Best friends dressed up in ancient times to become mistresses? You run, I run too!

Shen Ningzhu swore to the heavens, and the family finally believed that she had not come to harm them.

At this time, Shen Ningzhu also learned from them that when Shen Dazhuang was brought back, he was barely breathing.

In recent days, they have spent all their savings on his medical treatment, and sold everything they could, including the iron pot they used for cooking.

Just as Shen Dazhuang's condition was improving, they ran out of money to buy medicine starting yesterday.

When the medication was discontinued, the condition worsened again.

The doctor said that if they didn't start medication soon, Shen Dazhuang might not survive more than two days. The family had already made the worst-case scenario plan: if all else failed, they would sell themselves into slavery in exchange for Shen Dazhuang's life.

Just then, Shen Ningzhu and Liu Zhiyi burst in.

Shen Erzhuang's eyes darted around, his neck stiffened, and his voice lacked confidence as he said:

“You’ve ruined my brother. You say you have no ill intentions, so buy medicine for my brother. If my brother survives, I… I’ll believe you.”

The young, honest, and simple farmer, making such a request against his conscience for the first time, turned his dark, thin face as red as a pig's liver.

The Shen couple were taken aback and subconsciously frowned.

She felt it was wrong to do this, but looking at her eldest son lying half-dead on the bed, she held back from scolding Shen Erzhuang and looked at Shen Ningzhu with pleading eyes.

"Child, you..."

Zhao Meihua opened her mouth, her hands awkwardly clutching the hem of her skirt, her simple face showing a hesitant expression.

She knew in her heart that Shen Ningzhu was their last hope; the two of them were dressed in fine clothes and might have some money on hand.

Although it was somewhat shameless, they didn't care.

These days, they've borrowed from everyone they can, and they've already racked up tens of taels of silver in debt.

Now, I really can't borrow a single penny.

Their eldest son is still so young and hasn't even gotten married yet. If he dies like this, the couple won't be able to go on living.

Thinking of this, she closed her eyes and knelt down abruptly, tears streaming down her face.

"Child, I know this is asking the impossible, but if you have the ability, could you please save him? He's so young, he can't just leave this world like this. Waaah, just consider it something we owe you."

Once Dazhuang recovers, our whole family of four will serve you like slaves, we…

Shen Ningzhu's mind went blank, and she hurriedly helped her up. Before she could even speak, Liu Zhiyi's eyes were already red, and she deftly took out a ten-tael silver ingot.

"Here you go, is that enough? If not, there's more."

He then pulled out two more identical silver ingots, saying, "Hurry and find a doctor to get medicine; saving lives is the most important thing."

The three members of the Shen family were stunned for a moment, but Shen Erzhuang was the first to react. His eyes lit up, and he quickly grabbed the silver ingot and disappeared in a flash.

In no time at all, he came back in a flurry, carrying a bunch of medicine packets in his hand.

"I've got the medicine, but I'm still missing one ingredient. We don't have any in town, so I'll have to go up the mountain to get it. I'm heading up now."

Shen Erzhuang handed the medicine packet to his mother, Zhao Meihua, wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, and turned to leave. Shen Ningzhu saw that he was holding a blueprint in his hand and quickly said that she wanted to go too.

Shen Dazhuang's condition looks very bad.

Since it's already afternoon, it's too slow for Shen Erzhuang to search alone; having more people means more efficiency.

Liu Zhiyi and Shen Dashan also stepped forward.

In the end, apart from Shen Ningzhu's biological mother, Zhao Meihua, who stayed at home to take care of Shen Dazhuang, everyone else went up the mountain together.

Shen Ningzhu never imagined that this trip into the mountains would change her life.

Once we entered the mountains, the light dimmed.

All around were towering trees, quiet and a little eerie. For a fleeting moment, Shen Ningzhu felt a pang of regret, thinking she had acted impulsively.

In ancient times, the mountains and forests were unexploited and posed unimaginable dangers.

But when she thought about how Shen Dazhuang had been harmed by the original owner of this body, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go into the mountains.

She took someone else's body, so she should pay the price for her past actions. Moreover, this was her own flesh and blood, making her even more responsible.

Upon reaching the halfway point of the mountain, Shen Dashan said:

“We’ll be faster if we split up to search, but you two… never mind, you stay in this area and don’t go too far, it’ll be unsafe. Erzhuang and I will go deeper into the area, and we’ll whistle to meet up when we find it.”

After saying that, he handed each of them a wooden whistle and quickly left.

Liu Zhiyi and Shen Ningzhu didn't want to delay, so they split into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, to search nearby.

Fortunately, perseverance pays off. Not long after Shen Ningzhu left, she actually came across the medicinal herb that was drawn on the paper.

She excitedly stepped forward, about to swing her machete to dig for medicinal herbs, when suddenly she felt a gust of wind beside her ear.

Shen Ningzhu was so frightened that she quickly turned around. Before she could see what was happening, her wrist went numb. With a "clang," the woodcutter's knife fell to the ground, and then she was pushed heavily to the ground.

"Ah - um -"

She gasped in fright, but someone quickly covered her mouth and pressed her back heavily against the gravel on the ground, the stones embedding themselves into her flesh. The pain made her instinctively gasp.

His strong body pressed down, exuding a powerful and domineering aura. Then, his unique masculine scent, mixed with the refreshing and pleasant aroma of cedar, wafted into her nostrils unexpectedly.

"Shut up."

A deep, suppressed voice came through.

His cold lips pressed against the skin behind her ear, uttering chilling words, while his breath was warm and chaotic. The stark contrast made Shen Ningzhu tremble uncontrollably.

"Hero, spare my life—" Jiang Xuanyan (pictured) Shen Ningzhu's eyes welled up with tears, her thin shoulders trembled uncontrollably, and she begged for mercy in a low voice, suppressing her fear.

Although she didn't know why a man in black had suddenly appeared in the deep mountains and forests, Shen Ningzhu's intuition told her that this person was dangerous, especially since he had a long sword beside him.

The hilt of the sword was inlaid with a valuable ruby, about the size of a fingernail. The blade exuded a chilling aura, and fresh blood, which looked like human blood, was dripping from the tip of the sword.

Shen Ningzhu felt a chill run down her spine.

The man on top of her felt very strange; his body was burning hot, like a furnace, his jawline was taut, as if he was enduring something, and large drops of sweat were falling from his forehead.

He was wearing a half-silver mask, so Shen Ningzhu couldn't see his face clearly.

But the exposed skin is delicate and fair, without any blemishes, and you can't even see the pores, just like the finest white jade.

"If you cure me of the poison, I will certainly treat you well."

He smiled, but his eyes were as sinister as a venomous snake. He looked at her with a half-smile, and his slender fingers had moved to Shen Ningzhu's neck and slowly tightened.

She looked as if saying "no" would immediately take her life.