Although Liang Shu was trying his utmost to rescue Ku You, on the other hand, he wasn’t too worried. After all, if the dignified Commander of the Southwest Garrison could only wait helplessly for rescue after being captured, he would not be qualified to command tens of thousands of troops.

One of the soldiers said: “Perhaps the prince thinks Commander Ku can bring back two of them on the way.”

The surrounding companions silently expressed their agreement. Indeed, people who loved to steal things would steal them wherever they went. This was their prince’s style!

In fact, Ku You was really thinking hard about how to make good use of this opportunity. The day before was his first face-to-face “meeting” with Mu Zhe. Although his eyes were covered by a thick layer of silver gauze, that slightly hoarse voice was enough to make him instantly feel disgusted and uncomfortable—this voice was intertwined with tens of thousands of tragedies in the southwest. Children and women were sold, husbands and wives were killed, limbs were mutilated, and poisons were administered. Every drop of blood and tears had been instigated by this voice.

Wumeng Yunle continued to pull at Mu Zhe’s sleeve, saying: “I want to heal him, even if just for a short moment. Anyway, I have to make him see my appearance.”

“How can a barbarian from the northwest know how to appreciate a stunning beauty? Even if his eyes are cured, I fear he can only see grasslands and gold.” Another voice sounded in his ears. It was a man’s voice, middle-aged, with a thick Nanyang accent that was a little strange and stiff. 

Liu Hengchang had been standing with his head and hands lowered. Hearing him speak, he couldn’t help but raise his head for a quick look. The other party was about forty years old, with a thin body, deeply sunken cheeks, black lips, and yellow teeth. Even though he was wrapped in brocade, he looked like a cockroach, with no nobility at all.

What was even more disgusting was the way he looked at Wumeng Yunle. That was definitely not the way an elder should look at a junior, and it was also different from the pious worship of a believer. Wumeng Yunle also regarded him with obvious distaste and hid behind Mu Zhe’s shoulder.

Mu Zhe ignored her and just asked Liu Hengchang: “I heard from A-Le that you can cure this person’s eyes within ten days?”

“Answering Leader, I just inspected his eyes and he has already undergone two complicated surgeries. The subsequent treatment that must be done is actually not difficult. I can give it a try, but there is no guarantee that after treatment, he will definitely be able to see.”

Wumeng Yunle said happily: “Even if there is no guarantee, you can try.”

As if dissatisfied at being ignored by the beauty, the Nanyang man turned his attention to Ku You and looked him up and down. The silver hair and matching gauze strip gave him an exotic and exquisite sculpture-like look, with a high nose bridge and a distinct jawline. It was indeed a face that could make young girls in love swoon, so the man scoffed and reached out, pulling off the gauze strip.

He had originally wanted to see a pair of stiff, empty eyes, crippled and ugly, but was not able to do so in the end.

Ku You’s eyes shifted slightly and he turned his head to follow the sound. Those eyes were a swath of golden sunlight, cold and strange. They actually made the Nanyang man a bit flustered, and he unconsciously took a step back.

The corners of Ku You’s lips rose slightly.

“You can see!” The Nanyang man’s eyes changed and he shook a dagger from his sleeve, suddenly stabbing toward his eye! Ku You’s ears twitched slightly and he kicked the chair away with one foot. Swish, he flew and circled around the opposite side, quickly dodging to evade the man’s head-on blow!

All of this happened in a lightning flash. The Nanyang man became angry and wanted to put him in his place, but Mu Zhe said: “Don’t be nervous, Island Master Yuan. He can’t see, he just has excellent hearing.”

Ku You’s eyes were indeed still “looking” ahead, and upon closer inspection, his pupils were indeed slightly unfocused. Yuan Yu scoffed coldly and asked: “Leader Mu truly plans to heal his eyes?”

“Yes,” Mu Zhe said. “After his eyes are healed, I still want to negotiate a business deal with Commander Ku.”

Ku You sat on the chair, still silent, as if the injury was not to his eyes, but to his throat. No matter what conditions the other party proposed, it seemed that he could not hear them at all, his ears buried together with his dead eyes.

The three of them did not stay in the room longer, quickly turning around and leaving. Liu Hengchang breathed a sigh of relief and warned quietly: “The teachings of the Baifu Sect may appear to be compassionate, but they are in fact extremely cruel to those who dissent. There are no few people who have died from various tortures inside this mountain. Commander Ku is still feigning compliance at this time, so it is better to deal with people first.”

“If they still want to cooperate with me,” Ku You covered his eyes again with the silver gauze, “then they should be more patient.”

Mu Zhe instructed Wumeng Yunle to go back to her room first. Yuan Yu’s eyes fell on the girl’s snow-white back, and he said: “He seems to have made up his mind not to let us hear his voice, and at the same time did not hesitate to anger the Holy Maiden with a long speech in order to force her to heal his eyes.”

“You need his voice and I need his eyes, ears, tongue, and all removable limbs.” Mu Zhe’s tone was very calm, and he actually sighed with some compassion. “All the members of the Baifu Sect have been waiting for this day, so that fire can be used to cleanse the numerous crimes he has committed.”

The corners of Yuan Yu’s mouth twitched slightly, likely because he swallowed back the word “insanity.” Instead, he used a neutral tone to remind him that they weren’t the ones who needed his voice, but rather Mu Zhe. If they couldn’t imitate his voice exactly, then Mu Zhe’s next plan would likely be impossible to implement.

Mu Zhe turned to look at him, and Yuan Yu asked: “For the next step, how does Leader Mu plan to open his mouth?”

“If he is at least willing to talk at length to one person, that is enough,” Mu Zhe said. “You just need to hear his voice. It doesn’t matter what he says specifically.”

Yuan Yu gave a strange laugh and tightened his robes from left to right. “The Holy Maiden. That works too.”

. . . . . . .

Following Liang Shu’s wishes, Liu Xian’an drafted a letter and tied it to the leg of the green harrier that had descended into camp. Then he looked up and watched the green-feathered, red-eyed bird fly away. A-Ning said: “The evil cult would never have expected that the prince would retrieve the treasure in the deep forest so easily. Perhaps they are still waiting for both sides to suffer losses.”

“Have you seen that batch of treasure?” Liu Xian’an washed his hands in a basin. “Is there a lot?”

“There is so much.” A-Ning raised his hands and gestured in a big circle. “Cheng-guniang is still moving it now. I couldn’t believe it, all the carriages and horses that could be found were sent out. Lieutenant General Gao has been beaming with joy for the past two days, and I saw that the prince is also very happy.”

The prince was also very happy. If not for the fact that Ku You was still miserable in the enemy camp, hundreds of barbecue campfires would have been lit in the Valley of Ten Faces. Currently, everyone just smiled, happy but restrained.

A-Ning asked again: “But how can we reasonably exchange such a large amount of treasure? When Cheng-guniang was exchanged with Wumeng Yunyou last time, Feng Xiaojin and the prince were one-on-one, but this time, both sides will have to send at least hundreds or thousands of people.”

“It’s difficult to say. I’m also waiting for the green carrier to come to the military camp again.” Liu Xian’an wiped his hands dry. “Let’s go see the treasure!”

The only person in the entire camp who was not happy about the money was probably First Young Master Liu. On the one hand, he was still worried about Ku You, and on the other hand, he couldn’t go anywhere at the moment, unable to take two steps out the door, just like an unmarried daughter under house arrest. No one would dare to lock him up, but because the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe had reached an agreement to cooperate with Liang Shu and were living with them in the Valley of Ten Faces at this time, the whole thing seemed a little troublesome.

Liu Xian’an analyzed: “If Da-ge refuses their marriage proposal again and angers them, and they stop cooperating with the prince, wouldn’t that be very bad?”

The elder brother: “Get out.”

The younger brother: “Oh.”

Thus, Liu Xian’an ran away very freely. It couldn’t be helped, he wasn’t the one who made the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe fall in love with him. The reason may have been that fellow immortals repelled one another, or also because the flirting between Second Young Master Liu and His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was so obvious, obvious enough that even the little girl knew that the two had a close relationship. When she saw one of them, she would ask him why the other was not there.

“He should still be sleeping in the room, ah.” Liang Shu picked her up.

The little girl was very envious upon hearing this, because she also liked to sleep, but her mother always woke her up early in the morning. Could there be a way to sleep soundly in broad daylight with confidence?

“This is simple,” Liang Shu boasted shamelessly. “As long as you eat well, learn martial arts well, grow up to be a big girl quickly, and get married to a good husband who will obey you, then you can sleep during the day.”

The little girl clapped her hands and said: “I’ll do it.”

The surrounding soldiers were all stunned. This……was a sin, ah. They would have to find a way to keep the prince away from the child.

Carrying the letter, a green harrier landed in the dense forest.

The witch doctors filed out of Ku You’s room, and Liu Hengchang felt anxious at the sight. Although Mu Zhe had promised Wumeng Yunle that he would cure Ku You’s eye disease, he did not seek out Liu Hengchang in the end, but sent other witch doctors. Thinking back and forth, he just went secretly to the mountain spring to find Wumeng Yunle and said: “Ku You’s eye disease was treated by Liu Xianche before, and I’m a disciple of Baihe Mountain Village. I know all the steps of the diagnosis and treatment, so I should be more suitable than those witch doctors.”

“But the witch doctors can also cure those pesky eyes.”

“Miss Yunle.” Liu Hengchang cupped his hands. “It has been a long time since I came to the Baifu Sect, but because Young Master Feng’s illness hasn’t been cured in so long, I have never been taken seriously. But for Commander Ku’s eye disease, I can really give it a try. I also ask Miss Yunle to request for the Leader to give me the opportunity.”

“Since you’re already here, why ask me to request it? Wouldn’t it be faster to do it yourself?” Wumeng Yunle stretched out her hand and said, “They’re just right there.”

Liu Hengchang was startled. He turned his head toward the other side of the stream and saw two people standing there. One was Mu Zhe and the other was Feng Xiaojin. According to the teachings of the Baifu Sect, it was a capital offense to offend the Holy Maiden, and such private interactions were not allowed. Therefore, even though Liu Hengchang had taken on the title of “doctor” at this time, there was still a layer of cold sweat on his back.

After a while, a disciple took him to the other side of the stream. The wind was blowing from the south at the time, so most of the conversation between Liu Hengchang and Wumeng Yunle was delivered to the ears of these listeners. He knelt on the ground and called out fearfully: “Leader, Young Master Feng.”

Mu Zhe said: “Your courage is not small.”

“Leader, forgive me,” Liu Hengchang said as he knelt. “I just want to get ahead of those witch doctors as soon as possible, which is why I came here. I have no intention of offending the Holy Maiden.”

“But you still said that day that there is no guarantee you can cure him.”

“No matter how minor a disease may be, there are still times where the wrong diagnosis is made. Besides, I’m afraid that if I talk too confidently in front of the leader and the diagnosis is not good in the future, then…..” He mustered up his courage and said, “But my confidence is actually quite high. Leader, can you let me try?”

“All right, I will let you try.” Mu Zhe was unexpectedly straightforward. Just when Liu Zhenqing was about to be happy, the other party said coldly, “After he is healed, it will be a good thing for him to see with his own eyes how his arms are cut off and hung at the gate of Cuckoo City.”

Liu Hengchang’s fingers twitched slightly as he bent down: “Yes, Leader.”

. . . . . . .

Liu Xian’an looked up at the time, looking until his neck felt sore. A-Ning said: “That strange bird won’t come with a message today.”

“It’s really too slow.” Liu Xian’an rubbed his shoulders.

“I heard that the green harrier is actually the fastest-flying bird in existence. Young Master, it really can’t compare it to your white cranes.”

“There will definitely be something that can fly faster than this in the future.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. If I knew, wouldn’t I be a person from the future?”

Liu Xian’an patted the boy on the head and asked: “Where is the prince? Is he still counting the money?”

A-Ning nodded. He is.

As for why he had been counting for so many days, one reason was that there was so much money, and the second was because counting money was really fun. Lying on a pile of angular gold ingots, Gao Lin also experienced what it was like to indulge in a life of luxury. His waist was wrapped in pearls and emeralds, and he carried the heavy weight happily, lamenting, “I don’t know how the emperor will distribute these treasures. If they are used for military expenses, we’ll need to build a golden statue for Ku You outside the gates. If they are used for flood control, we can build it beside the Baihe River.”

“You’d better think of a way to fish out his body first.” Cheng Suyue tossed a silver piece onto his stomach. “Get up. The prince told you before he left to sort all these things out today.”

“So much must be sorted out today?” Gao Lin sat up and looked around, then complained sarcastically, oh, so much money, how troublesome.

Liang Shu went all the way to find his sweetheart, then clenched his hand into a fist and held it out in front of him: “Guess.”

Liu Xian’an said: “Gem.”

Liang Shu raised his eyebrows slightly and tapped his forehead with a finger: “It seems I have nothing new to offer, so I won’t hand it over.”

Liu Xian’an smiled and held his fist: “If you want to offer it, show it to me.”

Liang Shu allowed him to open his fingers one by one. This ruby was specially selected by him from a box of jewels. It was polished into angles and corners, looking extremely beautiful and clear under the sunlight. As for how beautiful it was, it was beautiful to the extent that if his Second Sister who was obsessed with beauty saw it, she would come to the door every day to beg for it.

Liu Xian’an really liked it, but asked: “Does this count as privately embezzling from the treasury?”

“You immortals are very particular about these kinds of rules.” Liang Shu smiled and said, “Don’t worry, ba. It’s not considered embezzlement. I bought it with a month’s salary. I won’t have any money next month, so I’ll have to rely on you to support me.”

“I don’t have any money either. I haven’t received any medical fees from all my medical visits.” Liu Xian’an carefully placed the gem into a small pouch. “But I can ask my Da-ge for some.”

Liang Shu nodded: “Okay, let’s do that.”

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Chapter One Hundred Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Six