Chapter 57

Chapter 57

The precautions around Shen Family Gully and the Shen family's own vigilance paid off.

Over the next three days, they caught several suspicious characters.

Some were skulking around the vegetable patches and the Shen family's fields, while others prowled the woods near the Earth God Temple.

These were all spots the village kept a close eye on, and with so many folks around, they got caught fast.

When they were caught and asked what they were up to, every single one clammed up and wouldn't say a word.

In the end, since they hadn't actually done anything wrong, they just got a warning to stay away from Shen Family Gully and were let go.

Half a month later, the cold was completely gone. Spring brought warmth and blossoms, and everyone traded their thick cotton shoes and padded coats for light cloth clothes.

Shen Song was driving an ox cart alone down the main road to town to deliver vegetables when a gang of masked men blocked his way.

They were holding knives and charging at him with murderous intent.

Some of those blades swung at Eight and a Half Taels, others at Shen Song.

Just as Shen Song was about to unleash his Superpower, a series of whistling sounds cut through the air nearby. After a barrage of muffled thuds as blades sank into flesh, the whole group froze mid-swing, then crumpled to the ground one by one.

From that day on, Shen Song noticed that the trees around the house, the bushes, and the rooftops at night now had three times as many hidden guards as before.

Every day when he went out to deliver vegetables, someone was tailing him.

When he finished up and headed home, those people would blend back into the group hiding around his house.

Shen Song knew full well these were all sent by Xie Zhiyu to protect his family.

They didn't want him to notice, so Shen Song played dumb.

But late at night, when he heard the sounds of fighting, he'd want to rush out and shout to them, asking how Xie Zhiyu and Qi Yuanjing were doing.

There was a lot he could afford not to know.

All he wanted was to know they were safe.

In the end, Shen Song never asked. Xie Zhiyu had said that as long as he was okay, everything would be fine.

Ever since that incident at Jufu Restaurant, Shen Song had been extra careful to protect himself and stay on his guard.

With hidden guards watching from the shadows, not only was Shen Song safe, but the whole Shen family and everyone in Shen Family Gully were protected too.

Even by May, when the summer harvest started, Shen Song still had no news of Xie Zhiyu or Qi Yuanjing.

If it weren't for the constant presence of those hidden figures he could sense, Shen Song would've thought Xie Zhiyu and Qi Yuanjing had never existed.

Shen Family Gully had its most bountiful summer harvest ever.

Every household in the gully reaped a bumper crop—except for the few families who'd previously targeted the Shens.

From the moment the wheat went in the ground, everyone had been hoping. After the sprouts came up in spring, they tended the fields with even more care, not daring to slack off for a second. In the later stages, the fields seemed to change overnight.

Having worked the land since they were kids, the villagers knew exactly how their wheat was doing.

From the moment it sprouted, they knew this year would be a bumper crop.

Months of hard work finally paid off.

Aside from those few families whose yields stayed about the same as usual, every other household saw a bump of around thirty percent.

Joy puts a spring in your step—nearly everyone in Shen Family Gully was all smiles.

This year's wheat harvest was abundant, and the kernels were especially good, sure to fetch a nice price.

Several families had already started looking for matchmakers to arrange marriages for their kids of marrying age.

The old Shen couple started getting the same idea, wanting to join the villagers in talking to matchmakers.

Earlier, they'd been busy with the shop, then the fields, and then worrying about what the Chen family might pull next—they just didn't have the headspace for their kids' marriages.

Now that the exhausting summer harvest was over, it was time to think about the kids' futures.

Not just Shen Song, but Shen Jue and Shen Lin too.

Three kids—one seventeen, two nineteen.

They weren't getting any younger.

This year, Shen Family Gully had a great harvest. After the summer harvest wrapped up, the incense at the Earth God Temple was burning strong, with tons of offerings left behind.

There were homemade steamed buns and stuffed buns, cooked white rice, and store-bought pastries.

Whatever they were, they were the best things the village households could offer.

The offerings would sit for a day, and the next day people would go burn incense and take the previous day's offerings back. After the gods had eaten, it was their turn.

Otherwise, leaving them out would just be a waste of food.

People who worked the land couldn't stand to see that kind of waste.

The Earth God sure wouldn't want grain wasted either.

The whole village was busy hulling wheat, hoping to get a better price.

The Shen family didn't plan to sell this year's wheat. Now that they'd built a granary at home, storing the grain was a lot easier.

Earlier, they'd sent New Year's gifts to the restaurants and taverns they worked with, including rice grown on their own land. After tasting it, everyone raved about how delicious and fragrant it was, and they all placed orders for the Shen family's grain.

Selling to grain shops was no different from selling to restaurants and taverns.

But selling to restaurants and taverns got a higher price, and they were long-time partners—so the Shens naturally preferred them.

Everyone in Shen Family Gully was lining up to thresh wheat, but the Shen family just delivered the raw grain straight to the restaurants and taverns, letting them thresh and mill it themselves.

The truth was, the Shen family had no one to spare for the work, and hiring help was out of the question—every household was busy with their own stuff.

As he was heading out, Shen Song noticed several bamboo baskets outside the fenced yard, filled with pastries, pork, brown sugar, red dates, and such.

These had been showing up every day for a while now. No one in the family accepted them, and the next day they'd be replaced with fresh ones.

Liu Chunxia told Shen Song not to worry about them—they were all from those few families.

Shen Song didn't pay them any mind.

Anyone who could make his parents, brothers, sisters, sisters-in-law, and brothers-in-law hate them so much that they wouldn't take even a scrap from them must have done something truly unforgivable.

The family didn't ask him to use his abilities to make those people's land barren—just treating them as if they didn't exist was already being kind to them.

Today's deliveries included not just vegetables, but also wheat that hadn't been husked yet.

The restaurants each ordered one dan (a unit of measure) first, while the taverns ordered two dan.

Shen Erkang and the others delivered the same amount to restaurants in other towns.

The several taverns in Mingqing County had been shipping everything out by water for months now, ever since the vegetables in the family's fields grew.

Shen Song could see business was going well from the fact that their orders increased month after month.

They all sent people to pick up vegetables at the Shen family's vegetable shop in the county, no longer needing to go to Shen Family Hollow.

They were all well-informed, knowing that the Shen family's vegetables weren't only delicious—their grain was excellent too.

Knowing the Shen family had finished their summer harvest, they took the opportunity while picking up vegetables to mention in the shop that they wanted to buy wheat from the Shen family.

Shen Yian had known how to read for a few months now, and under Chi Jiu's watchful eye, he kept track of who wanted how much wheat.

His handwriting was still unrefined, but there were no mistakes or omissions.

Late at night, Shen Song was sleeping soundly when he heard the sound of a window being smashed. The wooden window dangled pitifully on its frame, swaying slightly, as a black-clad figure climbed in through it. The intruder moved so fast that by the time Shen Song opened his eyes, he felt someone grabbing his arm and pulling him up.

The Shadow Guard Chief said hastily, "Come with me quickly—bandits have entered the village to raid it, and there are many of them."

Chi Jiu and Shen Sanqiu woke up too. They had no time to ask who the man was—upon hearing those words, their eyes widened in shock, and they hurriedly dressed themselves.

Shen Song was wide awake in an instant. The ruckus from the west room was loud, and the old Shen couple in the east room, along with everyone else in the side rooms, heard the noise and got up to check what was happening.

Zhao Lu reacted the fastest. He strode out, opening the door while shouting with his booming voice, "Xiao Ba, what's going on in your room?!"

The moment the door opened, Zhao Lu tensed up, instinctively reaching for his waist, only to find his bow and arrows weren't there.

Ever since moving to the foot of the mountain, he'd stopped carrying them on him—they hung on the wall instead.

Outside the door stood at least thirty people, all dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks. They were tall and sturdy, clearly agile, all highly skilled martial artists.

Shen Bing was about to get out of bed and come over, but Zhao Lu blocked the door with his body, frowning deeply. "Wife, bring me my bow and arrows."

By then, Shen Zhun and the others had also come out and seen the people in the courtyard.

"Who are you people!" Shen Jue blocked the door, shielding Shen Lin, Shen Yian, and Shen Erkang behind him, and stared at the group in the courtyard warily.

At that moment, the main hall door opened, and another person emerged, also dressed in black and wearing a mask.

This man wasn't as tall or burly, but it was clear he was trained in martial arts.

His gaze landed on Shen Jue, and he let out a dismissive scoff.

Shen Jue glared back at him.

Meanwhile, Shen Song and Chi Jiu helped the frightened elderly couple out. Shen Song quickly said, "These are the people Xie Zhiyu sent to protect us. He said bandits are coming to our village and we need to leave quickly."

Shen Song's words made both the Shen family and all the shadow guards turn to look at him.

The Shadow Guard Chief who'd climbed in through the window asked, "You knew we existed?"

"I've known all along," Shen Song said.

The Shadow Guard Chief racked his brain, wondering where he and his men might have been exposed, but they had been extremely careful—there was no way they'd been found out.

Still, this wasn't the time to dwell on that. The most important thing was getting the Shen family to safety.

There were a lot of them coming—not just from Tiger Head Mountain, but also from Quan Mountain.

The bandits from two mountains joining forces was unusual.

Especially the bandits from Tiger Head Mountain—they'd been suppressed after Lord Xie took office, and hadn't dared to come out at all for the entire past year.

Even this spring, they hadn't dared to come down to raid villages.

Suddenly acting during the summer harvest, and even joining forces with the bandits from Quan Mountain—someone was likely pulling the strings.

The Shadow Guard Chief didn't dare let the Shen family take any risks. Upon receiving the news, he immediately set about evacuating them.

Shen Dashu's voice was tense as he asked, "If bandits are coming to raid the village, can we warn the villagers so they can run?"

The Shadow Guard Chief said, "We'll send people to notify the village. For now, your family needs to come with us."

The Shen family didn't hesitate. No one mentioned packing anything—they put on their clothes, slipped on their shoes, held their children close, and followed the shadow guards out of there.

The Shadow Guard Chief assigned two men to notify the village about the bandits. "Hurry and come right back."

"Yes, sir."

The shadow guards went to Shen Gaoshan's house.

They scared Shen Gaoshan's family half to death.

Upon learning that bandits were coming to raid the village, Shen Gaoshan was scared out of his wits.

The villagers had hiding places in the mountains. Tiger Head Mountain was vast, and the bandits' territory was far from where the villagers hid.

Unless they searched the mountain inch by inch, they'd never find them.

Everyone had experience hiding from bandits. Each household left a few things behind and took everything else they could carry.

Shen Gaoshan knew the shadow guards had been sent by the Shen family to warn him. Knowing the Shen family was safe, he didn't ask more questions and focused on getting the villagers out.

Everyone moved quickly. No torches were lit—they ran by moonlight toward the mountains.

The sound of horse hooves drew near to Shen Family Hollow.

The village was deathly quiet.

The two leading men frowned deeply. One of them had a knife scar across his left eye, and he said, annoyed, "Looks like word got out—everyone in the village has fled."

The other snorted coldly, unconcerned. "We weren't really here to pillage anyway. Whether they ran or not doesn't matter."

The scarred man rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter? The Shen family we were sent to kill has also vanished without a trace, and you say it doesn't matter?"

"We came fast. From when we received the surveillance report to when we arrived at the village wasn't a long time. The only place they could hide is the mountains. You're the boss of Tiger Head Mountain—aren't you familiar with it?"

The scarred man sneered. "Easy for you to say. Are you that familiar with Quan Mountain? The mountain's huge. People usually hide deep in it, not near the populated areas."

"They can't have gotten far," the Quan Mountain bandit leader said viciously. "Send men up the mountain to search. If that fails, burn the mountain down—I refuse to believe we can't smoke them out."

Hearing this, the scarred man glanced at him. Now he understood why the Quan Mountain county office had never been able to eliminate this man, and had even let him grow stronger and stronger—as long as no lives were lost, they turned a blind eye.

That's seriously ruthless.

But thinking of the gold promised once it was done, Scar-Eye steeled himself too.

"Hutou Mountain brothers, with me! Search the mountain!"

The bandits soon caught up with the folks from Shenjiagou.

Scar-Eye demanded to know where Shen Dashu's family was, but no one knew.

Everyone was either squatting or slumped on the ground—no matter how they were questioned, they just shook their heads and said they didn't know.

They genuinely didn't know.

Just as Scar-Eye was about to get rough, the bandit leader from Quanshan said, "Don't waste your time. There's no way these villagers found out we were coming and packed up in advance. The Shen family's got shadow protectors—they must've gotten the family out first. Search deeper, find their trail, and we'll smoke 'em out."

Hearing that, Scar-Eye stopped grilling the Shenjiagou villagers. Every minute wasted made the Shen family harder to track down.

The group pushed deeper into the mountains.

Even though they didn't know these paths, they were used to mountain living and picked up the trail fast.

Shen Song felt a lot of people closing in. A bad feeling crept up on him, and he said to the Shadow Guard Chief close at his side, "A lot of people are chasing us."

The Shadow Guard Chief shot back, "I've got men watching our backs. If anyone follows, they'll signal."

The second he said that, a red flare shot up into the night sky.

The Shadow Guard Chief was stunned. The post he'd set was still a ways off from where they were—how the hell did Shen Song know someone was coming? And he'd been right.

He quickly split his men—half stayed to ambush the pursuers, the rest kept escorting the Shen family deeper into the mountains.

Chi Jiu was being hauled through the mountains, gasping for air. If Shen Song hadn't been holding him tight, he'd have hit the ground and never gotten back up.

"Uh, why aren't we heading to the county town instead of going into the mountains?"

The mountains weren't just rough terrain—this time of year they were crawling with poisonous bugs and wild beasts. Deadly.

Chi Jiu really couldn't wrap his head around it.

The Shen family was wondering the same thing as they ran—they'd gotten a head start, so why the hell go into the mountains?

The Shadow Guard Chief glanced at Shen Song, then quickly looked away, his voice calm and steady, "The county town's more dangerous."

He didn't say anything else and led the group deeper in.

The Shen family was too exhausted to ask more questions—they just focused on running for their lives.

Soon, the sounds of fighting reached them.

Exhausted as they were, the Shen family didn't stop for a second—they ran with everything they had.

But none of them expected the people behind them to set the mountain on fire.

Mingqing County, secret chamber.

Qi Yuanjing sat there looking worried, looking at Xie Zhiyu on the bed, then at the person checking his pulse.

"Master, how's Xie Zhiyu doing?"

Shan Yue said, "His heart meridian's badly damaged. Hard to tell."

Qi Yuanjing sighed. "With a truth like that, no wonder he broke down. Master, please save him. I'm begging you."

"Aren't I already saving him?" Shan Yue rarely smiled—always cold and distant, keeping everyone at arm's length. Now he looked at Qi Yuanjing like he was pissed. "Someone tried to kill him—why'd you go and block it?"

Qi Yuanjing was taken aback, then said, "I didn't block it anyway. He took the hit himself."

"But you meant to block it," Shan Yue said.

"I couldn't just stand there." Qi Yuanjing ran a hand through his hair, looking miserable. "That winter when I was seven, my brothers dared me to jump into a frozen pond. The ice gave way, and I fell straight in. Xie Zhiyu didn't hesitate—he jumped in, pushed me up, and went under himself. He was only seven too. He was trading his life for mine. I'm a concubine's son—nobody at home loved me, and I never got anything good. Nobody wanted to suck up to me or treat me decently. Even my own mother ignored me 'cause my dad didn't give a damn about me. But Xie Zhiyu risked his life for me. I can't just turn my back on him."

Qi Yuanjing thought back to before he fell in that water at seven.

He and Xie Zhiyu had already fought several times—they'd become friends through fighting. Later, Qi Yuanjing discovered that although Xie Zhiyu was of the legitimate line, he was equally unloved—no one in the Xie family liked him. Qi Yuanjing felt he'd found a kindred spirit and insisted on being friends with Xie Zhiyu.

Back then, Xie Zhiyu, annoyed by his persistence, cursed at him for being disgusting.

But that very person who found friendship disgusting jumped into freezing, bone-chilling water without a second thought to save him because of that word—friend.

"Master, do you remember when I was eight and followed you to study medicine, I begged you to save someone?" Qi Yuanjing asked.

Shan Yue said he remembered—a child so thin he was skin and bones.

"That was Xie Zhiyu. After being pulled from the water, his health was never the same. His stepmother then used 'dietary nourishment' as an excuse to strictly control everything he ate. In truth, all the food sent to him was poisoned. Xie Zhiyu showed symptoms a few times, figured it out himself, and stopped eating anything delivered to him. He could only sneak to the main kitchen when no one was watching.

Not long after, his stepmother discovered it, and the main kitchen stopped having any food out. He ate leftover scraps thrown away, until the sight of food made him nauseous and he couldn't swallow a single bite."

Shan Yue's delicate brows furrowed as he looked at the frail figure on the bed.

Back then, he owed the old prince a favor. The old prince sent word to the Medicine King Valley in the snow mountains, asking him to come for a consultation.

So he came down from the mountain.

Unexpectedly, he discovered that the old prince's son, Qi Yuanjing, showed great talent and wanted to take him as a disciple. The old prince was overjoyed, but heard that his mischievous, trouble-making concubine's son was unwilling—saying he'd only agree if Shan Yue could prove he was truly skilled.

Shan Yue had only intended to take a disciple; it was fine if not.

But Qi Yuanjing's words made him determined to take him on.

After developing a pill that could sustain life without needing regular meals, Qi Yuanjing knelt and called him Master on the spot.

Shan Yue still remembered how he felt then.

Quite satisfying.

Later, Qi Yuanjing improved upon that pill many times, and each time he made a new version, he sent it down the mountain to Xie Zhiyu.

He even made Xie Zhiyu write feedback on the effects, the more detailed the better.

"Master, please save Xie Zhiyu. He's my only friend. Over the years, many times he's infuriated me so much I wished him dead, but I don't truly want him to die."

Qi Yuanjing was about to kneel and beg his master. He knew his master was displeased with him for suddenly coming down the mountain and following Xie Zhiyu to Yunxi County.

These past days, he'd also seen that his master greatly disliked Xie Zhiyu.

But he truly couldn't just watch Xie Zhiyu die like this.

Shan Yue curled his index finger and knocked it on Qi Yuanjing's head with a thud, making Qi Yuanjing clutch his forehead with a hiss.

"As a physician, how could I possibly watch him die before my eyes?" Shan Yue's cold gaze flicked to Xie Zhiyu's face. "But if he's still so set on dying, even the greatest immortal couldn't save him."

Qi Yuanjing froze. Set on dying?

Xie Zhiyu didn't want to live?

Qi Yuanjing immediately lunged at Xie Zhiyu and shouted, "So what if your bio dad turned into your adoptive dad, your adoptive dad hates you, your bio dad wants you dead, and your birth mom's alive but won't see you, only scheming for your twin brother? How could you, Xie Zhiyu, give a damn about these people? How could you be so set on dying? Wake the hell up, Xie Zhiyu!"

Shan Yue knocked Qi Yuanjing again. "Shut up. The more you talk, the less he wants to live."

Qi Yuanjing had no choice but to shut up. He really thought Xie Zhiyu wouldn't care about any of this.

Seeing Qi Yuanjing's confusion, Shan Yue sighed softly. "Back then, for one word of friendship from you, he was willing to die for you at just seven. Do you really think, with that thick head of yours, that he doesn't care about family deep down just because he doesn't show it?"

Qi Yuanjing was stunned all over again.

Right. How could he have ever thought Xie Zhiyu didn't care?

"Then what do we do? If he doesn't want to live, what the hell can we do..." Qi Yuanjing clutched his head and squatted on the ground, freaking out.

A second later, he jumped up and yelled at Xie Zhiyu, "Shen Song! Your life, your sweetheart—he's still in Yunxi County waiting for you to come back! Wake up, Xie Zhiyu!"

Xie Zhiyu showed no reaction.

Qi Yuanjing rambled in his ear all night, going on about their brotherhood or bringing up Shen Song.

By dawn, Qi Yuanjing's voice was shot.

He'd already gotten to the part where, after Xie Zhiyu died, Shen Song married someone else, had a bunch of kids, lived happily ever after, and totally forgot about Xie Zhiyu.

Even Shan Yue had dozed off from Qi Yuanjing's droning.

A shadow guard showed up outside the secret chamber.

Qi Yuanjing knew the shadow guards only came for important stuff, so he had the guy come in.

The shadow guard bowed and reported, "A wildfire broke out on Tiger Head Mountain and burned through the night. Half of the team protecting the Shen family has gone dark. The Shen family and the team—nobody knows if they're alive or dead."

"Who's alive or dead?"

A weak but cold voice came out of nowhere. Qi Yuanjing turned—Xie Zhiyu, out cold for days, had woken up.

He immediately moved to hold Xie Zhiyu down. "You've still got wounds on your waist. Don't move."

"I asked you who's alive or dead?" Xie Zhiyu's face was pale, his forehead slick with cold sweat from the pain, as he pressed the shadow guard for an answer.

The shadow guard bowed his head and forced out, "The Shen family and some of the shadow guards protecting them."

"Xie Zhiyu, what are you doing!" Qi Yuanjing grabbed Xie Zhiyu, panicking.

Xie Zhiyu said coldly, "It's handled. We're going back to Yunxi County."

Qi Yuanjing shouted angrily, "Going back like this—you wanna die on the road halfway?"

Xie Zhiyu stared quietly at Qi Yuanjing, as if he might die at any moment. "Let go of me."

Qi Yuanjing looked at Xie Zhiyu, then finally sighed in resignation. "Song Geer is my lifesaver too. I'll go."

"I must go back," Xie Zhiyu said.

Shan Yue, unable to sleep from the noise, rose from the small couch, his cold, handsome face showing displeasure.

"Stop arguing. Pack up, and we'll all go together."

"But Master, his body can't handle it," Qi Yuanjing said, conflicted.

Shan Yue stood up and prepared to wash up. "I'm coming along. With me here, he won't die."

Tiger Head Mountain.

Shen Song curled up in his mother's arms, his head throbbing unbearably.

Last night, that group had set fires, and there was no way to escape. Shen Song had no choice but to use his Earth Ability.

After fighting all night, he had finally extinguished the fire just before his mental energy was completely depleted.

Now, having overused his mental energy, his head ached terribly.

"Mother, are those masked people who protected us alright?" Shen Song asked weakly.

Liu Chunxia's heart ached for her child, and she kept massaging Shen Song's head. "The leader was injured a bit. Your Seventh Brother is taking care of him."