The frail counselor you said, you fight against three heroes alone?

In the inn, several secret guards sat there with solemn expressions, not saying a word. Only their eyes occasionally met, revealing their deep worry.

They had been waiting for the Prime Minister here for many days, and according to the Prime Minister's orders, they dared not leave this small place even a step.

However, as time passed, the prime minister never returned, as if he had been swallowed by the night.

"The Prime Minister has not returned yet. This extremely cold land is full of dangers. Has something unexpected happened to you, sir?" Finally, a secret guard couldn't help but break the silence in a low voice.

Everyone's heart tightened, and the prime minister's instructions before leaving came to their minds, forbidding them to get close to that dangerous and extremely cold place.

But at this moment, their concern for the prime minister's safety made them unable to care so much.

"No matter what, we have to go and take a look. Even if we have to disobey orders, we can't just watch the Prime Minister fall into danger." The leading secret guard gritted his teeth, stood up suddenly, his eyes full of determination.

The other secret guards also stood up, checked their weapons and equipment, and tightened their night clothes.

Then they gently pushed open the door of the inn.

Relying on their keen tracking skills, they searched with difficulty in the direction the Prime Minister had left.

Xi Yu had been searching in the mountains for a long time, with beads of sweat on his forehead, but there was still no trace of the herb.

He was filled with helplessness and anxiety, and thinking that Cai Wenshuang might know something, he hurried to ask.

"I have been searching for a herb in vain. Do you know where it grows?" After saying this, he hurriedly handed the herb picture drawn by Song Shuwen to Cai Wenshuang.

Cai Wenshuang took the picture and looked at it carefully. His brows gradually furrowed. Finally, he shook his head and said apologetically: "I have never seen this herb before."

The light of hope in Xi Yu's eyes dimmed in an instant.

But Xi Yu's eyes suddenly became as sharp as an eagle's, locking onto Cai Wenshuang tightly, and he asked in a cold voice, "Are you lying to me?"

Cai Wenshuang hurriedly shook his head, his eyes frank and without any intention of dodging.

Xi Yu was exhausted. He found a dead tree and sat down slowly. He seemed to have lost all his energy and was extremely depressed.

Cai Wenshuang was puzzled when he saw this, and couldn't help asking, "Why do you have to look for this herb?"

Xi Yu was silent for a long time, his voice low and hoarse.

"It's for one of my wife's maids."

When Cai Wenshuang heard this, he couldn't help but sneer, his face full of disbelief.

"Humph, you don't look like a prime minister at all. If you were really a prime minister, why would you be willing to risk your life and come to this remote place to look for medicine for a little girl?"

When Xi Yu heard this, he smiled bitterly but did not make any excuses.

He looked up at the mountains in the distance and thought to himself, "Even if others don't understand, I must find this medicine..."

Seeing that Xi Yu remained silent, Cai Wenshuang felt more aggrieved and dissatisfied, and couldn't help but complain again.

"If you can't find the medicine, are you planning to keep me here forever? How long will it take? This is too unreasonable!"

There was a hint of crying in her voice and her eyes were full of resentment and helplessness.

Xi Yu suddenly turned his head and glared at her fiercely, his eyes full of warning and annoyance.

Cai Wenshuang shuddered with fear, swallowed back the rest of his words, pouted his lips, and turned his head away with an unwilling look on his face.

For a moment, the atmosphere was deadlocked, with only the wind whistling in ears, which seemed to add a bit of desolate background to this awkward situation.

Xi Yu tightened his clothes, frowned, and continued to think about how to find medicine, while Cai Wenshuang sat aside with a feeling of grievance, secretly cursing this unfortunate experience.

On the other side, Lao Cai paced back and forth in the dark and damp cave, extremely anxious.

"This girl, why hasn't she come back yet?" He muttered to himself, his brows twisted into the shape of a "川" character, his heart filled with anxiety, "Could it be that something unexpected happened on the way?"

Mr. Cai couldn't hold back any longer and decided to go out and look for his daughter.

He explored carefully along the way.

Unexpectedly, I saw Xi Yu and his daughter sitting quietly not far away.

Old Cai was immediately furious. He rushed forward quickly, pointed at Xi Yu, glared at him, and loudly accused him: "Yu Xi, what do you mean? Why don't you let my daughter go? How can you be so dishonest!"

His voice trembled slightly with anger, and his eyes were full of worry for his daughter and anger towards Xi Yu.

Xi Yu raised his head, looking exhausted. Just as he was about to explain, he was interrupted by Lao Cai's scolding: "I treated you sincerely, but you acted like this. You really took away my trust!"

Old Cai became more and more angry as he spoke, his chest heaving violently.

Seeing this, Cai Wenshuang hurriedly stood up, grabbed his father's sleeve, and persuaded him, "Dad, don't worry, listen to him."

Old Cai snorted coldly, glared at Xiyu fiercely, stood aside with his arms folded across his chest, waiting for Xiyu's explanation. His eyes seemed to say that he would never give up unless he gave a reasonable explanation.

Xi Yu raised a mocking arc at the corner of his mouth and spoke coldly.

"Oh? You said treat me with sincerity? If I hadn't taken your daughter as a hostage, would you have been so obedient and cooperated with me?" There was a barely perceptible hint of anger and contempt in his voice, and his eyes shot towards Lao Cai like ice knives.

Old Cai was so angry at these words that his face turned blue and his lips trembled, but he couldn't say a word in rebuttal.

Xi Yu stood up, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and continued, "As long as this herb is not found, your daughter can't leave. Of course, if you can help me find this herb, I will let her go immediately, and it can be regarded as you have done your part for your daughter."

He crossed his arms across his chest and stared at Lao Cai, not missing any change in expression on his face.

Old Cai clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and he was struggling between anger and helplessness.

Cai Wenshuang looked at his father and then at Xi Yu, his eyes full of anxiety and helplessness. He wanted to say something, but was forced to swallow his words back because of the tense atmosphere.

For a moment, the atmosphere between the three people was tense, and only the wind was whistling around them.

At this moment of stalemate, Xi Yu's eyes flashed, and he approached Cai Wenshuang like lightning. He suddenly attacked, and his slender fingers tightly grasped Cai Wenshuang's neck like iron clamps.

Cai Wenshuang's eyes widened instantly, his face full of horror. He subconsciously tried to pry Xi Yu's hands apart, but he couldn't move them. He could only make "woohoo" sounds while struggling.

Xi Yu looked at Cai Wenshuang's painful and frightened expression and had no intention of letting him go. He just frowned slightly and said coldly, "I'm sorry."

Although there was a hint of apology in his voice, the strength in his hands did not decrease at all, as if he wanted to use this move to force Lao Cai to surrender and help him find the vital herb as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Old Cai was furious and roared, "You despicable villain, let my daughter go!"

As he said that, he pounced towards Xiyu, but before he could get close, he was frightened by Xiyu's look.

I could only stamp my feet anxiously and angrily on the spot, feeling extremely worried but unable to do anything.

"You'd better not come here if you don't want your daughter to die quickly."

Old Cai gritted his teeth, a look of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said loudly: "For my daughter, I have no choice but to give it a try! Show me the drawing again, and I will try to find it." Xi Yu was slightly startled after hearing this, and then handed over the herbal drawing drawn by Song Shuwen.

Old Cai took the drawing, looked at it carefully, frowned, and after looking at it for a while, he shook his head helplessly.

"To be honest, I have never seen this herb before, but since I have agreed, I will try to find it."

Cai Wenshuang saw this and quickly grabbed the corner of Old Cai's clothes, saying in a crying voice, "Dad, don't do this. It's freezing cold, it's too dangerous."

"My dear daughter, you are now a hostage in his hands. What can I do if I don't listen to him? How can Daddy watch you fall into danger and do nothing?"

As he spoke, Lao Cai took a deep breath, wrapped his thin clothes tightly, and went to try his luck in finding the herb. Even though the hope was slim, he was unwilling to give up this opportunity.

Xi Yu frowned, with a bit of suspicion in his eyes, and looked at Lao Cai and asked: "Are you not as familiar with Wuliang Mountain as you said? Earlier, you said with certainty that things in Wuliang Mountain cannot be moved casually. I thought you knew where the herb was."

Old Cai looked embarrassed and quickly explained: "I did say that, but that doesn't mean I have really seen this herb."

Xi Yu snorted coldly, a hint of impatience flashed in his eyes, and said: "In this case, your daughter and I will go to the cave to wait for you first, you should go and look for it quickly, don't dawdle."

After saying that, regardless of whether Cai Wenshuang was willing or not, he reached out and grabbed her arm, forcibly pulling her towards the cave.

Cai Wenshuang struggled and cried out in tears, "Let me go, I don't want to go in, Daddy, save me!"

Old Cai was extremely anxious when he saw his daughter being forcibly dragged away, but he did not dare to step forward to stop them. He could only stamp his feet anxiously and shouted at Xi Yu's back: "Don't hurt my daughter, or I will never let you go!"

Xi Yu turned a deaf ear and dragged Cai Wenshuang straight into the cave, leaving Old Cai standing in the cold wind with a worried look on his face. Then he gritted his teeth and began to search for the herb with great difficulty.

After entering the cave, Cai Wenshuang struggled to free his arm from Xi Yu's grip, stared at Xi Yu with resentment, and said loudly: "You are definitely not the prime minister, otherwise, how could you hurt the people like this and do such a wicked thing as taking hostages!"

Xi Yu sneered, his eyes full of sarcasm, and retorted: "How dare you say that? How did your father treat me? He played me around. If I just give in, will I be slaughtered? I was forced to do this."

Cai Wenshuang was choked and speechless for a moment, his chest heaving violently, his eyes reddened, but he didn't know how to refute. He just stood there angrily, glaring at Xi Yu. The atmosphere in the cave suddenly became tense, as if it was about to break out.

Although Lao Cai has been staying on Wuliang Mountain for a long time, the mountain is vast and mysterious, so he may not be familiar with every scene on the mountain.

What's more, finding that herb in this freezing cold place is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Old Cai walked forward with difficulty, one step deep and one step shallow. The wind cut across his cheeks like a knife. The clothes on his body seemed as thin as a cicada's wing and could not protect him from the cold at all.

After walking for a while, he began to shiver uncontrollably, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. But when he thought of his daughter still in Xiyu's hands, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to continue exploring deeper, his eyes still searching around, not missing any place where the herb might be hidden.

More than an hour passed quietly as Lao Cai searched arduously, but he still found nothing.

The biting cold wind seemed to drain all the strength from his body. The chill had already seeped through his clothes and penetrated into his bones. He was shivering with cold, and his hands and feet were gradually becoming numb.

Old Cai couldn't hold on any longer, so he dragged his heavy and stiff body to a nearby rock sheltered from the wind, and slowly sat down.

He hugged his arms and curled up his body, trying to keep himself warm. The white air exhaled from his mouth kept lingering in front of his eyes. His face was full of fatigue and helplessness. He prayed silently in his heart that this short rest would allow him to regain some strength so that he could continue to look for the herbs that were related to his daughter's safety.

In the cave, the atmosphere was still cold and tense.

Cai Wenshuang looked at Xi Yu angrily and asked angrily, "Can you confirm that this herb must be on this mountain?"

Xi Yu shook his head slowly, looking helpless.

Cai Wenshuang was furious when he saw this. His face turned red and he shouted, "If that's the case, then you are playing a trick on my father. He's freezing outside and you're making him do this useless work!"

Xi Yu sneered, his eyes were cold, and he responded nonchalantly: "Then what can I do? Originally I was planning to look for it myself, but now I have your father's free labor, why shouldn't I use it? I can't just ignore the ready-made help, I'm not that stupid."

Cai Wenshuang was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Xiyu but was too angry to speak. His eyes were filled with tears of grievance and anger. He wanted to rush up to argue with Xiyu, but he was afraid of his methods. He could only bite his lip and sulk aside.

Cai Wenshuang bit her lips tightly, and suddenly an old memory came to her mind.

My father once earnestly advised me to learn martial arts, saying that if I learned martial arts well, I would have more power to protect myself in this world in the future.

But at that time, she felt that practicing martial arts was too troublesome. She had to get up early and go to bed late every day, and endure those boring exercises, so she willfully rejected her father's kindness.

Now that she was in this situation and was being controlled by Xi Yu, she was filled with regret.

If I had been able to learn martial arts well at the beginning, why would I be so frustrated now, and could only allow the person in front of me to bully me at will, without even the courage to refute.

She secretly clenched her fists, her eyes full of unwillingness, and swore in her heart that if she could get through this safely, she would definitely learn martial arts well and never let anyone bully her like this again.

On the other side, the secret guards braved the biting cold and struggled to travel through this extremely cold place.

Their eyes searched eagerly, not missing any corner where someone might be hiding. However, after searching for a while, they did not find any trace of the Prime Minister.

Just when they were getting anxious, they saw Lao Cai resting in a sheltered place.

Several secret guards looked at each other, and without hesitation, they appeared in front of Lao Cai in an instant.

One of the secret guards stepped forward and clasped his fists, saying, "Brother, we are sorry to bother you. Have you seen any strangers come here? We are looking for our Prime Minister. Please tell us something."

The other secret guards also stared at Lao Cai with burning eyes, hoping to get clues about the Prime Minister from him.

Old Cai was startled by the sudden appearance of these people. After seeing that they were strangers, he became alert.

Old Cai raised his eyes and looked at these people carefully, thinking to himself that these people had extraordinary demeanors and were definitely not ordinary people. However, he was currently thinking about his daughter and had no time to care about these people.

So he replied angrily: "I've already said that I didn't see anyone, so please don't bother me anymore."

A secret guard frowned, showing impatience, with a hint of intimidation in his tone.

"You'd better tell the truth, otherwise, don't blame us for being rude to you."

When Old Cai heard this, he immediately flew into a rage and snorted, "Humph, what's the tone of your voice? I'm so old, am I still afraid of you? I really didn't see any strangers, believe it or not!"

After saying that, Lao Cai crossed his arms over his chest, stiffened his neck, and stared at the secret guard without showing any weakness, as if he would never surrender even if it cost him his life.

Seeing this, another secret guard stepped forward and said apologetically, "Old man, I'm really sorry. My brother was indeed a little rude, but we do have something important to do. I hope you can tell us the truth."

Old Cai was not moved at all. He waved his hands impatiently and shouted, "I've already said that I didn't see anything. Get out of here and don't waste my time here!"

When the secret guard who had been confronted earlier heard this, he immediately became furious and his face turned red. He no longer cared about etiquette and started to attack Lao Cai with a loud shout.

Although Lao Cai looks like just an ordinary old man living in the mountains, he actually knows martial arts. He would never show weakness. His eyes flashed and he dodged the opponent's attack by leaning sideways. Then he quickly fought back and forth with the secret guard.

The other secret guards were all stunned when they saw that Old Cai had such high martial arts skills. They did not expect that this seemingly ordinary old man could be so troublesome.

After they realized what was happening, they looked at each other, and without hesitation, they joined the battle and helped the secret guard.

Seeing this, Old Cai sneered, his eyes showing fearless determination, and shouted: "You have a lot of people, right? Humph, then I'm not afraid of you, just come at me!"

After that, his moves became more fierce. Under the siege of several people, although he was at a disadvantage, he still resisted tenaciously, nimbly dodging wave after wave of attacks, looking for opportunities to counterattack, and his stubbornness and toughness were fully revealed. (End of this chapter)