In the middle of the night, Lin Qingye woke up from a deep sleep. She moved her body and tried to sort out her thoughts. After all, opening her eyes to see Ji Mian’s face enlarged right in front of her was genuinely startling.
She still retained a shred of memory, recalling only that before losing consciousness, she and Ji Mian had been staying together in that bath pool before her illness flared up.
Her illness struck without any regular pattern. At times, her entire body would turn ice-cold, chilling her to the bone like hypothermia, accompanied by a dense, needle-like prickling pain. At other times, it was scorching heat, her blood boiling as if trying to make up for her missing body temperature, burning and raging away as if she had plunged into the depths of purgatory.
She observed her surroundings. Perhaps because of the extreme cold, her body kept curling toward Ji Mian, leaving the two of them pressed closely together, almost touching skin-to-skin. Ji Mian’s body was very hot and warm, which explained it.
Lin Qingye calmed her mind, only to hear Ji Mian’s heartbeat, light and steady. She could feel a wave of warmth, originating from who knows where, being channeled into her body through her limbs and bones, and she heard her own heartbeat, rapid and panicked.
She clearly harbored a guilty conscience.
But why?
Why did she feel a little happy when she saw Ji Mian, and why did her heart race when she clung to Ji Mian?
She couldn’t figure it out.
As a result, she spent the entire night tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Meanwhile, lying beside her, Ji Mian felt thoroughly comfortable. Lin Qingye radiated a faint, cool fragrance that seemed to calm the mind and soothe her restless agitation.
In her dreams, she saw two children practicing sword techniques normally. In front of them stood a wooden stake, and each child held a wooden sword, diligently drilling basic techniques against it.
Her perspective was closer to a rather restless child; this girl wasn’t very well-behaved, always resting after a brief moment of practice, prone to laziness, and quite fond of teasing the little ice cube standing next to her.
Wait a minute, why did this little ice cube look a bit like Lin Qingye?
Ji Mian wanted to investigate further, but found the scene before her turning blurry; the faces of the two little girls vanished, melting into formless smudges.
The Morning After
The next morning, Ji Mian was awakened by the commotion outside and instinctively reached out to touch the space beside her.
It was cold. There wasn’t even a wrinkle on the quilt, as if no one had ever lain there.
After freshening up slightly, she searched the courtyard in a circle, but saw no sign of Lin Qingye.
She had still wanted to ask how the other woman was feeling today.
Even as the thought crossed her mind, the person in question suddenly pushed open the door and entered from outside. Her white robes were eye-catching, though she had changed into a slightly more reddish, vibrant attire that delivered quite a visual impact. Coupled with last night’s illness flare-up, her poor complexion contrasted sharply with the red garments, giving her somewhat the appearance of a sickly Xi Shi.
“Don’t you need to take medicine for this illness of yours?”
Holding a food box in her hand, Lin Qingye spoke in a flat tone.
“It’s useless.”
Seeing Lin Qingye’s reticent, monosyllabic manner, Ji Mian figured she wouldn’t get any answers and wisely decided not to press further.
Her gaze drifted to the food box in Lin Qingye’s hands.
Lin Qingye had gotten up early and actually gone out to buy her breakfast.
Something was wrong, one hundred percent wrong. Ji Mian looked at that bowl of fragrant meat porridge; its aroma was tantalizing, and the few emerald-green vegetable leaves floating on top gave the dish an exceptionally appetizing appearance.
“Did you buy this for me?”
Ji Mian beamed brightly, a playful, lively little lilt coloring her voice as she spoke.
“Are you hungry?”
Lin Qingye sat down to watch her eat, observing her in secret. She still found her familiar; every smile, every gesture, felt as though she had witnessed it countless times before.
“Have you eaten yet?”
“I’ve eaten.”
“You had an illness flare-up last night, so you need to eat more.”
Ji Mian divided out half of the porridge from her own bowl and pushed it toward her.
“Porridge is very nourishing, and the flavor is quite good. Would you like to try some?”
Ji Mian extended the wooden spoon in her hand…
“Do you want to take a bite?”
Lin Qingye’s expression flickered slightly.
“Eat it yourself.”
The Suspicious Magistrate
This city was named Huaxi City, derived from a clear stream flowing through its southeast corner. Because the climate was favorable, all sorts of flowers and plants grew luxuriantly in this region. When the wind blew, it swept falling petals into the small stream, where they floated across the surface of the river, forming a flower stream, hence the name.
On the very first day she entered the city, Jiang Xiyan had noticed the anomalies here and ordered her subordinates to keep the magistrate of Huaxi City under strict surveillance, locking her away in the prison where no one was permitted to visit without her express permission.
The magistrate was named Zhang Wanniang, a thoroughly ordinary name and surname. Yet the moment Jiang Xiyan laid eyes on her, she felt that this person’s identity was far from simple.
Appearances could be disguised, but an inherent demeanor could not be concealed. A leisurely, indolent laziness shone through the woman’s brows, and when she looked at Jiang Xiyan, she made no effort to hide the ambition lurking beneath the surface.
Consequently, Jiang Xiyan spent some time tracking down Zhang Wanniang’s household registration records and questioning neighboring residents, only to turn up completely empty-handed.
Having hit a dead end elsewhere, she had no choice but to return to square one to interrogate Zhang Wanniang in person.
The woman’s health was truly poor. As she was hauled out, her complexion was ghastly pale, and she broke into an uncontrollable fit of coughing before she could even say a few words. With a touch of exasperation, Jiang Xiyan poured her a bowl of water and stationed a physician nearby, worried that if the woman coughed herself to death on the spot, perhaps she could still be revived.
“Is there anything else the Jade-Faced General wishes to ask? If you don’t ask now, I might genuinely die right here.”
Sitting opposite her, Zhang Wanniang leisurely sipped from the bowl of water, sipping in tiny, delicate mouthfuls as if tasting fine tea, hardly lowering the water level at all. Even while claiming she was about to die, she remained utterly unfazed.
“Where have all the able-bodied young people in the city gone?”
“If the General inquires around, you will find out. Very few people in this city obey me; hearing that the city gates were about to fall, they all bolted in a swarm. How should I know where they went?”
Jiang Xiyan had indeed caught wind of some rumors, but she truly lacked any appetite for this kind of gossip. Investigating Zhang Wanniang required sifting through a mountain of romantic scandals to find the key points, so she had delegated the task to her deputy commander, though there was still no result after a short while.
Jiang Xiyan pressed her with a few more questions, only to find the other woman claiming ignorance to everything, she was utterly useless. Frustrated after the questioning concluded, Jiang Xiyan stomped off to investigate on her own.
Behind her, Zhang Wanniang watched the general’s retreating, angered-out-of-shame figure and burst into hearty laughter.
Jiang Xiyan’s temper flared up instantly.
“Lock her mouth.”
Most of the people moving about the city were the elderly, the weak, women, and children, posing little threat. Jiang Xiyan no longer assigned anyone to guard Ji Mian at close quarters, merely dispatching a few people to follow a few paces behind, especially since Lin Qingye was still by Ji Mian’s side.
Possessing a straightforward disposition and supreme confidence in her own sharp eye for people, Jiang Xiyan felt completely at ease leaving Ji Mian in Lin Qingye’s care.
The Ambush in the Apothecary
Strolling aimlessly down the empty streets, Ji Mian looked up and noticed a building in the distance decorated with exceptionally lavish architecture. Finding it curious, she walked a few steps closer and saw a hostess standing at the entrance soliciting guests. The doorway looked somewhat desolate; the woman tightly clenched an embroidered handkerchief, pinching it between her orchid-shaped fingers, and possessed a remarkably pretty appearance.
Catching sight of Ji Mian from afar, the woman’s eyes lit up and she hastily accelerated the fluttering motion of her handkerchief.
“Would the young lady care to step inside and take a look?”
With the woman waving her handkerchief and the scent of cosmetics dancing through the air, even if Ji Mian were a block of wood, she would have known what kind of establishment this was.
Just as she was about to wave her hand in polite refusal, she heard a string of curses spill from inside the doorway, followed immediately by a small girl being kicked out with a heavy thud.
The young girl’s clothes were completely tattered, covered in filthy grease stains, and her hair was matted into greasy strands like a dying patch of seaweed.
It was still early spring, and the ground was bitterly cold. A sudden gust of wind sweeping past would send a chill through anyone, even if they were wearing heavy fur robes. The little girl’s hands were purple with frostbite, and as she scrambled up from the ground, she retched up a mouthful of stagnant blood.
She then crawled forward a few paces before collapsing motionless, her hands still locked in a tight gripping posture against the earth as she lost consciousness.
A sudden surge of pity welled up in Ji Mian. Though somewhat moved, she remained extremely cautious.
People on the roadside could not be picked up casually; she had to be careful not to trigger a plot twist…
Lin Qingye, standing beside her, bent down first to help the young girl up. Just as she reached to grab her wrist, an old crone from inside barked out an interruption.
“This patron would do well not to meddle in other people’s business. This little wench is no angel. She steals and robs, and she is clever to boot, we tried catching her several times and failed, but now that we’ve finally cornered her, she deserves a thorough lesson.”
Lin Qingye paused her movement.
“Where are her parents?”
“Who knows that? Whenever we see her, she’s always like this.”
While Lin Qingye frowned in hesitation, Ji Mian, unable to steel her heart, had already stepped forward and hoisted the girl to her feet.
The girl’s eyes remained tightly shut, looking as though she barely had a breath left in her. Her body hung limply, completely unconscious.
Hesitating slightly, Ji Mian couldn’t overcome her moral scruples and decided to take the child to seek medical help. Lin Qingye didn’t stop her, tacitly granting permission.
Ji Mian carried the girl to the only apothecary nearby.
The apothecary was dilapidated and reeked heavily of crude herbs. The moment they stepped through the door, they were enveloped by the complex aroma of traditional Chinese medicine.
Laying the little girl down, Ji Mian negotiated with the physician inside. The doctor herself appeared clean, entirely free of any medicinal odor.
The physician cast a casual glance at the girl.
“I can administer an acupuncture treatment, but whether she lives or dies depends on her own fate.”
With that, she reached for her needle pouch.
As the physician rummaged through the pouch for a long time, muttering incessantly to herself facing the cabinet, Lin Qingye furrowed her brows. Sensing a murderous intent closing in, she instantly felt the hairs on her arms stand on end.
In the flash of a flint, Lin Qingye darted instantly in front of Ji Mian, only to be intercepted by the old crone who whipped out several silver needles. The needles pierced clean through a wooden board, sinking three feet deep, a testament to the crone’s formidable internal energy.
Startled into a daze, Ji Mian took a few steps back, immediately sensing a chilling flash sweep across her eyes. She tilted her head to dodge, failing to notice the girl suddenly spring up from the bed in a half-kneeling posture, striking out toward Ji Mian’s lower abdomen with a palm laden with internal energy.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood as she jerked her head away, Ji Mian instantly felt as though her viscera were about to shatter.
Heidan materialized in her grip out of nowhere, vibrating intensely and humming with agitation.
With a sweep of her arm, a wave of sword qi surged forward along the trajectory, instantly cleaving more than half of the dilapidated shack in two as wood shavings cascaded down from the roof, obscuring their line of sight.
Though the sword qi impact was immense, it carried very little internal energy; the girl was blasted backward, her internal organs ruptured, yet she still managed to struggle back to her feet.
Catching sight of the girl drawing a soft sword from her waist out of the corner of her eye, Ji Mian realized the situation was dire and bolted using her flying sword.
At that moment, dodging the toxic needles, Lin Qingye unleashed a sweeping gust of sword wind that leveled the remaining half of the house.
Between the two of them, the small building was completely obliterated.
The commotion was substantial, and the sound of approaching guards could already be heard drawing near.
Exercising a degree of restraint, Lin Qingye channeled the full force of her sword qi directly onto the old crone.
Lacking sufficient skill, the crone was blasted backward by the impact, crashing into the rubble and collapsing flat onto the ground, unable to move as her eyes rolled back into unconsciousness.
With no time to check on the crone’s condition, Lin Qingye rushed forward to steady Ji Mian. Feeling that familiar warmth, Ji Mian’s body went slack as she lost consciousness.
Gazing at the trace of blood staining the corner of Ji Mian’s lips, an abnormal impulse suddenly surged within her. Her ice-blue eyes gleaming with a touch of fanaticism as she looked at the unconscious Ji Mian, she felt a sudden thirst.
This thirst was a dual torment, both physical and psychological. She had always practiced diligently and maintained strict asceticism precisely to curb her desire to kill, yet she kept breaking her vows over Ji Mian, and Ji Mian kept suffering injury after injury right in front of her…
“Does it not hurt?”
Recovering as if from a trance, Lin Qingye gripped Ji Mian’s hand tightly, receiving no reply.
Aren’t you afraid of pain at all?