In the distance, illuminated by a faint light, a frail woman appeared at the front gate. Her face was veiled in a pure white veil, and her pink dress, soaked by the lake water but not yet changed, had long since dried by her thin, warm body and the night wind. She tightly clutched a food box, which she regarded as a precious treasure, to her chest. Struggling, she angrily shouted at the two burly men in red who were holding her arms and pulling at her, "What are you doing? Let go!"
One of the burly men in red, with a rugged face, grinned, revealing a cunning and wicked smile. He held the woman's slender arm tightly in his hand without loosening his grip, and said with a playful expression:
"My beauty, it's already so late. What do you think we should do? It's the middle of the night, and you're not sleeping. If you're really that lonely, why bother searching and asking around for some man who fell into the lake? Wouldn't it be better to come to us? Look at our strong and powerful physiques. We'll do our best to feed you well and serve you comfortably. What do you say?"
As they were talking, the hand that had been resting on the woman's right arm began to wander freely over her body. But the moment the hand loosened, the woman deftly and stealthily touched the back of his arm with her elbow. Instantly, the man felt his entire arm become stiff and unable to bend; a wave of numbness and pain washed over him, and he lost all strength.
When he came to his senses, he thought he had been hit by some kind of hidden weapon. So he hurriedly searched his arm while shouting angrily at her, "You little brat, how dare you 'refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit'? What kind of hidden weapon did you use on your grandfather?"
At this moment, another burly man in red, seeing the woman begin to resist and not knowing what powerful weapon she was carrying, seized the opportunity to snatch the food box from her hand and threatened her, saying, "Hurry up and hand over your weapon to grandpa, or your treasure will belong to us brothers!"
Suddenly realizing that the food box in her hand had been snatched away, the woman rushed forward and grabbed the arm of the burly man who was holding the food box high with one hand, while standing on tiptoe to reach the food box with her other hand: "Give it back to me quickly, this is medicine to save people's lives, you can't take it away."
"Saving lives? Saving your lover, your sweetheart? So you mean it's really important, really urgent? In that case, I guess I'll have to destroy it." Unexpectedly, the burly man didn't even open it to see what it was, only glancing deeply at the woman clinging to him. As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to gather his strength, glancing around, preparing to forcefully fling her into the bushes not far behind him.
Seeing the food box spinning rapidly in mid-air, the woman desperately covered her eyes with her hands and cried out in pain, "No!"
Just then, a cold, deep male voice suddenly rang in their ears: "What are you doing here? What happened?"
Upon hearing the sound, the woman abruptly opened her blindfold, only to be surprised to see the face of a cold and handsome man standing gracefully in front of her with one hand behind his back, steadily holding the food box that she thought had long since been smashed to pieces.
Immediately, she rushed to his side with delight, snatched the food box, hugged it tightly again, patted it gently, and then placed it on the ground at her feet. She opened it and examined it carefully, repeatedly thanking the cold-faced man, "Thank you, thank you so much. I went to great lengths for this medicine today. It would be such a waste if it were just gone like this."
Seeing that the ginseng soup in the food box was intact, she patted her chest in relief. She quickly covered it up, stood up, and looked up. She exclaimed in surprise at the man before her, "Oh, it's you! I've been looking for you for quite a while. The situation was so urgent that I forgot to ask your name and where you live. Oh, right, that person…"
Before he could finish speaking, the cold-faced man interrupted him abruptly, saying, "Where have you been in the middle of the night? I asked you to make some soup for the vice leader, how come you've been gone for so long and even got lost!"
"I..." Upon hearing these inexplicable words, the woman was momentarily stunned. She didn't know what to say to avoid giving herself away, so she just stood there obediently and stupidly, without moving.
At this moment, the two burly men in red, who had been staring at each other in a daze, seemed to finally understand something after listening to their conversation. The rugged-looking man recovered and muttered in bewilderment, "Making soup? Deputy Chief? So you're going to the Deputy Chief's west courtyard. Then why did you say you were looking for... the man who fell into the lake today?"
Upon hearing this, the stern-faced man stepped forward and explained, “Oh, it’s like this. Today, my subordinate was patrolling the mountain with me when he accidentally fell into the lake. I asked this young lady to help me brew some medicine for him. But she’s so clumsy that she got lost. I hope you two can be kind enough to let her go.”
The burly man suddenly realized, "I see. Since it involves people and matters in the vice-leader's courtyard, you should take her away quickly. It's dark at night, so don't let her wander around anymore. If something really happens, it will be terrible."
"I'll take her back right away, thank you both!" The stern-looking man bowed to him in thanks.
But just as the two of them turned around and took a few steps, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them: "Stop!"
Upon hearing this, the cold-faced man suddenly raised his eyes and stared blankly ahead for a moment. He gripped the sword at his waist tightly, but after a moment, he gritted his teeth and slowly released his grip. With a calm expression, he turned around and asked, "Is there anything else you two need?"
The burly man strode forward, circled the woman twice, and scrutinized her carefully once more. The cold-faced man couldn't help but secretly place his hand on the sword at his waist again, as if he were about to unleash a powerful slash at her at any moment.
A moment later, the burly man suddenly stopped and asked the woman repeatedly, "What did you do to me just now? Why did I suddenly feel numbness and pain, and my arm went weak? Did you have some hidden weapon on you? But why do you seem to be fine now?"
Upon hearing this, the woman's heart, which had been in her throat, instantly settled. She calmly feigned ignorance and said, "I don't know what you mean by that, brother. Where would I get any hidden weapons? Perhaps you've been poisoned by some rare toxin? But it's alright, I do know a little about medicine. If you trust me, I always carry silver needles with me. I can give you a few acupuncture treatments and see if it helps."
As the woman spoke, she handed the food box in her hand to the cold-looking man beside her, and then took out a silver needle pouch from her sleeve pocket and began to untie the rope tied to it.
The burly man secretly thought to himself, given how rudely the two brothers had treated her earlier, how could she truly want to help him now? Perhaps she had ulterior motives, secretly crippling him or taking his life without his knowledge. This healer's needles were something that could heal or kill silently, truly the most unfathomable hidden weapon in the world. Fortunately, he felt better now, so he waved her away repeatedly, saying, "Alright, alright, no need, go, go!"
Only then did the cold-faced man release his other hand, which had been resting on his sword, and turn to leave.
However, the woman following closely behind him hadn't taken two steps before she burst out laughing, shook her head, and muttered under her breath, "You're really stupid. You didn't even realize someone had grabbed your tendons. If I had used a little more force, you probably would have fainted from the pain. What's with all the swagger?"
Upon hearing this, the stern-faced man in front of him couldn't help but let out a faint smile that was almost imperceptible, which was quite handsome.
A moment later, the woman suppressed her smile and hurried to the side of the aloof man, asking with concern, "How is he? What a coincidence! I was looking for you everywhere just now. Luckily, you arrived in time. In my haste this evening, I forgot to ask your name."
The man glanced at her discreetly and said in a deep voice, "Just a nobody. To avoid attracting attention and causing unnecessary trouble, I dressed him in the Xiaolong Society's uniform as soon as we entered. He's currently recuperating in my room. He woke up once, and as you instructed, I immediately gave him a bowl of ginger and brown sugar water. After that, he drifted off to sleep again."
"It's alright, he just needs to rest. I've already made him some ginseng soup, and I'm sure he'll recover his strength soon," the woman said cheerfully.
Hesitantly, the woman interlaced her fingers behind her back and walked away, stammering, "Just now... I saw... those two guards in the study... were they sent there by you?"
Upon hearing this, the stern-faced man, carrying the food box in one hand, strode forward with his head down, without answering her question. Just as the woman felt embarrassed, the stern-faced man suddenly coldly instructed her, "With the Dragon Gang Leader not here, you should keep a close eye on the Deputy Gang Leader and try not to wander around, lest he harm you."
"Hmm... I understand," the woman replied casually.
Meanwhile, Yan'er, who had been tossing and turning in bed for a long time but could not fall asleep, suddenly got up and started rummaging through the room like she had lost her soul, searching for something: "Huh, where's the bracelet that Miss gave me before? I always carry it with me, how could it be gone?"
显然，已经翻遍了所有能翻的地方，终究未能将其找回。于是，她愣坐在屋子中间的案几边上，耷拉着脑袋仔细回想着。
“难道是白日里煮茶的时候，落在茶室的某个角落里了？”半晌后，一念至此，她忙起身来更衣出了门去。
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