CHAPTER 2034: CHAPTER 2033: TREASURE HUNT

Today is Jiao Ling’s birthday, but because we’re on the road, we didn’t really celebrate it. Lanlan gave her a woven bag as a gift.

Jiao Ling immediately slung it over her shoulder.

"I like it, I really like it!" Jiao Ling exclaimed excitedly.

Lanlan’s eyes curved into a smile as she said, "Chengfeng also helped with this. I’m clumsy and couldn’t sew that agate bead properly for a long time, so he ended up helping me with it. That’s why I say this gift is from both of us."

Jiao Ling paused, then said, "Alright, I’ll have to thank him as well."

She also took out an embroidered box, saying, "You gave your mother a gift, so this is my gift in return."

"It’s not even my birthday, why would I need a gift?" Even though Lanlan said this, her face was full of surprise and delight. Which young girl doesn’t love getting presents?

Upon opening the box, there was an exquisite set of pearl necklace and earrings. Each pearl was full of sheen and uniformly sized, making it hard to look away.

"Wow, so beautiful, thank you, Mother!" Lanlan shouted in surprise.

Jiao Ling gently patted her daughter’s head and said with a smile, "As long as you like it."

Soon, Lanlan went to show Bai Ruozhu her gift, while Jiao Ling watched her back and said to Fen Jiu, "I don’t know if her getting close to Chengfeng is right or wrong."

Fen Jiu didn’t know what to say either, so he thought for a moment and said, "Chengfeng is a good person, and Lanlan is not young anymore. We should respect her own wishes."

Jiao Ling’s nose felt a bit congested, "If it were someone else, maybe I wouldn’t be asking this. It’s just that..."

At this point, Jiao Ling didn’t know how to continue. Wouldn’t others be afraid of the poisonous insect in Lanlan’s body? Aren’t they afraid Lanlan is a resurrection by a ghost?

She felt somewhat saddened but calmed down again. At least Chengfeng was genuinely treating Lanlan well, but whether they could be together still required slow observation.

After continuing for two more days, Tong Zhengye had already made the arrangements and found her, saying, "We’ll set off the day after tomorrow, and it’ll take about three days to catch up with them."

"Alright, I’ll tell my parents that I’ve agreed to go treat a relative of yours." Bai Ruozhu replied, then raised her eyebrows, "I’m really curious how you convinced my second brother."

Tong Zhengye laughed, his eyes gentle and somewhat enchanting, yet with a touch of an otherworldly demeanor.

"Why don’t you ask your second brother?" he said.

Bai Ruozhu glared at him, "Is it inconvenient to say?"

"No, it’s just that if your second brother refuses to say, I don’t want to talk unnecessarily." Tong Zhengye’s smile grew wider.

Seeing this, Bai Ruozhu didn’t persist on the matter and snorted coldly before walking away. This left Tong Zhengye standing there alone, his gaze softening even more.

Later, Bai Ruozhu greeted her parents and aunt, saying she agreed to help treat one of the Tong family’s elders, mentioning that Tong Zhengye had previously helped her significantly, and she wanted to return the favor.

Jiao Ling hurriedly replied, "We’ll go with you. It’s not safe for you to be alone."

"No need, you can protect my parents by bringing Lanlan along. I’ll just take Jianqi and Yizi with me. Don’t you believe in my martial arts?" Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

Lin Ping’er then said, "Why don’t we take a detour to accompany you briefly? It’s not good to let you run around alone."

Bai Ruozhu felt a bit anxious but tried to calm herself down, saying, "We’ll ride fast and catch up with you in three days. If the whole team detours, we might get delayed for even more days. We’ve delayed a lot on our journey already, so we shouldn’t delay here further."

Lin Ping’er thought about it and agreed.

However, Elder Su grew suspicious, likely because he’d been drinking with Tong Zhengye often and sensed something different about him.

"Rest assured, Elder Su, I know what I’m doing," Bai Ruozhu said quietly.

Elder Su nodded, "That’s good. If there’s danger, send a signal. Nothing is more important than safety."

Bai Ruozhu quickly nodded, feeling that Elder Su knew quite a bit.

Once decided, Bai Ruozhu took Jianqi and Yizi and joined Tong Zhengye’s team on horseback.

Quickly, the group reached the foot of the mountain. Tong Zhengye handed out a backpack to each of them. Bai Ruozhu opened hers and saw that it included everything from signal flares to fire starters and more.

Yizi was quite curious and asked in a low voice, "Master, do you think there’s really treasure here?"

Bai Ruozhu tapped her head, "Whether there is or not, it doesn’t matter much to us. We’re just here to help."

Yizi covered her head and laughed, "I just want to see the scene with treasures all over the floor because I haven’t seen much money before."

Poor child, it’s just feared that when there really are mountains of gold and silver, many people will go crazy.

"Ruozhu, the first part of the way in is not dangerous. I’ve had people explore it before, but going further isn’t feasible. Several of my subordinates have perished in the poisonous fog, and those who barely escaped took a month to detoxify it. The doctor’s medicine couldn’t resist the poison there." Tong Zhengye began.

Bai Ruozhu gave him a glare, "You should call me Madam Jiang."

This was a reminder that she was a married woman and it wasn’t appropriate for an outside man to call her by her maiden name.

Tong Zhengye’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal, "Saying three words is too tiring."

Bai Ruozhu’s lips twitched; she really didn’t expect Tong Zhengye to shamelessly come up with such an excuse. This seemingly gentle person was really fearless when it came to being shameless.

"Alright, let’s head in." Tong Zhengye said to the group with a smile when he saw she wasn’t responding to him.

Jianqi blocked his line of sight with a defensive stance and even glared at him coldly.

Tong Zhengye’s smile remained warm, "Sword Guard, please."

"My surname isn’t Sword!" Jianqi said coldly.

Bai Ruozhu almost burst out laughing. Was Tong Zhengye really not doing it on purpose? Sword Guard—it sounded like "cheap servant" in Mandarin.

Nonetheless, to keep a straight face, she forced back her smile and walked into the cave with a serious expression.

At first, it went smoothly. Tong Zhengye’s men guided them around a few mechanical traps, indicating they had investigated quite a bit of the area.

And the fact that Tong Zhengye could obtain such information and "incidentally" cater to the Emperor’s interests probably wasn’t simple either.

"We’re getting close. Everyone, cover your mouths and noses. While it may not be fully effective, it can give some temporary protection," Tong Zhengye instructed.

Bai Ruozhu raised her hand, "Let’s not all go in at once. I’ll go first to check the poison level and see if an antidote can be made. If it doesn’t work, at least not everyone will be stuck inside."

Tong Zhengye’s subordinate quickly spoke up, "I’ll go in with Madam Bai to lend a hand."

Bai Ruozhu smirked inwardly. This person was afraid she’d go in alone and grab the treasure, hence wanting to follow her closely.