Si Yi scratched his head and entered the village without thinking.

In his opinion, the others were overthinking things. Since ancient times, everyone who followed the gods has benefited from their good fortune.

The old sage has already brought his daughter right to their doorstep, so what is there to hesitate about?

The other guards cursed the cunning kid for being the first to step forward, seeing that Si Yi had taken the lead.

They then quickly issued their statements.

"Boss Xu, I'm fine with it, I want to join."

"I'm fine with it too!"

"Me too, I want to join too!"

The guards jostled and pushed each other, none of them letting the other go first, and they all squeezed in together.

Xu Jinhuan looked at the swaying gate of the village, which was being squeezed, and gave a helpless smile. If she weren't leaving tomorrow, she would definitely have made them build a new gate.

"Boss Xu, do you have any instructions?" An Er asked expectantly.

The other guards chimed in, "Yes, yes, Boss Xu, we're bursting with energy right now and just want to get some work done!"

Xu Jinhuan pointed to Wang Manshan not far away, "Go find him and ask him to arrange for you to join the various squads. Patrol with the guards for now, and we'll arrange other tasks tomorrow."

The guards weren't picky; upon hearing this, they happily went to find Wang Manshan, while Xu Jinhuan turned and went into his own room.

Xu Youyou, who was kneeling in the center of the courtyard, hadn't paid much attention to the noise. She had even been silently praying that something big would happen so she could escape in the chaos.

She wiped away her tears, glanced casually at the doorway, her gaze lingered for a moment, and then she stared at the group of people with a look of utter shock.

She wasn't familiar with Lei Tingjun's bodyguards; she only knew a few of the higher-ranking ones who frequently appeared around Lei Tingjun, such as An Yi and An Er.

So when she saw An Er, her eyes showed both shock and surprise. Did they see that she hadn't run away and were trying to find a way to come in and take her away?

But why were they so close to Xu Jinhuan before? Were they just acting?

A sliver of hope welled up in Xu Youyou's heart, hoping that they would gain Xu Jinhuan's trust and take her away from this awful place as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Xu Youyou's gaze toward Xu Jinhuan's house became arrogant again. What if Xu Jinhuan was capable? Wasn't he still being played around by the secret guards?

He really wanted to see the look of surprise on Xu Jinhuan's face when he was rescued by the secret guards.

Thinking of this, Xu Youyou burst out laughing.

Just then, the plump auntie passed by and looked at Xu Youyou after hearing the sound.

"What are you laughing at? Didn't you hear Jin Huan making you cry all this time? You still have the nerve to laugh out loud? Hurry up and start crying!"

Xu Youyou glared hatefully at the plump aunt, "You lackey of Xu Jinhuan, you're so old, yet you still enjoy being a lackey."

Xu Youyou thought she would see the chubby aunt get angry, but to her surprise, the chubby aunt said proudly.

"You're just saying the food is spoiled because you can't get good food?"

I'd be happy to be Jin Huan's lackey. Jin Huan is so capable. If we follow her, our family will not only be able to eat and drink our fill, but we can also travel safely to the north.

If it were you, could you do it? You'd probably drain everyone who followed you dry, leaving them with nothing but a mangled corpse.

After the plump auntie finished speaking, she clicked her tongue and looked at Xu Youyou with disdain.

Before Xu Youyou could speak again, she directly called out to Wang Manshan, who was not far away.

“Manshan, come and take a look. Her face is all dry. Jinhuan ordered her to cry all day.”

Upon hearing Aunt Bai Pang greet him, Wang Manshan immediately spoke apologetically to the guards.

"Sorry guys, I have something urgent to take care of. Wait for me a moment."

After saying that, he turned around and walked towards Xu Youyou.

Meanwhile, the guards gathered together were muttering to themselves.

"We need to ask about Doctor Xie later. The sooner we find out, the better!"

"I understand. I'll ask Wang Manshan when he gets back."

Suddenly, one of the guards pointed to the person kneeling in the courtyard and asked with a puzzled look, "Hey, look at that girl kneeling over there, doesn't she look familiar?"

The guard next to him scratched his head in confusion, "We don't know anyone here, how could they look familiar?"

However, after saying that, he frowned and muttered, "It does look somewhat familiar."

Just then, the fourth guard suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed in realization, "How could she not look familiar? Isn't that Xu Youyou!"

Now that you mention it, it really does look like it!

"What do you mean 'looks like'? This is her, except how did she get disfigured?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Didn't you notice it when you threw the note away?"

The guards exchanged glances. They hadn't actually noticed this at the time, partly because they were afraid the people in the stronghold would discover them, and partly because they were afraid the elusive old immortal would suddenly appear.

They were extremely cautious. As soon as they saw Xu Youyou pick up the note, they darted away from the stronghold. They didn't have time to notice whether Xu Youyou was disfigured or not.

"Why think so much? We've already found a new master. Even if Xu Youyou dies, it has nothing to do with us." Although the fourth guard was a bit dim-witted, he was always right when it mattered.

The guards nodded in agreement. "Fourth One is right. We are now on the opposite side of Xu Youyou. Lei Tingjun should be the one who is worried. We should just go about our business."

"That's right. With Xu Youyou's current appearance, it's still uncertain whether the Fifth Prince can accept her. Let's just wait and see!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!