The Eldest Daughter Returns: Imperial Uncle, I'm Pregnant!

The people below were searching for something, so their search was quite fast, and they were about to pass by without much delay. As for the footprints left by Gu Qingwan and the others, they were not discovered for the time being because it was still dark.

Actually, Gu Qingwan and her group were skirting the line at this time. If it had been any earlier, when it was still dark, they might have been able to see them while holding torches. If it had been any later, when it was already bright, they would definitely have been discovered.

But his good fortune didn't last long. Little Achen, in his nervousness, accidentally dropped what was hanging from his waist. In his panic, he cried out, "My wooden sword sheath!"

He quickly covered his mouth as soon as he shouted, but it was too late. The masked people who had been there heard the sound and immediately turned around, finding the location of Gu Qingwan and Xiao Achen.

Little Achen knew he had caused trouble; those people below were all holding swords, and his carelessness had implicated the fairy: "Sister, I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."

"It's alright, you wait in the tree for a while, I'll be right back."

The masked men they were facing were probably just a small squad of eight, and they could probably wipe them out by taking two each.

Gu Qingwan's location was the first to be exposed. Ning Yi, Ning Er, and Si Qi's locations were not discovered, so it was easier for them to ambush. This time, the ambush successfully took down three people. Gu Qingwan counted and there were still five people left. In order to finish the battle quickly, Gu Qingwan also jumped down and joined their fight.

“Miss, you can just watch from the side. This is a small matter and won’t get your hands dirty!” Siqi called out.

Ning Yi and Ning Er each had two people by their side, while Si Qi only had one person by her side, so Gu Qingwan wasn't too worried.

She nodded, picked up the small wooden sword that A-Chen had dropped under the tree, and watched as Ning Yi and the others gained the upper hand. One of the masked men took out a signal flare from his waist, seemingly preparing to call for help.

Gu Qingwan reached for her waist and lashed out at the man who was about to give the signal. A long silver whip caught his wrist, and the man was startled. Gu Qingwan exerted force, and the man crashed into the tree trunk.

The man lay on the ground groaning in pain for a while. Gu Qingwan noticed that someone was trying to launch a sneak attack on Siqi from behind. She immediately wrapped her whip around the man's foot and threw it at the masked man's blade, where it stuck straight into the man's knife.

"How dare you ambush your great-aunt! I'll beat you to death!" Siqi was furious. She had never seen such a shameless person in the martial arts world. Perhaps she had forgotten the treachery and deceit of the martial arts world after staying in the capital for so long.

Ning Yi and his group quickly finished the battle. In order to cover their tracks, Ning Yi and Ning Er pushed all the people into the ravine. If the next patrol discovered them, they would quickly follow the footprints.

Little Achen was brought down by Ning Er. Gu Qingwan squatted down and looked at him. He wasn't crying because of the murder. She nodded approvingly and said, "Are you scared?"

Little Achen nodded, then shook his head. "I'm not afraid. They are all bad people. I'm sorry for causing trouble for you, sister."

Gu Qingwan patted his head and handed him the thing in her hand, saying, "It's okay, this is very important to you, isn't it?"

Little Achen gripped the small scabbard tightly in his hand. "My father made this for me. I gave him the wooden sword before he left, promising to return it to its place when he came back, but my father didn't keep his word..."

"Don't be sad. Maybe your dad is trapped in some cave, waiting for us to rescue him," Siqi said.

"That's right, don't be discouraged."

Although Ah Chen is young, he is a poor man's child who matures early. He is somewhat precocious. His father has been missing for so long, so he guesses that he is probably dead. But the people in front of him are good people and have given him a lot of money.

They must be looking for someone too. Since they didn't say anything, he didn't ask any further. Nodding, he roused himself and looked around at the road ahead. He found a bunch of vines.

"Brothers and sisters, wrap these around your feet. The road ahead has been washed away by mud. Tying these around your feet will prevent you from slipping and will also hide your footprints. Even if those people catch up, they won't easily find you."

"How much longer until we reach that cave you mentioned?" Ning asked while tying him up.

“If the road were still in good condition, we would have arrived in a short while, but now we can’t find the road at all. I can only lead you there based on my memory, but I remember that we will be almost there after we cross this hill.”

The journey was not easy; if they hadn't been led, they might have accidentally stepped into the mud.

"Be careful, and don't step on any depressions that look down. Nine times out of ten, those places are pits, and if you're unlucky, there might even be animal traps inside. If you fall in and get your leg caught, you'll break it and be crippled."

"Ah Chen, can you tell me the story of Xishan?"

Ah Chen tilted his head and thought for a moment: "There are many stories here, but they are all just legends. I heard my father say that the God of Fire lives in this mountain, so sometimes at night you can hear the sound of metal. That is the God of Fire helping the Heavenly Emperor forge weapons. The God of Fire also dislikes children very much, so children cannot come up here easily, otherwise they will be captured and used as young boys and girls to practice weapons."

Siqi laughed when she heard this, "Then you still dare to run up the mountain? Aren't you afraid of being caught?"

"Hehe, if I don't go up the mountain to hunt some wild game, my sister and I will starve to death. Since we're going to die anyway, what's there to be afraid of?"

"Any rumors circulating lately?"

“Recently…” Xiao Achen thought for a moment, “Recently, it has been raining too much, and it washed away the north side of Xishan. I heard from the old people in the village that the rain god and the fire god fought, and the fire god’s lair was washed away in one go. The north side of Xishan was the most severely damaged.”

Gu Qingwan thought to herself that these legends were mostly made up by the people inside to prevent ordinary people from coming up. These people were not afraid of anything else but ghosts and gods, so no one dared to come up and challenge them. In addition, these people were wearing terrifying masks, and if ordinary people saw them, they would think that there were evil spirits in the mountains, so they would be even more afraid to come up.

Little Achen whispered, "Sister, you don't know, there's a mine here, and it's said to be very valuable. If we could dig it out, we would definitely become rich and prosperous."

"Really? How can you be so greedy for money, kid?" Ning Er said with a smile.

"Brother, don't disbelieve me. My dad knows. He used to go into the mountains with people. Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking for abandoned mines to scavenge for things at this time. Although my dad didn't say it explicitly, I think it's probably gold or something like that."

"Little money-grubber," Siqi said.

"That's not for the greedy! This is the dwelling place of the Fire God. We have many Taoist priests here who come to refine elixirs. It is said that if you find the Fire God's Samadhi Fire, the elixir you refine will surely make you an immortal."

The group fell silent; it was simply too outrageous. But Gu Qingwan knew that even the emperor in his past life was afraid of death. Behind the back of the Prince of Chu, he secretly sent people to ask immortals for elixirs. It was Xiao Yuheng who personally found those deadly elixirs for his father. In the end, even the wise and mighty emperor died as skin and bones, barely recognizable as a human.

What elixir? It's nothing more than a poison with a fancy name.

The group remained silent after that, as they needed to conserve their energy. Climbing a mountain was already tiring, and the slippery and difficult path made them even more cautious.

They crossed the mountain at noon, but according to Xiao Chen, they still had to go down the mountain because the cave was hidden in this valley.

It is said that going up a mountain is easy but coming down is difficult. The scene before them made Gu Qingwan and her group frown. The landslide had filled in the valley below, and the mountain path that Achen had mentioned was long gone. If this continued, the soft soil could easily collapse again.

"Ah Chen, are you sure the cave you found is down there?"

"It's true, but back then from this angle, the cave entrance was flat, and there were many people coming and going. But now, why can't we see anyone?"

Gu Qingwan thought for a while and figured that the people inside had probably abandoned the place, but they still needed to go down and take a look.

"Ning Yi, you carry Xiao Achen on your back. Ning Er and Si Qi, you two stay close to me. We'll use our lightness skills to jump down."

The group arrived at the mountain valley in just the time it takes to drink a few cups of tea. Gu Qingwan and the others first found a large tree and hid there. After crouching for a while, they realized that no one was around, but they did not dare to show themselves easily. Gu Qingwan looked around and, following the direction that Achen pointed out, it was indeed very open and should be the entrance to the cave.

However, the cave is now completely blocked by mud and rocks, making it difficult for them to get in even if they wanted to.

"Ah Chen, do you have a way to get in?"

Ah Chen thought for a moment, "Sister, do you remember the cave entrance that Lingdang told you about? Maybe we can still go in and take a look."

Ah Chen led them around the foot of the mountain. Following Ah Chen's pointing, they saw a small cave exposed on the mountainside.

Ning Yi and Ning Er understood. Ning Yi was strong and used his strength to help Ning Er fly up. The position was indeed quite high. Ning Er almost didn't reach the rock in front of the cave entrance. He barely managed to climb up by grabbing the vines growing inside the cave.

Ning Er took out the dagger in his hand, cut through the weeds, and revealed a dark hole.

Ning Er nodded to Gu Qingwan. He then tied all the vines around his waist. Just as he was about to leave after giving Gu Qingwan a look, she reached out and stopped him.

"Siqi, you go up too and help Ning Er hold the vines at the door."

Using Ning Er's method, Siqi, with Ning Yi's help, successfully reached the cave entrance. After Siqi arrived, Ning Er went down without hesitation.