A four-year-old medical prodigy descended to the mortal realm, and the entire capital sought her tre

In the center of the inner courtyard, a Taoist priest was wielding a wooden sword in front of a torch.

On the other side of the torch, Aunt Song was half-reclining in a chair, and Chun Tao had to help her sit up.

She looked listless and weak, and the jade pendant that was originally at her waist was now in her hand.

"How strange! My method of breaking formations is already invincible, so what exactly is pressing down on me, and why can't I break free?"

The Taoist priest was secretly sweating.

It wasn't that he lacked the ability to break the formation, but rather that this formation was not of this world, and he was unable to counter it.

Hehehe~~

Zhou Ruo sat on a peach tree by the inner courtyard wall, eating a peach while watching the people in the courtyard.

She watched as the energy from the tip of the Taoist's wooden sword struck the jade pendant in waves.

The yang energy on the jade pendant remained completely unaffected, steadily enveloping the black energy as if it were locked up.

After several attempts, the Taoist priest had no choice but to give up, but he couldn't let Aunt Song discover his "incompetence".

He picked up the cinnabar in the bowl with his fingertip, quickly drew a talisman on his palm, and then slapped it hard on Aunt Song's forehead.

"Ah!" Aunt Song screamed in agony, feeling as if the world was spinning.

After a while, Aunt Song recovered, her complexion gradually regained its color, and her eyes regained some spirit.

As Zhou Ruo watched from the tree as the Taoist priest injected the dark energy from the talisman into Aunt Song's brow, a layer of mist appeared over Aunt Song's heart.

The mist stopped the "black snake" on her body from gnawing at her heart, and she finally caught her breath.

Zhou Ruo gently wiped the peach juice from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, nodded and smiled, "Huh? Oh~~~"

After Aunt Song recovered, the Taoist priest handed her another package.

The Taoist priest said, "Aunt Song, things have come to this point, I'm afraid we can't wait any longer."

Chun Tao opened the package, inside was a doll whose legs were covered with needles.

The doll had a drop of red blood on its chest, and a silver needle pierced its back from the spot where the blood had fallen, making it look quite frightening.

Chun Tao trembled upon seeing it, and her hand trembled so much that she almost dropped the doll.

But when she saw the name on the doll's back, her heart stopped.

The three blood-red characters "Zhao Jinzhong" pierced her eyes, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.

Although Aunt Song was also startled, she appeared much calmer than Chun Tao.

"Master Li, what does this mean?"

Zhou Ruo was far away, and the sky was dark, so she couldn't see what was in the package.

But when the Taoist priest took out the package, she saw that it was a mass of thick black smoke.

This black energy was even more ferocious than the black energy tearing at Zhao Jinzhong's meridians on his legs.

Li the Taoist priest approached Aunt Song and whispered in her ear:

"The plans have changed..."

Zhou Ruo watched the Taoist priest and Aunt Song talking in hushed tones, but couldn't hear what they were saying.

Aunt Song's expression slowly changed from initial panic to a ruthless determination to kill.

Although she didn't know Aunt Song's next specific plan, Zhou Ruo had already figured out a way to deal with it.

She picked two peaches from the branch and slowly climbed down the tree.

"Huh? Where's Wu Ding?"

Only then did Zhou Ruo realize that he hadn't seen Wu Ding for quite some time.

"Why is Wu Ding running around like this? I was thinking of giving him a peach."

Zhou Ruo looked at the peach in her hand and inwardly complained about Wu Ding.

"Miss!" A hurried, low voice called from the corner.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Ruo saw Wu Ding running up to her, covered in sweat.

"Wu Ding, where did you go? I've been looking for you everywhere..." Zhou Ruo pouted and complained with a bitter face.

"I!..." Wu Ding was almost fainting from anger.

It was clearly him who couldn't find the young lady, so why was she blaming him instead?

"Miss, where have you been?!"

For most of the past half hour, he had been searching along the dark corners of Ningxiang Courtyard.

They practically turned the entire yard upside down, but they still couldn't find Zhou Ruo.

"I didn't go anywhere, I just stayed up here."

Zhou Ruochao pointed to the tree.

Wu Ding looked up at the tree, then at the wall of the inner courtyard. He saw that half of the tree's branches had crossed the wall and stretched into the courtyard.

"You mean you've been up there the whole time?" Wu Ding asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Zhou Ruo held up the peach in her hand. "I picked this for you."

Wu Ding took the peach, and he almost cried: "Then why didn't you answer when I called you?"

"Did you call me?" Zhou Ru thought back for a moment and realized that she hadn't heard anyone call her.

"I was watching the play, I didn't hear it."

"Watch a play? What play?"

Zhou Ruo tugged at Wu Ding's sleeve, signaling him to squat down; she wanted to speak quietly.

"In the courtyard, Aunt Song and a bearded man wearing a hat and holding a wooden sword were performing magic."

Wu Ding quickly made a shushing gesture, then looked around carefully.

After confirming that no one was around, he quickly picked up Zhou Ruo and ran out of Ningxiang Courtyard. "Excuse me, Miss!"

Wu Ding was still shaken and dared not let Zhou Ruo down again, for fear that she would run away again.

He carried Zhou Ruo on his shoulder and ran all the way back to Wude Academy.

"Wu Ding, put me down quickly, I'm exhausted!"

Zhou Ruo was perched on Wu Ding's shoulder, and she was focused on protecting the big peach in her hand. She was bounced up and down with Wu Ding, and her little face turned red from being squeezed.

Wu Ding only put the person down after they returned to the Wude Courtyard.

In the yard, a big boy and a small boy were bent over, their hands on their knees, panting heavily.

"You're back?" Zhao Jinzhong sat in his wheelchair, frowning as he looked at the two people in the yard, puzzled.

After seeing his young master, Wu Ding quickly composed himself and reported what had happened at Ningxiang Courtyard to Zhao Jinzhong.

They probably couldn't get into the inner courtyard and didn't know what was happening inside.

Informants have been arranged to wait outside Ningxiang Courtyard, and they will follow closely as soon as anyone inside comes out.

Finally, Wu Ding briefly recounted how Zhou Ruo had disappeared outside the inner courtyard gate for half an hour.

He omitted the part about how anxiously he searched for her.

"Okay, thanks for your hard work. Keep a close eye on things."

Zhao Jinzhong gave his final instructions, and Wu Ding departed.

Seeing Zhou Ru squatting on the ground in a daze, Zhao Jinzhong called out to her, "Come in and eat."

It was already dark, and Zhou Ruo hadn't had dinner yet. Zhao Jinzhong had the servants prepare food for her to eat together when she returned.

"No need, no need, I'm already full at Ningxiang Courtyard!"

Zhou Ruo waved her hand, patted her bulging belly, and said with a grin.

"What did you say? You ate at Ningxiang Courtyard?"

Zhao Jinzhong found it hard to believe that Zhou Ruo had gone out to have dinner with Aunt Song during the half hour she disappeared.

Thinking about this, Zhao Jinzhong felt a chill run down his spine and unconsciously became vigilant.

"Yes, I brought some for you too."

As Zhou Ruo spoke, she walked over and handed the large peach she had been protecting all along to Zhao Jinzhong.

Zhao Jinzhong took the peach and chuckled, "Is this all you're having for dinner?"

"It was so delicious! I ate three while watching the show!"

"Watching a play?" When did Ningxiang Courtyard hire a theatrical troupe? Zhao Jinzhong had no idea.