Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 55 Hunting Feast
Pei Nian looked at Wei Xie's tent in the distance, his eyes full of thought.

But a waitress came over and said, "Miss Pei, the princess wants you to come over and talk."

"Okay. Also, it's okay to call me 'Ji Shi'."

The maid was a palace lady of high rank. She was stunned when she heard the words, but under the pressure of Pei Nian's aura, she still responded with a bow, "Yes, Pei Jishi."

The two entered the main tent and saw that a banquet was being set up inside, with everyone sitting at different tables.

Several waitresses came to greet them and said, "Miss Pei is here."

Over there, Shen Lingshu stood up and waved, "Pei Nian, come quickly."

Pei Nian was helpless and pursed his lips. He walked forward, but before he could say anything, Shen Lingshu pulled him to sit down with his co-client.

Seeing Wei Chan was also there, Pei Nian wanted to stand up and said, "Greetings, Princess Yushu."

"Don't be so formal. I've heard Lingshu talk about you a long time ago. You are her good friend, and you are also my good friend."

"Yes."

"Would you like to change your clothes first? I brought a lot of nice clothes."

The reason why Wei Chan asked this was because Pei Nian's brocade robe was covered in mud, ashes, sweat stains, and it smelled a bit bad.

Pei Nian replied: "No need, it's dangerous here, I should guard the princess outside the tent."

"You, we've already said that we're just friends getting together, why do you still think of yourself as a rude man?" Wei Chan said jokingly, "Or do you not consider us as friends?"

"I am the first person in charge of the Kaiping Division to investigate the case. My priority is to protect the princess's safety. Then I will be her friend."

This was quite disrespectful, Wei Chan just smiled faintly and said nothing more.

Pei Nian was about to leave when Wei Yu brought Gu Jingnian in. As they walked in, he waved his hand and said, "Sit down, sit down. No need to be polite."

Shen Lingshu pulled again, and Pei Nian had to sit down.

Over there, Gu Jingnian also sat down, opposite the two of them.

He looked at Pei Nian and nodded slightly to show that Huang Hu was temporarily saved. Pei Nian then felt relieved and his body was no longer stiff.

Shen Lingshu noticed the little actions of the two people, thought about the rumors about them, and believed them a little. However, she also saw Gu Jingnian's recent infatuation and dedication to her, and she couldn't help but waver in her mind.

She was very curious and couldn't help but ask.

"Do you have any business to discuss?"

Pei Nian had sharp eyes, and he knew what she was thinking as soon as he saw her expression. He said in a businesslike tone, "He has a little thing to report, and I already know about it."

Hearing the tone, it was the first time that Shen Lingshu felt that Pei Nian was a high-ranking official.

She was a person who couldn't keep secrets, and after hesitating, she said, "I heard something..."

"I was just about to tell you." Pei Nian said first: "The rumor is false. I have nothing to do with Gu Jingnian."

"Ah, of course, I didn't believe it in the first place." Shen Lingshu was a little embarrassed, and her words became confused. In order to ease the embarrassment, she hurriedly said, "And this matter has nothing to do with me. Anyway, the engagement has been cancelled, so I don't like him."

Pei Nian nodded and said, "That's fine, he's not a good match for you."

Shen Lingshu was stunned. She didn't expect her to say that and didn't know how to respond.

It just so happened that I was the one who said "I look down on it" just now. Now I have no way out, so I have to bite the bullet and continue the conversation.

"Well, not a good match, but why?"

Pei Nian was speechless for a moment.

Her deepest impression of Gu Jingnian was that he would bite her whenever he saw her, so she subconsciously said, "He's like a dog."

Shen Lingshu felt that she had gone too far in scolding him, and asked, "Did he offend you?"

"It's not a big deal, I just advise you to find a better one."

"Oh."

Shen Lingshu turned her head and saw Liang Caixing sitting below Gu Jingnian, looking at her intently with a loving gaze, which made her feel even more embarrassed.

She took some food with chopsticks and ate it in small bites. She covered her mouth and whispered to Pei Nian, "Did you see that guy? I want to tell him to stop staring at me."

"He is better than Gu Jingnian."

Pei Nian saw that Liang Caixing was also a fool whose mind was filled with only love, and said, "She is quite a match for you."

"What?" Shen Lingshu felt offended and was very annoyed, "You...what's wrong with you?"

Halfway through her words, she saw a scar on Pei Nian's neck. She couldn't help but reach out and touch it, and asked, "Were you bitten? Could it be..."

"No." Pei Nian denied immediately.

"That's good. If you turn into a leech, you'll scare me to death."

"Well, it wasn't a leech bite."

Pei Nian couldn't wait any longer and found that Gu Jingnian seemed to be looking around. He paid attention and determined that he was looking for something.

After a while, Gu Jingnian said "I'm going to the toilet" to the waiter behind him and got up and left.

Shen Lingshu was leaning over the table next to her to talk to Wei Chan, so Pei Nian took the opportunity to leave and followed Gu Jingnian.

Liang Caixing saw this scene and thought that Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian must be having a tryst. If they were caught red-handed, Shen Lingshu would know the shame of the illegitimate child. So she also stood up and followed Pei Nian from a distance.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Only the main tent in the camp was bustling. Elsewhere there were only soldiers resting in tents and guards passing by from time to time.

Gu Jingnian first went to take a look at the cage where the yellow tiger was locked up, then took the initiative to greet a team of patrol guards and asked, "My stomach is not feeling well, is there a doctor in the camp?"

"There are several doctors over there."

"Thank you very much."

Several tents were gathered around a bonfire, and several medicine boys were sitting by the fire, pounding medicine.

The medicines that might be used for hunting were already prepared. They were now making anesthetics to be quenched on arrowheads to paralyze wild animals. Gu Jingnian approached, holding his stomach, and glanced at the medicine boy, saying, "Is there a doctor?"

As he said this, without waiting for a response, he went to open the largest tent and saw five old doctors drinking.

One of the old men saw his movements, stood up, stroked his beard and said: "You have a stomachache, let me take a look at you."

Gu Jingnian was about to go in when someone came out of the small tent behind him. He looked back and saw that it was a middle-aged doctor with a square scarf on his head, a medicine box on his shoulder, and elegant manners.

The moment the middle-aged doctor passed by the campfire, Gu Jingnian clearly saw a slanted scar on his face.

It was exactly at the same place as the one he had cut on the great pharmacist's face.

"I drank a glass of cold wine and feel a little uncomfortable." Gu Jingnian remained calm and went into the tent. "I'd like to ask the old doctor to take a look."

After taking his pulse, he said that his stomachache had gone away, praised the doctor for his miraculous healing skills, and left the tent.

The figure carrying the medicine box had already walked away and could only be vaguely seen.

Gu Jingnian followed slowly.

He guessed that Wei Xie was related to the Great Pharmacist, and just wanted to see if he could find any relevant clues. Unexpectedly, he seemed to have an unexpected gain tonight.

We walked further and further away until we entered the woods outside the camp.

The forest was thick with leaves and branches, which blocked the moonlight and made it very dark. All I could hear was the rustling sound of fallen leaves as my feet stepped on them.

Finally, the middle-aged doctor stopped in front of a huge ancient tree.

The ancient tree stood tall and towering, with a trunk so thick that it would be difficult for more than ten people to hug it.

But no one knew what the middle-aged doctor did, but he pulled the ancient tree and opened a door. He went in and lit a candle.

The firelight illuminated a rather large tree hole with a large platform inside. He stood behind the platform fiddling with pots and pans, which actually seemed somewhat cozy, as if he was preparing food and waiting for his family to return.

Gu Jingnian approached quietly and hid under a tree not far away. He saw that the middle-aged doctor had extraordinary eyes and looked exactly like the great pharmacist of Wanchun Palace.

There were the sounds of footsteps and the clanging of iron chains coming closer and closer, and then a giant was seen walking towards them with a hunched back, carrying a person on his back. It was Huang Hu.

The chains on Huang Hu had been removed and his eyes were closed. He must have been knocked unconscious by the drug used to fight wild beasts.

The giant couldn't enter the tree hole, so he stood outside, put the yellow tiger on a big platform, and stood aside.

The great pharmacist calmly handcuffed Huang Hu's neck and limbs. The shackles were dark and pale, the same material as the ones he used to tie up giant vipers in the valley.

After cuffing the man so simply, he picked up a dagger and cut open Huang Hu's clothes, muttering to himself: "Sure enough, the wound has healed."

Then he made another cut, cut open the tiger's belly, and held it open with a stick to prevent it from healing.

Gu Jingnian looked at it for a while and thought about it.

The giant was clumsy and despite his tall stature, he couldn't fit into the tree hole.

The Great Pharmacist doesn't know how to use force, so he just needs to move fast enough and rush into the tree hole to subdue the opponent... But it was too smooth, from finding the Great Pharmacist to tracking him here tonight, everything was too smooth, like a trap.

Thinking of this, Gu Jingnian not only did not rush forward, but instead quietly retreated.

He planned to find Pei Nian and get another strong bow.

The wind whimpered as it blew through the woods, covering up the sound of falling leaves underfoot.

suddenly.

"Gu Jingnian, Pei Nian, I know you are hiding here and having an affair!"

A loud shout suddenly exploded in the woods, and the echo lasted far and wide.

"Having an affair here!"

"Cheating!"

Gu Jingnian stopped, quickly made a new decision, and suddenly rushed into the tree hole.

The giant suddenly heard the loud roar of catching an adulterer and was also stunned. He turned his head to look at the source of the sound. The next moment, Gu Jingnian was already in front of him.

He immediately swung his big hand and swept across.

Gu Jingnian was well prepared. He held a dagger in his hand and stabbed it into the giant's arm, while diving forward.

But a sharp arrow pierced his back from above.

He fell to the ground, looked up and saw a pair of wings.

The winged man Luoxia, holding a bow and arrow, flew down from the ancient tree and stood in the air.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Gu Jingnian did not answer. He stood up and rushed towards the tree hole, but one of his legs was caught by the giant behind him and he was lifted into the air.

The next moment, Pei Nian suddenly jumped out like a startled wild goose, leaped from the tree branch to the giant's shoulder, pierced the giant's neck with a sword, drew the sword, and pounced towards Luoxia.

"You save Huang Hu!"

Gu Jingnian fell to the ground, ignoring the fight between Pei Nian and Luo Xia, and rushed into the tree hole.

The great pharmacist was taking out a piece of liver from the yellow tiger's stomach. He turned around, his eyes were still calm, and even had a hint of smile.

Gu Jingnian didn't think about where the other party's calmness came from. He pulled out the arrows from his body, rushed forward, and stabbed him hard.

However, the distance between him and the Great Pharmacist grew even greater.

He was stunned and looked down, only to find that the tree hole he was in seemed to be alive.

The entire ancient tree came alive, and its branches wrapped around him, pulling him away from the great pharmacist. In an instant, he was like a prey caught in a spider web, trapped in layers of tangled branches.

Faintly, an extremely old and hoarse voice sounded slowly, like the wind blowing the leaves, or like talking.

"I slept too long."

(End of this chapter)