The two looked at each other and then found a rock to sit on. Their posture was straight and disciplined at a glance, clearly indicating they had undergone strict training.
Miss Tong Shuxue smiled and asked: “Can you tell me about your master? I don’t mean anything else, I just want to understand whether your situation is worth helping.”
Zuo Shi, with an expressionless face, replied rather honestly: “Miss Tong, we subordinates cannot casually discuss our master’s matters. If you want to know anything, you should ask the master directly or Commander Mo Shen.”
The affairs of Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan were not a secret. Qin Feng and Zuo Shi were his close attendants, and they both felt indignant on behalf of their master regarding his current situation, but they still could not speak freely about him.
Seeing that they refused to speak, Miss Tong Shuxue did not care. “A few days ago, Luoyue City was already covered with arrest warrants. By now, even the villages at the foot of the mountain should be covered as well. The charges against your master are quite serious. Treason will ruin a person’s reputation forever.”
Qin Feng could not tolerate such words about their master and immediately retorted: “Miss Tong, that is all the Dog Emperor’s framing! Our Prince of Dingbei’s estate has guarded the Northern Frontier for twenty years. The Dog Emperor could not openly strip our master of military power, so he resorted to such vile schemes.”
Miss Tong Shuxue smiled indifferently. “Logically speaking, the Emperor is the ruler of this nation. If he wanted to reclaim military authority, wouldn’t a single decree be enough? Why go through such roundabout methods? Is it because your master would not obediently hand over his military power? Or is it because your master desires that position?”
Qin Feng had just opened his mouth when Zuo Shi covered it. Zuo Shi said flatly: “Miss Tong, please do not try to probe us. We are only subordinates.”
So cautious, Miss Tong Shuxue thought, finding it rather dull. She put on her mask and walked back toward the cave entrance to take a look inside. It should be fine.
She took a large lidded storage box from her dimensional space and left it for Qin Feng and Zuo Shi to store ashes, then returned to the valley with Ling Si and the others.
By the time they returned to the valley, it was already past two in the afternoon. Lunch had not been eaten yet, though she had eaten two pieces of cake earlier on the way, taken from her dimensional space.
All deployed robots had returned except for Ling Yi and Ling Er, which were still stationed at the mountain foot.
Units Ling Liu and Ling Qi brought back a very impressive hunting haul: three adult wild boars, one striped tiger, as well as some rabbits and pheasants.
Commander Mo Shen said this was the most satisfying meal they had had in days, which sounded somewhat heartbreaking.
Unit Ling Wu reported on the situation at the cliff peak. The entire peak was covered in miasma, which extended at least half a kilometer in all directions. Within the miasma zone, there were no animals at all.
Therefore, this valley was indeed the best temporary base available for now. As long as the cave entrance was properly guarded, there was no need to worry about anyone discovering the valley from above.
Moreover, there were abundant animals around this location, making hunting easy and eliminating concerns about food supply.
Unit Ling San did not report its mission progress. Miss Tong Shuxue understood that it likely had matters that could not be spoken in front of others, so she took the samples of miasma brought back by Unit Ling San and Unit Ling Wu into her dimensional space.
The main reason was that she felt her body was covered in the stench of burning corpses. She could not stand it unless she went into the dimensional space to take a shower.
Outside the dimensional space, Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan was not asleep, and those who had rested in the morning were now all alert.
Miss Tong Shuxue left a sentence saying that other matters would be discussed later, then disappeared before everyone’s eyes. Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan stared at the place where she had vanished, deep in thought.
The first time, she had appeared in the prison cart without anyone noticing. Later, when those people tried to kill her, five individuals—Ling Yi and the others—had appeared out of thin air.
They could conjure objects from nothing, make things appear at will, and even disappear on the spot.
He looked at Ling Si and the others. Their expressions did not change at all. Could it be that they were not human?
At noon, while everyone was grilling meat, Miss Tong Shuxue was absent. Units Ling Wu and the others had already returned, but they did not eat anything at all—not even a sip of water.
If not for the fact that the meat had been handled personally by Commander Mo Shen’s people, their complete refusal to eat would have made others suspect it was poisoned.
Commander Mo Shen had even delivered grilled meat to them personally. Unit Ling Liu had only said one sentence: “We are not human. We do not need to eat.”
There was also the strange light screen Commander Mo Shen had mentioned. Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan decided that when she appeared again, he would ask directly.
After entering the dimensional space, Miss Tong Shuxue handed the miasma sample to Robot Doctor Jian, who was responsible for laboratory testing at the medical bay, then returned to her room to take a shower.
After she came out of the bathroom, Unit Ling San stood by her side drying her hair while reporting the mission results.
Unit Ling San had traveled more than five kilometers deeper into the mountain range, where it discovered a cave leading into an underground karst system.
Outside the cave grew a large patch of stone pink flowers. In modern knowledge, areas with dense stone pink growth often indicated the possible presence of a gold deposit beneath.
The robot did not have mineral exploration functions, so Unit Ling San had gone deeper into the cave to investigate. Parts of the inner cave walls clearly contained golden crystal formations, and in a water pool at the deeper end, it had even retrieved a piece of nugget gold.
Unit Ling San took out the nugget gold from a storage compartment on its thigh and handed it to Miss Tong Shuxue. It also showed photographs taken of the cave walls, which indeed looked like a gold deposit.
Miss Tong Shuxue did not expect such a surprise. The mining of the gold deposit would be considered later.
From Unit Ling San’s map marking, the location of the gold deposit contained far more wild beasts than their current area. It seemed unlikely that anyone would enter that place, otherwise the deposit would not have remained undiscovered until now.
Once she was fully capable of moving freely in the future, she planned to take a closer look. Although she did not have mining equipment, she did have basic knowledge regarding raw ore.
When Miss Tong Shuxue returned from the dimensional space, Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan was resting with his eyes closed. Hearing the movement, he opened them.
“Miss Tong, you are back.”
Earlier, she had not carefully observed his condition. Now he appeared to be in better shape than when she had gone to deal with the corpses. He likely had taken antipyretic medicine at noon, and his fever should have subsided somewhat.
“Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan, let us discuss the next steps.”
Zhao Jingyuan nodded. He had been thinking the same.
Miss Tong Shuxue first outlined her preliminary plan.
“Two days ago, I sent people to scout outside. At that time, Luoyue City was already filled with wanted notices for both of us. You all cannot leave the mountain now. This valley, as long as the cave entrance is guarded properly, is currently safe.”
Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan naturally understood that she was also being wanted. “I am sorry. This prince has implicated you.”
Miss Tong Shuxue waved her hand. “That has nothing to do with you. I just happened to land on your prison cart. You should already have realized that I am not from your Great Yong Kingdom. I have no household registration here, nor any travel permit document. So I will need to stay here for a while.
This valley was occupied by me first. You may stay, and I can also protect you. But in exchange, I need to know your affairs. I need to understand exactly what kind of people I am protecting.”
Prince of Dingbei Zhao Jingyuan nodded. This request was not excessive. One should always understand who they were protecting and what risks were involved.