Chapter 426: 3 Years
Chapter 426: Chapter 426: 3 Years
Su Qing’s mind churned with thoughts after hearing Jiamu’s story about Qi Bo’s disciple.
’A world-famous Divine Doctor who wrote a manuscript... and it happened in Xiqing Mountain...’
’This sounds a lot like Mr. Gong’s ancestor. He was the one who found the eight-hundred-year-old Purple Danshen on Xiqing Mountain. Could it be that Mr. Gong’s ancestor *was* Qi Bo’s disciple?’
Though she suspected as much, Su Qing kept her thoughts to herself. ’Whether or not Mr. Gong’s ancestor was Qi Bo’s disciple, I’m not going to say anything. He must have had his reasons for hiding his identity all these years. It’s not my place, as an outsider, to get involved.’
With that thought, Su Qing changed the subject. "How did you get captured by those tomb raiders in the first place?"
Jiamu explained, "Three years ago, my father fell gravely ill. I refused to give up, so I came to Xiqing Mountain to look for medicinal herbs, hoping to find something that could cure him. But I was so preoccupied that I accidentally wandered too deep into the mountains. Fortunately, I managed to find some herbs. Seeing that it was getting late, I decided to head back down, but that’s when I ran into that gang of tomb raiders."
Jiamu’s voice filled with anger as he recalled the past. "When they saw me, they lied, claiming to be a geological team surveying Xiqing Mountain. They said they were lost and wanted me to lead them to a water source. They even promised to pay me."
"You weren’t suspicious?" Su Qing asked.
"We’ve had geological teams come survey the area before, so I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just took them at their word." Jiamu was clearly frustrated with himself. "I knew there was a spring nearby, but I was anxious to get home with the herbs, so I offered to just point the way. They refused, saying they didn’t know the mountains and would get lost. They insisted I take them there personally. I figured the spring wasn’t far and it wouldn’t take much time, so I agreed."
"And then what happened?" Su Qing asked.
"But after I led them to the water, they refused to let me leave. They said that since I was a local and knew the terrain of Xiqing Mountain, I had to be their guide. I refused, telling them I had urgent business at home, but then they showed their true colors and threatened me with knives." Jiamu said angrily, "That’s when I realized they were a gang of tomb raiders looking for the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple. They told me that since I knew who they were, I had two choices: guide them, or die. I couldn’t escape and had no other option, so I had to agree."
"They ended up staying in the mountains for almost three years, and I was forced to stay with them the entire time. I never got a chance to leave. For those years, I wasn’t just their guide; I was their pack mule too," Jiamu said. "About half a month ago, I finally found a chance to escape. But as I was running, I accidentally fell from a cliff. Luckily, it wasn’t too high, and I survived, but I was badly injured. I used the last of my strength to find this cave and hide."
At this, Jiamu looked gratefully at the gray squirrel. "I knew I was badly hurt, and I had nothing to eat. Thankfully, I ran into Xiao Hui, who brought me some food to get by. And now you’ve come and saved me... Thank you, really. I thought I was a goner for sure."
"It’s nothing. It seems fate wasn’t ready for you to die yet," Su Qing said with a faint smile. She glanced at Jiamu’s leg. "So, in all that time, they never found the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple?"
"Nope." Jiamu’s tone was satisfyingly defiant. "They forced me to be their guide, so of course I was pissed. I deliberately led them the wrong way as often as I could. I figured, one, it would give me a chance to escape, and two, even if the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple really is on Xiqing Mountain, there was no way I was going to let them find it. Who knows what they would’ve done if they had."
Su Qing was impressed. She hadn’t expected an ordinary villager like Jiamu to be able to secretly sabotage a gang of vicious tomb raiders while also plotting his own escape. "I was staying in your village before I came into the mountains," she said. "How about this: I’ll take you back there first. As for the tomb raiders, once you’re back, have the villagers report them to the police immediately."
’Still, she was curious about that gang of tomb raiders. To spend two or three years in the mountains searching for a single tomb showed incredible persistence. But what was driving them? The most valuable item in the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple should be the *Xiqing Miscellaneous Treatises*. Why were they so obsessed with that one manuscript?’
Hearing this, Jiamu quickly said, "But my leg... I can’t put any weight on it. I’m afraid I can’t walk."
Jiamu hadn’t been home in three years and was desperate to return. But he was a big, burly man—even after years of hardship had made him lose weight, he was still much heavier than a young woman like Su Qing. How could he ask her to support him all the way down the mountain? Especially from this deep in. It would take at least two or three days to get out.
’Never mind whether my leg could even take it,’ he thought. ’If something happened to her because she was trying to help me, I’d never be able to live with myself.’
"Don’t worry about that," Su Qing said, then turned and left the cave.
Jiamu was confused, but he couldn’t move anyway, so he just waited in the cave.
A short time later, Jiamu saw Su Qing drag a stretcher into the cave. He took a closer look. It was woven from wood, vines, and leaves, forming a dense, thick mat that looked very sturdy.
"You... you made this?" Jiamu was stunned. He couldn’t believe she’d made a stretcher this good in such a short amount of time. He doubted he could have done a better job himself.
"I did," Su Qing said. "Lie down on it. I’ll drag you down the mountain."
"No way," Jiamu said hurriedly. "I’m heavy! A young woman like you won’t be able to pull me."
"Don’t worry about it." As she spoke, Su Qing stepped forward, lifted Jiamu with a single motion, and gently placed him on the stretcher.
Jiamu was speechless. ’Was... was it really that easy?’
For the first time in his life, Jiamu began to question his own weight.
Su Qing paid no mind to Jiamu’s inner turmoil. Her only thought was to get him down the mountain as quickly as possible so she could get back to searching for the Purple Danshen. After all, now that she’d found him, she couldn’t just leave him to his fate deep in the mountains. That would be a poor way to repay the warmth and kindness the people of Xiuma Village had shown her.