When their group returned to the clinic, they heard that Yang ChengWan had just regained consciousness. As Xie Xiao heard this, he was relieved, but since he wasn’t used to having health discussions, nor did he want to bother Yang ChengWan who was too sick to receive guests, therefore he asked YangYue to say hello and he hurried home…
Stepping into the room, YangYue and Jinxia looked at each other for a moment; their mutual understanding for the situation at Taohualin Forest was that, for the time being, they will not tell anything to Yang ChengWan, so that he could focus on recovering.
“Father, quickly drink the medicine.”
YangYue carefully supported his father to sit up and Jinxia took the medicine that had been prepared by the medicine boy.
Although he had surpassed the process of bones connecting and his energy was drained, Yang ChengWan’s eyes remained sharp. Only by looking at Jinxia, he worried and asked, “Xia’Er, your face doesn’t look good, did something happen?”
“Ah…Uh…” Jinxia muttered, then lying, “I don’t know how it happened, my horse disappeared… I have searched everywhere but I could not find it.”
That seemed to be the reason. Yang ChengWan understood her personality well, especially anything related to money… That would be a big problem that would shake the sky, and he could only let out a sigh, “The horses are imprinted by the official family, people would not dare to hide them. You can look for it at ease.”
“I’ve also said the same thing.” YangYue took a bowl of medicine from Jinxia, participating in the conversation, “I asked Doctor Shen, he said this bone process was successful. For a few days, we have to stay here in the back room to recover, so that it will be easier to receive treatment at any time, then next…”
Yang ChengWan knew his place: he was just a small head constable, and being able to receive a service like this… It was obvious that Lu Yi had given the clinic money, hence he said slowly, “Where is Lu Daren?”
Jinxia was stunned, then remembered Lu Yi, “I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention to him. Before, he was still here…”
“You guys,” Yang ChengWan paused for a moment, then said something, “You have to be careful, act according to the rules, don’t let anyone catch any mistakes.”
Did he mean Lu Yi? YangYue surprisingly said, “All this time, he seemed to be very sincere in treating your legs. As long as he does not cross the line, I think we would not have the intention to trouble him either.”
Yang Chengwan sighed and said something unclear to his two disciples, “He is sincere, sure, but for some reason… Since when has JinYiWei ever been at loss in their trades?”
Is the Master saying he has an ulterior motive?
Even though the boss’s legs had healed, he was still a lowly head constable, with Lu Bing’s ability to be able to summon wind and rain, what could he possibly do to him?
Jinxia didn’t understand, YangYue didn’t continue talking either.
After waiting for his father to take his medicine, he laid his father down on the bed. YangYue had to take care of his father, and stay there at the clinic. It was inconvenient for Jinxia to sleep there though, so she returned to the post station.
“Remember to take this.” YangYue gave her the Qian Hodan bottle.
“I’m alright.”
“There is still a lot of poison left in your body, take it properly.”
Jinxia couldn’t help but accept it.
“These pills cost one tael of silver, don’t you waste it!” YangYue was afraid she wouldn’t use it, so he pushed the medicine into her palm.
Jinxia was surprised, “So expensive! How can we eat this? We better return it, can we return it or not?”
YangYue was speechless,“I say, Master Xia, are lives more important or is money more important? This item cannot be returned anymore, if you don’t use it, a tael of silver is spent for nothing.”
“I know.”
There was no other choice, Jinxia had to keep the bottle in her pocket.
***
The night was pitch black, there were no stars or moon, nor were there any wind or rain.
Jinxia was laying on the bed in the post station, not sleepy at all. In her mind, a lot of events had happened in the past few days: one by one, the scenes alternately appeared in her mind, not knowing whether it was true that in her body there was still poison of miasma. She was furious because she couldn’t figure anything out, so she got up again, took out the Qian Hodan pill and swallowed it. Afraid that she won’t be able to withstand the heat, she poured a glass of water then drank it little by little.
This pill was completely different from the earlier one she had taken. When it entered her mouth, it felt cold, a little fragrant and by adding in a bit of water, it tasted good and refreshing.
If so, what exactly did she eat before? Who fed it to her?
Jinxia became more confused, she dragged her feet back to bed. She did not know how long it had been but she vaguely heard the sound of the gong ringing twice, then she fell asleep…
In her half-asleep state, her body seemed to be in an unfamiliar yet familiar place. Under the bright light coming from the lanterns, people were holding each other’s shoulders and scratching their feet. Everywhere, there were loud laughters, as if they were celebrating a festival. She examined her surroundings with a blank expression, not seeing a single face she knew. She was surrounded by colourful lanterns, but she suddenly felt alone.
Then she was running, looking for something, even wondering what she was looking for…
Her body fell down abruptly into a river, the waves were swaying, the sound of water bubbling. A colourful cruise ship was seen, there was the sound of a zither, a slim and witty young girl appeared in the corner of her eyes. When the ship passed in front of her, she saw a man and a woman hugging each other.
The woman turned her head in a slow motion and faced Jinxia, smiling enchantingly, her face blushed like a peach blossom, her eyebrows were bushy like a willow tree: it was Zhai Lanye.
Just when Jinxia was about to open her mouth, she saw the man had also turned his head and it was YangYue. He chuckled and his eyes, ears, mouth and nose flowed out of blood, more, more, and more while he was grimacing and smiling.
“Ah!”
Jinxia shouted, woke up and sat on the bed, finally snapping out of her dream. Outside, there was thunder, the lightning made the room look deadly pale. She just remembered today was indeed ‘Insect Awakening Day’, lightning would appear from under the ground, awakening all living things.
She got up and felt the edge of the table. She was about to light a candle but couldn’t find the flint. While moving her hands and nudging the porcelain glass, her drink fell to the floor, breaking and making a loud sound.
She didn’t have enough time to sigh, because she was still half-asleep. There was a loud bang, the door was kicked open and someone forced themselves inside.
On her body she was wearing only one layer of clothing and, in her hand, there weren’t any items that could be used as a weapon. She quickly stretched out her hand for the teapot and without thinking and not caring of it being smashed, she swung her hand up…
“Miss Yuan!” the man exclaimed.
The voice was rather familiar, the movement of her hand stopped in thin air. Outside, the lighting struck and lit up her room: the man’s face was handsome and elegant: it was Lu Yi. His black hair was down, his outer robe was half-covering his body and he was clearly coming in a hurry.
“Lu Daren?!”
Lu Yi’s body was all tense, but seeing her completely unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief, and unhappy looked at the teapot in her hand, “Is this any way to welcome a guest?”
Jinxia held the teapot, nervously looking at the half-broken door, “You don’t look like a guest.”
“I heard a scream earlier coming from this room,” He wasn’t used to explaining to others, “There was a sound of a broken cup, I thought there was a fight here.”
She couldn’t think of any excuses, so Jinxia said in honesty, “I had a nightmare, I got up and wanted to turn on the light and accidentally knocked the cup over. Daren, you have great powers, your hearing in particular… The distance is so far yet you could still hear it.” His room was quite far away, in addition there was the sound of thunder and lightning. From her heart came a feeling of admiration.
Lu Yi snorted coldly, not knowing whether he looked down on the praise or the reason for her screams.
The sound of thunder continued to rumble, similar to something heavy rolling on the roof of the room. At last, Jinxia found a flint, lit up the lamp, saw the broken glass on the floor and sighed. Then she tore a piece of cloth and collected all the fragments, wrapped it, and threw it in the corner of the room. After she finished, she turned around and saw that Lu Yi was still there, even seated, the outer robe that had been half-covered had been readjusted neatly, his black hair still flowing.
Since he didn’t leave, Jinxia also felt uneasy to ignore him, so she poured a cup of tea and gave it to him, “Daren, please drink tea.”
Lu Yi didn’t bother touching the cup, his eyebrows raised a little.
Seeing the expression on the face of this JinYiWei Daren, Jinxia was about to guess roughly what he was thinking. She looked at him and apologized, “I know the tea is cold, but at midnight like this, I also don’t know where to heat the water. Daren, you are a big hearted person, just endure it for now.” She was also very thirsty, so she poured herself a glass and drank it.
His slender fingers were stroking the cup with slowness. Lu Yi did not explain why he hadn’t left yet. After all, JinYiWei never needed to explain themselves. He seemed to be a little unfocused, and said to her, “Talk about your dreams.”
“It’s nothing, it’s just an ordinary nightmare.” Jinxia didn’t want to tell him, so she made up a story, “I was being chased by a dog, being bitten by a snake, something like that.”
Lu Yi raised his head and looked at her, slowly saying, “I heard you went to Taohualin Forest today, which is located out the west gate of the city.”
Jinxia was stunned, she didn’t think about where he heard it from, and how much he knew, she could only respond to the situation.
“Your life is big, still not dead?”
Her eyes rolled, she stiffened and her back tightened. She watched him, saying in a deep voice, “I’m not dead. Is Daren disappointed?”
Hearing her words, Lu Yi was a little surprised. He looked at her and noticed her attitude. In an angry tone he said, “You think I want to kill you? I’m not saying nonsense, but if I really wanted to kill you, there are more than thirty-six ways I can make you quietly disappear. Do you think you would still be here if it weren’t for me?”
Jinxia understood JinYiWei’s working style really well. In all honesty, she couldn’t think of any reason why Lu Yi would want to kill her, of course she also had never heard of JinYiWei needing a reason to kill people.
Therefore, it was better for her to remain quiet and not make any sounds.
Perhaps because he was lazy to argue with her, Lu Yi continued to ask her, “What did you find in the Taohualin Forest?”
“A man and a woman, hugging each other… cough, they both were wearing clothes.” Fearing Lu Yi would misunderstand, she quickly added, “The woman was dead, I didn’t know her, and before I could see the man’s face, I fell unconscious. Then someone put a pill in my mouth, told me to bite, then swallow it. Afterward, that same someone carried me out of the forest, but I didn’t get to see his face either. Finally, Xie Xiao came and carried me down from the mountain. Come to think of it, I still owe him a favour.”
Lu Yi snorted again, then furrowed his eyebrows: “You sure they were a man and a woman? Is it possible you were hallucinating due to the poison?”
Jinxia paused and thought about it. In her memory, the couple was strange and confusing, it did look like a hallucination, but the image was so clear.
“I, I don’t know.” she said, “I dreamed that the man turned around and it was Da Yang, his face was covered with blood.”
Lu Yi looked at her with attention. After a while, he said, “You think that person wants to kill YangYue?”
“A person came to invite Da Yang, but since he couldn’t leave, I went instead.”
“This person knew to go to the clinic to look for YangYue, he should know that Yang ChengWan was getting his leg treated. His father was taking medication, he certainly couldn’t leave the place, while you could go instead.”
Jinxia furrowed her eyebrows and said, “That is likely, but why didn’t he just look for me from the beginning?”
“Maybe you know him, and YangYue doesn’t know him, he was afraid that he might be suspicious, and wanted to deliberately make you unaware…” Lu Yi narrowed his eyes and glanced at her, his tone was not pleasant, “After all, you’re an official, are there any reasons you could think of? Or maybe, you’re too unfocused to notice?”
Perhaps because there were too many doubts of suspicion in this case, she became flustered. Jinxia straightened her neck, “Daren, you are very good to Yang ChengWan, surely you don’t want anything to happen to Da Yang.”
Lu Yi slowly took a sip of the cold tea, and then said: “Luck and longevity are decided by heaven, if YangYue had a misfortune while on duties, the most I could do is to support his family with a payment, let him enjoy his life.”
“……”
Jinxia was stunned, she blinked her eyes a few times, and continued to blink them a few more times. On her face, a smile appeared and it didn’t seem to line up with their current conversation. “Daren, if I…I mean… I’m also unlucky while doing my duties, could you make me enjoy…. Ha ha… That… Official salary?”
Lu Yi stood up in silence.
“Daren! Daren! Don’t go yet, we should talk a little more… I will go to heat up the water to make tea, do you agree…”
Despite her trying to get his attention, Lu Yi pretended not to hear her and immediately left the place.
When their group returned to the clinic, they heard that Yang ChengWan had just regained consciousness. As Xie Xiao heard this, he was relieved, but since he wasn’t used to having health discussions, nor did he want to bother Yang ChengWan who was too sick to receive guests, therefore he asked YangYue to say hello and he hurried home…
Stepping into the room, YangYue and Jinxia looked at each other for a moment; their mutual understanding for the situation at Taohualin Forest was that, for the time being, they will not tell anything to Yang ChengWan, so that he could focus on recovering.
“Father, quickly drink the medicine.”
YangYue carefully supported his father to sit up and Jinxia took the medicine that had been prepared by the medicine boy.
Although he had surpassed the process of bones connecting and his energy was drained, Yang ChengWan’s eyes remained sharp. Only by looking at Jinxia, he worried and asked, “Xia’Er, your face doesn’t look good, did something happen?”
“Ah…Uh…” Jinxia muttered, then lying, “I don’t know how it happened, my horse disappeared… I have searched everywhere but I could not find it.”
That seemed to be the reason. Yang ChengWan understood her personality well, especially anything related to money… That would be a big problem that would shake the sky, and he could only let out a sigh, “The horses are imprinted by the official family, people would not dare to hide them. You can look for it at ease.”
“I’ve also said the same thing.” YangYue took a bowl of medicine from Jinxia, participating in the conversation, “I asked Doctor Shen, he said this bone process was successful. For a few days, we have to stay here in the back room to recover, so that it will be easier to receive treatment at any time, then next…”
Yang ChengWan knew his place: he was just a small head constable, and being able to receive a service like this… It was obvious that Lu Yi had given the clinic money, hence he said slowly, “Where is Lu Daren?”
Jinxia was stunned, then remembered Lu Yi, “I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention to him. Before, he was still here…”
“You guys,” Yang ChengWan paused for a moment, then said something, “You have to be careful, act according to the rules, don’t let anyone catch any mistakes.”
Did he mean Lu Yi? YangYue surprisingly said, “All this time, he seemed to be very sincere in treating your legs. As long as he does not cross the line, I think we would not have the intention to trouble him either.”
Yang Chengwan sighed and said something unclear to his two disciples, “He is sincere, sure, but for some reason… Since when has JinYiWei ever been at loss in their trades?”
Is the Master saying he has an ulterior motive?
Even though the boss’s legs had healed, he was still a lowly head constable, with Lu Bing’s ability to be able to summon wind and rain, what could he possibly do to him?
Jinxia didn’t understand, YangYue didn’t continue talking either.
After waiting for his father to take his medicine, he laid his father down on the bed. YangYue had to take care of his father, and stay there at the clinic. It was inconvenient for Jinxia to sleep there though, so she returned to the post station.
“Remember to take this.” YangYue gave her the Qian Hodan bottle.
“I’m alright.”
“There is still a lot of poison left in your body, take it properly.”
Jinxia couldn’t help but accept it.
“These pills cost one tael of silver, don’t you waste it!” YangYue was afraid she wouldn’t use it, so he pushed the medicine into her palm.
Jinxia was surprised, “So expensive! How can we eat this? We better return it, can we return it or not?”
YangYue was speechless,“I say, Master Xia, are lives more important or is money more important? This item cannot be returned anymore, if you don’t use it, a tael of silver is spent for nothing.”
“I know.”
There was no other choice, Jinxia had to keep the bottle in her pocket.
***
The night was pitch black, there were no stars or moon, nor were there any wind or rain.
Jinxia was laying on the bed in the post station, not sleepy at all. In her mind, a lot of events had happened in the past few days: one by one, the scenes alternately appeared in her mind, not knowing whether it was true that in her body there was still poison of miasma. She was furious because she couldn’t figure anything out, so she got up again, took out the Qian Hodan pill and swallowed it. Afraid that she won’t be able to withstand the heat, she poured a glass of water then drank it little by little.
This pill was completely different from the earlier one she had taken. When it entered her mouth, it felt cold, a little fragrant and by adding in a bit of water, it tasted good and refreshing.
If so, what exactly did she eat before? Who fed it to her?
Jinxia became more confused, she dragged her feet back to bed. She did not know how long it had been but she vaguely heard the sound of the gong ringing twice, then she fell asleep…
In her half-asleep state, her body seemed to be in an unfamiliar yet familiar place. Under the bright light coming from the lanterns, people were holding each other’s shoulders and scratching their feet. Everywhere, there were loud laughters, as if they were celebrating a festival. She examined her surroundings with a blank expression, not seeing a single face she knew. She was surrounded by colourful lanterns, but she suddenly felt alone.
Then she was running, looking for something, even wondering what she was looking for…
Her body fell down abruptly into a river, the waves were swaying, the sound of water bubbling. A colourful cruise ship was seen, there was the sound of a zither, a slim and witty young girl appeared in the corner of her eyes. When the ship passed in front of her, she saw a man and a woman hugging each other.
The woman turned her head in a slow motion and faced Jinxia, smiling enchantingly, her face blushed like a peach blossom, her eyebrows were bushy like a willow tree: it was Zhai Lanye.
Just when Jinxia was about to open her mouth, she saw the man had also turned his head and it was YangYue. He chuckled and his eyes, ears, mouth and nose flowed out of blood, more, more, and more while he was grimacing and smiling.
“Ah!”
Jinxia shouted, woke up and sat on the bed, finally snapping out of her dream. Outside, there was thunder, the lightning made the room look deadly pale. She just remembered today was indeed ‘Insect Awakening Day’, lightning would appear from under the ground, awakening all living things.
She got up and felt the edge of the table. She was about to light a candle but couldn’t find the flint. While moving her hands and nudging the porcelain glass, her drink fell to the floor, breaking and making a loud sound.
She didn’t have enough time to sigh, because she was still half-asleep. There was a loud bang, the door was kicked open and someone forced themselves inside.
On her body she was wearing only one layer of clothing and, in her hand, there weren’t any items that could be used as a weapon. She quickly stretched out her hand for the teapot and without thinking and not caring of it being smashed, she swung her hand up…
“Miss Yuan!” the man exclaimed.
The voice was rather familiar, the movement of her hand stopped in thin air. Outside, the lighting struck and lit up her room: the man’s face was handsome and elegant: it was Lu Yi. His black hair was down, his outer robe was half-covering his body and he was clearly coming in a hurry.
“Lu Daren?!”
Lu Yi’s body was all tense, but seeing her completely unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief, and unhappy looked at the teapot in her hand, “Is this any way to welcome a guest?”
Jinxia held the teapot, nervously looking at the half-broken door, “You don’t look like a guest.”
“I heard a scream earlier coming from this room,” He wasn’t used to explaining to others, “There was a sound of a broken cup, I thought there was a fight here.”
She couldn’t think of any excuses, so Jinxia said in honesty, “I had a nightmare, I got up and wanted to turn on the light and accidentally knocked the cup over. Daren, you have great powers, your hearing in particular… The distance is so far yet you could still hear it.” His room was quite far away, in addition there was the sound of thunder and lightning. From her heart came a feeling of admiration.
Lu Yi snorted coldly, not knowing whether he looked down on the praise or the reason for her screams.
The sound of thunder continued to rumble, similar to something heavy rolling on the roof of the room. At last, Jinxia found a flint, lit up the lamp, saw the broken glass on the floor and sighed. Then she tore a piece of cloth and collected all the fragments, wrapped it, and threw it in the corner of the room. After she finished, she turned around and saw that Lu Yi was still there, even seated, the outer robe that had been half-covered had been readjusted neatly, his black hair still flowing.
Since he didn’t leave, Jinxia also felt uneasy to ignore him, so she poured a cup of tea and gave it to him, “Daren, please drink tea.”
Lu Yi didn’t bother touching the cup, his eyebrows raised a little.
Seeing the expression on the face of this JinYiWei Daren, Jinxia was about to guess roughly what he was thinking. She looked at him and apologized, “I know the tea is cold, but at midnight like this, I also don’t know where to heat the water. Daren, you are a big hearted person, just endure it for now.” She was also very thirsty, so she poured herself a glass and drank it.
His slender fingers were stroking the cup with slowness. Lu Yi did not explain why he hadn’t left yet. After all, JinYiWei never needed to explain themselves. He seemed to be a little unfocused, and said to her, “Talk about your dreams.”
“It’s nothing, it’s just an ordinary nightmare.” Jinxia didn’t want to tell him, so she made up a story, “I was being chased by a dog, being bitten by a snake, something like that.”
Lu Yi raised his head and looked at her, slowly saying, “I heard you went to Taohualin Forest today, which is located out the west gate of the city.”
Jinxia was stunned, she didn’t think about where he heard it from, and how much he knew, she could only respond to the situation.
“Your life is big, still not dead?”
Her eyes rolled, she stiffened and her back tightened. She watched him, saying in a deep voice, “I’m not dead. Is Daren disappointed?”
Hearing her words, Lu Yi was a little surprised. He looked at her and noticed her attitude. In an angry tone he said, “You think I want to kill you? I’m not saying nonsense, but if I really wanted to kill you, there are more than thirty-six ways I can make you quietly disappear. Do you think you would still be here if it weren’t for me?”
Jinxia understood JinYiWei’s working style really well. In all honesty, she couldn’t think of any reason why Lu Yi would want to kill her, of course she also had never heard of JinYiWei needing a reason to kill people.
Therefore, it was better for her to remain quiet and not make any sounds.
Perhaps because he was lazy to argue with her, Lu Yi continued to ask her, “What did you find in the Taohualin Forest?”
“A man and a woman, hugging each other… cough, they both were wearing clothes.” Fearing Lu Yi would misunderstand, she quickly added, “The woman was dead, I didn’t know her, and before I could see the man’s face, I fell unconscious. Then someone put a pill in my mouth, told me to bite, then swallow it. Afterward, that same someone carried me out of the forest, but I didn’t get to see his face either. Finally, Xie Xiao came and carried me down from the mountain. Come to think of it, I still owe him a favour.”
Lu Yi snorted again, then furrowed his eyebrows: “You sure they were a man and a woman? Is it possible you were hallucinating due to the poison?”
Jinxia paused and thought about it. In her memory, the couple was strange and confusing, it did look like a hallucination, but the image was so clear.
“I, I don’t know.” she said, “I dreamed that the man turned around and it was Da Yang, his face was covered with blood.”
Lu Yi looked at her with attention. After a while, he said, “You think that person wants to kill YangYue?”
“A person came to invite Da Yang, but since he couldn’t leave, I went instead.”
“This person knew to go to the clinic to look for YangYue, he should know that Yang ChengWan was getting his leg treated. His father was taking medication, he certainly couldn’t leave the place, while you could go instead.”
Jinxia furrowed her eyebrows and said, “That is likely, but why didn’t he just look for me from the beginning?”
“Maybe you know him, and YangYue doesn’t know him, he was afraid that he might be suspicious, and wanted to deliberately make you unaware…” Lu Yi narrowed his eyes and glanced at her, his tone was not pleasant, “After all, you’re an official, are there any reasons you could think of? Or maybe, you’re too unfocused to notice?”
Perhaps because there were too many doubts of suspicion in this case, she became flustered. Jinxia straightened her neck, “Daren, you are very good to Yang ChengWan, surely you don’t want anything to happen to Da Yang.”
Lu Yi slowly took a sip of the cold tea, and then said: “Luck and longevity are decided by heaven, if YangYue had a misfortune while on duties, the most I could do is to support his family with a payment, let him enjoy his life.”
“……”
Jinxia was stunned, she blinked her eyes a few times, and continued to blink them a few more times. On her face, a smile appeared and it didn’t seem to line up with their current conversation. “Daren, if I…I mean… I’m also unlucky while doing my duties, could you make me enjoy…. Ha ha… That… Official salary?”
Lu Yi stood up in silence.
“Daren! Daren! Don’t go yet, we should talk a little more… I will go to heat up the water to make tea, do you agree…”
Despite her trying to get his attention, Lu Yi pretended not to hear her and immediately left the place.
