"Done for, done for! That's a scam! A blatant scam!"
Tangyuan's voice shrieked in Shen Manyi's mind.
"He's trying to extort you even before he dies! What grudge could he possibly hold against you!"
Shen Manyi completely ignored Tangyuan's shouting.
Xiao Mo's body was heavy, falling straight toward her.
Before she could dodge, he collapsed on top of her, pinning her beneath him.
"Ugh—"
Shen Manyi let out a muffled groan, feeling like she was being crushed to pieces.
So it turned out that when a deity fell, he was just as heavy as any mortal.
"Hey! Little girl! You still alive?" Tangyuan patted her face with its paw.
"Don't die! If you die, who's going to manage this Divine Beast's spirit stones!"
"Cough, cough… Not dying."
Shen Manyi barely managed to squirm out from under Xiao Mo, her face flushed red from the strain.
Ignoring her aching shoulder, she quickly turned him over to check his condition.
Xiao Mo's eyes were tightly shut, and his handsome face was completely drained of color—pale enough to be frightening.
His long lashes cast a shadow that softened the baleful aura around him, making him look almost fragile instead.
"Brother? Brother, wake up!"
Shen Manyi reached out and shook him, but there was no response at all.
She steadied herself and held her fingers beneath his nose.
There was still a faint breath.
"Thank goodness, he's just unconscious." She let out a sigh of relief, her whole body going limp.
"Just unconscious? Little girl, you're way too carefree!"
Tangyuan hopped onto Xiao Mo's chest and paced around, its tone grave.
"The spiritual power in his body is a complete mess, and it's filled with violent, ferocious energy.
These are the signs of Qi Deviation! If we don't treat him now, not even the gods can save him!"
Shen Manyi's heart, which had just settled, shot back up.
"Then what do we do? I… I have medicinal pills!"
She fumbled through her space and pulled out several bottles of pills.
These were all taken from the Shen family—not high grade, but they should be decent for healing.
"Brother, wake up, hurry and take the medicine!"
She pinched a pill between her fingers and tried to push it into Xiao Mo's mouth.
But his jaw was clenched tight, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pry it open.
"It's useless."
Tangyuan crawled down from his chest and poked at it with its paw.
"He's unconscious right now. His body is instinctively protecting itself. You can't feed him anything."
"Then what do we do? Are we just supposed to watch him die?"
Shen Manyi's eyes reddened with anxiety.
She couldn't quite explain it herself—how much of this worry was genuine concern for her newly acknowledged brother.
And how much was driven by her instinct to survive.
Her intuition told her that only by holding onto him could she have any hope of living.
She couldn't afford to lose this pillar of support!
"Tangyuan, aren't you an ancient Divine Beast? Think of something!"
"This Divine Beast is a White Tiger, one who commands slaughter, not a Danxiu!"
Tangyuan flicked its tail in irritation.
"That violent energy inside him is too domineering. Ordinary medicinal pills can't suppress it.
Unless there's something pure and clean to purify it first… wait!"
It paused mid-sentence, its golden pupils suddenly brightening as it whipped its head toward Shen Manyi.
"Your Kongjian Lingquan!"
"That's right! How could I have forgotten about that!"
Shen Manyi's face lit up with joy. She immediately retrieved a jade bowl from her space and filled it halfway with Spirit Spring Water.
The moment the water appeared, a refreshing, invigorating fragrance filled the entire cave.
"Brother, drink some water."
She carefully brought the rim of the bowl to Xiao Mo's lips.
But the result was the same as before.
The water trickled down past his tightly sealed lips, soaking his collar. Not a single drop made it in.
"It's still not working!" Shen Manyi stamped her foot in frustration.
"Tsk, how troublesome."
Tangyuan clicked its tongue. "How about… you try using your finger?
Dip just a little bit and smear it on his lips. See if it can seep in."
Use her finger?
Shen Manyi glanced at her own fair, slender fingers.
Then she looked at Xiao Mo's pale but sharply defined lips, and her cheeks inexplicably grew warm.
This… isn't this a bit too intimate?
"Now is not the time to be shy!"
Tangyuan scolded her with the frustration of a mentor watching a failing student. "He's your brother now! Hurry up! If you keep stalling, he's really going to turn cold!"
Its shout snapped Shen Manyi out of her hesitation.
Saving him was the priority!
She took a deep breath, forced down her racing heart, and extended her index finger to lightly dip it into the jade bowl.
A crystal-clear droplet hung on her fingertip, trembling slightly.
Summoning her courage, she slowly brought her finger to Xiao Mo's lips.
His lips were dry, already peeling in thin layers, and cold to the touch.
But the moment her warm fingertip met his icy lips,
A tingling numbness shot through her entire body from the point of contact, startling her so much that her finger recoiled and she nearly pulled it back.
"Don't stop!" Tangyuan urged.
Shen Manyi gritted her teeth and continued, dabbing the Spirit Spring Water from her fingertip onto his cracked lips, little by little.
The Spirit Spring Water, infused with spiritual qi, was absorbed into his parched skin the instant it touched his lips.
His cracked lips visibly became moist and supple before her very eyes.
"It's working!"
Shen Manyi's voice carried an irrepressible joy.
This discovery gave her tremendous encouragement. Over and over again, she dipped her finger in the water and patiently applied it to Xiao Mo's lips.
The cave was very quiet, with only the sound of the wind and snow outside, along with her own slightly uncontrolled breathing and heartbeat.
She was very close to Xiao Mo, close enough to smell the cold, crisp scent of him mixed with the smell of blood and cedar.
But strangely, this scent made her feel at ease.
As she carefully applied the water, she couldn't help but start muttering.
"Brother, why are you so disobedient… You're hurt this badly, and you're still so stubborn."
"Open your mouth… This is something good, it's very expensive."
"You absolutely can't die. If you die, I'll really have no one to rely on."
"Those people from the Shen family are definitely still looking for me outside.
If they catch me, they'll sell me to that old pervert as a Furnace Cauldron…"
"I barely managed to escape."
"Brother, I'm still counting on you to back me up, to treat me to good food and fine living…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, her words carrying a hint of grievance and dependence that she herself hadn't even noticed.
After who knows how long, her finger had grown sore from feeding him.
Xiao Mo's complexion had improved somewhat—no longer that terrifying pallor—and his breathing had become much steadier.
Just as Shen Manyi was about to continue her efforts, the unconscious Xiao Mo's brow suddenly twitched.
Then, his thin lips, which had been tightly sealed, parted slightly into a small gap.
As if he unconsciously wanted to drink water.
Shen Manyi's heart leaped with joy.
"Tangyuan! He opened his mouth!"
"Hurry! Now's the chance!"
She no longer cared about anything else. Quickly, she carefully slipped her finger, coated with Spirit Spring Water, into that small gap and touched it to the tip of Xiao Mo's tongue.