Chapter 414: An Eyesore
A glint flashed in Old Fatty Li’s eyes. Shaking his head, he said with a smile, “Brother Tang, I wasn’t originally interested in where are you going, but my curiosity got piqued after hearing this. Alright, I’ll take four bodyguards and enter Shennong Ridge with you, and then we go explore Ghost King Valley.”
“This…”
Tang Xiu was a bit hesitant. Seeing the enthusiasm on Old Fatty Li’s face, he forced a wry smile and said, “Very well then, come with me if it won’t affect your business deal! Anyhow, let’s rest after getting to Ziming County. I need to buy papers and a pen to draw the shape of the herbs I’m looking for.”
“No problem!” Fatty Old Li grinned.
On the front seat, an angry look flashed in Ji Shiyan’s face. Taking out her mobile phone, she dialed her boss’s cell number. She then spoke about the situation there and Li Laoshan’s decision. The Boss was silent for a long time, before urging her to advice him otherwise.
After ending the call, Ji Shiyan then turned her head and said, “Boss Li, Mr. Tang, my Boss said that, since Boss Li wants to go to Shennong Ridge, we must go with you to protect your safety.”
“Tell your Boss that I’ll be with Tang Xiu, so we don’t need any protection.” Li Laoshan waved his hand and said.
“Boss Li, please don’t make things difficult for us. It’s a direct order from my Boss.” Ji Shiyan forced a smile.
After a moment’s hesitation, Li Laoshan turned to Tang Xiu. This time he wanted to follow Tang Xiu to adventure and explore the ancient forest in the depths of the mountains. On the one hand, he wanted to regain his youthful spirit; while on the other, he also wanted to get along with Tang Xiu and get his favor. He felt that it was inconvenient for him to accept Ji Shiyan’s request, as it would need Tang Xiu’s consent.
Seeing Li Laoshan’s expression, Tang Xiu understood what he had in mind. After a moment’s silence, he slowly said, “It’s not good for me to reject if you want to follow us, is it? Anyhow, I need to tell you before we enter Shennong Ridge. In the case of any accidents happens and you lose your people, I won’t take the responsibility for it.”
“I know!” Ji Shiyan replied with a cold expression. Her tone was also a bit stiff and blunt.
“Of course, if your people can help me find that medicinal herb, I will give 10 million yuan as a reward to the one who found it.” Tang Xiu said once again, “As for the others, they will also be rewarded 1 million yuan for their labor. Certainly, I won’t give you a dime if we can’t find it.”
Ji Shiyan’s brows raised, as a surprised expression flashed in her eyes. Although she had inferred that Tang Xiu had an extraordinary background, this kind of big statement was really surprising nonetheless.
After all, coming up with a total of 20 million, this made her unable to imagine what kind of precious medicinal herb it was. To think that it was worth it for him to promise such handsome rewards.
Ziming County.
It was a very ordinary small county town in the mountainous area with a very poor economic level. Only after more than a decade of developing tourism did this place turn more decent. Although the town was not on par with the county towns in more developed regions, it was barely able to reach the standard of modern development.
Ji Shiyan had already made reservations in the county’s best hotel beforehand. Albeit it was not a 3-star hotel, Tang Xiu was saved from the trouble of finding a room as he stayed in the double room together with Li Laoshan.
While everyone else was having eating or resting, Tang Xiu drew the Demonic Revival Grass’ shape. After which, he rested for several hours. After lunch, he gave the sketch to everyone and let them memorize it.
“Brother Tang, are we leaving now?”
When Li Laoshan heard Tang Xiu’s suggestion for them to prepare to leave, he was surprised and immediately asked.
“Yea, I must find this medicinal herb as fast as possible. So we must set off now and try to reach the Ghost King Valley before dusk.” Tang Xiu said.
With a cold look, Ji Shiyan shot Tang Xiu a glance and lightly said, “Mr. Tang, I don’t think you know the situation in Shennong Ridge. We probably won’t be able to arrive at Ghost King Valley before night arrives even if we had left early in the morning, let alone now. I may haven’t been there, but I had once sent some people to investigate Shennong Ridge and Ghost King Valley. We need to travel dozens of kilometers from the county town to the north and climb several hills. After crossing two big rivers, only then can we arrive at the Ghost King Valley.”
“Well, then let’s do it to best of our ability!” Tang Xiu said.
A few minutes later, the group left the hotel and quickly set off toward Shennong Ridge’s direction on six cars. When they arrived at the mountain foot surrounding Shennong ridge, Ji Shiyan ordered some people to drive the car away, while she led four bodyguards and followed Tang Xiu and the others hiking.
At first, everyone was very relaxed, even the four bodyguards led by Ji Shiyan, who had carries, could still keep up with everyone’s pace. However, after crossing two mountains, they were somewhat panting and their pace significantly reduced. Immediately afterward, Old Fatty Li’s four bodyguards who took over the carries were finally unable to endure it after trekking over another mountain.
“Brother Tang, how about we take a rest? We have walked for four hours, my tights starting to tremble.” Old Fatty Li’s face was full of sweat, as he forced a wry smile and said when he looked at Tang Xiu’s face that neither looked red nor was out of breath.
“All right. Let’s rest for half an hour!” Tang Xiu nodded.
What made him surprised was that Ji Shiyan was only slightly sweating on her forehead and didn’t even look tired, whereas Old Fatty Li and the eight bodyguards were profusely perspiring and looked fatigued.
After half an hour of rest, everyone began to trek again. For the sake of not delaying time, Tang Xiu took the four backpacks from the bodyguards. This scene caused the eight bodyguards to widen their eyes with shock. Even Ji Shiyan was astonished.
They knew that each of those four large backpacks weighed several tens of kilos. Adding up, it was more than 90kg. Tang Xiu’s strength and physical quality caused everyone to marvel.
Night fell. Everyone stopped at the mountainside of the fifth mountain. They found a place with flat terrain, thus everyone decided to stay there to camp, preparing to stay overnight.
“All of you wait here. I’ll get some wild game and we’ll have a barbecue tonight.” Tang Xiu casually said while looking at the panting crowd on the ground. He then quickly slipped into the nearby woods.
Li Laoshan raised his arm and was about to stop Tang Xiu. However, Tang Xiu’s speed was too fast and he couldn’t stop him. He saw Tang Xiu’s figure disappearing into the woods, as a look of helplessness appeared on his plump face.
“Boss Li, who exactly is he?”
At this moment, Ji Shiyan was full of curiosity toward Tang Xiu. It was because, along the way, their travel was not particularly smooth. On several occasions, they encountered several wild animals, and it was Tang Xiu who came to the front to drive them away. He even lent a hand to several miserably tired people.
“He, ah!” Li Laoshan grinned and said, “He’s someone with extraordinary talent. Even I myself am unable to completely understand this little brother of mine. Secretary Ji, don’t look down on him. I’ve seen people who looked down on him and ended up miserable.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ji Shiyan then said in a low voice, “He’s indeed very strong. To think that he can easily traverse easily this mountain... He should be a martial artist, yes? But, he’s way too insane.”
“Insane?” Li Laoshan burst into laughter, “Brother Tang is modest and has a good character. You think he’s insane because he’s an eyesore for you.”
“Yea, he’s kinda annoying and tiresome.” Ji Shiyan said.
“Well, let’s forget it. I’ll say nothing more about him.” Li Laoshan said with a smile, “If anything, you’ll know what he is like after you get along with him. Regardless, I still must advise you not to provoke him. Let alone you yourself, even if it’s your Boss, he will probably suffer quite a loss.”
“But Boss Li, you haven’t answered me. What is his background?” Ji Shiyan quickly asked.
“He has a lot of identities. However, I won’t tell you the details.” Li Laoshan said with a smile, “In short, just remember my words: do not provoke him. Don’t court trouble for yourself and the Yellowsteel Group. Or else, I won’t work with you again if he acts against you.”
"I understand!"
Ji Shiyan nodded, yet the curiosity inside her heart toward Tang Xiu’s identity grew.
“All right, let everyone rest after setting up the tents!” Li Laoshan said with a smile, “By the way, tell some men to pick firewood for the barbecue.”
A flash of contempt was seen in Ji Shiyan’s eyes as she said, “Boss Li, please don’t joke with me. He did say he’d get some wild games or something, but did you take it seriously? This forested mountain is very dark. Although it’s not as if you can’t see anything, wanting to hunt some game is kind of…”
Before she finished speaking, it was as though an invisible person grabbed her neck at this moment, causing her to swallow her words. A dazed look appeared on her pretty face as she looked at Tang Xiu in disbelief, as he just came out of the darkness with something in his hand. Was that thing in his hand… a deer?
“Wow! You’re amazing, Brother Tang! It’s been only a few minutes, yet you actually got such a ... good thing!” Li Laoshan crawled up from the ground with shining eyes and praised.
Tang Xiu put the deer on the ground. He then smiled and said, “It was just good luck that I spotted this deer. Any of you know how to barbecue?”
Li Laoshan smacked his lips and said with a smile, “I’m not sure about others, but roasting meat is something this Fatty Li is great at! That’s right, Secretary Ji, your men bought a lot of life supplies. Did you buy seasonings or something?”
“I saw the item list they bought, and I think they have sauce for roasting meat.” Ji Shiyan nodded and said, “In fact, one of my bodyguards is from a hunter family.”
"That’s great!"
Li Laoshan exclaimed as he took the deer. Afterward, he strode toward the side.
Ji Shiyan turned to Tang Xiu. Although the night was dark, she still could see Tang Xiu’s tranquil expression, since the distance between the two was relatively close. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Mr. Tang, you… how did you do it?”
“Well, it was very simple, really.” Tang Xiu said lightly, “I was faster and stronger than it.”