He Xiangu

"Thank you, Martial Aunt!"

He Qiong solemnly thanked Verdant Green Maiden.

Verdant Green Maiden also sent word of the healer on the wind. The suffering people in the mountains and forests of the Min Lands no longer had to endure the misery of miasma-borne illness without hope of a physician's treatment. Here was a healer—kind-hearted and compassionate, with hands capable of bringing the dead back to life.

For He Qiong's safety, Verdant Green Maiden wiped out all the bandits across the Min Lands.

She knew this could only ensure peace for a time.

But that was no matter!

He Qiong was no pushover either.

In little more than a year, the desolate village gradually regained its vitality. Quite a few common folk came to He Qiong to seek treatment.

Some even settled down and made their homes here.

"Little by little, the sounds of people are returning."

"Good!"

"A good thing."

Verdant Green Maiden sat on the trunk of a tree at the entrance to the village, swinging her feet as she gazed at the wisps of cooking smoke rising from the village beneath the setting sun, her expression wistful.

At her side, a little cat suddenly leaped up and climbed into her arms.

"Hm?"

"You little cat, you certainly know how to pick your person."

Verdant Green Maiden raised a brow.

She opened her arms, placed the little cat on her lap, and gently stroked its fur.

The little cat flicked its tail and looked up at Verdant Green Maiden.

"You once brought twenty years of calamity upon this village, and it gradually declined into ruin because of it. You were so carefree back then. Yet once it truly fell into desolation, you still came back to build it up again. What a foolish Jiao Dragon—sharp-tongued but soft-hearted!"

"Hm?"