Anti-Bone Scarlet Song

Chapitre 39

His voice was gentle and peaceful, without the slightest fluctuation... But in that instant, resentment, or perhaps hatred, flashed across Bai Hui's eyes. She unconsciously reached out and touched the side of her neck, her fingertips brushing against something cool.

"That's right, brother, will you give it to me or not?" She regained her composure and looked coldly at the man in front of her... the man she had been dreaming of.

Chapter Thirty-Nine (Part 1)

"If he refuses, I have my own ways." Su Fenghua closed her folding fan, took a half-step forward, and said coldly.

Bai Hui turned around and stood in front of Jun Ye'an, raising her eyebrows slightly: "What do you want to do?"

“He has been poisoned by the ant bite, so I can do whatever I want.” Su Fenghua smiled faintly. “Young master, if you do as I say, you can avoid some pain.”

Bai Hui frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Don't do anything rash. He responds better to gentle persuasion than force. Don't do anything that backfires."

What do you want?

"Hand him over to me. Within ten days, I will return to the Jun residence with him, and your wish will be fulfilled."

By the moonlight, Su Fenghua carefully observed the still composed girl, then suddenly smiled and said, "Of course I believe you." He then pointed to his wrist, as if hinting at something, and laughed loudly, "You two siblings have a deep bond, so I won't disturb you any longer. Ah Hui, see you here again in ten days."

Su Fenghua left without a word, leaving only the two of them in the courtyard. Bai Hui looked at Jun Ye'an, handed him a pill, and said coldly, "Swallow this first."

Jun Ye'an took it, didn't look at it closely, and swallowed it.

"Aren't you afraid it's an even more potent poison?"

"How much more poisonous could it be?" He smiled slightly, and the needle-like sensation all over his body suddenly subsided.

Bai Hui bit her lip, stared at him for a long time, and then said, "Let's go."

"Where to?" Jun Ye sat down casually on the stone bench. "What if I don't want to go?"

"You don't even care about your life?" Bai Hui slightly raised her delicate chin. "Aren't you going to see the eagles soaring in the desert? Aren't you going to see the misty rain of Jiangnan?"

Jun Ye'an gave her a deep look, a slight ripple in his eyes, and said softly, "Are you testing my patience?"

"No... I need your help, young master." Bai Hui's eyes were very innocent. "Will you come with me?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

"If you had the heart to kill me, I wouldn't be alive now," Bai Hui said with a slight smile. "Besides, you're poisoned now and can't use your internal energy, can you?"

Jun Ye'an pursed her lips and looked at her, saying softly, "If you really want it... I'll give it to you."

Under the moonlight, the girl's face paled for a moment. She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, her face was expressionless: "Then, I want you to come with me to a place."

By daybreak, they had already left Luoyang.

Bai Hui reined in her horse, turned around to look at Jun Ye'an, and asked, "Shall we grab a bite?"

Jun Ye'an's face was rather pale, but he shook his head and said, "No need."

“The poison from the ants will gradually erode your muscles, you don’t need to tough it out…” She rode up to his side, her tone much gentler, “Dismount and rest for a bit.”

There was a rather large wild jujube tree by the roadside. She sat down directly, propping her chin up with her riding crop, glancing at him every now and then, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What do you want to say?" he asked calmly, leaning against the tree trunk.

"Do you...hate me?" she asked, her hand gently fiddling with the silver chain around her neck.

"Little girl, how do you want me to answer?" He closed his eyes. "Where there is hatred, there must be love. But between you and me... is there still love?"

Bai Hui's fingers were wrapped around the silver chain. She paused heavily for a long time before whispering, "Where have you been these past two years?"

Jun Ye'an remained silent, then curled the corners of his lips and said, "You've been looking for me for a long time, haven't you?"

Bai Hui turned her head, looked straight at him, and gave a faint smile: "Not bad, I've been looking for you for a long time."

He stood up, no longer looking at her, and said calmly, "Let's go. Where are you going? Don't waste any more time on the road."

As they headed south, the route became increasingly familiar. Jun Ye'an remained silent, simply following Bai Hui without uttering a single word.

It was three days later when they entered the valley.

"What? Returning to an old haunt?" Jun Ye'an looked thoughtfully at the surrounding scenery and the girl beside him who was as quiet as he was.

Bai Hui didn't say anything. She stood in the bushes and whistled softly.

A tremendous commotion arose from the dense forest in the distance, and a dark shadow suddenly pounced on the two of them as it approached. Jun Ye'an, who was now severely poisoned and unable to circulate his inner energy, changed his expression slightly, took a step forward, and subconsciously stood in front of Bai Hui.

The dark figure was enormous. When it pounced in front of them, it turned out to be a snow-white leopard with extremely smooth body lines. Upon seeing the two people, it took a small step back and bared its sharp teeth.

“It’s me…” Bai Hui emerged from behind Jun Ye’an, took a half step forward, and reached out to stroke the leopard’s head. “It’s me, don’t hurt anyone.”

That little leopard from back then has grown so big now, majestic and powerful, like the king of beasts.

"You're injured?" Bai Hui looked at the sword wound on the leopard's right leg in surprise and exclaimed, "Who hurt you?"

The white leopard let out a low growl, nuzzled against Bai Hui's arm, and slowly crawled down.

Bai Hui tore strips of cloth from her clothes, bandaged it up, and when she stood up again, although she tried her best to remain calm, her eyes already showed worry.

"Why did you bring me here?" Jun Ye'an's expression also turned serious as he asked in a deep voice.

She didn't answer, but reached out and stroked the white leopard's head, whispering, "Take me there to see."

The white leopard whimpered, stood up, and walked ahead first.

The two humans and the leopard traversed the jungle. When a small mirror-like lake came into view, the leopard stopped, turned its head to look at her, and let out a low growl.

There was a small thatched hut by the lake, which Jun Ye'an had never seen before and did not know who lived there now. Bai Hui quickened her pace, simply lifted the hem of her skirt, and rushed into the thatched hut in two steps at a time.

The door was open, and she searched everywhere, but couldn't find anyone.

Jun Ye'an stepped in slowly, examined the utensils on the table, and said slowly, "Is there a woman living here?"

Bai Hui's hands trembled slightly as she pushed open the window and looked around.

"Who exactly lives here?"

"Bai Xue!" she finally whispered, her voice trembling slightly, "Without her... who can cure you of this ant-biting poison?"

Jun Ye'an was stunned for a moment, her lips pressed tightly into a straight line.

“She’s not here… she must have been kidnapped.” Bai Hui’s face gradually showed anxiety. “Nobody knows she’s here. Who could it be?”

"You want to detoxify me?" Jun Ye'an simply smiled. "Why? Aren't you afraid my internal energy will recover?"

"You've been poisoned by the Ant-Eating Toxin! If it can't be cured within a month, even the antidote will be useless." She looked at him incredulously. "Jun Ye'an, I want you to live! Even if you're my brother, I want you to live!"

"So, for the past two years, you've kept Bai Xue imprisoned here so that one day you could cure my poison?" He glanced at her indifferently.

“No, she was determined to kill me. I had no choice but to trap her here.” She looked away. “But I… cannot die now.”

"So, you didn't administer the ant-biting poison?" Jun Ye'an suddenly asked, a hint of joy in his expression, as if he had never been poisoned.

"I don't want to talk to you about this." She slowly sat down, rubbing her temples as if she were extremely tired.

Silence fell, broken only by the heavy breathing of the white leopard, the chirping of spring insects, and the blooming of wildflowers throughout the valley. Jun Ye'an squinted and looked out the window, vaguely remembering their first visit here, also at this time, a trip in early spring.

His expression suddenly softened, and he sat down next to Bai Hui, saying softly, "Chu Xia... what have you been doing these past two years?"

Bai Hui didn't answer, but then she heard a man's voice outside laugh heartily: "What is she doing? She's having a tough time... busy with revenge, busy searching for you, busy looking everywhere for evidence that you two are siblings. You, young master, on the other hand, seem to be having a lot of free time!"

Chapter Thirty-Nine (Part Two)

Bai Hui suddenly stood up and looked outside.

Then Su Fenghua, fanning herself with a folding fan, slowly walked over, nodded to Bai Hui, and sighed softly, "Since the old sect leader died, you really haven't taken the sect's rules seriously."

Bai Hui gritted her teeth slightly: "Su Fenghua, where is Bai Xueren?"

"You never would have guessed that Bai Xue has a younger sister, did you?" Su Fenghua chuckled, but her eyes glanced at Jun Ye'an. "Did you expect that, young master?"

"So you used Bai Xue to blackmail Chu Xue, using her as a suicide squad, which is why you injured me." Jun Ye'an suddenly understood, and in an instant, he understood the cause and effect. "Two years ago at Junshan, it was not so much that I let you go, but that you let me go—at that time, you were afraid of my martial arts, and this girl did not want to harm me, so you could only hope that I would retire from the martial world, right?"

"Not bad." Su Fenghua praised, "This is a testament to Ahui's unwavering devotion to you."

Bai Hui had remained silent until this moment, when she suddenly looked at Jun Ye'an and asked, "You believe me... that I don't want to harm you?"

Jun Ye'an reached out and stroked her cheek, smiling slightly, "I already knew that night at Junshan when you asked me to avenge Qinglong."

She took a half-step back, stunned, her expression a mixture of sorrow and joy.

"Young master... do you really believe me?" she murmured. "Believe me that I have never lied to you from the beginning, believe me... that I have always been sad?"

Jun Ye'an suppressed his smile and nodded very solemnly.

A joyful smile bloomed on Bai Hui's lips. She turned to Su Fenghua and said, "If you want to kill us, there's no need to rush. I have so much to say to him. After I've said it, please feel free to do as you please."

Su Fenghua smiled faintly: "I know that back in Junshan, you endured all the blame... all for this moment. As fellow disciples, I am naturally not in a hurry."

Bai Hui smiled at him, then turned to Jun Ye'an and said earnestly, "Young Master, I was born into the Huansha Sect, and the old sect leader treated me very well. She told me that my fiancé was in Cangzhou and instructed me to come to Cangzhou to find him."

She paused, then smiled apologetically: "I once said I had never lied to you... that was a lie. Because... I knew then that you were my fiancé. The old sect leader told me I should first sneak into the Jun residence, and then she would deliver two great gifts to me: a beautiful woman and a fur coat. She said to judge a man by his attitude towards wealth and women. If you are truly a gentleman, you will naturally have an excellent demeanor. Then, I can marry you with peace of mind."

Jun Ye'an listened intently, then suddenly smiled: "So, were you satisfied with my reaction back then?"

She simply smiled but did not answer: "Young master, please let me finish."

"At the time, I had a vague feeling that something was wrong. First, there was the death of Madam Wangyun, and everywhere I looked, there were traces of the Huansha Sect. I was caught in the middle of it all, but I didn't know who was behind it. I tried to contact my fellow members in the sect, but no one knew anything about it. Then, the Wuren Escort Agency came to deliver gifts, and in the end, they delivered three gifts instead of the two that the old sect leader had ordered. I was very confused at the time, but I also felt uneasy... I wondered who knew so much about what was going on in my sect, and even managed to add a piece of music I had never heard of before, 'Shanshui Ballad,' at the end."

"At that time, I didn't know that the sect leader was dead, so I decided to stay by your side and see what those people were up to. You know what happened later, young master. Su Fenghua sneaked into the Jun Mansion and told me that the old sect leader was dead, which made me even more uneasy. That trip to Jun Mountain was actually something I was extremely unwilling to do."

Jun Ye'an nodded, signaling her to continue.

"The day before Qinglong's accident, Su Fenghua found me and said he would take me to Junshan immediately to find you—because the secret room contained the secret of the Huansha Sect, which was related to the old sect leader, and must not be known to outsiders. He gave me a kind of medicine and told me to secretly give it to Baixue and Qinglong. I checked it carefully and it was indeed just a kind of sleeping powder. The two of them were with me, and I could not leave their side for even a moment... So I put it in their tea."

Later that day, they laced the osmanthus trees in the temple's backyard with datura powder—a colorless and odorless drug that, when mixed with tea, became a potent intoxicant. Qinglong…though killed by Su Fenghua's men, it was also because of me.”

When Qinglong was mentioned, Bai Hui's face fell, and after a long while, she said, "What happened later was on Junshan Mountain. At that time, I already knew that I seemed to have been used—but I didn't know exactly how. It wasn't until Su Fenghua came out and said that I was your sister... that I understood that was the real revenge. They wanted me to sincerely admire you, and you, young master... if you really liked me, but then found out that we were siblings... you must have been in great pain."

"As expected, you withdrew from the martial world because of this." She paused, then continued, "Back then at Junshan, I didn't want to reveal everything because I still wanted to live... I wanted to know who was behind this, and I still wanted to avenge Qinglong—"

She turned to Su Fenghua and smiled, saying calmly, "I know it wasn't you. At most, you're just a tool of the person behind the scenes."

Su Fenghua shook her paper fan, but remained noncommittal.

"And today? Why are you willing to tell me today?" Jun Ye'an's gaze was gentle, as if the setting sun outside the window was gently falling on the lake, asking her with a smile.

"Today? Today we'll probably both die here. Whether we're siblings or not, what does it matter?" She took out a silver chain from her neck, with an extremely delicate silver lock hanging from it, and smiled. "You tied it on Mount Song that day, and I took it back later and have been carrying it with me ever since."