Immortality begins with exchanging talent attributes.

When Zhou Yan finished dressing and strode into the backyard, Li Kun was sitting on a stone chair with a somewhat gloomy expression on his face.

Seeing the other person's expression, Zhou Yan's heart skipped a beat.

Take two quick steps and open your mouth:

"Brother Li, how's it going? Any news about my third brother?"

Li Kun looked up at him, nodded, but did not speak immediately.

Zhou Yan frowned.

"Something happened?"

Li Kun hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice:

"We've found the person, but..."

"Brother Li, just tell me."

Zhou Yan urged.

Li Kun sighed and continued:

"But the people weren't in the city; they were in a quarantine camp outside the city."

Quarantine camp.

Zhou Yan's gaze gradually darkened.

He said in a somewhat low voice:

"I need to go to the quarantine camp."

Li Kun immediately stood up and said:

I'll go with you.

......

Outside the south gate of Jiande Prefecture.

A makeshift shack area, hastily erected by the government, lay haphazardly outside the city wall.

Li Kun led Zhou Yan through the shack.

Before long, the two arrived at a secluded shack.

  

The shack was very dilapidated.

A few wooden beams supported the straw curtain, and several tattered bundles were piled up beside it.

Just then, Aunt Zhu came out from inside carrying a wooden basin.

Her face looked haggard, and her eyes were red and swollen.

The moment she saw Zhou Yan and Li Kun, she froze on the spot.

The wooden basin almost slipped from my hands.

"Ayan..."

Aunt Zhu's voice was very low, as if she dared not look at him.

"Why are you here?"

Zhou Yan took a deep breath and was about to speak when a weak voice came from the shack.

"Mother, where are you?"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Yan's heart tightened suddenly.

He lifted the straw curtain and strode inside.

It was very dark inside the shack.

On a makeshift bed constructed from wooden crates and broken planks, little Zhu Zhu was curled up under a thin blanket.

The little girl's face was pale, her lips were dry, and a wet cloth was draped over her forehead.

Her eyes were half-open, and her gaze was somewhat unfocused.

Zhou Yan felt as if something was forcefully blocking his chest.

He walked forward quietly, squatted down, and reached out to touch the little girl's forehead.

It was terribly hot.

"Zhu Zhu".

He called out softly.

The little girl's eyes moved, and after a long while, she seemed to recognize him.

She forced a weak smile.

"Brother Zhou Yan..."

He reached out and gently picked up the little girl.

"Yes, brother is here. Our little Zhuzhu will be alright soon. Brother will take you to see a doctor."

Aunt Zhu followed them into the shack, stood to the side, and tears immediately streamed down her face.

Zhou Yan held Zhu Zhu in his arms and looked up at her.

"Sister-in-law, what exactly happened?"

Aunt Zhu's lips moved, her voice trembling.

"That day we went to my parents' house, but they wouldn't even let us in the gate. They just made us spend the night in the storeroom."

She looked at Xiao Zhuzhu, her face full of heartache.

"Little Zhu Zhu also caught a cold that night. Who knew that the next day, when my second sister-in-law saw that Zhu Zhu was sick, she insisted that it was Qingzhou's blood poison and actually called the yamen people to drive us out of the prefectural city."

Your third brother was afraid you would worry, so he hired a servant to deliver a letter to you.

Ah Yan, he didn't mean to hide it from you.

Just then, Zhu Asan also entered the shack, carrying a few cornbread buns in his hand.

As soon as he returned, he saw Li Kun, dressed in the uniform of the Black Guard, standing outside, and knew that Zhou Yan had come.

After entering the house.

He forced a smile, his voice a little dry.

"Ayan, you're here..."

Zhou Yan looked up at him.

Zhu Asan's lips moved as he said:

"I……"

"Third Brother."

Zhou Yan interrupted him directly:

"I understand that you don't want to trouble me. You think I'm new to the city and haven't settled in yet, so you don't want to be a burden to me. I understand all of that."

Zhu Asan lowered his head slightly, his fingers clenching the cornbread tightly.

He squeezed those cornbreads until they were deformed.

Zhou Yan continued:

"But how old is Zhu Zhu? She's so sick, why didn't you tell me? If anything happened to Zhu Zhu, how could I live with myself?"

Zhu Asan's body trembled slightly.

Aunt Zhu covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

For a moment, no one spoke in the shack.

After a long while, Zhu Asan finally spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Ayan, you're a member of the Black-Clad Guard now, you need to move up. Our family can't keep holding you back."

Zhou Yan looked at him.

"Third Brother, don't say such things. Back in Qingzhou, did you ever look down on me?"

Having said that, he picked up Zhu Zhu and stood up, saying:

"Let's go! Come back to the city with me."

Before he finished speaking, he took the lead and walked out of the shack.

Zhu Asan wanted to say something more, but Zhou Yan didn't give him the chance at all.

He glanced at Aunt Zhu, sighed heavily, and could only follow her helplessly.

Li Kun, who was outside the shack, saw Zhou Yan carrying the little girl and hurriedly walking out, so he quickly followed.

"Brother Zhou, you take your men into the city first, and leave the rest to me."

Zhou Yan turned to look at Li Kun and said seriously:

"Thank you very much, Brother Li."

Li Kun waved his hand without saying anything more.

Zhou Yan came out in a hurry and did not wear the official uniform of the Black-Clad Guard; he only carried his waist tag.

He had just carried Zhu Zhu to the camp exit when he was stopped by two soldiers guarding the camp.

"Halt! People in the quarantine camp are not allowed to enter or leave at will."

Zhou Yan took out the Xuanyi Guard's waist token and said:

"Black-Clad Guards, get out of the way."

Upon hearing that they were from the Black-Clad Guards, the two soldiers trembled violently.

They exchanged a glance, then stepped back to either side, no longer daring to stop him.

Not far away, the quarantine camp supervisor heard the commotion and hurried over.

He was a middle-aged civil official wearing a blue robe.

He first looked at the child in Zhou Yan's arms, then at the black-clad guard's waist token in Zhou Yan's hand, and immediately a smile spread across his face.

"My lord, this is...?"

Li Kun winked at Zhou Yan, signaling him to go first. He then picked up his waist token and shouted:

"These men are the men my Black-Clad Guards are looking for; they are now to enter the city."

The middle-aged clerk quickly smiled apologetically.

"No problem, no problem. Since he's the person the Black-Clad Guards want, there's naturally no problem."

Zhou Yan didn't look at him again, and carried Zhu Zhu straight towards the city gate.

Zhu Zhu in his arms was still whispering:

"Brother Zhou Yan, please don't blame Father. Father feels very sorry for Zhu Zhu."

Zhou Yan looked down at her, smiled gently, and said:

"How could I blame your father? I just feel sorry for Zhu Zhu."

After entering the city, Zhou Yan did not return to his residence, but instead carried Zhu Zhu directly into the nearest clinic.

Inside the clinic, the young apprentice was dozing off behind the counter.

Upon seeing a burly man barge in, he immediately stood up straight in fright.

"Sir..."

boom.

Zhou Yan slapped a gold leaf onto the counter.

Zhou Yan looked at him.

"Doctor, now!"

The young apprentice swallowed hard and quickly turned and ran away.

"Master! Master, come quickly!"

Before long, an old doctor hurriedly came out from the back room.

He first glanced at Zhou Yan, then took Zhu Zhu's pulse and examined her tongue.

A moment later, the old doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a cold that got into your body, plus you were frightened, and you haven't been eating or sleeping well these past few days, so you're weak."

Half an hour later.

Zhou Yan carried Zhu Zhu, who had taken medicine and was already unconscious, and led Zhu Asan and his family back to the house.

Seeing that the matter was almost over, Li Kun stepped forward to say goodbye and prepared to leave.

Zhou Yan pulled him back and said earnestly:

"Brother Li, thank you for this!"

Li Kun waved his hand and said:

"Don't be so polite with yourselves, brothers. You guys get busy, I'm off now."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Hearing the commotion inside, Zheng Bo quickly came out to greet him.

Seeing the child in Zhou Yan's arms, he didn't ask any questions and immediately went to tidy up the side room.

Soon, Zhu Zhu was placed in a clean room.

Aunt Zhu sat by the bedside taking care of her.

Zhou Yan then led Zhu Asan to the backyard.

After serving a pot of hot tea, Zheng Bo tactfully withdrew.

Zhou Yan poured Zhu Asan a cup of tea.

"Third Brother, you can stay here without worry."

Just as Zhu Asan was about to speak, Zhou Yan raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Don't argue with me this time. If you want to move, wait until Zhu Zhu is better."

After glancing at the other person, Zhou Yan changed the subject and asked:

"What's wrong with your father-in-law? After all, Aunt Zhu is still his own daughter. Is he really that heartless?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Asan sighed and said:

"Actually, your sister-in-law's father used to treat her quite well."

But now, in the Zhao family, your sister-in-law's second brother is in charge, but the one whose words carry real weight is his wife.

After listening to Zhu Asan's detailed explanation, Zhou Yan finally understood the reason.

The reason for this is not that his father-in-law is unreasonable, but that he has no say in the matter at all, and the household is now entirely managed by Zhu's sister-in-law and her second brother's wife.

Because her uncle was a member of the Giant Whale Gang, this woman held absolute power in the Zhao family, and no one dared to contradict her.

The Giant Whale Gang.

This name sounds somewhat familiar.

Zhou Yan's eyes narrowed little by little.

……