Soon, Huang Wen, Belle, and Maurice left the castle.
Beast had wanted them to stay for a meal, but Belle and Maurice really didn't want to remain there, especially the disheveled Maurice.
What would happen to Prince Beast later, and whether he could break the curse, was no longer their concern.
Maurice slowly rode his horse forward, while Huang Wen and Belle walked behind him.
Maurice turned his head, looked at Huang Wen, and said with a smile, "Thank you, Huang Wen.
You saved me again!"
"Again?" Belle's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she looked at Huang Wen with some suspicion.
Huang Wen hadn't mentioned this before.
"Yes, right here in this forest, I was surrounded by a pack of wolves.
Luckily, Huang Wen drove them away in time, otherwise, I probably would have been eaten by now!" Maurice explained with a smile.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Belle seemed to suddenly remember something, and she stared at Huang Wen with a displeased expression, "And what you just said to that Beast, were you implying that I only have outer beauty but no inner goodness and kindness?"
"???" Huang Wen's expression clearly froze for a moment.
He couldn't understand why Belle suddenly connected these two things.
He had clearly been complimenting Belle's good looks just now.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Belle's eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking somewhat unhappy.
"No, not at all!
From the moment I first saw you, I noticed your inner courage, fearlessness, and your yearning for freedom…" Huang Wen subconsciously scratched his head, quickly organized his words, and began to praise Belle's inner qualities.
"As for saving Maurice, I didn't think it was worth mentioning.
Maurice was fine anyway, and telling you would only make you worry unnecessarily…"
"Hmph! That's more like it!" A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Belle's mouth, and she skipped to catch up with Maurice and Philippe.
Huang Wen, standing behind, let out a long sigh of relief, but he didn't notice that Maurice turned his head, gave him a deep look, but quickly turned away.
The journey back was much slower than the journey there, but Belle was much happier.
Sometimes she ran next to Philippe, walking shoulder to shoulder with Maurice, and sometimes she ran next to Huang Wen, asking him why he was walking so slowly now.
This was the first time Belle had ever traveled so far.
Before, she had only ever gone as far as the path outside the village to relax.
This time, it was only because Maurice was in trouble that she had the opportunity to travel so far.
It had to be said that it was quite frustrating for a girl who yearned to go out and see the world, but ultimately never left her small village.
Before long, the three returned to Maurice's home.
The sky was already growing dark.
Maurice looked at Belle, who was still by Huang Wen's side asking about his Qinggong, and said, "Belle, it's getting late.
It's time to rest…"
"Oh, I know, Dad…" Belle nodded reluctantly and turned to go back to her room to rest.
"I'm afraid you'll have to sleep here." Maurice looked at Huang Wen apologetically, pointing to the bedding by the fireplace.
"It's fine.
Having traveled all this way, this is already a very good place to stay." Huang Wen shook his head with a smile.
Anyway, he barely needed to sleep now; when he felt a little tired at night, he would spend the time practicing his skills.
"Hmm?" As night fell, Huang Wen, who was practicing his special abilities, suddenly raised his eyebrows.
He acutely sensed that two people were walking towards Maurice's house.
When Huang Wen released his sensory power, he saw Gaston and the little fat man LeFou holding muskets, their eyes glinting with malice.
What Huang Wen didn't notice was that in the darkness, a pair of eyes was watching him, or rather, observing him would be a more accurate description, as if wanting to know how he would handle this situation.
Huang Wen quietly got up, left the house, and went out onto the street, waiting for Gaston and LeFou to arrive.
"Hmm?" When Gaston saw Huang Wen standing in the moonlight, his heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Huang Wen with some surprise, "You knew we were coming?"
"So, what are you planning to do?" Huang Wen shook his head, immediately used his hypnotic illusion ability, and asked.
"Kill you, kill Maurice, and make the helpless Belle my wife!" Gaston, completely defenseless, quickly stated his purpose, and a cold glint flashed in Huang Wen's eyes.
"Alright then, fire away.
Aren't you two going to kill me?" Huang Wen said with a sneer.
"Alright!" Gaston and LeFou replied in unison, then pulled their triggers.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Two gunshots echoed simultaneously over the village, but the muskets were not aimed at Huang Wen, but at each other.
Immediately after, both men fell down at the same time.
"You reap what you sow." Huang Wen shook his head expressionlessly, "If I hadn't appeared, and there was no Prince Beast, then Belle and Maurice's fate might really have ended in tragedy because of you!"
After Huang Wen finished speaking, he waved his hand, not intending to destroy the bodies.
After all, the reason he made the two men shoot each other instead of killing them himself was to create the illusion that they had conflicted and died simultaneously.
As Huang Wen's special ability activated, Gaston and LeFou's bodies flew away, far from Maurice's house, avoiding bringing further trouble to Maurice's family.
"All done." Huang Wen clapped his hands and turned to walk back into the house.
And this not-so-simple little village, after the gunshots, no one even came out to check the situation, which was a big difference from Chinatown.
"What happened?" Belle heard the commotion and came out of her room, but she didn't run to Maurice.
Instead, she subconsciously walked to Huang Wen's side and asked.
"Uh, it was that Gaston and one of his accomplices…" Huang Wen thought for a moment, remembering what Belle had told him earlier, and chose to tell the truth, "They came with muskets, wanting to kill me and Maurice…"
"Ah!" Belle exclaimed, quickly looking Huang Wen over from head to toe.
Once she saw that Huang Wen was not injured, she breathed a sigh of relief, "Then what? Where are they?"
"I used a little trick to make them shoot each other.
Now they're both dead…" Huang Wen hesitated for a moment but still told the truth.
"Dead?" Belle's eyes widened, looking at Huang Wen in disbelief, then she suddenly ran back into her room.
"You shouldn't have told her.
She's not very resilient to these kinds of things…" Maurice sighed and shook his head.
"Perhaps, but I still didn't want to hide it from her…" Huang Wen was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice.