Yang Houcheng rubbed his nose.

Miss Li’s way of speaking was too breathtaking—his train of thought couldn’t quite keep up!

“Will it be this serious?” Xie Shengxiao bit her lip and couldn’t help glancing at the door.

Although she hadn’t been with these girls for very long, because they had experienced the most desperate moments together and had barely escaped with their lives, having someone now facing death before their eyes, saying she wasn’t heartbroken would be a lie.

Several young women all showed expressions of panic and fear.

“I still need to make a definitive diagnosis.”

“Miss Li, in that case, you absolutely can’t go in there. How dangerous would that be?” Yang Houcheng blocked her path.

Chi Can glanced at Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan directly ordered, “Yeluo, first knock out that young lady inside.”

“Understood.” Yeluo kicked open the door decisively. Before the crazed woman could lunge forward, he delivered a hand chop that knocked her unconscious.

The women covered their mouths and looked fearfully at the expressionless little guard, all stepping back in unison.

“General, mission accomplished.”

Shao Mingyuan nodded and cautioned while facing Qiao Zhao’s direction: “Be careful.”

Knowing the other party couldn’t see, Qiao Zhao still smiled slightly at him: “I will be.”

She walked in and gestured for Yeluo to carry the unconscious woman to the bed, then bent down to examine her.

After quite a while, Qiao Zhao straightened up and walked outside.

“How is it?” Xie Shengxiao asked.

Qiao Zhao shook her head: “Unfortunately, it’s indeed a mad dog bite.”

“So she really can’t be saved?”

“The medicinal herbs on the ship aren’t complete. I can only brew her a few doses of purgative decoction to clear the stagnant heat and do what I humanly can.” A girl in the prime of her youth who had just escaped from a tiger’s den, contracting this disease with little time left, Qiao Zhao’s mood was equally heavy. Her gaze slowly swept over everyone before finally settling on those young women.

“Since she was bitten by the mad dog, during the time you’ve been together, has she scratched or bitten any of you?”

“No, no!” Perhaps fearing they would contract the same disease and be despised by Qiao Zhao and the others, the women competed to answer.

Qiao Zhao looked toward Xie Shengxiao.

In this situation, some people probably wouldn’t admit it even if they had been bitten by the girl inside.

Xie Shengxiao understood and nodded to Qiao Zhao.

Only then did Qiao Zhao breathe a sigh of relief and comforted the women: “That’s good. From today on, everyone must not approaching this area. If you have any needs, you can tell Miss Xie, and Miss Xie can then tell us.”

“Thank you, miss! Thank you, miss!”

“I’ll go prepare the medicine.” Qiao Zhao glanced at Shao Mingyuan. “Brother Shao, you all go wait for me in the hall first. I’ll come over after I finish preparing the medicine.”

This meant there were matters to discuss.

Shao Mingyuan and the other two returned to the guest hall and waited for a while before Qiao Zhao entered with Xie Shengxiao.

“You finished brewing it so quickly?” Yang Houcheng asked casually.

Shao Mingyuan frowned.

How could it be that fast? He felt like he had been waiting for ages.

Qiao Zhao explained: “A’Zhu is watching it.”

Chi Can tapped the square table with his finger and asked: “Li San, what do you want to say?”

“Please sit, Miss Xie.” Qiao Zhao found a random seat and sat down. “I want to discuss the matter of a mad dog bite with you all.”

“That young lady can still be saved?” Yang Houcheng blinked.

Qiao Zhao sighed: “There’s no saving her.”

Yang Houcheng looked completely puzzled: “Then what’s there to talk about?”

Chi Can gave him a withering look: “If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute!”

“I don’t want to be a screen.” Yang Houcheng muttered.

They were allowed to chat about romantic affairs in front of him, but he wasn’t allowed to speak properly?

What did being a screen mean? Qiao Zhao looked at Chi Can in confusion.

Chi Can smiled without changing expression: “Don’t mind him. He might have been bitten by a mad dog, too.”

Yang Houcheng was furious: “Who was bitten by a mad dog? If anyone was bitten, it was by you!”

Chi Can sneered: “With your thick skin and coarse flesh, could I even bite through?”

Xie Shengxiao, sitting to the side without speaking, silently twitched the corner of her mouth.

Seeing the two were about to start quarreling, Shao Mingyuan held his forehead: “Stop fooling around. Whether you can bite through or not, you can verify that later. For now, can we please listen to Zhaozhao talk about serious matters?”

The two glared at each other before giving up.

Miss Qiao silently thought: Thank goodness the man she liked was relatively normal.

Xie Shengxiao raised an eyebrow.

Zhaozhao?

Marquis Guanjun was addressing Miss Li this way in front of everyone?

Didn’t such an intimate form of address seem somewhat improper?

Qiao Zhao continued: “Mad dogs have appeared on Mingfeng Island. If those pirates haven’t realized the severity of the problem, then it’s very likely that others have been bitten as well.”

Yang Houcheng’s eyes lit up: “So we can defeat the enemy without fighting?”

“Chongshan, that’s not how ‘defeating the enemy without fighting’ is used.” Shao Mingyuan coughed lightly as a reminder.

Qiao Zhao shook her head: “The current situation on Mingfeng Island is hard to say. If someone who was bitten developed the disease quickly, then there should be chaos there now. If the bitten people haven’t developed the disease, there should be no changes on the island at the moment. I’m telling you this to remind you that when we reach Mingfeng Island, be careful not to have physical contact with the people on the island. If anyone is bitten by animals, you must tell me immediately.”

Chi Can raised an eyebrow: “If someone is already unlucky enough to be bitten, what use would telling you be?”

“If medicinal soup is taken immediately after being bitten, it can prevent the onset of disease.” Qiao Zhao explained.

“Alright, we’ll remember.” Shao Mingyuan said.

Qiao Zhao looked at him: “We?”

This phrasing was somewhat interesting.

“Zhaozhao, when the time comes, you’ll wait on our ship while I take my guards and use the pirates’ ship to land on the island, catching them off guard.” Shao Mingyuan explained.

Qiao Zhao hesitated for a moment, then nodded: “Alright.”

In this area, she couldn’t be of help, so at least she shouldn’t drag him down.

“Tingquan, no wonder you sent personal guards to clean up the pirates’ ship—you had this planned all along.” Yang Houcheng sighed, then became excited: “Can I land on the island with you?”

Seeing his friend frown, Yang Houcheng quickly said: “Tingquan, I’m at least a grown man with decent martial arts skills. You can’t shield us from everything and make me hide like a woman, can you?”

Upon hearing this, Chi Can’s face darkened.

Could this bastard speak like a human being? Hiding behind Tingquan made one a woman? He was perfectly happy standing behind Tingquan—so what?

Before Chi Can could explode, Xie Shengxiao’s face darkened slightly as she asked: “Does Young Master Yang have opinions about women?”

“Huh? No!” Yang Houcheng was completely bewildered.

He wasn’t even familiar with this young lady—why was she talking to him?

“Since you don’t, why do you say women should hide behind men?” The more Xie Shengxiao looked at Yang Houcheng, the more displeased he became with her eyes. Restraining her anger, she said to Shao Mingyuan: “Your Lordship, I also want to land on the island with you.”

Last time landing on the island as cargo was simply a shameful humiliation. This time, she wanted to properly settle accounts with those pirates.

Before Shao Mingyuan could speak, Yang Houcheng said, “Miss Xie, you should stay with Miss Li.”

Please don’t add to the chaos, okay?