Qin Shiqian was pinned to the ground, unable to breathe. His face had turned purplish-red, and his consciousness was already on the verge of fading.
Fourth Brother Hu grabbed Eldest Brother Hu, who was consumed by rage, and asked in a low voice, “Big Brother, calm down first. Didn’t the Immortal instruct us not to kill him?”
Eldest Brother Hu was just about to say something when he suddenly felt a sinister wind blow behind him.
He instinctively turned around.
“Le—leopard…”
Could Yezi have been attracted by the smell of blood?
Eldest Brother Hu’s legs began to tremble, and he was so frightened that he wet his pants on the spot.
“Big Brother, what are you saying? Who are you trying to hug?” Fourth Brother Hu asked with a cheeky grin when he heard him. “You haven’t taken a fancy to Qin Shiqian’s wife, have you?”
Hearing this, Third Brother Hu immediately perked up. “Tsk, now that you mention it, Madam Zhang may be carrying a huge belly, but she’s actually quite pretty and has a certain charm. No wonder she’s a refined young lady from the capital.”
As he spoke, Fourth Brother Hu suddenly caught a foul, fishy odor. He assumed that Qin Shiqian had wet himself.
Covering his nose in disgust, he kicked Qin Shiqian and cursed, “How dare you make my father lose face in front of everyone in the village? How does it feel now that it’s your turn?”
Eldest Brother Hu, meanwhile, was staring directly into Yezi’s eyes behind him and was already trembling like a sieve.
Eldest Brother Hu suddenly let go, turned around, and scrambled down the mountain on all fours.
Fortunately, he still had a little brotherly feeling left. As he ran, he shouted, “Run—run! It’s Yezi! It’s Yezi!”
The three brothers turned their heads in unison. All of them were scared out of their wits.
At some point, an extremely robust leopard had silently appeared behind them, staring at them with sharp eyes.
“Run!” Fourth Brother Hu was the next to react. With a shout, he took off running.
Only then did the other two come to their senses and stumble after him.
It was only after the four of them ran away that Qin Shiqian was finally able to draw a breath.
He had nearly suffocated just now and had not heard clearly what the four Hu brothers had shouted.
He spat out the dirt and grit in his mouth, then struggled to roll over. Spreading out all four limbs, he lay on the ground and gasped for breath.
But the blue sky and green trees that had filled his view were suddenly blocked by a face covered in markings.
It was a plump, sturdy adult Yezi. Its fur was sleek and smooth, gleaming in the sunlight like the finest satin.
Qin Shiqian thought he had suffocated himself into hallucinating.
But the leopard’s warm, damp breath repeatedly sprayed across his face.
Its whiskers brushed over his skin, bringing a ticklish sensation.
Everything reminded him that this was not a hallucination.
Qin Shiqian instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
This time, he was truly afraid.
A wild beast would not reason with a person.
He could not beat it, and he could not get away.
Could it be that he was destined to die today in these remote mountains and ancient forests?
He thought of his wife, who was still waiting at home for him to return after gathering medicine, and their unborn child.
Two trails of tears slid from the corners of Qin Shiqian’s eyes.
The leopard lowered its head and came closer to sniff him, as if considering where to start biting.
Qin Shiqian closed his eyes in despair.
A tongue covered in backward-pointing barbs swept across his cheek, causing a searing pain.
The leopard probably had not expected human skin to be so delicate. One lick had already turned it red.
It paused, its tongue not even having had time to retract.
The leopard tilted its head and thought for a moment. In the end, it bit down on Qin Shiqian’s belt and dragged him toward the depths of the woods.
Along the way, Qin Shiqian’s face was scraped by all kinds of branches and blades of grass, leaving it covered in tiny cuts.
He did not know how much time had passed before the leopard finally stopped.
It released him and dumped him onto the ground.
Qin Shiqian was dizzy and disoriented. He thought the leopard had carried him back to its lair to eat him!
Seeing him lying facedown without moving, the leopard did not dare lick him recklessly this time. Instead, it extended a paw and pawed at Qin Shiqian’s hand.
Qin Shiqian raised his head in puzzlement. Suddenly, he noticed that the plant beside his hand looked somewhat familiar.
A plant was wrapped around a small tree, blooming with yellow-white, bell-shaped flowers.
Wasn’t this exactly the dangshen Madam Zhang had described?
Qin Shiqian became instantly excited and hurriedly began digging.
As he dug, he remained alert to the leopard’s every movement.
But the leopard merely sat there obediently, occasionally slapping its tail against the ground, looking completely at ease.
Qin Shiqian simply stopped worrying about it and buried his head in his work.
He dug up eight dangshen plants in total and, overjoyed, stuffed every one of them into his robe.
Just as he finished digging, the leopard suddenly sprang over and butted him to the ground with its head.
Qin Shiqian was truly going mad. He could not understand what this leopard wanted.
Was human flesh seasoned with dangshen somehow tastier?
Yet the leopard once again bit down on his belt and dragged him all the way down the mountain. It left him beside the path the villagers normally used to enter the mountains, then turned and vanished into the dense forest.
Qin Shiqian was utterly astonished. Had this leopard become an immortal spirit and come to help him?
But when he thought of Madam Zhang waiting for the dangshen to protect her pregnancy, Qin Shiqian had no time to think about it carefully. He hurriedly got to his feet and limped home, dragging his injured leg behind him.
“Xiaohua, are you all right? I found the dangshen!”
Xiaohua, who was keeping Madam Zhang company inside the house, felt her heart lurch when she heard him.
The four Hu brothers were utterly useless. Couldn’t they even delay him for a little while?
How had they actually let a cripple dig up the dangshen and return?
Xiaohua was furious, but she still forced herself to go out to greet him. With a concerned look, she said, “Uncle Qin, you’ve finally come back. I was worried sick.
“My grandma has already gathered all the other medicinal ingredients. Give me the dangshen, and I’ll help you decoct the medicine.”
Qin Shiqian could not bring himself to let a child help him prepare medicine, so he hurriedly said, “Xiaohua, stay here and keep your auntie company. I’ll prepare the medicine myself.
“I’ve been decocting medicine for my mother these past two months, so I became quite skilled at it long ago.”
Hearing Qin Shiqian say this, Xiaohua did not dare insist.
Afraid of arousing Madam Zhang’s suspicion, she did not even dare tamper with the medicinal ingredients.
She had originally thought that as long as the four Hu brothers delayed Qin Shiqian until Madam Zhang lost her child, they could let him return afterward and everything would be perfectly concealed.
Who would have thought that those four fools could not even handle such a simple task?
Looking at the exhausted Madam Zhang, Xiaohua quietly clenched the hand hidden beneath her sleeve.
Qin Shiqian prepared the medicine in the outer room and hurriedly carried it inside.
When Qin Shiqian woke Madam Zhang, she was still somewhat groggy.
“Quick, drink it while it’s hot. I tested it just now—the temperature is perfect.” Qin Shiqian half-embraced Madam Zhang and carefully fed her the medicine from the bowl.
After drinking the steaming medicine, Madam Zhang felt a warm sensation spread through her stomach and recovered some of her strength. Only then did she notice that Qin Shiqian’s face was covered in injuries.
“How did you get hurt so badly just digging up medicine?”
Madam Zhang cupped Qin Shiqian’s face in both hands, so anxious that tears shimmered in her eyes.
Out of habit, she reached over herself and searched around, but found nothing. Disappointed, she said, “I don’t even have a bottle of wound medicine on hand now…”
“It’s nothing. These are only superficial wounds. Do you feel better after drinking the medicine?”
As Qin Shiqian spoke, he gently stroked her belly.
“It feels warm inside now. It’s actually quite comfortable.”
Having finally relaxed after seeing Qin Shiqian return safely, Xiaorenshen was not idle either. She was working hard to absorb the spiritual power supplied by the dangshen.
Back when she had been in the mountains, a little thing like dangshen was not even worth one of her rootlets. She had never cared about it at all.
But now, it had become as precious as sweet dew and heavenly nectar.
【Boohoo, I’m truly too pitiful.】
As Xiaorenshen desperately absorbed it, she felt sorry for herself.
But after absorbing it for a while, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Why had she suddenly begun sinking downward?