Time Travel: The Best Doctor in Ancient Times

Chapter 257: Chapter 154: I, the Old Lady, Am Not Pretending Chapter 257: Chapter 154: I, the Old Lady, Am Not Pretending “Are you all so damn bored?” Phoenix Eyes narrowed dangerously into a sliver, slowly sweeping over everyone.

The crowd was terrified, shaking their heads like rattle-drums.

By heaven and earth, they were not idle at all! Really not idle, let alone bored!

Their hearts were filled with fear now!

“Weren’t you talking tough just now? Why are you silent all of a sudden?”

If looks could really kill, they had no doubt they’d already been executed by death by a thousand cuts, and as a group, they collectively took another step back.

Talk? They’d have to be fools courting death to dare utter another word…

Whimpering… The adult is so scary, save us…

They wanted to run away, but with that heart and that gall, after Lady Changsheng swept another round of glares at them, they collectively petrified, standing bowingly, not even daring to breathe loudly, let alone move!

“Did I just hear you say you wanted to go up the mountain? Is that so?” Gu Changsheng’s narrowed eyes flashed with dangerous light.

Damn it, to actually curse her with Yin Deficiency, this was like the old birthday star drinking poison – courting death!

She didn’t mind giving them a good experience of what it meant to be worse off than dead!

Another round of frantic head shaking ensued. Going up the mountain? The way they talked about going up the mountain completely differed from what the adult was referring to…

Whimpers…

“Since you so devoutly wish to go up the mountain, how could I possibly deny your desire?” Gu Changsheng glanced at them, withdrawing her hands from her waist and slowly blowing on her fingertips.

In an instant, the crowd’s faces turned ashen, lost of all color, each of them pale and ghastly…

Indeed, the next moment, Gu Changsheng pointed with a long hand and spoke with a piercing voice, “All present, weighted cross-country, circle around Baili Mountain! By early morning, if anyone hasn’t returned, descend to my dungeon! The eighteen kinds of torture instruments I’ve prepared for you will ensure you are taken care of comfortably!”

Before they even had time to scream, over a thousand people scattered like birds and beasts.

The adult’s words about not returning by dawn to face punishment in the dungeon were not false play.

The adult always meant what she said; words that left her mouth could even make a dent in the ground. Since she said so, it was as certain as nails hammered into a board, with no possibility of change.

Everyone quickly strapped sandbags to their legs, and the message was clear: Run!

The hundreds of miles of mountain roads that they seemed to have almost paved from two months of trampling, even with the weight of cross-country running, with some effort, they should be able to return by early morning!

“Huff… Huff… Darn it, could we really have guessed it right? Did the adult become furious out of embarrassment?” one panted as he ran, communicating with a similarly afflicted companion at his side.

“Huff… Huff… Seems like it!”

“Huff… Huff… Then what do we do? Should we still get some deer blood, tiger whip, and wild sheep loin?” Run, run for your life! There’s no time to wait!

“Huff… Huff… Depending on the time, if there’s still spare time before daylight, we must get some!”

“Huff… Huff… Right, the adult’s and Commandery Prince’s health is more important; even if we have to go to the dungeon, I accept it!” Agreeing voices rose in waves.

“Come on, try to make time for hunting!”

On the other side, the Female Army was also not idle. Leveraging their size advantage, they plunged into the forest like fish into water, moving agilely left and right.

“Huff… Take a detour there by that hollow, last time we trained I remember there were black wood ears!” Chang Shou pointed toward the hollow beside the original trail.

“Huff… All right!” Several chirpy female voices replied.

Three hundred members of the Female Army immediately changed direction, diving toward the direction of the hollow.

It just so happened that a few hunters who were out for the Autumn Hunting passed by this place and saw from afar in the dense forest, shadows flashing by, once… and then again…

“Aiyo, ghosts, ah!” A hunter howled like a wolf, threw his hunting fork, and bolted.

“Mother! A whole bunch of ghosts!” Another hunter ran even faster.

Running for dear life, those were ghosts!

How terrifying it was to encounter ghosts in the mountains—it could cost you your life!

It wasn’t until they ran past a mountain peak that several hunters collapsed like dead dogs, exhausted. When their lives felt threatened, people’s potentials were really stimulated, and this speed was much faster than before.

“They didn’t follow, did they?” One cowardly hunter covered his eyes, not daring to look back.

A gutsier one dared to glance back, and immediately heaved a sigh of relief, “Huff… They didn’t follow!”

That was frightening enough to kill a person!

They found a large tree root and sat down on the ground to catch their breath and rest.

Once they were certain no “ghost” was in pursuit, their tense and fearful expressions finally eased.

“But that’s not right. Why would ghosts appear in groups?”

“Yeah, even though it’s dim in the woods, it’s still broad daylight, right?”

“Exactly, those Mountain Ghosts are really too bold. The Ghost Festival has been over for a while now, yet they dare to come out!”

“Could it be, they’re not Mountain Ghosts?”

“Could it be, that group of Mountain Bandits?”

It had to be said, these hunters had gotten to the truth. Once they saw the truth, they began to engage in self-doubt with dialectical materialism.

“Impossible, Mountain Bandits are human too, how could humans run that fast?”

“Yeah, they just whooshed past in a puff of smoke. I didn’t see anything clearly before they were gone. If not Mountain Ghosts, then what else could it be?”

“Correct, it must be Mountain Ghosts!”

“We should hurry down the mountain. We can’t go deep into Baili Mountain anymore. Even the Mountain Bandits haven’t caused us to submit— if we were to fall into the hands of Mountain Ghosts, then not even an Immortal could save us.”

Resting only for a brief moment, the hunters soon ran down the mountain in terror, spreading the news of the ghosts in the depths of Baili Mountain.

The route that Gu Changsheng originally planned was through treacherous and difficult terrain that hunters wouldn’t pass through. But today, both the Elite Guards and the Female Army had the dual tasks of hunting and gathering resources, so they strayed off course. This little deviation wasn’t much, but enough to scare several groups of hunters with sightings of the Mountain Ghosts…

The news of Mountain Ghosts swarming in the depths of Baili Mountain spread quickly…

Back at the Dark Camp Fortress, the seven hundred selected Elite Guards, along with three hundred from the Female Army, carried heavy burdens as they entered the mountain. The more than two thousand Elite Guards who were eliminated, harboring a stroke of luck, collectively took a few steps back.

“Uh, sir, can we just drop it? We really didn’t say anything!” one of the eliminated Elite Guards said, shaking his head and waving his hands with a look of fear.

“Do you think I would believe your ghost stories?” Gu Changsheng maintained her imposing momentum without diminishing, snorting coldly, “Everyone involved shares the burden. Don’t you all think for one second that anyone can escape punishment!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the faces of the eliminated Elite Guards turned ashen, and they didn’t dare to back away anymore.

“Everyone left, do ten thousand jumping jacks on the spot! Whoever dares to do one less, go taste what our dungeon has to offer!” With an evil curve to her lips, Gu Changsheng casually raised a finger and shook it leisurely.

The remaining people immediately collapsed to the ground, doing push-ups… jumping… one… ten thousand times!

Oh, for the love of all four auntie grandmas, this is murderous!

Once she had given her commands, Gu Changsheng swept out of the room, her sleeves billowing behind her as she left without a trace. She was too busy concocting an antidote and caring for Zhou Mu, who became quite troublesome when sick. She had no time to chit-chat with them or catch a laugh at their expense!

Seeing this, the remaining people resigned to their fate, sighed deeply, lay down, did a push-up, then jumped with their heads clutched and feet off the ground, then lay down again to do another push-up… and so on, ten thousand times over…

Disaster struck like a collapsing mountain, and Zhou Mu’s illness this time was fierce. Besides clinging to Gu Changsheng to stay within sight, he was otherwise cooperating by obediently staying in bed.

Gu Changsheng, having no choice and putting the patient’s needs above all, moved her medicinal studies into the inner chamber, daring not test any poison on herself anymore.

Because, the moment she dared to bring poison to her lips, Zhou Mu, the patient, would immediately notice and rush over recklessly. And then, cough cough… Gu Changsheng’s mouth injuries would deepen by a degree. You understand?

Abiding by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Gu Changsheng had no choice but to abandon this method and found a substitute among the living creatures kept in the stronghold…

By evening, still haunted by the previous night, Gu Changsheng racked her brains for a while until a flash of inspiration hit her!

Yes! For peace tonight, drug him! Conveniently, the sick Zhou Mu was already due for medication, so Gu Changsheng boldly added a bit more of several sedatives and sleep aids into his medicinal soup, ensuring he would not be harmed. Sharing the bed in peace, they had a good night’s sleep without any issues…

Waking up in the early morning, Zhou Mu’s face was dark, his gaze upon Gu Changsheng filled with blame but also marred with resentment, which hid a touch of lingering sorrow, and within that sorrow was a hint of pitiable appeal…

Crushed by this eerie stare, Gu Changsheng admitted defeat swiftly, grabbing her clothes to dress in haste, and slid away slick as oil…

She wasn’t guilty, she really wasn’t!

She was very busy! She had to check how many had circled back around the mountain and been eliminated. She really was very busy…

When she arrived at the martial arts training ground of the Dark Camp Fortress, Gu Changsheng from afar saw the neat rows of returning Elite Guards and members of the Female Army, and she was very satisfied.

As she drew closer and saw the scene more clearly, Gu Changsheng was utterly dumbstruck…

There were two carrying a tiger, one with a moose over his shoulders, another clutching a wild goat under his arm…

Some with their clothes filled with wild black fungus…

A plethora of them, each signifying yesterday’s exploits…

At this point, Gu Changsheng’s face wasn’t just blushing; it was a kaleidoscope of rapidly changing colors, spectacular to behold…

“Sir, these are the tigers, moose, and wild goats we hunted…” a voice seeking recognition piped up.

“Sir, we just picked these up to send to you and the County Prince,” another voice seeking recognition chimed in.

As the men rushed to claim credit, the Female Army wouldn’t be outdone and stepped forward.

“Sir, these are the black mushrooms we gathered. They’re fresh, can be eaten dried too, guaranteed to nourish…”

“Sir, we didn’t find much else in the mountains, but we picked quite a few Lingzhi mushrooms. Look at the age, very effective for treating Yin Deficiency!”

The moment she said that, Gu Changsheng exploded in frustration, “Ahhh! I’m not being unfair! Not unfair…”