Ying Qingyang never imagined that his offhand remark while muttering jokes to the tutor before leaving would actually come true.
He had genuinely managed to pick up a living, breathing person in this barren wilderness.
The person who had plunged onto the giant net looked to be on his last breath. Dressed far too thinly for the bitter winter, his skin and muscles were stiff, and an ominous grey-blue pallor enveloped his entire body. His lips retained a faint purplish-blue tinge, making him look as though he had been poisoned.
If not for the blood spreading out from his wounds, Ying Qingyang would have assumed this man was already dead.
Ying Qingyang’s sympathy flared up instantly.
He stared at the man’s handsome face for two seconds and immediately decided to save him.
It had nothing to do with what this person looked like. The key point was that saving a life accrued seven levels of floating pagoda merit; how could there be any reason to stand by and watch someone die?
Stepping heavily and lightly in turn across the hemp ropes, he stepped forward and mentally praised himself for making the giant net sturdy and flexible enough, otherwise this person would have lost his life long ago.
Ying Qingyang finally squatted down before the dying man and reached out to test his breath.
He was still breathing!
He had no idea what posture this person had fallen in, but apart from the wound on his forehead, his entire face was virtually free of scratches, allowing his handsome facial features to remain clearly visible.
Ying Qingyang’s gaze lingered on the other’s face for a moment, as if appraising him, before immediately darting his eyes away, feeling that his current behavior was somewhat taking advantage of someone in distress.
Ahem.
A person of such outstanding appearance if not an immortal descended to earth, he must at least be the scion of a noble family. Saving his life would definitely not be a loss.
Wasn’t this precisely what he meant earlier by fishing up gold in his nets?
Granted, their group of former-regime loyalists had constantly strived to avoid contact with outsiders. In the decade since the new dynasty’s establishment, anyone of any age had lived through the chaotic era at the end of the former dynasty, marked by multi-factional strife and widespread misery among the common people.
Rescuing a stranger of unknown origins and bringing him back carried a degree of danger.
Yet given this person’s current condition, he was either plotted against and pushed off a cliff by enemies seeking his demise, or he had sought death himself out of utter despair.
Ying Qingyang never even entertained the thought of whether this person might harbor a hidden identity as an undercover spy. Who did their rundown little place think they were, worth someone risking their life to infiltrate as a spy?
Besides, such a face naturally evoked a sense of pity upon first sight, radiating the air of a man of noble character and high morals.
He posed no threat whatsoever to those of them scraping by in this world.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with this person’s heavenly, fairy-like face.
Definitely not.
Ying Qingyang easily convinced himself.
“Hey, wake up! Can you hear me? Don’t fall asleep!”
Feeling somewhat anxious, Ying Qingyang slipped off his outer padded coat and draped it over the other man in an attempt to preserve his body temperature.
In temperatures like this, body warmth dissipated rapidly. If things continued this way, the man’s already faint breathing and heartbeat would soon stop.
The one blessing amidst this misfortune was that such a state also slowed down the spread of the toxins within the man’s body. When things truly reached the point of no return, the blood flowing from his wounds would likely turn dark red, almost black.
Just as Ying Qingyang finished draping the coat, the man retaining a sliver of consciousness unexpectedly raised a hand and batted his hand away.
Ying Qingyang froze in place as his hand was slapped aside.
Clearly, the man hadn’t uttered a single word, yet Ying Qingyang distinctly felt a sense of rejection an ice-cold indifference that showed zero attachment to the mortal world.
He stared at that lifeless face, shrouded in the shadow of death, while an unnamable fury suddenly surged within his chest. In that instant, all his previous hesitations exploded like fireworks and were cast behind him.
Did this guy really think he wanted to save people? He was no benevolent Bodhisattva; calling him a great villain was closer to the mark.
With his temper flaring up, his innate rebellious streak flared up along with it. He began to mutter under his breath: “You think you can just refuse to be saved? The person who found you is me, which means I call the shots!”
“You’re powerless right now, so you’ll just have to submit to whatever I want to do.”
“What are you dying for? Once I patch you up back home, you’ll still have to compensate me for those ruined nets!”
“I’m talking to you! Don’t sleep! Did you hear me?!”
Ying Qingyang couldn’t even calculate how many copper coins he had spent preparing those nets. Accumulated over so many years, it was ultimately a massive expense; seeing it recorded in the account books would make his heart ache.
Thus, he had never been one to engage in thankless, unrewarding tasks.
Whatever he felt like doing, he did right away. Happiness in the present moment was what mattered why obsess over things afterward and bring trouble upon himself? Wasn’t that just torturing oneself?
To take a step back, this man now owed him a debt. If he let this debtor die right here, who was he supposed to collect from?
Despite the angry words tumbling from his lips, Ying Qingyang’s movements remained exceptionally gentle, terrified that a burst of excessive strength might shatter this person who seemed ready to melt into the ice and snow.
This crumbling, decaying husk of a body could surely no longer withstand the slightest bit of rough handling.
This mountain cliff was far from the official post road; it was unimaginable how this man had dragged such a body all the way here, only to collapse right in front of Ying Qingyang.
Ying Qingyang took a rough pulse of the man and checked his external injuries.
He had learned a bit of medical skill from the former dynasty’s imperial physician in the village.
However, he was always like this: enthusiastic about everything for three minutes, eager to learn every skill under the sun, yet mastering none of them a thorough jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
At the moment, he could only diagnose that the toxins had invaded the man’s vital organs, his vital energy and blood were severely deficient, and his external injuries were numerous, leaving him somewhat at a loss as to where to begin.
In the freezing cold, facing such a tricky situation, Ying Qingyang actually broke out in a cold sweat.
Gathering a few smooth pieces of wood from his surroundings, Ying Qingyang simply splinted and secured the man’s injured leg.
Then, discarding his treasured bow and quiver, he carefully hoisted the man onto his back, doing his utmost to avoid the other’s external injuries.
The weight that instantly settled across his shoulders caught him somewhat off guard.
Judging from his visual estimate earlier, this man stood at least nine chi tall slightly taller than the average adult male yet his weight was disproportionately, excessively light.
Ying Qingyang used a stray piece of broken hemp rope found on the ground to secure the man firmly to his back.
External injuries were minor; should he suffer a moment of physical exhaustion while carrying this person and tumble down the mountain trail together, it truly would be a double fatality.
With preparations complete, Ying Qingyang regulated his breathing. In his heart, he felt grateful that while he loathed listening to lectures and disliked martial arts, his daily treks into the mountains had at least forged a sturdy physique for him.
He couldn’t take the original path back down the mountain; that rugged mountain trail was barely manageable for him alone, but carrying a dying person down it now would be tantamount to outright suicide.
Instead, Ying Qingyang chose a relatively stable mountain path. Because he had given his padded coat to the man, the biting cold made him walk somewhat stiffly during the first stretch.
After a quarter of an hour, he felt much better as his body warmed up slightly from the physical exertion.
He indeed stopped feeling cold, but this mountain path would teach a lesson to anyone running their mouth.
Halfway through the journey, Ying Qingyang began to feel the heavy hand of exhaustion.
For the first time, Ying Qingyang somewhat regretted choosing such a lofty spot for his secret base, making this journey down the mountain feel agonizingly long.
Meanwhile, the man on his back remained completely unresponsive, his head buried in the crook of Ying Qingyang’s neck. His faint breathing occasionally made Ying Qingyang wonder if he was still actually alive.
Amidst the vast, monochromatic expanse of white and the absolute silence of nature, only Ying Qingyang’s own footsteps echoed.
Unreasoning panic welled up within him, prompting him to throw caution to the wind and chat with the sole companion strapped to his back as he walked.
“You’ve got it easy, closing your eyes and dumping all your problems for me to solve.”
Ying Qingyang narrowly dodged a protruding rock.
“Did you ever think about whether others would live or die when you jumped?”
Ying Qingyang was startled by a squirrel darting out of nowhere.
“What on earth did you eat growing up to get this tall? Tell me, if your legs were a bit shorter, wouldn’t you weigh a dozen or so catties less?”
The further he walked, the more Ying Qingyang felt his grievance outweighed that of a vengeful ghost.
“Brother… remember to pay me back…”
On his way up, he had leaped across roofs and vaulted over walls, unburdened and light on his feet.
On his way down, he staggered forward step by step, carrying a man on the verge of breathing his last, nearly collapsing in the snow.
By the time he reached the foot of the mountain, Ying Qingyang was practically out of breath. Catching sight of the wisps of cooking smoke rising from the village, hot tears instantly welled up in his eyes.
Panting heavily like an exhausted wild dog on the verge of death, he shouted at the village entrance with a trace of breakdown while carefully keeping his voice under control: “Ah-Mo!!!”
The robust, mountain-like youth was currently splitting firewood in the side courtyard, taking over the duties of Uncles Feng and Lei. Gifted with extraordinary hearing superior to ordinary people, his brow twitched at the sound. Confirming it was his young master’s voice, he instantly dropped the axe in his hand and strode out at a brisk pace.
When Ah-Mo caught sight of Ying Qingyang carrying someone on his back his brow furrowed tightly and sweat streaming down his face the first thing he heard was rapid instructions fired off the moment they locked eyes: “Call Dr. Sun to the main house! Avoid the others, bring two thick quilts, and boil some hot water, hurry!!!”
Ah-Mo wanted to relieve his young master and carry the person himself, seeing that his young master clearly looked exhausted.
However, knowing that the man on his back couldn’t withstand rough handling, Ying Qingyang decided to carry him all the way back in one breath and covertly smuggle him into the main house.
Ah-Mo acknowledged the command, changed direction, and headed toward Dr. Sun’s residence.
Ying Qingyang carried the man all the way into the main house and settled him onto his own bed.
Reaching out to test the man’s breath, the slight warmth against his fingertips made his frozen fingers tingle numbly.
Even Ying Qingyang couldn’t help marveling at how stubbornly tenacious this man’s life was.
He quickly crouched down, opened a hidden compartment beneath the floorboards, and retrieved a small porcelain bottle.
Only then did he notice that his hands were trembling slightly. Frowning, he inverted the porcelain bottle, and the very last black pill dropped into his palm.
Leaning over, Ying Qingyang pinched the man’s jaw his skin no longer felt cold to the touch and forcefully shoved the pill into the man’s mouth.
The pill was small, but as it slipped between the lips and tongue, the sensation of a foreign object finally provoked a reaction from the dying man.
Decisive as ever, Ying Qingyang clamped a hand over the man’s nose and mouth.
Air grew scarce; the man’s chest heaved violently, his Adam’s apple rolled, and before he could react, he swallowed the pill.
Ying Qingyang was quick to act and even quicker to let go, hearing the man emit two extremely faint coughs as an inexplicable wave of guilt welled up inside him once more.
Evening had fallen, and the glow of the sunset filtered into the room through a tiny window, casting a gentle light across the man’s body and instantly sweeping away the aura of death lingering about his face.
It was as though this man had finally stepped back from the gates of hell to wander the mortal realm once more.
The heart that Ying Qingyang had kept clenched in nervous tension throughout the journey finally settled back into place. Yet the moment he relaxed, accumulated fatigue surged over him all at once.
His knees buckled abruptly, and with a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees beside the bed.
Coincidentally, Ah-Mo pushed the door open at that exact moment. Seeing Ying Qingyang in this state, he nearly dropped the small basin of hot water he was holding straight onto the floor.
Dr. Sun, trailing right behind, didn’t even notice the person on the bed at first; he was so startled by Ying Qingyang’s earth-shattering kneel that his soul nearly flew out of his body.
“Aiyoh, my Prince! Where were you injured for it to be this serious? If anything happens to you, how are we supposed to suffer losses when executing great matters in the future”
Ying Qingyang waved a hand. “I’m fine, minor issue. It’s just my adrenaline acting up again, I definitely need to teach it a lesson about who’s actually in charge of this body…”
Ying Qingyang gritted his teeth and spoke through facial twitches.
Ah-Mo frowned. “Dr. Sun, the Young Master is starting to talk nonsense again. You better examine him first!”