The head guard also recognized the snake and couldn't hide his excitement. He grabbed Zhou Fagen's collar and asked, "Where did you find this snake? Did you find any snake-scale-like herbs where it lived?"
"Cough cough, let me go first." Zhou Fagen was almost suffocating from being strangled. He instinctively tried to pry the other person's hands off, but the other person was skilled in martial arts and had extraordinary strength. He couldn't pry them off just because he wanted to.
Upon seeing this, the village chief and Zhou Laoda and others immediately stepped forward. Seeing that even the village chief had stepped forward, the other villagers of Yegou Village couldn't very well not step forward to help. They were all from the same village, and if they didn't help others now, others wouldn't help them next time they encountered trouble.
The village chief stared at the head of the guards and said in a serious tone, "Let's talk this out. You're attacking us without even asking what happened. Do you look down on us farmers?"
Although there was indeed some disdain, the guard leader wouldn't be foolish enough to say it out loud. He glanced around and saw that the more than two hundred villagers carrying baskets on their backs were vaguely angry, but dared not speak out. Only the group from Yegou Village stood up.
These villagers were timid as mice, so it was no wonder he wouldn't take them seriously. However, he wisely let go, knowing he couldn't afford to cause trouble at this critical juncture.
"I apologize for the intrusion. We were ordered to find the 'Golden Serpent Scale,' which is very important to us. We have been searching for a long time without success. When I suddenly saw this golden serpent, I couldn't contain my excitement. Please forgive me. May I ask where you found this serpent?"
The guard had a bad feeling. This little golden snake looked small, but it was a highly venomous creature, extremely fast, ferocious, and liked to attack people. How could this villager have encountered it and been unharmed, and even cut off the snake's head?
Little did he know that the person he killed was Boss Zhou, who had been applying snake-repelling powder to his body, which slowed down the little golden snake. Being prepared, he reacted faster than the little golden snake, sprinkled the powder, and directly killed it.
Zhou Fagen wanted to say that he hadn't found the herbs and that Zhou Laoda had dug them up, but he was quick-witted. Even though he had been startled, he quickly recovered and, seeing that Zhou Laoda remained silent, he couldn't betray him.
"I stumbled upon it by chance in that very spot. The snake flew fiercely from the low tree, trying to attack us, and we killed it with an axe," Zhou Fagen said, sounding a little breathless.
However, the people from the Song family were in a hurry to find the medicinal ingredient, so they did not pay much attention to his reaction. The group quickly pushed through the crowd and rushed to the direction Zhou Fagen pointed out.
They spotted a patch of soil that had clearly been disturbed, though it had been concealed. The head guard's face darkened, and his eyes pierced Zhou Fagen like knives. "You dug up the herbs?"
The tone was affirmative.
Zhou Fagen was exhausted. "I didn't dig it up, it wasn't me." But he wouldn't tell them that it was Zhou Laoda who dug it up.
"You say it wasn't you, but you killed this little golden snake. Who else was with you here just now? Did someone else take it? Speak up." The head guard's expression grew increasingly sinister and frightening, as if he would kill Zhou Fagen with a single blow if he dared to say he didn't know.
At this moment, all the guards of the Song family drew their swords, ready to kill if they didn't speak.
"The herbs are with me. If you want them, you can buy them with silver," said Boss Zhou, stepping forward and addressing the head guard.
This guard leader is not the one who led the wolf hunt last time. This one is clearly more capable, more resourceful, and more ruthless than the last one.
The two stared at each other for a long time. In fact, Zhou Laoda's heart had been pounding for a long time, but he kept putting on a brave face and appeared calm on the surface, but he was panicking inside.
Fortunately, the other party did not want to waste time continuing the stalemate. Money was not a problem, but he dared not joke with the young master's life. If the master found out that he had wasted time in the forest, he could apologize with his death.
"Name your price." The head guard glanced at Boss Zhou with disdain.
Old Zhou pretended not to see the mocking look in his eyes and said dryly, "I won't give you the herbs. We'll go back to the village tomorrow, and I'll personally hand the herbs over to Master Song then."
Boss Zhou didn't trust these guards. He felt that they were too violent and that if he entrusted them with the herbs, they might kill him at any time.
Moreover, he was carrying wild ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms, and he needed to rely on the power of these guards to prevent the officials from robbing him of all his valuables after he returned to the village.
A flash of murderous intent crossed the head guard's eyes. He lowered his head to conceal his emotions and said in a deep voice, "That's not impossible, but we need to see the 'Golden Serpent Scales' first."
“Okay.” Old Zhou put down his basket and pulled out a herb with leaves that looked like scales, about half a knee tall, from a pile of herbs.
I didn't look closely before, but now that I see it, the roots and stems of the herb really do look a bit like a snake, and the leaves resemble snake scales. It turns out this herb is called 'Golden Snake Scales'.
To be honest, Zhou Laoda had no use for this stuff; he could give it to Master Song. However, these guards were arrogant and didn't care about the lives of the villagers. Zhou Laoda was furious and said he would only give them the herbs if they were paid.
After Zhou Laoda took out the herbs, the head guard looked at the doctors from the Song family in the group. Both doctors nodded, indicating that these were indeed the 'Golden Snake Scales' they had been searching for.
The head guard breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that it was confirmed. In any case, the mission was completed, and he could give an explanation to his master.
The headless snake's body was taken away by the doctor from the Song family, who said it could be used as medicine. Boss Zhou didn't say anything about it.
So that night, the guards of the Song family all slept together with Zhou Laoda and the others. Zhou Laoda was surrounded in the middle and was quite depressed for a while. However, he was always good at self-regulation and soon he collapsed and slept soundly until the next morning.
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