Shen Qinghe took a step back, and Lizhu took a step forward.
His pupils were as dark as ink, as if they could suck a person in at any moment.
“Liar.” He said softly, flames seeming to burn around him, yet he himself was completely unaffected.
He drew closer and closer, and the sparks of flame touching the hem of Shen Qinghe’s skirt caused it to catch fire as well.
The searing heat seemed intent on burning everything in the world to ashes.
Shen Qinghe was unbearably hot, sweat beading across her forehead, and the oxygen in the air seemed to have been burned away completely.
A faint smile curled at the corner of the white-haired youth’s lips, and he was about to say something.
Shen Qinghe couldn’t take it anymore.
She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his without warning.
The white-haired youth’s body went rigid.
Lizhu’s lips were soft and cool, forming a stark contrast to the flames around him.
Shen Qinghe unconsciously pressed closer, her lips brushing against his.
The heat within her gradually dissipated until she could no longer feel it at all.
She glanced at the hem of her skirt out of the corner of her eye—it was surrounded by flames, yet showed no sign of being burned.
So nice to kiss, so soft.
So this was what kissing felt like.
If only it weren’t in such a life-or-death situation, it would have been even better.
She tentatively pulled back, slowly releasing Lizhu.
The white-haired youth’s expression was calm, no anger in it, but his gaze remained fixed on her.
“What did you do to me?”
He asked.
Shen Qinghe coughed lightly, her face slightly flushed: “Kissed you. This is also something Dual Cultivation involves.”
Lizhu repeated his earlier words: “You lied to me.”
Shen Qinghe apologized sincerely: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I won’t lie to you again next time. It’s your fault for looking at me with that mocking expression earlier.”
Lizhu pressed his lips together.
Shen Qinghe tentatively tugged at his sleeve. “Still angry?”
Lizhu said nothing, but lowered his head and kissed her lips again.
Even just pressing their lips together felt incredibly wonderful, and neither wanted to part.
Shen Qinghe felt that she might be starting to like Lizhu.
Even though she vaguely sensed that he was different from the ‘Young Master Li Zhu’ she had imagined—and might not even be the same person.
No one knew how much time had passed before the two slowly parted, Shen Qinghe’s lips having gone slightly numb.
Lizhu said: “I’m not angry anymore.”
Shen Qinghe’s eyes lit up: “Lizhu, you’re the best!”
Lizhu: “But you must kiss me every day.”
Shen Qinghe agreed readily: “No problem.”
The internal problem was resolved.
But a new problem arose—what to do with all the unconscious people on the ground?
When Chu Yueshuang exposed the fact that she wasn’t pregnant, she must have been certain that Shen Qinghe would be dealt with by Lizhu.
But why had she suddenly been burned to death by flames? Was it really because she had spoken his name?
“Lizhu-gege.” She called out.
Lizhu looked over.
Shen Qinghe blinked. “Why am I fine?”
Lizhu’s eyelashes trembled slightly. “I don’t know.”
Shen Qinghe’s eyes widened, and she said with certainty: “It must be because I’m your destined one. We’re a perfect match made in heaven, so that’s why I’m fine.”
Lizhu was momentarily stunned, looking down at the girl whose eyes sparkled with light—the stars in the Milky Way above couldn’t compare to the ones in her eyes.
He wanted to kiss her again.
Shen Qinghe understood the meaning in his eyes at a glance, but her lips were still numb. She couldn’t kiss anymore.
She averted her gaze from his and pointed at the people on the ground. “Let’s figure out a way to wake them up first. Lizhu-gege, do you have a way?”
Lizhu said: “I do. My fire can burn away the Flower Seeds inside their bodies.”
A black mist gathered in his hand, and upon closer inspection, it was a ball of flame.
Shen Qinghe vaguely felt something was off and asked an extra question: “Will it burn the people themselves too?”
Lizhu said reassuringly, “It will. Don’t worry, there won’t even be ashes left.”
As he spoke, the flame was about to be cast onto one of the people.
Shen Qinghe realized what he meant and hurriedly stopped him: “Don’t use fire. Is there a gentler method that won’t hurt them but can still wake them up?”
The white-haired youth tilted his head slightly, then shook it. “I don’t know.”
The corner of Shen Qinghe’s mouth twitched.
The only one who could make medicine, Chu Yueshuang, was the mastermind behind it all, and the moment she opened her mouth to say Lizhu’s name, she was burned to nothing by the fire.
This Chu Yueshuang was truly a disaster—not only had she nearly gotten her killed, but she’d also left behind such a huge mess.
In the original plot, the Spirit Medicine Valley vanished overnight, and this was probably the reason.
She was now a player in the game, yet she had no idea how to break the situation.
Just then, the voice of an eight-year-old child sounded, “Sister, I have a way to wake them up.”
Shen Qinghe looked up, surprised. “Why haven’t you gone down the mountain yet?”
Xiao Si bit his lip, looking embarrassed. “I heard the immortal sister say that some people couldn’t wake up, and I thought I might be able to help. But that sister was by your side, so I didn’t dare speak up. I could only secretly follow you.”
Shen Qinghe understood something and crouched down to ask him, “Go ahead and say it now.”
Xiao Si nodded. “Before, when I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night, I woke up and saw that sister feed an auntie something. Then the auntie fell asleep, and then… a monster with a purple flower for a head came in. I was too scared at the time, so I pretended to be asleep. But afterward, that auntie disappeared.
I didn’t dare tell anyone, afraid that sister would find out.”
Shen Qinghe pondered for a moment, then roughly drew the shape of a flower on the ground. “Is the flower you mentioned this one?”
Xiao Si’s face turned deathly pale, and he took several steps back before nodding. “That’s it. It’s terrifying.”
Then that was right.
She had seen the Illusory Magic Flower in ancient texts before—it devoured the hearts of the living.
But there was no more recorded information beyond that. Could the Illusory Magic Flower even become a spirit?
Lizhu yawned, seemingly not very interested in this.
What Shen Qinghe was thinking was that if she could find the monster Xiao Si mentioned, it might solve many of their problems.
As for how to find it, she could only flip through more ancient texts.
Shen Qinghe patted the little fellow’s head and pressed a teleportation array talisman onto him.
“Thank you, but it’s dangerous here. Hurry home.”
A magic array appeared around Xiao Si, and his eyes sparkled. “As long as I could help the immortal sister, that’s enough. Goodbye, immortal sister.”
Xiao Si had been sent home—home was definitely safer than here.
The Spirit Medicine Valley had many rules, and the Scripture Pavilion could only be entered by inner disciples.
But now the Valley Master was dead, and everyone else had fallen into a coma.
As soon as Shen Qinghe entered the Scripture Pavilion, she swept her sleeve and swept all the books into her Storage Ring.
She was going to save so many people—surely taking a few books to read was fine.
On the way back to the courtyard, she passed by the Medicine Pavilion.
This was where the Spirit Medicine Valley stored its public supply of Medicinal Pills.
Without changing her expression, Shen Qinghe pocketed all the pills.
Consider it payment.
The unclaimed Magic Treasures in the Treasure Pavilion—taken.
The medicine fields and herb storehouse—Shen Qinghe collected those too while she was at it.
After making a full round, one of her Storage Rings was completely full.
This really couldn’t be blamed on her—it just so happened that all these places were along her way back.
She hadn’t touched the Storage Rings on the unconscious people, which was already more than considerate of her.
The night wind, carrying snowflakes, was especially biting.
Outside, heavy snow had begun to fall again.
Shen Qinghe felt a twinge of worry. “Will it snow again for the people of Alchemy City?”
Lizhu said, “You used spells—there won’t be snow in Alchemy City for three days.”
Shen Qinghe let out a sigh of relief and continued flipping through the ancient text in her hands.
She had initially wanted to have Lizhu read it with her to speed things up, but after just two pages, his brows were furrowed so deeply they could crush flies. She knew then that Lizhu wasn’t fond of reading, so she didn’t make him continue.
Cultivators could go without sleep, but Shen Qinghe loved sleeping.
Suddenly, a dull ache began to throb in Shen Qinghe’s heart, escalating until her face turned pale from the pain.
She took out a small pill, swallowed two, and only then did the ache in her chest begin to ease.
Her condition had improved considerably over the past two years—if her heart didn’t hurt, she didn’t need to take the medicine.
The alchemist who had prescribed her the medicine once said that she should avoid taking it whenever possible. The more she took it, the more resistant her body became, and eventually the medicine would lose its potency. It could be understood as something like modern-day ibuprofen.
The last time she’d taken it was two months ago, which was why Shen Qinghe only now realized the pills were gone.
But that was fine—both Uncle He and Uncle Zhong carried spare medicine for her, and her brother had some too. She could ask them for more later.
Lizhu propped his chin on his hand, watching the pale-faced young woman, and said, “Drink my blood. It will make you better.”
Shen Qinghe choked and coughed twice at his words, hurriedly shaking her head in refusal. “No.”
“Why?” Lizhu didn’t understand.
Shen Qinghe said, “Even though there are many strange things about you, in my eyes you’re a living, breathing person. Drinking your blood—how is that any different from being a beast?”
Lizhu tilted his head to look at her, his eyes filled with confusion and incomprehension. “But some people said that taking my flesh and blood is for my own good.”
“They were talking nonsense. If you ever hear words like that again, cut off their flesh and blood and see if it does them any good.” Shen Qinghe said casually, her fingers pressing deep creases into the paper she held.