Feng Jiu’er was surprised to discover that their little Qinchun was blushing.

“Qinchun?” She looked at Yue Qinchun, her fine brows arching.

Yue Qinchun’s eyes darted, and meeting Feng Jiu’er’s gaze, she suddenly snapped to her senses.

“Jiu’er, I didn’t, I’m not…, I…”

“I see how it is.” Qiao Mu nodded solemnly. “This girl has clearly been bewitched by Feng Yinan’s good looks.”

“Jiu’er, think about it—when you needed help most, and a man dropped down from the sky to save you, wouldn’t you fall for him too?”

“Qinchun, your sister Qiao Mu’s got it right, doesn’t she?”

Qiao Mu felt that since she called Tang Xiaohua “Sister Hua,” and Tang Xiaohua’s daughter called her “Sister Qiao Mu” in return, she wasn’t really losing out in the exchange.

Yue Qinchun, her hidden feelings exposed, found herself momentarily speechless.

Feng Jiu’er wanted very much to say that no shortage of people had saved her life over the years, and she couldn’t very well have fallen for every single one of them.

Well, alright, fine—the man who’d appeared at that particular time really had been quite handsome!

Thinking of the War God Prince swooping down from above to rescue her from dire straits on more than one occasion, a faint, happy smile spread across her face.

“Qiao Mu, stop teasing me.” Yue Qinchun covered her face, turning away from the other two.

“I just wanted to repay Brother Feng, nothing… more than that.”

Her expression made it very hard to believe she hadn’t thought more about it.

Such a cute little thing!

Feng Jiu’er pulled herself back from her thoughts and looked at Yue Qinchun with a faint smile.

She seemed to have forgotten that she herself wasn’t all that much older than the “little thing” she was thinking about.

“Yinan hasn’t taken a wife, and he has no betrothed either. He doesn’t say much around people.” Feng Jiu’er said.

“Right, he likes communicating with animals.” Qiao Mu nodded in agreement. “He can understand what animals say, quite a skill.”

“Really?” Yue Qinchun turned to look at the two of them.

“Really.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Today, didn’t he summon those bees?”

“And I also saw two little squirrels keeping watch outside, plus a horse—they’re probably his family too, following along on their own.”

“Imagine, there’s such a remarkable person in this world, able to communicate with animals?” Yue Qinchun rolled over, cupping her face in both hands.

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er turned to her side, looking up at the top of the tent.

“But I don’t know how Yinan feels—you can try testing the waters yourself, I’m not getting involved in this.”

Matters of the heart couldn’t be forced; she’d rather not end up making things worse by interfering.

“It’s fine, I’ll ask Yinan about it for you tomorrow.” Qiao Mu patted her chest.

“Qiao Mu, Jiu’er, I really am not…” Yue Qinchun bit her lip, her face flushing again.

“Don’t be shy! If you like him, go grab him—otherwise if someone snatches him away, you’ll definitely regret it.” Qiao Mu arched an eyebrow.

“Listen to your sister Qiao Mu, tomorrow we’ll go propose, I’ll back you up.”

Feng Jiu’er couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.

The danger had passed safely, and she was feeling a bit tired now—whatever else needed sorting out could wait until tomorrow.

Feng Jiu’er closed her eyes, and the tent didn’t immediately fall quiet.

Qiao Mu and Yue Qinchun carried on chattering for a good while before both finally drifted off to sleep.

The next day, bright and early, Yang Sheng and Feng Yinan had already prepared breakfast.

After everyone had eaten, they got ready to move on.

“Jiu’er, let’s just forget about that matter.” Yue Qinchun said, looking at Feng Jiu’er before being lifted onto the carriage.

Feng Yinan, who was carrying her, heard her words and paused his steps.

“I didn’t actually suffer any loss, and I don’t want to hold everyone up. Jiu’er, let’s just head straight into the mountains.” Yue Qinchun continued.

She didn’t want to see those bandits again, but more importantly, she didn’t want to delay everyone’s important business on her account.

Yue Qinchun looked at Feng Jiu’er, and the others looked at her too.

In the end, Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Alright then, we’ll deal with that matter another time. Let’s handle the situation in the mountains first.”

“Jiu’er, thank you!” Yue Qinchun pressed her lips together and looked up at Feng Yinan.

“Brother Feng, you can put me down, I can get in myself.”

“No need.” Feng Yinan carried her and stepped onto the carriage.

Once everything was packed, the group set off again.

With Feng Yinan leading the way, even though bandits appeared on the road from time to time, they avoided any direct confrontations.

After crossing several mountains, a stockade village appeared ahead.

“My lord, this should be the place Master Lei mentioned.” Yang Sheng said, coming up to Feng Jiang with a map in hand.

“Let me go ask first, how about it?”

Feng Jiang looked at the stockade in the distance for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, be careful.”

“Mm.” Yang Sheng nodded, put away the map, and rode forward.

Feng Jiu’er rode up alongside Feng Jiang.

“That young man isn’t bad! Pity he works for Lei Shenbao.”

“Yang Sheng knows good from evil. The only reason he follows Lei Shenbao is because of his father.” Feng Jiang said flatly.

“So, do you think this fellow would be willing to join us on our path?” Feng Jiu’er looked at the man beside her, frowning slightly.

“We can’t take the risk.” Feng Jiang turned his head to glance at her.

“Of course I know that.” Feng Jiu’er nodded, withdrawing her gaze. “Just wondering, that’s all.”

Feng Jiang said nothing more.

The group looked toward the entrance of the stockade, and soon, Feng Jiang led the people from inside out to meet them.

“Lord Bao, greetings!”

“Lord Bao, greetings!”

The two who came out with Feng Jiang were an older man and a young one, who looked somewhat alike.

“Lord Bao, I’m the head of this place, Zhang Yanghong.” The older man cupped his hands toward Feng Jiang again.

“This is my son, Zhang Zhicheng.”

“Greetings!” Feng Jiang cupped his hands in return.

“You’ve all worked hard these past few days. I’ve already prepared food and drink, please, this way! Let’s sit and talk over a meal.” Old Master Zhang Yanghong gestured with his hand.

“Good.” Feng Jiang nodded and looked back at the people behind him.

The group followed the father and son into the stockade.

The place wasn’t very large, perhaps a dozen or so houses of varying sizes.

The houses were arranged in a large circle on the grassland, surrounded on all sides by sturdy fencing, sturdy enough to keep out most wild beasts.

Behind the stockade lay more mountains and forest, deep, with no visible end.

Along the way, the old master chatted and laughed pleasantly, seeming quite easy to get along with.

Compared to the old master, the young master was rather quiet, barely speaking at all.

“We’ve been here over half a year now, everything’s been peaceful, but recently, batch after batch of our venomous creatures have been dying off—it’s truly troubling.”

Bringing up the matter at hand, the old master’s face filled with regret.

“If this hadn’t happened, the batch of venomous creatures we’ve been raising could have been made into medicine before the New Year.”

“Now, with this problem suddenly arising, we don’t even know if the creatures can still be used.”

“Mister Bao, you know as well as anyone that His Majesty’s venomous creatures are meant to make the finest medicine—not the slightest error can be tolerated.”

“Such healthy little creatures, and we don’t even know how they died. Several of our pharmacists have all failed to find the cause.”

“If we can’t deliver the venomous creatures as scheduled before the New Year, that would mean serious trouble.”

“I hear there are no shortage of people in the palace who already have opinions about our lord. I don’t want to put our lord in a difficult position either—it’s worrying.”

As the old master spoke, his eyes grew red around the rims.