Chapter 140: A Great Joyous Occasion

Chu Yun looked at the guard with eager anticipation.

The guard wore an excited expression, took a deep breath, and finally spoke. This time, thankfully, without any stuttering: "Yes, Ye Liang and the others are back!"

Hahaha!

Upon receiving the affirmative answer, Chu Yun could not help bursting into loud laughter.

Wonderful!

Simply wonderful!

Ye Liang wasn't dead; he was back! Truly back!

"Quick, take me to see him!"

Chu Yun immediately pointed outward with his hand.

"Understood, Lord Baron!"

The guard acknowledged, then hurried to lead Chu Yun, walking swiftly out of the official office and running toward the city gates.

Before long, Chu Yun saw Ye Liang.

He saw that the group of a little over ten herb gatherers were all still alive, though their clothes were tattered, their bodies emaciated, and their spirits withered.

Clearly, although they had survived, they had endured a great deal of hardship out there during this period.

Chu Yun immediately had people escort Ye Liang and the others to the former Wu Family Pharmacy, then personally brewed some sugar water for each of them to drink.

For he could tell that Ye Liang and the others had been starved to the point where their bodies showed extremely obvious symptoms of glycogen deficiency.

After feeding them the sugar water, Chu Yun instructed people to quickly build fires and boil porridge for Ye Liang and the others.

At the same time, he carefully examined the physical conditions of the dozen or so herb gatherers to check for any illnesses, then wrote out prescriptions, had the herbs dispensed, and told people to decoct them.

Two hours later, the spirits of Ye Liang and his companions had finally recovered significantly.

As soon as his vitality returned, Ye Liang's very first question was: "Lord Baron, where is Zelan? Why do I not see her?"

Chu Yun replied: "I assigned her a task, and she is out."

Ye Liang, however, shook his head and said with disbelief: "No, you are lying to me. Tell me, did she die in the battle when the Witch Doctor Cult attacked Chu Family Town?"

Chu Yun said: "No! The Witch Doctor Cult's attack on Chu Family Town did not result in a single death in the town."

Yang Liuer chimed in from the side: "Uncle Liang, rest assured, Zelan is truly fine. Moreover, in this battle, Chu Family Town genuinely suffered no casualties."

Hearing that Ye Liang had returned, she was overjoyed and had long since brought the nursing staff trained by Chu Yun to help care for the dozen-plus herb gatherers.

However, upon hearing Yang Liuer's words, Ye Liang still remained somewhat skeptical.

Seeing this, the assisting nurses hurriedly chimed in, assuring him that Ye Yezeran had not met with any misfortune and that no one in Chu Family Town had died in the battle.

Only then did Ye Liang finally believe it, though his face was filled with utter astonishment: "I heard the Witch Doctor Cult dispatched an army of three thousand to attack Chu Family Town. How could Chu Family Town not lose a single person?"

Yang Liuer explained: "Uncle Liang, my husband's master arrived. He is the God of Thunder, and he unleashed thunder magic to drive them back."

The nurses also nodded in agreement one after another: "Indeed! The God of Thunder helped us win the war, and we even built a temple for him to receive our offerings. Later on, you can also go to the temple, pay your respects to the God of Thunder, and thank them for repelling the Witch Doctor Cult and protecting Chu Family Town."

Chu Yun added: "Uncle Liang, the Witch Doctor Cult was driven away by my master, and furthermore, both Nanhuai Town and Qingtan Town are now under my dominion."

Only then did Ye Liang fully believe it and laugh with relief: "Splendid, it seems Zelan is truly safe and sound."

Chu Yun said: "Uncle Liang, once Lan'er returns, I will summon her to see you immediately."

Curious about what Ye Liang had experienced during this period, he smoothly shifted the topic: "Uncle Liang, where did you all go during this time, and what on earth happened? Why are you only returning now?"

Upon hearing this, the nurses were also consumed by curiosity: "That's right, where have you all been during this time? Why couldn't Lord Baron find you despite sending out so many people? Second Madam was nearly driven out of her mind searching for you."

"Second Madam?"

Ye Liang was momentarily stunned.

The nurses quickly smiled and answered: "The Second Madam is your daughter, Ye Zelan, because she will sooner or later marry the Lord Baron."

Chu Yun also affirmed: "Yes, I shall take Lan'er as my secondary wife!"

Hahaha!

Hearing this, Ye Liang could not help but laugh happily.

Not only because Ye Zelan had finally ended up with Chu Yun, but even more so because it further confirmed that Ye Zelan had indeed suffered no harm and was still alive.

Then, he and the other herb gatherers recounted the events that had befalled them during this period.

It turned out that while out gathering herbs, they encountered an army near the border between Nanhuai Town and Chu Family Town.

This army was flying the banners of the Witch Doctor Cult.

Realizing this, they understood that the Witch Doctor Cult was dispatching troops to attack Chu Family Town.

At that time, they wanted to immediately turn around, run back to Chu Family Town, and report this matter to Chu Yun.

Unfortunately, they had not run far before they were spotted by that army.

The army dispatched cavalry to pursue them, quickly overtaking them and capturing them.

Yet, they were not killed.

As for why they were spared, Ye Liang and the others had no idea of the reason.

Chu Yun surmised that it was perhaps because they had run into the Fierce Tiger Army.

After all, they crossed paths at the border between Chu Family Town and Nanhuai Town.

The Fierce Tiger Army maintained strict discipline and would not casually slaughter ordinary civilians.

As for why the Fierce Tiger Army was flying the banners of the Witch Doctor Cult, it was likely that members of the Witch Doctor Cult had gone to the Fierce Tiger encampment to requisition troops.

Alternatively, there was another possibility: seeing that they were mere herb gatherers, the Witch Doctor Cult deemed them somewhat useful and thus spared their lives.

However, none of this was of primary importance.

Chu Yun asked: "Uncle Liang, what happened after you were captured?"

Everyone else also gazed at Ye Liang and the herb gatherers with heightened curiosity.

For if Ye Liang and his companions had been captured and taken into the army, logically they should have already learned about the God of Thunder unleashing thunder magic to bombard the three thousand troops of the Witch Doctor Cult.

Ye Liang said: "After we were captured, their conversations only further confirmed that they intended to attack Chu Family Town, and that they had assembled a massive army of three thousand men."

"Chu Family Town had a total population of fewer than a thousand people; how could it possibly withstand an army of three thousand?"

"We were extremely anxious at the time, constantly thinking of ways to escape, return to Chu Family Town, and spread the news that the Witch Doctor Cult was leading three thousand troops to attack."

"Then, one night, an opportunity finally presented itself, and we successfully broke out."

"However, we hadn't fled far when we discovered a cavalry unit pursuing us from behind."

"We ran desperately for our lives, and in our panic, lost our bearings, accidentally stumbling into a mountain valley."

"Once we entered that valley, we thought it was a dead end, certain we would die."

"To our surprise, the mountain walls at the mouth of the valley suddenly collapsed, blocking the entrance."

"Thus, the cavalry could no longer pursue us."

"Yet, not daring to retrace our steps along the original path, we attempted to walk out through the other end of the valley."

"However, that valley was endlessly long, and by the time we finally emerged, we had completely lost our sense of direction and had no idea where on earth we had ended up."