That was an opponent at the Out-of-Body late stage, yet Yu Qingya had gone there all by herself, single-handedly, and returned with such severe injuries.
“Why are you crying? Did I not return safely?”
A faint smile forced its way onto Yu Qingya’s pale face as she tried to raise her hand to wipe away the tears on Qin Yu’s cheek, only to find that her arm lacked the strength to lift.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? How could you?”
Qin Yu was so choked up with emotion that she could barely form a complete sentence, yet she still pulled away from Yu Qingya’s hand to grab the medicinal herbs.
Yu Qingya acted as though her own wounds were of no consequence whatsoever. “When so many sect leaders came to the Lotus Pavilion to kick us while we were down, did you not step in and shield me with your own body?”
The sight of Qin Yu protecting her that day remained vivid in her memory. For the very first time in her life, she had found herself in the position of being protected, a sensation that felt both novel and deeply stirring.
Therefore, whether it was the Triple-Origin Sacred Fruit or any even higher-tier spiritual medicine Qin Yu might ever need, she would hurl herself into danger without a second thought.
“How can that even compare?”
Qin Yu protested, knowing full well that she had never been in any true peril that day; even if those sect leaders had disregarded her, they still would have had to account for Qin Yushan.
Fetching the healing ointment, she carefully unfastened the back of Yu Qingya’s upper garments.
A deep, horrifying gash marred the smooth, tender skin, causing Qin Yu to gasp in shock at the sight.
The wound was so deep that white bone was already visible beneath the torn flesh, laying bare just how catastrophic the injury truly was.
Yet Yu Qingya had not let out a single groan of pain; had Qin Yu not witnessed it with her own eyes, she never would have imagined the extent of the damage.
Qin Yu’s hands trembled slightly as she hovered over the spot, terrified of accidentally causing further pain to this bleeding piece of jade.
As the medicine was applied to the wound, aside from her deathly pale complexion, Yu Qingya showed not a single trace of suffering.
Still, Qin Yu remained completely uneasy, intending to brew another medicinal draught using a spiritual fruit for Yu Qingya.
“I am a cultivator, you forgot? Taking ordinary medicine is completely useless for me.”
Reluctant to put Qin Yu through any more trouble, and noticing the dark circles under Qin Yu’s eyes, knowing she had stayed up the entire night waiting and clearly had not slept a wink, she tried to dissuade her.
“Spiritual medicine always works. Taking it internally combined with external application will definitely yield better results.”
Seeing Yu Qingya’s ashen face filled Qin Yu with overwhelming worry, making her sound at that moment like someone coaxing an obstinate child who refused to take their medicine.
Amused despite herself by the other’s unwavering attitude, Yu Qingya finally relented and let her hand drop.
The moment she received permission, Qin Yu scurried straight into the kitchen.
While cultivators practiced penance and had no need for sustenance, Qin Yu, as a human, could never seem to shake that ingrained habit.
Aside from herself, however, no one else ever set foot in the Lotus Pavilion’s kitchen, leaving it essentially decorative most of the time.
As she dropped the herbs into the pot, her fingers brushed against some fine powder resting on the counter.
Qin Yu pinched a bit between her fingertips and brought it to her nose, immediately recognizing it as a sleeping agent.
In a split second, the whole picture clicked in her mind.
Yu Qingya knew her daily routine all too well, and to prevent Qin Yu from discovering her reckless plan, she had deliberately laced something with a sleeping aid to ensure Qin Yu fell into a deep, unbroken slumber.
A mild, bittersweet ache bloomed in Qin Yu’s chest. Such a formidable and aloof person could possess such meticulous care, so how could anyone keep themselves from falling for her?
Recalling the injuries still marking Yu Qingya’s body, Qin Yu quietly sprinkled a dose of sleeping powder into the medicine bowl as well, hoping the other woman would finally get a proper, uninterrupted sleep.
By the time Qin Yu carried the bowl back into the room, Yu Qingya was looking at her with a half-smile. “Treating me like a child, trying to use sugar to coax me into taking my medicine?”
Seeing the teasing glint in Yu Qingya’s eyes, Qin Yu felt a blush creep up her cheeks, remembering how her mother used to trick her into taking medicine back home.
“I was just worried it would taste bitter,” Qin Yu muttered under her breath, only for the ungrateful patient to not only brush off the gesture but actually mock her.
Yu Qingya was truly wronged here; it was simply that being around Qin Yu always unlocked entirely unfamiliar feelings within her.
Even though Qin Yu was usually decisive and sharp-witted in her own right, she treated Yu Qingya like a delicate child needing protection. It left her feeling a mix of amusement and profound warmth.
Accepting the bowl gently with one hand, Yu Qingya used her other hand to catch Qin Yu’s wrist and pull her down to sit right beside her.
Noticing the slightly red rims of Qin Yu’s eyes, Yu Qingya felt a pang of discomfort; one look at that expression told her that Qin Yu had undoubtedly been crying secretly in the kitchen just now.
“Xiaoyou, am I not right here and completely fine?”
Yu Qingya’s voice was remarkably soft.
Qin Yu sniffled. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? If we had gone together, it at least would not have…”
Yu Qingya understood the implication. “But how many times did you step in front of me to shield me, defying death itself? How can I possibly be barred from doing the exact same thing for you now? Xiaoyou, you cannot simply protect me while forbidding me from protecting you. That is not fair.”
“This is completely different, and you know it. I was never in any real danger.”
Qin Yu dug in her heels, holding firm to her objection.
Though she knew she would willingly surrender her own life if it meant saving Yu Qingya one day, every single move she made right now was calculated and backed by certainty.
“Xiaoyou, I am well aware of my own strength. I was never going to risk my life,” Yu Qingya reasoned.
Turning her head away, Qin Yu flatly refused to continue the conversation on this topic.
She knew her logic was flawed, yet she had no idea how else to handle these overwhelming emotions.
The shock of seeing a blood-drenched Yu Qingya standing before her today had simply been too much to bear.
With a soft sigh, Yu Qingya set the bowl aside onto a nearby table, looking somewhat helpless. “Xiaoyou, I will pay much closer attention to my own safety from now on, but surely you are not going to make an injured person sit here and coax you?”
Only then did Qin Yu turn back around, suddenly realizing that Yu Qingya was forcing herself to muster the strength just to talk her through this. How could she possibly keep acting out and throwing a childish tantrum at a time like this?
Picking up the bowl once more, she began feeding Yu Qingya spoonful by spoonful. Offering no resistance, Yu Qingya accepted each spoonful quietly as an oppressive silence settled between them.
After a long pause, Yu Qingya finally broke the quiet. “Xiaoyou, you slipped sleeping powder into my medicine, and I slipped it into yours. We are even now. Can we stop being angry?”
A jolt ran through Qin Yu’s heart. She never imagined that Yu Qingya had known all along about the extra ingredients she added.
Yet, even knowing what was in it, the other woman had still willingly drank it down.
“Sister, I was only terrified, and I am not actually angry with you.”
At that point, Qin Yu could no longer keep a rein on her swirling emotions.
Yu Qingya was too brilliant, understanding everything under the sun, yet utterly blind when it came to reading romantic feelings. Because of that, she treated everything as an exact ledger of reciprocity, where whatever Qin Yu did for her, she felt compelled to match in return.
Qin Yu felt trapped in a dead end of her own making. She could neither bear to let the other woman out of her sight nor tolerate the thought of Yu Qingya risking her life for her sake.
She wanted to give without calculating returns, and even though she knew Yu Qingya did not view it transactionally, the haunting fear of one day losing her to catastrophe hung over her like a shadow.
How could Yu Qingya fail to grasp what was weighing on Qin Yu’s mind? Raising a hand gently, she rested her fingertips against Qin Yu’s cheek and stroked it softly. “Xiaoyou, we are of one mind. Since you call me Older Sister, how could I ever allow you to come to harm?”