Qiao Suluo ran toward the river with all her might. She felt like she hadn’t run this fast even during her school sports days. The main issue was her weight; running was incredibly strenuous.
By this time, a considerable crowd had gathered by the river. The Beastmen who had originally been washing clothes had abandoned their chores, all surrounding Bai Qianluo.
"What a tragedy. Such a good person like Young Master Bai, just gone like that."
"Qiao Suluo is truly vicious. She piles up a mountain of laundry every day and forces someone with poor eyesight like Young Master Bai to wash them. It’s usually fine, but it rained last night. The bluestones by the river are slippery, and since Young Master Bai can’t see well, he fell right in."
"The river flows much faster after a rain. By the time we fished him out, he had already stopped breathing."
"I noticed he looked rather pale when he came to wash clothes today. Do you think he fell ill from Qiao Suluo’s abuse?"
Everyone felt profound pity and regret for the breathtakingly beautiful Young Master Bai. They also deeply despised Qiao Suluo’s cruelty, disgusted that she couldn’t even tolerate her own Beast Husband.
Que Hongjin had already rushed to the river as fast as he could. However, seeing Bai Qianluo lying motionless on the bank, his expression drastically changed. He stepped forward and gently checked for a pulse. There was indeed no breath left.
Que Hongjin’s fingers trembled slightly, a layer of gloom descending over his refined, handsome features.
"Make way, make way!"
Qiao Suluo finally arrived, panting heavily. The crowd was packed so tightly that she couldn’t squeeze through.
Hearing Qiao Suluo’s voice, Que Hongjin turned to look at her. A formidable aura instantly surged from him, bearing down heavily upon her. His eyes harbored an unconcealable, sharp loathing and disgust.
"He’s dead. Are you satisfied?"
Que Hongjin’s voice lacked its usual elegance. Instead, it carried a cold, biting aversion, even faintly revealing a trace of murderous intent that exuded an extreme sense of danger.
At this moment, Qiao Suluo couldn’t care less about explaining. She directly straddled Bai Qianluo and began applying first aid.
"Oh my god! He’s already like this, and Qiao Suluo still wants to force herself on her Beast Husband?"
"What... what is she doing? She’s even going to defile Young Master Bai’s corpse?"
Everyone glared at Qiao Suluo with eyes full of disgust and hatred.
Qiao Suluo ignored them all. A life was at stake, and she absolutely could not let Bai Qianluo die. She stacked her hands, interlocked her fingers, and used the heel of her palm to press down on the lower half of his sternum with all her might. She repeatedly delivered forceful compressions, then pressed her lips against Bai Qianluo’s to perform artificial respiration.
"This is simply too much!"
"She’s humiliating Young Master Bai’s corpse!"
"Young Master Bai was so virtuous. Even in death, his body has to be treated like this by Qiao Suluo. If his spirit knows about this, who knows how despairing he must feel. This is pure evil."
"I’ve never seen such a malicious female beast. Compared to her, my wife is wonderful."
"Indeed. Qiao Suluo is both ugly and vicious. Having such a beautiful Beast Husband, she should be secretly rejoicing, yet she abused him daily. Is there something wrong with her head?"
Initially, the crowd only dared to murmur their complaints. Qiao Suluo was notoriously arrogant and domineering, and her biological mother was the leader of their Cat Clan Village, so no one dared to openly offend her. However, someone eventually couldn’t stand watching it anymore and boldly stepped forward.
"I say, Qiao Suluo, enough is enough. What exactly are you doing?"
Just as this person was about to physically stop her, and right as Qiao Suluo performed artificial respiration once more, Bai Qianluo suddenly began to cough, spewing out mouthfuls of water.
This scene left everyone present utterly stunned. The curses they had been hurling at Qiao Suluo died in their throats. Each of them stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, jaws practically hitting the floor.
An eerie silence fell over the scene.
Que Hongjin’s picturesque brow twitched, his expression freezing for a brief moment. His dark, ink-like gaze grew even deeper, landing squarely on Qiao Suluo with profound scrutiny. The depths of his pupils seemed shrouded in mist, making his emotions entirely indiscernible. He just stared fixedly at Qiao Suluo.
Meanwhile, Qiao Suluo’s forehead was beaded with fine sweat, and her face was deathly pale. Seeing that Bai Qianluo was breathing and had come back to life, she finally let out a slow sigh of relief.
The moment Bai Qianluo opened his eyes, he was met with Qiao Suluo’s bright and clear gaze.
Previously, Bai Qianluo had his eyes blindfolded with a white cloth, so she hadn’t known how beautiful they were. Now, without that piece of white silk, his stunning eyes were fully revealed. They were a translucent, glass-like light blue. As his long eyelashes trembled slightly, a cold, crushed-ice luster seemed to surface in their depths. The cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye shifted with the movement, blooming like a red spider lily in the dark of night. His beauty was truly soul-stirring.
Meeting such a pair of eyes, Qiao Suluo’s breath hitched, nearly drowning in their depths.
Bai Qianluo’s gaze flicked downward. Only then did Qiao Suluo realize she was still sitting on top of him. She was certain Bai Qianluo had misunderstood.
She hurriedly rolled off him. "Um, I was just frantic to save you, so... so I did that. I didn’t mean anything by it.
"But it’s great that you’re awake! Don’t come to the river to wash clothes anymore."
She finally remembered that the original owner of her body had intentionally tormented Bai Qianluo. Knowing full well that he had poor eyesight, she had still forced him to wash clothes by the river.
At this moment, the surrounding crowd finally snapped back to their senses.
"Oh my god, it’s a miracle! A dead person can actually come back to life?"
"How on earth did she do that?"
"Could it be that Qiao Suluo is a doctor and knows Medical Skills?"
"I’ve never seen someone saved just by giving them a kiss!"
After waking up, Bai Qianluo sat up and prepared to stand. Qiao Suluo initially wanted to help him, but remembering how he had shunned her with disgust when she tried to help him the previous night, she withdrew her outstretched hand.
The spectating Beastmen didn’t dare to get too close to Bai Qianluo either. He had clearly been dead just moments ago; everyone had seen with their own eyes that he had stopped breathing. Because he had suddenly come back to life, no one knew if he was a human or a ghost, making them too afraid to approach.
Sensing Qiao Suluo’s hesitation, Bai Qianluo turned his head, seemingly "seeing" her retracting hand.
It was Que Hongjin who stepped forward to help him up. "Are you alright?"
Maintaining his usual cold and detached demeanor, Bai Qianluo replied, "I’m fine."
It was just that while he was washing clothes, his vision had suddenly gone black, accompanied by a wave of dizziness. Immediately after, it felt as if some force was summoning him, and he had tumbled right into the river.
After standing up, Bai Qianluo cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Qiao Suluo. "Thank you, wife, for saving my life just now."
Qiao Suluo hastily sidestepped the bow. "Don’t... there’s no need for that. You’re my Beast Husband; it’s only right that I save you.
"It was my fault too. I shouldn’t have made you come to the river to do the laundry. You don’t have to do those chores anymore."
Relying on the system shop and her culinary skills, she was more than capable of supporting the family. At the very least, they wouldn’t go hungry. She just couldn’t boldly claim she would ransom Yue Hanzheng and the others yet. That would require a massive amount of Silver.
Hearing Qiao Suluo’s words, the crowd found it completely unbelievable.
"She actually said something like that?"
"The sun must be rising from the west."
"Maybe she really has changed."
"I don’t believe for a second that she’s changed. She’s definitely faking it."
With a faint expression, Bai Qianluo replied to Qiao Suluo, "These are chores I ought to do... Cough... Cough..."
Seeing his frail and shattered state, Qiao Suluo hurriedly said, "Um, don’t catch a cold. You should go home and rest first."
She thought, "Please don’t die! If you die, my mission will fail, and I’ll be buried right alongside you."
Just as she finished speaking, an elderly female beast walked over and asked softly, "Miss Qiao, if I may ask, could you teach the Cat Clan Village the lifesaving method you just used?"
Her own Beast Husband had accidentally fallen into the river and lost his life years ago, so the incident just now had deeply shaken her.
"Rest assured, everyone won’t learn it for nothing."