Chapter 12

“Black Cloud.”

After many days, finally being called by its name, Black Cloud wagged its tail even more happily, giving a very courteous bark. Its body was entirely black, even its bean-sized eyes were dark and shiny. At this moment, with its tongue out and panting heavily, it looked as if it was smiling, appearing quite silly and adorable.

Qi Ying rubbed its head and softly called its name again.

When Qu Yan returned, she rarely saw Qi Ying’s figure in the courtyard instead of curled up in the room. She raised an eyebrow, looked at the stack of paper on the table in front of him, and casually asked, “What’s this?”

“Your junior sister asked me to give it to you.”

Qi Ying raised his eyes to look at the woman, repeating word for word what Ren Ling had said earlier. Qu Yan listened and was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly, gazing at the person in front of her.

Qi Ying’s Adam’s apple bobbed, “You said before that this was your home.”

Qu Yan showed no sign of being exposed, instead chuckling lightly, “My parents passed away when I was young. I was brought back to the valley by my master’s wife and grew up here, so naturally, it’s my home.”

Her demeanor was so natural, as if she had known he would ask this question. Qi Ying clenched his fists, his pitch-black eyes staring at her unblinkingly.

“You knew my identity all along?”

Qu Yan didn’t know why his words suddenly turned to this, but since it had come to this, she blinked and asked back.

“Do you want me to know? If you don’t, we can still be doctor and patient. If you do…” Qu Yan took a step forward, her eyes now like deep seas, she leaned close to Qi Ying’s ear and whispered, “Then how about I tell you one of my secrets too?”

The woman’s hot breath was right by his ear. He didn’t take half a step back, only resisting the ticklish feeling and raising his head, his tone flat and calm.

“Who exactly are you?”

Qu Yan smiled, her tone very gentle, “That’s a different question. Answer mine first.”

He turned to leave, but heard the woman chuckle behind him, “Qi Ying, are you angry?”

He suddenly turned back, his expression changing, his tone finally showing some fluctuation, “Don’t call my name.”

Qu Yan calmly folded her arms. His cold shell had finally cracked a bit. Though he was angry, he finally showed some signs of being alive.

“Qi Ying, why can’t I call you that?” Her eyes blinked mischievously, fearlessly calling his name again. Seeing Qi Ying’s expression change, before things got serious, she calmly spoke.

“‘Shadow falls on white swallows in rows, light connects heaven and earth in cold.’ Qi Ying, this name has a grand meaning, why do you dislike it?”

Qu Yan looked at the man standing still. He had tied his hair low himself, which made him less intimidating. His small face was originally delicate, and now stunned, it showed a bit of innocence.

Judging by appearance alone, it would be hard for anyone to associate him with the legendary fearsome dark guard. Compared to a high ponytail and black clothes, his current appearance suited him better.

Qu Yan said with a smile, “Am I wrong?”

Qi Ying quickly came back to his senses. His gaze swept over the smiling woman in front of him, unable to tell if she truly didn’t know or was deliberately speaking this way. He simply couldn’t see through this woman.

Once, his master had also explained his name to him. He listened once and never wanted to hear it a second time.

Qi Ying, homophonous with ‘abandoned child’. The Floating Corpse Tower was always casual with naming for convenience.

But that poem just now had imprinted itself in his mind.

“Don’t think about other things, eat this first.”

After a moment of silence between the two, Qu Yan took out a paper package from her bosom, her fingertips pinching a black pill, pressing it to the man’s lips. He swallowed it without the slightest resistance, extremely obedient.

Thinking he would be angry with her, Qu Yan raised an eyebrow, “You trust me so much, aren’t you afraid I might give you some other drug?”

Qi Ying glanced at her, that hint of anger gone, he looked the same as before, cold and rigid, but Qu Yan knew that was just the surface.

“Whether I trust you or not, does it make any difference to you?”

Qu Yan nodded, agreeing deeply, “Indeed, it doesn’t.”

Qi Ying retreated back into the room, leaving her alone on the spot.

For him, regardless of who Qu Yan was or where this place was, it didn’t matter as long as the poison in his body still had value to use. At least… she had said she could make him no longer suffer, in exchange for her freedom.

Even if it was false, the worst outcome would be death. If it really came to that point, he only hoped to die quickly.

A cool breeze blew through the courtyard, bringing a rare hint of coolness. Qu Yan lowered her eyes to look at her fingertips, muttering to herself, “Quite easy to coax, next time I’ll try feeding him something else.”

This small disturbance settled back to calm.

Two days later, the strange fragrance on Qi Ying’s body disappeared. Qu Yan’s worried heart finally eased.

Qi Ying watched Qu Yan write with her brush, his nose couldn’t help but sniff again. He had never smelled that vague and elusive strange fragrance before. Later when Qu Yan brought the raw materials for him to smell, he felt the whole room was filled with this scent, impossible to get rid of.

The antidote came too easily, always giving him a dreamlike illusion. Qi Ying spoke softly, “Have the Forget Dust and Ten Days Scatter really been cured?”

Qu Yan put away her pen and paper and explained, “It will still take some time. It has been hidden in your body for too long, it can’t be completely eliminated in a day or two.” But knowing the key to suppressing the poison’s outbreak, Qi Ying no longer had to suffer.

Qu Yan picked up the ointment, Qi Ying knew what she was going to do next. He raised his hand to undo his robe, allowing her to apply the medicine conveniently. Qu Yan looked at this familiar set of clothes, while applying the medicine she asked a question.

“Why do you always wear this? Is the other set not fitting?”

As the cool ointment was applied, Qi Ying’s waist stiffened. Remembering the appearance of that set of clothes, his ears actually turned slightly red, and he answered ambiguously.

“Not used to wearing it.”

Qu Yan stared at his ears, her eyes narrowing for a moment. She didn’t rewrap his bandages as before, only loosened his clothes. The wound on his abdomen had scabbed over and would fall off in a few days.

She also loosened the wooden board on Qi Ying’s right wrist to check. Under his slightly expectant gaze, Qu Yan smiled faintly, then mercilessly put it back.

“It can be removed in half a month, but even after removing the board, you can’t lift heavy objects for a year or half.” Seeing Qi Ying nod obediently, Qu Yan sighed in her heart, “Then let’s start the medicinal bath tomorrow night.”

“Medicinal bath?” Qi Ying blinked, his eyes showing some confusion.

Qu Yan lightly hummed in agreement, “Your body is severely depleted. The medicinal bath will dispel cold and toxins, greatly benefiting your body, and can even extend your life.”

Qi Ying didn’t really understand all that medical theory. Since she said it was useful, he might as well go soak. At least during this period, he could feel those subtle changes in his body. Even the chest pain when falling asleep had eased somewhat during this time.

“Thank you.”

An extremely abrupt sound, even Qu Yan was stunned. She belatedly looked at the man sitting on the bed, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“What did you say?”

Qi Ying pressed his lips tightly, his fingertips anxiously fidgeting with the corner of the blanket. He rarely thanked others, and now that he opened his mouth, it felt somewhat awkward. He raised his head, trying hard to remain calm.

“Thank you, Doctor Qu.”

Qu Yan’s hand paused. These words made her feel uncomfortable all over. It was fine when others called her doctor, but why did it feel so strange when he called her that?

Qu Yan didn’t consider herself a kind person, and didn’t deserve his two thank yous. She saved him indeed with ulterior motives. She didn’t believe the man before her couldn’t see through it, they were both pretending to be confused while knowing clearly. So she calmly spoke to distance their relationship.

“We each take what we need, why talk about thanks?” Seeing the man quietly lower his eyes, she thought for a moment and added, “Don’t call me Doctor Qu anymore.”

“Then what should I call you?” He raised his head again, his eyes like black obsidian looking at her, clear and bright, without a trace of impurity. He always seemed so pure.

Qu Yan’s breath hitched, she looked away and just said to call her by name was fine.

“Qu Yan.”

Qi Ying murmured once, and the next moment the woman’s fingertip lightly brushed his lips, then hastily withdrew. He habitually swallowed the pill fed to his mouth, a slight sweetness spreading in his mouth, rather than the familiar bitterness.

He belatedly raised his head, the sweetness on his tongue was fading.

Qu Yan rubbed her fingertips, leaving without explanation.

As she stepped out the door, she finally lowered her eyes to look at her fingertips, a trace of inexplicable emotion flashing in her eyes. She attributed the act of feeding him a sugar pill to her own kindness acting up, he really looked pitiful.

In the private school of the valley.

Qu Yan sat at the front of the hall, holding a book scroll in her hand, with a cup of steaming clear tea beside her on the table. Below the hall sat a group of disciples with worried faces, each wishing they could crawl under the table.

Thanks to their little junior sister, the senior sister didn’t come to teach them, but instead came to test their lessons.

Ren Ling sat in a position near the front. She nervously held her book scroll, softly reciting the content she had memorized several times, still feeling uncertain.

The senior sister usually seemed kind, but when punishing people, she showed no mercy. Last year when she failed the assessment, she was locked in a small dark room to write out the entire text thirty times. Ren Ling felt uncertain on one hand, and secretly raised her head to peek on the other, but happened to meet her senior sister’s gentle eyes.

Qu Yan put down the book scroll, slightly raised her chin, “Let’s start with you.”

The hall instantly became silent. Ren Ling took a breath, put down her book scroll, and walked tremblingly to the front of Qu Yan. She closed her eyes and recited the book she had memorized over a dozen times in her mind all at once.

The questions Qu Yan asked weren’t difficult, but Ren Ling answered haltingly. Seeing her nod, the little girl’s expression of relief only seemed funny and helpless to Qu Yan. She thought she was kind enough, yet didn’t know why these disciples were so afraid of her.

She had once asked Liang Jiqian this question, and after a long silence, the latter advised her to wash the blood off her hands first.

At least Qi Ying was brave, he wouldn’t be scared when he saw her, and was easy to coax when angered. Qu Yan thought this way, put down the book scroll in her hand, and looked at the last disciple.

Xu Zong’er bit his lip, his delicate face showing some worry. He softly recited the Treatise on Miscellaneous Diseases, but got stuck during Qu Yan’s questioning. It was an extremely simple question, what medicine to use to stop bleeding quickly for knife wounds.

Xu Zong’er lowered his head, his voice as faint as a mosquito, “I… I forgot.”

Whispers came from below the hall. Qu Yan raised her eyes to sweep over, and it returned to a silence where a pin drop could be heard.

“Sneaking snacks during class, and now unable to answer such a simple prescription, have you eaten all you’ve learned?”

Qu Yan’s tone was calm, but for Xu Zong’er, a man, these words were already extremely harsh. She watched the man clench his fists, then slowly kneel before the hall.

“This disciple was playful and neglected studies, please punish me, senior sister.”

Someone drew in a cold breath, then was immediately covered up. Qu Yan’s gaze floated over vaguely, Ren Ling shuddered and took the lead in bidding farewell with the others.

The person who had gasped was released, and a group of disciples silently left the front of the hall. A weak voice sounded from the crowd. “What’s really going on between senior sister and senior brother Xu?”

Anyone could see that the atmosphere in the hall was off, but how it was off, they couldn’t say. Although their time in the valley was short, they had heard plenty of rumors about the valley.

It was said that senior sister and senior brother Xu were childhood sweethearts, thought to be a beautiful story to be passed down forever. Who knew what happened in these few years, the relationship between the two could be described as strangers.

A disciple finally couldn’t help but speak softly, her tone unable to hide the gossip, “Isn’t it said that senior sister has someone in her room now, could it be a fight between new love and old love?”

Ren Ling shuddered all over. Her wrist was still sore from copying texts, and she absolutely didn’t want to get involved in this topic. If the third or fourth senior sisters heard, they would all suffer.