Before anyone could ask why, they saw a light mist rising from the woods in front of them.
One of the guards exclaimed, "Oh no, it's miasma!"
Another person said, "It really is miasma. If we just go in like this, we'll definitely not make it out alive! Maybe we should see if we can take a detour..."
While everyone was trying to come up with a solution, He Jiuniang remained silent, trying to figure out what it was.
Miasma is something that only exists in tropical rainforests. This is not a tropical rainforest, so the occurrence of this situation can only be due to human activity.
Poison gas—this was something He Jiuniang was familiar with.
There was no time to explain, and she didn't want to say more. She took out a medicine bottle from her bosom, poured out two pills and swallowed them herself. Then she threw them to the guards and said, "Two pills each. One of you stay here with the rest of the medicine to help the others. The rest of you, follow me."
Having said that, he didn't give the guards a chance to speak and plunged into the woods.
Everyone was still a little worried, but seeing that He Jiuniang had already gone inside, they couldn't care less about anything else and could only leave the least skilled person on the road to wait for the reinforcements.
However, after walking for a while, everyone's doubts were dispelled. It turned out that the medicine given by He Jiuniang was really effective, and they did not experience any discomfort along the way.
When Lu Baichuan led a group of people to catch up, He Jiuniang and the others had already left for quite some time. Only one guard had found a cool place to sit and wait for them.
Upon seeing Lu Baichuan and the others, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Sir, we encountered miasma. Doctor He asked me to stay and deliver medicine to you!"
Lou Chong still had some doubts about the authenticity of the medicine, but Lu Baichuan had already taken it and led his men into the woods first.
Lou Chong slapped his thigh, popped the pill into his mouth, and followed.
At this time, He Jiuniang and her group had already laid an ambush a mile outside the Taoist temple.
The path looked close, but in reality, they had to climb several mountains to get there, and in order to avoid being discovered by the people on the mountain, they had to hide their tracks repeatedly.
The sun has already set, and it will be dark in half an hour at most.
The consensus was to act after dark, so that the operation could be less dangerous and innocent people would not be harmed.
“Innocent?” He Jiu Niang sneered. “The forests around this Taoist temple have been poisoned to create miasma, just to prevent unauthorized people from entering. This is enough to prove that the entire Taoist temple is problematic, not just a group of people.”
The entire Taoist temple had a strange atmosphere, and He Jiuniang didn't believe there were any kind people inside.
However, if it were just Gou'er alone, she could go in and rescue him right now. But since there are other children involved, and she doesn't know how many, she still has to be careful.
"I'll go in first to scout out where the children are being held. You all stay here and wait for me. Don't do anything rash until I get back."
As He Jiuniang was about to leave, one of the guards grabbed her. Realizing what was happening, she quickly let go and hurriedly explained, "Doctor He, our master instructed us to protect you. Let us do the scouting..."
“No need,” He Jiuniang interrupted, raising her hand. “My skills are no worse than yours. You two deliberately check around to see if there are any of their men left. Deal with it as quickly as possible and don’t make any noise. Also, once I’m sure it’s safe inside, I’ll fire a red signal flare. When you see it, go in and help bring the children out.”
After saying that, he quickly disappeared, and before anyone could see clearly, he had already crossed the high wall of the Taoist temple and entered.
Everyone was stunned. It proved that Dr. He, a delicate woman, was indeed more skilled than these grown men!
"Dr. He's skills are absolutely amazing! She's beautiful, a great doctor, and so skilled in martial arts. Her ex-husband really didn't deserve to die!"
"Yes, it's been many years since I've seen such a heroic and valiant woman!"
"I heard that she started her family's ready-to-wear business single-handedly, and those styles that were snapped up as soon as they were released were all made by her."
"Who says otherwise? She also developed the recipe for Lu Hei Ya (a type of braised duck). Is there anything she can't do?"
"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough! What time is it? Why are you still gossiping? Be careful, didn't Dr. He just say to check if there are any suspects around and take care of them!"
...
He Jiuniang gained some knowledge after entering the Taoist temple. It seemed to be a proper place for Taoist practice. Every now and then, a few young Taoist priests would hurry by, as if they were busy with something very important.
He Jiuniang quietly followed behind two of them, listening to what they were saying.
Two young Taoist priests were carrying food boxes, seemingly delivering food to someone, chatting as they walked.
"My senior brothers said they were lucky today, catching about ten. Once they have enough boys and girls, they can start refining immortal pills!"
"Do you think we can succeed this time? Can we really live forever after taking the elixir?"
"Stop dreaming. Even if the elixir were made, it wouldn't be something you or I could afford. It would definitely have to be given to that person first!"
"So what? We're still young, there's no rush. If that elixir really works, we can always refine it ourselves later!"
"That's true!"
...
From their conversation, He Jiuniang learned that these people needed to gather eighty-one children, but they weren't enough yet.
In other words, the children who have been arrested are currently safe.
Upon hearing this news, He Jiuniang breathed a huge sigh of relief; heaven knows how terrified she was that something might have happened to Gou'er.
Fortunately, the two young Taoist priests happened to be there to deliver food to the children. Before they even got close, He Jiu Niang heard many children crying, wailing and crying, which was quite heartbreaking.
The two young Taoist priests opened the door and went in. Seeing a group of children crying in a panic, they were immediately annoyed. They slammed the food box on the table and said irritably, "Stop crying and eat. If you cry again, I'll make an example of you!"
Those crying the loudest were the ones who were just arrested today. There were many others nearby whose voices had been ruined by crying and who couldn't make a sound. When they saw the two of them, they would only hide back in fear.
Among them, only one little boy remained relatively calm. Upon seeing the food, he was the first to obediently step forward and collect his share.
Even from a distance, He Jiuniang could still spot Gou'er at a glance.
He didn't cry or make a fuss; he even helped comfort the other children.
That kind of strong mental fortitude is truly remarkable.
He Jiuniang narcissistically thought that this must be inherited from her.
The two young Taoist priests rarely saw such a sensible child as Gou'er, so they generously gave him two steamed buns.
After scaring the children, the two young Taoist priests left. He Jiuniang quickly passed by and threw a small piece of paper through the small window, which landed right at Gou'er's feet.
The dog picked it up and saw it was its mother's handwriting: "Don't be afraid, little dog, Mommy's coming to save you."
The dog suddenly looked towards the window and saw his mother. His eyes lit up immediately.
He Jiuniang made a shushing gesture, signaling him to calm down.
The dog nodded emphatically, then happily ate the steamed bun in its hand, not forgetting to comfort a little girl who was crying bitterly beside it: "Don't cry, we'll definitely get out of here!"
The little girl rubbed her eyes and asked, "Aren't you scared? They're all bad people!"
“I’m scared,” the dog replied, “but crying won’t help.”
...
He Jiuniang was proud of her son's thoughtfulness. After confirming that he was alright for the time being, she decided to first check the terrain of the Taoist temple so that she could make a breakout later.
In addition, we should also find out who is in charge of this Taoist temple.
He Jiuniang went to other places and met a man on the beam of what looked like the main courtyard.
The man wore a mask and was dressed in a similar style of black outfit to Qin Jian. He Jiu Niang recognized him at a glance as the injured brother Qin Jian had mentioned.
Since he was one of their own, she didn't bother to hide herself. She walked over openly, patted his shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "You must be Brother Sun? I just checked on them, and the children are all fine. I came out to see what was going on at the Taoist temple. Have you gotten any useful information?"
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