Chu Lingzhi's cheeks flushed slightly as she shot him a glare. "You're not a three-year-old child."
"Wow, this feels amazing." Nangong Yichen spread his little arms, enjoying the natural breeze.
"You two rest here. I'm going to gather some herbs." Chu Lingzhi stood up.
"I'll go with you." Nangong Yehen rose as well.
"No need. Stay here with the kids." Chu Lingzhi looked at him.
Nangong Yehen still felt uneasy about her. He glanced at Huo Luan, who understood immediately.
"Miss Chu, let me accompany you," Huo Luan offered.
Chu Lingzhi thought for a moment, her gaze shifting between Nangong Yehen and Chu Junyu. "Alright."
Then she asked Nangong Yehen, "Do you have a gun?"
"Mm." Nangong Yehen nodded.
"You two stay close to your father and don't wander off." After taking a couple of steps, Chu Lingzhi still felt worried and turned back to instruct Chu Junyu and Nangong Yichen.
Nangong Yichen nodded, his tone indifferent. "Got it."
"Mom, don't worry about catching snakes and gathering herbs to heal Dad. We'll definitely stay by Dad's side, protect him well, and make sure no wild animals hurt him." Chu Junyu grinned brightly, his words almost making Nangong Yehen choke.
A tall man standing 190 cm, being protected by two five-year-old kids?
Seeing Nangong Yehen's darkened expression, Chu Lingzhi found it amusing and set off cheerfully to look for snakes.
She told the two kids not to stray far from Nangong Yehen to ensure their safety, not to have them protect him.
Chu Junyu was a little joker, always good at cheering people up.
"Miss Chu, how do we find snakes?" Huo Luan humbly asked Chu Lingzhi for advice, also admiring her.
A woman who walked from the foot of the mountain to the halfway point without ever complaining of fatigue.
Now she moved through the forest with agility, like a deer in the woods.
Huo Luan had seen too many women trying to get close to Nangong Yehen.
But none were as unique as Chu Lingzhi.
It seemed that no matter the circumstances, she could survive and even thrive.
She looked delicate but wasn't frail.
She appeared beautiful but was very strong.
Chu Lingzhi turned her head, glanced at Huo Luan, and teased, "As a top-tier bodyguard, you don't know how to find snakes?"
Huo Luan smiled sheepishly. "I'm good at finding people, but snakes... I've never done that."
He had beaten snakes and caught them, but never searched for them.
"It's best if a snake appears in front of us. If not, we can't just wait passively; we need to actively search. How to find them..." Chu Lingzhi raised an eyebrow. "I'm no expert either. I'll just have to look near snake dens."
"These mountains are layered and towering. How do we find a snake den?" Huo Luan asked.
Tiger dens or monkey dens are easier to spot, but snake dens must be tiny, right?
Wasn't this like looking for a needle in a haystack?
Chu Lingzhi couldn't describe the specifics of how to find them.
The best approach now was to locate snake dens.
She had researched the white-headed snake. It was a lazy species, active around dusk and sleeping in its den the rest of the time.
So she chose to come up the mountain now, with several hours left until dusk.
If she couldn't find a white-headed snake in the den, she'd come back at dusk.
She brought night-blooming jasmine, which snakes loved—
She explained her method for finding snake dens to Huo Luan, and then they split up to search.
Huo Luan didn't recognize the Himalayan white-headed snake.
Chu Lingzhi told him to catch any snake with a white head, a black-brown body, and small white or yellow spots.