Chapter 44: Leaving the Medicine God Valley:

Knowing that the village chief wouldn’t abandon them, the group’s attention quickly shifted back to Shi Xian.

“Village Chief, your uncle is a young general?!” Tie Niu said excitedly.

“Village Chief, I want to learn from your uncle how to become a general. Do you think the young general Shi would agree?” Zhao Hu rubbed his hands in excitement.

Good grief!

They hadn’t even learned to crawl yet and already wanted to fly.

Not willing to take even the smallest detour.

“Do you believe I’ll beat you into a zombie right now?” Xiaojiu  mercilessly shattered his daydream.

Their basic skills weren’t even solid yet, and they were already thinking about being generals.

A Dou pushed aside the two daydreamers and squeezed in front of the village chief.

“Village Chief, your little uncle hasn’t even mentioned your dad. Could it be your dad is a big bad guy?”

Xiaojiu  thought for a moment. “Could be. I need to go and find out who my dad is. If he’s a bad guy, I’ll put a sack over his head and beat him up every day.”

“Yeah! We’ll help you sack him. There’s strength in numbers!” A Dou nodded furiously.

Gu Lao, overhearing this, couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his mouth. These kids were so innocent and fearless.

Since ancient times, no one had ever dared to put a sack over the emperor’s head.

He cleared his throat, trying to interrupt before their talk became even more treasonous.

Unfortunately, Shen Zhiyuan spoke up first.

“I know who your father is.” Shen Zhiyuan’s eyes were full of shock as she looked at Xiaojiu .

When she had first heard that Xiaojiu ’s mother was General Shi’s fifth sister, she had completely forgotten that the Shi family’s youngest daughter was the current empress.

Only now, after hearing A Dou mention Xiaojiu ’s father, did she remember—Shi family’s Fifth Miss was the empress! Which meant Xiaojiu ’s father was… the emperor.

The emperor’s daughter—that meant…

Xiaojiu  was a princess!!!

In her heart, Shen Zhiyuan was screaming.

Mother, I’ve found your benefactor’s daughter!!

Ahhh!!!

And now she was the benefactor of that daughter in return.

What a magical twist of fate!

Her mother had always told her how wonderful the empress was.

Without the empress, her parents would never have been together, and she herself would never have been born.

Sadly, before her mother could repay the empress for her kindness, the empress had fallen from a cliff to her death.

Overcome with excitement, Shen Zhiyuan scooped Xiaojiu  up and planted several loud kisses on her cheek.

Da Ya saw this and immediately rushed over to snatch her back.

“What are you doing?! That’s a sneak attack!”

After calming down, Shen Zhiyuan quickly pulled Xiaojiu  aside and said, “Village Chief, your mother is the empress, your father is the emperor, and you are the emperor’s daughter—the princess of Dongxia!”

“So, the saying was right: When the birds are gone, the bow is put away; when the cunning hare dies, the hound is cooked. The emperor killed my mother and also my maternal grandfather’s family? No wonder my little uncle didn’t want to tell me who my father was!”

Crack, crack, crack!

As soon as she finished speaking, the large stone Zhao Hu had been squatting on shattered under Xiaojiu ’s grip.

In an instant, stone chips flew in all directions, clattering to the ground like a burst of fireworks.

Zhao Hu was so startled he leapt straight out of the bamboo hut’s yard. The village chief in a rage was terrifying—his butt had almost been smashed by the flying debris.

The chubby boy swallowed hard and quietly took a few steps back from Xiaojiu , afraid that if the village chief’s temper flared further, she might accidentally crush him next.

Just then, Shi Xian walked out of the bamboo hut and witnessed the entire scene.

He quickly rubbed his eyes, only to see his little niece loosening her hand, letting the stone dust scatter in the wind. The once-solid, unyielding rock was now nothing more than a pile of jagged rubble at her feet.

It must have been an illusion.

Yes!

It must have been an illusion.

Surely it was just that he woke up the wrong way.

Shi Xian quietly retreated back into the bamboo house,
quietly closed the bamboo door,
quietly lay back down on the bamboo bed,
quietly pulled the blanket over himself.

But in his heart, he was shouting:

Father! Brother! Our family has produced a naturally gifted powerhouse, a true prodigy for martial arts!

Shi Xian tossed and turned with excitement.

His nephew had been found, whole and unharmed.

His niece had been found too—born with natural strength, exceptional martial skill, and utterly adorable.

Yes!

He had to hurry back to the capital to tell his mother this news.

Shi Xian got up from the bed, opened the bamboo house door, and walked over to Xiaojiu .

He crouched down and asked, “Do you want to come with me to the capital to visit your grandmother? She would surely be thrilled to know you exist.”

Xiaojiu  nodded. “But I have to go back to Peach Blossom Village first and tell the clan elders this news.”

She wanted to see the villagers again. She had been away for many days and missed her family there dearly.

“Of course,” Shi Xian agreed readily. “I also want to go to Peach Blossom Village to thank the villagers for raising you so well.”
He was truly grateful—anyone could see that his little niece had been raised with great care, allowed to grow up innocent, lively, and free.

The next day, they bid farewell to Old Gu and prepared to head back to Peach Blossom Village.

Before they left, Old Gu “packed up” his senior disciple Qin Xu and junior disciple Jiang He and sent them along with Xiaojiu ’s group.

The official reason: the outside world wasn’t safe, so it was good to always have a capable doctor nearby.

The real reason: Old Gu thought it was about time Qin Xu went out to gain some experience. Traveling with Xiaojiu  and her group—who were always getting into fights—would surely improve his medical skills.

As for his junior disciple Jiang He, he had thrown such a tantrum about wanting to go that Old Gu had no choice but to let him tag along and see the world with his senior brother.

The carriage slowly rolled out of Medicine God Valley and down the mountain.

Still weak, Shi Xian lay in the carriage, watching the group of kids leaping around outside. His heavy mood began to settle into calm.

The carriage sped along, and Xiaojiu  and the others’ longing to return to Peach Blossom Village reached its peak.

“Village chief, I really miss Sister Xiao Xiao, and I really want hotpot!” the chubby boy said, feeling as if he’d lost weight from the past few days of travel.

After living in Peach Blossom Village for a few days, he realized that food outside couldn’t compare to what was there—
especially not the meals from Medicine God Valley. Best not to even mention those.

“When we get back, we’ll arrange it so you can eat to your heart’s content,” Xiaojiu  said, also craving it badly.

“Village chief, do you think Mister Xu and Mister Yan will be back when we return?” A Dou asked, pushing past the chubby boy to get closer to Xiaojiu .

Xiaojiu  was speechless.

“Haven’t I been out here with you these past few days? How would I know?”

“Idiot!” Shi An muttered from behind.

A Dou immediately turned and chased after him.

The two of them dashed about, one chasing and one fleeing.

Zhao Hu added fuel to the fire.

“A Dou, that’s pathetic! You can’t even outrun Shi An, tsk tsk!”

“What’s there to be smug about? In a few days, his martial skills might surpass yours. Besides, I’m going to make my living with my brain, not end up like you two—strong limbs, simple minds.”

The bright grin on Zhao Hu’s face vanished at once.

He decided he needed to train—he couldn’t let Shi An surpass him.

And truth be told, Shi An really did live up to the Shi family name. He had a natural gift for martial arts. In just a short time, his progress had already surpassed A Dou’s.

The only reason no one noticed before was because he’d been too quiet and unremarkable. Who would have thought he could learn so fast and improve so much?

After several hours of travel, they reached the small town where they had stayed the night before.

Only this time, there was no smoke rising from chimneys, no bustling voices—
just a deathly silence all around.