At this moment, Greenie seemed unable to speak at all. She could only hold onto the old man's arm with one hand and point back towards the wooden house with the other, stammering, "Grandpa, Grandpa, Princess, Princess, she, Princess, Princess..."

"Princess, what's wrong with the princess?"

Only then did the white-bearded old man realize the seriousness of the situation. Before Greenie could speak again, he limped and hurried into the wooden house, leaning on his cane.

"Princess"

"Princess"

"Princess, where are you?"

"Princess, Princess."

...

The white-bearded old man personally searched and called out carefully inside and out, in every nook and cranny.

Finally, panting heavily, he collapsed into a desperate slump on the steps outside the cabin...

"Grandpa, what do we do? What do we do? We've lost the princess! How are we going to explain this to the Third Prince? What are we going to do? Waaah...waaah...waaah..."

The little girl, Lü'er, searched every corner of the wooden house thoroughly, but in the end, she pouted in disappointment, silently sat down next to the white-bearded old man, and knelt down on his lap, crying sadly and helplessly.

At this moment, the old man with the white beard was filled with the awe-inspiring and mysterious phoenix phantom that had appeared above the wooden house the night before.

The phoenix's illusory image entered the sea, and it was able to purify the water quality of the entire ocean.

He had thoroughly examined that sea last night, and now there would be no more eerie light appearing there.

He suddenly remembered what Mei Zhixuan had said: the legitimate princess of Dongning was actually a descendant of the guardians of Western Qin.

"Could it be that all of this is caused by the powerful and mysterious force of the legendary descendants of the guardians of Western Qin? Was the seven-colored phoenix phantom last night an illusion created by the princess? She—is she really a descendant of the guardians of Western Qin?"

The white-bearded old man could hardly believe it, and suddenly muttered to himself.

Upon hearing this, Greenie suddenly stopped crying and slowly raised her head, asking in confusion, "What? Grandpa, you said that the seven-colored phoenix phantom that appeared last night was..."

The little girl could hardly believe her ears. As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly understand something, and then said in even greater surprise, "Then the princess, could it be that she has already...?"

Clearly, she couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

Just as the old man and the young man were puzzled by this, the woman in white led two men slowly toward the wooden house.

The little maid, Lü'er, suddenly turned her head and caught a glimpse of the person approaching from afar. She then stood up abruptly.

Once she had clearly seen that the person who had come was indeed a woman, without a doubt, she was overjoyed and about to shout, "My lord..."

Just then, the white-bearded old man beside her suddenly grabbed her arm tightly and said in a deep voice, "There are strangers here. Just in case, please call the princess 'Miss' for now."

"Yes, Greenie understands."

Upon hearing this, the little girl immediately lost her smile, looked at the white-bearded old man's extremely serious face, and nodded softly in agreement.

He then hurried forward to greet her, helped the woman up, and asked with concern, "Miss, when did you wake up? Where have you been so early in the morning? Greenie and Grandpa were so worried."

The woman smiled at her, then carefully examined the old man and the young woman before her, assuming they were a grandfather and grandson who depended on each other for survival. She then said to the white-bearded old man, "Grandpa, hello. Could it be that you two are the owners of this wooden house? I think it must be you who saved me, right?"

The white-bearded old man slowly stood up, leaning on his cane with one hand and stroking his long beard with the other, but there was no smile on his face.

Upon seeing this, Green quickly answered for him, "The people who saved you, Miss, could be considered both 'us' and 'not 'us.' You don't need to worry about them. But where did you go just now, Miss? We were so worried! We thought you had vanished last night..."

Just as the words were about to be uttered, the white-bearded old man beside him...

With a heavy "hmm," Green suddenly realized she had misspoke and immediately fell silent.

The woman seemed to have noticed something, but she didn't have time to think about it further. She quickly turned around to look at the man who had just caught up behind her.

He pleaded with the white-bearded old man, "Grandpa, I was just going to the beach to watch the sunrise. On the way, I met these two people. The middle-aged man had been infected by dampness and cold, and he had fallen into a coma due to exhaustion. I wonder if you could let them stay in the wooden house to recuperate for a few days?"

The white-bearded old man listened with a serious expression, carefully examining the two newcomers, especially the unconscious man. Judging from his extraordinary clothes and demeanor, he was no ordinary person. So he slowly said, "I have never welcomed outsiders here."

Although the woman was rejected, she still smiled and did not give up. She continued to try to persuade and plead: "As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. There are no other houses to go within a hundred miles. If you don't save him, Grandpa, wouldn't that be the same as killing him with your own hands?"

Upon hearing this, the white-bearded old man was instantly stunned. He stared into the woman's fixed eyes, speechless, and stammered, "You..."

Just as their eyes met and they began to vie for attention, the young guard, seeing the situation before him, suddenly began to cry pitifully.

"Master, oh master, wake up, wake up! You can't die, you can't die! If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to face that family when I get back? They're all widows and orphans, the old and the young. Who will take care of them? If you... I won't live either..."

Seeing this, the woman was secretly pleased and quietly praised, "This foolish servant isn't completely stupid after all."

Then, she began to stir things up again, saying to the white-bearded old man, "As far as this place is concerned, am I not an outsider? If what you say is true, then I absolutely cannot stay here any longer. In that case, I will thank you both for saving my life. I will never forget your great kindness, and I will leave with you two now."

After saying that, the woman suddenly turned around and ordered the man, "You heartless servant, can't you see we're not welcome here? Hurry up and carry your master away with me!"

Qi Liao had just praised him for being clever in his heart, but in the blink of an eye, he reverted to being clumsy.

Upon hearing this, the young guard looked up in surprise and said, "What? Leave? Where else can we go! This..."

The woman glared at him fiercely, and he quickly shut up.

"Miss, don't go!" At this moment, the little maid, Lü'er, saw this and was extremely distressed.

She released the woman's arm and approached the white-bearded old man, pleading on his behalf, "Grandpa, please let them stay. Miss has just woken up and is still weak. What if something happens to her if she goes out? She can't leave here!"

The woman was secretly pleased with herself, but she took the opportunity to urge the young guard, "What are you still standing here for? If you don't leave now, your master will really die here."

"Grandpa, Grandpa..." The little girl heard the woman's urging voice and anxiously shook the white-bearded old man's arm, pleading.

The young guard gritted his teeth helplessly, picked up his master, turned around, and was about to start walking again when he suddenly heard the voice of the white-bearded old man behind him say, "Alright, alright, you can stay here for now."

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately turned around, clasped her hands in thanks, and expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you, Grandpa."

The little girl jumped up happily, clapping her hands and saying, "Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you, Grandpa!"

The young guard turned around abruptly, finally beaming with relief, and repeatedly thanked him, saying, "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

Suddenly, the white-bearded old man added, speaking earnestly, "You can stay, but I will absolutely not help him. Moreover, at daybreak tomorrow morning, no matter what his condition is, you two must leave this place."

"Leave at dawn tomorrow..." Upon hearing this, the young guard's heart skipped a beat, as if he were very worried.

However, the woman smiled and assured him confidently, "A day and a night is enough for him to recover. I guarantee that he will leave here safely tomorrow morning."

"Well, that would be best." The white-bearded old man stared intently at the woman for a moment before turning and leaving.

Just as everyone else was looking at the middle-aged man, who was now in a deep coma and seemed to be unconscious, with concern and confusion, the woman urged the young guard urgently, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and carry your master back to the house, put him on the couch, and let him warm up."

"Oh, right, right, right." The young guard immediately came to his senses and said repeatedly.

After saying that, he dashed into the house like a wisp of smoke.

The woman shook her head helplessly at his departing figure, then turned to the little girl beside her and said, "By the way, what's your name..."

"Mr. Qi..."

She had barely opened her mouth when she quickly covered it with her hand and then said, "Reporting to Miss, my name is Lü'er."

The woman glanced at her slightly, seemingly quite displeased with Greenie's repeated strange behavior, but saving lives was the priority right now, and everything else could be investigated later.

So she instructed the maid, "Greenie, please find him some dry clothes to change into, and also cook some barley and red bean porridge to help him get rid of dampness."

"Yes." Greenie accepted the order and happily withdrew.

Before she could take more than a few steps, the woman suddenly called her back again: "Greenie, wait a minute."

Greenie walked back to her again, asking patiently, "Is there anything else you need, Miss?"

The woman thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any good medicinal herbs on this island to replenish his strength? When I took his pulse just now, he seemed very weak. That's the main reason he fainted."

"Miss, you are so kind!"

The little girl exclaimed in amazement as she turned her head and pointed to a high cliff in the distance...