Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 717

Chapter 717: Chapter 717

Yang Fan and Mr. Fan were on the second floor, while Fan Sisi was arranged to stay together with Yun Miaoyi.

Preoccupied with the night’s activities, Yang Fan had no intention of sleeping. He returned to his room, lay on the bed with his clothes still on, sending messages to his sister-in-law and Little Mother, while waiting for Mr. Fan to summon him.

But Yang Fan waited and waited, and soon drowsiness creeped in without him realizing it, yet Mr. Fan still hadn’t made any move.

Yang Fan couldn’t help but wonder—could Mr. Fan really have drunk so much that he completely forgot about the mountain trip?

If this old man wasn’t planning on going, Yang Fan thought he’d just arrange for some other activities. During dinner earlier, Fan Sisi had been eyeing him. From what it looked like, she hadn’t had her fill of excitement back in the cave due to the limited conditions.

Yang Fan made a phone call to Mr. Fan.

When the call connected, Yang Fan said, "Old man, don’t tell me you’re drunk to the point of being out cold? We’ve got big plans tonight!"

"Just that little bit of alcohol? You think that’s enough to knock me over? Kid, you’re really underestimating me," Mr. Fan said arrogantly. "Go take a nap for now, I’ll call you later. Heading up there right now is a bit too early—we’ll wait until three or four in the morning, when everyone’s thoroughly asleep before setting off, to avoid being seen."

When Yang Fan heard the timing, his head started to ache.

Three or four in the morning—so tonight, no sleep at all, huh?

"Master, why don’t we just come up with an excuse?" Yang Fan said faintly. "With what we’re doing, honestly, any excuse could probably get us through easily. But acting all sneaky like this, if someone catches us, it’ll be even harder to explain away."

"Hmm... Your idea isn’t bad, but don’t you think it’s a bit late to bring it up now?" Mr. Fan grumbled. "If you’d mentioned this earlier, I could’ve come up with plenty of reasons on the spot. But now, I’ve already had a few drinks. If I start coming up with excuses now, does that seem reasonable to you, punk?"

"It’s reasonable, why wouldn’t it be? The hour hasn’t come yet," Yang Fan said. "Look, how about my explanation? Right now, it’s almost ten-thirty. If we say something about midnight—well, doesn’t that tie things up nicely?"

"That’s not a bad suggestion," Mr. Fan admitted. "Let me think again... They probably won’t suspect anything, right?"

"Suspect what?" Yang Fan said.

"Actually, coming up with this excuse makes it easier for us to act. Tonight, there should be at least two night guards on the mountain. If we don’t find another way up, we’ll almost certainly have to pass by the Yun Family’s ancestral tomb—and run into them."

"You little brat, how is your head suddenly working so well now? Why didn’t you think of this before?" Mr. Fan yelled angrily, even resorting to cursing in frustration.

"You hit the nail on the head, Master. I really hadn’t thought of it earlier—I didn’t think it through." Yang Fan responded. "You said we’d go up the mountain late at night, so I followed your lead and didn’t consider much else. To be fair, isn’t that something you should think thoroughly about? Yet it feels like you didn’t take it seriously either."

Mr. Fan went silent, clearly stumped, for a long moment. "I forgot—I didn’t think about it either."

"Forget it, Master. I think we’re pretty much two peas in a pod here." Yang Fan chuckled. "Let’s stick with this plan. We make up an excuse, head up the mountain openly, and say something vague like we stumbled on clues on our way down earlier and need to deal with them in the later hours—acting cryptic and unclear might work better."

"Alright, let’s settle on that. You get yourself ready, and I’ll go explain it to them," Mr. Fan finally agreed, swayed by Yang Fan’s reasoning.

Two clumsy schemers cobbled together a somewhat reasonable plan and prepared to set off.

Not long after the call ended, Yang Fan heard the sound of a door opening from the room next to his.

When passing Yang Fan’s room, Mr. Fan deliberately coughed twice on purpose.

Yang Fan didn’t really have anything to prepare; he hadn’t even taken off his clothes. After Mr. Fan went downstairs for a while, Yang Fan shoved his phone into his pocket, bounced off the bed, opened the door, and strode outside.

In the courtyard, Mr. Fan was talking to Yun Miaoyi’s father. The two seemed to be arguing about something.

As Yang Fan approached, he caught Mr. Fan saying: "This is a private matter between me and my disciple. There’s no need for you to get involved. To put it bluntly, that thing is troublesome for ordinary people to come into contact with. If we engage with it, we won’t be able to take care of anyone else. So, Mr. Yun, please stop worrying and just lend us a couple of strong flashlights."

It seemed Yun Miaoyi’s father wanted to send someone to accompany Yang Fan and Mr. Fan up the mountain.

"How about this? I’ll send someone to escort you two to the base of the mountain? That way, they won’t burden you and can still accompany you part of the way. Honestly, I feel uneasy about you heading out in the middle of the night." Yun Miaoyi’s father said.

"We’re already used to this," Mr. Fan waved off the offer. "It’s really not necessary. In our profession, there’s hardly ever an opportunity to deal with matters during the day—it’s almost always in the dead of night."

Listening to Mr. Fan, Yang Fan couldn’t help but feel anxious for him.

For someone who didn’t often lie, Mr. Fan’s excuse wasn’t exactly bad—but why did it sound so clumsy coming from him?

"Uncle Yun, it’s okay to send someone to drop us off at the mountain base, but I suggest you don’t have them wait there. Once they drop us off, they should head back. You really don’t have to worry about us—it’s your people you should be more concerned about. Trust me, what we’re dealing with isn’t something regular folk can handle, otherwise my master wouldn’t insist on refusing help," Yang Fan chimed in.

"Those things don’t just stay put—they can move around, and they’re capable of using hostages to force our hands. To them, a person in the dark of night shines brighter than any courtyard lamp in this place."

"There are also guards on the mountain we have to avoid near the ancestral tombs. If we add people waiting at the foot of the mountain to the mix, my master and I won’t be able to manage everything on our own."

Upon hearing Yang Fan’s explanation, Yun Miaoyi’s father quickly said: "My apologies, I didn’t realize that. I’ll hold off, then—please, you two be careful."

"As my master mentioned, this is the nature of our work. We’re already more than accustomed to it," Yang Fan said dryly.

Mr. Fan glanced at Yang Fan, nodding subtly.

Yun Miaoyi’s father soon brought over two powerful flashlights and handed them to Yang Fan and Mr. Fan, along with a few parting words of caution, before seeing the two of them out the door.

"Your glib tongue saved the day yet again, kid. I was so flustered earlier I nearly lost my train of thought." About a hundred meters away from the house, Mr. Fan sighed. "I’ve never been good at rejecting people’s kindness. From my youth to now, I’ve never kicked that habit. Human nature, it seems, is sometimes stranger than the supernatural world we live in."