Chapter 44: Chapter 044: Raid

Qin San Lang did not expect her to be so direct, which clearly stunned him for a moment.

Gu Jinli found it amusing: “Don’t be surprised, the excuse you used just now wasn’t very good.”

It could only fool a child, unfortunately, her core had changed, and inside was an adult.

She said, “Brother Qin, you are our lifesaver. If it wasn’t for you, the three families would have died long ago. If you need help with anything, just say it. I will definitely help if I can.”

Not just that night, but on the road all along, Qin San Lang had been helping them, and she remembered his kindness, which is why she spoke these words to him.

Hmm~ If the person who had called her was Qin Er Lang, she might not have agreed so quickly.

Qin Er Lang is gloomy and carries a dangerous air, unlike Qin San Lang.

Qin San Lang has a heroic face; when silent, he seems somewhat cold, but once he speaks, his gentle voice can dissolve the coldness his face suggests.

And he often smiles, his left cheek dimple when he smiles makes him seem somewhat adorable.

Qin San Lang is like a warm sun, able to inspire trust in people.

Gu Jinli’s words made Qin San Lang feel very guilty…Indeed, that night he saved them, he had an ulterior motive. Grandpa said they needed an identity, and for this identity, they needed witnesses, Gu Jinli and several other families were the witnesses to their identity.

Seeing his guilty expression, Gu Jinli smiled knowingly, glad to know he felt guilty, which proved she hadn’t trusted the wrong person.

“Brother Qin, please speak your mind soon, I need to hurry back. If I stay out too long, my mother will worry,” urged Gu Jinli.

Hearing this, Qin San Lang suppressed the guilt in his heart, his expression relaxed a bit, and after weighing his words, he asked Gu Jinli, “Xiao Yu, where did you kill that snake? Did you chop off its head? Where is that head now?”

As he spoke, Gu Jinli understood what he wanted to do.

“You want the snake venom.”

Her tone was certain.

The venom glands are in the head; he would only ask for the head if he wanted the venom, otherwise, who would bother looking for a chopped-off snake head?

Having experienced Gu Jinli’s straightforwardness before, Qin San Lang nodded in admission: “Yes, I want the snake venom. Xiao Yu, can you take me to find the head?”

Er Ge knew about Peng Changyong taking credit for killing the innocent and was very angry, thinking that Peng Changyong had tainted the border army’s reputation. He insisted on killing Peng Changyong, otherwise, he wouldn’t join them in heading south.

Grandpa and he had no choice but also resented Peng Changyong’s evil deeds. After much deliberation, they decided to make a surprise attack on Yongtai Prefecture and kill Peng Changyong.

However, they were just three people, and the captured soldier said that not only did Peng Changyong have a thousand soldiers, but he had also rallied the protectors of wealthy families in the city and local gangsters, totaling over two thousand men, so killing him would not be easy and could only be done with clever strategy.

So when he saw the snake’s body, recognizing it as a poisonous snake, he immediately thought of using the poison to kill.

Just by applying the snake venom to arrowheads, even from a distance, he could shoot Peng Changyong dead – guaranteeing his death regardless of where the arrow hit.

“No need to go look; I have already extracted the snake venom.” Gu Jinli took down the small bamboo tube hanging from her waist and handed it to Qin San Lang: “Here.”

Joy filled Qin San Lang’s face as he took the bamboo tube, opened the cork, and upon confirming the venom inside, he gratefully said: “Thank you, Xiao Yu, you’ve helped me greatly.”

Facing Qin San Lang’s gratitude, Gu Jinli just smiled, took the bundle of siler grass, left the dead snake for him, and said, “Brother Qin, you handle the snake meat. I’ll head back first, or others might get suspicious.”

Qin San Lang, upon hearing her words and recalling his request for snake poison, felt a palpable unease in his heart, causing him to ask somewhat worriedly, “Xiao Yu, did you… discover something?”

Gu Jinli blinked her eyes, half-serious and half-jokingly replied, “I haven’t discovered anything, and I don’t want to discover anything. Your matters are not related to me, we are just fellow famine refugees who have shared hardships together.”

As Gu Jinli spoke these words, it was clear she had already recognized their situation, but she also made clear that she would not intervene in their affairs and regarded them solely as disaster-stricken refugees, three survivors with whom she had shared life-threatening moments.

Qin San Lang understood Gu Jinli’s words and was grateful that she did not expose their secret.

If it had been other more timid individuals, knowing that their identities were problematic and that they had asked for something lethal like snake poison, they would surely have panicked and distanced themselves from them.

But Xiao Yu did not do so; she always pretended to be unaware of the issues with their identities… This small silence was of immeasurable grace to their trio.

“Thank you, Xiao Yu,” Qin San Lang sincerely expressed.

Gu Jinli smiled at the youth’s face, and as she was leaving, she reminded him, “Be careful, make sure you come back alive.”

Qin San Lang did not respond, but merely watched her back for a while, then lowered his head to deal with the dead snake.

Gu Jinli returned to the cave holding the siler, Mrs. Cui, hurried over, inspected her limbs and confirmed she wasn’t bitten by a venomous snake, then said with lingering fear, “Xiao Yu, how could you go after a poisonous snake? It’s so dangerous. You must not do this again, do you hear me?”

Gu Jinli knew Mrs. Cui was concerned for her, and smiled, “Mother, don’t worry, I’ve read the medical book given by Grandpa Bai, I know how to catch venomous snakes and how to treat their poison, you need not worry.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Cui became even more worried, “You child, why don’t you listen.”

Seeing Gu Jinli being scolded, Aunt Tian, thinking about how Xiao Hua had shared the news of Gu catching the snake, felt somewhat guilty and hurriedly spoke up for Xiao Yu, “Xiao Yu even knows how to treat snake poison, that’s a valuable skill. If we get bitten, we won’t have to worry about dying from the venom.”

Mrs. Chen, who was most afraid of death, upon hearing Aunt Tian’s words, hurriedly spat a few times, “You with the crow’s mouth, don’t talk about life and death. What if in case an immortal hears us talk about encountering snakes along the way? Quickly spit, let the immortal Old Master know these words don’t count.”

Aunt Tian, fearing both good and bad luck, quickly spat a few times and slapped her mouth several times.

Gu Jinli took the opportunity to slip away, avoiding Mrs. Cui’s continued nagging.

As dusk was approaching, Third Grandpa and others came back after searching for food; they didn’t find much to eat but managed to find half a jar of water, which was considered lucky.

Mrs. Chen saw the half jar of water, hurriedly ran over, shamelessly took it from Third Grandpa, “Uncle Three, you’ve worked hard, rest now, I will take the water to cook beans for everyone.”

Without waiting for Third Grandpa to speak, she ran towards her two sons with the half jar of water and poured several gulps into each, causing Gu Dagui’s face to flush with embarrassment as he sternly scolded her, “Mrs. Chen, that’s enough, hurry and help with cooking!”

After giving water to her sons, upon hearing Gu Dagui’s words, Mrs. Chen hurriedly went to join Third Grandma to help cook.

Dinner was a mishmash of boiled beans, tree leaves, and grass roots but, with the addition of snake meat, the taste was not as bitter as before but had a slight deliciousness, and everyone was satisfied.

After eating, Third Grandpa arranged the night guards, and every family began to rest.

The Qin family trio did not sleep in the cave; Elder Qin’s excuse was, “The cave is too small, all of us are skilled in martial arts, fear nothing, so we won’t crowd with everyone.”

Third Grandpa did not stop them, considering there were several families’ wives and girls in the cave, and the Qin family trio were outsiders, it was better not to squeeze together, so he let Elder Qin take Qin Er Lang and Qin San Lang to find a place to sleep near the cave.

Elder Qin did not rest near the cave but went to the grass under the slope.

Elder Qin said, “We sleep below, and we can still keep watch over everyone.”

The excuse was perfect; everyone was unsuspecting, only Gu Jinli knew that the three of them would take action tonight.

True to form, after the Qin family grandfather and grandsons went down the slope, they stayed in the grass for just an hour, then left the mountain range and headed for Yongtai Prefecture through the night.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep