Xuan Little Four remained silent without disturbing the others, but he kept his attention on his little junior sister. She hadn't yet realized that her little act of secretly glancing at Su Huan had already been noticed by her fourth senior brother. Xuan Little Four suddenly felt that he had discovered some shocking secret.
Why would Little Five sneak a look at that old man? Is there something wrong with that old man? And why was she smiling so happily at that smelly boy earlier? Has she taken a liking to him? Xuan Little Four, feeling uneasy, glared fiercely at Su Yu. What's so good about this boy that made his little junior sister smile at him so gently?
Unaware of her silly senior brother's wild thoughts, Su Yue was patiently explaining the use of the medicine pills to Su Yu. Soon, the little military doctor who had gone out to fetch water returned. Su Yue immediately went to prepare to clean Su Yi's wound.
"Let me do it. Today, we'll just clean it first and let him rest his body. We can prepare to remove the arrow tomorrow?" said Xuan Little Three as he rummaged through Su Yue's medicine box, now fully energized.
"Mm, after taking that medicine, he can recuperate his body. The better his physical condition, the higher the success rate of the surgery," explained Su Yue.
"What about the poison? I haven't given him any detoxification pills before, as I was afraid his body balance would be disrupted and he couldn't take it."
"We'll deal with that during the surgery."
"Alright, I'll go prepare. I'll assist you tomorrow."
"Mm."
The senior and junior siblings spoke without avoiding others, and everyone understood the arrangement. What surprised them the most was that the Xuan Medical Sage would actually assist this little brother, truly proving that talents emerge in every generation.
"It's getting late. Let me take you to rest first," said Xuan Little Three.
"Yes, yes, Third Senior Brother. We've been on the move non-stop these past few days without any rest. We're dead tired," complained Xuan Little Four.
"Our hospitality has been lacking, lacking indeed," said Su Huan apologetically, then instructed, "Little Yu, go make the arrangements. Let our young brothers have something hot to eat, wash up, and rest properly."
"Yes, Grandfather," replied Su Yu.
Afterward, Su Yu led the group out of the tent. "Xuan Medical Sage, your junior brothers can stay in the tent next to yours. It's been a long time since you siblings last met, so you can catch up."
"Sounds good, perfect," said Xuan Little Three.
Soon, they arrived at Xuan Little Three's tent. "I've arranged for some food to be sent over. You siblings can eat here first. The tent next door is being prepared, and it should be ready by the time you finish eating."
"Hey, Third Senior Brother, I'll stay with you. Little Five likes quietness. If I stay in the same tent as her, she'll kick me out," said Xuan Little Four with a mischievous grin as he winked at his third senior brother.
"You do know you're noisy. Alright, I'll reluctantly let you stay," said Xuan Little Three loudly.
Su Yue thought: These two are behaving too obviously...
"You siblings can make your own arrangements. I won't disturb your reunion. I'll go keep watch over my father," said Su Yu.
"Go ahead. We don't need you here," said Xuan Little Three as he waved him off.
As soon as Su Yu left, Xuan Little Four plopped onto the bed. "Ahh, I'm so exhausted from these past few days. Finally, a bed to lie on." He even rolled around a couple of times.
"You dirty brat, you're going to lie on my bed all filthy like that? Get off," scolded Xuan Little Three.
"Third Senior Brother, how can you say that about me? Remember how you used to spend days and nights in the pharmacy without bathing? Let's not pick on each other," retorted Xuan Little Four.
Su Yue sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, watching the two bicker, feeling quite happy.
Seeing that he couldn't get Xuan Little Four to budge, Xuan Little Three sat across from Su Yue and poured himself a cup of tea as well. "Why did you two come this time? Didn't I ask Manager Xu to rush back and get you?"
"It was Master. Master asked us, Little Five and me, to come. Little Five didn't even want to come at first."
Su Yue remained silent, continuing to sip her tea.
"Master? So Master has come out of seclusion?"
"Yeah, he came out for a bit. When we left the mountain, the old man went back into seclusion again. Oh, Third Senior Brother, look!" Xuan Little Four suddenly sprang up from the bed and went to Su Yue, taking out her Spatial Bag to show off. "This is the Spatial Bag that Master gave us. You can store a lot of things in it. Look, Little Five and I don't even have any luggage."
Xuan Little Three squinted his eyes and stared at him blankly. Among the siblings, each of them was exceptionally intelligent, but this one was an oddity, though his innocence could be considered a virtue.
"Mm, it's a treasure. A few years ago, I asked Master for one too, but he didn't give it to me. Didn't expect he'd give it to Little Five."
"What's the difference between giving it to Little Five or giving it to us? It's the same, right, Little Five?"
"Mm."
"Did Master ask you two to come down the mountain for anything other than delivering medicine?"
"Nope, just to deliver medicine..."
"There is another reason besides delivering medicine," interjected Su Yue after finishing her cup of tea and pouring another, finding the tea leaves quite good.
"Ah? There's something else? What is it? How come Master didn't tell me?" asked Xuan Little Four, flustered.
"It's my own matter."
"Your matter is my matter too, isn't it?"
Ignoring her pesky fourth senior brother's pestering, Su Yue turned to Xuan Little Three. "Third Senior Brother, do you know why there have been so many refugees flooding into the Xuancheng area recently?"
Still pondering Su Yue's earlier words about "her own matter," Xuan Little Three was caught off guard by her question. "Refugees? What refugees?"
"Oh, you know, on our way to Xuancheng, we encountered many refugees heading this way. Some even tried to rob our horses. Luckily, I acted swiftly and brandished my sword a few times to intimidate them," boasted Xuan Little Four.
"That doesn't make sense. The war in this area has ended. The enemy's letters of surrender are already on their way to the Capital City. Why would there be refugees? I haven't heard of any recent natural disasters either."
"If not a natural disaster, then it must be a man-made one," said Su Yue, her mind racing. With the war just ending in this area, followed immediately by a man-made disaster and so many refugees flooding into Xuancheng, could this be targeting the Xuancheng Governor's Residence?
Xuan Little Three pondered as well. "I recently heard the governor mention something about returning to the Capital City after disbanding the troops, but there are people obstructing their return and don't want them to go back to the capital. Could those refugees be related to this matter?"
"Obstructing their return to the capital?"
Xuan Little Three looked deeply at his junior sister. "Yes, otherwise why would the Su Family keep running into incidents one after another even after the war has ended? First, there was poisoning, then arrow wounds. This is clearly a warning for them."
Having interacted with Su Yu for many years, Xuan Little Three knew some things about their family.
"Who would want to harm them?" asked Su Yue seriously.
"Little Five, you seem very concerned about the Xuancheng Governor's Residence. What's your relation with them?"
"Mm, I do have a relation."
"What kind of relation? You've been on the mountain all this time. How could you be related to them?" asked Xuan Little Four, puzzled.
Xuan Little Three didn't ask. He roughly guessed that since his little junior sister was born cold and indifferent, never interested in anything, her sudden concern for the Xuancheng Governor's Residence must be related to her background.
"Does Master know about this?"
"He should know," replied Su Yue, pausing before continuing, "I reckon our eldest senior brother knows too."
It wasn't surprising that the eldest senior brother, basically an enlightened fox spirit, would know. But why had they never mentioned it all these years? His little junior sister's background must be quite extraordinary.
"What do they all know? How come I don't know anything? What are you two talking about?" asked the baffled Xuan Little Four.
Su Yue: ...
Xuan Little Three: This silly junior brother is a hopeless case.
