"I..." a thin old man emerged from the shadows, raising his hands. "I'm just a handyman on the ship. Your people were kind enough to take me along when they rescued me."
Lan Yuxi sized him up. "A handyman? Are you sure you're not a pirate?"
The thin old man gave a wry smile. "Miss, look at this frail body. How could someone like me be a pirate?"
Hong Yinan asked coldly, "How many years have you followed Sha Kun?"
"I was captured and brought onto their ship five years ago."
Lan Yuxi exchanged a glance with Hong Yinan. Hong Yinan's hand shot out towards the old man's face.
The old man nimbly dodged.
Lan Yuxi seized the opportunity, firing dozens of golden needles. The old man collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Hong Yinan gave Lan Yuxi a thumbs-up. He then bent down and ripped off the mask from the old man's face.
The Hongmen disciples and the two Lan brothers rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
Nan San also arrived with his men. "Mistress, what happened?"
Lan Yuxi frowned slightly. "Did you people bring this person back?"
Nan San looked at the old man lying on the ground and turned to his subordinate. "Who among you brought him back?"
"None of us. All the people we brought back were women."
Hong Yinan said sternly, "This is Li Bo, Sha Kun's strategist. My mother was taken away by him personally!"
Lan Yuxi narrowed her eyes. "Nan San, find me a quiet place. I need to interrogate him."
Nan San acknowledged her, and his men carried Li Bo off to the back mountain.
Lan Yuxi looked at everyone. "San Wan, you take the junior disciples to protect the hostages. Nan San, you take your men to check if anyone else has infiltrated the island. Senior Brother, you, along with my fifth and seventh brothers, will protect Master and Mistress. Eagle, you and Nan Yi will accompany me to interrogate Li Bo."
After agreeing, everyone quickly departed to their assigned tasks.
Led by Nan San's men, Lan Yuxi arrived at a wooden building in the back mountain. Upon entering, she took out a small vial of medicine and placed it under Li Bo's nose as he lay unconscious.
After a moment, Lan Yuxi removed the golden needles from Li Bo. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Who are you?" Lan Yuxi asked coldly.
"Li Bo."
"Do you know Sha Kun?"
"Yes."
"How did you get onto the ship?"
"I saw a group of water ghosts board the ship and knew something bad was about to happen. I wanted to notify Sha Kun, but I heard them say, 'Hurry! The ship will be sunk in a few minutes.' I got scared and jumped into the water. I swam to their ship and, catching them off guard, boarded it. I hid in the storeroom and followed them here."
Lan Yuxi frowned slightly. "Who ordered Sha Kun to kill Nan Xiao?"
"Sha Kun didn't say. He only mentioned that this person was someone who saved his life many years ago."
"You haven't seen that person either?"
"No, they communicated via satellite phone. I saw the person's ID. They are in Country Y."
After asking what she wanted to know, Lan Yuxi glanced at Nan Yi.
Nan Yi understood and walked over with a voice recorder.
Lan Yuxi yawned and turned to leave. She was truly exhausted these past few days, having performed two major surgeries without proper rest.
Eagle quickly followed.
Lan Yuxi said, yawning continuously, "I'm going to sleep for a while. Tell Nan San to handle things on the island."
"Yes. I'll escort you back first, then go find him."
"Don't worry about me. Li Bo said he was the only one who infiltrated the island. Everyone here is Nan Xiao's man, they'll protect me."
Eagle said sternly, "Even the Nan family has moments of carelessness. Otherwise, how could Li Bo have gotten through?"
Lan Yuxi glanced at him. "Have our people never made mistakes?"
"We have in the past, but since you arrived, we haven't made a single error."
"I hope you can continue to maintain that."
Lan Yuxi knew she couldn't outdo Eagle, so she let him escort her back to her residence.
As soon as she entered, she fell onto the bed. Suddenly, she remembered she hadn't attended to her period and painfully got up.
Lan Yuxi slept very soundly. If Nan Xiaoqi hadn't come to call her, she probably would have slept until night.
Lan Yuxi, scratching her messy hair, opened the door. "Seventh Brother, what is it?"
"Aunt Hong has woken up. I examined her, and her post-operative condition is quite good. You should go take a look."
Lan Yuxi blinked. "Give me two minutes. I'll wash my face."
"Go ahead." Lan Xiaoqi leaned against the doorframe and whistled. "I think our cooperation is more synchronized than with Second Brother."
"That's because Second Brother isn't ruthless enough. It's in his nature; he'll never change in this lifetime."
Lan Yuxi quickly washed up and changed her clothes. "Let's go... By the way, has Mistress seen Master yet?"
"Not yet. You check her up, and I don't dare let them meet yet."
"Tch!" Lan Yuxi glanced at him. "Has Nainai called you?"
Lan Xiaoqi snorted irritably. "Don't mention her to me!"
Lan Yuxi chuckled.
"Oh, right. Nan Xiao called me this morning. He's really in a hurry for you to return."
"What did he say?"
"He told me to watch over Aunt Hong so you could go back quickly. He didn't dare say he missed you, but he said Zhao Zhao and Mu Mu missed you."
"Pfft!" Lan Yuxi couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I really should go back soon. Otherwise, if I'm not seen in the news, people will gossip."
"That's true. You check on Aunt Hong, then you go back."
"Let's check on Mistress's condition first." Lan Yuxi walked to the temporary ward and pushed open the door.
Hong Yinan stood up immediately upon seeing her. "Yuxi, you're here."
Lan Yuxi smiled and winked at him. "I'm here. I heard Aunt Hong woke up, so I came to see."
Hong Yinan quickly made way and smiled as he introduced his mother, "Mom, this is Lan Bo's youngest daughter. You and the islanders owe your rescue to her."
Bai Zhirou smiled and nodded at Lan Yuxi. "What a beautiful girl!"
Lan Yuxi smiled and greeted her as "Auntie" before placing her hand on Bai Zhirou's wrist.
After a moment, Lan Yuxi withdrew her hand. "Mistress, let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Lan Yuxi, and I am Hong Yuanze's eldest disciple."
Bai Zhirou's smile froze instantly. "You're Ah Ze's disciple?!"
"Yes." Lan Yuxi smiled and called out the window, "San Wan, you can all come in."
Seeing his sister's action, Lan Xiaoqi knew Bai Zhirou was fine. However, just in case, he pushed the rescue equipment to the bedside.
San Wan heard his junior sister's summons and entered with several junior disciples.
"Mistress, I am San Wan. These are my junior brothers: Si Wan, Wu Wan, Liu Wan, Qi Wan, Ba Wan, Jiu Wan, Shi Wan, Xiao Shi Yi, and Xiao Shi Er."
After San Wan's introduction, they all knelt on one knee in unison and said, "Mistress, we've come to take you home!"