After a long pause, the older guard suddenly spoke up: "If you know you're wrong, hurry up and come with me!"
The woman immediately looked up at him in surprise and asked, "Where are you going?"
The guard, still feigning anger, glanced at her indifferently, then strode past her onto a mountain path, calling out, "Go where you want to go, find what you want to find, do what you want to do, save who you want to save. Don't let your life as a drowning dog go to waste!"
Upon hearing this, the woman excitedly raised both fists, almost screaming with joy, and then ran forward to catch up with him.
The other young guard was still standing there, scratching his head and muttering to himself in bewilderment, "After all that, it turns out we still got what she wanted! Looks like we're definitely going to go hungry again tonight... Hey, you two, wait for me!"
As he spoke, the young guard, whose stomach was already rumbling with hunger, clutched his belly and hurried after him.
Led by the older guard, they followed a slightly rugged shortcut and soon arrived at the precipice on the hillside, which was several dozen feet high, from which the woman had jumped. However, darkness had fallen, and the two guards lit torches to continue their thorough search of the surrounding area, only to find it completely empty; nothing remained.
So, the older guard and the woman gathered together helplessly. The woman put her hands on her hips, sighed, and said in great confusion, "Huh, that's strange. I just casually threw my bamboo basket here. How could it be gone? There were many medicinal herbs in there that were very good for people recovering from serious illnesses to restore their strength."
"Could it be that one of the deputy gang leader's men, who were in charge of patrolling the mountain today, deliberately caused trouble and threw the basket containing the herbs down the mountain?" The young guard searched the bushes carefully several times, but to no avail. He had to return and make a new plan. After returning, he gritted his teeth and suspected.
Upon hearing this, the woman frowned and asked in confusion, "Have the Vice Leader and Leader Long always been at odds? If so, how can the two of them jointly lead this huge Xiaolong Society?"
The older guard sighed deeply, burying his head to try and search the vicinity again, and said, "Alas, the deputy leader's orders to Chief Long have always been one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes. Chief Long isn't entirely unaware of this. It's just that many times, considering that he's acting in the interests of the Xiaolong Society, he's been lenient with him, only giving him minor punishments and never severely punishing him. But who would have thought that he would always be incorrigible, and now he's gone completely out of control."
Just then, the older guard seemed to suddenly notice something. He moved the torch closer and used the scabbard of his sword to part the grass, revealing a basket of colorful camellias. Thinking that someone must have accidentally dropped them, he decided to take them with him when he left.
So, 'flowers for a beautiful woman,' he picked it up and handed it to the woman, continuing his search as he spoke:
"His men are now causing trouble everywhere, robbing and plundering, bullying men and women, and committing all sorts of evil deeds. And that's not all; they even allow his men to spread rumors that the Xiaolong Society is an organization that aims to rebel against the imperial court. Can you just say the word 'rebellion' to anyone and everything? Besides, how can the Dragon Gang Leader be called a rebel? He is... If this continues, I'm afraid that one day, the Xiaolong Society will definitely be executed by the imperial court and be doomed forever."
As the older guard spoke, he seemed to realize he had said something wrong, so he quickly stopped talking. Seeing that the woman was only staring blankly at the wildflower tea in the bamboo basket and seemed not to have noticed what he had inadvertently said, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Vice Leader, is he really that unruly?" The woman hesitated deeply after hearing these unimaginable and inconceivable words.
At this moment, the young guard beside him seemed to suddenly remember something and interjected, "That's right, we didn't exaggerate at all. By the way, I just heard that just two days ago, in the southern suburbs of Xiqin City, two of the deputy leader's men almost raped a respectable woman in a pavilion by a lake. Fortunately, a passing man discovered her in time and saved her. He also killed the two men, and I heard they died a horrific death. However, it seems the deputy leader hasn't found the man yet. But I heard that a boatman saw a man and two women appearing in the pavilion around the same time this morning, and they rode off towards Peach Blossom Village. I wonder if the people sent to Peach Blossom Village to gather information have found the man yet. If they have, he'll definitely be torn to pieces."
Upon hearing this, the woman felt a chill run down her spine, as if the smell of blood filled her heart.
After a moment, gazing blankly at the beautiful basket of camellias in her hand, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "'Peach Blossom Village'... why does it sound so familiar? It's like I've heard it somewhere before. Was I dreaming?"
Just as the woman was lost in her endless, deep thoughts, the older guard finally decided to give up the search. He approached her, wiping away her sweat, and said, "Miss Ruoxi, we've been searching for over an hour now, but we haven't found your bamboo basket and herbs. Could it be that the two girls who were here earlier have already taken them down the mountain for you? Why don't we go down the mountain? The humidity in the mountains is even heavier at night; we shouldn't let the dampness harm you."
Upon hearing this, the woman suddenly came to her senses and looked around. Seemingly still unwilling to give up, she stammered, "How about... we go back to that forest this afternoon and dig up a ginseng. Ginseng is a great tonic for replenishing vital energy, restoring pulse and preventing collapse, and tonifying the spleen and lungs. It's the best for replenishing the body when it's weak. With it, I believe that the man who fell into the water will recover quickly."
"No, it's about an hour's walk up the mountain from here. By the time we get back, it'll be almost dawn, and you'll still need to brew the medicine. It would be better to go up the mountain again tomorrow; it might be faster and easier. Right now, it's pitch black. If you get bitten by a poisonous insect or accidentally fall off a cliff, it would be a huge loss!" The young guard blurted out in surprise, interrupting him sharply.
At this moment, the older guard stood to the side, lost in thought, and murmured to himself, “'Ginseng,' originally the one medicinal herb that our Xiaolong Society had the most of! It’s just a pity that Chief Long is not here. He personally kept all the extremely precious medicinal herbs in case of need. It seems that these are all kept in a locked cabinet in his study.”
Upon hearing this, the woman's eyes lit up immediately, and she asked incredulously, "What did you say? Is everything you're saying true? There's ginseng in Brother Long's study?"
"It's not just ginseng, it's top-quality stuff that's been collected from all over the country!" the older guard exclaimed in surprise.
At this moment, the young guard stared at him wide-eyed and asked in surprise, "I'm on duty with you every day, how come I didn't know that Chief Long had these treasures?"
The elderly guard, filled with gratitude, said softly, "Do you remember how I used to be listless and weak all day, with poor appetite, loose stools, little energy, a sallow complexion, and edema? Because of my weak spleen, I couldn't produce blood, and I suffered terribly from spleen deficiency, which was unbearable. Then one day, Chief Long saw that I was using some inferior ginseng in medicine, so he called me to his study, opened that cabinet, and took out a thousand-year-old ginseng and gave it to me. From then on, I was completely free from illness and suffering. And from that time on, I silently vowed in my heart that, regardless of life or death, high or low status, I would only follow Chief Long's lead and never waver."
"So that's how it is. I was wondering why you suddenly became so energetic?" the young guard said, suddenly realizing.
Unexpectedly, the woman who had been secretly holding the camellia basket and beaming with joy was secretly amused, seemingly muttering to herself, "This is truly a case of finding something you've been searching for without even looking for it."
The two guards stared at the woman in astonishment when she suddenly strode forward between them, grabbed the older guard's arm, and, beaming with delight, urged him as they walked, "Why didn't you say so sooner? If we had known Brother Long had such a treasure, we wouldn't have come up the mountain. Come on, let's go down the mountain now. Which cabinet in Brother Long's study is it? Take me back to find it now."
As the older guard was being forcibly dragged down the mountain, he said worriedly, "But we haven't gotten Chief Long's permission yet. How can we barge into his study without permission?"
"In times of emergency, one must act expediently. I'm sure Brother Long won't blame me. At worst, I'll search every corner of the world and return him an identical one," the woman said dismissively.
"But we don't have the key either!" The older guard was now filled with regret for revealing the secret he had just given.
The woman reassured him without any room for doubt, "Oh dear, brother, stop dawdling and hurry up and go! 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda,' I'm helping Brother Long accumulate good karma, so you can rest assured. I guarantee that when Brother Long finds out, he won't blame you for not guarding properly."
"No, nothing you say will work. I was born to be Chief Long's man, and I will die to be Chief Long's ghost. I will only obey his orders. No one else, not even the Jade Emperor or the Heavenly King, can change that." In his desperation, the older guard flung the woman's hand away, stamped his foot, and refused with a serious expression.
"Why are you so stubborn? Do you only feel at ease when I take this out?" the woman said, pulling a golden token from her sleeve and showing it off.
The top is engraved with a powerful character for "dragon," and it features the same golden dragon totem embroidered on the Xiaolong Society's flag.
"How did you come to have this token? This is a token that only Chief Dragon possesses in the Swift Dragon Society. Anyone who sees this token is as if they see Chief Dragon himself... Your subordinate greets Chief Dragon!"
Upon seeing the gold plaque with the character "Dragon," the older guard immediately knelt down before it, while the younger guard who had just rushed up also hurriedly knelt down behind it, trembling with fear.
"Now may I ask you to take me to Brother Long's study to get the ginseng?" The woman put away the gold token and looked up at him, asking.
"Yes, yes, I'll take Miss Ruoxi to get the ginseng right away."
So the two guards stumbled to their feet, lit torches to light the way down the mountain for the woman, and hurried back towards the Xiaolong Society.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com