The carriage soon arrived at Xuntian Escort Agency, and it was Xiaoxiao’s first visit here. Cradling the child, Xiaoxiao stepped down from the carriage.
"Wife, let me hold the baby, you’ve been holding him the whole way."
Yang Ming reached out to take the child, but Xiaoxiao twisted away and refused, "Forget it. You can hold him when we get home. These are all your people. It wouldn’t look good for them to see you holding a baby."
"I’m holding my son, what’s there to be afraid of? Give him to me."
Seeing that Yang Ming was insistent, Xiaoxiao relented, "Go slow."
Yang Ming, holding the child, walked into the courtyard with Xiaoxiao and saw quite a few people practicing their fist techniques. Among them, some were practicing military boxing. Xiaoxiao always felt that military boxing wasn’t very useful, but perhaps they could discover something from it. It was good as a body exercise, anyway.
Everyone looked surprised to see Yang Ming carrying a child as they entered, but they still called out in unison, "Store Manager."
"Yes, is Head Escort Master Wang Kui around?" Yang Ming replied, thinking it best to consult Wang Kui as he might know more.
"Then you all carry on." Yang Ming said as he led Xiaoxiao inside the building.
Upon entering the room, Wang Kui noticed Yang Ming and greeted, "Store Manager."
"The lady has come too?"
Xiaoxiao smiled and teased, "Head Escort Master Wang Kui, long time no see. You’ve kept yourself well-hidden. I never expected you to be with the escort agency. Back then, I guess you played me for a fool."
Wang Kui laughed sheepishly, "Absolutely not, don’t think too much."
"Head Escort Master Wang Kui, I’m here today to inquire about Medicine King Valley. Do you know where it is, and also about Divine Doctor Xue?" Yang Ming asked outright, as time was of the essence and there was no leisure for idle chat.
After pondering, Wang Kui replied, "I have heard a bit. Divine Doctor Xue is an extremely peculiar person who enjoys wandering and sightseeing. His whereabouts are uncertain, but I’ve heard that he no longer treats people. As for Medicine King Valley, it should be near a valley close to Beijing. You can find out more when you get to Beijing..."
Hearing Wang Kui’s words, Xiaoxiao felt they hadn’t come in vain; to their surprise, Wang Kui actually knew where Medicine King Valley was. However, Wang Kui also brought some unwelcome news: Divine Doctor Xue no longer treated patients. Even if they found him, it was uncertain whether he could detoxify their child.
"After all this chat, Store Manager, whose child are you holding?" Wang Kui asked with interest.
"You have a son?" Wang Kui hurriedly came forward to look at the child, "You know, Store Manager, your son does look quite like you."
"..." Xiaoxiao was speechless, since when had Wang Kui become such a flatterer? Without any blood relation, how could there be any resemblance?
"If my son doesn’t look like me, who else could he resemble?" Yang Ming answered proudly and then said, "Alright, I have to make a trip to Medicine King Valley soon. Keep an eye on things here for me. The Escort Head you dispatched to Lin County is managing quite well; we’re now able to take on escorts normally."
"Don’t worry, Store Manager," Wang Kui assured him.
"Oh, and if possible, let’s breed some carrier pigeons for communication between the various strongholds of our escort agency. Also, we should increase our number of horses." Yang Ming still had to give instructions, as he did not know how long he would be away this time.
"Understood, Store Manager. I will arrange everything one by one."
Having given his instructions and bid farewell to his brothers, Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao took the child and hurried back to Yang Family Village.