“It's over, it's over! He's staging an accident! This is a blatant attempt at extortion!”
Tangyuan's voice shrieked inside Shen Manyi's mind.
“He's trying to extort you before he dies! What kind of grudge does he have against you?”
Shen Manyi paid no attention to Tangyuan's hysterics.
Xiao Mo's body was incredibly heavy, and he fell straight toward her.
She had no time to dodge before he landed fully on top of her.
“Ugh—”
Shen Manyi let out a muffled groan, feeling as though she were about to be crushed to pieces.
So even when a god fell down, he was just as heavy as an ordinary mortal.
“Hey! Little Girl! Are you still alive?” Tangyuan patted her face with its paw.
“Don't die! If you die, who's going to take care of this divine beast's spirit stones?”
“Cough, cough… I won't die.”
Shen Manyi struggled for quite some time before finally crawling out from beneath Xiao Mo, her little face flushed from lack of air.
Ignoring her aching shoulder, she hurriedly rolled him over to check his condition.
Xiao Mo's eyes were tightly shut. His handsome face was utterly devoid of color, frighteningly pale.
His long lashes cast a shadow over his face, concealing the baleful aura around him and making him look rather fragile instead.
“Brother? Brother, wake up!”
Shen Manyi reached out and pushed him, but he did not react at all.
She steadied herself and placed a finger beneath his nose.
There was still a faint breath.
“Thank goodness. He only fainted.” She let out a sigh of relief, and her entire body went limp.
“He only fainted? Little Girl, your nerves are way too strong!”
Tangyuan leaped onto Xiao Mo's chest and paced around in a circle, its tone grave.
“The spiritual power inside him is a complete mess, and it's filled with a violent aura.
“These are signs of cultivation deviation! If he isn't treated soon, even a god won't be able to save him!”
Shen Manyi's heart, which had just settled, shot back up into her throat.
“Then what do we do? I… I have pills!”
In a panic, she pulled several bottles of pills out of her spatial realm.
She had taken them from the Shen Family. Their grades were not particularly high, but their healing effects should still be decent.
“Brother, wake up. Hurry and take your medicine!”
She pinched a pill between her fingers and tried to stuff it into Xiao Mo's mouth.
But his teeth were clenched tightly shut. No matter how hard she tried, she could not pry them open.
“It's useless.”
Tangyuan climbed down from his chest and even poked him with its paw.
“He's unconscious right now. His body is protecting itself on instinct. You can't get anything into him.”
“Then what do we do? Are we just supposed to watch him die?”
Shen Manyi's eyes grew red with anxiety.
Even she could not say how much of her worry came from concern for this newly acknowledged older brother,
and how much came from her instinct to survive.
Her intuition told her that only by holding on to him did she have any hope of staying alive.
She could not lose this backer!
“Tangyuan, aren't you an ancient divine beast? Hurry up and think of something!”
“This divine beast is a White Tiger, in charge of killing and warfare, not an alchemist!”
Tangyuan flicked its tail irritably.
“The violent aura inside him is too overbearing. Ordinary pills can't suppress it at all.
“Unless there's something supremely pure and clean that can purify him first… Wait!”
Its voice suddenly stopped. Its golden pupils lit up, and it abruptly turned toward Shen Manyi.
“Your spirit spring!”
“Right! How could I forget about that?”
Shen Manyi brightened at once. She took a jade bowl from her spatial realm and filled it halfway with spirit spring water.
As soon as the spring water appeared, the entire cave filled with a refreshing, invigorating fragrance.
“Brother, drink some water.”
She carefully brought the rim of the bowl to Xiao Mo's lips.
However, the result was the same.
The spring water slid down the corners of his tightly closed lips, soaking his robes. Not a single drop made it inside.
“It still doesn't work!” Shen Manyi stamped her feet in distress.
“Tsk, what a hassle.”
Tangyuan smacked its lips. “How about… trying your finger?
“Dip it in a little, then rub it onto his lips and see if some of it can seep in.”
Her finger?
Shen Manyi glanced at her own fair, slender finger,
then at Xiao Mo's pale but sharply defined thin lips. Her cheeks inexplicably began to burn.
Wasn't this… a little too intimate?
“Who has time to be shy at a moment like this?”
Tangyuan cried out in exasperation. “He's your brother now! Hurry up! If you delay any longer, he'll really be dead!”
After that shout, Shen Manyi no longer had time to worry about anything else.
Saving him was the priority!
She took a deep breath and forced down her wildly pounding heart before dipping her index finger lightly into the jade bowl.
A glistening droplet of water hung from her fingertip, trembling faintly.
Summoning her courage, she slowly brought her finger toward Xiao Mo's lips.
His lips were very dry, covered in a thin layer of peeling skin, and cold to the touch.
But when her warm fingertip touched those cold lips, a tingling sensation rapidly spread through her entire body from the point of contact. Startled, she instinctively curled her finger and tried to pull away.
“Don't stop!” Tangyuan urged.
Shen Manyi gritted her teeth and rubbed the spirit spring water from her fingertip onto his cracked lips, little by little.
The spirit spring water, brimming with spiritual energy, was absorbed by his parched skin the instant it touched his lips.
His cracked lips visibly grew moist.
“It worked!”
Shen Manyi's voice was brimming with barely restrained delight.
The discovery gave her enormous encouragement. Again and again, she dipped her finger into the water and patiently spread it over Xiao Mo's lips.
The cave was very quiet. The only sounds were the wind and snow outside, along with her own slightly uncontrolled breathing and heartbeat.
She was very close to Xiao Mo and could smell the cold, crisp scent of cedar mingled with the smell of blood on his body.
Yet, strangely enough, the scent made her feel at ease.
As she carefully applied the water, she could not help murmuring to him.
“Brother, why are you so disobedient…? You're already hurt this badly, and you're still being so stubborn.”
“Open your mouth… This is good stuff. It's very expensive.”
“You absolutely can't die. If you die, I'll really have no one to rely on.”
“That bunch from the Shen Family must still be looking for me outside.
“If they catch me, they'll sell me to that old pervert as a cauldron…”
“I only just managed to escape.”
“Brother, I'm still counting on you to back me up and let me enjoy the good life…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, her words carrying a grievance and dependence she herself had not even noticed.
After an unknown amount of time, her finger had begun to ache from all the feeding.
Xiao Mo's complexion had improved somewhat. It was no longer frighteningly pale, and his breathing had also become much steadier.
Just as Shen Manyi was preparing to continue, Xiao Mo's brows suddenly twitched in his unconsciousness.
Immediately afterward, his thin lips, which had remained tightly closed all this time, parted slightly, leaving a narrow gap.
It was as if he were unconsciously trying to drink water.
Shen Manyi's heart leaped.
“Tangyuan! He opened his mouth!”
“Quick! While you have the chance!”
Without another thought, she carefully slipped her finger, still coated with spirit spring water, into the gap and touched the tip of Xiao Mo's tongue.