with the bodyguards, also breathed a deep sigh of relief.
As he helped remove a small leaf from the little one’s hair, Huangfu Jue steadied the child’s head with his large hand, and spoke in a low voice to Will.
"Go ahead and take care of things there. Also, call the hospital and arrange for a doctor."
"Yes!" Will nodded and stepped aside, "You two, escort the Duke and Miss Gan down the mountain."
Two bodyguards immediately flanked Huangfu Jue and Gan Yuan, and as one hand held the little one, Huangfu Jue’s other hand reached out to grasp Gan Yuan’s hand.
The mountain path was steep and difficult to navigate; he certainly did not want her to get hurt again.
Slowly making their way down the mountain and reaching the roadside...
All along, he carefully held her hand, slowing his pace as much as possible so she could keep up.
The man’s palm was warm, holding hers firmly. Gan Yuan glanced sideways at his fingers, bit her lip, but did not struggle.
It wasn’t until the trio reached the main road and got into the car that she finally withdrew her hand and buckled her seatbelt.
Huangfu Jue then cradled the little one’s face, examining him carefully from head to toe, and with his fingers, tidied the child’s hair. He gently tightened the large shirt on Gan Tang.