The mysterious man didn't rush to answer. After taking Xihe through the cave, he brought her to a cell in the heart of the mountain. The person in the cell lay on the ground, barely breathing, his hair and teeth falling out to varying degrees, and even his skin looked like it would blow away in the wind.
The mysterious man opened the cell, took Xihe's hand and let her touch him, then explained: "The previous medicine was quite potent. None of those who tested it could survive three days. This is considered a long time, but it is also useless."
Xihe pulled his hand back and wiped it on his clothes: "I said, the method of immortality is just an empty idea of the old man."
The mysterious man chuckled upon hearing this and slowly lifted Xihe's chin with his hand. He slowly approached her and whispered, "I also said that your existence makes this idea possible. Who could have known that you, who are already sixty years old like an ordinary person, would have such a face."
When the mysterious man said this, even Xihe herself was stunned. In all her memories so far, she had spent most of her time with medicine. She couldn't see the passage of time, nor could she see the traces of time left on her body. Naturally, she had never thought about age. "Have I lived this long?"
The mysterious man replied, "The ancient tomb is pitch black and its age is unknown. It's normal for you not to know. Just stay here and study your medicine. As long as you behave, I can consider letting Black Crow take you away and forgive him for what he did."
"...", Black Crow, the mysterious man's condition, was undoubtedly what Xihe wanted most at the moment. Only when he was safe, could all her subsequent plans be given meaning.
Seeing the expression that suddenly disappeared from Xihe's face, the mysterious man nodded in satisfaction: "This is the expression my medicine girl should have."
Emotions are a deadly poison to a medicine girl. Emotions can cause her to hesitate when testing or refining medicine, and with these concerns, her existence becomes meaningless.
After the mysterious man brought Xihe to the place where the medicine was refined, he instructed the guards, "Take good care of her. If anything goes wrong, bring her head to me."
"Yes, sir."
He had specially arranged for these guards to be transferred from the ancient tomb. The ancient tomb was mostly populated by deaf-mutes, and these guards were responsible for guarding and transporting supplies. Although Xihe hadn't had much contact with them, they were still familiar footsteps she had heard before. "These guards are responsible for your safety. The guards from the ancient tomb will be here soon. With someone familiar by your side, you'll feel more at ease."
Xihe just nodded slightly, without saying much, and walked into the pill room with the guards and started his "work".
Seeing that Xihe's arrangements were almost complete, the mysterious man walked through the cave and arrived at a thatched hut at the entrance to the forest. This was Su Zhirou's temporary shelter.
Su Zhirou had lived here for a while, and although her movements were restricted, it was better than being homeless. The mysterious man had come to see her for one reason: the Su family's heirloom jade pendant.
"Give it to me."
Seeing that he had nothing in his hands, Su Zhirou asked with a hint of dissatisfaction in her heart, "...Then did you bring what I wanted?"
"These should be enough for you to live a life of ease and comfort," the mysterious man snapped his fingers, and then two people came in cautiously, carrying a large box.
Su Zhirou couldn't wait to open the big box. After carefully examining the dazzling gold, silver and jewelry, she readily took off the jade pendant hanging around her neck and handed it over: "With these, this thing has no value to me anymore. You can take it."
The mysterious man took the jade cicada, which was about the size of his pinky finger, in his hand and smiled an indescribable smile. "This jade cicada comes from the Li family, the same Li family that has been friendly with yours for generations. You are all much more cruel than me. You have forced people's families to be torn apart for a small thing."
The mysterious man's words were clearly meant for Su Zhirou. If it were the past, she would have argued with him, perhaps even made him swallow his words. But things were different now. When it came to survival, all so-called noble virtues and instincts had to be sidelined.
After Su Zhirou closed the box, she calmly asked, "...Can I leave now?"
The mysterious man took a step back and told the guard at the door, "Come on, send Miss Su away."
The mysterious man was a man who valued his promises. He had promised to let Su Zhirou leave, and he would definitely let her go. As long as she didn't show up and ruin his plans later, the box of money and her life were of no significance to him.
Su Zhirou's reappearance in Qingliang Valley and the events that followed are all later stories. Tang Chen, whose nerves were triggered by Xihe's disappearance, left Qingliang Valley amid everyone's concerns and returned to the small courtyard in Qinghe County that she had carefully managed.
In order to take care of Tang Chen more conveniently, Wang Yanzhou also packed all the daily necessities into the small courtyard. For a moment, this residence, which was not small to begin with, became quite crowded.
After Chen Xin finished his work at Liuxiang Tavern, he thought that he had finally got some free time, so he wanted to take Liang Shuyi out shopping to buy some jewelry and new clothes. After looking around the store but didn't see anyone, he came to Tang Chen's courtyard.
As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Wang Yanzhou alone rummaging through the radish strips that Tang Chen had cut yesterday and were drying in the sun. Wang Yanzhou looked up and saw Chen Xin coming. Before he could say anything, he said, "The two of them took a lot of things with them to Qinglong Village. They probably haven't arrived yet."
After saying that, Wang Yanzhou did not forget to complain: "She never wants to be idle for even a moment all day long. Sometimes I really don't know what she is thinking about."
Chen Xin rolled up her sleeves to help Wang Yanzhou collect the cups drying on the wall, and said, "Master, this woman's heart is as deep as the sea, it's impossible to guess. We have no better way than to spoil her."
Wang Yanzhou certainly understood this, and he was genuinely worried. The doctor had previously said that she was worrying too much and wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Poor sleep would affect the health of her internal organs, and if they weren't, wouldn't that be fatal? "Ah. Any news from Qinghe?"
Chen Xin replied, "We've already sent people to infiltrate the Shangguan Mansion. Miss Shangguan has returned to the capital not long ago. I guess we'll get some news after a while."
Wang Yanzhou sighed slightly and said, "It's not convenient for us to move around in the capital, so we can only rely on her."
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