Chapter 4

The Medicine Immortal Valley had many disciples and menial workers, so a dining hall was specially set up outside the disciples’ quarters, serving meals at fixed times daily. For senior sisters like Qu Yan who had duties, meals were delivered to their respective courtyards by dedicated staff, so it was rare to see them in the dining hall.

Therefore, when the disciples in the dining hall saw her, they were all somewhat shocked.

“Senior Sister, why have you come personally?”

“Prepare a bowl of white porridge and some side dishes for me,” Qu Yan looked at one of them and smiled politely.

That man had been awake for half a day and hadn’t eaten anything yet. If Ren Ling hadn’t reminded her earlier, she might have forgotten about it completely.

It was just past 3:45 pm now, not yet time to prepare dinner. The disciple on duty looked at the empty pot, his expression somewhat troubled.

“Senior Sister, the noon porridge has all been served, only a few steamed buns are left.” Seeing Qu Yan frown, she added, “It’s almost time to prepare dinner. Why don’t Senior Sister go back first, and I’ll send the porridge to you as soon as it’s ready.”

Steamed buns were too dry and hard for someone with severe injuries to eat.

Qu Yan thought for a moment, and it seemed this was the only option. She nodded, “Alright then. Starting tomorrow, send two portions of meals to my courtyard, with one being medicinal cuisine.”

Seeing the disciple nod in agreement, Qu Yan further instructed on what herbs to add to the medicinal cuisine for each meal, how many qian to add, and other details before turning to leave.

A younger disciple nearby, seeing her leave, immediately approached curiously and asked, “Aren’t patients in our valley usually handled by the Jishanshan Pharmacy? When did Senior Sister’s courtyard start taking in patients? I heard Senior Sister never does house calls.”

The slightly older one frowned and scolded, “Just focus on cooking. Why are you asking so many questions?”

This small incident went unnoticed by anyone. After finishing all this, Qu Yan returned to her own courtyard. San Hua and Wu Yun had gone off somewhere, leaving only Ah Huang affectionately greeting her.

The side room was quiet, even the arc of the open window hadn’t changed. As she had expected, he had fallen into a deep sleep after taking the medicine and hadn’t woken up yet. This also conveniently allowed her to move around.

Over these three days, Qu Yan would come to change his medicine once a day. Except for a slight reaction on the first night, he had been as if dead for the rest of the days, unaware and unfeeling, with even his breathing extremely faint. Each time she had to check his pulse to confirm he was still alive.

After several such ordeals, Qu Yan understood clearly that he wasn’t near death or weak, but was lowering his presence to the minimum, a habit ingrained from childhood.

Whether conscious or not, he would do this.

She sat by the soft couch and once again placed her fingertips on the man’s pulse. Despite it being the height of summer, his wrist was unusually cold.

Before she could make her next move, she saw the man lying flat open his eyes, staring at her without blinking. Those dark eyes showed no sign of fatigue, looking extremely clear.

Qu Yan remained composed, pressing her fingertips down slightly, inwardly sighing, “Have you been awake all along, or did you just wake up?”

Qi Ying initially wanted to withdraw his wrist, but the woman’s two fingers pressed down heavily. After a moment of silence, he said something completely unrelated.

“Drunken grass has no effect on me.”

He had recognized that familiar taste as soon as he drank that bowl of medicine. This was originally a common herb used for calming nerves and aiding sleep, with just two qian being effective for ordinary people.

But in that bowl just now, she had added at least five qian.

A flash of something unusual quickly passed through Qu Yan’s eyes, then she smiled, “I’ve never heard of someone being immune to drunken grass. How do you feel now?”

When she withdrew her hand, three reddish finger marks were left on Qi Ying’s wrist. He lowered his head, avoiding her attempt to help him up, and struggled to sit up on his own.

The moment he straightened up, Qu Yan frowned. The wound on his waist was likely to tear open again. It was truly worrisome.

“Who exactly are you, and where is this?”

Straining to face her, the man’s voice was obviously weaker than before, but he still stared at her steadily, trying to find a hint of falsehood in her expression.

“You’re asking again.” Qu Yan smiled helplessly, “Whether you believe it or not, I’m a doctor from the wilderness, and this is my home.”

Qi Ying stared into her eyes, “I’ve never seen a wilderness doctor wearing silk and using jade utensils.”

“Well, today you have.”

Qu Yan retorted, and the next moment he started coughing, as if angered, coughing so hard he couldn’t straighten up. She immediately regretted her words and quickly began patting his back.

When he stopped coughing, he clutched his chest and propped himself up. His pale lips were stained with spots of blood, a heart-wrenching sight.

“How many days have I slept?”

“Exactly three days.”

After Qu Yan told him honestly, Qi Ying lowered his gaze and supported himself with his left hand on the bed, feeling his rapid heartbeat. No wonder he woke up today, it was almost another cycle. Qi Ying remained silent for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at the woman.

“I have a chronic illness that is terrifying when it flares up. Could you please go out and close the doors and windows for me?”

His voice was still hoarse, hiding undisguisable weakness.

Qu Yan was silent for a moment, then reminded him, “Have you forgotten something? I’m a doctor.”

Of course she knew what the chronic illness was. The strange fragrance on his body was much stronger than three days ago, and an attack was likely to happen in the next few hours. But there was no need to worry, she had made preparations for this over the past few days.

“You won’t be able to diagnose it.” His tone was slightly urgent, then he closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing.

Qi Ying had suffered the torment of the Ten-Day Scatter twice before. Once was when he had just taken this drug, and the Master, to make them remember this pain, had people lock them in iron cages and watch them writhe in agony for two hours before bringing out the antidote.

The other time was when he failed a mission, and the Ten-Day Scatter nearly took half his life.

Even when he was at the peak of his martial arts skills, it was like this. Let alone now when he was no different from a cripple, there was a high chance he might not survive tonight’s torment. Qi Ying inwardly laughed bitterly. He had originally chosen a relatively easy way to die for himself, but it had all been disrupted by the woman beside him.

He should have died at the foot of the mountain.

“Woof woof, woof!”

The chaotic barking in the courtyard broke the silence. Qi Ying suddenly opened his eyes, only to see the woman beside him get up and leave. Before he could strain to hear the conversation hidden in the dog barks, he saw her enter with a basket, followed by a chestnut-colored small dog with eyes as big as grapes, carrying a meat bone in its mouth, wagging its tail and squeezing in.

“What are you coming in for?”

Qu Yan scolded in a low voice, but didn’t drive it out. She just brought a chair and placed it beside the bed, then took out the items from the basket one by one.

“No matter what illness you have, you should eat something first. You haven’t eaten for days, your body is very weak.”

The steaming white porridge was giving off heat. Qu Yan mixed in some side dishes, stirred it evenly with a spoon before scooping up a spoonful, but the man in front of her had no reaction, not even willing to open his mouth.

Qu Yan waited for a while, but saw his gaze fixed on Ah Huang gnawing on the bone at her feet. She watched for a long time but didn’t see the man look up, unable to guess what he was thinking.

“Do you want to eat its food?” Qu Yan’s tone held a hint of strangeness.

Qi Ying’s body stiffened, and he finally moved his gaze from Ah Huang gnawing on the bone.

Seeing the man look up at her, Qu Yan’s hand paused, disapprovingly saying, “You haven’t eaten for days, it’s not good to eat greasy food. It’s better to eat something easily digestible.”

Qi Ying hid his thoughts, lowering his gaze to look at the bowl of white porridge in front of him.

He could only move his left hand, so Qu Yan had intended to feed him. She waited for a while but the man didn’t open his mouth. Instead, she saw him raise his hand and take the bowl of white porridge from her.

He said softly, “I’ll do it myself.”

The bowl was very hot. Qu Yan was holding the edge of the bowl, but he seemed to feel no temperature, holding the body of the bowl with one hand, slowly putting it on the stool beside him, then using his left hand to scoop. He was sitting sideways, his movements laborious and awkward. His long, slightly yellowed hair fell down, blocking Qu Yan’s view and also attracting Ah Huang’s attention.

It hugged the bone with both paws, curious about this suddenly appearing strand of hair. So it leaned in for a sniff, and finding it inedible, went back to earnestly gnawing on the bone, completely unconcerned about the complex emotions in the eyes of the person above it.

Qu Yan blinked, deciding not to continue watching. She had some other things to deal with, and preparations to make in advance.

“If you feel unwell, just call out to me. I’ll be in the side room,” Qu Yan’s voice rang out. The man indeed paused his actions, a pair of dark eyes looking at her, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Qu Yan smiled, looking at the carefree little dog, and called out, “Ah Huang, let’s go.”

The previous words were mere courtesy. Whether he called or not, Qu Yan would come.

As the person and dog disappeared from view, Qi Ying waited for a long time before lowering his gaze, silently finishing the bowl of hot porridge.

Being able to eat a bowl of hot porridge before dying didn’t seem too bad.

The crimson sunset in the sky faded, replaced by the low-hanging night sky with stars and moon high above. Moonlight fell into the valley, accentuating the beautiful earthly scene. As the night breeze arrived, the stuffiness of the day was blown away, replaced by a refreshing coolness.

Cicadas chirped outside the window, while candle flames flickered inside.

Qu Yan put away the acupuncture bag, her usually gentle brows now somewhat stern. Her gaze swept over a row of bottles and jars on the wooden shelf behind her, finally stopping on an inconspicuous small black bottle. She lowered her gaze for a moment, ultimately grasping it in her hand.

Under the night sky, with a soft creaking of the door, she walked out carrying a medicine box. Qu Yan didn’t leave the courtyard, but sat down at the stone table. The wooden racks for drying herbs in the courtyard blocked the view, so the vista wasn’t particularly wide. She deliberately sat with her back to the courtyard gate.

The doors and windows of the main bedroom were half-closed, the candlelight inside reflected on them, dim yet warm. This was her own room. In stark contrast was the adjacent room right next to it, with its doors and windows tightly shut, the interior pitch black, even the vines hanging from the eaves covering half the window, looking completely uninhabited.

That man was lying on the soft couch in this room.

Qu Yan lowered her gaze to look at the three dogs that had come to sit around her after hearing the movement, the corner of her lips curling into a helpless smile. She wasn’t out here in the middle of the night unable to sleep and admiring the night scenery, but because the Ten-Day Scatter in his body was about to take effect. This poison usually acted at night, no later than the Hour of the Ox.

Time passed minute by minute, second by second. The three dogs couldn’t help but lie down at her feet and fall into deep sleep. The waxing moon was covered by dark clouds, and the thick sky fell into complete darkness.

At a quarter to the Hour of the Ox, Qu Yan’s fingertips, resting lightly on the stone table, moved slightly. What followed were several barks, sounding extremely abrupt in this quiet night.