Chapter 63

A gust of wind swept past, kicking up a cloud of mud and sand from under the horse's hooves. A man sternly cracked his whip, "Sir! The area ahead is a quicksand zone that was only discovered a few days ago. We have to take a detour!" His voice was carried by the wind and drifted into the eardrums, sometimes near and sometimes far, making it difficult to hear clearly.

Upon hearing this, the man stopped his horse and stared ahead. Before he could speak, a sound came from afar. After a while, a guard on horseback came over, his anxiety barely concealed. "My lord! General Qin has arrived."

Song Junwu frowned, pulled back the swaying horse, and didn't speak in a hurry. He looked up at the sky, narrowed his eyes, and after a moment, his voice was heard in the silent atmosphere, "Ignore him for now."

The horizon was tinged with yellow, and a group of people were just a few small black dots in this world. It was not easy to find people in such a place, but as long as there were people, they would definitely eat and make a fire to keep warm. The man's eyes were always searching for that wisp of smoke.

"General Qin is probably still here for that woman. If he really doesn't care, how will he explain himself when Miss Qingyun returns in the future?"

After saying that, Song Junwu gave the order, "Take the person to the Princess's residence."

"Achoo!" Qingyun sniffled, feeling a bit uneasy but unable to put his finger on it. He lost interest in reading the novel in his hand and asked the system to put it back into his spatial storage. He was going out for some fresh air. These past few days had been peaceful and safe, which was exactly what he wanted.

During my routine walk, there wasn't much scenery to admire, just the Gobi Desert. Before I could even feel melancholy, I heard the system's voice: [Ding! New mission! A large number of trees in the forest have died. The host must find the cause.]

Aha ...

Qingyun: [Do you want to hear what you're saying?]

Speechless, he questioned why they hadn't said so sooner, but getting angry was useless. What he needed to know now was how many people had died. Anyone who could use the word "massive" must have been dealing with a huge number. How many days had it been since they left? And yet, so many troubles had already occurred.

The system was also innocent. It hadn't originally planned to issue this task, but it saw that the host was still here, completely unaware of the situation in the forest farm. Judging from the situation, Qingyun might stay for a month. If it didn't let her go back to take charge, all the efforts of the past few years would be wasted.

Upon hearing the final number, Qingyun felt a rush of blood to her head. "I think I'm going to have a stroke."

This time, there's no need for a walk; it's time to go back. Packing and getting everything ready took less than half an hour. Facing this little house I've stayed in... well, it's not really a little house, but I've grown attached to it. It's really hard to leave now, but if I'm too reluctant, all the trees in it will be destroyed.

The two, one man and one team, met on their way back. Seeing this, Qingyun was about to greet the man when he hurriedly dismounted and came over. "Are you training?" Qingyun scratched his head, still somewhat naively asking if they were returning from patrol.

Seeing the complex expression in the man's eyes, Song Junwu realized something was wrong. He was also taken aback by her words and withdrew his hand from the other man's shoulder. Then, suppressing his anxiety, he asked calmly, "Where did you go?"

The conversation between the two left the onlookers speechless. They exchanged glances, almost all wanting to give a thumbs up, to show that Qingyun was the best.

"They went camping." After thinking about it, this explanation was indeed correct. Qingyun pursed her lips, her heart filled with doubt, and asked tentatively, "Could it be... you're not looking for me?" That makes sense, the tree is in big trouble, so they must be looking for her.

The man didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the gray bundle she was carrying on her back, and said, "Let me help you carry it."

Upon hearing this, Qingyun readily agreed, as the contents of the container were indeed quite heavy, and free labor was naturally available. He then glanced at the group of people standing behind Song Junwu and asked, "Could you give me a ride? I need to go back to the sand dunes now."

The man took the bundle, stared at Qingyun for a long while, and finally answered, "There's a horse. Can you ride it?"

"No." He answered honestly, but they were still far from the sand dunes and would have to walk back. It would be dark by then, and it wouldn't be good to investigate further. His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Song Junwu, who stood as straight as a pine tree.

Qingyun's face quickly switched to a familiar sycophantic expression, his smile incredibly fawning. "How about you give me a ride? But don't ride too fast, I'm still quite afraid of this thing."

Song Junwu stared at her silently, his gaze filled with scrutiny and confusion. In short, he couldn't fathom Qingyun's heart, nor did he know whether she had said it unintentionally or intentionally. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, "Okay."

Qingyun rode a horse as easily as riding a bicycle, his mind too rigid to think clearly. He didn't realize that a man and a woman riding the same horse was already ambiguous, and Song Junwu had been careful about it in the past. He just didn't know why he could agree in front of so many people this time.

"You..." The man's words seemed to get stuck in his throat. He paused and didn't continue. The wind was strong, and Qingyun was nowhere to be seen.

However, when they parted, Qingyun noticed his hesitation. There was a distance between them because of her previous words, or at least that's what she thought. They were no longer as open and talkative as before, and there was a sense of awkwardness between them.

“Song Junwu, one day you will understand my choice,” Qingyun, who had just walked out, suddenly turned back and said, “You are excellent.”

Upon hearing this, the man paused in his action of holding the reins, then nodded and smiled, "Okay, I understand."

He is indeed handsome.

Looking at the other person's appearance, Qingyun couldn't help but think to himself.

Without bothering to pack, she threw her bundle into the thatched hut where Liu Erchang was staying. At this time, she looked around but couldn't see a soul. When she finally saw Mu Helian, the woman looked haggard, clearly having suffered greatly these past few days.

Qingyun had no idea that Mu Helian had been busy looking for her these past few days, and Liu Er had taken on all the mess for her. She hadn't slept for two days and was completely exhausted. The atmosphere around her was also incredibly tense. It was a wonder that Mu Helian could still maintain her composure and direct things here.

As she was speaking with a frown, she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Qingyun, whom she hadn't seen for several days. She gave her a reassuring look, indicating that she could put aside her work for now. "Thank you for your hard work."

Mu Helian's mind calmed down instantly. The noisy voices in her head seemed to subside in that instant. She nodded in agreement, suppressing the emotions that were about to burst forth, and said, "You're back."

"It's time to come back." Qingyun's face was solemn, with an air of supreme authority and complete control, but inside he was crying and pounding the ground, lamenting, "Oh God! My tree! I can't live anymore!"

Hearing this, Mu Helian lowered her eyes. She was genuinely disappointed, but she never showed these things to others. "I've tried, but I still can't find the problem, and I can't save these trees." Speaking of which, she felt like a useless person. It seemed that the entire forest farm couldn't function without Qingyun. Moreover, this happened as soon as she left, so she couldn't escape the blame.

Understanding the implication in the other person's words, Qingyun smiled and said, "There are gains and losses. At this critical moment, this tree has actually helped me out." His words were so unclear that Mu Helian was completely confused.

Qingyun, on the other hand, thought that he might be able to use this disaster to his advantage to solve some problems, but he would have to wait until the problems were resolved first.

Putting aside her self-blame, Mu Helian quickly recounted the situation. After listening, Qingyun couldn't help but admire her ability to gather information and organize it so effectively. He said, "Who said you're useless? Just for this, I wouldn't agree with you saying you're useless."

Without her, Qingyun would have had to dig deeper and deeper, layer by layer. Now, all that has been saved.

Regardless of how it died, he had to see for himself what had happened. Arriving at the dead tree, he looked up and saw that it had withered, leaving only a few scattered yellow leaves, a stark contrast to the lush trees around it. He bent down and lay on the tree trunk, then raised his hand and tapped the stump. A dull sound came from it, and he felt a dullness in his knuckles, proving that it wasn't hollow inside and probably wasn't infested with insects.

But it wasn't an overdose of pesticides, so what could have happened? I checked the system and couldn't find the reason, which puzzled me.

Qingyun squatted down and sifted through the mud under the tree. He rubbed the mud between his fingers a few times; the color and texture were just right, the moisture level was perfect. Looking back, he saw that Mu Helian hadn't brought a hoe either. Seeing this, she simply pulled off the only hairpin holding her hair up, and instantly, her hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Blocking most of her view, she didn't care much. She tucked the hairpin behind her ear and began digging at the mud on the ground with it. After digging for a while, as if she couldn't achieve her goal, Qingyun turned to Mu Helian and said, "Go and bring the hoe over."

"Are you trying to dig up a tree?"

Seeing that the other party nodded, Mu Helian didn't ask any further questions and went back to get her hoe.

"If necessary, I'll have to split the tree open to take a look," Qingyun thought to himself, gently stroking the rough surface of the wood.

Mu Helian moved quickly, carrying a hoe, and walked over from behind the small hill. The two of them began digging, their hands moving with effortless ease. At first, the roots on the surface looked quite moist, but after digging a hole half a meter deep, the roots were easily pulled up with a simple lift.

Staring at the tree root lying in her palm, which was as thick as a wrist, there was clearly something wrong. How could something so thick be pulled up so easily? Moreover, she hadn't used much force just now; it had only been accidentally brought up while digging in the soil. It was obvious that Mu Helian had also discovered the reason. She pulled wildly in the pit, and as expected, it was pulled up very easily.