The three bowed slightly to see the cult leader off. Only after the cult leader's figure disappeared from the hall did Mu Yuan turn around and ask Long Jue, "Don't you have any instructions?"
"Since the leader has no objections, I naturally won't say anything more." He glanced at Ning Xian, his gaze icy. "Just don't cause any trouble."
"You only ever say this to me. Do I often cause trouble?"
Long Jue reached out and ruffled her hair, a half-smile playing on his lips, before turning and walking out of the hall. Ning Xian hurriedly fixed her hair, watching Long Jue's departing figure and carefully recalling that faint smile. Turning her head, she suddenly saw Mu Yuan staring blankly in the direction Long Jue had left, her mouth agape, almost drooling.
Let's get going now.
She grabbed Cisheng and they dashed out of the hall.
She walked all the way back to her courtyard, stopped, and turned around. She saw Ci Sheng looking at her calmly. Her smile faltered as she remembered his identity… This… how could such an awkward situation have occurred… She reluctantly let go of his hand, hesitating about how to begin, “Um, Ci Sheng…”
"I know."
"...Huh?"
"No need to say anything, I know everything. We didn't know each other back then, and we had different positions."
It was just a sentence, a few words, clearly reasonable and beyond reproach, yet Ning Xian felt deeply uncomfortable… She had done many things like this in the past, never feeling guilty. And she would continue to do so; as long as she remained in the Demonic Sect, such things would likely never cease. But… Du Cisheng's excessive tolerance and understanding had placed an unprecedented burden on her.
She forced a smile. "Go and rest first. You must be tired from the long journey. I'll have someone bring lunch to your room later. Take a nap this afternoon, and I'll show you around tomorrow."
Du Cisheng nodded, understanding and considerately not saying anything more, and turned to go into the room.
Ning Xian's smile finally faded, as if he remembered the way the whip rose and fell that day with exceptional clarity.
"Don't think about it anymore, don't think about it anymore. Constantly worrying about this will make both myself and Cisheng uncomfortable... Tomorrow, she'll smile naturally again."
Ning Xian went to instruct the servants to make arrangements, and then personally went out to select several changes of clothes. When he returned, he encountered a maid carrying a tray coming out of the courtyard. She asked, "Has Young Master Du eaten yet?"
"Yes, Lord Jialing."
She glanced at the tray and frowned slightly. "So much left?"
"Young Master Du said he has no appetite."
"You may leave."
She carried the clothes to Du Cisheng's room, knocked twice, and then pushed the door open—"Cisheng, I brought you a few changes of clothes..."
Upon entering, she saw a small patch of spring scenery—Du Cisheng's clothes were half off, revealing her fragrant shoulders. When she saw her, she quickly put them back on, but before she could even tie the belt, she awkwardly gathered her clothes with her hands.
"—Oh, thank you. Just put it on the table for me."
Ning Xian put down the clothes, but didn't leave immediately. She looked at him strangely and asked, "Are you getting ready to rest?"
"Yes. I was just about to go to sleep...you!?"
Ning Xian suddenly took two steps forward and pulled down his clothes—his slightly thin body was wrapped in bandages, and the snow-white bandages on his back were already stained with blood—
"Are you—are you stupid?! You ran out before your injury had even healed? And you've been following me around like this! Do you think you have too much life?!" How could she be so careless? He'd only been injured for a few days, how could he have recovered so quickly? He wasn't going to sleep at all, he was preparing to change his dressing.
"It's nothing, my injuries have healed a lot. You...I..." Ci Sheng's face flushed slightly. She was about to pull up her clothes when Ning Xian simply ripped them off, throwing the inner garment, which was stained with a few drops of blood, aside. "Lie down! Don't move. I'll go get the medicine!"
"I brought..."
"Shut up! Those ordinary wound medicines are too slow! Wait, everyone here has to listen to me!" Ning Xian rushed out of the room, then rushed back like a whirlwind. Seeing that Du Cisheng had indeed disobeyed and was getting up to put on his clothes, he immediately fixed his eyes on him with a blazing light, ready to pounce on him and strip him naked at any moment...
“This… I can do it myself…” Ci Sheng took a slight step back, sweating profusely—Awooo~~ Ning Xian transformed into a wild beast, directly pounced on him on the bed, stripped off his clothes, and quickly removed the bandages from his body—on his fair skin, vicious whip marks were exposed to the air, crisscrossing.
Ning Xian opened the medicine jar, scooped out a large amount, and smeared it on Du Cisheng's back—the cool, sticky sensation sent a shiver down Du Cisheng's spine, instantly giving him goosebumps. But Ning Xian clearly wasn't finished; he rubbed and rubbed, covering Du Cisheng's back with a thick, sticky layer before finally letting out a satisfied sigh—"Put on more, and more more...the more you put on, the faster it'll heal!"
"Phew... Okay, here's your clothes." She finally climbed off his back and generously handed him a new outfit—Du Cisheng took it with a wry smile, but as soon as he put it on, he shuddered again... A thick, sticky, gooey substance stuck the clothes to his body... Ugh... So disgusting...
"You rest first, I'll come back tomorrow to apply the medicine for you."
—Huh? Again?
Chapter 25 Braving the Tiger's Den Alone
Although she diligently and tirelessly pounced on Ci Sheng three times a day, without hesitation or discussion, stripping him naked and applying medicine, Ning Xian still felt it wasn't quite enough. A small sense of guilt gnawed at her heart. No matter what, she had to make sure Ci Sheng's wounds were completely healed, his back as smooth and tender as a peeled egg, so that it would be more satisfying to pounce on him… no, more pleasing to the eye… no! It was to eliminate her guilt! To make it up to him! Ahh! Had pounced on him already become a habit?!
Recently, all of the Eight Guardians of the Netherworld Heaven except for Long Jue have disappeared. It's unclear whether they're on a mission or enjoying themselves somewhere. As a result, the only place to find someone with excellent medical skills is... Blissful Heaven.
Poison and medicine are essentially the same thing; the Blissful Heaven is skilled in using poison, and naturally, they are also adept at using medicine. However, if she openly enters the Blissful Heaven, it will inevitably cause a lot of trouble. It would be better to sneak in secretly to find Yu Lin and see if he has any solutions.
Unable to wait until nightfall, she slipped into the territory of Blissful Heaven as soon as dusk was falling—unlike the Netherworld Heaven, which was always bustling with people, this place was completely silent, as quiet as an abandoned mansion.
The Paradise City has few people, but many are eccentric. They're either on missions or holed up in their rooms or pharmacies, doing who-knows-what. However, Ning Xian knows very well that although the place seems deserted, he has to be careful everywhere, because those guys have ears sharper than rabbits and noses sharper than dogs.
Although she wasn't familiar with the area, Yu Lin had mentioned it, so she headed towards the general direction he had given her. The most troublesome thing was that the rooms of the Four Spirits were all in the same courtyard. She thought to herself: This place is indeed a small place. Four people have to squeeze into one courtyard. In the Netherworld, the Eight Legions all live separately. This is just making things more difficult for her.
The courtyard was quite large, but not square; some rooms were adjacent, while others were opposite each other. Since she couldn't judge by location, she could only rely on the room's furnishings… Was she really going to be forced to spy on each room? If someone was inside, she wasn't confident she could avoid being discovered by the Four Spirits.
I crept quietly to the window of a room, listened carefully until I heard no sound, then made a small hole in the window paper and peeked inside… Wow! What a mess! Whose room is this? Doesn't it need a maid to tidy it up? The table was piled high with books, and the floor was covered with boxes, some open, some closed… but I couldn't see what was inside the boxes… Oh well, it definitely can't be Yu Lin's room.
She crouched down, about to turn and search for the next room, when suddenly everything went dark, and she almost bumped into someone's waist... Her breath hitched, and she slowly raised her head... White clothes, fiery red lips, beautiful face, cold eyes, beauty mark under her eye—Feng Zheng frowned slightly, coldly looking down at her—Ning Xian's legs went weak, and she almost fell to the ground.
"You're scaring me to death... Ugh! I'm definitely incompatible with you..."
"I was just about to ask you what you're doing here!" Is this woman an idiot? Doesn't she know how dangerous it is for her to be in Bliss? This isn't something that can be resolved by two sides meeting at the main altar and fighting over a minor disagreement. She's infiltrated Bliss's territory without permission; if she's discovered, she'll be steamed, boiled, or buried. What does she think Bliss is?
"Go back immediately."
"No, I need to find Yulin!"