At night, a strong wind blew in, making the jujube tree in the yard sway violently. Granny Ruan hugged A Lai tightly, terrified. She thought it was a sign that the immortal was coming. Song Jinyu told Niaoniao to protect the old woman and the child well, while Cheng Song guarded on the roof.
She herself sat in the yard with Ming Ruyi, sipping a kind of tea made from an unknown kind of grass root.
"It's a bit sweet..."
It tasted quite nice. Life in the village was hard, so even a bit of grass root was a treat.
Ming Ruyi saw that she showed no sign of fear at all. Fanning himself, he asked, "Who on earth are you?" She didn't look like an ordinary young lady from a good family at all. Instead, she seemed like a woman from the jianghu.
Song Jinyu smiled sweetly. "Who are you then? You haven't even told me, so why should I tell you?"
"I'm from the jianghu!"
Ming Ruyi's eyes darkened. He was afraid that revealing his identity would scare her, so he just mumbled vaguely.
She didn't believe his nonsense. "So am I..." It was better not to say such nonsense. Both of them had their own agendas and didn't trust each other.
Just as they were about to say more, Ming Ruyi's fan accidentally touched her red lips. He signaled her to be quiet. The shabby yard gate had opened gently, but there was no one there.
Song Jinyu poured another cup of tea for Ming Ruyi and motioned for him to take a sip. His disdainful look annoyed her. She reached out and snatched his fan, gently tapping his forehead with it. "You..." Ming Ruyi was about to scold her when the woman gave a soft laugh and said, "Shh..."
Ming Ruyi finally heard the unusual sound outside the door. "It's coming!" Suddenly, he flashed out like lightning. Before Song Jinyu could react, he had already flown several zhang away.
With a flick, his folding fan opened. His sharp eyes were fixed on a certain spot in the darkness.
"Since we have a distinguished guest, why not sit down and have a cup of tea?" Song Jinyu shouted loudly.
From deep in the darkness came a sobbing sound. "Playing tricks like a ghost. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Suddenly, a black shadow appeared in the air, looking like a strange beast. Its multiple tentacles were wriggling constantly, and it let out roars, but it didn't come down to attack.
In an instant, Ming Ruyi and Cheng Song attacked simultaneously. The black shadow was thrashing about wildly, looking like an ancient divine beast.
Ming Ruyi's fan was as fast as a sharp sword. He cut off one of the tentacles. Song Jinyu stepped closer and took a look. It was just a piece of iron sheet!
Cheng Song flew higher. His sharp sword flashed, and the remaining tentacles of the "immortal" fell one by one!
Ming Ruyi glanced at it and hit the head of the "immortal" with the handle of his fan. Immediately, it lost its balance and fell straight to the ground.
Cheng Song added a sword strike. The "immortal" let out a painful roar and gradually fell silent.
The two of them floated down from the air. Song Jinyu stepped forward to check. As she had guessed, the "immortal" was just a man in disguise, and he was an extremely ugly dwarf.
His face was full of pimples, and his whole body stank horribly. On closer inspection, the corpse actually had two extra arms.
Ming Ruyi covered his nose. "It stinks so much..."
The extra "tentacles" were all made of iron sheets. It was only with the help of a huge kite and the strong wind that it could fly into the sky.
The three of them looked at each other and smiled, then went back into the room.
Early the next morning, the village head came again with some people. He already knew that the "immortal" had been dealt with, so he swaggered in with the constable and others, kicking open the door of Granny Ruan's house.
To his surprise, he saw a corpse in front of him.
He was so scared that he took several steps back. Song Jinyu and the others watched him calmly.
The crowd gradually gathered around. Someone stepped closer to take a look at the corpse and immediately shouted, "Isn't this the village head's son?"
"The toad-like son of the village head?" The crowd was very angry. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the village head tried to sneak away, but was caught by Cheng Song.
It turned out that in order to satisfy his son's desires, the village head had been causing trouble in the village. He not only took those beautiful young girls for himself but also secretly sold them out of the mountains. Now, they were caught by Song Jinyu and the others, and their true colors were revealed. They restored peace to the mountain village and solved the shadow that had haunted the village for more than a decade.
The constable took the village head away. The crowd gathered in front of Granny Ruan's house, constantly thanking Song Jinyu and the others and bringing a lot of gifts.
Especially those families who had lost their daughters were so touched that they shed tears. Ming Ruyi was deeply touched by this scene. He had never done such a good deed before. Seeing Song Jinyu's proud and happy face, he also had a big smile on his face.
This time, he found Song Jinyu even more strange.
Fanning himself, some other thoughts flashed through his mind. A Lai ran into the yard and pulled Song Jinyu's hand, asking her to come over. It turned out that he had caught a little rabbit.
The crisis in the mountain village was finally over, but Song Jinyu was troubled because her money and luggage had been lost in the flash flood. If she had no money, how could she go to the capital?
After much thought, she decided to earn money.
"A Lai, go and inform all the villagers," she said after a moment's hesitation. Then she whispered her plan into his ear. A Lai ran out excitedly to inform every household.
Ming Ruyi saw her smiling and was puzzled. Song Jinyu said angrily, "I'm short of money!"
Hearing this, he gave a charming smile. "If you accompany me for one night, I'll..." Before he could finish, "Slap!" Song Jinyu slapped him, and at the same time, the basin in Niaoniao's hand flew over.
He said awkwardly, "It's just a joke..."
"Ming Ruyi, I respect you as a man. If you dare to be rude again..." Song Jinyu looked at him, her beautiful eyes flashing. "I don't mind being your sister!"
The silver needle in her hand was shining, matching Song Jinyu's meaningful expression. Ming Ruyi couldn't help shivering. "Who would dare to marry you as his wife? You're too cruel!"
He turned around and ignored her.
"We should set off as soon as possible..." There was still no news from Qing Feng and the others. It was both good news and bad news.
Zhongli Mingye was really worried. He set off at night to look for her.
Princess Heyi was lying on the beauty couch. "I wonder if Jinyu has come?" "It's said that she has set off, but has there been any delay on the way?"
She was flipping through a storybook boredly. It was the one Song Jinyu had given her last time. It was a limited edition that couldn't be found in the palace. She really liked that girl. Now, in the deep palace, she had no one to talk to. She just hoped that Song Jinyu would come to the capital soon.
The girl she was longing for was now setting up a stall in the village to see patients for the villagers. "It costs five copper coins for a pulse diagnosis."
Niaoniao was writing prescriptions with a pen, and A Lai was collecting the copper coins beside her. In just one morning, they had earned more than a hundred copper coins. Ming Ruyi, who was fanning himself beside them, didn't look down on these copper coins at all. He said, "Why bother earning such hard money when there's an easier way?"
Song Jinyu, who had just taken a sip of tea, glared at him. "It's none of your business!"