Chapter 13

“Get up, I have something to ask of you.”

With only two people left in the hall, after she spoke, Xu Zong’er hesitated for a while before getting up and moving to her side, though still keeping quite a distance. “What does elder sister want me to do?”

Qu Yan pondered for a moment, and after explaining the task, she looked at the young man standing dazed in place, her eyes half-narrowed, “For knife wounds to stop bleeding, you should use Chinese foxglove and notoginseng. Remember that.”

As her cold voice rang out, Xu Zong’er suddenly looked up, seeing Qu Yan’s lips curled in an ambiguous smile. His eyes betrayed undisguised fear and trepidation. After he left in a panic, Qu Yan sighed helplessly and shook her head with a bitter smile.

The rumors in the valley were not wrong. Xu Zong’er and she had indeed been childhood sweethearts. When they were young, he loved to stick close to her everywhere, until that incident four years ago when he began to view her as a fearsome beast.

If Qi Ying knew about that incident, what would his reaction be? Qu Yan pondered idly for a while, truly feeling a hint of curiosity in her heart. He was like a broken sword – even when shattered, he still possessed such strong vitality. What kind of sight would it be when his sharp edge was fully revealed?

Though the scenery in the valley was beautiful, after looking at it for a long time, it became tasteless and dull.

When Qu Yan left the front hall, she happened to run into Wei Yu, who was wandering around. She had a blade of grass between her teeth, looking carefree and nonchalant. Seeing Qu Yan approach, her eyes darkened, and she threw something from her hand like a hidden weapon, aiming straight for the woman’s throat.

Qu Yan didn’t dodge, raising her hand to catch the incoming projectile. The next moment, she tossed the peach in her hand and looked up at Wei Yu, “Are you very free lately?”

Wei Yu jumped down from the rockery and took out another peach from her bag to nibble on. “Just stealing some leisure time from my busy schedule. The peaches on the back mountain have ripened. If we don’t pick them soon, those little brats will take them all.”

There had been some trouble with the medicine shop in Lin Prefecture, and Liang Jiqian had left a couple of days ago to deal with it. Wei Yu had been pulled out to take over her responsibilities, going around the valley all day. Seeing Qu Yan so leisurely, she felt quite depressed.

Qu Yan had no interest in peaches. She was about to throw the peach back when she noticed Wei Yu’s torn clothes and the few strands of multicolored dog hair on them. She narrowed her eyes and withdrew her hand.

A disciple passing by with a shoulder pole caught her attention. The baskets were full of peaches, pink and juicy, clearly freshly picked. Seeing Qu Yan, the disciple’s face broke into a smile, “Senior Sister, these are peaches freshly picked from the back mountain today. I’ll deliver them to your courtyard.”

Wei Yu swallowed the sweet, juicy peach flesh in her mouth and spoke ominously, “What about mine?”

She respectfully answered, “Third Senior Sister, the basket you picked has already been sent to your courtyard.”

Wei Yu gave a light snort, finally nodding in satisfaction. After finishing the peach in her hand, she reached for another only to find her pocket empty. She was about to ask Qu Yan to return the peach when she saw that Qu Yan had already walked away with the disciple.

Wei Yu stared at Qu Yan’s back, her expression inscrutable. Only after Qu Yan’s figure disappeared did she withdraw her gaze, humming a tune as she walked towards the front hall.

Qi Ying was still sitting on the stone steps, his hair tied low with the ribbon hanging in front. Perhaps it was tied a bit loose, as a few strands of hair were blown up by the wind. Those three dogs had gone off to play somewhere, leaving him alone in the courtyard, looking somewhat lonely and desolate at first glance.

His gaze met Qu Yan’s for a moment, then shifted to the person beside her who had been stealing glances, his eyes turning cold. The smile at the corners of Qu Yan’s lips deepened slightly as she looked at the young disciple beside her.

“You may leave now.”

The person beside her had already been frightened by Qi Ying’s cold gaze, and upon hearing this, left even more quickly. The fact that the Senior Sister was keeping a man in her courtyard was no longer news, and rumors always spread fast in the valley. Junior Sister Ren Ling had even seen what he looked like a few days ago.

Some curious people had asked her about the man’s appearance, but Ren Ling was young and had hardly seen any men before. How could she judge his looks? So they asked her to compare him with Xu Zong’er. Ren Ling thought about Brother Zong’er’s usually spoiled manner, then remembered that man’s quiet and reserved demeanor, and was at a loss for words.

“Do you want to eat?”

Qu Yan walked up to him, magically producing a peach from her sleeve. Qi Ying glanced at the whole basket not far away, then looked at the one in her hand.

Qu Yan added without blinking, “Mine is bigger.”

Qi Ying took the peach and said, “Thank you.”

Her smile deepened, “Since when have you been so polite to me?”

Qi Ying paused in his peach-eating, swallowing the sweet fruit flesh hastily, “Someone came today.”

Qu Yan made an “oh” sound, not seeming to care much, but seeing Qi Ying’s serious expression, she knew he was somewhat annoyed. So he didn’t like being looked at. She thought for a moment and then spoke, “Was it a woman in black clothes, with a fox-like face, staring at you intently, who was chased away by dogs before entering the courtyard?”

She had answered before Qi Ying could speak, leaving him stunned for a moment. Then he furrowed his brows, but before he could open his mouth, Qu Yan explained, “I just ran into her. She’s my junior sister, named Wei Yu. She was curious about what you look like, so she came to see. If you don’t like it, next time you see her, just glare at her. She’s most afraid of men glaring at her.”

Qu Yan’s expression was calm, showing no sign of lying, but Qi Ying’s furrowed brows still hadn’t relaxed. That woman’s martial skills were not bad; others might not have noticed, but unfortunately, she had encountered Qi Ying. Even though he had lost his martial arts, his awareness of his surroundings was still higher than others.

Qi Ying raised his eyes, his delicate face extremely serious, “Why is she curious about my appearance?”

Qu Yan sat down beside Qi Ying, her smile somewhat strange, “A lone woman and a lone man living together, what do you think?”

Qi Ying was stunned for a moment, then frowned tightly, nearly squeezing the soft peach in his hand into juice. Qu Yan looked at his hand and sincerely praised, “You’re quite strong.”

“I didn’t mean to squeeze it…”

Qi Ying looked at the innocent peach in his hand, his face showing some confusion, until Qu Yan handed over her handkerchief, “I’ve asked someone to prepare some change of clothes and items for you. They should arrive in a day or two. This time you won’t have to worry about people seeing your appearance.”

After saying the last sentence, Qu Yan raised an eyebrow, looking at his slightly reddened ears and chuckling. He stood up and shut himself back in the room.

Ever since the toxicity of the Forget Dust was suppressed, the medicine Qi Ying took daily changed from pills to a bowl of thick, black soup. When Qu Yan tasted it while brewing the medicine, she spat it out expressionlessly. In terms of bitterness, it could rank in the top three among medicines.

Qi Ying drank it down in one gulp as if it were water, without even furrowing his brows, as if he had lost his sense of taste. Instead, it was Qu Yan who frowned tightly, tossing him a porcelain bottle after he finished drinking.

It was that sweet-tasting medicine again. Qi Ying blinked, his tongue curling around the pill once before swallowing it hastily.

That evening, Qu Yan brought the man back to her own room, passing through two layers of doors. She pulled open that layer of gauze in front of the man’s astonished face.

It was a bathroom paved with jade, as large as three side bedrooms. A bath pool was built in the center of the room, currently emitting wisps of white mist, with the air filled with the scent of herbs. There was also an irregularly shaped jade bed to the side, covered with white soft fur, looking extremely luxurious.

Seeing Qi Ying dazed, Qu Yan explained seriously: “I’m rather vulgar and particularly fond of jade items, but the money for construction was all earned by myself.”

Qi Ying lowered his eyes, surprisingly starting to calculate how much silver it would take to achieve this. He had no concept of money; every time he received silver for completing a mission, he handed it all over to his master.

Qu Yan took the lead in stepping onto the jade platform. After testing the water temperature, she turned to look at the man standing rooted to the spot.

“Take off your clothes and get in to soak.”

Qi Ying’s body stiffened slightly. Even though Qu Yan had pulled the gauze back, he still undressed very slowly.

He couldn’t help but recall several years ago, when he went on his first solo mission. The employer was a wealthy merchant addicted to wine and women, whose favorite daily activity was frolicking and indulging in debauchery with several concubines in the bath. Qi Ying had guarded her for half a month, sitting on the roof listening to their spring games for half a month.

In the end, the one who made a move was her newly acquired coquettish attendant. Qi Ying’s sword had blocked the dagger he was about to stab the merchant with. He didn’t wait for Qi Ying to act, committing suicide by the side of the pool instead, his blood dyeing the entire pool red.

Two years later, when Qi Ying went on another mission and happened to revisit the place, he finally heard the truth he hadn’t known at the time – it was nothing more than a story of a profligate, extravagant rich merchant and a desperate, ill-fated young man.

That was the first time he had felt other emotions, but as a sword himself, he could barely protect himself. What right did he have to be picky about those destined to become ghosts under his blade?

Qi Ying slowly stepped into the pool. The water temperature wasn’t too high, but for him, it was already too hot. By the time the water reached his waist, small beads of sweat had started to form on his forehead. He endured the discomfort of the water temperature, intending to slowly sit down, completely unaware of the person silently approaching from behind.

The next moment, Qi Ying was pushed into the pool water, splashing water on his face. His expression changed as he turned around, but failed to catch that hand, only grabbing a handkerchief that fell on his shoulder.

“You-” He gripped the handkerchief and suddenly turned his head, the half-spoken words stuck in his throat.

Qu Yan had a white cloth covering her eyes, holding a leather bag in her hand, using another handkerchief to wipe away the water, her movements slow and deliberate, her tone equally leisurely.

“If you delay any longer, the water will get cold.”

Qi Ying had indeed taken quite a long time to enter the water, who knows what he was thinking about. Through that layer of hazy gauze, she saw him standing in the pool for a while without sitting down. The water temperature wasn’t that high to begin with, so Qu Yan simply blindfolded herself and pushed him into the water with swift movements.

Suddenly enveloped by hot water all around, Qi Ying resisted the urge to step out of the bath, his palm pressed against the edge of the pool as he took a deep breath.

Hearing his restrained voice, Qu Yan picked up a silver needle and casually asked, “This water temperature isn’t high, what temperature water did you use to bathe before?”

The person in the pool was silent for a while, only uttering two words, “Lake water.”

Now it was Qu Yan’s turn to be silent. She tactfully didn’t continue the conversation, only lifting the man’s wet black hair, her fingertips touching his shoulder and moving inch by inch. After confirming a certain acupoint, the silver needle in her hand finally fell.

The needle didn’t hurt, but the feeling of the woman’s fingertips touching him was too strange. Qi Ying’s whole body broke out in goosebumps, and he finally couldn’t help but move his body forward a bit.

Qu Yan lost the tactile sensation under her hand, pausing her movements and quietly waiting for him to speak.

“…I don’t mind, you can take it off.”

Either way, she had seen him before. He felt his body wasn’t attractive, and Qu Yan should have no interest in it.

At least being seen wouldn’t give him the strange feeling of being touched by her. Qi Ying lowered his head, his hair covering his flushed cheeks, perhaps from the hot water, or perhaps because of Qu Yan.