"His strongest feat is lifting a helicopter that had fallen off from the sky."
"How'd you know?" Young Master Shen answered without even turning his head.
"He said it himself!" Zhang Mi took a leap towards him. "Big mountain dude even said that he'll bring me along when he goes extracting wild honey today. We'll have to climb up very tall trees for the job!"
"I think your big mountain dude is waving at you!" Young Master Shen said with a fake smile. Zhang Mi eyed him disdainfully. "That's Brother Ah Shui. Big mountain dude is the one who's super good at climbing trees, the one with dark skin."
Young Master Shen did a facepalm and walked away. A conversation with Zhang Mi would waste too much of his brain cells. He might as well spend his time having a chat with the chieftain and find out when they could leave this village. Speaking of the chieftain, the old man gave Young Master Shen an impression of either a special military operative or a spy. He was always so elusive and stealthy, and not to mention his ability to walk around without making a single sound. Even more terrifying was the fact that the old man was able to name every single one of the high-tech equipment that Young Master Shen was carrying despite claiming that he had been staying in the mountains all this while.
Those equipment were all from Boss Wan's private collection. Not even the military had access to them. And yet an old man from the mountains knew enough to name all of them? Hell would freeze over if Young Master Shen believed the chieftain to be just another ordinary old man.
"Chieftain Mo Lin!"
A thin and petite old man was sitting astride a split trunk of a tree, fiddling with some unknown object. He jumped down when he heard Young Master Shen's voice. The split trunk was at least two storeys above ground...
"Ah, looks like you've fully recovered. Planning to leave now, aren't you?" Mo Lin said, patting Young Master Shen's shoulder. "Then it's time we talk about my reward!"
Young Master Shen's face darkened. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh? I still have to pay him for all the torture he'd put me through for half a goddamn month?" he thought.
"Hey, what's that look for? If I didn't 'torture' you, you would've been dead a long time ago."
"What is it that you want?" Young Master Shen would wager his sweet life that it was not money that the chieftain wanted.
Mo Lin waved his hand. "Follow me."
Young Master Shen followed Mo Lin all the way to the northern side of the village. There was a little brook, whose source lay in a location yet unknown. Near the brook, on a huge rock, sat a small boy around five to six years of age.
"Xiao Ji!" Chieftain Mo Lin yelled. The boy did not move.
Chieftain Mo Lin chuckled at Young Master Shen. "You should go there and call him."
Young Master Shen glared at him. "Why can't you go?"
"Can't you see that he's ignoring me? The kid is sulking!" Mo Lin said with a pained expression. Young Master Shen, on the other hand, thought that he would start throwing punches if anyone were to call him "Xiao Ji".
Mo Lin sighed. "It's not 'ji' as in chicken."
The corners of Young Master Shen lips twitched. "Yeah, but they both sound exactly the same when voiced out, okay?"
Well, at least Young Master Shen had enough decency to refrain from calling a child such an atrocious moniker. He walked over and stepped around to face the kid. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with the kid. He was shocked by how pretty the boy looked. "Damn, this kid will definitely grow up to be prettier than I am!" he thought. His heart was practically leaping in joy right now.
"Hello!" he greeted. He decided right then that he would try to befriend this pretty boy.
The boy did not spare him a single glance. Instead, his eyes were fixated upon the brook. He was just a kid, and yet there was an extraordinary look in his eyes. As if prompted by a subconscious need, Young Master Shen broke their eye contact. It was as if the boy's eyes could suck a person right into them, and the boy was not even looking at him.
The boy spoke suddenly. "There's a snake in the bush about a meter to your left. It will be crawling up your feet in thirty seconds." Goosebumps broke out on Young Master Shen's skin the moment he heard the mention of a snake. His glanced down and saw that indeed, there was a little green snake beside his foot.
"Thanks!" Young Master Shen said, jumping on top of a huge rock all the while keeping a straight face. Then, he saw Chieftain Mo Lin peeling off the snake's skin with ease. "This will be our dinner tonight!" Chieftain Mo Lin said in satisfaction.
After dealing with the snake, Mo Lin pointed a finger at Young Master Shen and spoke to Xiao Ji. "I'm planning to ask him to track down your family for you. Is that okay with you?"
"He isn't from this village?" Young Master Shen asked, confused. No wonder the boy looked so pretty. The villagers here usually had darker skin tones. Xiao Ji was the only one around here with fair and slightly pinkish skin, just like a porcelain doll.
Seeing that Xiao Ji was still unwilling to speak, Mo Lin turned towards Young Master Shen. "We found this kid in the mountains inside a wolf den. No idea why, but the mother wolf didn't try to devour him. In fact, the wolf was watching the whole time when I brought the kid away. He was about three years old when we found him. He still couldn't form words yet." Mo Lin patted Xiao Ji's head. "He was wearing an adult military uniform at that time."
"You want me to take him with me?" Young Master Shen frowned. "Well, that's not going to happen," he thought.
Mo Lin shook his head. "I can tell that you're not an ordinary person! I won't hand Xiao Ji over to you. I just want you to take that military uniform with you when you leave and see if you can track down his next of kin. If they're willing to acknowledge Xiao Ji, just ask them to come to our village to claim him!"
Young Master Shen agreed to the chieftain's request. The next day, the chieftain sent Young Master Shen together with Zhang Mi, Chen Ming and Li Xiaoru to the village's gates. They passed by a cornfield on the way, and Young Master Shen noticed a few women harvesting corns there. Their movements were so fast that it was as if each of them had four hands in total.
"Follow the trail of this cave in a straight path, and you'll be able to return to the top of the cliff. I hope you remember your promise to me." Mo Lin stared at Young Master Shen while holding Xiao Ji's hand in his.
Young Master Shen nodded. "As long as his family is still alive, I will find them. In fact, I'll bring them here myself."
Having received Young Master Shen's words of assurance, Mo Lin smiled happily and waved at them.
"Have you secured the prescription?" Chen Ming asked. "Xin Qing won't be cured if you lose it."
Young Master Shen nodded. "I've stashed it in my underwear, for God's sake."
"You're fucking disgusting, you know that?" Zhang Mi said, pinching her nose. "How do you even pass it to Ying Qingcang later?"
"Well, how will he know if you guys don't tell him?"
The chieftain had spent three whole days coming up with the prescription. In fact, the chieftain had told them that if Xin Qing were not cured after a month of taking the prescription, she would most likely have to live with her condition for the rest of her life. Those words had eased the burden in all of their hearts; they all feared that if Xin Qing's conditions persisted, she would have to live under Tang Shuang's control for the rest of her life.
At the same time, Xin Qing discovered that her headaches had worsened. In the past, she would suffer a single bout of headache about once every three months. Now, the headaches would come every month. When Ah Che told Ying Qingcang the news, Ying Qingcang nearly forced Tang Shuang to give Xin Qing another healing session.
"Young Master, I still can't get in touch with Young Master Shen. Shall we hire the bounty hunters to look for him in the mountains?" Ah Nan would try to contact Young Master Shen a few times every day, but it had been complete radio silence so far.
It had already been days since Ying Qingcang slept. He had spent every night in his study for the past few days, doing research. He had even taken a trip back to England just to see if there were any hints from the Ancestral Behest. Ying Qingcang had never been one to believe in such things, though admittedly, even he was hoping for a miracle right now. As long as Xin Qing could be cured, he was willing to believe in anything.
"Boss Wan had already sent his men over," Ying Qingcang said, leaning against the backrest of his chair, holding his forehead in his palm. "Have you asked the doctor when she is expected to deliver?"
"I did. The doctor said it is perfectly possible for a 7-month premature baby to survive in an incubator, but only if the baby is in good health condition in the first place. However, even if the baby does survive the incubator, the child will inevitably have a weak body later on in life. The child will be very prone to illness." Ah Nan paused in thought. Then, he added, "I think it should be alright. We'll just feed the child with a lot of nourishing herbs when the time comes."
Ying Qingcang gave Ah Nan a glance. "It's only been 3 months now. Still, 4 more months to go before we can act. We'll have to arrange Tang Shuang's accident and then use that as an excuse to perform a C-section to deliver the baby."
"I still think we should wait until Young Master Shen's return before we make any decisions," said Ah Nan. "If he could find a way to cure the young miss, then we won't have to worry about anything." Ah Nan knew what it was that Ying Qingcang had in mind: Ying Qingcang wanted Tang Shuang to die on the operating table. But they could not afford to let Tang Shuang die if there was no way to cure Xin Qing's condition.
Some time in the middle of their conversation, they receive a call from Boss Wan.
"Ah Cang, I've found Young Master Shen, and he has the prescription. I've already sent out a chopper to get him."
Finally, the frown that had persisted between Ying Qingcang's brow for the past few days eased. "That's wonderful..." Ying Qingcang said, holding a hand to his chest. "Are we still going along with the original plan and hand the prescription to your wife?"
Boss Wan had mentioned before about letting Chen Huan be the one to synthesize the drug for Xin Qing. Ying Qingcang had agreed, of course. He knew about Chen Huan's credentials. Many would kill for such an opportunity.
"Yeah, that's why I've also sent a jet to New York. Huanhuan is there right now."
Ying Qingcang suddenly felt gross. "Man, this Boss Wan. Didn't he notice how gentle he had been when he mentioned the two words 'Huanhuan'?"
Beside Ying Qingcang, Ah Nan curled his lips. "You have no right to be grossed out," he thought. "You sound even more disgusting when you talk about the young miss."
Meanwhile, Xin Qing had received the news from Ah Che. When she did, she was so happy that she picked up Ah Sha and gave her a few kisses.
"Aunt Qing, you shouldn't kiss Ah Sha so much," Xunxun grumbled beside her.
"Um... Why?" Xin Qing stammered. She would always feel overwhelming pressure whenever she faced Xunxun. Actually, scratch that. She figured anyone would feel some amount of pressure when facing that kid. Who would want to be having a conversation with a kid with such a high IQ? The kid could make anyone look like a fool if they were not paying attention.
Xunxun rubbed Ah Sha's tiny face with his hand. "Ah Sha will be my wife in the future. How could I just let anyone kiss her?"
"But I'm her mother! Am I just 'anyone'?" Xin Qing thought indignantly. "Plus, you've said it yourself that it's a thing of the future. She still isn't your wife right now. Even if she did become your wife in the future, she's still my daughter! Technically, you should call me 'mother' too!"
Of course, she never did voice out those thoughts. If she did, Xunxun could probably rebut her with ten different arguments. She might even have to apologize to the kid in the end. Xin Qing rested her gaze upon Ah Sha. "Oh, my daughter! You have to expand your mind, okay? That way, you can get revenge for your mother in the future. Otherwise, you'll also be bullied by this brat after you marry him, and that's just too pathetic!"
Ah Sha's brain had been developing well. In a few years, she would be able to reach her mind's full potential. Too bad her emotional intelligence was rather stunted. She was destined to be bullied by Xunxun for the rest of her life...
After passing the prescription to Chen Huan, Young Master Shen ordered someone to take Zhang Mi, Chen Ming, and Li Xiaoru to France so that they could meet up with Xin Qing. He himself would return to China and meet up with his subordinates. That was how Young Master Shen ended up appearing in S City's airport like a boss.
Zhang Mi was laughing and crying at the same time when she saw Xin Qing.
"Ah Qing!" Zhang Mi was sobbing. "I nearly died inside that mountain, you know? I was nearly bitten by a snake. I was so close to not being able to see you again!"
Chen Ming smirked. "I think it was Young Master Shen who was bitten by a snake. You just had a fever."
"Haha!" Xin Qing pushed Zhang Mi away and moved to hug Chen Ming. "That's good to know. Everything's good as long as you guys are alright!"
Chen Ming patted Xin Qing's back. "It will be! We'll all be fine. Your condition will be cured too. Everything will be okay!"
When she saw Li Xiaoru standing quietly on one side, Xin Qing pointed surreptitiously at her. Taking the hint, Chen Ming released Xin Qing and drew Li Xiaoru into his arms instead. "We're together now," he said. "We'll plan a wedding after you've fully recovered!"