Chapter 21: Vanished into Thin Air

Xin Nian was lost in thought. "Do people in this era possess internal energy?"

"Mhm, that's how it's written in martial arts novels."

"I feel like there was someone else in the tree just now. But by the time I rushed over to look, no one was there."

Xin Nian waved her hand. "I need to keep practicing teleportation; my speed is still too slow, otherwise I could have caught that giant rat."

Xin Wenyuan ran back clutching a jar. "Let's go, let's go. Oh, my girl, you're truly impressive. It's only been a few days and you've already recovered to the second rank; my heart feels much more at ease now."

"Mhm." Xie Ninglan nodded. "Come on, daughter, let's go back and decoct medicine for your brother first."

The family of three returned to the gathering crowd, clutching jars and carrying water skins.

Dali had been pacing around the cart guarding it; seeing the Mistress and the Young Lady return safely, she breathed a massive sigh of relief.

She hurried forward to take the water skins from their hands, unable to hide the anxiety on her face. "Mistress, Young Lady, please don't send me away like that again. The Old Lady instructed me to follow you so that I would never be more than a step away."

"Alright, alright, we'll listen to our Dali," the young girl said, reaching out to pat Xin Dali's face with a doting smile.

Dali gave a light cough, her face flushing as she looked at her somewhat flighty young mistress. She leaned in and whispered a warning, "Little Miss, please don't take this lightly. If something were truly to happen, the Master and Mistress would regret it too late."

She lowered her voice further. "These escort officers are nothing but money-grubbing thugs; not a single one is decent. They usually prefer escorting female prisoners because they are easy to bully. The Imperial Court knows this too; it's an unwritten rule that everyone just accepts."

Xin Nian pulled Dali down to sit and nodded obediently like a pecking chicken. "Mhm, mhm, I know I was wrong. I'll listen to Dali from now on. Dali, you are truly good to us."

Xin Dali's face turned even redder. She coughed and said, "It is my duty."

"Dali, go gather some branches. We'll boil the water we fetched and then refill the water skins."

"Okay."

Xie Ninglan whispered beside her daughter, "Is it alright to drink it without filtering? Won't it cause stomach issues?"

Xin Nian rolled her eyes at her mother. "Don't be so picky, Mom. By the time we finish filtering, everyone will be asleep. We have to continue our journey at three in the morning!"

Hearing "three in the morning," Xie Ninglan felt terrible again.

This ancient, underworld-like timing was truly unbearable!

"I saw while I was fetching the water that there were very few animal tracks upstream. The water quality is quite clear. Don't underestimate these ancient streams and rivers; without modern industrial pollution, ancient people used to just scoop up raw water and drink it."

"If you're really worried, I'll grind some medicinal powder to sprinkle in later to prevent sudden dysentery. Other illnesses are manageable, but once dysentery hits, it can be fatal."

Xie Ninglan nodded repeatedly. "My girl is truly amazing—so thoughtful and meticulous in everything she does."

Xin Nian suddenly asked, "Where is your younger son?"

"Huh?" The silly smile on Xie Ninglan's face froze instantly. "Oh!" She jumped up and rushed off in a panic to find her son.

Xin Nian couldn't help but laugh, though her hands didn't slow down.

By the time Xie Ninglan returned with the child from Xin Ruoyu, Xin Nian had already begun decocting the medicine.

"Why did it take so long?"

"I chatted with Ruoyu for a bit," Xie Ninglan said, patting her younger son's back.

The child had fallen asleep on Xie Ninglan's shoulder, with a few faint traces of tears at the corners of his eyes; clearly, he had frightened himself and had a little bout of crying.

"Ruoyu is truly a good child." Xie Ninglan rubbed her nose awkwardly. "We always forget about Mo Han, and Ruoyu is always the one helping us look after him."

"I saw that she looks quite sickly herself, yet she still has to look after the Old Lady all this way."

"I just ground some powder for stopping bleeding and removing scars; give it to her for me in a moment," Xin Nian said calmly.

"Oh, alright, alright." Xie Ninglan was well-acquainted with her daughter's temperament. Although she always treated people with a smile, her heart was colder than anyone's.

It was the same in her past life; very few people could truly enter her heart. Even when she helped others, she would usually direct her husband and wife to do it, never appearing herself.

Everyone was eating dinner—still just half a coarse rice cake—but tonight they could eat it with water, so the treatment was slightly better.

Several families were secretly watching Xin Nian decocting the medicine, but aside from Imperial Physician Cheng stepping forward to ask a few questions, no one else moved.

Imperial Physician Cheng didn't dare lift the lid of the jar to check, but just from the scent of the medicinal soup wafting out, he knew it was for clearing heat.

"The Sixth Lady can actually formulate medicine herself? Has she studied medical texts?"

"Oh, this formula was from a wandering physician in the past. My daughter recognizes a few of the herbs, so she only dares to decoct it for our own family. You know the situation with my third son. Sigh, we can only treat a dead horse as if it were alive," Xie Ninglan replied with a few vague excuses. Seeing her say this, Imperial Physician Cheng didn't feel it was appropriate to ask more.

As they spoke, a man called Mao Hu (Bristly Beard) approached with two followers, looking fierce and heading straight for Xie Ninglan and her daughter.

Xin Wenyuan hurriedly stood up to meet them. "Officers, are you..."

Mao Hu gave Xin Wenyuan a hard shove. "Get out of the way, we're not looking for you."

Dali stepped forward, placing a palm against Xin Wenyuan's back to prevent him from falling.

The two followers gripped their whips, their triangular eyes glaring coldly at Xin Dali, who stood in their way.

Seeing the officers coming to cause trouble, Imperial Physician Cheng hurriedly retreated several steps, glancing at the whips in their hands with lingering fear.

"You... you two women, did you see a dog upstream by the stream earlier?"

"What dog?" Xin Wenyuan interjected, confused. "Is... is it one of the officers?"

"I didn't ask you, shut up!" Mao Hu glared at him viciously before turning back to scan Xie Ninglan and Xin Nian. "We are asking you. Answer immediately."

Xin Nian feigned fear and shrank into her mother's arms.

Xin Mo Han was woken up by the noise. Upon opening his eyes, he saw several fierce-looking officers glaring at his parents and sister. Terrified, he clung tightly to his mother's back, his eyes wide and round.

With her younger son on her back and her trembling little daughter in her arms, Xie Ninglan looked like a mother lion ready to strike, though her entire being was as startled as a bird hit by an arrow.

"W-we haven't seen anyone. Who... who is 'Doggy'?"

"Impossible!" Mao Hu roared. "Doggy went looking for the two of you. How could you not have seen him?"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Xin Nian, who was huddled in her mother's arms.

A cold glint flashed in Xie Ninglan's eyes. She raised her hand to ward off the officer's dirty hands, pretending to be afraid as she pulled the child back, shouting loudly to defend herself, "We haven't seen him, so we haven't seen him!"

"We went upstream to fetch water. But it was just the two of us at the time. Later, seeing there were fewer people here, we even had Dali call the Master over so we could fetch more water before returning. Everyone saw it! If you don't believe us, ask them!"

Xin Wenyuan understood instantly. During the time he had rushed to the stream, something must have happened to the mother and daughter, even though neither had mentioned it to him.

Good heavens, his daughter must have killed someone!