A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

The palace maids felt reassured and immediately wrapped her hands with handkerchiefs. They also called over several guards, and a group of people escorted her to the Imperial Hospital.

The Imperial Medical Academy was located inside the palace, not far from where they were.

Everyone rushed to the entrance of the Imperial Hospital with hearts pounding and sent someone in to summon the imperial physician.

The imperial physician, who was dozing in his chair, was awakened by the noise. Hearing this, he quickly came out and asked the group of palace maids and guards, "Where is he?"

"The person is right here..."

Everyone turned around to push Wutong out, but she was nowhere to be seen. Only a few drops of bright red blood on the ground proved that she had indeed been there.

Oh no, they've escaped!

In that instant, everyone had only one thought in their minds, and they stood there dumbfounded.

Then someone shouted, "What are you standing there for? Go find it!"

The crowd then scattered and went in different directions to search.

In the shadows beneath the wall, Wutong crouched in a corner, trying her best to keep her body low so as not to be seen.

The cut on her hand was too big and was still bleeding. She had taken off her coat to wrap it around her hand to absorb the blood so that it wouldn't drip onto the ground and become their guiding light.

I didn't feel much pain, but rather a tingling, cool sensation. My nerves became very dull, as if my hand no longer belonged to me.

Those people seemed to have discovered that she had escaped and started looking for her. Within just a few minutes, several people ran over, but none of them could find her.

Wutong didn't rush to leave. Instead, she tried even harder to minimize her presence. Only when their voices faded into the distance and were almost inaudible did she step out of the shadows, run back to the palace along the corner of the wall, and find Shan, who was locked in a room.

There were two guards outside the door, who had not yet heard about her disappearance and were chatting casually.

Wutong picked up a stone and threw it towards the door.

Hearing the noise, they assumed someone had come in, so they grabbed their guns and chased after them to investigate.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wutong slipped inside. The room was furnished like a bedroom. She saw a familiar dark figure lying on the bed. She silently approached, untied the ropes binding her, and whispered:

"Mountain, come with me."

Shan was half asleep when she suddenly heard these words. She immediately woke up and looked at her in surprise, asking:

"Why are you here?"

Wutong spoke very quickly and in a very soft voice, "There's no time to explain, get out of here."

"it is good!"

Shan lifted the covers and instinctively reached for her hand, but touched a sticky outer garment. Startled, he withdrew his hand. He wanted to ask her what was going on, but fearing he would waste time, he quickly put on his shoes and went out with her to talk.

However, the two guards at the gate had returned without finding anyone.

Using the red light streaming in from the window, the sycamore tree silently made a series of gestures towards the mountain.

Shan nodded, stood directly opposite the door, and clutched his stomach, groaning in pain.

"It hurts so much...my stomach hurts so much..."

The guard asked warily through the door, "What's wrong?"

"I think I have food poisoning. What kind of junk did you guys bring me last night... Let me out, I need to use the restroom!"

"There's a toilet inside."

"I don't want to do it in there, it stinks!"

Shan gave them a thorough dressing-down, which made them so angry that they opened the door and planned to take her to the outhouse.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the first guard walked in, a sturdy wooden stool fell from the sky and knocked him unconscious.

The second person witnessed the whole thing, realized something was wrong, and immediately drew his gun.

Just as he was about to fire, a cold gun barrel was pointed at his temple. Wutong raised his chin and said, "Don't make a sound, or you won't have another chance to speak."

Snapped.

The gun fell to the ground, and the guard raised both hands.

"Let me go, and I'll do whatever you say."

Wutong winked at Shan, who hadn't called out since they entered. Shan picked up the rope that had bound her earlier, tied the guard up tightly, threw him onto the bed, covered his head with the blanket, and followed Wutong out the door.

They also took the guards' guns, and now that each of them had a gun, they felt a little more at ease. But if they were to face too many people, they still wouldn't stand a chance.

Walking to the corner, Shan asked in a low voice:

"Sister Wutong, what do we do now? Should we go out or continue searching for Wenxin?"

Wutong was also thinking that since they had finally escaped, leaving the palace was obviously the most sensible thing to do. But if they left empty-handed, wouldn't their trip have been for nothing?

After a moment's hesitation, she gave up and looked up, saying, "I'll ask Wenxin."

Although Shan was somewhat worried about their safety, she was willing to do anything as long as she could be with her. Therefore, she followed behind her without hesitation, accompanying her as she searched the palace.

Having confirmed that Wenxin was not in the large courtyard, Wutong turned her attention to the other buildings in the palace.

What Nanxing is protecting seems to be very mysterious and cannot be exposed to the light. Nanxing and Lu Yisheng will definitely not let him go outside, nor will they put him in a conspicuous palace. Therefore, the more remote the place they look for, the greater the chance of finding him.

The firelight from Haoshan illuminated their hair, clothes, and skin, turning them a warm red.

They searched many places, and occasionally they could hear the sounds of people exchanging places while searching for sycamore trees.

Looking at her hands, which were wrapped in layers of bandages, Shan asked worriedly, "How badly are your hands injured? Are you really alright?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

As Wutong continued searching, she suddenly stopped, raised her intact hand to block the mountain, and said seriously, "Listen."

Listening closely, one could hear the whistling of the night wind, but even more distinct was a rhythmic tapping sound, "tap tap tap... tap tap tap..."

She vaguely felt that the name sounded familiar, as if she had heard it many years ago.

Upon careful recollection, she exclaimed in surprise, "It's a wooden fish!"

Neither Nanxing nor Lu Yisheng believed in Buddhism, so naturally no monks were invited to the palace. Would Wenxin be the only one left who would still be able to strike the wooden fish drum in the dead of night?

The two looked at each other, seeing joy in each other's eyes. They quickened their pace and followed the sound, finally arriving at a secluded, dark house.

The voice was so clear it was as if it were right next to his ear. Wutong gripped the gun tighter, let out a nervous breath, pushed open the door, and called out:

"Asked by the heart, that is me."

The sound of the wooden fish stopped, and no one responded.

The windows were all closed, and there were no lights on inside; it was pitch black.

"Wenxin, I am Wutong." Wutong said, then cautiously took two more steps forward, her knee bumping into something, and she stopped there.

Someone is breathing, the frequency is slightly rapid, as if they have just finished strenuous exercise, or as if they are very angry.

Wutong frowned in confusion, gazing into the darkness ahead, and whispered, "Are you Wenxin?"

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