Edward Clark had his own ideas. As long as he had enough nutritional supplements, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to advance in a short time, and by then, there would always be a sliver of hope.

　　Alice Bennett was held down by both hands, surrounded by a masculine aura. Her body trembled, and her cheeks flushed red. Hearing these words, she was even more startled. She looked up, only to see the young man before her, with sword-like brows and sharp sideburns. Although not extremely handsome, he carried a certain dignified heroism, which made her both surprised and fond of him.

　　This young man was the husband appointed by her grandfather, and now, all of a sudden, he seemed so grown up.

　　Leaning gently for a moment, Alice Bennett finally came to her senses, smiled, and said, “Senior brother, it doesn’t hurt to try. I’ll go and give it a shot. Even if it really doesn’t work, at least I’ll give up hope.”

　　Seeing her senior brother’s current state, she felt greatly reassured. If it truly didn’t work out, she would just give up the ancestral temple and go to another county together—there would always be a way to survive.

　　But she kept these thoughts to herself and didn’t say them out loud.

　　Edward Clark saw that she spoke gently but with a firm tone, so he didn’t insist further and said, “It’s not safe for you to go down the mountain alone. Take Mr. Harris with you.”

　　This trip to Lord Wei’s was extremely dangerous, but the tortoiseshell could only predict fortune and misfortune, so there might still be a chance of survival. However, this involved the secret of his origins, so it was inconvenient to explain.

　　At this moment, wisps of cooking smoke drifted up from the temple. Seeing this, Edward Clark smiled, reached out to take her hand, and led her toward the temple, saying, “Junior sister, I also need to go down the mountain once. I have to sell the tiger bones. If we’re going, we need to be prepared—meat, leather armor, and belts all need to be bought.”

　　Alice Bennett blushed even more as he took her hand. Although her senior brother had always admired her, he had never dared to act like this before. Hearing his words, she felt he was different now and said, “Yes, senior brother has thought it all through.”

　　“Are we going together?” Edward Clark asked.

　　“No, I have to ask some old friends for help. It’s not something that can be done quickly, so I won’t go today.”

　　“Oh, then I’ll go first.”

　　As he went out, he saw Mr. Harris coming out. Upon seeing him, he said, “Let’s get going early.”

　　The two of them answered in unison, and Edward Clark went inside.

　　Alice Bennett, however, didn’t go directly. She turned into another room, which was originally a small storage room. The room wasn’t big, paved with polished blue bricks, and had no windows, making it rather dim inside.

　　After entering, it took a moment for Alice Bennett’s eyes to adjust. She saw that there were cabinets on both the east and west sides, with hundreds of boxes densely packed on top, but now all of them were empty.

　　Alice Bennett opened one of the boxes. Inside were a few black, unremarkable pieces—these were the tiger bones treasured by the temple. She wrapped them up in a bundle and set them aside.

　　“Miss!” At this moment, John Harris came in.

　　Alice Bennett took out the bundle and said, “These are the tiger bones. Give them to senior brother in a bit.”

　　She also took out a gold-threaded bracelet, wrapped it up, and said to Mr. Harris, “Mr. Harris, senior brother will be going down the mountain soon. Let’s go too. We’ll go down the back mountain—we can’t let him see us.”

　　John Harris could only agree. Seeing her expression, Alice Bennett smiled, a hint of color returning to her pale face, and said, “Maybe there really is a chance this time. Mr. Harris, you know I’ve injured my vital energy and can’t practice martial arts or cultivate qi, but I did learn some physiognomy and feng shui from grandfather.”

　　“I saw that when senior brother woke up this time, his qi had changed. After hardship comes blessing.” At this, she sighed softly, reined in her hopeful expression, and said, “Mr. Harris, let’s leave in a bit!”

　　John Harris agreed, first sending Edward Clark down the mountain, then returning to lock up the temple, and left with Alice Bennett down the back mountain.

Chapter Four: Tiger Bones

　　Ancheng Commandery was under the control of Lord Wei, and beneath it were six counties, with Yun’ya County being one of them.

　　Now that autumn had arrived, after several heavy rains, the weather had cooled down. The county office was located in the north of the city, and nearby was a street, which was quite decent, with shops lined up in close succession.

　　In one shop, an assistant was saying, “Hey, have you heard… the River God Festival that happens once every ten years has brought in a lot of people.”

　　At this moment, the busy shopkeeper behind the counter heard this and smiled, saying, “There are a lot of people, but compared to before, it’s actually less. Back then, there were so many people that business in our county improved by several times.”

　　“I heard that if you participate in the River God Festival, you get ten taels of silver?” another assistant said enviously.

　　The shopkeeper straightened up, flipping through the account book, and said, “That’s blood money. Last few times, everyone died. Just watch, I’m afraid this time it’ll be hard for anyone to escape alive!”

　　The others fell silent upon hearing this. It was true—this was basically a death feast.

　　One assistant stuck out his tongue and said, “In that case, I wouldn’t take that money. Hey, how do they even dare to go?”

　　“They’re heroes and men of valor, not like us. Besides, there’s the lord’s order—they have no choice.” As he spoke, there was a commotion on the street, and the shopkeeper immediately stopped talking.

　　Looking outside, they saw a group of people rushing down the street. A young nobleman rode proudly at the front, followed by four attendants. The pedestrians quickly made way.

　　This young master looked quite decent, with a fair face, a silver crown holding his hair neatly in place, dressed in a blue robe, riding his horse with skill. He clearly had some background and wasn’t just putting on airs. However, this young master was not in a good mood, his face gloomy.

　　As he passed the shop, the shopkeeper quickly smiled and bowed, saying, “Third Young Master, would you like to come in? We have iced watermelon… crisp and sweet!”