The next morning, An Jiuyue and Qian Jiyun prepared to set off.
They had just arrived at the entrance and had taken their horses when Elder Huang caught up to them.
“Young Master, Young Master, wait a moment!”
“What’s the matter, Elder Huang?”
An Jiuyue handed the reins of her horse to Qian Jiyun and looked at Elder Huang, who did not look too good. She suspected something bad had happened.
“Young Master, didn’t you ask me to look into any missing persons in the area? We don’t have any cases here, but many people have gone missing in the villages in the mountains near the Suo River. They are all young and strong youths.”
An Jiuyue did not say anything, but Qian Jiyun immediately asked, “How many?”
He thought it was bad enough that hundreds of people had gone missing, and he did not expect there to be any more. What were those people trying to do? Did they believe the authorities would not notice such a large operation?
“Well…” Elder Huang paused and shook his head. “I don’t know exactly how many people are missing yet. But I received a report estimating that nearly 200 people are missing.”
“200!”
An Jiuyue gritted her teeth. 200 people! These were human lives.
She instructed Elder Huang, “Elder Huang, Jiyun and I are going to Luoyan Mountain. I’ll leave this to you. Send someone to keep an eye on them. We must capture them!”
Heaven forbid that these evil people are not apprehended and killed!
“Yes, Young Master,” Elder Huang replied.
This was serious. He would have sent someone to investigate, even if she had not instructed him to.
“Sigh,” An Jiuyue sighed heavily. “Jiyun, let’s find the marrow apricot tree first. That’s our priority now.”
Even if Elder Huang found the culprits, they must not act rashly and alert the enemy if they could not concoct the antidote. After all, the poison was no joke.
“Get on the horse.”
Qian Jiyun did not say anything else and got on his horse with a dark expression.
After they left, Elder Huang immediately sent his trusted subordinates to investigate the matter.
…
At the 11th Stockaded Village…
Two men appeared outside with a letter just as Shen Yan and the other chiefs were panicking about the epidemic in the 11th village.
“Who are you? How dare you barge into the 11th Stockaded Village!”
The guards had already been told to let the woman in if she arrived.
However, it was two men who returned. They were obviously not the people the chiefs were expecting. The 18 Stockaded Villages had never contacted the outside world, so they would not be polite to those who came knocking on their doors looking for a beating.
Moreover, the atmosphere in the village was tense because of the spy. The guards were on the verge of fighting the two men in front of them with swords.
Cupping his fists, one of the men in green told the guards, “Please report to the chiefs that we are here on Young Master’s orders to deliver the prescription for treating the epidemic disease.”
“A prescription for treating the epidemic disease?”
The guards looked at each other.
We urgently need the prescription. Even Miss Shen Zhuxin from the First Stockaded Village can’t cure the disease.
But there’s something fishy about how the prescription arrived, isn’t there?
Our chiefs tried their best but failed to get it. But now, it’s delivered to our doorstep? Is there another huge scheme lurking behind it?
“I’ll have to trouble you to wait a moment. I’ll send someone into the village to inform them.”
