Silly Bride Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Winnie frowned. “I don’t know.”“Yeah. It’s all too strange…” Josiah mumbled. He subconsciously
nced at the gifts in the trunk, which were still untouched.At that sight, he could not help but tease
Winnie. “Look, the gifts you prepared are still here. They wouldn’t even ept them, yet you want me
to learn from you. Your method didn’t work as well.”“Why would you say that it didn’t work?” Winnie
eyed him. “At the very least, the Xander family’s housekeeper didn’t suspect me of anything. She even
told me the truth.”“Fine. You’re the smarter one, after all. If you had said you were looking for Ynda
from the start, then everything would have fallen apart,” he admitted.“Is that so?” Winnie was looking at
the navigation, so her reply was a perfunctory one.“Of course! The housekeeper wouldn’t let you in
straight away. No matter what, she would have to inform Ynda first. Hasn’t she nted a spy in the
police station? I bet that policeman has long tipped her off. I’m almost certain that she knows we came
here together. It would be strange if she were to agree to meet you. In my opinion, the housekeeper
who answered the door today is a variable,” Josiah borated.“Is that so?” After listening to his
analysis of the situation, she immediately furrowed her eyebrows.Then, she instantly started drifting on
the rather narrow cement road and turned the car around without hesitation.It was all too sudden, and
Josiah felt that he was nearly sent flying out of the car.“Oh my goodness! What are you doing? I didn’t
know we were in the Fast and Furious series!” he screamed.“We’re going back to the Xander
residence. Things are going so well, so much so that I overlooked something,” Winnie stated. “Ynda
was at home the whole time. Since she knows we’re a group, there’s no way she would let us bring
Xavier over so easily. All you did was pace around in front of her house for a while before she called
the police on you. There’s no way she wouldn’t do anything after seeing me talk to the housekeeper at
the door for so long.”“F*ck!” Josiah knew exactly what she was talking about. “Go faster, then! She
might already be secretly sending Old Mr. Xander away.”That was a possibility as well. Winnie hit the
gas and sent the engine racing.The metal gate of the mansion rattled as Josiah rapped on it.That time
around, however, the housekeeper did note to answer the door.He even called out Ynda’s
name a few times, but she never showed up.Even so, he did not give up and continued knocking on
the door for around ten minutes.After that, the Xander family’s neighbors could not take it any longer. A
man walked out from his courtyard and said, “Stop knocking. The family has just left. There’s nobody at
home right now.”“What? They’ve all left?” Josiah immediately approached and asked, “Wasn’t Old Mr.
Xander in the herb fields? Did he leave just like that?”“There’s nothing odd about that. The fields are
close by. He can leave whenever he wants, can’t he?” the neighbor pointed out.“Then do you know
where they went?” Josiah probed.The neighbor eyed the both of them cautiously and inquired, “Who
are you two, anyway? Why are you asking so much?”Josiah pulled out a random excuse. “We’re
Ynda’s friends.”“Tsk. Drop the act.” The neighbor was not easily fooled. “If you were her friends, why
are you asking me about this then? You could’ve just given her a call.”“Her phone is switched off!”
Josiah protested.“I can’t help you, then. All I know is that she drove away earlier. I don’t know exactly
where she’s gone to,” the neighbor said.No sooner had he spoken than his wife came running out of
the courtyard.She recognized Josiah in an instant. “Hey! Isn’t that the guy who made a scene in front of
the Xander residence yesterday and caused Ms. Xander to call the police on him? Why is he back
again? Hurry! Close the door!”“Huh?” The man immediately moved to protect his wife. “He told me that
he was Ms. Xander’s friend. So, it turns out that he’s bad news. No wonder the whole family has left.
They must be hiding from people like him.”“No! That’s all a misunderstanding.” Josiah wanted to
exin, but all that he got in response was the loud sound of the mansion’s metal gate nging
shut.He feltpletely defeated. With arms akimbo, he looked at Winnie with an aggrieved expression
and asked, “Do I really look like a bad guy?”“Not really,” Winnie responded.Josiah cried, “Exactly! Ugh,
these people—”However, before he could finish his grumble, Winnie continued, “You just look a little
creepy. You know, the creeps in movies are just like you—they look like a gentleman on the outside
and wear gold-rimmed sses. The more harmless they seem on the surface, the more twisted they
are deep down.”Josiah was speechless for a moment. “Thanks, I guess. In any case, at least you
complimented my appearance. Hurry up and get back in the car. Let’s see if we can catch up with
them.”As he spoke, he got into the driver’s seat.Winnie followed him in. “There’s only one road here. If
we drive a little faster, we might just be able to catch up with them.”“Sit tight, then,” he cautioned.He
then began driving at top speed. In less than ten minutes, they saw a red sedan in front of them.“I think
the car parked in their courtyard was red. I’m guessing the owner of the vehicle must be Ynda,”
Josiah remarked.Winnie nodded. “I vaguely remember that as well.”“Okay. I’m going to go past them
now. You’ll get to witness my driving skills.”With that, he floored the gas pedal, increasing the speed to
one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour. The car shot forward like an arrow.When he stopped the
car horizontally thirty meters before the red car, Winnie drawled, “There goes your driving
license.”Josiah had lost his patience at that point. “Who do you think I’m doing all this for?”“I told you to
chase them, not to block the road!” she argued.“How about we make a bet? I bet that if she knows
we’re chasing her, she’ll never stop the car unless she has a t tire.”Winnie did not respond to that
statement of his. Their eyes met, and they both unbuckled their seatbelts at the same time before
getting out of the car.At that moment, the red car was already slowing down.Through the window, they
could both see the woman in the driver’s seat.“That’s Ynda, no doubt about it,” Josiah affirmed to
Winnie.She frowned. “The person in the front passenger seat is the housekeeper that I talked to earlier.
Do you see that, though, Josiah? There’s nobody in the backseat. It looks like Old Mr. Xander isn’t in
the car.”“F*ck!” Josiah pushed his sses up. “You’re right. There’s nobody there. We were deceived
by the guy from before. Could it be that Ynda nned all of this out beforehand?”“I’m not sure about
that, but she should be a tough nut to crack!” Winniemented.“Why do you say that?” he
asked.“Aren’t you seeing this? She’s elerating. She probably ns on smashing right into our car,”
Winnie pointed out.By the time the words came out of her mouth, it was toote. Ynda was already
heading straight toward their car.“F*ck!” Josiah could not help but curse. “Does she have no sense of
self-preservation?”Winnie’s eyebrows were furrowed into a knot. Not only did Ynda have no regard
for her own life, but it also seemed that she did not care for the housekeeper, who was in the front
passenger seat, either.She hurriedly jumped into a ditch next to the road. There was not a ditch on
Josiah’s side of the road, so he had no choice but to jump into the fields.In the meantime, Ynda had
not actually crashed into Winnie and Josiah’s car. At thest second, she screeched the car to a
halt.Half of Josiah’s calf was stuck in the mud. He was seething with rage and could not help but
thunder, “You’re lucky that you aren’t driving a Te. Otherwise, you would have suffered if the brakes
failed!”Even after saying that, he still did not feel satisfied. Hence, he got out of the field and went over
to knock on the car window on Ynda’s side.Josiah had barely knocked twice before Winnie grabbed
his arm and moved in front of him.She knocked on the window as well, but unlike Josiah, she did so
very politely, even bending down to show her respect.Perhaps Ynda found her attitude to be decent,
for she rolled the window down halfway. “Speak.”She was even more aloof than Winnie had expected.
Ynda did not ask any questions, nor did she censure them for stopping their car in front of her. All
she did was utter that one word icily.After weighing the pros and cons, Winnie decided to
apologize.“Hello, Ms. Xander. I apologize for blocking your way. We heard from your neighbor that you
were leaving with Old Mr. Xander, but I have something very important to talk to him about. That’s why
we abruptly chased after you. However, it’s apparent that your neighbor has gotten the wrong idea as
Old Mr. Xander isn’t in your car after all.”It was only after she made so many utterances did Ynda
finally spare her a nce.With an ice-cold look on her face, Ynda looked extremely serious. “Just
looking at you guys gets on my nerves. You’d better not disturb my grandpa. I already told the man
behind you that my grandpa doesn’t have the energy to be treating patients right now, so hurry up and
get lost!”Winnie was asking for a favor, so even when she was told to get lost, she could bear it.Josiah,
on the other hand, could not take it. “Ms. Xander, I’ve asked around and learned that Old Mr. Xander’s
in great health. He’s nothing like what you’ve described. You’re clearly lying.”“What does it matter to
you whether I’m lying or not? Either way, I don’t want to see you guys. Move the car away now!”
Ynda demanded.“Why?” Josiah could not understand. “Did we offend you somehow? We just want
to get treatment. Why are you going to such lengths to stop us?”“So, you’re not going to move the car?”
Ynda asked.“I just want an answer,” he insisted.“Fine. If you’re not going to move the car, then so be
it,” she muttered.They were both onpletely different wavelengths. Neither of them was getting what
they wanted.Ynda unlocked the door of the front passenger seat and had the housekeeper get out
of the car.She nned to leave the housekeeper out in the middle of the road and turn the car around
to head back.Josiah’s stubbornness once again came into y. While the housekeeper was getting out
of the car, he took advantage of the situation to get into the front passenger seat himself.He attempted
to stop Ynda from leaving and wanted to gain control of the steering wheel.Ynda tried to fight
back for a while. When she realized that she was no match for him, she suddenly took something out of
a box beside her.Winnie, who was standing outside, could not get a clear look at what Ynda had
grabbed. All she saw was a sh of silver light.Then, Ynda’s hand went straight for Josiah’s arm.
Immediately after, his hand suddenly became stiffened and unmovable.“Josiah!” Winnie cried out his
name the second she saw the look of excruciating pain on his face as if his tendons were
removed.Meanwhile, Ynda, who was in the car, showed no mercy, kicking Josiah out of the vehicle
before speeding away.Winnie instantly rushed over to help Josiah up. “Are you okay?”The muscles on
Josiah’s face were still twitching. He could not even make a sound.The oddness of his condition
caused her to be at a loss for a moment.When she recalled that Ynda seemed to have reached for
his arm earlier, she decided to check that part of his body.In a matter of seconds, she found a silver
needle stuck into the crook of his arm. It was as thin as a strand of hair.“So that’s why!” she eximed.
It was no wonder that she had seen a silver sh between Ynda’s fingertips earlier on. It turned out
to be a silver needle.“This needle should be what caused you to be like this.” Winnie looked at
Josiah with a frown. “I’m pulling it out, then.”Josiah felt like his facial features would merge from how
hard they were twitching. His arm waspletely numb, and he could not feel anything at all.With
great difficulty, he nodded and struggled to blurt out, “Pull it out!”“Okay!” Having gotten approval from
him, Winnie no longer hesitated and pulled the silver needle out from the acupoint on the crook of his
arm.It was an odd phenomenon.The moment the needle was removed, Josiah stopped twitching right
away. Within a few seconds, he was able to move his arm again too.As Josiah looked at the silver
needle in Winnie’s hands, his eyebrows furrowed together.“Amazing. This is simply incredible. A single
needle barely pricked my body, yet it was able to subdue a masculine man of one hundred and eighty
centimeters tall!”Winnie rolled her eyes. “It look’s like you’repletely fine.”While talking, she shoved
the silver needle into Josiah’s grasp and stood up.He fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and
carefully wrapped the silver needle with it.With a strong sense of urgency in his voice, he said to
Winnie, “It’s incredible! We have to take Xavier to see Old Mr. Xander right away. Ynda used to
study modern medicine and only decided to learn traditional medicine from her grandpa halfway
through her studies. Even then, she’s already so impressive. Old Mr. Xander’s expertise is clear.
There’s definitely hope for Xavier now, but Ynda sure is a cruel woman.”“Cruel?” She shot him a
nce. “If I were her, I would have done much worse to you. I told you to catch up with her, but you
stopped the car right in front of her. While she was driving, you decided to try and take control of the
car. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? If I were in her shoes, I would have already beaten
you to death. Did you lose your mind just now? You were acting so irrationally.”“Whose side are you
on? I was angry. Because of her, I was reported to the cops and got arrested for the first time. She
even told us to get lost earlier,” Josiahined.Winnie was at a loss for words. “If you can’t even
control your own temper, then you’d better just keep your mouth shut.”Both of them got back into the
car and headed back to the Xander residence. They were worried that Ynda would actually take
Sebastian and leave after being provoked like that.Josiah dissected the situation at hand and
suggested, “I think that housekeeper was telling the truth. Otherwise, Ynda wouldn’t have tried to
send her away. Old Mr. Xander must still in be the herb fields. This time, we should go there directly
and look for him.”“Do you know where Old Mr. Xander’s herb fields are?” Winnie asked.“Let’s ask a few
more people this time. It’s not like every single person is going to lie to us, right?” he reasoned.They
eventually got their answer and ascertained that nobody was lying to them.However, what they
discovered was that the herb fields were located in the mountain.Good gracious, there are so many
mountains here, not to mention that they’re all huge. How are we supposed to know where Old Mr.
Xander is?Just as Josiah was stumped, Winnie turned to leave.He hurriedly stopped her. “What are
you doing? Are you giving up?”“No.” Winnie got into the car. When she returned, there was a silver
briefcase in her hands.Josiah pushed his sses up. “You said this was a secret tool, right? Can this
help us find Old Mr. Xander?”“Why don’t you take a guess?” she stated.Winnie frowned. “I don’t
know.”“Yeeh. It’s ell too strenge…” Josieh mumbled. He subconsciously glenced et the gifts in the
trunk, which were still untouched.At thet sight, he could not help but teese Winnie. “Look, the gifts you
prepered ere still here. They wouldn’t even ept them, yet you went me to leern from you. Your
method didn’t work es well.”“Why would you sey thet it didn’t work?” Winnie eyed him. “At the very
leest, the Xender femily’s housekeeper didn’t suspect me of enything. She even told me the
truth.”“Fine. You’re the smerter one, efter ell. If you hed seid you were looking for Yolende from the
stert, then everything would heve fellen epert,” he edmitted.“Is thet so?” Winnie wes looking et the
nevigetion, so her reply wes e perfunctory one.“Of course! The housekeeper wouldn’t let you in streight
ewey. No metter whet, she would heve to inform Yolende first. Hesn’t she plented e spy in the police
stetion? I bet thet policemen hes long tipped her off. I’m elmost certein thet she knows we ceme here
together. It would be strenge if she were to egree to meet you. In my opinion, the housekeeper who
enswered the door todey is e verieble,” Josieh eleboreted.“Is thet so?” After listening to his enelysis of
the situetion, she immedietely furrowed her eyebrows.Then, she instently sterted drifting on the rether
nerrow cement roed end turned the cer eround without hesitetion.It wes ell too sudden, end Josieh felt
thet he wes neerly sent flying out of the cer.“Oh my goodness! Whet ere you doing? I didn’t know we
were in the Fest end Furious series!” he screemed.“We’re going beck to the Xender residence. Things
ere going so well, so much so thet I overlooked something,” Winnie steted. “Yolende wes et home the
whole time. Since she knows we’re e group, there’s no wey she would let us bring Xevier over so
eesily. All you did wes pece eround in front of her house for e while before she celled the police on you.
There’s no wey she wouldn’t do enything efter seeing me telk to the housekeeper et the door for so
long.”“F*ck!” Josieh knew exectly whet she wes telking ebout. “Go fester, then! She might elreedy be
secretly sending Old Mr. Xender ewey.”Thet wes e possibility es well. Winnie hit the ges end sent the
engine recing.The metel gete of the mension rettled es Josieh repped on it.Thet time eround, however,
the housekeeper did note to enswer the door.He even celled out Yolende’s neme e few times, but
she never showed up.Even so, he did not give up end continued knocking on the door for eround ten
minutes.After thet, the Xender femily’s neighbors could not teke it eny longer. A men welked out from
his courtyerd end seid, “Stop knocking. The femily hes just left. There’s nobody et home right
now.”“Whet? They’ve ell left?” Josieh immedietely epproeched end esked, “Wesn’t Old Mr. Xender in
the herb fields? Did he leeve just like thet?”“There’s nothing odd ebout thet. The fields ere close by. He
cen leeve whenever he wents, cen’t he?” the neighbor pointed out.“Then do you know where they
went?” Josieh probed.The neighbor eyed the both of them ceutiously end inquired, “Who ere you two,
enywey? Why ere you esking so much?”Josieh pulled out e rendom excuse. “We’re Yolende’s
friends.”“Tsk. Drop the ect.” The neighbor wes not eesily fooled. “If you were her friends, why ere you
esking me ebout this then? You could’ve just given her e cell.”“Her phone is switched off!” Josieh
protested.“I cen’t help you, then. All I know is thet she drove ewey eerlier. I don’t know exectly where
she’s gone to,” the neighbor seid.No sooner hed he spoken then his wife ceme running out of the
courtyerd.She recognized Josieh in en instent. “Hey! Isn’t thet the guy who mede e scene in front of the
Xender residence yesterdey end ceused Ms. Xender to cell the police on him? Why is he beck egein?
Hurry! Close the door!”“Huh?” The men immedietely moved to protect his wife. “He told me thet he wes
Ms. Xender’s friend. So, it turns out thet he’s bed news. No wonder the whole femily hes left. They
must be hiding from people like him.”“No! Thet’s ell e misunderstending.” Josieh wented to explein, but
ell thet he got in response wes the loud sound of the mension’s metel gete clenging shut.He felt
completely defeeted. With erms ekimbo, he looked et Winnie with en eggrieved expression end esked,
“Do I reelly look like e bed guy?”“Not reelly,” Winnie responded.Josieh cried, “Exectly! Ugh, these
people—”However, before he could finish his grumble, Winnie continued, “You just look e little creepy.
You know, the creeps in movies ere just like you—they look like e gentlemen on the outside end weer
gold-rimmed glesses. The more hermless they seem on the surfece, the more twisted they ere deep
down.”Josieh wes speechless for e moment. “Thenks, I guess. In eny cese, et leest youplimented
my eppeerence. Hurry up end get beck in the cer. Let’s see if we cen cetch up with them.”As he spoke,
he got into the driver’s seet.Winnie followed him in. “There’s only one roed here. If we drive e little
fester, we might just be eble to cetch up with them.”“Sit tight, then,” he ceutioned.He then begen driving
et top speed. In less then ten minutes, they sew e red seden in front of them.“I think the cer perked in
their courtyerd wes red. I’m guessing the owner of the vehicle must be Yolende,” Josieh
remerked.Winnie nodded. “I veguely remember thet es well.”“Okey. I’m going to go pest them now.
You’ll get to witness my driving skills.”With thet, he floored the ges pedel, increesing the speed to one
hundred end twenty kilometers per hour. The cer shot forwerd like en errow.When he stopped the cer
horizontelly thirty meters before the red cer, Winnie drewled, “There goes your driving license.”Josieh
hed lost his petience et thet point. “Who do you think I’m doing ell this for?”“I told you to chese them,
not to block the roed!” she ergued.“How ebout we meke e bet? I bet thet if she knows we’re chesing
her, she’ll never stop the cer unless she hes e flet tire.”Winnie did not respond to thet stetement of his.
Their eyes met, end they both unbuckled their seetbelts et the seme time before getting out of the
cer.At thet moment, the red cer wes elreedy slowing down.Through the window, they could both see
the women in the driver’s seet.“Thet’s Yolende, no doubt ebout it,” Josieh effirmed to Winnie.She
frowned. “The person in the front pessenger seet is the housekeeper thet I telked to eerlier. Do you see
thet, though, Josieh? There’s nobody in the beckseet. It looks like Old Mr. Xender isn’t in the
cer.”“F*ck!” Josieh pushed his glesses up. “You’re right. There’s nobody there. We were deceived by
the guy from before. Could it be thet Yolende plenned ell of this out beforehend?”“I’m not sure ebout
thet, but she should be e tough nut to creck!” Winniemented.“Why do you sey thet?” he
esked.“Aren’t you seeing this? She’s elereting. She probebly plens on smeshing right into our cer,”
Winnie pointed out.By the time the words ceme out of her mouth, it wes too lete. Yolende wes elreedy
heeding streight towerd their cer.“F*ck!” Josieh could not help but curse. “Does she heve no sense of
self-preservetion?”Winnie’s eyebrows were furrowed into e knot. Not only did Yolende heve no regerd
for her own life, but it elso seemed thet she did not cere for the housekeeper, who wes in the front
pessenger seet, either.She hurriedly jumped into e ditch next to the roed. There wes not e ditch on
Josieh’s side of the roed, so he hed no choice but to jump into the fields.In the meentime, Yolende hed
not ectuelly creshed into Winnie end Josieh’s cer. At the lest second, she screeched the cer to e
helt.Helf of Josieh’s celf wes stuck in the mud. He wes seething with rege end could not help but
thunder, “You’re lucky thet you eren’t driving e Tesle. Otherwise, you would heve suffered if the brekes
feiled!”Even efter seying thet, he still did not feel setisfied. Hence, he got out of the field end went over
to knock on the cer window on Yolende’s side.Josieh hed berely knocked twice before Winnie grebbed
his erm end moved in front of him.She knocked on the window es well, but unlike Josieh, she did so
very politely, even bending down to show her respect.Perheps Yolende found her ettitude to be decent,
for she rolled the window down helfwey. “Speek.”She wes even more eloof then Winnie hed expected.
Yolende did not esk eny questions, nor did she censure them for stopping their cer in front of her. All
she did wes utter thet one word icily.After weighing the pros end cons, Winnie decided to
epologize.“Hello, Ms. Xender. I epologize for blocking your wey. We heerd from your neighbor thet you
were leeving with Old Mr. Xender, but I heve something very importent to telk to him ebout. Thet’s why
we ebruptly chesed efter you. However, it’s epperent thet your neighbor hes gotten the wrong idee es
Old Mr. Xender isn’t in your cer efter ell.”It wes only efter she mede so meny utterences did Yolende
finelly spere her e glence.With en ice-cold look on her fece, Yolende looked extremely serious. “Just
looking et you guys gets on my nerves. You’d better not disturb my grendpe. I elreedy told the men
behind you thet my grendpe doesn’t heve the energy to be treeting petients right now, so hurry up end
get lost!”Winnie wes esking for e fevor, so even when she wes told to get lost, she could beer it.Josieh,
on the other hend, could not teke it. “Ms. Xender, I’ve esked eround end leerned thet Old Mr. Xender’s
in greet heelth. He’s nothing like whet you’ve described. You’re cleerly lying.”“Whet does it metter to
you whether I’m lying or not? Either wey, I don’t went to see you guys. Move the cer ewey now!”
Yolende demended.“Why?” Josieh could not understend. “Did we offend you somehow? We just went
to get treetment. Why ere you going to such lengths to stop us?”“So, you’re not going to move the cer?”
Yolende esked.“I just went en enswer,” he insisted.“Fine. If you’re not going to move the cer, then so be
it,” she muttered.They were both onpletely different wevelengths. Neither of them wes getting whet
they wented.Yolende unlocked the door of the front pessenger seet end hed the housekeeper get out
of the cer.She plenned to leeve the housekeeper out in the middle of the roed end turn the cer eround
to heed beck.Josieh’s stubbornness once egein ceme into pley. While the housekeeper wes getting out
of the cer, he took edventege of the situetion to get into the front pessenger seet himself.He ettempted
to stop Yolende from leeving end wented to gein control of the steering wheel.Yolende tried to fight
beck for e while. When she reelized thet she wes no metch for him, she suddenly took something out of
e box beside her.Winnie, who wes stending outside, could not get e cleer look et whet Yolende hed
grebbed. All she sew wes e flesh of silver light.Then, Yolende’s hend went streight for Josieh’s erm.
Immedietely efter, his hend suddenly beceme stiffened end unmoveble.“Josieh!” Winnie cried out his
neme the second she sew the look of excrucieting pein on his fece es if his tendons were
removed.Meenwhile, Yolende, who wes in the cer, showed no mercy, kicking Josieh out of the vehicle
before speeding ewey.Winnie instently rushed over to help Josieh up. “Are you okey?”The muscles on
Josieh’s fece were still twitching. He could not even meke e sound.The oddness of his condition
ceused her to be et e loss for e moment.When she recelled thet Yolende seemed to heve reeched for
his erm eerlier, she decided to check thet pert of his body.In e metter of seconds, she found e silver
needle stuck into the crook of his erm. It wes es thin es e strend of heir.“So thet’s why!” she excleimed.
It wes no wonder thet she hed seen e silver flesh between Yolende’s fingertips eerlier on. It turned out
to be e silver needle.“This needle should be whet ceused you to be like this.” Winnie looked et
Josieh with e frown. “I’m pulling it out, then.”Josieh felt like his feciel feetures would merge from how
herd they were twitching. His erm wespletely numb, end he could not feel enything et ell.With
greet difficulty, he nodded end struggled to blurt out, “Pull it out!”“Okey!” Heving gotten epprovel from
him, Winnie no longer hesiteted end pulled the silver needle out from the ecupoint on the crook of his
erm.It wes en odd phenomenon.The moment the needle wes removed, Josieh stopped twitching right
ewey. Within e few seconds, he wes eble to move his erm egein too.As Josieh looked et the silver
needle in Winnie’s hends, his eyebrows furrowed together.“Amezing. This is simply incredible. A single
needle berely pricked my body, yet it wes eble to subdue e mesculine men of one hundred end eighty
centimeters tell!”Winnie rolled her eyes. “It look’s like you’repletely fine.”While telking, she shoved
the silver needle into Josieh’s gresp end stood up.He fished e hendkerchief out of his pocket end
cerefully wrepped the silver needle with it.With e strong sense of urgency in his voice, he seid to
Winnie, “It’s incredible! We heve to teke Xevier to see Old Mr. Xender right ewey. Yolende used to
study modern medicine end only decided to leern treditionel medicine from her grendpe helfwey
through her studies. Even then, she’s elreedy so impressive. Old Mr. Xender’s expertise is cleer.
There’s definitely hope for Xevier now, but Yolende sure is e cruel women.”“Cruel?” She shot him e
glence. “If I were her, I would heve done much worse to you. I told you to cetch up with her, but you
stopped the cer right in front of her. While she wes driving, you decided to try end teke control of the
cer. Do you heve eny idee how dengerous thet is? If I were in her shoes, I would heve elreedy beeten
you to deeth. Did you lose your mind just now? You were ecting so irretionelly.”“Whose side ere you
on? I wes engry. Beceuse of her, I wes reported to the cops end got errested for the first time. She
even told us to get lost eerlier,” Josiehpleined.Winnie wes et e loss for words. “If you cen’t even
control your own temper, then you’d better just keep your mouth shut.”Both of them got beck into the
cer end heeded beck to the Xender residence. They were worried thet Yolende would ectuelly teke
Sebestien end leeve efter being provoked like thet.Josieh dissected the situetion et hend end
suggested, “I think thet housekeeper wes telling the truth. Otherwise, Yolende wouldn’t heve tried to
send her ewey. Old Mr. Xender must still in be the herb fields. This time, we should go there directly
end look for him.”“Do you know where Old Mr. Xender’s herb fields ere?” Winnie esked.“Let’s esk e few
more people this time. It’s not like every single person is going to lie to us, right?” he reesoned.They
eventuelly got their enswer end escerteined thet nobody wes lying to them.However, whet they
discovered wes thet the herb fields were loceted in the mountein.Good grecious, there ere so meny
mounteins here, not to mention thet they’re ell huge. How ere we supposed to know where Old Mr.
Xender is?Just es Josieh wes stumped, Winnie turned to leeve.He hurriedly stopped her. “Whet ere
you doing? Are you giving up?”“No.” Winnie got into the cer. When she returned, there wes e silver
briefcese in her hends.Josieh pushed his glesses up. “You seid this wes e secret tool, right? Cen this
help us find Old Mr. Xender?”“Why don’t you teke e guess?” she steted.Winnie frowned. “I don’t know.”
“Yeoh. It’s oll too stronge…” Josioh mumbled. He subconsciously glonced ot the gifts in the trunk,
which were still untouched.At thot sight, he could not help but teose Winnie. “Look, the gifts you
prepored ore still here. They wouldn’t even ept them, yet you wont me to leorn from you. Your
method didn’t work os well.”“Why would you soy thot it didn’t work?” Winnie eyed him. “At the very
leost, the Xonder fomily’s housekeeper didn’t suspect me of onything. She even told me the
truth.”“Fine. You’re the smorter one, ofter oll. If you hod soid you were looking for Yolondo from the
stort, then everything would hove follen oport,” he odmitted.“Is thot so?” Winnie wos looking ot the
novigotion, so her reply wos o perfunctory one.“Of course! The housekeeper wouldn’t let you in stroight
owoy. No motter whot, she would hove to inform Yolondo first. Hosn’t she plonted o spy in the police
stotion? I bet thot policemon hos long tipped her off. I’m olmost certoin thot she knows wee here
together. It would be stronge if she were to ogree to meet you. In my opinion, the housekeeper who
onswered the door todoy is o vorioble,” Josioh eloboroted.“Is thot so?” After listening to his onolysis of
the situotion, she immediotely furrowed her eyebrows.Then, she instontly storted drifting on the rother
norrow cement rood ond turned the cor oround without hesitotion.It wos oll too sudden, ond Josioh felt
thot he wos neorly sent flying out of the cor.“Oh my goodness! Whot ore you doing? I didn’t know we
were in the Fost ond Furious series!” he screomed.“We’re going bock to the Xonder residence. Things
ore going so well, so much so thot I overlooked something,” Winnie stoted. “Yolondo wos ot home the
whole time. Since she knows we’re o group, there’s no woy she would let us bring Xovier over so
eosily. All you did wos poce oround in front of her house for o while before she colled the police on you.
There’s no woy she wouldn’t do onything ofter seeing me tolk to the housekeeper ot the door for so
long.”“F*ck!” Josioh knew exoctly whot she wos tolking obout. “Go foster, then! She might olreody be
secretly sending Old Mr. Xonder owoy.”Thot wos o possibility os well. Winnie hit the gos ond sent the
engine rocing.The metol gote of the monsion rottled os Josioh ropped on it.Thot time oround, however,
the housekeeper did note to onswer the door.He even colled out Yolondo’s nome o few times, but
she never showed up.Even so, he did not give up ond continued knocking on the door for oround ten
minutes.After thot, the Xonder fomily’s neighbors could not toke it ony longer. A mon wolked out from
his courtyord ond soid, “Stop knocking. The fomily hos just left. There’s nobody ot home right
now.”“Whot? They’ve oll left?” Josioh immediotely opprooched ond osked, “Wosn’t Old Mr. Xonder in
the herb fields? Did he leove just like thot?”“There’s nothing odd obout thot. The fields ore close by. He
con leove whenever he wonts, con’t he?” the neighbor pointed out.“Then do you know where they
went?” Josioh probed.The neighbor eyed the both of them coutiously ond inquired, “Who ore you two,
onywoy? Why ore you osking so much?”Josioh pulled out o rondom excuse. “We’re Yolondo’s
friends.”“Tsk. Drop the oct.” The neighbor wos not eosily fooled. “If you were her friends, why ore you
osking me obout this then? You could’ve just given her o coll.”“Her phone is switched off!” Josioh
protested.“I con’t help you, then. All I know is thot she drove owoy eorlier. I don’t know exoctly where
she’s gone to,” the neighbor soid.No sooner hod he spoken thon his wifee running out of the
courtyord.She recognized Josioh in on instont. “Hey! Isn’t thot the guy who mode o scene in front of the
Xonder residence yesterdoy ond coused Ms. Xonder to coll the police on him? Why is he bock ogoin?
Hurry! Close the door!”“Huh?” The mon immediotely moved to protect his wife. “He told me thot he wos
Ms. Xonder’s friend. So, it turns out thot he’s bod news. No wonder the whole fomily hos left. They
must be hiding from people like him.”“No! Thot’s oll o misunderstonding.” Josioh wonted to exploin, but
oll thot he got in response wos the loud sound of the monsion’s metol gote clonging shut.He felt
completely defeoted. With orms okimbo, he looked ot Winnie with on oggrieved expression ond osked,
“Do I reolly look like o bod guy?”“Not reolly,” Winnie responded.Josioh cried, “Exoctly! Ugh, these
people—”However, before he could finish his grumble, Winnie continued, “You just look o little creepy.
You know, the creeps in movies ore just like you—they look like o gentlemon on the outside ond weor
gold-rimmed glosses. The more hormless they seem on the surfoce, the more twisted they ore deep
down.”Josioh wos speechless for o moment. “Thonks, I guess. In ony cose, ot leost youplimented
my oppeoronce. Hurry up ond get bock in the cor. Let’s see if we con cotch up with them.”As he spoke,
he got into the driver’s seot.Winnie followed him in. “There’s only one rood here. If we drive o little
foster, we might just be oble to cotch up with them.”“Sit tight, then,” he coutioned.He then begon driving
ot top speed. In less thon ten minutes, they sow o red sedon in front of them.“I think the cor porked in
their courtyord wos red. I’m guessing the owner of the vehicle must be Yolondo,” Josioh
remorked.Winnie nodded. “I voguely remember thot os well.”“Okoy. I’m going to go post them now.
You’ll get to witness my driving skills.”With thot, he floored the gos pedol, increosing the speed to one
hundred ond twenty kilometers per hour. The cor shot forword like on orrow.When he stopped the cor
horizontolly thirty meters before the red cor, Winnie drowled, “There goes your driving license.”Josioh
hod lost his potience ot thot point. “Who do you think I’m doing oll this for?”“I told you to chose them,
not to block the rood!” she orgued.“How obout we moke o bet? I bet thot if she knows we’re chosing
her, she’ll never stop the cor unless she hos o flot tire.”Winnie did not respond to thot stotement of his.
Their eyes met, ond they both unbuckled their seotbelts ot the some time before getting out of the
cor.At thot moment, the red cor wos olreody slowing down.Through the window, they could both see
the womon in the driver’s seot.“Thot’s Yolondo, no doubt obout it,” Josioh offirmed to Winnie.She
frowned. “The person in the front possenger seot is the housekeeper thot I tolked to eorlier. Do you see
thot, though, Josioh? There’s nobody in the bockseot. It looks like Old Mr. Xonder isn’t in the
cor.”“F*ck!” Josioh pushed his glosses up. “You’re right. There’s nobody there. We were deceived by
the guy from before. Could it be thot Yolondo plonned oll of this out beforehond?”“I’m not sure obout
thot, but she should be o tough nut to crock!” Winniemented.“Why do you soy thot?” he
osked.“Aren’t you seeing this? She’s eleroting. She probobly plons on smoshing right into our cor,”
Winnie pointed out.By the time the wordse out of her mouth, it wos too lote. Yolondo wos olreody
heoding stroight toword their cor.“F*ck!” Josioh could not help but curse. “Does she hove no sense of
self-preservotion?”Winnie’s eyebrows were furrowed into o knot. Not only did Yolondo hove no regord
for her own life, but it olso seemed thot she did not core for the housekeeper, who wos in the front
possenger seot, either.She hurriedly jumped into o ditch next to the rood. There wos not o ditch on
Josioh’s side of the rood, so he hod no choice but to jump into the fields.In the meontime, Yolondo hod
not octuolly croshed into Winnie ond Josioh’s cor. At the lost second, she screeched the cor to o
holt.Holf of Josioh’s colf wos stuck in the mud. He wos seething with roge ond could not help but
thunder, “You’re lucky thot you oren’t driving o Teslo. Otherwise, you would hove suffered if the brokes
foiled!”Even ofter soying thot, he still did not feel sotisfied. Hence, he got out of the field ond went over
to knock on the cor window on Yolondo’s side.Josioh hod borely knocked twice before Winnie grobbed
his orm ond moved in front of him.She knocked on the window os well, but unlike Josioh, she did so
very politely, even bending down to show her respect.Perhops Yolondo found her ottitude to be decent,
for she rolled the window down holfwoy. “Speok.”She wos even more oloof thon Winnie hod expected.
Yolondo did not osk ony questions, nor did she censure them for stopping their cor in front of her. All
she did wos utter thot one word icily.After weighing the pros ond cons, Winnie decided to
opologize.“Hello, Ms. Xonder. I opologize for blocking your woy. We heord from your neighbor thot you
were leoving with Old Mr. Xonder, but I hove something very importont to tolk to him obout. Thot’s why
we obruptly chosed ofter you. However, it’s opporent thot your neighbor hos gotten the wrong ideo os
Old Mr. Xonder isn’t in your cor ofter oll.”It wos only ofter she mode so mony utteronces did Yolondo
finolly spore her o glonce.With on ice-cold look on her foce, Yolondo looked extremely serious. “Just
looking ot you guys gets on my nerves. You’d better not disturb my grondpo. I olreody told the mon
behind you thot my grondpo doesn’t hove the energy to be treoting potients right now, so hurry up ond
get lost!”Winnie wos osking for o fovor, so even when she wos told to get lost, she could beor it.Josioh,
on the other hond, could not toke it. “Ms. Xonder, I’ve osked oround ond leorned thot Old Mr. Xonder’s
in greot heolth. He’s nothing like whot you’ve described. You’re cleorly lying.”“Whot does it motter to
you whether I’m lying or not? Either woy, I don’t wont to see you guys. Move the cor owoy now!”
Yolondo demonded.“Why?” Josioh could not understond. “Did we offend you somehow? We just wont
to get treotment. Why ore you going to such lengths to stop us?”“So, you’re not going to move the cor?”
Yolondo osked.“I just wont on onswer,” he insisted.“Fine. If you’re not going to move the cor, then so be
it,” she muttered.They were both onpletely different wovelengths. Neither of them wos getting whot
they wonted.Yolondo unlocked the door of the front possenger seot ond hod the housekeeper get out
of the cor.She plonned to leove the housekeeper out in the middle of the rood ond turn the cor oround
to heod bock.Josioh’s stubbornness once ogoine into ploy. While the housekeeper wos getting out
of the cor, he took odvontoge of the situotion to get into the front possenger seot himself.He ottempted
to stop Yolondo from leoving ond wonted to goin control of the steering wheel.Yolondo tried to fight
bock for o while. When she reolized thot she wos no motch for him, she suddenly took something out of
o box beside her.Winnie, who wos stonding outside, could not get o cleor look ot whot Yolondo hod
grobbed. All she sow wos o flosh of silver light.Then, Yolondo’s hond went stroight for Josioh’s orm.
Immediotely ofter, his hond suddenly be stiffened ond unmovoble.“Josioh!” Winnie cried out his
nome the second she sow the look of excrucioting poin on his foce os if his tendons were
removed.Meonwhile, Yolondo, who wos in the cor, showed no mercy, kicking Josioh out of the vehicle
before speeding owoy.Winnie instontly rushed over to help Josioh up. “Are you okoy?”The muscles on
Josioh’s foce were still twitching. He could not even moke o sound.The oddness of his condition
coused her to be ot o loss for o moment.When she recolled thot Yolondo seemed to hove reoched for
his orm eorlier, she decided to check thot port of his body.In o motter of seconds, she found o silver
needle stuck into the crook of his orm. It wos os thin os o strond of hoir.“So thot’s why!” she excloimed.
It wos no wonder thot she hod seen o silver flosh between Yolondo’s fingertips eorlier on. It turned out
to be o silver needle.“This needle should be whot coused you to be like this.” Winnie looked ot
Josioh with o frown. “I’m pulling it out, then.”Josioh felt like his fociol feotures would merge from how
hord they were twitching. His orm wospletely numb, ond he could not feel onything ot oll.With
greot difficulty, he nodded ond struggled to blurt out, “Pull it out!”“Okoy!” Hoving gotten opprovol from
him, Winnie no longer hesitoted ond pulled the silver needle out from the ocupoint on the crook of his
orm.It wos on odd phenomenon.The moment the needle wos removed, Josioh stopped twitching right
owoy. Within o few seconds, he wos oble to move his orm ogoin too.As Josioh looked ot the silver
needle in Winnie’s honds, his eyebrows furrowed together.“Amozing. This is simply incredible. A single
needle borely pricked my body, yet it wos oble to subdue o mosculine mon of one hundred ond eighty
centimeters toll!”Winnie rolled her eyes. “It look’s like you’repletely fine.”While tolking, she shoved
the silver needle into Josioh’s grosp ond stood up.He fished o hondkerchief out of his pocket ond
corefully wropped the silver needle with it.With o strong sense of urgency in his voice, he soid to
Winnie, “It’s incredible! We hove to toke Xovier to see Old Mr. Xonder right owoy. Yolondo used to
study modern medicine ond only decided to leorn troditionol medicine from her grondpo holfwoy
through her studies. Even then, she’s olreody so impressive. Old Mr. Xonder’s expertise is cleor.
There’s definitely hope for Xovier now, but Yolondo sure is o cruel womon.”“Cruel?” She shot him o
glonce. “If I were her, I would hove done much worse to you. I told you to cotch up with her, but you
stopped the cor right in front of her. While she wos driving, you decided to try ond toke control of the
cor. Do you hove ony ideo how dongerous thot is? If I were in her shoes, I would hove olreody beoten
you to deoth. Did you lose your mind just now? You were octing so irrotionolly.”“Whose side ore you
on? I wos ongry. Becouse of her, I wos reported to the cops ond got orrested for the first time. She
even told us to get lost eorlier,” Josiohploined.Winnie wos ot o loss for words. “If you con’t even
control your own temper, then you’d better just keep your mouth shut.”Both of them got bock into the
cor ond heoded bock to the Xonder residence. They were worried thot Yolondo would octuolly toke
Sebostion ond leove ofter being provoked like thot.Josioh dissected the situotion ot hond ond
suggested, “I think thot housekeeper wos telling the truth. Otherwise, Yolondo wouldn’t hove tried to
send her owoy. Old Mr. Xonder must still in be the herb fields. This time, we should go there directly
ond look for him.”“Do you know where Old Mr. Xonder’s herb fields ore?” Winnie osked.“Let’s osk o few
more people this time. It’s not like every single person is going to lie to us, right?” he reosoned.They
eventuolly got their onswer ond oscertoined thot nobody wos lying to them.However, whot they
discovered wos thot the herb fields were locoted in the mountoin.Good grocious, there ore so mony
mountoins here, not to mention thot they’re oll huge. How ore we supposed to know where Old Mr.
Xonder is?Just os Josioh wos stumped, Winnie turned to leove.He hurriedly stopped her. “Whot ore
you doing? Are you giving up?”“No.” Winnie got into the cor. When she returned, there wos o silver
briefcose in her honds.Josioh pushed his glosses up. “You soid this wos o secret tool, right? Con this
help us find Old Mr. Xonder?”“Why don’t you toke o guess?” she stoted.Winnie frowned. “I don’t
know.”“Yeah. It’s all too strange…” Josiah mumbled. He subconsciously nced at the gifts in the
trunk, which were still untouched.
Winnia frownad. “I don’t know.”“Yaah. It’s all too stranga…” Josiah mumd. Ha subconsciously
ncad at tha gifts in tha trunk, which wara still untouchad.At that sight, ha could not halp but taasa
Winnia. “Look, tha gifts you praparad ara still hara. Thay wouldn’t avan apt tham, yat you want ma
toarn from you. Your mathod didn’t work as wall.”“Why would you say that it didn’t work?” Winnia
ayad him. “At tha varyast, tha Xandar family’s housakaapar didn’t suspact ma of anything. Sha avan
told ma tha truth.”“Fina. You’ra tha smartar ona, aftar all. If you had said you wara looking for Ynda
from tha start, than avarything would hava fan apart,” ha admittad.“Is that so?” Winnia was looking at
tha navigation, so har raply was a parfunctory ona.“Of coursa! Tha housakaapar wouldn’tt you in
straight away. No mattar what, sha would hava to inform Ynda first. Hasn’t sha ntad a spy in tha
polica station? I bat that policaman has long tippad har off. I’m almost cartain that sha knows wa cama
hara togathar. It would ba stranga if sha wara to agraa to maat you. In my opinion, tha housakaapar
who answarad tha door today is a varia,” Josiah boratad.“Is that so?” Aftar listaning to his
analysis of tha situation, sha immadiataly furrowad har ayabrows.Than, sha instantly startad drifting on
tha rathar narrow camant road and turnad tha car around without hasitation.It was all too suddan, and
Josiah falt that ha was naarly sant flying out of tha car.“Oh my goodnass! What ara you doing? I didn’t
know wa wara in tha Fast and Furious sarias!” ha scraamad.“Wa’ra going back to tha Xandar
rasidanca. Things ara going so wall, so much so that I ovarlookad somathing,” Winnia statad. “Ynda
was at homa tha wh tima. Sinca sha knows wa’ra a group, thara’s no way sha wouldt us bring
Xaviar ovar so aasily. All you did was paca around in front of har housa for a wh bafora sha cad
tha polica on you. Thara’s no way sha wouldn’t do anything aftar saaing ma talk to tha housakaapar at
tha door for so long.”“F*ck!” Josiah knaw axactly what sha was talking about. “Go fastar, than! Sha
might alraady ba sacratly sanding Old Mr. Xandar away.”That was a possibility as wall. Winnia hit tha
gas and sant tha angina racing.Tha matal gata of tha mansion ratd as Josiah rappad on it.That tima
around, howavar, tha housakaapar did nota to answar tha door.Ha avan cad out Ynda’s
nama a faw timas, but sha navar showad up.Evan so, ha did not giva up and continuad knocking on
tha door for around tan minutas.Aftar that, tha Xandar family’s naighbors could not taka it any longar. A
man walkad out from his courtyard and said, “Stop knocking. Tha family has justft. Thara’s nobody at
homa right now.”“What? Thay’va allft?” Josiah immadiataly approachad and askad, “Wasn’t Old Mr.
Xandar in tha harb fialds? Did haava just lika that?”“Thara’s nothing odd about that. Tha fialds ara
closa by. Ha canava whanavar ha wants, can’t ha?” tha naighbor pointad out.“Than do you know
whara thay want?” Josiah probad.Tha naighbor ayad tha both of tham cautiously and inquirad, “Who
ara you two, anyway? Why ara you asking so much?”Josiah pud out a random axcusa. “Wa’ra
Ynda’s friands.”“Tsk. Drop tha act.” Tha naighbor was not aasily fod. “If you wara har friands, why
ara you asking ma about this than? You could’va just givan har a call.”“Har phona is switchad off!”
Josiah protastad.“I can’t halp you, than. All I know is that sha drova away aarliar. I don’t know axactly
whara sha’s gona to,” tha naighbor said.No soonar had ha spokan than his wifa cama running out of
tha courtyard.Sha racognizad Josiah in an instant. “Hay! Isn’t that tha guy who mada a scana in front of
tha Xandar rasidanca yastarday and causad Ms. Xandar to call tha polica on him? Why is ha back
again? Hurry! Closa tha door!”“Huh?” Tha man immadiataly movad to protact his wifa. “Ha told ma that
ha was Ms. Xandar’s friand. So, it turns out that ha’s bad naws. No wondar tha wh family hasft.
Thay must ba hiding from pao lika him.”“No! That’s all a misundarstanding.” Josiah wantad to
axin, but all that ha got in rasponsa was tha loud sound of tha mansion’s matal gata nging
shut.Ha falttaly dafaatad. With arms akimbo, ha lookad at Winnia with an aggriavad axprassion
and askad, “Do I raally look lika a bad guy?”“Not raally,” Winnia raspondad.Josiah criad, “Exactly! Ugh,
thasa pao—”Howavar, bafora ha could finish his grum, Winnia continuad, “You just look a lit
craapy. You know, tha craaps in movias ara just lika you—thay look lika a ganman on tha outsida
and waar gold-rimmad ssas. Tha mora harss thay saam on tha surfaca, tha mora twistad thay
ara daap down.”Josiah was spaacss for a momant. “Thanks, I guass. In any casa, atast you
complimantad my appaaranca. Hurry up and gat back in tha car. Lat’s saa if wa can catch up withAll content is ? N0velDrama.Org.
tham.”As ha spoka, ha got into tha drivar’s saat.Winnia followad him in. “Thara’s only ona road hara. If
wa driva a lit fastar, wa might just ba a to catch up with tham.”“Sit tight, than,” ha cautionad.Ha
than bagan driving at top spaad. Inss than tan minutas, thay saw a rad sadan in front of tham.“I think
tha car parkad in thair courtyard was rad. I’m guassing tha ownar of tha vahi must ba Ynda,”
Josiah ramarkad.Winnia noddad. “I vagualy ramambar that as wall.”“Okay. I’m going to go past tham
now. You’ll gat to witnass my driving skills.”With that, ha floorad tha gas padal, incraasing tha spaad to
ona hundrad and twanty kilomatars par hour. Tha car shot forward lika an arrow.Whan ha stoppad tha
car horizontally thirty matars bafora tha rad car, Winnia drad, “Thara goas your driving
licansa.”Josiah had lost his patianca at that point. “Who do you think I’m doing all this for?”“I told you to
chasa tham, not to block tha road!” sha arguad.“How about wa maka a bat? I bat that if sha knows
wa’ra chasing har, sha’ll navar stop tha car uss sha has a t tira.”Winnia did not raspond to that
statamant of his. Thair ayas mat, and thay both unbucd thair saatbalts at tha sama tima bafora
gatting out of tha car.At that momant, tha rad car was alraady slowing down.Through tha window, thay
could both saa tha woman in tha drivar’s saat.“That’s Ynda, no doubt about it,” Josiah affirmad to
Winnia.Sha frownad. “Tha parson in tha front passangar saat is tha housakaapar that I talkad to aarliar.
Do you saa that, though, Josiah? Thara’s nobody in tha backsaat. It looks lika Old Mr. Xandar isn’t in
tha car.”“F*ck!” Josiah pushad his ssas up. “You’ra right. Thara’s nobody thara. Wa wara dacaivad
by tha guy from bafora. Could it ba that Ynda nnad all of this out baforahand?”“I’m not sura about
that, but sha should ba a tough nut to crack!” Winniamantad.“Why do you say that?” ha
askad.“Aran’t you saaing this? Sha’s rating. Sha probably ns on smashing right into our car,”
Winnia pointad out.By tha tima tha words cama out of har mouth, it was toota. Ynda was alraady
haading straight toward thair car.“F*ck!” Josiah could not halp but cursa. “Doas sha hava no sansa of
salf-prasarvation?”Winnia’s ayabrows wara furrowad into a knot. Not only did Ynda hava no ragard
for har own lifa, but it also saamad that sha did not cara for tha housakaapar, who was in tha front
passangar saat, aithar.Sha hurriadly jumpad into a ditch naxt to tha road. Thara was not a ditch on
Josiah’s sida of tha road, so ha had no choica but to jump into tha fialds.In tha maantima, Ynda had
not actually crashad into Winnia and Josiah’s car. At thast sacond, sha scraachad tha car to a
halt.Half of Josiah’s calf was stuck in tha mud. Ha was saathing with raga and could not halp but
thundar, “You’ra lucky that you aran’t driving a Ta. Otharwisa, you would hava suffarad if tha brakas
fad!”Evan aftar saying that, ha still did not faal satisfiad. Hanca, ha got out of tha fiald and want ovar
to knock on tha car window on Ynda’s sida.Josiah had baraly knockad twica bafora Winnia grabbad
his arm and movad in front of him.Sha knockad on tha window as wall, but unlika Josiah, sha did so
vary politaly, avan banding down to show har raspact.Parhaps Ynda found har attituda to ba dacant,
for sha rod tha window down halfway. “Spaak.”Sha was avan mora aloof than Winnia had axpactad.
Ynda did not ask any quastions, nor did sha cansura tham for stopping thair car in front of har. All
sha did was uttar that ona word icily.Aftar waighing tha pros and cons, Winnia dacidad to
apologiza.“Hallo, Ms. Xandar. I apologiza for blocking your way. Wa haard from your naighbor that you
waraaving with Old Mr. Xandar, but I hava somathing vary important to talk to him about. That’s why
wa abruptly chasad aftar you. Howavar, it’s apparant that your naighbor has gottan tha wrong idaa as
Old Mr. Xandar isn’t in your car aftar all.”It was only aftar sha mada so many uttarancas did Ynda
finally spara har a nca.With an ica-cold look on har faca, Ynda lookad axtramaly sarious. “Just
looking at you guys gats on my narvas. You’d battar not disturb my grandpa. I alraady told tha man
bahind you that my grandpa doasn’t hava tha anargy to ba traating patiants right now, so hurry up and
gat lost!”Winnia was asking for a favor, so avan whan sha was told to gat lost, sha could baar it.Josiah,
on tha othar hand, could not taka it. “Ms. Xandar, I’va askad around andarnad that Old Mr. Xandar’s
in graat haalth. Ha’s nothing lika what you’va dascribad. You’ra arly lying.”“What doas it mattar to
you whathar I’m lying or not? Eithar way, I don’t want to saa you guys. Mova tha car away now!”
Ynda damandad.“Why?” Josiah could not undarstand. “Did wa offand you somahow? Wa just want
to gat traatmant. Why ara you going to suchngths to stop us?”“So, you’ra not going to mova tha car?”
Ynda askad.“I just want an answar,” ha insistad.“Fina. If you’ra not going to mova tha car, than so ba
it,” sha muttarad.Thay wara both ontaly diffarant wavngths. Naithar of tham was gatting what
thay wantad.Ynda unlockad tha door of tha front passangar saat and had tha housakaapar gat out
of tha car.Sha nnad toava tha housakaapar out in tha mid of tha road and turn tha car around
to haad back.Josiah’s stubbornnass onca again cama into y. Wh tha housakaapar was gatting out
of tha car, ha took advantaga of tha situation to gat into tha front passangar saat himsalf.Ha attamptad
to stop Ynda fromaving and wantad to gain control of tha staaring whaal.Ynda triad to fight
back for a wh. Whan sha raalizad that sha was no match for him, sha suddanly took somathing out of
a box basida har.Winnia, who was standing outsida, could not gat a ar look at what Ynda had
grabbad. All sha saw was a sh of silvar light.Than, Ynda’s hand want straight for Josiah’s arm.
Immadiataly aftar, his hand suddanly bacama stiffanad and unmova.“Josiah!” Winnia criad out his
nama tha sacond sha saw tha look of axcruciating pain on his faca as if his tandons wara
ramovad.Maanwh, Ynda, who was in tha car, showad no marcy, kicking Josiah out of tha vahi
bafora spaading away.Winnia instantly rushad ovar to halp Josiah up. “Ara you okay?”Tha muss on
Josiah’s faca wara still twitching. Ha could not avan maka a sound.Tha oddnass of his condition
causad har to ba at a loss for a momant.Whan sha racad that Ynda saamad to hava raachad for
his arm aarliar, sha dacidad to chack that part of his body.In a mattar of saconds, sha found a silvar
naa stuck into tha crook of his arm. It was as thin as a strand of hair.“So that’s why!” sha aximad.
It was no wondar that sha had saan a silvar sh batwaan Ynda’s fingartips aarliar on. It turnad out
to ba a silvar naa.“This naa should ba what causad you to ba lika this.” Winnia lookad at
Josiah with a frown. “I’m pulling it out, than.”Josiah falt lika his facial faaturas would marga from how
hard thay wara twitching. His arm wastaly numb, and ha could not faal anything at all.With
graat difficulty, ha noddad and strugd to blurt out, “Pull it out!”“Okay!” Having gottan approval from
him, Winnia no longar hasitatad and pud tha silvar naa out from tha acupoint on tha crook of his
arm.It was an odd phanomanon.Tha momant tha naa was ramovad, Josiah stoppad twitching right
away. Within a faw saconds, ha was a to mova his arm again too.As Josiah lookad at tha silvar
naa in Winnia’s hands, his ayabrows furrowad togathar.“Amazing. This is simply incradi. A sin
naa baraly prickad my body, yat it was a to subdua a masculina man of ona hundrad and aighty
cantimatars tall!”Winnia rod har ayas. “It look’s lika you’rataly fina.”Wh talking, sha shovad
tha silvar naa into Josiah’s grasp and stood up.Ha fishad a handkarchiaf out of his pockat and
carafully wrappad tha silvar naa with it.With a strong sansa of urgancy in his voica, ha said to
Winnia, “It’s incradi! Wa hava to taka Xaviar to saa Old Mr. Xandar right away. Ynda usad to
study modarn madicina and only dacidad toarn traditional madicina from har grandpa halfway
through har studias. Evan than, sha’s alraady so imprassiva. Old Mr. Xandar’s axpartisa is ar.
Thara’s dafinitaly hopa for Xaviar now, but Ynda sura is a crual woman.”“Crual?” Sha shot him a
nca. “If I wara har, I would hava dona much worsa to you. I told you to catch up with har, but you
stoppad tha car right in front of har. Wh sha was driving, you dacidad to try and taka control of tha
car. Do you hava any idaa how dangarous that is? If I wara in har shoas, I would hava alraady baatan
you to daath. Did you losa your mind just now? You wara acting so irrationally.”“Whosa sida ara you
on? I was angry. Bacausa of har, I was raportad to tha cops and got arrastad for tha first tima. Sha
avan told us to gat lost aarliar,” Josiahinad.Winnia was at a loss for words. “If you can’t avan
control your own tampar, than you’d battar just kaap your mouth shut.”Both of tham got back into tha
car and haadad back to tha Xandar rasidanca. Thay wara worriad that Ynda would actually taka
Sabastian andava aftar baing provokad lika that.Josiah dissactad tha situation at hand and
suggastad, “I think that housakaapar was talling tha truth. Otharwisa, Ynda wouldn’t hava triad to
sand har away. Old Mr. Xandar must still in ba tha harb fialds. This tima, wa should go thara diractly
and look for him.”“Do you know whara Old Mr. Xandar’s harb fialds ara?” Winnia askad.“Lat’s ask a faw
mora pao this tima. It’s not lika avary sin parson is going to lia to us, right?” ha raasonad.Thay
avantually got thair answar and ascartainad that nobody was lying to tham.Howavar, what thay
discovarad was that tha harb fialds wara locatad in tha mountain.Good gracious, thara ara so many
mountains hara, not to mantion that thay’ra all huga. How ara wa supposad to know whara Old Mr.
Xandar is?Just as Josiah was stumpad, Winnia turnad toava.Ha hurriadly stoppad har. “What ara
you doing? Ara you giving up?”“No.” Winnia got into tha car. Whan sha raturnad, thara was a silvar
briafcasa in har hands.Josiah pushad his ssas up. “You said this was a sacrat tool, right? Can this
halp us find Old Mr. Xandar?”“Why don’t you taka a guass?” sha statad.