Xiaolun flicked her forked tongue, thinking that the old man was sensible enough not to push his luck. Fortunately, when she first encountered this girl, her abilities were mediocre, and her speed hadn’t peaked. Otherwise, the girl would have been bitten to death long ago, and she wouldn’t have acknowledged her as master.
"Old man, you shouldn’t be practicing medicine, you should be telling stories. That tale was riveting..." Yang Ruxin laughed. If it were modern society, he might become an internet novelist and attract countless fans with a title like "Ancient Serpent Egg’s Time-Travel Adventure."
"You don’t believe me? You actually don’t believe me?" Dao Xuzi completely lost his temper.
"I believe," Yang Ruxin hurriedly gestured with his hand to calm him down, "don’t be hasty, the snake venom is fine, but I won’t give you Xiaolun. Don’t end up cooking her..."
"I..." Dao Xuzi’s beard, which had just smoothed out, bristled again.
Yang Ruxin ignored him and picked Xiaolun up from his wrist, "Don’t be stingy, give him a couple drops of venom, will you?"
Xiaolun flicked her forked tongue again.
Yang Ruxin nodded at Dao Xuzi.
The old man swiftly took a small porcelain bottle from his bosom and came over, all smiles.
Xiaolun ignored the old man’s fawning expression, bit the bottle’s opening, and soon, a glistening green liquid was seen flowing into the bottle.
"Haha..." Dao Xuzi couldn’t contain his laughter, and as soon as Xiaolun released the bottle, he burst out laughing, "This is wonderful." He then carefully sealed the bottle and stashed it in his chest before turning to run off—he had to quickly process the venom into medicine, lest it lose its potency over time. But after a couple of steps, he stopped, turned back to Yang Ruxin, and said, "The steamed bun with soup filling..."
"I won’t forget." Yang Ruxin’s mouth twitched slightly as he too stepped out of the room. He informed everyone about Erya’s situation and that Dao Xuzi had pulled her back from the Ghost Gate. Now, it was time for her recuperation.
"So when can sister Erya wake up?" Sini looked worriedly at Yang Ruxin.
"Tonight," Yang Ruxin patted Sini’s head, "but her name is Yang Rulan from now on, don’t call her Erya anymore. She’s going to live with us from now on. You and Xiaobao are her older sisters. Will you take good care of her?"
Sini and Zhou Ying nodded vigorously, then holding hands, they went inside to see Erya.
"Xinxin, she..." Xu Hui was a bit confused.
"When I got there, her mother was trying to strangle her." Yang Ruxin glanced at Xu Hui, "So I bought her, for two pieces of silver." Saying this, he took out the Selling Covenant and shook it open, "This is the covenant. Tianze helped with the writing. The village chief witnessed it..."
Everyone was somewhat unsure how to react to the Selling Covenant, especially Xu Hui, who had also been sold by her family, so she felt a certain fear.
"Although I bought Lanlan, I want to make one thing clear: I did this to ensure that Yang Baifu and Dong Hongmei have no chance to cause trouble in the future." Yang Ruxin put the covenant away in his chest, "From now on, she is the youngest in our family, my little sister Xiaowu. When she turns fourteen, I’ll give her the covenant back, and then it’ll be up to her whether she wants to stay or leave..."
"Okay..." Xu Hui’s eyes reddened again.
"I don’t think Lanlan could be so ungrateful. After we save her and raise her, if she still chooses to go back to her parents, that would be too..." Sanni pursed her lips.
Yang Ruxin just smiled and did not comment. The human heart is the most difficult to predict and the most fickle; one’s mindset naturally changes with different circumstances and environments. So, they would have to see how things unfolded. The saying "time reveals a person’s heart" exactly reflected this principle.