"You are the Tiger King's goddaughter?" Luo Zheng exclaid, then excitedly continued his inquiry.
"The Tiger King?" The little girl looked at Luo Zheng in surprise. After thinking for a mont, she said, "I don't know what his na is; he just has call him godfather. Also, my na is Tiger Girl, a na godfather gave . Are you guys really here to find my godfather? If so, follow , and let's rescue him."
"Rescue?" Luo Zheng looked at the self-proclaid Tiger Girl in surprise, further reinforcing his speculation. Coming up with such a na must be related to the Tiger King. The Tiger King's reputation is not widely known; you can't just talk about it carelessly, and it's reasonable that the little girl doesn't know. Out of caution, Luo Zheng said with a smile, "Let's not rush; I need to confirm your identity first."
"How will you confirm it?" Tiger Girl didn't mind, instead asking eagerly as if afraid they were running late.
"If you are the goddaughter of the person we are looking for and you understand what was just said, you must have learned so sword techniques from your godfather, right? Could you perform a routine for us? If you can, it will prove you are," Luo Zheng said with a smile.
"That's too complicated, and we don't have much ti. I sneaked out; godfather is still imprisoned in a cave beneath the base, beneath that secret base you guys attacked. With gone, no one will take care of godfather. We must return quickly. Godfather warned before I left that if you were our own people, I need only recite a phrase. What was it called?" Tiger Girl hurriedly spoke, struggling to rember the latter part as she scratched the back of her head in frustration.
Luo Zheng and Lan Xue exchanged a glance, excited. They hadn't expected that after all the trouble they had gone through to find him, the Tiger King was in the underground base, yet they had missed him. If not for the noise they caused, revealing their tracks and arousing the Tiger King's suspicion, causing him to send soone to make contact, they probably would not have found where the Tiger King was. The underground base was too vast; without an insider to guide them, it was impossible to find anyone there. Was this perhaps destiny?
Regardless, now that they had a lead on the Tiger King and heard that the Tiger King was still alive, everyone was excited, their eyes gleaming as they looked at the little girl, eager to extract every piece of information she knew.
"That's right, I've rembered," Tiger Girl suddenly said excitedly, "It's 'The nation's blade, fight for the country, unsheathed for the people, die in battle but never kneel in life.' Do you know this phrase?"
Everyone heard this phrase and couldn't help but brighten up, smiling joyfully. Luo Zheng quickly spoke, "Yes, you are definitely our person. Quick, tell us about your godfather. How did he end up making you his goddaughter? At his age, he is old enough to be your grandfather."
Tiger Girl's expression darkened, she pondered, and a trace of pain surfaced on her face. After a while, Tiger Girl continued, "I was kidnapped by a terrorist organization when I was three and imprisoned in a cave with my godfather. The terrorist organization took over all our family's property and killed all my relatives. If not for godfather, I wouldn't have survived. Godfather said I was a foreigner and that a unique skill he possessed couldn't be passed on to outsiders, but he was worried about dying in the cave, so he made his goddaughter and taught the Invisible Blade Skill. He hoped that one day I could return to Huaxia Country and pass on the ntal thod of the Invisible Blade Skill to a person nad Wei Changfeng. If he had died, then the entire sword technique should be passed on to his descendants as compensation."
"ntal thod? Insanity?" Luo Zheng exclaid, not expecting the Invisible Blade Skill to have a ntal thod. He laughed and said, "He's still alive. I rescued him back to our country recently, he's doing well. There are too many grievances involved here; we can't finish talking about them at once. We'll discuss them slowly later. First, tell us about the Tiger King's situation so we can plan the rescue."
"The Tiger King is imprisoned in the lowest level of the cave, inside a spacious cavern. The cavern is more than fifty ters long, over thirty ters wide, and more than three hundred ters high. It's a natural cave, housed in a large iron cage. The bars of the cage are as thick as steel arms, welded shut by electric welding, totally unbreakable. Since I've t him, he has always been inside. It's said he's been locked up there for over thirty years, never once let out," Tiger Girl said seriously, regaining her earlier composure.
"What is his physical condition like?" Lan Xue asked anxiously.
"He was injured, but it's been decades, and he has long recovered. His body is still okay. The terrorist organization demanded that godfather teach them his sword technique. To save , godfather agreed, teaching them so moves haphazardly. From ti to ti, he demands they treat him with fine wines and ats, or else he won't teach them properly. To learn the sword technique, those terrorists also do their utmost and do not mistreat godfather, but they never allow him out," Tiger Girl responded earnestly, her expression becoming gloomy as she perhaps recalled sothing, not wanting to speak anymore.
Everyone exchanged knowing glances. Lan Xue suddenly beca serious and ordered, "Everyone, pack up. We must rescue the senior Tiger King as soon as possible."
"Yes," everyone responded in unison, heading into the room to collect their gear.
Luo Zheng also shouldered his gear and ca out, seeing the curious-looking Tiger Girl and asked, "Will you be able to keep up?"
"No problem." Seeing that everyone was about to go on a rescue mission, Tiger Girl naturally wouldn't hesitate. She patted her diminutive chest, saying this, but she looked malnourished, which was heartbreakingly pitiful.
"Let's go." Lan Xue saw that everyone was ready and with a command, they walked out of the courtyard to the outside. The guards on duty, seeing it was them, all gathered around, full of curiosity.
Soon after, Lucia ca over carrying a package. She glanced at the little girl, then turned to Luo Zheng and said, "Are you leaving now? Take these dry rations for the road, take care."
"Thank you for your care, take care," Luo Zheng gratefully said, unpretentiously accepting the package.
"Who is she?" Lucia curiously asked, looking towards Tiger Girl.
"She knows so clues we need; she's accompanying us for a while," Luo Zheng said evasively.
Lucia was no fool; she realized there was more to this and without asking further, ambiguously smiled and said, "Unexpectedly, you stumbled into the village, yet you t a group of good people. Make the most of this opportunity."
"Thank you, auntie," Tiger Girl said in the local dialect, gratefully. Originally, she ca here just to get sothing to eat and then leave, never expecting to encounter the people she had been looking for.
"Alright, child, go now. Opportunities need to be seized by oneself. This wretched war will one day end. If you have nowhere to go, then co to ," Lucia said, embracing Tiger Girl in her arms, sincerely speaking.
After bidding farewell to Lucia, everyone walked out of the village. Tiger Girl excitedly led the way, carrying the package Lucia had given her, looking joyful like a child. Luo Zheng and Lan Xue trailed behind, watching Tiger Girl's cheerful deanor, Luo Zheng couldn't help but remark, "Pretending to be an adult, she's still a child at heart."
"A child who's endured countless hardships," Lan Xue said affectionately.
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