Chapter 6

Although Ten-Day Scatter was made by her own hands, she had not left the valley for several years and had no idea how this poison had spread in the jianghua. This poison was only distributed in two batches back then, both held in the hands of sect leaders.

Qi Ying certainly knew she was a doctor, but ordinary doctors couldn’t possibly know about this poison, let alone discover it on him. He quietly looked at the woman in front of him. As a qualified dark guard, one course he had learned since childhood was to observe expressions, understand the meaning of each expression of the employer, and appear at the right time. But after looking for a while, he still couldn’t see through what the woman in front of him was thinking.

Qu Yan let out a light laugh, which seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet night, as if her thoughts had been seen through. Qi Ying lowered his eyes to conceal his emotions, his left hand pressed on the quilt clenched and relaxed, repeating this seven or eight times.

“I believe you,” he said very softly, as if hiding some emotion.

Qu Yan’s lips curled up again in that faint smile, “I’ve saved you twice, you owe me two lives. After I completely remove the Ten-Day Scatter from your body, can it count as three times?”

“Ten-Day Scatter?” Qi Ying thought he had misheard. After murmuring and repeating, he suddenly turned to look at her, his eyes not even daring to blink. “You can cure the Ten-Day Scatter poison?”

Qu Yan choked in her throat, realizing that he hadn’t heard a word she had whispered in his ear earlier. She had to nod and say again, “Yes, I can not only cure Ten-Day Scatter, but also other poisons.”

Now it was his turn to be stunned, staring straight at Qu Yan, his eyes showing complex changes. Back then, the tower master told them that once Ten-Day Scatter was taken, there was no cure, only relying on the antidote every ten days to continue. Why did she say she could cure the Ten-Day Scatter poison?

Seeing him staring at her, Qu Yan didn’t plan to waste time with him. She pushed aside his hand pressing on the quilt, “Stop daydreaming, let me look at your wound, has it opened again?”

The quilt was lightly lifted, and Qu Yan looked at the blood-soaked area on his abdomen, her expression immediately sinking.

“Do you really not feel pain?”

Qi Ying could hear that she was angry, although he didn’t know what there was to be angry about, he just habitually remained silent.

This time, Qu Yan didn’t take off his clothes, but rolled them up from the hem, only exposing the torn old wound on his right abdomen. The blood-soaked bandage was removed, and after applying new medicine, it was bandaged again. While doing all this, Qi Ying didn’t resist at all, just leaned there letting her manipulate him.

It wasn’t that Qi Ying didn’t want to move, but his whole body had long been in too much pain to have any strength. Being able to sit and talk with her was already his limit. Now being tossed about like this, the old wound in his abdomen throbbed with pain, he just wanted to close his eyes and rest in exhaustion.

Qu Yan tied the bandage in her hand and looked at the blood on her fingertips, saying, “I thought you wouldn’t be able to endure, but I underestimated you.” She glanced at the man who was forcibly suppressing his fatigue, implying, “You really are no ordinary person, truly don’t feel pain.”

Qi Ying’s breathing became heavier, “What’s your name?”

“Me?” Qu Yan raised an eyebrow, “My name is Qu Yan. Give and take, Young Master Qi, what should I call you?”

He had never heard this name before, nor was there a Qu surname among the employers he had contacted. Qi Ying suppressed his thoughts, lowered his eyes to look at the ground, and softly uttered two words.

“Qi Ying.”

“Qi Ying…” Qu Yan lightly repeated, then smiled and said, “Nice name.”

In his twenty years of life, it was the first time someone had said this name was good. A trace of self-mockery flashed through Qi Ying’s eyes, his voice slightly hoarse, “Why exactly did you save me?”

“I am a doctor, hanging my gourd to help the world, there’s no reason to watch someone die without helping.”

Qi Ying looked more tired than before, his face pale, as if he would faint at any moment, but Qu Yan knew how determined his will was. If he didn’t ask what he wanted to ask, he wouldn’t allow himself to fall asleep.

Sure enough, the next moment he spoke, “Is that all?”

Qu Yan looked at his appearance, the corners of her lips neither smiling nor not smiling, “Of course not, it’s my first time seeing someone carrying multiple poisons and still so lucky to be alive. If you were to die in front of me, where would I find another like you?”

She lifted the man’s chin, her eyes gazing at him, her words seeming to coax, “Don’t always think about seeking death, stay alive here with me, and I’ll guarantee you health and worry-free, living to a ripe old age.”

He turned his head away, neither saying yes nor no.

This silence ended with Qi Ying falling asleep. Qu Yan put away the silver needles, sighing that these things were still effective, one prick and he fainted, truly efficient.

The person had fallen asleep, but now Qu Yan was in a dilemma.

In the candlelight, the couch could only be described as a mess. Not only were the brocade quilt and bedding stained with blood, but most troublesome were his clothes, which felt cold and damp to the touch.

Qu Yan sighed, she removed the dirty clothes from the man’s body, took off her outer robe to wrap him in, and then carried him back to her own room, with great foresight finding a set of her own clothes to put on him.

It didn’t fit well, but at least it covered him.

After all this tossing about, it was nearly dawn. Qu Yan hadn’t slept all night, half-squinting her eyes to look at the courtyard. A heavy fog had risen in the valley, with such misty fog, it would probably rain soon. Thinking of the large patch of herbs drying on the back mountain, she frowned and stepped out of the courtyard.

The back mountain was quite close to Qu Yan’s courtyard, so it didn’t take long to get there. Liang Jiqian saw the blurry figure from afar, but because the fog was thick today, visibility was limited, and she didn’t dare to call out rashly. If she mistook the person, it would be embarrassing. It wasn’t until the figures of those three dog beasts appeared that she confidently went to meet her.

Qu Yan stopped, seeing dozens of disciples on the back mountain wearing straw rain capes, orderly picking up the herbs from the ground. Her heart finally relaxed from what it had been worried about.

Liang Jiqian held an oiled paper umbrella, deliberately avoiding Ah Huang to stand beside her, her tone curious: “Senior Sister, why are you also coming to the back mountain before dawn?”

“I sensed the fog and came to check the situation.” Qu Yan glanced at her, “Did you tell them to come collect the herbs?”

Liang Jiqian’s smile froze, rather embarrassed as she said: “No, it was Senior Sister Wei who noticed the fog in the middle of the night, guessed the weather would be bad, and called people to collect the herbs.”

The Senior Sister Wei she mentioned was named Wei Yu, who according to order was Medicine Immortal’s third disciple, and also the third senior sister in the valley. At this moment, she was also holding a paper umbrella walking to Qu Yan’s side. She had somewhat of a fox-like appearance, her tone casual and lazy.

“Senior Sister has come out of seclusion, I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you yet.”

Qu Yan knew her personality, these pleasantries were all superficial, “Don’t bother with these, why aren’t you sleeping in the middle of the night too?”

Wei Yu blinked, a hint of craftiness flashing through her eyes, “Besides me, who else doesn’t sleep at night, could it be Senior Sister you?” Seeing Qu Yan glance at her, Wei Yu finally restrained her expression, sighing rather sorrowfully.

“It’s all because of Xu Zong’er. Because I took away his snacks in class yesterday, he got angry and has it in for me. Senior Sister, if you run into him, remember to help me coax him.”

Liang Jiqian laughed inappropriately on the side. Seeing both of them look at her, she just rubbed her nose, looking straight ahead as she walked to the side, directing them how to arrange those herbs as she went.

The fog in the sky sank down, transforming into misty rain falling on their bodies. Seeing that Qu Yan had nothing in her hands, Wei Yu put her own umbrella over her, her gaze pausing for a moment as it swept over a certain spot on her clothes hem. After a while, she finally spoke softly.

“I heard that Senior Sister is keeping a patient in her courtyard, it should be a man, right?”

Wei Yu’s lips hung with an ambiguous smile, which immediately turned very innocent when Qu Yan looked at her, “Senior Sister, don’t look at me like that, I’m just guessing. Blood stains on your clothes hem, and such a fragrance on your body, if it wasn’t from tending to someone all night how could it be like this, it’s hard for me not to think crooked.”

Qu Yan had taken care of Qi Ying half the night, inevitably getting some blood stains on her body. She had left in a hurry and hadn’t changed her clothes, but Wei Yu had spotted it at a glance. Doctors were most used to seeing blood, so she didn’t think there was anything to it.

However, she was surprised that Wei Yu could also smell that strange fragrance. She had been with Qi Ying all night and was already used to the scent, but now after being out for so long, that smell still hadn’t dissipated.

Qu Yan let out an “oh”, her gaze still looking at the busy disciples in the distance, saying indifferently: “How fragrant is it?”

Wei Yu seemed to be trying hard to describe it. She frowned for a while, staring at Qu Yan seriously and said: “Just about the level that would annoy Xu Zong’er if he smelled it.”

Instead of saying how fragrant it was, she used Xu Zong’er to describe it. Qu Yan looked at her with a half-smile, and Wei Yu lowered her eyes, hiding the emotions unknown to others within.

Qu Yan didn’t answer again, just stood for a while, watching as the herbs on the back mountain had been collected seven or eight tenths, with only a few people left gathering the winnowing baskets and fine cloths on the ground. Liang Jiqian had somehow gotten a bamboo umbrella from somewhere and brought it to her.

“The rain is getting heavier, Senior Sister should go back early.”

“Thank you.”

Qu Yan took the bamboo umbrella and turned to leave. The cold wind carrying fine rain hit her face, causing a chill to rise on her body. She left the back mountain but didn’t return to her own courtyard, instead walking towards the disciples’ quarters, finally stopping outside a small courtyard.

Just now with Wei Yu’s interruption, Qu Yan had remembered another matter. After all, Qi Ying was a man, he couldn’t always wear her ill-fitting clothes. Fortunately, not everyone in the valley was female.

Currently there were very few male disciples in the valley, and only Xu Zong’er had formally become a disciple, so his living quarters were also set apart, with only him living there.

Xu Zong’er held an umbrella in one hand and opened the courtyard gate with the other, shouting “Who is it?”, but when he saw Qu Yan’s cool and clear face, he immediately fell silent and stopped, even lowering his eyes not daring to look at her directly, his voice much quieter than before.

“…Why has Big Senior Sister come?”

Qu Yan didn’t enter the courtyard, just stood at the side of the door and said: “Find me two sets of new clothes, you can buy more next time you leave the valley.”

Xu Zong’er was stunned when he heard this, seeming not to have reacted. Qu Yan wasn’t in a hurry either, just standing at the door waiting. Xu Zong’er was the only male in the valley close to Qi Ying’s age and build, otherwise Qu Yan wouldn’t have come to him.

After Xu Zong’er came to his senses, he quickly nodded and turned to run into the room, still responding “Okay”. In less than half a moment, he came out hugging a large bundle of clothes, carefully placing them on the clean table and chairs under the eaves, then separating the clothes one by one before explaining.

“These are all new clothes, I haven’t worn them.”

Qu Yan looked at the colorful clothes in front of her, the smile at the corners of her lips freezing for a rare moment. She ignored those too gaudy colors, only picking two sets that looked simpler.

“You can report the silver to the accounting room.”

Qu Yan put away the clothes, and Xu Zong’er’s gaze followed. He wanted to speak up to stop her, but seeing that Big Senior Sister had already taken them, he could only suppress his thoughts and carefully nod.

Before Qu Yan turned to leave, Xu Zong’er still couldn’t help it. He looked at his senior sister with extreme conflict, finally lowering his head and saying softly: “Senior Sister can rest assured, I won’t tell others.”

Just then, several disciples going to attend classes passed by. They curiously peeked and looked, but after seeing clearly that it was Big Senior Sister and Xu Zong’er, they quickly shrank back in fear, running away faster than anyone.

Qu Yan frowned slightly, her gaze returning from the distance, then looking at Xu Zong’er who was standing in front of her with his head lowered and not speaking. She only threw out one sentence before turning to leave.

“As you wish.”

The scene of the two of them standing face to face just now, in the eyes of others, would be Xu Zong’er being shy about meeting her, who knows what kind of fabrications they would come up with.

Only Qu Yan knew that Xu Zong’er was not shy of her, but afraid of her.