Chapter 275: The Treasure Hunt Team is Fortunate
The starlight and moonlight spilled across the earth!
As night fell, the members of the Li Family lit bonfires and rested in place.
Everyone was utterly exhausted.
They had finally survived the day. Except for the Guard Leader, even Miss Li felt a sense of relief after the calamity.
“We made the right bet.”
She whispered, signaling everyone to avoid showing too much nervousness to prevent any flaws.
“Miss, dinner is ready!”
Moments later, a fragrant aroma wafted through the caravan as everyone cheerfully called out.
“Alright, let’s go eat together.”
Li Xin Rou enthusiastically pulled Zhou Tong and Zhong Ningxue along. This scene made the Guard Leader pause for a moment, but in the end, he did not speak out against it.
“Bring out the wine; today this young lady will drink to her heart’s content with her new friends.”
Li Xin Rou said boldly. She usually abstained from alcohol, but today was especially oppressive, and she needed fine wine to ease her mood.
Moreover, she had done her best. Whether they could return home safely now depended on fate, so there was no need to remain absolutely sober at this point.
“Snow sister, we are both pitiful; I raise a glass to you!”
Li Xin Rou was warm and friendly, pouring wine for Zhong Ningxue herself, as if there was an endless stream of conversation to have.
Zhong Ningxue was not polite, downing the wine like it was water. With her cultivation level, she would never get drunk unless she sealed her power.
In contrast, Li Xin Rou’s abilities were much weaker. She quickly began to sway, her words becoming slurred, and throughout all this, she didn’t glance at Zhou Tong even once, her face growing increasingly red.
“Sigh!”
The Guard Leader let out a frustrated sigh.
He understood that his young lady was shy and didn’t dare to look at the face that was just like Guest Senior’s.
But the young lady didn’t know that the person sitting next to her was the real Guest Senior!
“My lord, I raise a glass to you!”
In the end, the Guard Leader stepped forward, humbly kneeling by the side while respectfully pouring wine for Zhou Tong.
“Ha ha… hic…”
Hearing this, Miss Li laughed and let out a drunken hiccup, her eyes glazed as she looked over.
“Uncle Zhao actually calls him ‘my lord.’ He’s really getting into character.”
She said with a flushed face, “I didn’t know your acting skills were so good. This reminds me that to deceive others, one must first deceive oneself!”
While speaking, she unsteadily lifted her wine cup and offered it to Zhou Tong.
“I also toast to you. From today onward, you are the true Guest Senior; you must take good care of this young lady.”
As soon as her words fell, she gulped it down with a thud, becoming even more muddled.
“Agreed, a meeting is a friendship. If there’s ever a need, Zhou will certainly lend a hand!”
Upon hearing this, the Guard Leader was so excited he nearly fainted.
In his mind, even if a big shot like Zhou Tong made drunken jests, they were still valid. The young lady, in her inadvertent manner, had just secured a life-protecting charm for the family!
However, before he could rejoice, his expression began to twitch.
He saw Li Xin Rou sway and fall against Zhou Tong, her arm draping over his shoulder as she laughed, “Ha ha… Little Snow cousin’s acting isn’t bad either. You’re so quickly into character, I nearly thought you were the real deal!”
“Holy cow!”
Zhong Ningxue couldn’t help but shiver. Based on her understanding of her Master, an extremely cruel scene was undoubtedly about to unfold.
But, to her surprise, Zhou Tong merely shook lightly, sending Li Xin Rou off him without changing his expression.
After all, this person could possibly be considered his sister!
“My lord, the young lady usually isn’t like this.”
The Guard Leader said cautiously, his heart nearly in his throat.
“It’s fine. I said there’s no need to be so nervous.”
Zhou Tong said lightly, but his gaze had turned toward an inconspicuous horse-drawn carriage, which emitted a troublingly hot fluctuation that was agitating.
“Is this the important item your young lady mentioned? It looks like some sort of fire toxin.”
“My lord truly sees through everything. This is the Ember of Decay, which can be used to eliminate the deadly poison within the family head!”
“Using poison to counter poison. I remember this toxic flame specifically restrains withered black gold. Could it be…”
You guessed correctly, my family’s old man was harmed by treachery and suffered this deadly poison.
Hearing this, Zhou Tong squinted his eyes.
Withered black gold was a byproduct of tool creation. Whenever a new semi-sage artifact emerged, terrifying tribulations would descend, and the withered black gold was one of the weapons of those tribulations, capable of both destroying artifacts and slaughtering people!
Therefore, the identity of the poisoner was obvious—it must have been a master craftsman, and the Li Family of Central Continent was highly suspect.
This poison belonged to the metal category, hence it required fire-type toxins to restrain it, which could be said to be targeting the problem directly.
At these words, Zhong Ningxue’s eyes brightened. Metal produces water; while the withered black gold was a great toxin to others, to her, it was a rare treasure that could be used to cultivate water-type insects.
“Alright, we’ll put this aside for now.”
Zhou Tong suppressed the conversation and got straight to the point: “I heard that this branch of the Li Family has been expelled from the main family; do you know how many years ago that was?”
“It should have been a long time ago.”
The Guard Leader frowned, in deep thought.
“Right, it was fourteen years ago. Two years later, I became Miss’s guard. At that time, she had just turned ten, so I can’t be mistaken.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Tong couldn’t help but be startled.
Everything matched up, nearly coinciding with the time he had been lost.
Before he could speak, the Guard Leader had begun to voice his grievances.
“It’s all Li Congxin’s fault! If it weren’t for their underhanded methods, Miss’s lineage would have become the head of the Li Family!”
“Who is Li Congxin?”
“You wouldn’t know, but he is the head of the Li Family in Central Continent. I don’t know the details from back then; I just heard the old man mention it, so I made a note of it.”
“Does your young lady not know about this?”
“She has never mentioned it, but in addition, someone in the treasure hunt team should know the details from that time.”
Hearing this, Zhou Tong was taken aback.
“How could a group of thieves know about such matters?”
“Please don’t underestimate the treasure hunt team; they are the know-it-alls of Central Continent. Besides enjoying looting, their specialty is collecting intelligence. They even accept commissions from major powers to monitor their rival forces.”
“It was Li Congxin who commissioned the treasure hunt team to monitor Miss’s lineage, so…”
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Tong stood up.
“I’ll be right back.”
With that, he stepped forward and disappeared.
“Truly the real deal!”
The Guard Leader trembled with excitement.
