My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

On the other side, Cui Ying's expression changed slightly after she saw the jade pendant the boy had left on the boat.

She raised her hand and shot the bamboo leaf imbued with golden light towards the silver-finned monster fish closest to the boy, then leaped into the air.

With a few light leaps on the river surface, she grabbed the boy's clothes and, using the floating logs beneath her feet, safely returned to the small boat after a few more jumps.

Seeing its master rescue the person, Ta Xue followed suit, transforming into a black shadow and leaping into the water, fearlessly tearing at the silver-finned monster fish that were chasing after it.

Thick black smoke billowed, and waves surged.

The seven or eight silver-finned monster fish, each several feet long, were quickly defeated. Some fled, while others died. Soon, only a pool of scarlet blood and the corpses of four or five monster fish lying belly up were left on the surface of the river.

"Cough cough~"

The boy, who had been thrown onto the boat, still retained some consciousness. Taking advantage of the brief moment before he fainted, he weakly spoke to Cui Ying in front of him:

"Thank you~"

Cui Zhengming was busy performing hand seals to stop the boat. Only after he stepped back onto the small boat in the snow did he have the mood to wave to the young man. He glanced at Cui Ying, who was holding the jade pendant in a daze, and said nothing.

Zhao Sihai, still at the stern, sighed, took out a clean set of clothes and some medicine for stopping bleeding and healing from his bundle, and squatted down in front of the boy, saying:

"You're badly injured, don't move."

Feeling her body regain its warmth, Qin Simiao finally felt alive again.

After regaining some strength, he took out a healing pill and swallowed it. After refining the pill a little, his complexion improved slightly.

Seeing Cui Ying looking down at him, he suddenly realized that Zhao Sihai hadn't kept his clothes hidden from others when he changed them.

A thunderous roar filled Qin Simiao's mind, and her cheeks burned as if on fire.

He dared not look at Cui Ying again, his face flushed as he turned his head away, and said in a voice barely audible, "Thank you all for saving me."

After a long while, Cui Ying finally looked away from the boy's face, threw the things in her hands back into the boy's arms, and then turned to look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Cui Zhengming turned around and asked curiously, "Young friend, where do you live? Where are your elders? How did you end up in the Xiushui River, so badly injured?"

With the nourishment of the elixir, Qin Simiao's complexion finally improved: "This is a long story... It's all my fault for misjudging people, which has led to this predicament."

Cui Zhengming had only asked out of curiosity, but after hearing this, he didn't dare to ask any more questions: "Then, young friend, where should we put you?"

Although Cui Ying saved the boy, Cui Zhengming still adhered to the principle of avoiding trouble and thought he would find a safe place for the boy to disembark later.

Qin Simiao looked up at him, then looked down at the vast, seemingly endless river below, a hint of helplessness in her eyes: "Uncle, where are you going?"

"We are going to Huichuan Prefecture."

Upon hearing that they were going to Huichuan Prefecture, Qin Simiao's expression immediately changed, and she said with some joy, "Uncle, my home is in Huichuan Prefecture. Please give me a ride."

"No, no!"

Cui Zhengming quickly shook his head and pointed to the fine clothes the boy had changed out of, saying, "We have important matters to attend to and cannot give you a ride."

"Besides, you haven't even sorted out your own affairs, don't drag us down with you. I think we should find a safe place to dock, go our separate ways, and say goodbye."

Qin Simiao was taken aback at first, and was anxious to explain, but instantly understood what Cui Zhengming meant:

"Uncle, I know you're afraid of getting into trouble, which is why you're so eager to refuse me. But please rest assured, although I'm seriously injured, the person who attacked me isn't any better. Besides, I sent a message home before the attack, so I believe they've already received the news."

Hearing the boy say this, Cui Zhengming breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still somewhat uneasy and asked, "Is this really true?"

Qin Simiao seized the opportunity and continued, "Uncle, since we're going to help you all the way, please be kind and let me ride on your boat. I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

"Besides, it should only take half a day to get to Huichuan Prefecture now."

Zhao Sihai, sitting at the stern, turned his head and asked with some curiosity, "Young friend, are you really not afraid? If you come with us, aren't you afraid we'll try to sabotage you halfway through the journey?"

Qin Simiao turned around, revealing a bright smile, and said:

“Uncle, my father taught me the principle of ‘If you doubt someone, don’t use them; if you use someone, don’t doubt them.’ If you were truly such ruthless people, you wouldn’t have needed to save me just now. You could have just waited for me to be eaten by fish and then picked up the scraps.”

"Also, I know a little about physiognomy. Anyway, no matter how I look at you, I feel that you are kind-hearted people with bodhisattvas' hearts."

Cui Zhengming and Zhao Sihai, who had each received a "good guy" card, smiled smugly upon hearing this:

"You're quite young, but you know a lot. Although we uncles aren't good at saving lives, we're not the kind of people who are malicious either."

The two couldn't bring themselves to throw the boy overboard, and seeing that Cui Ying had no intention of stopping them, they simply nodded and agreed.

"Alright, alright, it's on the way anyway, so you can have a ride. However, we can't go into the city; we can only take you to the Huaxi Beach ferry outside the city."

"Okay, thank you both!"

Only then did Qin Simiao truly breathe a sigh of relief.

He hung the jade pendant he had been carrying around his neck again, raised his head, and gave Cui Ying, who stood facing the wind, a bright smile:

"My name is Qin Simiao, and I live on Changfeng Street in Huichuan Prefecture. Thank you so much, my benefactor, for saving my life!"

After saying that, he looked at Taxue beside him and said, "Is this the spirit pet that my benefactor sister raised? It's so powerful!"

Seeing that Cui Ying still ignored him, Qin Simiao blinked, reached out familiarly, and ruffled Ta Xue's fluffy head:

"Thank you for covering my retreat, my good dog."

Ta Xue twitched his ears, and seeing Cui Ying turn his head to look at the scenery, he also turned around and turned his back to him.

Qin Simiao blinked her phoenix eyes, looked at Cui Ying whose black hair fluttered with her dress, and slowly stood up, clutching her chest: "My benefactor sister, you still haven't told me your name!"

Cui Ying sighed softly, never expecting that Qin Simiao, who was taciturn and unperturbed by honor or disgrace in his previous life, was actually a shameless chatterbox in his youth.

So she shook her head subtly: "It's nothing, just stay put."

“How can that be? I must repay my benefactor sister for saving my life.”

Qin Simiao mustered her courage and took two more steps forward.

Cui Ying turned and glanced at him, saying indifferently:

"Didn't you say we're good people? Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, so it's just a matter of course. If you ask for something in return, wouldn't that diminish our merit?"