Chapter 13: The Noble Lady

  "My goodness!!!"

  After rushing at top speed for three hundred miles, looking at the desolate wilderness in front of him, he suddenly slapped his forehead and wished he could punch himself.

  "I agreed to take on this miserable task, but how could I forget to ask which direction he was heading? Three hundred miles away... damn it, no fixed direction, or else I'd be exhausted to death?"

  Looking around at the surroundings which were nothing but weeds and old trees, I didn't even need to think about it to know that this definitely wasn't the 'three hundred li outside' Li Yan had mentioned. With a sudden sigh, he muttered: "Forget it, since we've already promised him, being tired is just being tired, if we cheat even a dead person, then that's really not right..."

  Then, Huo Ran started the "long run", with Li Yan and Liu Feng's battlefield as the center, and unfolded a "carpet-style" search within a radius of 300 miles...

  Two hours later, Huo Ran stood on a mountain top panting, looking at the small village below that was dyed red by the sunset, and opened his mouth to say: "Finally found it..."

  I don't know what's going on, maybe his luck is really bad to the extreme. He almost turned over everything within a radius of 300 miles, leaving only this direction! Fortunately, heaven opened its eyes, if he couldn't find any human habitation in this direction, he could only deceive the dead.

  Taking a slight breath, Huo Ran was just about to lift his leg and head down the mountain into the village when he suddenly realized another very serious problem - who was Yingying?

  Alright, Huo Ran could only curse Li Yan in his heart, blaming him for 'committing suicide' without even leaving a clear explanation before he died. At least give him two clues: 'three hundred miles away' and 'Yingying', everything else was a complete mystery.

  Helplessly, Huo Ran could only use the most stupid method - asking people!

  "Hey, uncle, wait a minute!" Just entering the village, Huo Ran stopped a dark-skinned middle-aged man carrying a hoe.

  This middle-aged man looked like a farmer who had been working in the fields all his life. When he saw someone blocking his way, a silly smile appeared on his face, but when he raised his head and saw Huo Ran, this stranger, his expression suddenly changed, the hoe on his shoulder fell to the ground with a "clang", and he knelt down, trembling and saying:

  "Your Honor... I'm just a humble man... it's true... I don't have the money to pay the tribute, I hope Your Honor can grant me an extension of a few more days..."

  Upon hearing the dark-complexioned middle-aged man's words, he suddenly furrowed his brow, not understanding. This one frown was nothing to worry about, but the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground, constantly observing his expression, was in trouble. He immediately started knocking his head on the ground and said: "Immortal, spare my life! Just a few days ago, a group of immortals came to our Tiandian Village to collect tribute, it's only been a few days since then, how can I possibly gather enough tribute money again?!"

  "Huh?" Suddenly a burst of astonishment, he hastily helped the middle-aged man up, and smiled: "Uncle, I'm not the 'Immortal' you mentioned, nor have I come to demand money from you!"

  He was originally a dark and middle-aged man who refused to get up, but when he heard Huo Ran say that he wasn't there to collect tribute money, he slowly got up and carefully asked: "You... really aren't here to collect tribute money?"

  "Of course!" He suddenly smiled and said: "I'm here to find someone!"

  He was certain that He Ran wasn't there to collect protection money, the dark-skinned middle-aged man let out a sigh, picked up the hoe that had fallen on the ground, smiled and showed off his white teeth, patted his chest and said: "Little brother, you say who you're looking for, in Tianqian Village, I, Lao Hei, don't know anyone!"

  "Do you know someone named Yingying?"

  "Yingying?" Hearing Huo Ran say the two words "Yingying", the dark-faced middle-aged man's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice: "What is your relationship with her? What do you want to find her for?"

  "Hmm..." Huo Ran rubbed the back of his head, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said: "I don't know her either, I'm just doing someone a favor!"

  "Who entrusted you?" Old Hei seemed to have become especially cautious since the moment he uttered the two words "Yingying", even tightening his grip on the hoe.

  Lao Hei's expression changed, and Huo Ran saw it all in his eyes. He tentatively asked: "A person named Li Yan."

  "Hmm..."

  At this time, Lao Hei let out a heavy sigh, and the smile once again filled his dark face. With one punch to Ho Ran's chest, he said: "You should have said it was Xiao Yan who called you here earlier! It would have saved me from worrying, I thought you had some ulterior motive!"

  He paused for a moment, then walked forward, turning his head and saying: "Come on, I'll take you to Yingying's house! As for Xiaoyan, this kid is really something, not coming home for so long, making Yingying suffer so much!" After finishing speaking, he also let out a sigh.

  Following behind Lao Hei, Huo Ran clicked his tongue and didn't respond. In his heart, he said: Go home? He'll never be able to go home again in this lifetime!

  Following Lao Hei, they bypassed one simple house after another. Along the way, every man, woman, old and young person who saw Huo Ran would shudder all over at first sight. At this time, Lao Hei would say: "Don't worry, this little brother is not here to collect protection money, he's a friend of Xiao Yanzi!"

  When they heard Lao Hei's words, everyone finally had a smile on their face, nodding in agreement, and Huo Ran also responded with the same courtesy.

  After a moment, Old Hei stood in front of an exceptionally old house and turned to say to Huoran, "This is where Yingying lives."

  He nodded slightly and strode forward, gently pushing open the dilapidated wooden door.

  After a creaking sound of opening the door, a cheerful voice suddenly rang out in the house: "Brother, is that you back?"

  "Xiao Yan hasn't come back, it's me, Hei Shu!" Lao Hei put down his hoe outside the house and entered with Huo Ran. He said to a room separated by an old door curtain, "Although Xiao Yan hasn't come back, he asked his friend to visit you!"

  "Brother's friend? Why doesn't he come back himself..." The voice inside the house grew fainter, and suddenly, from that nightingale-like voice, he sensed a hint of loss.

  This should be a young girl in her prime, shouldn't it? Suddenly thinking of this, he walked forward and lifted the door curtain...

  The room's furnishings were simple, with only a bed and a chair. On the bed lay a girl wearing a plain white shirt. Unlike others of her age, she didn't radiate energy; her angelic face was pale, and her slender body trembled slightly. Her gem-like eyes lacked luster, staring blankly at Horan standing by the door.

  "Hello!" The girl seemed to feel cold and tightened her thick quilt, facing Horan.

  "You... you're good..."

  He was stunned, the girl in front of him, who was only thirteen or fourteen years old, was really too beautiful. Her face was like a perfect work of art from heaven, and any beautiful flower would lose its luster in front of her, without any radiance! What a pity...

  He let out a deep breath and walked forward, smiling: "Are you called Yingying?"

  "Hmm!" The girl named Yingying gestured with her eyes and sat down on the only piece of furniture, a chair. Then she said, "Why hasn't my brother come back?"

  Upon hearing Yingying's words, Huoran's eyes flashed with a hint of unnaturalness, but he quickly covered it up and smiled: "Your brother was originally going to come himself, but something unexpected came up at the last minute and he couldn't get away, so he asked me to come here." After a pause, he said softly: "May I help you take your pulse?"

  In the Mu family for a year, because he always wanted to find a way to solve his physical inability to cultivate, so the most frequently read was medical books, and often used himself as an experimental subject. Although he couldn't solve his own problem, he had quite an accomplishment in medicine.

  As soon as he saw Yingying for the first time, he found that this girl in the most brilliant and carefree years of her life must be hiding a secret illness. So he sighed, "You were born a beautiful person, why did you have to suffer from illness?"

  "Are you a doctor?" Hei, who was behind Huo Ran, asked before Yingying could respond.

  "After studying for a while." Huo Ran smiled lightly and then gestured to Yingying to stretch out her hand from under the quilt, so that he could take her pulse.

  However, Jingjing did not reach out her hand, but instead said: "My illness is a bit strange, let's just forget it."

  "It's nothing, just take a look..."

  Just as Hao Ran was about to say "it's okay, just take a look", he suddenly found that Yingying, who was lying on the bed, began to shake violently, and the temperature in the room also dropped sharply. The quilt covering Yingying's body even started to frost!

  Huo Ran's face changed, and he hastily lifted the quilt. Before he could even appreciate the beauty of her slender hands, his hand landed on hers, which was trembling...