Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 925: The Daughter of the Song Family

The story of the wild man in the dense fog quickly came to an end. After that, Song Ying and Gan Hong regained some strength and continued on their journey.

They were still using vines to tie themselves together—however, the fog seemed even thicker than before, nearly to the point of being unable to see one's hand in front of them.

As a result, Gan Hong had to pick up a branch from the ground to use as a walking stick.

They didn’t actually know where they were heading—there was even a possibility that they were going in circles, not having moved very far. After all, in such conditions, it was difficult to maintain a sense of direction.

"By the way." Song Ying suddenly stopped.

The slight tug of the vines also made Gan Hong halt.

Song Ying took a step forward and asked, "Why did you leave without saying a word back then?"

Gan Hong replied calmly, "Miss Ying, when are you referring to?"

Song Ying expressed her dissatisfaction, "You know what I mean... why did you suddenly stop being my bodyguard? Why did you leave?"

Gan Hong explained, "My role as your bodyguard was arranged by the village. Once my term ended, the village called me back. I was just following orders.""Orders?" Song Ying frowned. "You can't even say a word when given an order? Suddenly replacing me with someone completely unrelated? Is that why the village recalled you because of that incident? But at that time, you clearly gave it your all, and yet..."

Gan Hong fell silent for a moment, then softly said, "I'm sorry, an order is an order. It’s also true that I lacked the ability. Your safety is very important, and it's necessary to assign someone more capable to protect you."

Song Ying raised her voice, "Is any order acceptable? Even sending you to a strange man... or even making you sleep with him?"

"Young Master Qiu... is not that kind of person." Gan Hong shook her head and said quietly, "He's much gentler than we imagine, it's just... he has a bit of a detached personality."

She recalled her time in the vineyard, where Luo Qiu had removed his shoes first, giving her a reason to do the same... little details like these can reflect a person's character.

He never looked at her with a predatory gaze, as she worried that her situation might worsen, which is why she accepted what Old Master Song offered.

Even though the time wasn’t long, Gan Hong felt that the moments spent with this new young master passed both slowly and quickly.

Slowly, it seemed to be a leisurely time. Quickly, because the peaceful and quiet moments always passed by unknowingly.

"I didn't see that coming." Song Ying muttered and then shook her head. "Forget it, it’s meaningless to talk about it. Who knows if that guy is alive or dead now?"

Gan Hong suddenly said, "Actually, Miss Ying, you're also a very gentle person."

Song Ying sighed, "At this time, don’t flatter me, I don’t like hearing that. Have you forgotten?"

Gan Hong smiled slightly, but that smile was hidden in the thick fog. All Song Ying could see was a vague outline of Gan Hong’s face.

"Shh." Gan Hong suddenly whispered, signaling Song Ying to hold her tongue.

After a while, Song Ying couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Could it be that the wolves from earlier have tracked us here?"

Gan Hong replied, "I heard the sound of flowing water... there should be a water source nearby... this way."

Then, Song Ying felt the vines tied to her body pulling, causing her to instinctively move. Gan Hong was trained by the village, and it was said that all training programs were modeled after one of China's most elite special forces, with an exceptionally high elimination rate.

Thus, her hearing, sight, touch, and reflexes were all beyond excellent... such a young girl.

"It seems to be a small stream." Gan Hong crouched down, feeling around, and found the water source among the grass.

"Can we drink it?" Song Ying asked with concern.

Gan Hong shook her head, "The visibility is too poor; I can’t tell if the water source is contaminated... I don't have the tools to boil it either. Unless absolutely necessary, I wouldn't recommend drinking it directly. But we can stay here. If the rescue team finds the water source, they should follow the flow here, which increases our chances of being rescued significantly."

"Okay." Song Ying shook her nearly empty water bottle... it wasn’t yet time to drink from the stream.

But it seemed they couldn't last much longer anyway; it was stifling hot here, and she could practically wring water out of her clothes.

"But washing our faces is fine." Gan Hong knew that Song Ying had a slight obsession with cleanliness, so she lowered her standards.

Feeling sticky and uncomfortable, Song Ying could no longer bear it. Hearing Gan Hong's words, she immediately grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off.

Next came her pants.

Now, she was left with only her underwear—of course, in such an environment, she wasn’t worried about being seen.

At this moment, under Gan Hong's guidance, Song Ying slowly walked into the stream, testing the water's depth. After finding a suitable spot, she crouched down and began to wash her body.

"I feel like I’m revived!" Song Ying exclaimed.

Gan Hong quietly stood by the stream, paying attention to her surroundings—since waking up, her weapons had also disappeared. Now, all she had in her hand was a broken branch sharpened with a stone.

Suddenly, a splash of cold water hit her, and she felt something grab her ankle, pulling her down.

With a plop, Gan Hong fell into the stream.

A bodyguard would be vigilant about everything around them, but they would never be wary of the person they needed to protect... Upon entering the water, the chill made Gan Hong shiver, followed by a wave of comfort.

But she still maintained a serious expression, saying, "Miss Ying, you're too relaxed."

"You're too tense." Song Ying shook her head and suddenly reached for Gan Hong's thigh.

Gan Hong usually wore long pants, or at the very least black stockings—because there was a terrible scar on her thigh.

Through the fabric, Song Ying gently traced the scar on Gan Hong's thigh and asked softly, "Does it still hurt now?"

Gan Hong sat in the stream, completely soaked, her skin becoming unusually sensitive. But in response to Song Ying's question, she merely brushed it off, saying, "It's just a surface injury."

Song Ying suddenly said, "If that knife had been off by just a little bit, it would have pierced your chest, right? If it happened again, would you still block that knife for me?"

"I will ensure my master's safety," Gan Hong replied softly.

“If next time it were Luo Qiu, would you still stand in the way?” Song Ying suddenly asked again.

“I would.” Gan Hong answered without any hesitation.

“If it were me and Luo Qiu at the same time... who would you protect?” Song Ying bit her lip and asked.

“Of course...” Gan Hong instinctively began to respond, but at that moment, Song Ying suddenly cupped her face with both hands.

At this time, Song Ying leaned over, pressing Gan Hong into the shallow stream—where the water barely covered the back of Gan Hong's ears.

She could hear the sound of the flowing water.

At such a low level, the mist was very thin, allowing them to clearly see each other's faces.

“Look into my eyes and tell me your answer. Don’t lie to me,” Song Ying said softly. “I will only listen this once and only ask this once.”

Her pinkish-purple hair spread out in the water, and there was something hazy in Song Ying's eyes.

She looked at Gan Hong, her gaze flickering, and her voice dropped even lower. “You are the only one who makes me feel like a friend... my first friend. So, can you tell me the answer?”

But Gan Hong closed her eyes.

Song Ying’s gaze gradually dimmed.

Suddenly, Gan Hong reached out from the water and gently caressed Song Ying’s cheek. She sighed and opened her eyes. “Why do you always look like a child whose toy has been taken away?”

This was an unexpected response for Song Ying.

“Answer me!”

“Of course...” Gan Hong said, but her eyes suddenly contracted.

In a flash, Song Ying felt her body being turned over by a tremendous force. Like Gan Hong, she was now the one being swept by the stream.

Gan Hong now supported herself with her hands, becoming the one pressing down on Song Ying. “Of course it’s... you.”

A mouthful of blood spurted from Gan Hong's mouth, and she could no longer hold herself up, collapsing onto Song Ying. What Song Ying could see, however, was a massive figure.

It looked like a monster, holding a long, thick wooden stick. Its fur resembled that of a mammoth, but it walked upright, seemingly possessing human-like facial features... a wild man.

The wild man, exactly like the one in Song Haoran’s adventure story, now appeared vividly before Song Ying’s eyes—just moments ago, this wild man had swung the wooden stick and struck down.

“I was just telling a story, why would...” Song Ying's eyes went blank, stunned by the situation in front of her.

“Run... run away…”

Gan Hong, lying on her, weakly uttered these words—she felt as if her entire body had lost all sensation. The blow she had just taken seemed to have directly shattered her spine, but she gritted her teeth and said, “Run now!!”

—Run now!!

A voice echoed in her heart... from that time in danger.

Song Ying suddenly jolted, reaching out to grab a sharp branch nearby, saying, “This time... it’s my turn!”

“You’re crazy!”

“Aren’t friends supposed to be like this?” Song Ying gritted her teeth, her whole being springing up. “Sharing joys and sorrows, life and death together, never abandoning each other... that’s what friends are!”

“Stop messing around! Run! You young lady!”

“Why shouldn’t I? What if I don’t want to regret my whole life!”

The wild man suddenly let out a loud roar, continuously pounding its chest with its thick arms, then raised the huge wooden stick in the other hand.

Song Ying's legs trembled slightly as the massive wild man suddenly stopped, its eyes fixated on her.

“I am also... a daughter of the Song family!” Song Ying screamed, thrusting the sharp branch in her hands directly at the long-haired wild man!

Unexpectedly, the wild man reacted quickly, snatching the branch from her hand.

Song Ying's strength was no match for the wild man, and the branch was instantly taken away. The wild man then opened its mouth wide, revealing uneven yellow teeth as if laughing.

Song Ying was startled and could only aim for the wild man’s legs, unhesitatingly kicking towards its knee... Unlike the warriors in her village who possessed great fighting skills, she had only learned some self-defense moves.

The kick not only failed to make the wild man retreat, but it felt as if she had kicked a steel plate, causing intense pain to shoot through her ankle, nearly bringing her to tears.

She collapsed into the stream.

Meanwhile, Gan Hong tried hard to support her body with both hands but couldn’t stand up due to the horrific injury to her spine.

Seeing this, Song Ying felt despair in her heart. She crawled painfully to Gan Hong's side, then pulled Gan Hong’s body, struggling to move through the stream.

“Don’t speak... I said, I don’t want to regret my whole life, even if it means death! Don’t you dare mention maturity!” She quickly silenced any words Gan Hong might have uttered, “If I leave you behind, I might not make it out alive. If we’re going to die anyway, we should at least die honorably! Even if my grandfather is sad, he’ll at least be proud of me! I am a daughter of the Song family!”

“little Ying...” Gan Hong softly called.

At that moment, Song Ying hugged Gan Hong’s body tightly, shutting her eyes tightly—because the long-haired wild man had already raised the big stick high, ready to strike down.

Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the mist.

It sounded like a gunshot.

After the gunshot rang out, the long-haired wild man let out a painful cry and then frantically fled into the mist.

Song Ying instinctively opened her eyes, and through the fog, she saw a faint shadow gradually approaching... coming closer to the edge of the stream.

“Thank goodness, are you all right?”

The voice.

Hearing that familiar voice and seeing the gradually clear face, Song Ying was completely stunned—because the person standing before her was none other than Luo Qiu.

Luo Qiu was holding a hunting rifle, looking spirited.

“You guy, where have you been...?” Song Ying muttered instinctively, then suddenly jolted awake, “Gan Hong! Gan Hong is injured, hurry and save her!”

“Can you stand?” Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

Song Ying gritted her teeth, and despite the pain in her ankle, she nodded.

Luo Qiu slung the rifle over his shoulder, then waded into the stream and picked Gan Hong up in a horizontal hold.

Gan Hong weakly said, “Young Master Qiu... you’re all right.”

Luo Qiu replied, “Don’t speak for now, just follow me.”