Intelligence Ultime - Chapitre 234
The man's eyes were filled with deep sorrow. He suppressed the bitterness in his heart, put his arm around his wife's shoulder, and said gently, "So many years have passed since Ningmei's incident, and our daughter's health has improved over the years. You... sigh, you don't need to worry anymore!"
The woman rested her head on her husband's shoulder, heartbroken and sobbing uncontrollably.
Little Fish Demon who came from the west, although you died, you still won in the end!
The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear. 2009-07-15 11:00 It was the height of summer, nearing noon. The sun was blazing, spewing out invisible flames that scorched the earth.
Qingfengya was still about ten miles from where the boat was moored. Zhu Huihui, carrying a small basket and using two large leaves to shield her head from the sun, strolled along leisurely. Although she was usually lazy and gluttonous, she was willing to deliver medicine for the lady, so she never thought of slacking off.
Her injuries had almost completely healed, and she could have left long ago, but the lady said that there was something strange about her body and she needed to stay a little longer so that she could find a way to resolve it.
Since Zhu Huihui still had nowhere to go, she decided to stay. Actually, she was very reluctant to leave the couple. They treated her so well, better than her mother, better than… a great hero! Their love was genuine!
The lady fed her a lot of medicine every day—some were liquid medicine, some were pills, and some were raw stems to chew; some were terribly bitter, while others were sweet and sour. And the gentleman, to help her heal, would press his hand on her Lingtai acupoint on her back every day, slowly channeling a lot of internal energy into her. Each time he finished treating her, he was exhausted, his forehead covered in sweat…
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Zhu Huihui had no way to repay their kindness, so she worked very hard to help them with their tasks. The lady was a highly skilled and kind-hearted doctor who often went to nearby villages and towns to treat the poor. Zhu Huihui volunteered to accompany the lady and did her best to help with the chores and tasks.
Sigh! I never thought I'd be doing something good, like being a good person and having a proper job!
As Zhu Huihui walked, she sighed with emotion. In the distance, she could see a large willow tree at the entrance of Qingfengya Village, and five people sitting on the ground in front of a bamboo and wood tea shed under the willow tree.
Even when these five people were piled up on the ground, they were still a head taller than the average person.
Zhu Huihui's eyes widened: Oh! Familiar faces! Aren't these the five big idiots from the Qiyun Sect! The five Qiyun heroes, standing in the open space in front of the teahouse, were covered in blood, clearly having suffered many injuries. They were tightly bound by five iron chains as thick as an arm, looking extremely listless, their mouths gagged with cloth strips so they couldn't make a sound, but their ten bull-like eyes were wide open like copper bells.
There were a few people sitting in the teahouse, among whom was a woman who looked very familiar. She was the one who had chased him and Feng Xuese at the Sanjie Temple. The hero said her name was Song Xiaobei, something about "colluding with each other"!
Zhu Huihui's heart skipped a beat. Afraid that she would see him, he quickly hid behind a tree. After waiting for a long time, he used his two little hands to hold onto the tree trunk and peeked out with half his head.
Besides Song Xiaobei, the man of medium height sitting at the east end looked somewhat familiar. After taking a closer look, it dawned on me that he was the other person in the "collusion"—Chen Yilang!
No wonder I didn't recognize him at first. Back at the Sanjie Temple, he had stuffed a steamed bun into his arms and disguised himself as an old woman.
Zhu Huihui felt an urge to explode just looking at him! This man was utterly shameless; he had beaten her severely with crutches before!
Back at the Sanjie Temple, these five big, dumb guys ganged up on the "colluding" couple, got their tempers out, and even demolished the main hall. They seemed to have gotten the better end of the deal at the time, but now they're in such a sorry state that they've been caught instead.
Hmm! Although they are highly skilled in martial arts, they are quite muddle-headed. They may not be a match for "Lang Bei" when it comes to fighting, but they are no match for thinking. All five of them combined are no match for even one of "Lang Bei". It would be unreasonable for them not to be caught.
She had a pretty good impression of the Five Heroes of Qi Yun, finding them rather silly and amusing. Besides, they had helped her and the great hero at the Three Realms Temple; she had to find a way to save them…
But those who are "colluding with each other" definitely know me, so I can't take any risks!
Zhu Huihui crouched behind a tree, stroking her chin as she pondered. Her arm accidentally brushed against her waist pouch, and she felt something dig into it. Reaching inside, she found a few pieces of candy, some odds and ends, and a small box. She paused, remembering that it was the one the Snake Envoy had given her to deal with "Ashan" when she encountered her at Xifeng Mountain. She had forgotten about it afterward because of so many things, but it had always stayed in her waist pouch.
Zhu Huihui opened the box and found it mostly filled with colorless powder. She sniffed it but found it odorless. What good stuff could that vixen, the Snake Envoy, have given her? Relying on her strong stomach and immunity to poison, she dipped her finger in it and tasted it. The tasteless and odorless powder dissolved instantly in her mouth. After examining it for a while, she noticed several herbs that could disorient and invigorate the mind. She figured it wasn't poison, but more likely a sedative or a sleeping potion!
She held the small box for a while, a cunning smile gradually appearing on her face, and she had made up her mind.
In this village of Qingfengya, a strange disease has been inherited for generations. Once the male villagers turn thirty, their hands, feet, and bodies begin to tremble uncontrollably, and they generally do not live more than three to five years. However, the women do not suffer from this disease, so most of the work in the village is done by women, and life in the village is very difficult.
The villagers believed that the disease was a punishment from heaven for the villagers' evil deeds. However, not long ago, the husband and wife passed through the area and discovered that the problem seemed to lie in the village's feng shui and soil.
With the heart of a parent, the doctor and his wife had been staying in the area for many days to investigate the cause of the illness and alleviate the suffering of the people. After Zhu Huihui's injuries and illnesses improved, she often accompanied her wife to the village and became very familiar with the villagers. Her daughter, Zhu Huahua, was fostered in the village chief's pigsty and was involved in a pig-related affair.
Zhu Huihui made up her mind and dared not go directly towards the tea stall. Instead, she took a long detour and circled around to another road. There was a melon field by the roadside. She glanced at the melon grower's hut and, seeing no one around, casually draped a patched-up coarse cloth coat hanging on the wall over herself. She also put on a tattered straw hat for sun and rain protection. Spotting a pair of rain boots under the bed, she immediately grabbed them and slipped her feet, which were already wearing blue cloth shoes, into them. They were still a bit too big, so she tore two handfuls of cotton from her tattered socks and stuffed them in, finally making them just right.
He placed the bamboo basket on the melon patch, covered it with a handful of melon leaves, picked a basketful of plump, ripe melons, squeezed the juice from the melon leaves, and haphazardly wiped his hands and face with the yellow soil before walking towards the back of the teahouse.
The teahouse was made of bamboo and had relatively open walls. Although she approached from behind, how could she hide it from the martial arts masters? Several people turned around warily and saw that it was just a thin farmer delivering melons, so they ignored him.
The plump woman who owned the tea stall looked at her with surprise, but before she could say anything, she was pinched on the buttocks.
“Sister-in-law, it’s me!” Zhu Huihui whispered in her ear.
The plump woman recognized her but didn't understand what she was doing, and exclaimed "Ah!"
Zhu Huihui lowered his voice and said in a rough tone, "I'll take care of things here. I picked a few melons, you can wash them and give them to the guests!" As he spoke, he stuffed a basket of melons into the plump woman's arms, frantically winked at her from under his straw hat, and then pushed her a few steps toward the well a few feet away from the shed.
The plump woman was completely baffled. She looked at the customers in the teahouse, then at Zhu Huihui, and then at the plump melon in her arms. Despite her doubts, she finally went to fetch water to wash the melon.
Those martial arts practitioners assumed the skinny farmer and the plump woman were a couple and didn't care.
Zhu Huihui followed, shaking a large pot of sweet wine that was suspended in the well by a rope and chilled, and whispered, "Sister-in-law, my wife wants me to wait here for a patient. This person is very proud and doesn't want others to know about his condition, so you should bring the guest some melons and sweet wine, and don't say anything. Go back to the village first, and don't let anyone know. I'll take care of things here!"
That lady was highly respected in Qingfengya for saving lives and distributing medicine. Fat Sister's only son had been bitten by a poisonous snake the other day, and it was she who saved him. So when she heard that it was the lady's order, although she didn't understand, she just opened her mouth and nodded without asking any questions.
Zhu Huihui pretended to wipe the well water off the outside of the kettle with her clothes. As she turned away, she opened the lid and poured the entire box of medicine given to her by the snake envoy into the kettle. Her hands were so slippery that not only could the people in the teahouse not see her, but even the plump woman beside her didn't notice. This kind of homemade sweet wine, used to quench thirst, had a very weak flavor, and the medicine powder was odorless and tasteless, dissolving instantly in water. No matter how cunning their scheme, it would be difficult to detect!
I helped Fatty carry the melons and ice wine to the tea stall, and took a peek at Qi Yun's five big, clumsy guys.
It was nearly noon, and the sun was blazing. They were left out in the sun, scorching and wilting. Flies, attracted by the smell of blood, swarmed around them, and the five of them had to shake their heads and shoo them away. Unfortunately, their mouths were gagged with cloth, and although they were gurgling in their throats, they couldn't utter a single word.
Zhu Huihui felt a lot of sympathy, but she pretended to be an ordinary person who was both afraid and curious, and dared not meddle. She hid to the side and pretended to tidy up the firewood drying in the garden.
The plump woman placed the melons and wine on the table, then turned and walked towards the village, while the group of people ate melons, drank wine, and chatted happily.
Zhu Huihui was even happier than they were! Those bastards finally drank the wine! Now, her only wish was that the medicine given by the Snake Envoy would be effective; it would be best if it killed them, but if not, it should at least knock them unconscious…
While stacking firewood, he listened attentively, and the conversation of those people clearly reached his ears.
A thin Taoist priest with a whisk tucked into his back said, "Brother Chen, sister-in-law, this time we have five fools as hostages, so we no longer have to worry about being chased by those from Jietianshui Island and Fengxue City!"
"That's right! We've been bullied terribly by them lately. Luckily, the brothers came to our rescue, otherwise my wife and I would have been in deep trouble!" It was Chen Yilang's voice. "Come on, brothers, have a drink. My wife and I are here to thank you!"
Everyone raised their glasses and drank together. Another burly man with a knife at his side laughed and said, "Brother Chen, what are you saying? What matters to my elder brother and sister-in-law is what matters to us brothers! There's no need to be so polite."